China Trip - Areas of Interest

(cross-posted from WFU MBA China Blog)

As Gregg mentioned in his previous post, we're hoping this blog will be more than just a running dairy, and more of a stream of conversations. So to add on Gregg's areas of interest, here's my Top 5 areas to better explore and understand:

1. Given that the Chinese have huge populations of people that work for pennies a day, how are they using technology to elevate their standards of living across the population?
2. As a communist nation with capitalistic ambitions, how does that balance work across various industries and stages of business (start-up vs. established companies)?
3. What engagement models have been successful by non-Chinese companies that are trying to engage the vast Chinese resources (labor, knowledge, etc.)?
4. What are the technology trends that are being adopted by Chinese youth, and how are these effecting their lifestyles?
5. What lessons can Americans learn from the Chinese that can be taken back to our companies and applied to our workforces? It can't just be about cheap (relative) labor.

With 30 people visiting from WFU MBA programs, I'm sure we'll get at least that many viewpoints on areas of interest. Hopefully we can share many of them with you over the next couple weeks.