Wharton Asia Journal Volume 8

WHARTON

ASIA

JOURNAL VOLUME 8 | SPRING 2013

Spring Trip to Tokyo Online Shopping: Taobao Fashion in the Virtual World

Asia Tech Start-ups The Asian Gaming Invasion The Digital Divide in Asia Biotechnology in Thailand A Google of Fun MBA Interviews

Technology in the Philippines

TABLE OF CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

We are proud to present our eighth issue of the Wharton Asia Journal.

In this edition of the Journal, we look at the various industries in Asia focused on technology. From biotechnology in agriculture to online shopping, Asia’s markets have experienced unforeseen progress in the technological field. This edition features Wharton MBAs who have worked at NVIDIA and their opinions on emerging markets. We also feature a recap of our Spring Trip to Tokyo, Japan, where many of the participants were able to visit the Asian divisions of big name firms such as Google and Morgan Stanley.

I would like to thank the rest of the committee, the board, and the contributors for their continued help and support. Things would not be possible without their involvement. Please visit www.whartonasia.net for weekly blogs and previous Journal publications. If you would like to contribute to the Journal or have any inquiries, feel free to contact me at yichens@sas.upenn.edu.

Sincerely, Ethan Song

JOURNAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief Ethan Song

Writers Paulo Bautista Ryan Hull Managing Editor Emily Jun Salina Lee Connie Kang Salina Lee Director of Layouts Ethan Song Jessica Xu Johnny Su Jo Wang Layout Designers Jessica Xu Emily Jun Ann Zheng Johnny Su Ann Zheng

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07

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8 INTERESTING ASIA TECH START-UPS

By Connie Kang

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FASHION IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD

By Emily Jun

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ASIA

By Jessica Xu

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ONLINE SHOPPING: TAOBAO

By Ann Zheng

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SPRING TRIP TO TOKYO

THE ASIAN GAMING INVASION: ONLINE MARKETS

By Ryan Hull

By Ethan Song

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TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

By Paulo Bautista

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BIOTECHNOLOGY STIMULATES THAILAND’S AGRICULTURE

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By Johnny Su

A GOOGLE OF FUN

By Salina Lee

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MBA INTERVIEWS

By Jo Wang

SOURCES

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INTERESTING ASIA TECH STARTUPS

By Connie Kang

Recently, Asia has drawn increasing attention from the technological world. Startup Asia 2013 Conference will be held in early April. Which kind of startups will attract the venture capitals? Here is a list of some interesting ideas of Asia Tech Startups.

Payroll Hero, Philippines

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Payroll Hero is a web & mobile app designed to optimize work productivity. The app allows both employer and employees to schedule and take attendance. It utilizes a new technology, biometric facial recognition, to ensure that workers are at work when they should be. Payroll Hero can also track the IP and GPS location of employee clock ins and outs as well as allow management to restrict where employees can clock in and out.

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Aware that Chinese parents have been terrified by recent Chinese food safety issues, local startup Kumami (which means “Cool Mommy”) comes to soothe them.

It’s an online flash sales mall that offers children’s products imported from the U.S. and Europe at discounted prices. It sells not only food but also imported toys and products for pregnant women. Kumami mainly targets consumers with children at the ages of 0-7 years.

Kumami, China

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Tourist Pads, Singapore

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TouristPads offers an iPad rental service. Business users and leisure travelers are granted access to pre-installed apps to enhance their holiday experience in Singapore. Even though the users cannot install apps themselves, there is a comprehensive list of already installed apps, and users may request installation of other apps upon rental.

Scallope, Indonesia

PriceArea, Indonesia

Online shopping is not a new topic in the U.S. However, the online shopping market has just started to develop in Indonesia and certain startups have noticed this business opportunity. Scallope is an Indonesian fashion webstore, inspired by the growth of the Indonesian online shopping market and the founders’ own experience in E-commerce. PriceArea is a price comparison search engine which covers a wide range of products, from smartphones to vehicles, from dresses to luxury bags.

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Pronounced“secure me,” this Malaysia-based startup developed an app for personal safety. In unsafe tourist cities, the app has functions such as recording the user’s location once per minute until the user has reached the destination and confirmed the user’s safety. It can also record audio continuously. In urgent situations, users can use the “emergency now” button, which will send an immediate emergency notification to friends and family via SMS, E-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.

SecQ.Me, Malaysia

A location-based service startup, Jiepang, features a combination of check-in services and social networks. The check-in can be posted on multiple social networks, such as Weibo, Douban and Renren. The app allows local restaurants, Karaoke places, hotels and recreational facilities to advertise and offer coupons and discounts when the users check in.

