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The China Challenge report

Ardi Bouwers — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 15:19:35 +0000

China Circle and Krijger & Partners conducted a joint study, commissioned by the LeidenAsiaCentre, examining how the current, highly politicised Chinese economic climate is influencing Dutch companies that are doing business in, and with, China. The report combines the analysis of trends with experiences and insights of business people (often with many years of China experience) themselves.

The report Alex Krijger and I worked on these past few months, interviewing many CEOs from Dutch businesses active in China, is available now. With recommendations for government and a China Checklist for companies. The report The China Challenge: Impact of the politicised business environment on Dutch companies in China is downloadable on the LeidenAsiaCentre website‬: https://leidenasiacentre.nl/en/the-china-challenge/

No ‘business as usual’ anymore
Dutch businesses prefer to avoid navigating sensitive political waters, leaving this to the political establishment. It has become clear, however, that this is no longer possible in the current Chinese context, due to a combination of geopolitical and Chinese political factors. It is not ‘business as usual’ anymore. The authors conclude that Dutch business would welcome additional guidance and support from government, employers’ organisations and other professionals.

Discretion and anonymity
The research report is based on a comprehensive review of scientific studies, business papers, and journalistic sources, as well as a series of conversations with senior Dutch business representatives. Discretion proved important, as many interviewees chose to remain anonymous. As a result of our approach and our joint network, the report offers many concrete examples of the experiences of Dutch business people in China and concludes with a China Checklist which might serve as a guide for Dutch companies that operate in China, or are preparing to do so.

An interview by LeidenAsiaCentre’s Lily Sprangers with both authors can be found here:

You can contact Ardi Bouwers or Alex Krijger for more information on the report and also for interactive China Business or Policy Lunches and inspiring China Masterclasses and Keynotes.

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Storytelling from Confucius to Social Media

Ardi Bouwers — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 13:08:25 +0000

Storytelling Masterclass on delicate issues and striking speeches
– Are you dealing with delicate issues or a minefield of sensitivities?
– Do you want to get your message just right?
– Are you great at elaborate explaining, but not at clear convincing?
– Can you clearly explain ‘what’ you do, but do you tend to omit the ‘why’?
– Do you find it difficult to come up with a powerful pitch?
– Are you looking for a way to put your core message into a striking speech?

Does this sound like you?
Then this interactive full-day Masterclass on Storytelling from Confucius to Social Media that will be presented in The Hague (or in-company, if you want to practice with your team) is perfect for you!

We will deal with questions such as:
– Why is the age-old art of storytelling relevant for business?
– What are the most important characteristics of storytelling?
– What is the impact of social media on storytelling?
– How do you tell stories with and without words?
– How can you customize your story to the needs of audiences in Europe and Asia?

Old stories and modern movies can help us open our eyes to effective storytelling techniques. During the first part of this Storytelling Masterclass, we teach tips & tricks from as diverse a field as Chinese and Greek philosophers, Disney scriptwriters and social media influencers. We examine effective examples of storytelling (including simple but powerful company ‘origin’ stories) and we will share ideas and best practices in different cultural settings. On top of that, we will analyse international marketing blunders. There is a lot to learn from those mistakes, especially when you deal with sensitive issues in a politicized environment.

In the second part of the Masterclass, we will examine what’s really important for you, your team or your company. We will discover your core message – and use that as a basis to develop a new, strong narrative. Our decades of experience in journalism, management and China will help you avoid pitfalls and convey your core message effectively across cultures.

During the 1-day Masterclass:
You will get to know our 6-C model which will guide you through the storytelling process, so that by the end you will have created your own inspiring story.

This will be a day full of learning, discussing, connecting and creating. You will draft and refine your personal or business story during the Masterclass. After completing the workshop, you will receive a certificate.

And as a bonus, we will review the story that you continue to develop after the Masterclass, and provide you with personal 1-on-1 feedback in a coaching call.

Ardi Bouwers and Tao Yue welcome you in our light workshop space in the centre of The Hague, with a garden and – according to participants – a ‘Zen atmosphere’. Or, if you have a group of at least 5 participants, we will come to you.
We work in small groups and provide an open, friendly and safe environment.

Your investment?
Only 295 Euros (excl. VAT) for this 1-day-session, including drinks and lunch.

