Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast

Sidney Rittenberg led an exceptional life. He tumbled into the swirling waters of history as the communist revolution swept Mao into power. He was a friend of Mao. He was also a prisoner of Mao. Twice. He spent sixteen years in solitary confinement, six years thanks to Josef Stalin, and ten years courtesy of the Cultural Revolution. Somehow he rebounded and started a consulting business that broug...

In this episode of Business Class, the subject is climate change and business. Interviewed by USC’s Dick Drobnick, Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Masagos Zulkifli explains how Singapore, a small country with few natural resources, may present a very realistic model for a world that is facing effects from its changing climate. Masagos Zulkfli, is an engineer and looks...

According to Sri Manchala, CEO of Trasers, “This is where the game begins.” Sri and Trasers are digging in deep to help companies understand the Digital Transformation. Trasers has recently completed an exhaustive, many industries wide survey, of just where companies stand and what they understand about the Digital Transformation. The resulting reports are aimed at helping companies understand how...

Bob Zukis sees two corporate worlds. In one world, a company is smoothly navigating the Digital Transformation and using these new tools to connect with customers and advance their business. In the other world, he sees boardrooms that simply don’t comprehend how the digital world operates and that there are barbarians at the gates. Bob says, “this is a crisis in the boardroom” and that business ar...

How does the Cold War inform business strategy? What truism about strategy did Lord Nelson understand to win the Battle of Trafalgar? Carl Voigt, Professor of Clinical Management and Organization at the USC Marshall School of Business and Academic Director of the USC IBEAR MBA Program brings storytelling to Business Class to describe what makes a good and what makes a bad business strategy. The ba...

Climate change forces an industry to adapt of die. Business Class spoke with Bill Dewey of the Taylor Shellfish Company about being one of the first industries that had to face the impacts of climate change. Taylor Shellfish, founded in the 1890s, is a family owned company with over 500 employees in the Pacific Northwest. The company operates a shellfish farm, a chain of restaurants and needs it’s...

Palau is a small island nation. It’s northern island -Babledoab - is mostly trees, rivers, farms and some small villages. And yet, on the very northern tip of the island are two groups using classic business planning techniques to form a working partnership. In this episode, Business Class takes a look at how the Farmers and the Fishers of Babeldoab plan to form a merger - and how these sophistica...

In this two-part series, Business Class explores the business policies on the small island nation of Palau. We hear that choosing to protect the nation’s environment is a long term business decision. In Part 1 - we talk tuna. We learn how small countries of the region formed an alliance to protect tuna stocks in their waters from the fishing giants of the world. We also explore Palau’s business mo...

Business Class speaks with Fan Bao of Renaissance China in Shanghai, about what he terms the New Economy of China. This economy has no state owned enterprises and represents half the economy of China. Digging deeper, Mr. Bao describes two important super cycles that are driving the China economy and gives an inside view on how important entrepreneurs are to the country. In an interview that ranges...

Jim McGregor, the Chairman of APCO China and former Wall Street Journal Bureau Chief has been working in China since 1990. When he says, “The US and China are at a fundamental turning point,” it pays to listen. McGregor looks at the idea of a trade war differently than most. While the trade aspects are important, he sees that the US and China, “Are now in fierce competition for all the technologie...

Krish Sridhar is building a company that sees 2 billion potential users. The goal, “Connecting the top floor with the shop floor,” in places where the only technology is a smart phone. Know, is a Singapore based start-up that recently pulled down a 7 figure round of US, VC funding. Krish, Know CEO and former McKinsey consultant, spoke with Business Class on why a hot start up would pick Singapore...

Any mention of Singapore and business has to take into account the policies of the Singaporean government. In the case of entrepreneurs, the government has taken its foot off the brake and is stepping firmly on the gas. Business Class spoke with Paul Meyers of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the shifts that now make Singapore the entrepreneurial center of SE Asia. Meyers is a serial entreprene...