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Momo, China

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Beijing-based Momo, which gained ten million users within one year, is a flirtatious locationbased app that allows the user to search for and chat online with nearby app users. With just iOS and Android apps, currently there are 2.2 million active users daily and over 40 million messages sent everyday. Its competitors include WeChat, which has a location-based “find other users” feature.

Jiepang, China

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Wantedly, Japan

Wantedly is essentially a social recruiting platform, which allows employers to find potential employees by showing how they would work in the company with potential future colleagues. Wantedly focuses mainly on the desirability of an employer and the workplace it offers. The service is accessible via Facebook authentication. Only those that meet the standard of Wantedly are allowed to make posts. Some projects are open only to people who have a Facebook friend working with the company in that project, thus improving the quality of each post and social interaction.

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THE VIRTUAL WORLD OF FASHION

By Emily Jun

The online world of fashion has taken the real world by storm. In this day and age, you can click on an item you have never physically touched before, add it to your imaginary “cart,” and have it shipped to your very front door—all in a matter of hours. You can garner ideas of what to wear the next day by gathering inspiration from the outfits of your favorite fashion bloggers, or create online lookbooks that help you put together stylish ensembles. Both of these simulated sensations, online shopping and fashion blogging, can help us explore how cyberspace has taken us to places that just thirty years ago we would have claimed were completely unimaginable and unreachable. For its relatively novel place in the ancient and lengthy span of mankind’s technological timeline, the Internet has forever transformed the fashion industry and world of commerce.

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To get an idea of the magnitude of online shopping, let us first take a look at some recent statistics. In December 2011, the United States increased its rates of online holiday spending by a whopping 15% from the previous year. In a period of just under two months, beginning from November 1 and ending the day after Christmas, $35.3 billion were spent.

Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, was created eight years ago to prompt buyers to purchase products online through the sales that were offered only on companies’ websites. It was the “heaviest online spending day” of the winter season, but was surprisingly amongst the ranks of nine other days throughout the year in which over $1 billion was spent. Online shopping has unexpectedly paved the way for other companies to flourish. Delivery services, particularly the United Parcel Service and FedEx, have accumulated massive increases in revenue as the “less obvious beneficiaries” of virtual retail. The exponential expansion of online shopping led UPS to hire 55,000 more workers and FedEx to hire an extra 20,000 for the holiday season.

Fashion is very important. It is lifeenhancing and, like everything that gives pleasure, it is worth doing well.

Vivienne Westwood

Fashions fade, style is eternal.

Yves Saint-Laurent

So what is it that makes e-commerce so successful, dramatically shifting the retail scene? The “e” in e-commerce, of course; its inherent electronic character. It boils down to the fact that through simulated means the consumer is able to control his or her own shopping world. Companies have taken e-commerce to another level by solely offering their products online; sites like Ideeli, Hautelook, Rue La La, and Gilt are all “private shopping sites” that host flash sales. They offer designer products for much less but only offer them for a limited time, encouraging online shoppers to splurge on the spot before the sales disappear. Shopping online allows buyers to experience the enjoyment shopping brings within the comfort of their very homes, even when the products hail all the way from Asia. Popular sites such as YesStyle compile well-known Japanese, Chinese, and Korean brands into one site so that international shoppers can conveniently browse and order from abroad. These shopping sites give people easy access to trends that are in style literally across the world.

Fashion blogging has revolutionized the conventional ways of disseminating the latest stylistic trends. Some of the best-known fashion bloggers, such as Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist, are photographers that capture people with a unique sense of style

on streets all around the world. Others are fashionistas themselves, such as the Italianborn Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad.

Her enormous popularity and unparalleled fashion sense has landed her collaborations with the likes of huge names such as Dior, Valentino, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, and Burberry.

My two personal favorite fashion bloggers are both Asian: Aimee Song and Wendy Nguyen.Their blogs, titled Song of Style and Wendy’s Lookbook, respectively, are always updated with outfit details and friendly posts. Receiving attention from major fashion labels around the world, companies gift their products to these bloggers to wear in hopes that their viewers (like me) will like and purchase that product.

What is even more remarkable, though, than these bloggers’ global recognition from brand names, is the fact that bloggers have become brands themselves. If you have enough followers on your website, your Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, people start to notice. More specifically, advertisers start to notice, and bloggers realize that there is good “money to be made through advertising, sponsored content and even, in some cases, becoming the face of the brand” itself. Because advertisements are such an integrated part of today’s media and society, it is becoming increasingly

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difficult to grab the attention of the public, constantly overexposed to commercial material. Having a blogger sport your product is not only a creative way to endorse your company’s product, but also a more reliable one. Whereas advertisements can last for thirty seconds, be quickly processed by the audience, and then most likely fade into the unconsciousness, blogger advertising has a stronger effect thanks to their dedicated followers. Bloggers post pictures of themselves as ordinary people with an extraordinary taste in design. They are also working from their own computers or phones, offering themselves as more relatable people to follow than nameless models in informercials. The fact that some of the most popular fashion sites are owned

by Asian bloggers normalizes Asians in the fashion scene, hopefully opening doors for other minorities to express themselves through fashion or aspire to work for high fashion positions, using social media as their platform of success and outlet of creativity.

