Chicago Business

Issue date: 6/5/08 Section: GSB News

The (Re-)Making of Milwaukee: With the rapid ascendance of China and India, many observers wrote off the American Midwest's prospects in the global economy. However, it may not be as bad as some may have thought - this article by Matt Miller in The Deal speaks about how a new breed of entrepreneurs are forging innovative businesses to get a leg up in the global economy... and even exporting manufactured products, crafted with pride in the USA, to China!! Read about it at http://tinyurl.com/6bxmef

Crazy English in China: An awesome story about an entrepreneur who uses "innovative" methods to teach English to China's populace! Li Yang's Crazy English has won thousands of pupils across China, spurring him to run winter training camps splattered with jokes that seem to spur intense devotion from disciples. Joking about why the Chinese need to learn English ("Onesixth of the world's population speaks Chinese, so why are we studying English? Because we pity foreigners for not being able to speak Chinese!"), Li Yang uses a deep baritone voice, an all-American wife and an impossibly successful personal story to capitalize on the country's English language fever. As the article suggests, it is not difficult to imagine millions of Chinese, Indians and Africans across the world soon marching to capture the essence of "What is English?" "English is a piece of cake. I can totally conquer English. I will use English. I will learn English. I will live in English. I am no longer a slave to English. I am its master. I believe English will become my faithful servant and lifelong friend. . . " at http://tinyurl.com/6hkfw6

Nokia's Africa set to overtake America: Even with food prices at record highs, Nokia believes that the demand for mobile phones in Africa will continue to increase, in contrast to declining growth in Europe and North America. With over 33 million handsets purchased in Africa in Q1-2008 (within striking distance of the 39 million sold in North America), Africa is emerging as an attractive market for global telecom equipment players. Check out how low mobilephone penetration levels and increasing purchasing power are driving the African telecom industry at http://tinyurl.com/6melpc

Summer Reading List: Business Week has released its MBA poolside
reading list, absent-mindedly assuming that most MBAs get a tan over the summer, instead of paying customary obeisance to the corporate world during internships. The magazine suggests Poor Richard's Almanack, The Goal and The Tipping Point among others - suggesting these standards are a bit of a bore, so here's our own list:

" On the Scent of a Winner by Chandler Burr: A fascinating narrative about how the aroma of a green mango on the Nile River gets transformed into a chemical formula to be sold to millions around the world. If you are curious, did you know that methyl dihydrojasmonate is the smell of clean, pure light?

" Mobsters without Borders by Misha Glenny: Just when you thought globalization's become too boring, here comes a book that leads you on one wild ride across continents on the trail of the McMafia: the new global gangsters engaged in businesses ranging from opium production in Afghanistan to prostitution in Eastern Europe and arms trafficking in Africa. If you liked Blood Diamond and Lord of War, read this book where the ugly characters that inspired those stories prowl.

" The Craftsman by Richard Sennet: Travelling across centuries and delving into "the skill of making things well", this amazing book describes the loss of the art of craftsmanship and how it has, unbeknownst to us, changed much of what we value in our lives.

" Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalization by Richard Longworth: Longworth has already shared his very pragmatic and dispassionate views on the American Midwest's "industrial hangover" with students in roundtable discussions at the Gleacher Center and IHouse. In his book, he discusses rare examples like Chicago and Milwaukee surging ahead, while arguing that the region's agro-industrial complex urgently needs to reinvent itself to thrive in the changing tides of globalization. Coming from a Chicago Tribune reporter, it is a report card with a few incisive recommendations by one of Chicago's own.

That's all for now - if you still have reading time left this summer, consider taking on a second self-flagellating internship. Until Fall '08, may the Force be with you. As to our soon-to-be-sorely missed 2nd years who will step into big business soon (as they say in bad Latin): "Illegitimi non carborundum".

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