本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Starbucks, Profit and Culture
I am not an avid coffee addict and seldom drink it even it is free in the company. So I paid
little attention on the brand of coffee. I knew Nestle and Maxwell from TV commercial
a decade ago when I was in China. I never went into the coffee houses in China because the hefty amount of
money charged in comparison to my meager salary as junior university teacher. After I came to
Canada, I began to drink coffee in coffee houses such as Second Cup or Coffee Time with friends.
What I noticed is that the coffee houses in Canada is for ordinary people: to drink, to read, to
chat and to relax. There is no thing there necessarily labeled to be of up-scale, exotic and romantic.
Everything is reasonably priced and no one seems to be scared away.
Then came Starbucks: it came to my sight when it opened its shop at Yonge and Charles in 1997 and it is
said its goal is to make its shops the third place to go for ordinary people after workplace and home.
Though it is for the ordinary people like me, I did not drink its coffee and know nothing about it
except that it is a success story in bussiness.
Recently, Starbucks got my attention again. A email from the facility manager of the company is circulating
for opinion whether the Starbucks coffee should be introduced in place of Columbia Coffee we are
currently drinking. I also read the article from an known Chinese website that the Chinese operation
of Starbucks is another cash cow so as that its shops in Chinese become the primary place for the social
elite, the white-collar and famous intellectuals.
Why something common in America is so dearly treated in China? Definitely, it is not for the bean and the way
to brew. It is because the Starbucks, like MacDonald, is viewed as an icon of American culture.
Now we get down to the relationship among coffee, profit and culture.
In order to make a money, people must sell something.
Physical labor and its productions can be sold
as commodity. This is what the third world countries such as China, India are good at. The shoes, bikes,
toys and even TVs are produced in mass volume. However, the profit are so low that the selling prices
in America could be several times of the money paid to the manufacturers. It is even the case in
the high-tech area such as software. It does not matter how hard India software engineers strive that
that only a small fraction of profit flows outside of USA. It is also true for the Chinese TV industry,
the majority of profit is raked by Apex and the distributors in America. Even Japanese multi-nationals
can not escape the fate: the top-notch engines made by Honda are installed under the hoods of GM cars
and sold as part of American product.
Technology and knowledge are also the commodity. Instead of selling products, smart companies began to
sell technologies. One of success stories is Qualcomm. Instead of selling hardware, it develops and licenses
the technologies to wireless communication equipment manufacturers. Those companies stay at the high-end
of business process: R&D and marketing. Selling knowledge and technology is much more profitable than
selling the labor, as we all know.
We, Chinese, are the true believers of the concepts of labor and technology and are taking great advantage of
them: China is the
largest producer of many kinds of products and "Made in China" appears on most of commodities on the market
here. The Chinese government is investing heavily in technology and attracting over-sea talent go home.
However, there is more profitable way to make the money: exporting the culture. Here I am not talking of
exporting the culture products such as TV programs, movie and other stuffs from Hollywood. The culture I am
referring to here is the way of life. Once culture A is adored by the people in another culture B, something
common in culture A will be accepted by the people in culture B as luxury. There are many examples:
Jaguar, a British car with the stylish profile, gets a in proportional share of market for no reason but
a cure for the nostalgia of some British descendant in America. It is not only a vehicle, it is also a
symbol of an old empire, whose past glory is still cherished by its over-sea patriots. My friend returning
from Taiwan told me that, in the long slump of economy, an American raked a huge amount of hard-earned
money from people in Taiwan just by opening a Pub and Grill, a mom-and-dad type of restaurant in America.
To export labor and products, you need to be competitive in quality and price. In order to export
technology, large amount of capital is required and risk is also involved. However, once a culture
is accepted and honored, the way of life will be exported without advertisement and accepted with
enthusiasm. Japanese are good in making cars and encroaching American market. However, American
invaded their daily life with McDonald, Starbuck, Coke and even the dream to be American or Americanized.
Though there is a huge trade deficit between Japan and USA, it is American to get more money since
the cost of American life exported is very low.
It is also the case in the community of over-sea Chinese. As long as the Chinatown is filthy and dirty
and it is always meant to us as a bargain place, the extra consumption besides daily necessities will
go out of Chinese community.