Technology and its multifaceted social networking sites and media platforms have laid the foundations for the world of online shopping and fashion blogging. Without the Internet’s vast workings and enterprising resources, our role as a consumer of both products and ideas would be immeasurably different from, and I would argue, less exciting, compared to how it is today.

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ASIA

By Jessica Xu

Doing business in Asia is the next big thing, with the upcoming economies and entrepreneurial fervor in the region. Globalization is what makes it all possible, and at the heart of it lies the internet and other communication technologies on which businesses rely for even the simplest transactions and operations. But how well-connected is Asia, in reality? We often take abundance and easy use of technology for granted in the West, but it is dangerous to apply the same assumptions to Asia. There, the digital divide is still clear, not just between countries but within them as well, something that every business(wo)man will have to take into consideration.

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A quick look at statistics shows the “Asian Tigers” (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan) in the lead with internet and communication technology use, not only in Asia but also worldwide. One source is the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) prepared by the World Economic Forum, which measures the degree to which counties use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to increase the competitiveness of and sustain growth in their economies. As seen in the table below, Singapore almost tops the list, coming in second only behind Sweden, and the rest of the Asian Tigers round off the top 20. However, China comes in 51st place and India only pulls in 69th (and in case you’re curious, the United States ranked 8th). As the report summarizes, “Asia and the Pacific region is home to some of the world’s wealthiest, most innovative, and digitized nations in the world and also some of its poorest, least connected

countries.”This is supported and similarly reflected in statistics by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s ICT Development Index (IDI), which measures a country’s ICT infrastructure and uptake.

understand and work with local practices and customs. This is something that we internalize for culture, language, and tradition, but something we often overlook when it comes to technology.

Although parts of Asia are not quite as developed, a lot of them are still connected on a world-class level. A look at the percentage of households with internet access will give us an idea of the digital divide within individual countries.

With the exception of South Korea, an anomaly at 96.8%, the rest of the Asian Tigers average at 76.6%. Not bad, considering that the United States itself has 71.6%, but the fact that just a little less than 30% of the population does not have internet access in the most digitized countries hints at a broader digital divide problem. What is truly shocking about the data is that, with all the talk of business opportunities in the two countries, China only reaches 23.7%, while India manages only 4.2%! With their staggering populations, that’s still a massive connected workforce, but it illustrates the stark divide of developing Asia.

The implications of this data are that, though business opportunities do abound in Asia, they are shaped by the country’s degree of connectivity. The Asian Tigers, connected almost throughout, have infrastructure and technology comparable to the West and, in many cases, conditions even more favorable to business. In contrast, China and India, the two upcoming players, are reasonably connected globally but among the poorest internally. This means that, while working with multinationals or companies abroad in China and India is not a problem, the art of setting up local businesses with domestic targets is not as greatly affected by recent technology. When doing business abroad, one must

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Rank

Country

NRI Score

Internet Households

2

Singapore

5.86

82.0%

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Taiwan

5.48

67.2%

12

South Korea

5.47

96.8%

13

Hong Kong

5.46

76.4%

14

New Zealand

5.36

79.0%

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Australia

5.29

74.1%

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Japan

5.25

81.3%

51

China

4.11

23.7%

69

India

3.89

4.2%

ONLINE SHOPPING IN CHINA: TAOBAO based in China that was founded in 2003 by Alibaba Group. Taobao started off as a scrawny start-up company but eventually surpassed the popularity of giant eBay China, which at the time, held over 70 percent of the C2C market. After the initiation of Taobao, eBay China began to lose its users faster than the refresh of a page. The primary reasons behind eBay China’s loss of consumers were its decision to They go to the computer, to the charge membership and transaction Internet, to Taobao. Taobao is a fees as well as its subpar service C2C, which stands for consumer-to- that was often considered slow consumer, online shopping platform and unreliable. In the end, eBay Getting your shopping done in China, the most populous country in the world, can seem like quite a tiresome task these days. Malls are constantly filled to the brim with people, and queues simply never seem to end.

Even the act of locating the right product and the right price can take hours. So what is a typical Chinese consumer to do? Where can he or she go to get a quick fix of retail?

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By Ann Zheng

China made a decision to lower its prices for registration. Out of sheer desperation, eBay China even went so far as to remove their original fees, making their services free and pleading for its customers to return.

