Liz Claiborne

We had our final corporate visit at Liz Claiborne Inc., Friday morning; since it was a late morning presentation, we finally got to sleep in…until 7:00, I can’t complain, I am in China!!

At Liz Claiborne, we met with the General Manager of Sourcing and Manufacturing, Lawrence Kole.  Everyone was looking forward to the presenation because it was about both men’s and women’s fashions and many of the brands we frequently purchase, including DKNY, Curve, Mexx, Lucky Brand, Kate Spade, Monet, and Juicy Couture.  Mr. Kole put the timeline of fashion in perspecive for us when he compared it to food.  Fashion has to be fresh, it’s perishable, and has a limited shelf life.  The speed to the market is key. 

Established in Shanghai in 1985, Liz Claiborne’s vision is to be the most creative, responsive, productive, people and customer focused, supply chain organization in the world.  With full service operations including product ideas & development, technical support, prodcution management, process control, Q&A control, and human righs compliance, Liz Claiborne is currently the 2nd most recongnized brand in the market today. With their biggest customers becoming their biggest competators, the company has four long term competative advantage key drivers: irresistable product, bulding “buzz”, supply chain innovations, and a focus on talent. 

We had one final stop at The Bund, after our visit to Liz Claiborne.  The Bund is on the riverfront of the financial district in Shanghai.  We could see the Oriental Pearl T.V. Tower in Pudong across the river.  

From here we had the afternoon to ourselves, so I went with a few others to the open air bazaar by the YuYuan Garden.  I was looking forward to the bazaar because it was a change from the crowded indoor markets, and of course, I saw some souvenirs I wanted to buy.  I think I was addicted to bargaining.  My roommate Kim even bought herself a large suitcase to fit all of her stuff, luckily I was able to fit everything in the luggage I brought. My final purchases for the day were tea, a Chinese doll, and another fan. 

Friday evening, we had our PhilaU farewell dinner at Monty’s Steakhouse.  We had a great time. There was a band, that seranaded our group for a while, we were dancing, and celebrating.  The faculty with us gave their speeches, and we celebrated John’s (one of the students), birthday.  It was an entertaining night and a enjoyable way to end the trip. 

A group of us went to Bund 18, a bar on The Bund, for a little bit, for John’s birthday.  Then I went back to the hotel to pack and go to sleep so I could get up early for…last minute shopping. I’m going to put a note on my credit card when I get home that says “OFF LIMITS”, haha.

1) Liz Claiborne
2) View of The Oriental Pearl TV Tower from The Bund

3) Bottom of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Part of the Globe
4) Kate and her Gelato in the Shape of a Flower

6) The Guys at Dinner
7) Bund 18

SAP and KPMG

We started Thursday with two corporate visits, SAP Labs China, and KPMG.  After the visits, we went to…can you guess?…another market, and then out for Thai food!  

When we arrived at SAP, we were given a tour of the campus.  We were able to see their conference rooms, small labs, recreation rooms, and take a tour of the outside of their facility.  We also got a glimpse of the construction on their second campus.  Our presenter was Yueting Zhow, who has been with SAP for 11 years.  Mr. Zhow gave us an overview of the company, and went into further discussion about their initiatives to connect with the local community.

SAP China was founded in 1997, and was established as a lab in 2003.  The company’s headquarters is  in Germany, with China’s headquarters in Beijing.  SAP has three businesses: field operations (sales and consulting), AGS (active global support), and research and development.  1,500 companies in China run SAP software, and 85% of these companies are local.  A European company with a local culture, the lab we visited in Shanghai, is the 4th largest SAP lab in the world. 

Mr. Zhow said SAP is an advocate for innovation, and for innovating the future.  We learned of the company’s commitment to China, and that they have created a foundation and education programs for more than 10 top universities.  The company partners with universities for research, and enables students to intern at SAP.  

After the presentation, SAP treated us to an American style lunch with pizza, fries, wings, and salad.  The pizza and fries were gone within minutes! 

Our afternoon visit was to KPMG China.  KPMG is an audit, tax, and advisory firm, with 2,000 employees.  The firm is 68% auditing, and holds 23% of China’s market, 2nd in comparison to PricewaterhouseCoopers who holds 41%.  The company has three client categories in China, multinational, local clients, and privately owned organizations. 

We learned a lot about China’s current economy, including their GDP (up 11.4% from last year), about their growing reserves, and that in the past 25 years, 300 million people have moved into the working middle class.  This information was important in understanding where China stands, and how KPMG, an American company who has to follow several types of accounting standards, works within China.  Our presenter said one has to understand culturally where their business partners are coming from, their background, and their education.  He also discussed some key points about doing business in China (I think they can be applied to doing business anywhere), here are a few: be patient, cultivate important relations, know your partner, be pragmatic, and recognize developing country problems. 

After our KPMG visit, we were dropped off at a seven story indoor market for a couple of hours.  Bargaining is much harder in Shanghai than in Beijing. The worst feeling was when I bought something, and found out someone else bargained a lower price for the same item!  But that happened to everyone, so I didn’t feel so bad.  

Three of my friends and I decided to go to a Thai restaurant for dinner, Coconut Paradise.  The food was really good, I got chicken and noodles again, but I asked them to add cashews!  The atmosphere of the restaurant reminded me of one of Steven Starr’s restaurants in Philadelphia. 

1) The Group at SAP
2) View from KPMG

3) Janine, Nicole, Me, and Kate at Coconut Paradise
4) Garden Outside of Coconut Paradise

5) Some of Shanghai’s Awesome Architecture
6) More Architecture