Hiding Bad Things And Mistakes From Customers

Hiding Bad Things And Mistakes From Customers

Hiding Bad Things And Mistakes From Customers

Copyright © 2024 by Colleen Grissolimas

All rights reserved

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 : HIDING OUT OF SHAME AT FAILURE?

CHAPTER 2 : COLLECT AND COLLECT MORE

CHAPTER 3 : FOCUSING ON THE SCREEN.

CHAPTER 4 : MEGIDDO SUDDENLY SAID

CHAPTER 5 : ANY SEEMINGLY NEGATIVE EVENT CAN BE THE SEED

CHAPTER 1 : HIDING OUT OF SHAME AT FAILURE?

While European and American businesses face failure head-on, Asian businesses pack up their things at night and silently run away if they encounter difficulties, not knowing that failure is a valuable tuition fee for success.

Don't wash dirty laundry in public

Hiding because of shame of failure? During the 2008 crisis, many factories in Shenzhen (China) had to close because of insufficient revenue or orders due to the decline in consumption levels in Europe, America or Japan. Most owners, whether foreign or Chinese, choose to pack up their belongings at night and quietly flee, instead of having to face creditors, employees or the government. This phenomenon is also quite common in Vietnam and other Asian countries that are still influenced by ancient feudal customs. Compared to businesses in European and American countries, owners here often openly bring remaining assets to the public, or hand them over to the court, or negotiate with creditors for a more peaceful solution.

Many Chinese and Vietnamese businessmen will argue that the legal mechanism here is too complicated and not transparent, so when bankruptcy occurs, it is very difficult to resolve it to satisfy the demands of all relevant groups. This reason also contains a grain of truth; But analyzing carefully, I realize that socio-cultural factors have a more important influence. The issue of face in the traditional behavior and communication of Asians, especially Chinese, has been the most discussed topic in many European and American countries.

For the sake of dignity, Chinese businessmen, including overseas Chinese, rush into projects and jobs that are ostentatious, one-sided, and temporary; instead of being creative, sustainable and discreet. They like to stand out from their colleagues and the praise of the community, clan, friends, family... is an indispensable motivation in calculating and managing work. Because of their reputation, they are most afraid of being laughed at by the community when they fail. Many businessmen are willing to leave their country and roots to disappear out of shame. Therefore, covering up what is considered bad becomes a business priority.

The attitude of hiding or revealing is the biggest cultural difference between East Asia and Europe and America in the daily behavior of individuals and groups. Take the art of painting, for example: while Asian paintings often show hidden beauty, with an overview of nature and people, European and American paintings are full of realism, clearly depicting reality. clear with edges and details. Confucian philosophy contains many metaphors, ambiguities and similes. Western philosophies are fierce with arguments, debates and objections. Proverbs in Asian etiquette emphasize don't wash dirty laundry in public, or show off what's good, hide what's bad or don't show your back to others.

This is a contrasting habit, most contrary to the principles of transparency and honesty of the world financial system. If all companies listed on stock exchanges in Asia used the excuse of respecting traditional culture to show off the good and hide the bad, we would not have a stock market in these places. Even in private companies, hiding bad things and mistakes from customers, partners, employees... will cause dangers to product safety, to trust in the brand, for sustainability of operations.

Thinking further, hidden bad things often do not have a uniform definition in all perspectives. If we use the extensive basis of personal morality or diverse standards of social thinking, today's bad can easily change into tomorrow's good; and vice versa. A typical example is failure in the marketplace. Through my teaching career, I know many young students in Asia who, because they are afraid of failing, being laughed at, and having a bad reputation for life, never dare to venture into business. Meanwhile, American society's broad-minded thinking and easy acceptance of failure are one of the reasons for the miraculous breakthrough of this economy.

Failure is tuition

I see that here, people are not ashamed of stealing or lying; but ashamed of failure or poverty. It goes against all the thinking and moral standards that I have been taught since childhood.

I could go so far as to say that failure is something worthy of praise, even pride. It speaks of the courage of people who dare to do things, it shows the patience of the striving spirit, and it will be an extremely valuable lesson more than any lecture in the classroom or on the pages of dry books. . When I was interning on Wall Street in the 1970s, a trader on the trading floor at Merrill Lynch made a rash decision, making a mistake that cost the company $8 million in 20 minutes. The whole office looked at him anxiously as he packed his things, ready to be fired. But when he submitted his resignation, his boss scolded him severely, The company just spent 8 million USD to pay your tuition, now you dare to quit your job? Take care of your desk, use your head better, and try to get the company back the money you lost. This boss understands failure". No wonder that employee became a superstar at Merrill Lynch in the following years.

A professor friend of Tsinghua University asked me about the strangest paradox I had experienced in Chinese society, I see that here, people are not ashamed of stealing or lying; but ashamed of failure or poverty. It goes against all the thinking and moral standards that I have been taught since childhood.

The phenomenon of hiding because of shame over failure is most clearly shown in the handling of corporate debt. I remember 25 years ago, my boss and I were horrified when a Japanese customer committed suicide because of a $4 million debt he couldn't pay. For the investment bank we work for, 4 million USD is not a large amount of money. I just need to write a 2-page report with the boss's signature and approval and all files will be folded. We had to go to psychological treatment afterwards because we both thought we were guilty or fault in this incident.