However, the people still chose Taobao. Today, nearly 500 million people are registered users on Taobao, thus making it the 3rd most frequently visited site in China.

What is the reason behind all of this success? Taobao primarily relies on its ability to offer its consumers an endless variety of products.

Whether it is that toy rattlesnake or a secondhand Chanel purse, Taobao will have it available for purchase at a simple click of a mouse. Another part of Taobao’s success depends on convenience. The tedious, long working hours leave most consumers completely deprived of any available time or energy to physically go to a store or shopping center. As a result of increasingly widespread, government-subsidized, fast-speed Internet access available at all hours, online shopping and specifically Taobao has become an increasingly more tempting path. China currently boasts around 193 million online shoppers, more than that of any other country. China’s growing middle class also contributes to the popularity of online shopping, as they tend to be the primary purchasers on Taobao.

In addition to the added convenience and endless variety of available

products, Taobao welcomed the implementation of an open market.

With no transaction and listing fees in the first three years of its start-up, Taobao was able to draw in a core group of sellers and consumers.

This crucial step was part of what allowed them to grow into the widely popular shopping platform seen today.

Unfortunately, the ease of entry into the Taobao market has also likely led to a wide range of criminal cases, including fraud and counterfeit property sales. In addition to these crimes, there has also been some speculation about the existence of internal corruption among Taobao employees, who allegedly pocketed bribes in exchange for deleting negative reviews about certain products. In an attempt to combat these crimes, Taobao has initiated updates on its Security Center

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with new features for browsers to improve the security across Taobao, integrating Anti-virus products from Kingsoft and Tencent. Taobao also cracked down on employees accused of corruption. In addition, Taobao incorporated a system of “real-time security” for users on Taobao websites through mobile devices, such as the iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

Despite the accusations it has faced for illegal behavior, Taobao has remained an undeniably strong player in the C2C market. In fact, Taobao will be a main part of the e-commerce surge in China, expected to more than triple in the next few years, with sales reaching $420 billion USD by 2015. Is it probable other countries will start using Taobao just as much? With the help of Chinese translators, it seems likely that consumers all across the world will soon experience the convenience of Taobao.

SPRING TRIP TO Tokyo: modern and technology-driven, or traditional and culturally inspired?

Or perhaps, a seemingly perfect mixture of the two? Over the course of March 2 to March 9, we were given the chance to explore the depths of the metropolis’s past, present and future.

TOKYO

By Ryan Hull

After disembarking from a 12-hour flight and a leap forwards in time, we were treated to a remarkably similar sky to that which we just left; for a moment, some of us thought we had not left JFK. However, we quickly realized that where we had arrived was nothing like

New York City. The first aspect of Tokyo we experienced was the unnatural yet beautiful silence, orderliness, and cleanliness of the city. The airport was quiet and efficient, the roads and busses were spotless, and the whole city sparkled at night from years of attention to detail.

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After an interesting dinner at a Japanese Denny’s, a brief tour of Shinjuku and a restful night’s sleep, we woke up to the prospect of visiting a well-known art museum, followed by Google’s headquarters. At the museum, we reveled at beautiful paintings, and then at Google’s Tokyo headquarters, we gawked at their modern and technologically-advanced suite. Following presentations and a tour of the Google corporation, we went shopping (read: browsing very expensive goods) at the nearby mall.

We finished the day snacking and sightseeing in the youthcentered district of Shibuya.

Tuesday was a trip to the Honda headquarters, where we had the pleasure of meeting ASIMO, the company’s trademark humanoid robot. After taking some selfies with the bot, we friended Honda’s executives over a delicious lunch and then headed off to the top of the Tokyo Skytree: the second-tallest structure in the world. Recovering from some mild vertigo, we took a train to Asakusa, a vastly different area of Tokyo that melded the city’s hunger for commerce with stunningly beautiful shrines and temples.

Later, we wrapped up the night with a delicious and entertaining shabu shabu dinner.

The next day, we had the privilege of visiting the hightech Sony building, a gigantic glass behemoth in which we were allowed to check out a variety of the company’s newest products and technologies. Then, after enjoying an authentic sushi lunch, we hopped on another train to visit Kamakura, a location quite out-of-the-way (in fact, not even in Tokyo), yet still mystifying and entrancing. After strolling through sunlit Japanese gardens and posing for a plethora of photographs with the giant Buddha statue, we

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inhaled an amazing okonomiyaki dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Thursday morning brought the opportunity to visit not one, but two global finance corporations: Morgan Stanley and Bloomberg. The kind and accommodating staff led interesting tours and panels, and Morgan Stanley treated us to a five-star lunch of sashimi and sakura pudding, which we eagerly devoured. Our bellies full, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for a night in Akihabara, the center of electronics consumption and every manga and anime lover’s dream.