We work with small groups so make sure to reserve your seat by sending an e-mail to: ardi@chinacircle.nl

Date: Friday October 11, 2019
9.30 Welcome tea & coffee
10.00 Masterclass part 1: Examples, tips and tricks
12.30 Lunch
13.30 Masterclass part 2: Developing your own story
16.30 Informal drinks
17.00 End

Place: Surinamestraat 38 in The Hague

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Has the West lost it? A provocation

Ardi Bouwers — Tue, 28 May 2019 15:34:57 +0000

Professor Kishore Mahbubani from Singapore likes to cast stones into the pond, albeit gently. On May 23rd, in The Hague, the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs organised an event in cooperation with Krijger & Partners and China Circle, with professor Mahbubani as keynote speaker and Dutch ambassador in Beijing Ed Kronenburg presenting reflective remarks on the speech. Students from the universities of Utrecht, Leiden, Rotterdam, The Hague and Twente kicked off by offering their views on China: they showed great curiosity about China and its future role, a welcome addition to the omnipresent ‘fear or opportunity’ reactions to China’s rise. China Circle’s Ardi Bouwers moderated the event.

Original thinker

Professor Mahbubani is an academic at the National University of Singapore and a former diplomat. For years, he worked as Singapore’s permanent representative at the United Nations. He presents his arguments in a soft spoken and charming way. But his book titles do have a sharp edge. His most recent book is Has the West lost it? A provocation. It’s about how difficult it proves to be for the West (and the US, especially) to recognize historic worldwide changes. According to him, the West was the locomotive of world economic growth, but the explosive growth in China has reversed the order.

A provocative book title that struck me a long time ago was Can Asians Think? In that book, written many years ago, this original thinker tries to understand and explain the divide between East and West.

Good ally

In the Hague, Mahbubani started off with a prediction: How will the Netherlands choose its way in the current US-China global contest? He presented three scenarios, plus the likelihood of what The Netherlands would choose within 10 years:

Be a Good Ally of the US (60% chance)
Remain Passive and Neutral (30% chance)
Support the Voice of Reason (only a 10% chance).

Shifting balance of power

According to him, it would be best for the Netherlands and the West to adapt to the shifting balance of power, now that China and India are taking up their historic dominant economic roles again. Good news for the West? “The economic cake is not getting smaller,” he says. That almost sounds like what the Chinese would call a classic ‘win-win situation’. He coats his message in sugar: “Thanks to the West and Western ideas, the human condition was never better. Yet, at this moment of triumph, the West seems hopelessly lost.”

Good enough governance

Mahbubani does admit that in China and other fast developing countries there is no ‘good governance’. But he points out the fact that India, Indonesia and China have all managed to lift many millions of people out of poverty. So, he says, Modi, Jokowi and Xi Jinping can be described as ‘competent’ leaders and their standards of governance are good enough, providing ‘functional governance’. But when will this functional governance not be good enough anymore? That is still an open question.

New rules?

Not everyone would agree with Mahbubani’s assessment that China is not a threat to the liberal international order, as, in his words, it has “benefitted from the system”. The fact that China has benefitted, does not preclude it to start using its newly acquired position of strength by trying to set new rules for the international economic and political order of the 21^st century. He does not like the term ‘agressive’ when referring to China and prefers the more moderate ‘assertive’. Always the diplomat.

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Ardi Bouwers on radio and tv

Ardi Bouwers — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 16:07:41 +0000

NIEUWSUUR

China Circle’s Ardi Bouwers was invited by the Dutch current affairs television program Nieuwsuur (News Hour) to discuss the Chinese media narrative surrounding the Coronavirus. Watch the fragment here (in Dutch).

BNNVARA

China Circle’s Ardi Bouwers was invited by BNNVara’s Na het Nieuws to shed a light on Chinese celebrations and on China’s rise. Host Renze Klamer invites a fresh batch of opinion leaders. Watch the 30-minute programme (in Dutch) by clicking this link.

BNR

BNR News Radio dedicated a full week of hour-long interviews to China in its Big Five-series, presented by Roelof Hemmen. Ardi was asked about her experience as a lecturer in Journalism and Communication at a university in Guangzhou. She also talked about a broad selection of subjects, ranging from Xi Jinping’s visit to her university, media narratives, censorship cultural differences, Chinese customers and the social credit system. A privilege to get the opportunity to participate in this in-depth series.
Listen to the broadcast here (in Dutch).

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Help, everyone is a China expert !

Ardi Bouwers — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 11:41:01 +0000

If you gain some knowledge on a subject you knew nothing about, you tend to over-estimate your understanding. This reaction of ‘Now I know everything’ is a well-known phenomenon and it’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect. You feel like an expert!

My lecture series on China in the 21st century this spring coincided with the broadcasting of an immensely popular documentary series about China by Ruben Terlou. His Travelling through the heart of China was broadcast every Sunday evening on national Dutch television. Every Monday afternoon, I had a class of 55 people who were convinced they knew everything there was to know about China, or at least about the theme of last night’s program. How to deal with that in a positive and inspiring way?