Failure is something worthy of praise, even pride. It speaks of the courage of people who dare to do things, it shows the patience of the striving spirit.

Throughout Asia, no businessman wants to dissect or dig up past debt or failures. No one wants to sit down and explain to creditors or partner shareholders the reasons or factors that caused the incident. Everyone, including the creditors, only wished that this accident would disappear, that everything would be silent and that everyone would return to their daily lives as if it never happened.

Personally, I have also faced the abyss of bankruptcy many times in business. In the early 80s, I was very excited and optimistic when I made money quickly and recklessly with real estate from the 70s. A few friends and I gathered all our capital, about 6 million USD, to invest in building 220 villas in Scottsdale, Arizona. When bank interest rates rose to more than 20% a year, we could not sell a single villa, and had to pay more than 27 million USD in both capital and interest that had come due. My lawyer advised me to avoid creditors and declare bankruptcy so that all assets will be frozen by the court for about 2 years, then wait for the situation to reverse. But my personal ethics do not allow me to do so.

I convened a committee of creditors to honestly present the assets and debts of both myself and the company. I take full responsibility and am willing to hand over all assets without causing any difficulty so that they can have a clear path to liquidation and the debts will not get worse over time. In return, I did not have to declare bankruptcy (which has a negative impact on my personal credit history for 7 years) and was not sued further for any reason. In my personal assets, I even listed 2 famous paintings (worth more than 500,000 USD), a fountain pen collection (worth more than 400,000 USD) and 4 classic sports cars (worth more than 1 million USD). .5 million USD). These are assets that I can easily hide.

Creditors appreciate my honesty and courage. They easily accepted all the conditions and let me keep my writing collection and a Porsche. After that, they took me to dinner at the most luxurious restaurant in Los Angeles, and we sang the song My Way together intimately. A creditor 6 years later invested more than 2 million USD in my company Hartcourt and we have become close friends to this day.

Honest, transparent and open

One thing to remember is that the thoughts and expectations of Asian professionals growing up in a global financial environment have changed a lot. Most of them have graduated from European and American universities, lived and worked for a long time in multinational institutions, so their culture and thinking are often much different from those of administrators who are still entangled. stuck with old times.

I was invited by several debtors to become a consultant to negotiate with creditors about a smooth bankruptcy solution. I always say that I can't guarantee that your creditors will come to an amicable settlement with the board of directors on the final resolution or will be happy to invite the board of directors out to dinner and drinks. But I firmly believe that honesty, transparency and openness are three necessary elements for the company's restructuring to be completed as desired. Any action to the contrary will only cause consequences contrary to the interests of all factions.

Life is not how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain (Life is not how to survive the storm, but live to dance in the rain.)

I hope that young Vietnamese entrepreneurs will not be discouraged by the shame of fear of failure when finding creative and dynamic solutions for their work. Thomas Edison failed more than 2 thousand times in experiments before inventing the electric light bulb. If he was embarrassed, perhaps humanity would still have to light candles every night. I have a framed sentence in my office in Shanghai given to me by a friend, Life is not how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain. live to dance in the rain.) I will respectfully give it to the board of directors of a company that knows how to successfully navigate the waves after the storm.

Which foreign currency to invest in?

In the context of instability in many world economies and high inflation in many countries, especially countries in the East Asian region, many investors are wondering whether to invest in foreign currencies. to ensure value, let alone enhance the value of that investment. BUSINESSMAN would like to introduce the views of Dr. Alan Phan, Chairman of Viasa Investment Fund on this issue.

WHICH FOREIGN CURRENCY INVEST? In the foreign currency basket of the current foreign exchange market, there are quite a few currencies of countries that investors and people are interested in holding. Depending on the purpose of use, each person has different concerns. However, regardless of the purpose, choosing and holding currencies will be based on the real value and market value of that currency.

The real value of a currency is determined by the internal strength of the economy. The strength of the economy is shown through a number of basic indicators, including: GDP, balance sheet of total products, income per capita, economic growth, national reserves (foreign exchange, goods, gold or silver), balance of payments, trade deficit, trade deficit, trade surplus, etc.

The market value of a currency is determined by supply and demand, like a commodity whose attractiveness can be assessed through the market's trading liquidity.

On the basis of determining the real value and market price of a currency, investors will make a decision to choose a foreign currency to invest in. However, the degree of influence and unexpected impact of the economy on that currency in both the short and long term is difficult to avoid.

Vietnam's foreign exchange market trades many popular currencies with almost every country in the world: US dollar (USD), Chinese Yuan (NDT), Swiss Franc (CHF), Canadian dollar (CAD), Australian dollar (AUD), Singapore dollar (SGD)…

USD: Is the main currency in Vietnam's foreign exchange reserves, also the international payment currency. Therefore, USD is not only important but also very liquid in Vietnam as well as around the world. In the near future or the next 5 years, it is predicted that the value of the USD will still be influenced by two factors of supply and demand.