As our last day in Tokyo dawned, we all awoke excited for the unique activities the day had in store for us. Splitting into two groups, we had the option of traveling to either a traditional Japanese bathhouse or the temples and shrines which abound near the Imperial Palace. Those who went to the bathhouse had the luxury of submerging themselves in therapeutic warm water, relax with a massage, or have the bacteria eaten off their feet by small fish. Those who opted to visit the Imperial Palace and its grounds were able to experience an amazing stroll through Japanese history and unwind among the company of new friends.

When we boarded the plane on Saturday morning, it was with heavy hearts. Being in the company of amazing people, incredible food, and breathtaking sights made for a truly unforgettable spring break for all who were granted this amazing opportunity. It was apparent from the many discussions we had that we had no desire to leave, and the friendships that we made, both foreign and domestic, have truly enriched our social and academic lives. Now, there remains one thing left to say: Rainen made! ‘Til next year!

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Over the past decade, Asia has been leading the global trend in online gaming. The constantly growing library of playable webgames, casual online games, and multimassively multiplayer online (MMO) games will soon outshine the classic platform consoles in the years to come.

Currently the largest gaming market, valued at $7 billion, resides in China.

One of the biggest reasons why there is such a buzz for online games is the

game. Small payments attract a greater audience because they provide options for customizability and more freedom within the game. This also helps resolve the issue of piracy to a certain degree, which has been rampant since the advent of file sharing.

Second to China is South Korea, whose market is projected to hit $5 billion in 2014. Korea has become one of online gaming’s most advanced markets in the world, with almost a $2.3 billion growth

gaming. Online games such as Starcraft II, League of Legends and DotA II have taken gaming to a higher level. With such a large audience focused on online gaming, companies have been reaping profits. Online streaming platforms such as Twitch.tv have offered streaming services of the crowd’s favorite stars that are free for standard definition streaming, but a subscription fee for high definition streaming. Pro gamers also get a cut of the subscription share, which promotes increased activity from them.

THE ASIAN GAMING INVASION: increase in ease of access. Unlike downloadable client games that are massive in size, online browser games are small applets on websites that load almost instantaneously with the help of a decent internet connection. These games have attracted avid gamers and occasional gamers alike. Producers of these online games have devised a way to not only generate large revenues, but also to maintain that revenue stream.

The strategy is to focus primarily on free-to-play games that involve microtransactions for certain unlockable features in the game, rather than ask for lump sum payments for the entire

within the past four years and an increase in annual revenue of around 9.7% each year. Korea has also invested in eSports, which is a division of professional

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With this streaming service comes great convenience. For audience members that cannot attend the competitions, they can still enjoy the intensity of high

stakes games at home through online streaming.

If online gaming is the rage, then what about console gaming? Japan’s Sony recently announced the release of their newest console, the PlayStation 4, which is expected to be available for purchase in Japan during the holidays of 2013, and in the U.S. and Europe hopefully sometime around 2014. The PlayStation 4 promises attractive features such as a touch screen on the controller, improved

ONLINE MARKETS graphics and continued installments of the PlayStation’s most popular games.

However, this marketing and developing strategy has been already been recently attempted to little avail.

Competitor Nintendo’s newly released WiiU presents almost the same features as the announced PlayStation 4, but it is already on life support. Even its welltimed entry in stores during Thanksgiving 2012 was only able to rake in an underwhelming 100,000 copies sold in the first month. True, Nintendo’s Wii has less developed online functionality than the PlayStation and Xbox, but if WiiU’s

By Ethan Song

intricate plan to reenter the modern household did not work, it might take more effort for the PlayStation 4 to garner any special attention. Things are starting to look grim for the console and Sony right now, which just sold its New York headquarters for 111 billion yen ($1.2 billion), of which 41 billion yen ($438 million) is to be used for business operating income for the fourth quarter.

Other emerging gaming markets in Asia include the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Credit Suisse reports that the Philippine’s burgeoning gaming industry may surpass Singapore’s $5.6 billion gaming market by 2018. Thailand’s

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online gaming market is expected to experience a 25% growth to reach $132 million by 2014. Increasing technological development in Asia’s up and coming countries will only bring higher earnings in the industry.

There is a gradual but noticeable shift in markets from console to online gaming. It’s melancholic to see some of the most cherished childhood gaming platforms grow old and be replaced, but one can always look forward to newer possibilities and greater heights. In this ever-evolving market, it’s hard to tell what is going to be around the corner.

