Ole Miss Director of Athletics Pete Boone was among a group of college administrators that traveled to Asia on a 10-day Nike tour of the company's overseas facilities Jan. 14-24. The following is his blog of the experience.
Part 7
Flying into the Beijing airport, which is about the size of Oxford, offered me the opportunity to see a little of the land usage. Needless to say it was all about farming, with communities arranged every 20 miles or so. They all had the same look from 10,000 feet high.
The first delight was meeting Fred He at the airport. This 30-year-old tour guide, who spoke better English than some people I knew in Baton Rouge, had been used by Nike several times before. He began learning English at 14, and after high school, spent two years studying English and hospitality.
We headed directly to the Great Wall. Two hours later, we stopped within rock throwing distance at a nice place but was certainly set up for tourists. Another good meal was made easier by my giving up on chopsticks. Prompted by a female companion to look at the men’s restroom, I headed that way, camera in hand. I must say I had a few looks taking a camera into the restroom. Let’s just say there was not a lot of money spent on bathroom toilets (picture attached).
My expectations of the Great Wall of China were pretty high. We have all seen National Geographic pictures, etc., depicting its beauty, size and magnificence. It was everything I had imagined and more, because I was actually standing there looking over the vastness of the mountain ranges and valleys that wall protected. It took over 2,000 years and six dynasties to erect. Over one million workers were needed to complete the task, and in fact it was never fully completed.
There is something ironic about standing on a wall that’s history is measured in thousands of years one moment, and the next, being hounded by street vendors whose history is probably measured in a decade. Fur-lined, green hats with a red star seemed to be a hot commodity as were local trinkets, postcards and pictures. Capitalism at its best (or worst).
On the way back we stopped by the Olympic venues. The “Birds Nest” was lighted in a red tent, and the bubble natatorium was just down the way. But it was cold and at the end of a long day.
The morning of our last day was perfect. We arrived at Tiananmen Square. All of the flashbacks of General Mao’s army parades, missiles, tanks and lockstep soldiers took place right where we were standing. The student protests with the lone student standing in front of a tank took place right there.
I spent almost 48 hours in China, so I think that should qualify me as an expert. Fred was very proud of New China, as they think of it. It began when General Mao defeated Chiang Kai-shek in the 1930s. But the real change came in the 90s when the communist leadership realized some freedoms were destined to be alienable.
The streets of Beijing are much like any city in the United States. The same types of retail stores, restaurants, hotels and automobiles are in Beijing and Chicago. And for the most part the people in Vietnam and China and our great country are the same.
Part 6
This was the eighth day of the trip and the first day we did not have a scheduled visit. So we left the Peninsula Hotel and headed to Stanley Market across the bay. The Peninsula Hotel was one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. They encouraged the patrons to take the lotion and soap.
Stanley market is a very much upgraded flea market on the shoreline of the South China Sea. From sunglasses to cashmere to silk items and much more, they lined up in their booths ready to bargain. I don't like to bargain. It is not in my bones ... I feel it is a waste of time. Give me a price and I will decide if I want to pay it. Well, you can't get there if you know that no price is their final price. So I stayed away. Well, except I got some reading glasses I needed. One of the other guys in our group had already done the bargaining for his, so I already had my price. Two pair of nice 2.5 reading glasses for $15 U.S. was ok with me. It took about two days before the first pair fell apart. There was a complaint from one of the cashmere purchasers that the sweater was "balling up" after two wearings. I guess if you get stuff cheap, sometimes you get cheap stuff.
We left Stanley Market at 3 p.m. and headed for the airport. We arrived at the hotel in Shanghai at 10 p.m. The next day would start early, leaving for the Sabrina factory that makes Nike Pro Combat gear at 8 a.m.
Each factory had its own orientation. The Vietnamese group were more family oriented, a little less regimented and seemed to create an environment of working hard but doing the things that promote togetherness, i.e. the workers festival, a company grocery store, etc.
The Chinese factories seemed a little more disciplined. They provided for their worker's basic needs, housing, education, health, etc. But it seemed more like a contract with the workers versus a kinship sort of approach.