In order to make a civilization competitive, sustainable and prevailing, an army of cheap and disciplined
workforce and well-educated talent are not enough. What is important is to have a brilliant culture which
is attractive to others. In plain words, it is important to have a decent way of life.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
I am not an avid coffee addict and seldom drink it even it is free in the company. So I paid
little attention on the brand of coffee. I knew Nestle and Maxwell from TV commercial
a decade ago when I was in China. I never went into the coffee houses in China because the hefty amount of
money charged in comparison to my meager salary as junior university teacher. After I came to
Canada, I began to drink coffee in coffee houses such as Second Cup or Coffee Time with friends.
What I noticed is that the coffee houses in Canada is for ordinary people: to drink, to read, to
chat and to relax. There is no thing there necessarily labeled to be of up-scale, exotic and romantic.
Everything is reasonably priced and no one seems to be scared away.
Then came Starbucks: it came to my sight when it opened its shop at Yonge and Charles in 1997 and it is
said its goal is to make its shops the third place to go for ordinary people after workplace and home.
Though it is for the ordinary people like me, I did not drink its coffee and know nothing about it
except that it is a success story in bussiness.
Recently, Starbucks got my attention again. A email from the facility manager of the company is circulating
for opinion whether the Starbucks coffee should be introduced in place of Columbia Coffee we are
currently drinking. I also read the article from an known Chinese website that the Chinese operation
of Starbucks is another cash cow so as that its shops in Chinese become the primary place for the social
elite, the white-collar and famous intellectuals.
Why something common in America is so dearly treated in China? Definitely, it is not for the bean and the way
to brew. It is because the Starbucks, like MacDonald, is viewed as an icon of American culture.
Now we get down to the relationship among coffee, profit and culture.
In order to make a money, people must sell something.
Physical labor and its productions can be sold
as commodity. This is what the third world countries such as China, India are good at. The shoes, bikes,
toys and even TVs are produced in mass volume. However, the profit are so low that the selling prices
in America could be several times of the money paid to the manufacturers. It is even the case in
the high-tech area such as software. It does not matter how hard India software engineers strive that
that only a small fraction of profit flows outside of USA. It is also true for the Chinese TV industry,
the majority of profit is raked by Apex and the distributors in America. Even Japanese multi-nationals
can not escape the fate: the top-notch engines made by Honda are installed under the hoods of GM cars
and sold as part of American product.
Technology and knowledge are also the commodity. Instead of selling products, smart companies began to
sell technologies. One of success stories is Qualcomm. Instead of selling hardware, it develops and licenses
the technologies to wireless communication equipment manufacturers. Those companies stay at the high-end
of business process: R&D and marketing. Selling knowledge and technology is much more profitable than
selling the labor, as we all know.
We, Chinese, are the true believers of the concepts of labor and technology and are taking great advantage of
them: China is the
largest producer of many kinds of products and "Made in China" appears on most of commodities on the market
here. The Chinese government is investing heavily in technology and attracting over-sea talent go home.
However, there is more profitable way to make the money: exporting the culture. Here I am not talking of
exporting the culture products such as TV programs, movie and other stuffs from Hollywood. The culture I am
referring to here is the way of life. Once culture A is adored by the people in another culture B, something
common in culture A will be accepted by the people in culture B as luxury. There are many examples:
Jaguar, a British car with the stylish profile, gets a in proportional share of market for no reason but
a cure for the nostalgia of some British descendant in America. It is not only a vehicle, it is also a
symbol of an old empire, whose past glory is still cherished by its over-sea patriots. My friend returning
from Taiwan told me that, in the long slump of economy, an American raked a huge amount of hard-earned
money from people in Taiwan just by opening a Pub and Grill, a mom-and-dad type of restaurant in America.
To export labor and products, you need to be competitive in quality and price. In order to export
technology, large amount of capital is required and risk is also involved. However, once a culture
is accepted and honored, the way of life will be exported without advertisement and accepted with
enthusiasm. Japanese are good in making cars and encroaching American market. However, American
invaded their daily life with McDonald, Starbuck, Coke and even the dream to be American or Americanized.
Though there is a huge trade deficit between Japan and USA, it is American to get more money since
the cost of American life exported is very low.
It is also the case in the community of over-sea Chinese. As long as the Chinatown is filthy and dirty
and it is always meant to us as a bargain place, the extra consumption besides daily necessities will
go out of Chinese community.
In order to make a civilization competitive, sustainable and prevailing, an army of cheap and disciplined
workforce and well-educated talent are not enough. What is important is to have a brilliant culture which
is attractive to others. In plain words, it is important to have a decent way of life.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net