S E N I P IP

: Y G L I O H L P O N H E C H T TE N I N U F E MOR

utis a B aulo P y B

If you were to believe the recent marketing campaign of the Department of Tourism, everything “Is more fun in the Philippines.” While most of their advertisements tend to focus on the natural beauty and the welcoming nature of the Filipino, one thing that should not be overlooked is the growing importance of the technology in the Philippines. From social media and texting to IT support, the Philippines should not be overlooked when considering the globalization of the technology industry.

A few years ago, NBC had a one season show called “Outsourced,” focusing on the call center phenomenon, placing the fictional comedy in India. However, if this show were to air today, it would probably be more accurate to set it in Manila. In most metrics (total revenue, personnel count, and number of non-verbal BPO (Business Processing Outsourcing) jobs), the Philippines has surpassed India as the world leader in the call center industry. Several factors have played into this. First, the close historical ties that the Philippines has to the United States has led to a better mastery of American English (with a 93% literacy rate nationwide, the third highest in the world), including idioms, accent, and cultural references. Furthermore, there is also a trend of low turnovers, as highly trained individuals,

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including college graduates, enter this industry with the intent of rising to the executive office through promotions.

When combined with low labor and operational costs compared to domestic call centers and a more developed infrastructure, it can be expected that this industry will grow in the future. However, the Philippines is more than just a leader in call centers. For a long time, the Philippines has been known as the texting capital of the world, with over 2 billion texts sent daily at one point in time, and 43 billion on New Year’s Day. While that number has decreased to about 1.4 billion texts daily, mobile telecom companies, such as Globe, Smart, and Talk n Text, continue to be important facets of people’s lives, with 72 million subscriptions in a country of 94 million. Part of the reason for this adoption is the infrastructure of the mobile industry. As opposed to

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invest heavily in mobile broadband infrastructure, laying the groundwork for many more developments in the future.

locked contracts here in the States, microtransactions are commonplace; individuals can refill their phone with texts on an as-needed basis, at about 1 peso per text (about 2 US cents per text).

As evidence of the importance of the Philippines in the Southeast Asia cyberculture, Google opened up an office in Manila this past January, the fifth in the region. Given that the 33 million internet users in the Philippines is set to double by 2016, one can expect many developments from this office. Furthermore, they have already produced a localized version of YouTube, the first in Southeast Asia.

As shown by the rise to global fame of singer Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda of Journey, and the Cebu dancing inmates thanks to the popular video-sharing website, the Philippines is more than willing to provide YouTube with tens of millions of views daily. In addition to viral videos, curated content from the government (including the President), television companies (ABS-CBN and GMA-7), and major corporations, is being made available. These all point to the growing potential of digital advertising in the Philippines, as well as the monetization of unique user content that comes with a localized platform.

Part of the reason for decline in total texts sent is the fact that the Philippines has gained the title of Social Networking Capital of the World. Even before Facebook, Filipinos were heavy adopters of social networking sites such as Friendster and Multiply, providing them with 39% and 24% of their total user base today, respectively. Thus, it is no big surprise that Filipinos have an astounding rate of user adoption, with several studies placing Facebook adoption between 92-94% among internet users, the highest worldwide. This is corroborated with 41.3% of Filipino’s online time spent on social networks. Twitter use is also prevalent enough to the point that Filipinos are the 8th most active population on Twitter, at 16.1%. In order to take advantage of this social network boom, telecom companies are expected to

From texting to social media to call centers to YouTube partnerships, the Philippines technology industry continues to expand its potential. While there have been dark spots in recent years, the fields of BPO, Social Networking and others are going to grow and, as the Department of Tourism claims, it will definitely be more fun in the Philippines!

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BIOTECHNOLOGY STIMULATES THAILAND’S BOOMING AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

By Johnny Su

market, improving the health and wealth of the nation, and indirectly allowing for educational opportunities and the success of other businesses. Much of the improvement in Thailand’s economy is owed to the role that biotechnology has played, and it is the development of biotechnology in the farming and agribusiness that has been the key to all other successes in Thailand.

Thailand is a nation of 70 million people that has prospered more than most other countries in Southeast Asia over the past few decades. Like many other nations in the region, it has slowly shifted from a largely agrarian country to one that has branched into manufacturing and service industries. Still, it is its agriculture that has made its economy prosper the most –opening the job

Since the creation of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in 1983, Thailand continues to improve its standing and economic strength in the world economy. Despite that Thailand was particularly hit hard by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, its economy recovered by 2001, as increasing debt revenue allowed the country to balance its budget and repay its debt to the IMF, four years ahead of schedule. This year, its economy is looking to grow by 5%, compared to United States’ 1.5%. Much of this prosperity is due to the government aiding its agriculture industry through improvements in methods of biotechnological farming.

