Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen?

Re:Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen? by something2324 on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @05:02AM (#10743320)

I'm going to a bit culturally insensitive, but I've been living in China for the past 2 months and I'm convinced they have a huge cultural barrier that makes them absolutely incapable of creating high quality goods.

I was told there is even a Chinese saying that amounts to "the average and not more"

You can even see this in San Francisco. Go to a chinese restaurant on Clement. The food will be amazing, but the windows look like they haven't been washed in years.

One of my friends here is an architect and she told me that her work crews always say she's OCD. When I actually saw one of her projects I was horrified. It's like big-picture okay, but all the details are wrong. Things are misaligned, poured concrete and splashed some on the white wall? who cares! It's just a smudge, no one will notice.

My friend who coordinates manufacturing here says the only way to get what you want is to constantly fly in for inspections and yell at manufacturers till you get what you want (and yes, if you don't yell people don't think you're being very serious)

While I've spent a bit of time in Japan too, (and I think the cultures are actually a lot closer than most people appreciate) - when it comes to quality it's a different planet

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Re:Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen? by seanmcdirmid on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @05:16AM (#10743358)

There are definitely places where China over achieves, and food is one of them. Also, while the architects might have OCD, the migrant construction workers making 10 Kuai an hour do not...which probably drives the architect to tears. My wife is a UX designer who has the same problem with low end developers.

The quality is there, but it can only go as far as the weakest link.

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Re:Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen? by something2324 on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @05:31AM (#10743401)

Ehhh, I don't buy it's simple a wage/motivation issue

You know cheap immigrant labor in the US also makes squat and they don't do generally do a shabby job. The issue is that no one is held to a high standard here. In the US if you do a sloppy job you'll get fired and they'll find someone who can do it better for the same horrible wage. Here "average" work is expected an no one really seems to mind (as long as "it gets the job done" so to speak), and if you expect more then you're a mean boss or OCD or whatever.

The food is good, why do you care about the windows? The pen clicks and put ink on paper, what more do you need?

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Re:Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen? by seanmcdirmid on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @07:03AM (#10743712)

Immigrant labor in the states isn't paid 10 Kuai an hour, and the American government isn't so worried about a peasant uprising that they would want to keep all the low skilled labor particularly busy. To the CCP, however, the construction industry is just a big jobs program for farmers who can't find enough work in the country side, hence the heavy use of concrete (easy to work with) and overbuilt buildings that feel dated just after a few years.

Believe me, people care, but the emphasis on low wages and work that just passes a low bar drives them crazy. I have to listen about my wife complain about this every night. I thankfully work for an American company but even then, things like a reactive approach to facilities maintnence drive me bonkers. It is simply about wages. If you go to Singapore, or Taiwan, or Hong Kong, you'll see similar cultures with much better results.

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Re:Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen? by something2324 on Monday December 21, 2015 @01:18AM (#10769877)

Well the first part is very true and the fact that the gov't doesn't really care about quality (just as long as people are working) probably fuels the culture of mediocrity, but this really doesn't apply to the private sector where in a different cultural climate the employers would always demand excellence. I mean at the end of the day it's sorta understandable b/c you just have to not be a ton worse than your competitors - and think of the savings!

I'm sure it's very different from Singapore/Taiwan/HK (though judging by the lack of attention to detail by immigrants in San Francisco I'll wait to see for myself), but this is a country of peasants/farmers run by peasants and farmers. It's going to take a very very long time for the culture to change - I'm talking several generations - b/c it's the culture of the "weakest-link". I guess their only blessing is that they have these other places to learn from.

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Re:Why can't China make a good ballpoint pen? by anabis on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @06:56PM (#10748399)

Reminded me of the difference in airplane refueling.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2007/11/-quot-...

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