Final Reflective Blog

There is only one way to describe the trip to India; an amazing experience. The trip was a great opportunity to learn about many aspects of Indian culture and how business practices compare to those in the United States. The following are the experiences I felt were the most memorable and important to me.
Traffic
Having lived in Los Angeles, I was always under the impression that traffic could not get much worse than what is experienced on the 405. However, after traveling through India, I believe people in LA should be happy with our traffic. In India, car lanes seem to act more like guidelines and less like actual dividers in traffic. Open spaces do not exist on Indian freeways; if there is an open spot, it is aggressively filled by someone. These spaces can be little more than half a car length when they are taken by local drivers. Indian drivers also have to deal with the relentless honking of every driver around them. Although honking the horn is not the rage borne action that it is in the states, it can still be headache inducing by the sheer volume of horns being honked on the local highways.
Due to the headache inducing nature of traffic in India, I would not want to drive if I lived there. Since the local taxis and auto rickshaws were more than capable of transporting us during our trip, I would rely on those for work.
Poverty
Of the things I felt most prepared to see in India prior to the trip, it was the poverty in the country. Although it was rather presumptuous of me, I felt the combination of seeing Slumdog Millionaire and my experiences in Oakland and East Los Angeles would be enough to prepare me for what I saw. However, just like the traffic in the preceding section, I was overwhelmed by the differences. The poor in India seemed more content than the poor in American cities. They lacked either the rage or sadness that is a commonplace in some of the cities I have been to. I remember Neetu saying that this has to do with people having a sense of hope and I am inclined to agree. This is likely due to the fact everyone busy and the general confidence people have about the direction of India. Or it could be the fact that some of the shanties had satellite dishes and plasma TVs to share with their neighbors. In either case, people in India were more hopeful, which is something we desperately need in the United States.
High Levels of Service
Something that was not mentioned prior to our trip that was a very welcome sight in India was the incredible level of customer service experienced in India. Every business we met had a number of staff member dedicated to providing us snacks during our visits and take specific drink orders. Even McDonalds had people open doors and bathroom attendants. It makes sense that businesses can afford to hire more staff but that doesn’t account for the level of professionalism of the people working these jobs. This could be due to a larger population to pool from or a better work ethic among the people of India. In any case, I was very impressed to see this.
Technology
Another thing that was unexpected when traveling in India was the level of technology present in the country. I knew from the types of businesses we were visiting that we would see technology but I was unaware of how advanced it would be. From the modern automotive factory of Maruti Suzuki that utilized lean operations to the impressive videoconferencing facility at Cisco, the level of sophistication in these Indian enterprises was astounding. Many American engineering facilities I had seen in Berkeley and U.S. companies paled in comparison to their Indian counterparts. Given the level of superior technology in India, it is unsurprising that Cisco considers the hotbed for new technology to be India and not the United States.
This wave of new technology in India seems to be the main contributor to improving education in India. IBM was spending a lot of money improving the levels of education in technology in order to improve the quality of their workers. It seems to me that if the USA intends to remain the leader in technological expertise, we should promote the growth of technology companies and the education in this field.
Contrast of Traditional and Western
Although the growth of technology in India demonstrates a contrast between the traditional and western traditions, I believe the differences were most stark in the cultural changes. Most people in India whom were around my age or younger wore western clothing, some of them wearing clothes far more expensive than my own. The youth of India also seemed to eat less traditional food, many choosing American fare like KFC and Sbarro over Indian cuisine. In fact, the emergence of American malls that populated by youth seems in direct contrast to the more traditional bazaars of old. Despite this contrast between old and new, both cultures within India seem coexist peacefully, incorporating aspects from each other. It will be very interesting to see how these blending cultures will appear in the future.
Growth of Local Markets
From a business standpoint, this is probably the most important factor. India is experiencing incredible growth despite the economic recession affecting the rest of the world. The reason for this is the growth in local markets, which was clearly visible during the trip. There were a tremendous number of shops everywhere we went in India. The malls we saw in India, although American in design, were far larger than most of the malls I have been in. The smallest one we traveled through was still a four story facility. Even the taxi business seemed like profitable endeavor, given the large numbers of them on the road. From this experience, I can see why American businesses are very interested in getting into this market.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Overview:
In How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie provides some fundamental principles that people should follow in order to be successful. He begins by describing techniques for basic interactions with others. He then provides a list of ways to make people like you. The author continues further by stating once you are able to get people to like you, you can extend that to convincing people to your way of thinking. Carnegie concludes with a way to take the previously learned skills to become an effective leader. The author readily admits that the techniques he provides will not always work but he says that if they improve your social interactions even a little, then his work was successful.
The Relevance of How to Win Friends & Influence People:
As the precursor to all modern self-help books, How to Win Friends & Influence People is an extremely relevant book. Other books of its nature have attempted to modify many of the basic premises found within the book but this one is timeless. Although some of the ideas in it seem a little antiquated, the overall message is something that people should be aware of; be nice to those around you and people will at least appreciate your effort if not like you.
Book Strengths:
This book has many strengths. The most obvious of these strengths is the clean organization. Each section covers an overarching goal that connects to the section following it. Each section is also subdivided into chapters that cover principles important to attaining this goal. In addition, each of the chapter principles are outlined in a straightforward list at the end of each section to ensure that the reader remembers what was covered and is able to use this list as a quick reference.
Another strength of this book is its approach to explaining why the principles outlined are important. I have not read many self-help books but of the ones I have read exaggerate the results of following their set of rules. How to Win Friends & Influence People, in contrast, outlines realistic situations where these principles can be used. Carnegie does not claim that following these principles will gain the result desired, especially in the chapters on leadership and influencing others, but he does say it will go a long way in providing better working relationships with those around you.
This idea of creating better working relationships seemed to be the greatest strength of the book. Carnegie approaches these principles as a way to improve our interactions with others to get the most out of our lives rather than as a tool for getting rich or climbing the corporate ladder.
Book Weaknesses:
Despite many positive attributes, I felt there was one major flaw with How to Win Friends & Influence People. This flaw is the book’s assumption about the general good intentions of people. Although I would like to believe people generally have good intentions at heart in their dealings with others, I am not sure this is true. This is not to say that most people occasionally have a desire to cause harm to others but simply take actions without considering the consequences for others. This lack of compassion and understanding that individuals can have when something is occupying their attention is never addressed in the book. The fact that it only covers positive and negative interactions and not those that occur from a lack of understanding seems to limit the effectiveness of the book.
Recommendation and Closing Thoughts:
In closing, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their social interactions and attitude. Even for those who are already skilled at making friends and influencing others, I would suggest reading it just to see area where you can improve.