Three easily cited examples among the many are found in its shrimp, cotton, and papaya industries. Its shrimp

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industry has benefited from the Shrimp Genome Project and the Shrimp Traceability Project that improve breeding, quality and food safety. This allows Thailand to out-produce its rivals and keep its competitive edge.

Genetically modified cotton is now resistant to Bollworms and the Leaf Roll Virus disease which improves its yield by 55% while lowering production costs by 18%. Finally, the genetically modified Khaik Dum Papaya is now resistant to the Ring Spot Virus, which improves its yield by 471%.

Methods such as these have allowed Thailand to become one of the top seven food exporters in the entire world.

In fact, biotechnology in Thailand’s agribusiness not only helps to make the crops more nutritional and resistant to disease and pests, but also makes crops such as rice more tolerant to flooding. Currently, over 80 biotech agrobusinesses are investing in Thailand’s 10,000 agribusiness operations. From the period 1970-2009, total foreign investment in the agriculture sector approved by the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) was 291,901.7 million Baht (or roughly $10 trillion).

to prosper in other areas of the economy. As a result, Thailand’s economic strength is third in the region, behind India and China. As farming and agribusiness become more specialized and increase in yields, some of the farmland can be cleared for businesses in other sectors of the economy. The improved economic climate has also allowed Thailand to nearly complete the national goal of providing free universal primary education to all citizens. It has also helped to bring down the poverty level to record lows while improving the health and nutrition for its young and providing them with new job opportunities.

Clearly, biotechnology has improved the overall economy and quality of life for Thailand. The government’s encouragement in the agribusiness has improved food exports which have helped to make Thailand a thriving economy while many other countries are not doing nearly as well. This has subsequently helped bring money into the country for expansion into other businesses and to improve the lives of its people in terms of education, nutrition and job opportunities.

Biotechnology doesn’t just help with Thailand’s agriculture but has also raised capital for the nation, allowing it

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A

OF FUN

By Salina Lee

to hangouts to, before you know it, self-driving cars. This is a company that is known for its creativity and innovation, constantly developing products to simplify everyday tasks. Not only is the technology coming from the Googleplex in Silicon Valley, California, a marvel, but the culture of Googlers has also gained a reputation of being a relaxed workplace of brilliantly talented people—that is, anti-corporate. Google has grown to be such a fascination that even Hollywood has decided to cash in on it this summer with the movie, The Internship, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, about working at Google.

Meanwhile, Google is always looking for passionate students with revolutionary ideas to work for them, so who knows, you could be part of their next internship class.

It’s everywhere. It’s the homepage of your browser. It’s the guiding tool to life’s questions (in fact, it even knows how to predict your questions). Its simplistic design of blue, red, yellow, blue, green, red is easily recognizable. Google, this search engine turned major tech company, has captured and defined this decade of technology and Internet users.

Since its founding in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford PhD students, Google has expanded from being a search engine to Gmail to Google maps to Android

Working at Google is an experience that not everyone gets, but for someone interested in the technology industry, it is most definitely a company with an attractive culture. Google offers numerous internship opportunities across the nation and globally. Their BOLD Summer Internship Program caters to those interested in the business side of a tech company and recruits approximately 175 interns across the United States.

Of course, engineering internships requiring a tech background number in the thousands. Computer science majors with an interest in computer coding are always welcome as software engineers and product managers. However, on the corporate side, Google also has opportunities in finance, sales, marketing, and human resources. If you are interested in Asia, Google has big hubs in Singapore and Japan as it expands into the AsiaPacific markets. Internships in the international headquarters tend to follow a separate hiring process, but can still offer enticing opportunities. The key to being a future Googler is passion. Googlers are undoubtedly talented, but they are most passionate about product creation and technology innovation.

A Google internship is structured like most 10-week summer internships – interns work in small teams of five to six people, along with a team manager, to tackle several projects. For

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example, a project for the marketing team includes working with the Android team to market the new Nexus 7 tablets to college students. At the same time, Google interns get a taste of the Google culture and perks that stem from their informal motto “Don’t be evil.”All the cafes at the Googleplex are stocked with delicious and healthy foods. Part of the Google mindset is that good food keeps employees happy and working hard; thus evolved their micro-kitchens. Learning and the cycling of ideas is another key to success at Google. Classes, from computer coding to culinary lessons to recreational sports, are offered on a regular basis. Guest speakers and internal organizations also serve as social platforms to encourage colleague interaction.

Much of Google is built around the belief that collaboration across departments and flat leadership provides for a comfortable workplace. Interns are encouraged to meet with managers over lunch and explore their passions while gaining insights on the company’s direction and learn more ways for them to turn their passions into reality. An expression of interest in a product or development can give you the opportunity to take part in the process regardless of your level. As an intern, you can even get the chance to partake in the experimental stages of the newest product developments. The founders will also give weekly updates company-wide so that all employees are aware of the progress being made and maintain a strong feeling of companionship throughout the company.