In my opinion, the Sabrina factory management style was the best of both approaches. In 1974, Masal Chou started this company from scratch in Shindou City, Taipei. He promoted a happy working environment where management and employees felt equally important. He gave workers on the line the opportunity to develop a better system for the flow of work product and let them try it. Having passed away last year, his daughter, Joyce Chou, is now in charge.
Sabrina is basically an apparel company for Nike and others and was chosen to produce the new Pro Combat line introduced just this year. Combat is a protection apparel for athletes in football, basketball and other sports. The slip on gear can be used for the protection of hips, thighs, ribs. etc. The waffle like, high-tech cushions are light weight but absorb the violent hits that athletes take during practice and games.
Sabrina's motto is "work hard, play crazy." They have staff parties, employee parties such as the Lunar New Years event. During that event, there are many giveaways such as TVs and refrigerators. For several years at the Cambodia factory, the employees asked to replace these items with bicycles since very few of them had electricity. Now they are asking for them back. While many still do not have electricity, they want to have the TVs and refrigerators in their house for when they do. It is also a status symbol to show off to their neighbors.
We ate in the cafeteria with the meals planned and cooked by some of the staff. It all looked great ... I ate the vegetables.
We left for the hotel and then arrived at the Pearl Market for shopping again. This was much more than pearls, although there must be a lot of naked oysters out there somewhere. The Nike staff provided the authenticity of the pearls, and we all crowded around the designated shop. Each had their own need as did I. Rosemary (Nike) was my designated negotiator, and a tough one she was. At least she convinced me I got a great deal, and that is what I am telling my wife.
But Pearl Market was 'knock off' city for everything. Designer purses, Monte Blanc pens, you name it. The street sellers would almost attack you if any kind of eye movement indicated you might be looking at something they have. As soon as you stop, three, four, five or six more sellers would be pulling your clothes and yelling to get your attention to their product. While a couple of the ADs enjoyed the action, I stayed away and took pictures. I did check my pockets every five minutes to make sure I still had my wallet and passport, that's all I'm saying.
After a terrific nine days or education and camaraderie the next day would prove to be the best. Beijing, the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square were up.
Part 5
We left Guangzhou the next day for another two-hour bus ride to a facility that manufactures Nike golf clubs. They do make golf clubs for other companies, but Nike accounts for over 50 percent of their business. As you can imagine, pictures of Tiger Woods were displayed everywhere. I'm guessing it will take another budget year to replace the pictures. After the initial presentation, we went to lunch.
Lunch was at a local hotel. Close to the end of the meal one of the ADs decided to thank the General Manager for the meal that few of us ate. After tapping the glass and standing up, in a slow, broken English way (almost like a Native American Chief) with hand gestures he loudly said "We ... thank ... you ... for this wonderful meal." He then rubbed his belly to show how much he ate. On the bus back to the factory, he was reminded by all, that he could speak English and the general manager was not deaf, he just did not understand the language.
Fifty percent of the golf products were Nike. Great care is taken to protect proprietary product information, as other company lines of products are produced there also. Nike has a representative at each plant to help facilitate any issues or questions so that production goals can be met and the quality of the product is maintained.
We watched the castings being made, the steel being poured into the moulds and the stages of finishing the irons and drivers. We also saw how graphite shafts were made.
After the tour and questions, we exchanged gifts. Each of us was given a driver head with our team name and logo on it. Of course, I was interested what mine would look like. Mine was clearly the "Demon Deacon" of Wake Forest. There were a couple of errors but the intent was gracious and we all appreciated their effort.
On to a one-hour bus ride to a ferry at the Yu Young Terminal for an hour boat ride to Kowloon/Hong Kong. After arriving, we headed to Sammy's Tailor. Other than the funny neon-lighted writing on the building, the feel and noise were vintage New York City. Cars, buses and people interacted like they do in big cities. We had to fight our way past hawkers trying to sell us everything from watches to tailored clothing.
Sam's Tailor Shop was fascinating. In a room barely 10x20 worked Sam and at least six other workers, all in various stages of selling or fitting clothes. Pants, suits, jackets, shirts all sized with the cloth and the appropriate pattern were done in a matter of minutes. Sam had to make sure we saw the pictures of the various U.S. Presidents that wear his suits and shirts. They were all on the wall except for a few personal ones he pulled from underneath the counter of the second President Bush. Of course, I had my picture made with him and asked him if he would like me to enlarge and sign it and send it too him. He got busy and obviously forgot to respond. Ok, I ordered two sport coats. We've got new management at Ole Miss, and I need to upgrade a little. And by the time this blog gets out, I will have had time to tell my wife about the purchase.
