<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258</id><updated>2011-09-08T12:17:58.160-06:00</updated><category term='Cross Cultural'/><category term='India Time'/><category term='Health and Sickness'/><category term='Property Development'/><category term='RTL-Z Dutch News Broad Cast'/><category term='Opportunity'/><category term='At CGCE P LTD'/><category term='India Opportunity'/><title type='text'>Mission in Business</title><subtitle type='html'>My views on business and their missions in developing nations. Low cost manufacturing...YES! But what about Social Entrepreneurship, Best Business Practice, and Being a Force for Change when going cross-cultural... 
As a Flying Dutchman I started an Industrial Design and Manufacturing company in Pune, India, in 2002.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>29</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-6425389368149176488</id><published>2011-06-01T05:40:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2011-06-01T05:40:57.264-06:00</updated><title type='text'>IMG01213-20110601-1634.jpg</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="mobile-photo"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fzExN08w_uA/TeYlSdIqnNI/AAAAAAAAATM/WafomOnp4Ow/s1600/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDEyMTMtMjAxMTA2MDEtMTYzNC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-757265"&gt;&lt;img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fzExN08w_uA/TeYlSdIqnNI/AAAAAAAAATM/WafomOnp4Ow/s320/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDEyMTMtMjAxMTA2MDEtMTYzNC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-757265"  border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613214984552750290" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;...These are the days the difference in temperature inside the car and on the road is 19 degrees Celsius on the upper side of the gauge...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Few days to go and the rain will cool everything down to more livable conditions! &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;Sent from BlackBerry&amp;#174; on Airtel&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-6425389368149176488?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/6425389368149176488/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=6425389368149176488&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6425389368149176488'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6425389368149176488'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/06/img01213-20110601-1634jpg.html' title='IMG01213-20110601-1634.jpg'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fzExN08w_uA/TeYlSdIqnNI/AAAAAAAAATM/WafomOnp4Ow/s72-c/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDEyMTMtMjAxMTA2MDEtMTYzNC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-757265' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-6681411443212772528</id><published>2011-04-11T04:45:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2011-04-11T04:45:32.695-06:00</updated><title type='text'>IMG00974-20110411-1614.jpg</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="mobile-photo"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRtxemP-6xE/TaLbzTECT6I/AAAAAAAAASo/2nWPQ0XkX6M/s1600/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA5NzQtMjAxMTA0MTEtMTYxNC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-732695"&gt;&lt;img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRtxemP-6xE/TaLbzTECT6I/AAAAAAAAASo/2nWPQ0XkX6M/s320/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA5NzQtMjAxMTA0MTEtMTYxNC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-732695"  border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594275361484591010" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Sent from BlackBerry&amp;#174; on Airtel&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-6681411443212772528?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/6681411443212772528/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=6681411443212772528&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6681411443212772528'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6681411443212772528'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/04/img00974-20110411-1614jpg.html' title='IMG00974-20110411-1614.jpg'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRtxemP-6xE/TaLbzTECT6I/AAAAAAAAASo/2nWPQ0XkX6M/s72-c/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA5NzQtMjAxMTA0MTEtMTYxNC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-732695' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-4905972729992804957</id><published>2011-04-11T04:44:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-04-11T04:45:09.122-06:00</updated><title type='text'>IMG00973-20110411-1612.jpg</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="mobile-photo"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E3-FsQnQuR8/TaLbtQrIfGI/AAAAAAAAASg/ta4116eK4qU/s1600/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA5NzMtMjAxMTA0MTEtMTYxMi5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-709123"&gt;&lt;img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E3-FsQnQuR8/TaLbtQrIfGI/AAAAAAAAASg/ta4116eK4qU/s320/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA5NzMtMjAxMTA0MTEtMTYxMi5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-709123"  border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594275257764052066" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Hail!!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Loading a container and we are all surprised by a heavy hail storm!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hope the damage is manageable...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Frank&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;Sent from BlackBerry&amp;#174; on Airtel&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-4905972729992804957?