Google has a unique culture as a tech company, one that is focused on keeping up with the social changes and establishing for itself a name as a fun company with groundbreaking ideas.

Google is more than just your go-to search engine because it continues to develop products that satisfy society’s technological needs and brings innovation to a whole new level.

Special thanks to Mike Foster (Wharton 2013) for sharing his experiences at Google. He was part of the BOLD Summer Internship Program 2012 and will be returning to Mountain View, CA as a full-time Googler.

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A Day as a Googler 6:00 AM Board Google shuttle from home in San Francisco to Googleplex in Mountain View

1:00 PM Meeting with team members

7:15 AM Arrive at Googleplex and go for a run at the gym

3:00 PM Attend a learning workshop

8:00 AM Breakfast with a senior manager

4:30 PM Work on project

9:00 AM Meeting with team manager and project work

6:30 PM Dinner with Googlers at a Google café

12:00 PM Lunch with someone from another department

7:05 PM Take the Google shuttle back home

MBA INTERVIEWS

By Jo Wang

(CHIH) HELEN CHOU WHARTON ’14 Helen worked for ASUS, a Taiwan-based computer hardware and electronics company, for five years before coming to Wharton to pursue her MBA degrees.

J: Where did you live and what did you do before you came to Wharton for MBA? H: I was born and raised in Taiwan. I studied International Relations at the National Zhengzhi University at Taipei and started to work for ASUS in international sales after graduation. I worked for ASUS in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

J: Was professional knowledge required prior to your work at ASUS? H: In a high tech company, there are many different roles, Research and Development, Product Manager, Sales‌As a Product Manager, you need professional background knowledge, but not for Sales. Sales requires a very different skill set.

J: You studied international relations. How did you become interested in working in international sales?

H: When I studied as an exchange student at University of Washington, I became interested in working in different countries.

So when I chose to work in international sales, I liked the idea of working as a bridge, a liaison between the Taiwanese headquarters and the local business.

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J: What do you think is the biggest difference with when you worked in Asia?

H: The work hours. My past work hours began at 9 am and continued to midnight.

Especially if it was your first few years and you were ambitious, the work hours would be really intense.

J: Did you travel a lot when you worked in Southeast Asia?

H: At first I had to fly a lot, because we didn’t have an office in Malaysia yet. But later as ASUS developed further, the company wanted to integrate into the local market, so it really depends on the different phases of market development of the company. I am the secondgeneration Sales of the company, so we started to stay in Malaysia a lot more.

J: Did you have any international colleagues?

H: We have industrial designers who work in Taipei. But sales-wise, the international employees are mostly from the local countries. I would say that you pretty much have to speak the local language.

You don’t hav e to be really fluent, but at least you should speak enough to carry on conversations.

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AI-JUNG (LILY) LI, WHARTON ’13 Lily worked in NVIDIA and ASUS in Taipei before coming to Penn for MBA.

J: What did you do before you became an MBA student?

L: I grew up in Taiwan and studied Electrical Engineering at the Taiwan National University. Later I worked for NVDIA and ASUS as a Product Manager.

J: When you worked in NVIDIA, what was the working environment like?

L: The NVIDIA branch in Taiwan is a Research & Development center, so it was mostly Taiwanese people. The working language is 100% Chinese. However, larger companies like Intel hire both Americans and Taiwanese in Taipei. They would have a marketing and sales team in Taiwan, so they would need more American employees to communicate with the headquarters, but they would also expect you to be fluent in Chinese.

J: What do you think are some differences between working in Asia for an American company and working in America for an American company?

L: There is a salary discount, especially for large companies. For example, for employees of an American company in China, there is a 0.9 discount in salary. That means they receive 90% of the salary they would have earned if they worked in America. Of course the living standards and exchange rate are still in their favor.

Large companies such as Intel have a whole set of internal documents regulating the salary differences.

J: Do you have any advice for American students who might want to work in Asia?

L: Really speak the language, especially Chinese or Japanese, since people don’t really speak English in Taiwan or Japan. I have friends who interviewed for a job in China, and right after the company got the resume they first called to test her Chinese language skills.

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Images: http://www.clickrally.com/is-us-contributing-to-human-rights-violations-importing-shrimp/ http://marcanderson.photoshelter.com/image/I0000RRQGfVMkQoU A GOOGLE OF FUN http://tabtimes.com/sites/default/files/google%20search%20 app%20update.PNG Courtesy of Salina Lee MBA INTERVIEWS http://rumah-it.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Free-asus-wallpaper-download-the-free-asus-wallpaper-download-free.jpg Headshots courtesy of Helen Chou and Lily Li

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