Part 4
Up and going a 6:30 a.m. the next morning, we headed for Guangzhou, China. Located in the Pearl Valley, it represents the good and bad parts of a major industrial sector of China. The Shoe manufacturing plant was a two-hour bus ride from the airport. What was believed to be an early morning fog was later correctly defined as smog. The valley holds over 20 million people and an extremely concentrated industrial base with smokestacks everywhere ... and growing. Massive apartment complexes were under construction, some holding over 20,000 people. And mile after mile after mile, more construction was ongoing. Guangzhou is not a new city. All of the phases of a city’s life were evident. There were sections that had abandoned sites, both commercial and apartments, next to new construction for the same type buildings.
The bus weaved through back streets until we arrived at the gated factory. As must be the custom, plant management and administration met us outside the main entrance with what appeared to be great happiness that we had chosen their factory to visit. This factory actually had subsidized dormitories for workers to live in if they so chose. This is not uncommon. As workers may come from family communities up to 5 or 6 hours away, they cannot afford to rent. This factory had over 1,000 units and about 900 workers stayed there. The dormitory we went into had a canteen, a lounge area with magazines, books and newspapers. There were children playing, and a basketball court was active with the next NBA stars. The living units were open for us. I must say the ones we looked at were very sparse, but they were also very cheap to rent, about $9 per month. There was a wonderful kindergarten for supervisors' children. The kids were excited to see us and loved to pose for pictures. I met and talked to a man from South Africa who was teaching the children English. Yes, kindergarten!
The work force had very good working conditions and stayed very focused on their work at hand as we passed by. They were probably not as outgoing as the Vietnamese.
Lunch was at a local hotel. We were led to a room with a large round table that rotated in the middle. Not long after we settled in, the food began to come, and it was traditional Chinese food, not seen at your local Hunan restaurant, at least lately. Trying to use chop sticks for rice, noodles and other items that seem to slide off, forced me to abandon that effort and grab a fork. I passed on the platter that had a Chicken’s head prominently displayed as most of us did on several other dishes of unknown origins. One A.D. took a bullet for the team. He was seated at the right-hand side of the general manager. As he found out, the host serves the person to his right all of the dishes. Being a much better man than I, he dutifully tried each and acted like he was ok at the end of the day.
Part 3
We left at 7:30 a.m. to go to Vinh An High School. The Changshin factory pays for and encourages its employees to finish high school. While 93 percent of the Vietnamese population is literate, only 60 percent have made it through middle school. At this local high school, there are two classes taught in the morning and afternoon to teach English and enable the workers to get the equivalent of a GED. Over 530 have done so with the company picking up the bill and 143 are currently enrolled.
There were 1,700 regular students at this school, all dressed the same and apparently enjoying the environment.
It is very clear that everyone realizes the keys to a successful future lies within the educational system.
This Korean owned factory sits on 40 acres of land, and over 21,000 workers man (85 percent of its workers are women) its three shifts. The average worker receives two to four days of training annually. Newly designate supervisors train for 40 days before being sent out to lead. Everyday, two percent of the workforce is being trained. Management’s theme is “there is no finish line,” every day provides an opportunity to be better. The management was engaging, energetic and optimistic. The most fascinating revelation to me is the number of hands that touch each shoe. Every part of the Nike shoe is hand sewed or glued. One manufacturing line may have 100 workers each detailing a certain part of the shoe process. It is quickly evident that manual labor costs are extremely important in an effort to hold costs.
We loaded the buses again for about an hour drive to DaDa, another Taiwanese owned manufacturing facility. DaDa owns 10 plants in Asia that produce hats for several apparel companies. In this particular plant, Nike commands 50 percent of the production.
The designs for the hats are created by Nike. DaDa takes the design, makes the pattern, inventories the material and of course stitches the hat together. At several stations, the hats pass through a metal detector to find any broken needles.
The process is straight forward, the workers stayed focused on their duties as we Americans rambled through their world.
