A thought popped up my mind while I was in Topics of Money and Finance.

John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern explained decision making by using expect utility theory in 1944. A large part of the foundation of their idea lies in the utility function - an alternative way of understanding value of goods in the market after scholars abandoned the Labor Theory of Value favored by Classical and Marxian economists. In essence, the little sticky price tags on the myriad goods in supermarkets depended no on how much it costs to make the goods, but rather on how “happy” consumers are by purchasing them.

I suppose this explains why there are so many differentiated products on the market from a demand perspective. Sure, for the supplier, the enterprise is engaging in competitive behavior and opening up new markets by offering differentiated products. However, from a pure consumer perspective, perhaps all we wanted was variety, for the simple reason that our marginal utility on each “new” differentiated product is higher than the marginal utility on a second unit of any product that we already consume. (I certainly felt this way when I made a point of buying a different flavor of vitamin water every time until I have tried all of them - yes, I probably fell for their marketing tricks, but so have a lot of people I’m sure.)

This leads to my next supposition. What if one can gain more utility by performing different job functions? Suppose you start with network management. You become familiar with the process of managing chapters and keeping correspondence, but the more you do it the less utility you generate by performing the job function. Eventually you become tired of managing chapters and want to try something new. You then move to communications and begin dealing with speakers and invited guests to various events. Similarly, you begin with a high utility but gradually declines as time goes on.

In some ways the utility function would be similar to the learning curve - except the learning curve doesn’t measure how “happy” you are. And happiness matters significantly more in a non-salary-paying world.

But the other side of the story is that you are specializing whenever you spend longer time performing the same task. So there must be a trade-off between utility and value of specialization. In the real world, companies reward specialization by increasing the wage or salary. In a NPO where specialization is not measured by the amount of salary paid, how do we make sure everyone is happy doing the same job over an extended period of time? Each division therefore must figure out ways to reward specialization. Sure, promotion certainly serves as a huge incentive, even in the real world. But the nature of promotion implies that there will be some who are not promoted. For them, their utility must be supplemented, if not sustained, by both tangible and intangible rewards for specializing.

A lot of this clearly is not all that well-thoughtout, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

I turn 21 today.

How do I feel about it? To be perfectly honest. Nothing much.

I can’t grasp if I am simply feeling jaded about the social life of Planet College, or I am just too busy now to take my time to organize Party with the Zhukeeper__ III. No. It can’t be the latter. I was just as busy in freshman year, when I went to meetings from 7-10pm on consecutive weekdays, gave tours at the Visitors Center, socialized like I had never seen humans before, and performed at every possible event - I was just as busy as I am right now. I don’t feel so jaded either - I still enjoy every minute here, executing every action with passion.

But I did not pause my cramming session for Jeffrey Sachs’ Challenges of Sustainable Development class to write down my newfound nonchalance toward birthdays. I am here up at 2am because I have received some “new” happy birthday wishes, a category of birthday wishes that did not exist until this year - wishes from friends that are friends at a different capacity than ever before; wishes from the network.

It is not uncommon that individuals develop a sense of emotional accomplishment within the GCC network and find the need to put them in words. However, getting there (and speaking from experience) can be very tough.

Associates on the Network Management Division have come and gone. There are of course exogenous reasons beyond our control. But chapter advisory is not a job for just anyone. Many have complained the lack of a sense of “accomplishment” and “progress.” Tangible outcomes. The connection between efforts and rewards. The key aspect of an enjoyable job (or in this case, extracurricular activity).

Management is building solutions for a relationship-based problem. It is communicating effectively and understanding the needs of the other person at the other end of the line while proposing solutions in a way that will make “everyone” happy. It is the creation of Pareto efficiency in the realm of P2P communications.

Some examples:

• When a chapter does not follow through with promises, what do we do? Cut is not always the right answer. They may have done extremely well in the past.
• A chapter cannot communicate with the advisor assigned effectively. What should I do? We cannot always just reassign - there may not be enough associates to take on more chapters.
• I am struck by fifteen mid-terms in two days and must be MIA for an extended period of time. I let something slip through the cracks. What do I do as supervisor? “I apologize for getting this back to you so late…” But why not a quick exchange on gchat? “Hey, how you doin? I’m really sorry there’s been fifteen midterms …”
  You are probably thinking: Are e-mail and gchat really that different? Yes - they are.

There are a million decisions that need to be made in every communication. Have you ever found yourself in these positions: What’s form of communication should you use? Text, chat, phone, voice mail, video, or just e-mail? What’s the tone you want to use? What format in the e-mail? Where to bold, italicize, underline? What level of mitigated speech should you use? How to use it? Are you sure you are using it correctly? Should you doubt your phrases? Should you let the receiver know that you’re doubting yourself? What sort of response would you prompt? How might that affect the overarching goal of this communication? Have you double-checked your e-mail? Did you forget an attachment? Did you remember to CC someone? Are you thinking too much about all of this?

Some of these decisions seem minor and probably will not matter in the grand scheme of things. But I am here to argue that they do. Non-physical communication eliminates all possibilities of physical language, which supposedly encompasses 60-70% of human communications. In the world of cyber communication, you are not a person - you are words, fonts, colors, tone, voice, and maybe 1 billion pictures on Facebook if the other person really cared.

Therefore, the considerations listed above determine the success of the communications, and the communications determine the success of the ultimate outcome.