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/4905972729992804957/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=4905972729992804957&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4905972729992804957'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4905972729992804957'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/04/img00973-20110411-1612jpg.html' title='IMG00973-20110411-1612.jpg'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E3-FsQnQuR8/TaLbtQrIfGI/AAAAAAAAASg/ta4116eK4qU/s72-c/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA5NzMtMjAxMTA0MTEtMTYxMi5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-709123' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-7687734781626447772</id><published>2011-03-04T04:12:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-03-04T04:10:18.172-06:00</updated><title type='text'>IMG00868-20110304-1538.jpg</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="mobile-photo"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jLP35E2cOPY/TXC6izVRDbI/AAAAAAAAARs/rrEwkBrBKew/s1600/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA4NjgtMjAxMTAzMDQtMTUzOC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-718222"&gt;&lt;img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jLP35E2cOPY/TXC6izVRDbI/AAAAAAAAARs/rrEwkBrBKew/s320/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA4NjgtMjAxMTAzMDQtMTUzOC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-718222"  border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580165045369769394" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Yes, that is my lovely wife!&lt;p&gt;Woman of the year 2011-2012...for the effortless care taking of the poor and less privileged. She rocks!&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://indiahouseofhope.blogspot.com"&gt;http://indiahouseofhope.blogspot.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.brightstareducation.org"&gt;www.brightstareducation.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;CGCE P LTD&lt;br&gt;(M) +919890100298&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-7687734781626447772?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/7687734781626447772/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=7687734781626447772&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/7687734781626447772'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/7687734781626447772'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/03/img00868-20110304-1538jpg.html' title='IMG00868-20110304-1538.jpg'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jLP35E2cOPY/TXC6izVRDbI/AAAAAAAAARs/rrEwkBrBKew/s72-c/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA4NjgtMjAxMTAzMDQtMTUzOC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-718222' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-8121702210258961911</id><published>2011-02-17T06:00:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-02-17T05:58:06.015-06:00</updated><title type='text'>At the courier office in Pune...</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="mobile-photo"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggyiJJ-iZ1w/TV0NTgzsPmI/AAAAAAAAARM/n8RYuLM5u0Q/s1600/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA3NzUtMjAxMTAyMTctMTcwMS5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-786017"&gt;&lt;img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggyiJJ-iZ1w/TV0NTgzsPmI/AAAAAAAAARM/n8RYuLM5u0Q/s320/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA3NzUtMjAxMTAyMTctMTcwMS5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-786017"  border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574626542629961314" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Signing documents and getting mail out by candle light...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;CGCE P LTD&lt;br&gt;Managing Director&lt;br&gt;(M) +919890100298&lt;br&gt;(O) +912064781565&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my BlackBerry&amp;#174; from India&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-8121702210258961911?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/8121702210258961911/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=8121702210258961911&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/8121702210258961911'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/8121702210258961911'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/02/at-courier-office-in-pune.html' title='At the courier office in Pune...'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ggyiJJ-iZ1w/TV0NTgzsPmI/AAAAAAAAARM/n8RYuLM5u0Q/s72-c/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA3NzUtMjAxMTAyMTctMTcwMS5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-786017' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-3946894189120841392</id><published>2011-02-17T05:57:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-02-17T05:54:49.784-06:00</updated><title type='text'>The no-power Thursdays!</title><content type='html'>It is one of those days in Pune. Since this morning 9.00am no electricity. It&amp;#39;s 5.30pm and still waiting... At the courier agents office we sign off on the documents by candle-light...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The city pollution increases as all the little diesel generator sets do their best to keep the tube lights going. 5.something million people without electricity. No broadband internet, no hot showers, no ceiling fans, no desktop computers as the batteries of the back-up are drained, no service at the bank, no card payments... Life goes back a few years in one day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The industrial day off we call it here. Right in the middle of the week... Well, we&amp;#39;ll compensate on Saturdays, but it&amp;#39;s another thing to explain to overseas customers and suppliers. Pune, Pimpri, and surrounding hubs are one of the larger industrial belts of South Asia and would be truly blessed with power 24/7... &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On the other hand, our D-light decoratives&amp;#39; candles keep selling better when there is no power at all! &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;CGCE P LTD&lt;br&gt;Managing Director&lt;br&gt;(M) +919890100298&lt;br&gt;(O) +912064781565&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my BlackBerry&amp;#174; from India&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-3946894189120841392?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/3946894189120841392/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=3946894189120841392&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/3946894189120841392'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/3946894189120841392'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/02/no-power-thursdays.html' title='The no-power Thursdays!'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-1712877880312342171</id><published>2011-02-11T08:07:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-02-11T08:05:53.379-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Counted for!