|
 |
Lois
Bitner Olson has taught about management, marketing and finance
for 20 years. Since teaching marketing principles to enterprise
operators in the Hunnan, Guangdong and Liaoning provinces of the
People's Republic of China in 1993, Olson claims her life has
never been the same. She found the Chinese culture and consumer
patterns intriguing and complicated and wanted to experience more
of each firsthand. With China rapidly emerging as the second largest
economy in the world, she believes it increasingly important that
the United States understand Chinese consumer behavior and approaches
to marketing and management. Olson claims, "the only way to truly
know what one is talking about when teaching global marketing
and management is to visit the marketplace and experience it from
the consumer's perspective." A 1999-2000 Fulbright lecturing grant
brought Olson back to China, this time with her nine-year-old
daughter, to teach international business and international marketing
management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
During her five-month grant, Olson not only taught at the university
but began researching for her book on Chinese consumer behavior,
"The Second Cultural Revolution: The Chines Consumer Nation."
Part of her book will focus on the "little emperor's" market impact.
The rapid growth of China's economy has meant prosperity for many
families with only one child-the little emperor or empress. The
single child, as a result, has a tremendous amount of influence
on how a family's money is spent and, thus, on the national economy.
The little emperor's market impact is what has occurred since
the amount of money spent on a family's single child has reached
record proportions. Olson also examines how the Chinese social
structure will be affected by the excessive attention, money and
power given to these young consumers. Despite a lecturing load
of 120 students, Olson found that she had substantial free time
within which to research and begin writing her book. She returned
to the United States in January 2000 with the entire book outlined
and two chapters written.
Olson describes the language, cultural and logistical challenges
she faced during her grant in China with humor. Continued flexibility
and a positive attitude enhanced her cross-cultural adaptability.
When the temperature dropped so low that she could not keep her
apartment above 13 degrees, she and her daughter, Mary, "laughed
as we got into bed because once the blankets were piled on, we
could not move from the weight. If you got into the wrong position,
you were in that spot all night." They laughed, "knowing it would
be a great story in the future."
She and her daughter impressed Olson's colleagues at the university
with their independence. The faculty were often amazed at the
places to which "these two 'round eyes' had found their way" despite
their limited Chinese. Preparing to return home, both mother and
daughter felt sure that "we would never return to the United States
as the same people who had left. The five-month Fulbright experience
in China was wonderful and very life changing." Olson remarks,
"I am not sure who learned more-me or the Chinese students."
Since her grant, Olson has had the chance to host a faculty member
and several students from Shanghai Jiao Tong visiting the United
States.
Please contact us
if you would like to submit your own story and/or photographs.
|