After about two hours of observation and the obligatory question and answer session, we were on our way back for the two and one-half video game drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. This time, we were in the midst of traffic. We saw the results of three scooter wrecks. Two of the wrecks involved people looking at damaged scooters, and in the third, people were looking at injured people. It is amazing to me there aren’t collisions at every turn. Police seemed almost nonexistent. We did see several scooters pulled over in which I am sure they were ticketed for impersonating a real vehicle.
The Vietnam Wrap Up
The Renaissance Riverside Hotel was on, well the riverside, the Saigon Riverside to be exact. This river has an important historical link to Vietnam. It is a major commercial river. Deep sea vessels are easing out the sampans and lighter boats. And sad to say, it is not very clean.
The Nike Vietnamese delegation invited us on a Saigon River boat tour dinner. Yes, they still call the big river Saigon even though there is no Saigon City to pass by. Such is war. The victors get to call the shots. Be that as it may, the dinner boat event was enjoyable. The boat was small and only held one dinner party at a time. There were about 12 of us about to reminisce about the past four days' experiences. We were asked to take our shoes off before entering the cabin of the boat. I’m not sure why ... it's a boat. Not wanting to cause an international incident or upset the people cooking the food, we dutifully complied. I am not sure whether the floor was built up or holes for tables were cut out, but we had to get on our knees and slide under the table. I knew there would not be many bathroom breaks for me.
We arrived late Friday night into a country that I was not sure would welcome us. Their standard of living was somewhat less than I had expected but their resolve and hope was much more. The Vietnamese are proud people. Of course we were only in one small section of South Vietnam, but I believe they genuinely like Americans. Yes, history books have been rewritten and what we called the Vietnamese War is called the American War there. We saw many American visitors there, mainly my age or older, and each I am sure had a personal purpose for being there. But whoever paints the historical picture, Vietnam is a country on the rise.
We spent time at two factories, both owned by Taiwanese. The managers seemed to have a genuine interest in the well-being of the employees. The employees seem to be very appreciative of having one of the better jobs available. We were invited to a worker’s festival that the managers of a plant subsidized. It was organized by the workers. The talent used was from family members. It was attended by thousands of families that enjoyed a day together.
Yes, the Vietnamese have a long way to go. Yes, they need help from outside investors. Just as there are thousands of people busy going somewhere on their scooters, so are the Vietnamese. I am not sure they know where at this point. But I do know they are hard working, industrious and family centered. And that is a great start.
Part 2
Anytime you venture onto the streets and highways in and around Ho Chi Minh City it is an adventure. The streets are jammed with $1,000 Korean scooters or the lesser $300 Chinese version. Approximately eight million of Vietnam’s 85 million people live in this area. Continuing the thought process that the lines on the streets and the stop lights are “merely suggestions,” there were several ohhs ands ahhs for near misses. While licensed drivers are required to wear helmets, and they all do, children are not. Seeing three-year-olds standing in front or behind their parents is somewhat unnerving. The same holds true as you see a family of four weaving between other scooters and dump trucks and automobiles.
The scenery doesn’t change. Miles and miles of sidewalk vendors selling anything from fruits and vegetables to compressed air for pumping up lazy tires to food cooked to order (if you like their order). Plastic stools we use to step on to get something out of a cabinet are the chairs of choice for the locals who eat on tables even lower. The streets are filled with the young and old either shopping, eating or selling. The mom-and-pop shops are full of fresh fruits and vegetables as are the vendors hawking what appeared to be knock-off jewelry or electronics, and they must be selling to each other because there are no tourist on these streets.
We headed for the Workers Festival, an annual event started by management several years ago to reward and acknowledge the efforts of the workers to produce quality Nike shoes and a lot of them. This particular factory, Changshin, producing 1.3 million pairs of Nike shoes a month.
This family event was held at a local park, which was gorgeous. The traditional brightly colored dragon theme was packed with even more brightly dressed people. Forty percent were wearing face masks which is very common. The face mask industry must be doing well. Brightly colored, designer face masks are the norm. They also come in junior sizes. Single file we were led through the throngs of people. They were all very cordial and looked for an opportunity to smile. We walked past the raffle prizes which ranged from bicycles to refrigerators (I expected to see one of those on the back of a scooter) to three shining Korean scooters. Being guests, we were lead to the front row. The children of the workers provided the entertainment and were quite good. After about an hour mostly taken up by three political speeches from the Korean plant manager, Nike’s local representative and the Vietnamese government official, we left to visit some homes of women who were the beneficiaries of the micro-loan credit program.