</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="mobile-photo"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZoLdm-KJjU/TVVCQk4xRxI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/HZSvjFLBY1A/s1600/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA3NTktMjAxMTAyMTEtMTkxMC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-753383"&gt;&lt;img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZoLdm-KJjU/TVVCQk4xRxI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/HZSvjFLBY1A/s320/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA3NTktMjAxMTAyMTEtMTkxMC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-753383"  border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572432966487983890" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;...India&amp;#39;s head count reached our front door! &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the pizza is getting cold we had to give information about ourselves and the kids to a very friendly government official.&lt;br&gt;  &lt;br&gt;The data entry on a note block did not give me the confidence the same data would end up in a centralized administration system, but he will come back with a &amp;#39;prrrint-out for werrrification!&amp;#39;. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;With a sticker on the door everyone knows our house has been counted!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;wondering how many people live in India, our take just our city. The figures for Pune range between 4.5 and 6.0 million people depending on source.&lt;br&gt;Well, on the total figure of (guess) 1.1 billion people in the country that difference is hardly noticeable. At least we are counted in now!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;CGCE P LTD&lt;br&gt;Managing Director&lt;br&gt;(M) +919890100298&lt;br&gt;(O) +912064781565&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my BlackBerry&amp;#174; from India&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-1712877880312342171?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/1712877880312342171/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=1712877880312342171&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1712877880312342171'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1712877880312342171'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2011/02/counted-for.html' title='Counted for!'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZoLdm-KJjU/TVVCQk4xRxI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/HZSvjFLBY1A/s72-c/%253D%253Futf-8%253FB%253FSU1HMDA3NTktMjAxMTAyMTEtMTkxMC5qcGc%253D%253F%253D-753383' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-5588472553529219980</id><published>2010-12-12T04:32:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-12-12T04:32:47.603-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Arranging a Marriage</title><content type='html'>Just wrote an email to my sister-in-law her father-in-law and thought i might as well share it with the rest of the world. I had been discussing the fact that in India it is very common to arrange a marriage with a lot of influence by the parents.&amp;nbsp;Actually, the parents arrange it... Wouldn't go to well in the Dutch/Western context. He could not believe&amp;nbsp;ha as a&amp;nbsp;father could tell his sons who to&amp;nbsp;marry and who not,&amp;nbsp;as it is so foreign. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regardless what is better or right ways or wrong ways&amp;nbsp;(I lean towards parents having more influence by the way) it has been an eye opener to discover that arranging a mariage could easily be normal for MOST marriages in the world today. The population in India is about 2 times larger than Europe and the USA combined :).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For an office it's quite a shock when a staff persons wedding is being arranged as she might move within a few months to the place where her husband lives. A part of HR&amp;nbsp;to take into consideration when hiring staff! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are always making fun on how we would get our daugther and son marriaged in India by writing the add in the newspaper. It could go like this in a few years from now where Nicole and I would write the add for Justin, our son:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Business and Social Entrepreneur&amp;nbsp;from Pune looking for a match for his VERY handsome son, CEO of an international design company, MBA Harvard. Girl&amp;nbsp;has to be 22 years&amp;nbsp;+ and 5'5" tall and equally well educated. No divorcees apply; vegetarian oriented. Caste no bar. Prospects&amp;nbsp;kindly mail to &lt;a href="mailto:obviouslythispartisnotserious@geemail.com"&gt;obviouslythispartisnotserious@&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;geemail.com&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/em&gt;(Justin our son is just 3 years old...)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more&amp;nbsp;information: &lt;a href="http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/"&gt;http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(The Most Trusted &lt;b&gt;Matrimonial Sites&lt;/b&gt; Over 20 Million Brides &amp;amp; Grooms)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We once joked at a birthday party of a friend of ours who has a daugther, not yet married. We joked right there that Theo, one of our Dutch singles would be a perfect match for his daughter... well, that was not really received as a joke at all... It took some cultural&amp;nbsp;management from our wise friend Kshitij to explain that marriage was not an option and it was just a joke...&lt;br /&gt;How easy mistakes are made in different cultures, ahum, thinking we are funny... Contextualization got a whole new meaning!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-5588472553529219980?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/5588472553529219980/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=5588472553529219980&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/5588472553529219980'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/5588472553529219980'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/12/arranging-marriage.html' title='Arranging a Marriage'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-344404937070212444</id><published>2010-04-01T05:49:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2010-04-01T05:50:17.573-06:00</updated><title type='text'>No Problem</title><content type='html'>If there are two words spoken I hear every day it are these &amp;quot;No Problem&amp;quot;. It&amp;#39;s almost a denial of the fact that a lot of things change for the better if you just say those two magic words. The reality does not change though.