China Panel

Beyond Cheap Labor: Growing Business Opportunities and Challenges in 21st Century China

In the year 2004, not only did China contribute to 27.7% of world economic growth, become third largest importer and fourth largest exporter, but also the country put behind the image of cheap labor and low tech products supplier, became new strategic market development for many multinational corporations. Businesses around the world started to realize the vast potential consumer purchasing power as well as the more and more favorable investment environment in this country with the largest population in the world. Meanwhile, a large group of domestic corporations are emerging to compete with western companies in China and in the rest of the world. Haier's 12% share of North America's electronic appliance market and Lenovo's acquisition of IBM PC business are signals of China's joining the world business community.

The panel will introduce the business opportunities in China from the perspectives of large multinational corporations as well as local enterprises. The presentations will cover both the strategic position China market is contributing to the global economy, and the challenges provided by these opportunities. We hope the panel will answer many audience's questions on why and how to do business in the largest emerging market in the world, and what China market/products mean to the rest of world.

Bruce Rutherford
Managing Director, Tenant Representation Group, Jones Lang LaSalle

As International Director and senior professional in Tenant Representation in Texas, Bruce is responsible for tenant representation operations throughout that area.

A 20-year veteran of Tenant Representation in Jones Lang LaSalle, Bruce has managed city and regional master plans and transactions totaling over 15 million s.f. of corporate and regional headquarters. He has extensive experience across North America and Asia Pacific including Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Japan and China. Some of his more notable clients include: Aon, Bank of America, Convergys, Dream Works Studios, Hewlett Packard, Packard Bell and Procter & Gamble. He has had the additional responsibility of managing many of Jones Lang LaSalle International Tenant Representation relationships. In that capacity, he supervised teams of professionals responsible for the planning and execution of all the lease and purchase transactions and government incentive negotiations for those accounts.

Before joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Mr. Rutherford spent eight years with National Home Financing Corporation, where he was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that he spent two years with Masonite Corporation as a Financial Analyst.

Mr. Rutherford earned a MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a bachelor of science degree with honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Steven Chen
Director of Business Process Re-Engineering and e-Business Migration, Uni-President Enterprises

Uni-President Enterprises Group was established in 1967 with USD $500,000. It began as a flour and animal-feed mill and gradually diversified into almost every aspects of food manufacturing products, including edible oil, aquatic feeds, livestock, beverages, daily products, soy sauce, canned products, noodles, frozen foods, ice cream, desserts, bakery, meat, and seasonings. It competes against companies such as General Foods, ConAgra, Cargill, and Campbell Soup. Uni-President's revenue was near USD $7 Billion in 2004, with USD $1.1 billion in Taiwan, and USD $850 Million in Mainland China.

Uni-President owns more than 4000 7-Eleven convenience stores and has joint venture with Carrefour. It has hundreds of subsidiaries in Taiwan and started to invest in China in early 1990's with the start of Beijing Noodles joint venture. It now has more than 35 manufacturing plants in China.

Currently, Mr. Chen's is the Director of Business Development. He joined the company in 1984, spent the first few years in IT, and than moved to strategic planning in 1988. Mr. Chen led M&A and joint-venture negotiations with Fri-to-lay, Coca Cola, Kikkoman Soy-Sauce, and Tsingdao Brewery. He also spearheaded the USD $335 million acquisitions in the US that includes All Girl-Scout cookies and Amos Cookies.

From 1992-1993, Mr. Chen began to get involved with the initial investment into China.

Mr. Chen received his MBA from Michigan Business School in 1981, and MS-Computer science from George Washington University in 1983.

Jeff Prunty
Controller, Intel China

Mr. Jeff Prunty serves as Financial Controller, Intel Products Ltd. in Shanghai China. Mr. Prunty is responsible for overall operational and strategic finance supporting Intel's emerging China operations in Shanghai. Shanghai is a diverse site with proven capabilities in Assembly Test Operations, Hardware/Software/Silicon, Process Technology, Product Development, Marketing, and general corporate functions. Intel's operations in China total over 4,000 employees in 4 major campuses located in Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu.

Mr. Prunty began his career with Intel in 1989 as an International Accountant in the Santa Clara Headquarters. He has served in a variety of Finance roles supporting Manufacturing, Product design, Marketing, and Corporate functions in the U.S. Jeff has worked in Asia since 2002 as the Operations Controller in Malaysia, and now Site Controller in China.

Jeff received his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Chico State University and his MBA from the University of Portland.

Bradley Farnsworth (Moderator)
Director, Center for International Business Education (CIBE), Ross School of Business

Brad Farnsworth is director of the Center for International Business Education (CIBE) at the Michigan Ross School of Business. He also teaches courses on business in China, international management, the world economy, and globalization to MBAs, undergraduates, and executives.

CIBE is a national resource center for promoting research and teaching in international business. Its activities include faculty research grants, foreign language courses, study abroad, joint projects with other business schools, executive training programs, course development, and student internships and consulting projects. It recently launched a program in micro-finance. More information on CIBE is available at www.umich.edu/~cibe.

Before coming to Michigan in 1991, Brad served as associate director of the Yale-China Association, a century-old educational organization based at Yale University. During that time he developed one of the first management training programs with foreign cooperation in mainland China.

He has consulted with companies doing business in China, working primarily with the automotive industry. He serves on a number of advisory boards and committees, including the Michigan District Export Council, which provides export advice to Michigan firms, and the executive committee of the UM Center for Chinese Studies.

Since the early 1980s, Brad has traveled regularly to Hong Kong and many parts of China. He has been married to Elaine Wilson for twenty-three years and has two children, Benjamin (17) and Irene (14). He holds graduate degrees in business and Chinese studies from Washington University in St. Louis, both awarded in 1981.