The government-backed, factory-funded program offers loans to women to start home businesses. Officials of the women’s union review requests up to $500 from women in that district. This program is designed to help women have more control in their lives and enhance the well being of their families. These two recipients lived in the rural areas where there is much less congested but still crazy driving traffic. Almost every home was a shotgun style, two-story with a car garage in front of the house, except the car garage was used as a store front. In other words, the occupants of the house opened some sort of business in the front. These “businesses” were generally produce or eating establishments.
Micro Recipient #1 had built a 'lean to' annex on her home. Her enterprise was making rice paper, the kind spring rolls, etc., are wrapped in. Squatting almost on the ground for hours at a time, she pour the ingredients over flat metal pan that was on top of a bowl of water heated by sticks of wood. Everyone in the home helped. She was able to package and sell her product grossing about $200-$300 per month. Not bad when the average per capita income is about $1000 per year. It was a little disconcerting that two cows she bought with her money were housed only a few feet from her cooking area. I did not notice a FDA certificate on her wall.
Recipient #2 used her money to buy a sewing machine and made children’s clothes. Her monthly revenue was about the same.
The very good news was that these women were empowered and given the opportunity to succeed. While I am sure not all did … these two did and were very proud.
The bus ride to the Cu Chi tunnels took about an hour. KFC sack lunches were passed out, and a few people ate the shrimp-infused hamburger ... not bad. KFC was the only American franchised food chain I observed. Like any American tourist attraction, there were plenty of directional signs. These famous, or infamous, tunnels played a very important role in the Vietnam War, or as the Vietnamese, say the “American War.” The tour guide spoke very good English and smiled way too much. We stopped to listen to a very poorly done piece of video propaganda. It actually sounded and looked like a 1950s communist speech. That notwithstanding, the determination and will of the Viet Cong (which somehow was derived from Vietnamese Communist) was overwhelmingly evident.
The tunnels had three levels from 10 feet to 20 feet to 40 feet. They were organized by units and function. We wormed our way through the very tight tunnels and were told these were increased by 50 percent to accommodate American tourists. We saw diagrams of the tunnel system which included ventilation, cooking and medical areas. The tour was interesting, but when the guide started showing the booby traps that the VC used, we all felt it was time to move on.
Part 1
I was assured that I had not received a “pocket call” or a slip of the blackberry thumb. The director of Collegiate Marketing, Kit Morris, had indeed called to invite me to take a tour of the Asian manufacturing facilities Nike used to produce their product. I was told it would be an experience of a lifetime. It was.
Nike’s presence in Vietnam began in 1995. Fifteen years later, Nike had contracts with 53 factories that employ more than 200,000 Vietnamese citizens. In fact, the 130 million shoes and pieces of apparel Nike has produced there represent 7.3 percent of Vietnam’s total exports of manufactured goods.
For eight years, Nike began inviting athletics directors, faculty athletics reps, college students, government officials and others to tour facilities in Asia that produce some of their apparel and shoe products. In the midst of “sweat shop” news, Nike wanted to let users of their products observe the manufacturing of their products and have dialogue with management and employees. This tour would include factories around Ho Chi Minh City; Guangzhou, China and Shanghai. Six factories, a local high school and recipients of a micro-loan program were on the schedule to visit. Some sight-seeing had usually found its way into the itineraries I had been told.
Notwithstanding all of the right reasons for Nike to offer such a venture, a fantastic opportunity was in front of me. Vietnam, a place I was trying to avoid some 40 years ago, now had a mysterious pull. The force of capitalistic gravity had settled in South Vietnam simply because of the natural order of economics. The same capitalistic economic forces were fighting their way through China and making steady and significant progress. In less than two decades, these proud ancient cultures, which measure their history and traditions in thousands of years, have been dramatically transformed into a society their ancestors would probably not recognize. Of course, the same might be said of the U.S.