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;When my daughter almost gets run over by scooter on the way from home from tennis practice it is &amp;quot;no problem&amp;quot;. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;When a supplier delivers materials which were not ordered it is &amp;quot;no problem, please pay now&amp;quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;When the local city planners don&amp;#39;t do what they promise it is not a problem. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I am learning these days that what &amp;quot;no problem&amp;quot; really means is that the person stating it is saying &amp;quot;it is not MY problem&amp;quot;. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The fact that it is somebody else&amp;#39;s problem not always occurs in the mind of the people we have to work with. Guess that&amp;#39;s why one needs a lot of patience do get things going here. I am about to get out of a Riksjaw now and let&amp;#39;s see if we get cheated this time. Often bargaining is a game... It is a problem and I&amp;#39;ll have to deal with it!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;CGCE P LTD&lt;br&gt;Managing Director&lt;br&gt;(M) +919890100298&lt;br&gt;(O) +912064781565&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cgcengineering.com"&gt;www.cgcengineering.com&lt;/a&gt; | &amp;quot;exporting tons of trust&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my BlackBerry&amp;#174; on Airtel from India&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-344404937070212444?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/344404937070212444/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=344404937070212444&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/344404937070212444'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/344404937070212444'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/04/no-problem.html' title='No Problem'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-7655689386971039032</id><published>2010-02-13T11:25:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-13T11:25:58.991-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Pune blast</title><content type='html'>Pune times...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;8 confirmed dead, 33 injured in blast at Pune bakery - Pune - City - ...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;At least eight people have been confirmed dead and 33 injured in a blast at the German Bakery in Pune&amp;#39;s Koregaon Park, an area frequented by foreigners. The police suspect it to be bomb blast.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;We are doing fine and so are the interns and staff. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Please keep the people of Pune in your prayers.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;CGCE P LTD&lt;br&gt;Managing Director&lt;br&gt;(M) +919890100298&lt;br&gt;(O) +912064781565&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cgcengineering.com"&gt;www.cgcengineering.com&lt;/a&gt; | &amp;quot;exporting tons of trust&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my BlackBerry&amp;#174; on Airtel from India&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-7655689386971039032?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/7655689386971039032/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=7655689386971039032&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/7655689386971039032'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/7655689386971039032'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/02/pune-blast.html' title='Pune blast'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-4111270213292145103</id><published>2010-02-02T01:27:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-02T01:33:18.123-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='At CGCE P LTD'/><title type='text'>Member of Parliament at the New Factory</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;"The way of the future"... was the title of the presentation on business in India 2010.&amp;nbsp;The reason for making this presentation... well....we had the piviledge of receiving a&amp;nbsp;delegation from the Netherlands Parliament at&amp;nbsp;our new&amp;nbsp;manufacturing location in Pune. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPEmZGJcI/AAAAAAAAALg/0bkkjvTC1p8/s1600-h/DSC_0065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="267" kt="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPEmZGJcI/AAAAAAAAALg/0bkkjvTC1p8/s400/DSC_0065.JPG" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;The purpose of their visit was&amp;nbsp;to broaden the horizon in the area of outsourcing and corporate social responsibility. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;After traditional flowers&amp;nbsp;at the entrance we had a great time of interaction and getting to know eachother. To talk about 7 years of sweating it out in the Indian&amp;nbsp;environment comes pretty easy and we all hope that the experience will help others in their journey as well. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;Obviously we were all&amp;nbsp;impressed and honoured when people, who often earned their stripes in the&amp;nbsp;economic&amp;nbsp;realm already, are proud of what we have been doing in India so far. Most of them understood the difficulties&amp;nbsp;of living and&amp;nbsp;doing business internationally. Quite an encouragment to be honest with you!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPX7YttAI/AAAAAAAAAL4/uZg5BRamsuY/s1600-h/DSC_0086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="267" kt="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPX7YttAI/AAAAAAAAAL4/uZg5BRamsuY/s400/DSC_0086.JPG" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;The&amp;nbsp;time and discipline it takes&amp;nbsp;to overcome the hurdles to get this far was more than we had ever expected as well... but the more we press in and develop the strategy t bring a bit more discipline the our environment to more opportunitities arise to do&amp;nbsp;even more! We plan the official opening&amp;nbsp;in&amp;nbsp;a few months from now as the factory is&amp;nbsp;getting ready. