Understanding Made In China: April 28, 2008 In NYC
On Monday, April 28, 2008, The Asia Society is putting on a China speaking event, entitled, "Product Safety: Understanding the 'Made in China' Brand" This will be from 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm at the Asia Society and Museum, 8th Floor, 725 Park Avenue, New York City.
The event is described as follows:
As China prepares for its August 2008 Olympics ‘coming out party,’ lingering concerns over the safety of the ‘Made in China’ brand remain. Even as China publicizes efforts to ensure product safety and reassure consumers, new incidents and ‘Not Made in China’ brands have cropped up. In many product safety cases, there is no easy target at whom to point a blaming finger. Laxity of government supervision in China plays a role, as do conditions in China’s factory and supply chain systems. Domestic and foreign companies have learned that they must proactively involve themselves in sourcing chains, and many companies are rapidly changing their approaches. This program, the second in Asia Society’s series of programs looking at the effects of the Olympics on China, will analyze all of these issues while providing future prospects and advice for companies, governments, and consumers alike.
The speakers will be:
Alexandra Harney, the South China Correspondent for the Financial Times and author of the book, The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage.Paul Midler, Founder and President of China Advantage and the force behind the always excellent The China Game blog.
Alan H. Schoem, Senior Vice President, Global Product Risk Practice, Marsh.
Daniel Rosen, a Principal at China Strategic Advisory, will moderate.
I am plugging this event because I know two of the three speakers and I know them to be extremely knowledgeable regarding China product production. Paul Midler coined the by now familiar phrase, "quality fade" to describe the deterioration in product quality that so often occurs with product made in China. Paul and I have had many great discussions (both live and online) as to what causes the fade, what can be done to help prevent it, and whether it is inevitable and I can unequivocally state that Paul knows China manufacturing. I just recently finished reading Ms. Harney's book, The China Price, and I will review it here shortly. The book is an inside look at Chinese manufacturing and it leaves absolutely no doubt that Ms. Harney knows whereof she speaks on this topic.
I am certain this will be a great event and I would love to hear about this event from anyone who goes.
Comments
I'd be interested in learning what's become of Alexandra Harney? At the end of her book, "The China Price", she says that she left her job with the FT because she felt that she could no longer be truthful to her job because she was being constantly hounded/surveilled. I recall in her book, that she said that product safety per se may be an easier nut to crack than improving working conditions in China for Chinese workers. Of course, presumably it's easier in some cases to inspect a product than to keep track of subcontracted factories in the context of fraudulent record keeping practices.
Posted by: Steven Blayney | April 25, 2008 6:38 PM