The middle of January was the designated day of departure. What once seemed like an eternity came faster than Dexter McCluster running through a Volunteer defense. What’s the big deal about a 15-hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong and then a little two to three hour shuttle to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City? Of course, the journey started at 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning to get to Memphis for a 6 a.m. United Airline departure. No problem, I don’t sleep much anyway. Nike’s Nic Corbett, Purdue’s Morgan Burke, Villanova AD Vince Nicastro and Mike Holder from OSU (yes that is Oklahoma State University, the same team we beat at the Cotton Bowl) met in Chicago at United’s Red Carpet Lounge. We talked about the current world of college athletics (sans bowl games) and jumped on the Boeing 747 400 headed for a quick stop in Hong Kong to meet the rest of the Nike group and onto Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).
Strangely, we breezed through customs at the Tan Son Nhut Airport. For those of you who don’t know who TSN is … I don’t either. The flavor of Vietnam hit me early. It is 10 p.m. and there were hundreds if not thousands of people (young and old) outside waiting for family members to arrive. I loaded my two grossly oversized bags and followed our leader, Kit.
On Saturday morning (yes, we somehow jumped from Thursday to Saturday ... it was explained to me, but it still didn’t make sense.), our group was standing across from a big Catholic Cathedral in front of a modern multi-story building. Nike’s headquarters occupied the 12th and 13th floors. Nike opened a representative office in 1995, and today contracts with 53 facilities that employee over 200,000 Vietnamese. These manufactory facilities are typically owned by Taiwanese or Korean investors. These companies do a great job of blending into the local environment, which means developing a good working relationship with state and local government officials. The workers are industrious and generally make twice the average annual income of the general population, which is around $1,000 U.S. The $2,000 plus annual income they earn is equivalent to about $20,000 U.S. in purchasing power. Vietnam has a growing middle class and over 60 percent of the population is under 30 years of age.
We met with Doug Sonnek, the economic officer of the office of the U.S. Consulate General. Questions were asked about religious freedom, workers rights and working conditions, and government involvement in the private sector. The bottom line was this … if you take a 10-year view of the progress in these areas, everyone would be amazed. But if you take today’s environment and compare it to capitalistic countries such as the U.S., obviously there is still work to be done.
We broke for lunch at a local corner restaurant that had the appeal of a sports bar. In fact, the television was tuned into ESPN. While I was looking for an update on the Tennessee head coaching search, all they showed was a World Cup soccer match. I asked the waiter if he had heard anything about the search, but there must have been a language barrier as he smiled, nodded his head and brought me a glass of water along with my pork with spicy peanut sauce.
After digesting the information from the Nike meeting and the pork with spicy peanut sauce, we were treated to a cyclo tour (or as we called it afterward, a game of chicken) of the city. Did I mention the motor scooters? There are 1,000 scooters to every car … I counted them. Kit Morris mentioned the lines in the middle of the road were merely suggestions, and I began to know why. But before we get into that, let me explain the cyclo. At our appointed time to depart, no cyclos. Then as if by Dorothy kicking her heels together, one by one they appeared. These are bicycles (vintage 1972 Tet offensive) that have morphed into a front end luggage carrier. Of course, we were the luggage. The drivers of these manually powered grocery carts obviously had a weight limit of 120 pounds and had to be 60 years or older. They were smiling and very nice. I figured it was because they knew we were in the front of the death trap and they would soon be safely home for supper with mucho dong (their version of $).
Did I mention the swarm of killer motor scooters? Well add city buses and cars. I was convinced they knew their destination but were deciding on how to get there moment by moment. So nine of us Americans headed into the afternoon traffic single file, hoping for a 10 percent or less casualty rate. Somehow, I ended up in the second cyclo. And if in case you are not aware, there is a pecking order with these psychotic cyclo drivers. Every time the tertiary driver tried to move in of my secondary driver, there was a sprint involved without regard to the thousands of scooters and vehicles weaving and turning and beeping. OK, if you have ever watched foreign tourists taking pictures of trees, sleeping cats and McDonalds … that is what I looked like. I don’t know why Canon does not offer a camera that only holds 450 pictures … it made me have to be selective. We pulled up to our hotel and somehow the arriving numbers matched to the departing ones.
Well that was day one. Stay tuned.