The need to use the USD: because it is the currency of the world's largest economy, of a government that has consolidated and built confidence in the world's leading political, economic, and social stability in the world. for a long time and it is not easy to change or trade that belief, so the need to hold USD will still be quite high, especially in the unstable situation of many other economies.

USD supply volume: is currently increasing after the US Government's economic stimulus packages (quantitative easing) over the past 3 years to save large banks. At the same time, the US Federal Reserve is implementing a weak dollar policy to help boost exports and reduce debt values.

When supply increases, demand remains high, a balanced position will help the USD not depreciate much compared to its real value and still maintain its position as the world's number 1 payment currency. Accordingly, the US dollar exchange rate in the international market is quite stable and if there is a decrease, it will only decrease by about 1-3% by the end of 2012.

RMB: In contrast to other foreign currencies, RMB is not priced by the market but is shaped by the Chinese Government for political purposes. No financial expert can accurately predict the rise and fall of the RMB.

Although China's economy is now strong, its GDP is ranked second in the world, with national reserves reaching over 3,200 billion USD, but some internal weaknesses can affect not only the economy but also the economy. social stability of this country. The three most negative factors are inflation, asset bubbles and bad debts of the banking system.

Many people talk about the RMB becoming the world's common payment currency, replacing the USD. I don't believe this will happen because China's institutions and political structure do not allow for financial transparency and honesty. When the RMB is not freely convertible, bought and sold (except for a few special government transactions), the RMB is still just a local currency.

CHF: A currency with quite high real value due to the very smart financial management of the Government of this country. The CHF is being highly appreciated by the market and demand will exceed supply in the coming years.

Because the public debt crisis in several European countries is weakening the Euro, people with money in EU and Eastern European countries are tending to accumulate and store CHF. The more unstable the global economy is, the more stable and steadily appreciating the CHF will be.

CAD and AUD: These are two currencies with quite similar positions and trends because they are based on an economy rich in minerals (and oil in Canada). However, raw materials prices have increased quite high in recent years, and the global economy is in recession, so it will be difficult for oil and mineral prices to increase further. The market price or real value of CAD and AUD will therefore be saturated at the current level, neither rising too high nor falling too low.

SGD: In recent years, Singapore's GDP has grown strongly, but this is not really an economy based on resources, domestic consumption or commodity production.

Andy Xie, a senior expert at Morgan Stanley, was fired from his job under pressure from the Singapore Government because of his comment: Singapore is the money laundering center of Southeast Asian countries. Thanks to the circulating cash flows is probably the main reason for Singapore's prosperity. When economies in the region are having problems with the safety of their financial systems and have to tighten their belts because of soaring inflation, the SGD will also be affected.

With the above overview of some foreign currencies in the exchange market, many people will ask which currency do I personally choose for investment and storage purposes? Please tell me, if I need to keep cash I will choose CHF. However, my optimal choice so far is still gold. Personally, I am loyal to the view that no matter how liquid, convenient and popular it is, every paper currency can be manipulated, devalued and printed by political actors, not to mention added. many other factors. I never believe in paper money, but in the financial value of gold!

Nhan Nhan Newspaper published number 85 on August 9, 2011

Let's talk about gold again

To understand why the price of gold increased so much and so quickly, we must understand inflation. Few financial experts want to talk about the real reason for inflation. When all currencies lose value, especially USD, gold will increase in price. That never changes.

TAKING GOLD AGAINFor the past four years, gold has always accounted for the largest proportion in my investment portfolio. Many people gave me a new nickname, Goldfinger (the bad character of the James Bond 007 movie has the same name). Analysts reject this tactic, saying that gold cannot bring better returns than stocks or real estate when invested long-term (more than 2 years). They further lectured that on a purely economic level, gold does not contribute anything to GDP or personal income. However, in the world racetrack, my golden horse has surpassed all serious opponents, from the Dow Jones index to currencies and all types of commodities. After four years, since I bought gold at 600 USD/ounce, the gold price is now 1,800 USD/ounce. I predict that the gold price will rise to more than $2,500 by the end of 2012.

To understand why the price of gold increased so much and so quickly, we must understand inflation. Historically, inflation is a noun that refers to an increase in the price of goods. Few financial experts want to talk about the real reason for inflation. They claim that inflation in Vietnam occurs because of global inflation, because of speculators, because of the climate, because of consumer confidence, because of decline in production, etc., etc. The statistics are even twisted so they can claim that inflation is only a few percent per month, nothing important. They don't want to hear a brief reason: Inflation is caused by currency devaluation.

And the two reasons for this situation are also very simple: one, the budget's borrowing for consumption is too high compared to income through taxes and investment; Second, printing money indiscriminately increases the total money supply.

When money loses value, people blame it on people losing confidence in the domestic currency when the macro economy is unstable. Actually, people are very wise. They do not believe in things that are not true. Or, if we say the increase in commodity prices is due to speculation, then I don't think anyone has enough money to do long-term business following this strategy, unless they know for sure that the currency is increasingly devaluing.

TALK ABOUT GOLD AGAIN When all