The Elephant and the Dragon

Story of India

The Post-American World

Book Review 1

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

Review by Matthew Perez

Overview:

In The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria explores the history and issues relating to the “rise of the rest.” He begins by describing the shift in the balance of power of the world, from one of American dominance to one of many countries sharing power. Zakaria provides the historical context of how the West and the United States rose to dominate the world and an explanation for the fear Americans have of the strength of other countries. He then goes on to explain how China and India’s unique situations have led to their current rise in power. The author concludes his book by drawing parallels between the fall of British Empire and the United States and what the United States can do to succeed despite the loss in power.

The Relevance of The Post-American World:

The Post-American World is extremely relevant to the modern world economy and the United States in particular. The book provides a detailed explanation of the current state of affairs and how the future world economy. Much of this will depend on the policies the United States takes in its dealing with other countries. The Post-American World is also relevant in that it provides an optimistic view of how the decline in American power. Through this book, Zakaria makes it clear that Americans should not be fearful of the “rise of the rest” since the United States will benefit from the rest’s success. In my opinion, this feeling of hope is the most important idea Zakaria professes, especially given our current recession.

Book Strengths:

Zakaria’s work succeeds on many fronts. The most obvious strength of this book is its easy to read nature. All of the chapters follow a clear, logical progression of ideas that reinforce Zakaria’s main ideas in an entertaining manner. Each chapter includes relevant examples that, while not entirely familiar to those without a background history, provide an interesting perspective on how much of the world’s current state is a result of actions taken and not taken by those in power. As a result, this piece of non-fiction reads more like a story.

Another strength of this book is the connections it provides from seemingly unrelated events. For example, Zakaria points out some seemingly random pieces of information to illustrate the point that the United States is no longer the leader in all things relating to consumption:

“The world's tallest building is in Taipei, and will soon be in Dubai. Its largest publicly traded company is in Beijing. Its biggest refinery is being constructed in India. Its largest passenger airplane is built in Europe. The largest investment fund on the planet is in Abu Dhabi; the biggest movie industry is Bollywood, not Hollywood. Once quintessentially American icons have been usurped by the natives.”

This example and others like it provide the reader with a perspective of the world that is not obvious.

Probably the greatest strength of The Post-American World is the solution it provides in the conclusion of the book. Although many non-fiction political books have conclusions that seem to stem from the author’s ideology, Zakaria seems rather neutral in his conclusion. His guidelines in the conclusion are balanced in opinion and logical in how agreeing with them will benefit the United States. Due to their clear-cut actions and logic, I feel they should be followed if the United States wishes to be successful in an era of equal powers.

Book Weaknesses:

Although my overall positive opinion of this book makes finding weaknesses a little difficult, there were still a few. One weakness I found in the book was the lack of evidence to support some of the generalizations Zakaria makes in reference to the opinions of people around the world in reference to the United States. He makes it seem as though most people around the world view us with frustration rather than anger. This seems like a reasonable conclusion but without any evidence to support it, the validity of this conclusion is dubious. Another weakness I found in the book its neglect of the short-term problems that occur during the transition from an American dominated world to one of equal powers. His guidelines provide a strategy to improve our diplomatic and economic relations with other countries but fail to address how to handle the short-term consequences that will occur at home. These include the issues of jobs leaving America and the widening monetary and education disparity between the wealthy and poor in this country. From an economic standpoint, it is better to view these issues in the long term but most policies in this country are made in the short-term. It would have been useful for Zakaria to include information on how to avoid this pitfall.

Recommendation and Closing Thoughts:

Despite a few weaknesses, I would greatly recommend The Post-American World to anyone with any interest in understanding the state of world affairs. The story-like flow of this book makes it an extremely enjoyable way of learning about the connections between politics, economics, and history. In fact, I will now read other books by Zakaria to see what other insights he provides into different political topics.