Nobody ever said that China was capitalist. Yet for the past 20 plus years they have engaged in a culture of openness that has resulted in many zillions of dollars flowing into their country.

One American company contributing to those zillions of dollars is Starbucks. Yet an AP story from March 11 on Breibart.com says that Starbucks presence in the famed “Forbidden City” is a smear on China’s historical legacy.

Jiang Hongbin, a deputy from one of the provinces, says that Starbucks “can no longer be allowed to taint China’s national culture.”

Here’s the rub: In 2008 China will be hosting the Olympics, and they want tourists to come to the Forbidden City. Apparently, some Chinese have been upset since the year 2000 about the presence of this particular Starbucks, but other Chinese say “the Starbucks is popular with tourists and its rent helps pay for the upkeep of the… complex of villas and gardens, now undergoing a thorough renovation ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics summer games.”

Jiang says that’s the integrity of the Chinese culture should take precedence over funding concerns.

This is more of a socioeconomic issue than a workplace issue, but it is interesting to note how emerging Third World countries deal with influxes of capitalism and cash. Essentially, China hyper-spaced the 20th century, and apparently they are struggling with finding an appropriate balance between cultural and economic prosperity.

In my opinion, every business owner would do well to read the book “Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies,” by Nikos Mourkogiannis. When a company knows its purpose for being, potentially paralyzing questions such as the one facing officials at the Forbidden City do not slow a company down.

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Filed in Business, Opinion, Motivation, Management, Leadership