Danny Russel has seen diplomacy in action. As the Assistant Secretary of State under John Kerry, he had a ringside seat. Now, watching punches being traded in the trade war between the U.S. and China he feels he’s watching, “the new abnormal.” Discussing China’s expected response to tariffs, he says, “Trying to body slam the Chinese is not going to make them give in. It will make them dig in.” Ove...

In Part 2 of this Business Class conversation, we look at the backstory of the US -China Trade War. Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister says “I worry that the lines of communication are shutting down.” Using his background as a Sinologist, he notes that both Presidents are looking at the politics of the confrontation. And as, “The impact of a shuddering halt to US – China trade would be p...

Kevin Rudd is the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia and also happens to be a China scholar. He feels that, “2018 is a watershed for US / China relations.” In Part 1 of this Business Class podcast, Mr. Rudd brings his deep experience to analyze what is going on behind the scenes in Beijing and Washington. In his view, both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are leading their countrie...

Bob Zukis wants people to understand the digital transformation. He wants people to understand that a successful business needs a trained technologist in the C-Suite. With social technologies showing their power in events such as the manipulation of the US election, he reflects, “Bad preceeds the good, until we learn how to control it.” His view is that we are just at the beginning of building the...

Chris Darnell likes risk and has “a high capacity for ambiguity.” Good traits for an executive whose career path includes being CFO of the Microsoft Cloud as well as an entrepreneur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Always looking to blend the worlds of the executive and creative, Chris’ current company ‘The Human Baton” will burst onto the media scene soon with race cars, horses, high speed boats and more....

Kazu Yozawa is the Global CTO of NTT Security and thinks we live in a scary world. This is the world of network security, where threats can range from a teenager forging a user code on a piece of software, to state sponsored hackers that target specific industries around the globe. He said that more education in how computer networks operate will help, but at this time, “only a few executives unde...

“What’s the difference between this U.S. president and others” -QiWei Chen There is a question inside China about how this president is different from other U.S. presidents. Dr. QiWei Chen, the Founder of ABC Capital of Shanghai considered this and other questions in an interview with Business Class. Noting that China has benefited greatly from trade with the U.S. - he feels that China will respon...

Wendy Cutler spends a lot of time thinking about trade. She was the Chief Negotiator on the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement and the Lead Negotiator on the TPP Agreement. We spoke with her just as the US announced that tariffs were going to be placed on China and other US trading partners. She commented on what trading partners might feel, “Well it’s China today, but maybe tomorrow the president will...

In the first year of his presidency Donald Trump largely avoided trade issues with China. As the second year unfolded, Clay Dube notes that the President seems to have returned to the attack mode promised in the campaign. As policies shift daily, Business Class asked Clayton Dube, the Director of the USC US – China Institute, to take a look at the Trump playbook and bring his insight to the Admini...

Economics is front page news around the world as trade pacts are dismantled, tariffs are threatened and trade wars suddenly appear on the horizon. Baizhu Chen, noted USC China expert takes us inside the threatened US / China tariffs to see what is at play. In the complex trade relationship between the US and China, it seems that the main issues in this trade war are explained in every Econ 101 tex...

Gary Locke, former US Ambassador to China, Secretary of Commerce and Governor of Washington has experienced trade issues from all angles. He sees threatening tariffs more as a political gesture, than a well thought out strategy. Tariffs on steel for example would hurt Canada more than it would China. He asks, “Why would we want to anger our allies?” Locke brings insight to questions ranging from t...

How do you align a career with your own motivations? When do you pivot your career? How does extra training such as an MBA impact your strategy? In Part 2 of the Constructing a Career series, Grant Ingersoll, President of Integrated Oncology Network and Ana Maria Stringi Guemáraes, Audit Director at MUFG US Bank, discuss when and how to make a move. Ana Maria and Grant are both graduates of the US...

Where does an MBA fit in a career plan? How do you plan a career? How many steps does it take to reach your goal? In this episode of Business class we begin a series that will take a deep look into careers. We will talk with MBA grads at all stages of their career. We’ll hear what steps they took, mistakes they made and insights they have gained. In Part 1, Doug Montgomery, VP of Customer Insight...