MICHAEL MCCUNE

The reason why I join The China Business Network
Technology seems to provide unlimited access to information about China, but it can’t assess the value of that information.  People can do that, but only in the domain they know best. 
 
These days, to just say “I know China” no longer carries enough specificity.  Participating in a community of individuals that validates and shares information about China based on each members specific experience and knowledge saves us time, helps us make better decisions, and ultimately advances our personal careers.

My China Connection
A trip to Japan, China and the Russian far east in 1988 awoke more than an interest in China.  It caused me to question how my perceptions had been formed.

That first exposure to North East Asia came to pass as I transitioned from High School to University.  In retrospect, it was good timing for new questions to arise, but coursework did not provide all the answers.

The best advice I got at that time was to pursue a language spoken in a country that everyone said would have a tremendous impact on the world for the arc of my life.  Twenty years on, that advice has proved very prescient.

As a "China Guy" who has distaste for the term 中国通, I readily admit that one cannot be an expert on all things China.  Perhaps because the language was my discipline, my focus became the Chinese consumer - someone I could talk to directly with a personal frame of reference.

So while I am equally guilty of tea-leaf reading based on secondary sources, my focus has remained on public opinion, shopper behavior, visual merchandising, and retail marketing.