I really appreciate the “new” birthday wishes (even one from Toulouse, France [special shout-out to Marianna for a wonderful e-card!]), because they come from those that I have communicated with successfully. And because of the success of these communications, I found a balance between effort and reward.

Reaching the landmark age of 21 may not mean as much to me on a cultural or social level as it it assumed to for the vast majority of American college students. But the “new” birthday wishes I have received give me a new sense of purpose. The story of my running of the network is a story of how to create Pareto efficiency in organization - using words.

Mr. Ronnie Chan of Hang Lung Properties Ltd. recently published an article at the Financial Times. The title is rather catchy - “The west’s preaching to the east must stop” - a title filled with patriotism and a hint of annoyance. A talk last Thursday night focused predominantly on the content of this article.

In essence, Mr. Chan argues for five of what he calls “global rebalancing” between East and West:

1. a rebalancing of moral authority
2. a shift in decision-making power in global economic affairs
3. a shift in the centre of economic gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific
4. a movement away from a total dependence on the US dollar as the global trading currency
5. a movement to a more balanced and stable world
   In his speech delivered to a group of around thirty at the Citi Executive Conference Center, Ronnie surprised me as someone that is not only successful in business, but also extremely bold and intelligent.

His article sounds great to Asian ears - who doesn’t like to hear that your side of the world is triumphing while the old “winner” is now on the “losing” side? On the issue of morality, Mr. Chan wrote, “Now some in America are advocating a G2 with only the US and China. If the focus shifts to the G2 to make decisions, then what happens to democracy? The west has a moral dilemma.”

On the fourth issue, Mr. Chan wrote, “Over time some countries will keep more renminbi, making it more like a reserve currency.” Some how I’m not so hot on this one. Unless “over time” means “over decades.” Still, I don’t believe it - probably because the economists teaching my econ classes at Columbia don’t believe it.

But more on the event.

The reason why I say that Mr. Chan is bold is that he is very pragmatic in my view. Use the EU for example - “People argued for days about restructuring the EU… but I said, the rest of the world doesn’t give a damn.”

I have always thought that perhaps I do not “feel” much for the EU because I do not live there - but I guess I’m wrong. It’s a global phenomenon. People just don’t care. It’s like Canada.

On the topic of Japan, Mr. Chan also stated that in a nation with a decreasing population size (i.e. a decreasing work force), the “economic growth model” becomes an “economic maintenance model” - and a negative growth rate should no longer be seen as a “recession.” But uh… why don’t we just look at per capita growth instead?

This one is also interesting - “The word ‘Chineseness’ and ‘nationalism’ are oxymorons“ - the logic within which is too deep for my ESL brain. Perhaps someone else can enlighten me as to what Mr. Chan really meant. But from what I gathered, he is basically saying that the Chinese do not actually understand what “nationalism” means - that it was always triggered by something else. But I wasn’t sure.

Toward the end of the Q&A session, Mr. Chan touched on the Asia Business Conference because a lady in the crowd asked whether or not he was attending as he is one of the founders. Mr. Chan said, “we don’t invite outside people to come and talk as much… we listen and learn from one another.” Indeed a very unconventional idea. Maybe I’ll incorporate part of this for GCC Day.

As prize for winning the Columbia Case Challenge, Team Almost GS was given the opportunity to have lunch with Mr. Becker Chase from Booz & Co.’s New York office. The lunch was great. Sashimi, bento box, shabu shabu - all paid for by the generous Columbia Economics Society (which receives its funding from our student life fee).

Turns out, Booz is very interested in China. Their home page tells the compelling story of a new “China Strategy” - a worthwhile read.

“In the world’s fastest-growing economy, the experience of the last ten years will not be the best guide to the next ten years. Business leaders around the world who want to be successful—not just in China, but anywhere—will need a new China strategy.”

Indeed, a lot of this might just seem like an overly not-another-bullish-view-on-China book. But the fact that the Chairman of Booz & Co. Greater China region is thinking in line with GCC should still be taken as an encouragement.

And what do you know? “Indeed, China is now the world’s largest and fastest-growing source of entrepreneurial start-ups.” Spot-on opportunity for GCC members right there. The world’s largest international student network focusing on China - and what business opportunities do our members have, if not in entrepreneurial endeavors? GCC-Vanderbilt is looking at starting a chapter initiative on doing pro bono consulting work in Nashville Tennessee. GCC-Harvard is looking at bringing volunteerism to China.

“Since 1978, China’s economic growth has been phenomenal,” the report goes on, “but also extremely inefficient.”

With regards to the model of business ownership, the chairman writes, “it will evolve toward a nondemocratic but market-driven form of rule that, arguably, has never been seen on the world
stage before.” Included is a fascinating interactive graphic of how these ownership trends are heading toward.

Lastly, Mr. Tse wrote on leadership - “Many Chinese officials have internalized this aspiration. They have taken on responsibilities beyond their job descriptions, acting as the guiding hand in the creation of a world-leading nation. Their interests extend beyond self-enrichment to the creation of national wealth.” This reminds me of the words of Mr. Li at Ping An Insurance during the GCC Winter Delegation, “The most outstanding human capital of China are going into the political system.”

So all of this sounds wonderful and great. How do I get a piece of it? Becker assured me that every year, Booz tries to hire at least one person from Columbia. How very kind of them. I think I am better off working my ass off at Goldman Sachs this summer.