Our strategy for Asia-Pacific class today featured two speakers:

A Mexican lady, entrepreneur, who has lived in Mexico, the United States, Europe, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia and now Singapore. An Indonesian businessman (on the board of Electrolux Indonesia, founder of PwC ?, and various other ventures...), INSEAD alum, and trained in the West.

They were both fantastic. They came to share what you are not taught at school, namely the little hints and tips that are useful to know when you do business. Faithfully reported.

- The Western culture is very individualistic. Everybody is in for himself and expecting everyone to show how good and intelligent they are. It is a culture that is very conducive to business. The Eastern culture is very participatory, everyone is concerned about harmony, so conflicts are avoided at all cost - it is a culture that is very conducive to social equality and integration.

- Beware of status symbol. My chauffeur resigned on me because I did not let him carry my suitcase. He interpreted this as a lack of trust on my part. He was doubly unhappy because he was seen like an improper chauffeur. It took me two or three chauffeurs to learn that.

- If people mess up, even though it is their fault, do not lose your temper over them. This is what they will expect you to do. Stay calm. State your problem and invite a solution from them. They'll fix it somehow.

- The concept of face is very important in Asia. You do not need to justify your decision if you are the boss. You are the boss so you are expected to make a decision. If you want to criticize somebody, do it in private in order to save face.

I just wish we had a lot more time for questions. We kept the first hour of the class for the case discussion, and I would have much preferred to see an extra half hour dedicated to Q&As.