Illusion of knowledge
This ‘Now I know everything’ reaction is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. If you gain some knowledge, you tend to over-estimate your understanding. You feel like an expert! But alas, you assess your cognitive capability as much greater that it is. In other words, you suffer from the ‘illusion of knowledge’. It will take some time to realize that there is more to the subject than you initially thought.

The reverse is also true: if you have gained a massive amount of knowledge on an issue, you tend to see the complexity of it: ‘I will never understand.’ Hopefully, at some point, it will all start to make sense and that might be when you have really become an expert. But if you suffer from the ‘imposter syndrome’ you will always feel you’re not good enough as a teacher or trainer.

The more you know…
Western and Eastern philosophers have both written about this: ‘The more you know, the more you know you don’t know’ is a statement that’s attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle. And Confucius explains in his Analects (2:17): ‘To know what you know and to know what you don’t know, that is true knowledge.’ After peeling away many layers, even more layers and deeper knowledge will be revealed. In his play As You Like It, the playwright Shakespeare uses a very compelling description: ‘The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.’

The Truth?
In order to understand my own student’s observations, I decided to watch every episode on Sunday before class. Terlou has a very charming and empathic style and – with his command of the Chinese language – he knows how to disarm his interviewees. He has that special ability to make people open up and speak their mind. But not everything he says is applicable to all situations all over China.

Obviously, there are vast differences between the cities and the countryside, between different generations, between the north and the south, etc. So it’s impossible to present one all-embracing ‘Truth’ about China. Terlou is fully aware of the complexities of this vast country, of course, but this is what stuck in people’s minds, it’s their perception.

Simplify
So this is the effect of what we do when we – trainers, teachers, journalists – simplify. We leave out complex details in order to provide our audience with some basic understanding. For deeper knowledge, those details and contextual information are of vital importance.

In a series of lectures, I can provide nuance and evade black & white simplicity. It also helps to interact with the audience, raise questions and make them contemplate. But during a workshop, when I only have a couple of hours, I present easy-to-digest images to make my point. That leads to very happy participants: they leave thinking they now know all about the subject. But the lesson of the Dunning-Kruger effect for me is that pleasing my audience is not the best way.

Maybe next time, I’ll finish my workshop like this: ‘I have worked hard to present this in a simple way, to give you some basic understanding. But if you want to gain more in-depth knowledge, please come to the next session.’

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Workshop East-West Business Relations

Ardi Bouwers — Mon, 14 May 2018 10:10:27 +0000

Try to cope with Dutch directness? Have difficulty understanding the circuitous answers of your Asian counterpart?
Lead your team ahead, but is one member foot-dragging? Different ways of thinking and communicating not only make already stressful work situations even more stressful, but they also affect business success. Culture and personality differences can be stimulating and inspiring if handled well, but they can be extremely unpleasant when handled poorly.

East-West communication styles couldn’t be more different: diplomatic versus straight-to-the-point. Join us for a workshop about cultural differences, interpersonal relations and communication gaps. Working and communicating with people from other cultures is fun, and even more so if you learn how to adjust your style to get your message across effectively.

We, Ardi Bouwers and Leon Nijhof, have decades of hands-on experience in Europe and Asia, in intercultural communication, advice on building alliances and interim management. We want to share our insights in East-West interpersonal relations in business and discuss how to adjust your style to make the best of awkward situations.

We will discuss requirements for internationally operating entrepreneurs and managers, decision-making processes, trust issues and much more. We offer an interactive, serious and fun workshop at a beautiful location – a 19th century residence in the center of The Hague – in order to become even more effective in East-West business relations.

Time: Wednesday June 13, 2.00 – 5.00 pm
Place: Surinamestraat 38, 2585 GK The Hague
Cost: 295 euro (per person, excl. VAT, incl. coffee, tea and drinks)

Reserve your seat now!
Send your mail to: ardi@chinacircle.nl or call 06-2323 4404 for more information and registration.

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Video: 3 lessons about the Netherlands

Ardi Bouwers — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 11:46:20 +0000

What comes to mind when you think of the Netherlands? That was the question posed by the organizers of a series of short talks in Guangzhou about Dutch architecture, innovation and communication.
The strict Pecha Kucha format – using 20 slides for only 20 seconds each – forced me to tell my story in less than 7 minutes. As I focus on communication, the essence of the Dutch identity to me is our ‘square’ communication style, our polder model with endless meetings and on our positive take on a highly confrontational style. For the Dutch, speaking one’s mind and openly criticizing any idea or proposition – purposefully not taking hierarchical relations into account – is considered taking responsibility as a team member. This was my answer to the question about the Netherlands: “Cycling on a stormy day, challenging and refreshing at the same time.”

On YouTube you can see my presentation at the Pecha Kucha organized by the Guangzhou Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

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