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;The following delegates were present from the Netherlands Parliament (2e kamer):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fO7VFrDKI/AAAAAAAAALY/ml2w9Q5Xnko/s1600-h/8x12%3D1copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="267" kt="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fO7VFrDKI/AAAAAAAAALY/ml2w9Q5Xnko/s400/8x12%3D1copy.jpg" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;Mw. A. Timmer (PvdA, delegatievoorzitter), Dhr. J. ten Hoopen (CDA). Mw. E. Blanksma-van den Heuvel (CDA), Mw. P. Linhard (PvdA), Mw. P. Smeets (PvdA), Mw. C. Ortega-Martijn (CU), Dhr. B. van der Ham (D66), Mr. Bob Hiensch (Ambassador), Mrs. Marijke van Drunen-Littel (Consulate General).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;Also&amp;nbsp;friends from our new Dutch venture were present (Henk Bakker, Ron Verleun, Patrick de Groot, Gertjan van Ravenswaaij) as well as our Indian Super Hero,who makes India so much more livable.... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPUOUdKEI/AAAAAAAAALw/dlX32VcxsTE/s1600-h/DSC_0085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="267" kt="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPUOUdKEI/AAAAAAAAALw/dlX32VcxsTE/s400/DSC_0085.jpg" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;.... Kshitij Zende! (Love you bro!)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times;"&gt;for more pictures of this event please follow this link: &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48154&amp;amp;id=1033809141&amp;amp;l=d3b3522df9"&gt;http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48154&amp;amp;id=1033809141&amp;amp;l=d3b3522df9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-4111270213292145103?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/4111270213292145103/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=4111270213292145103&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4111270213292145103'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4111270213292145103'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/02/member-of-parliament-at-new-factory.html' title='Member of Parliament at the New Factory'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/S2fPEmZGJcI/AAAAAAAAALg/0bkkjvTC1p8/s72-c/DSC_0065.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-9000604908062703556</id><published>2009-12-30T14:35:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-30T14:35:45.250-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>"No Problem"</title><content type='html'>I still fail to understand why people here say "No problem", when there are some seious problems just pointed out; plain, obvious, and very visible... It is the primary rejection of something inconvenient it looks like, almost denial of the reality. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The factory gets close to completion every day now, and the amount of follow-up required is increasing as&amp;nbsp;detailes are generally neglected. One will have to keep in mind that the factory looks better than most homes in the area. It has 2 restrooms with 8 "pots" which is more than many of the workers communities have... The contrasts are again mind blowing, but it is an awesome thing to bring life to a next level of development!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Szu5JIJD9YI/AAAAAAAAAKY/HDar9Ij-Mr0/s1600-h/IMG00716-20091223-1723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" ps="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Szu5JIJD9YI/AAAAAAAAAKY/HDar9Ij-Mr0/s320/IMG00716-20091223-1723.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Szu5NIFsYAI/AAAAAAAAAKg/XFHNhaZJhR8/s1600-h/IMG00727-20091224-1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" ps="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Szu5NIFsYAI/AAAAAAAAAKg/XFHNhaZJhR8/s320/IMG00727-20091224-1649.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-9000604908062703556?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/9000604908062703556/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=9000604908062703556&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/9000604908062703556'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/9000604908062703556'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/12/no-problem.html' title='&quot;No Problem&quot;'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Szu5JIJD9YI/AAAAAAAAAKY/HDar9Ij-Mr0/s72-c/IMG00716-20091223-1723.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-1528379006394219683</id><published>2009-12-21T10:56:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-21T10:56:26.300-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>They got the hang of it!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;...when they understand what you really mean with "getting a quality job done" it goes pretty quick! It is so awesome to work with hard working, understanding people who are&amp;nbsp;eager to learn.&amp;nbsp;Though i have to be present on site in order to make it happen at 9:00am and 6:00pm it goes pretty smooth these days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;Christmas morning will be with pie and coffee and tea :-) under a real roof! when the deadlines are being reached.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sy-k9U-gwRI/AAAAAAAAAJI/0yl9k69v5Ks/s1600-h/IMG00698-20091221-1743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" ps="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sy-k9U-gwRI/AAAAAAAAAJI/0yl9k69v5Ks/s400/IMG00698-20091221-1743.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;As commented on the previous blog, the watchman is having an awesome time too. To give you the facts, the man is 40+, has 6 daughters and lives with his family in a shack (see yesterdays blog). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;He is hired by a security company we contract in turn, to provide day and night presence on the construction site. We pay the security company USD 60.00 per month and they assumingly pay the gentleman less than that as a monthly salary. Not much... so we have offered our faithful security guard a fulltime job with our company as soon as we are operational on this site; he and his family can move from a hut to an apartment as we increase his pay to an above average Indian level. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;With 6 daughters in India you will have to spend a lot in order to get them married to&amp;nbsp;decent guys! As a company we have decided to help him, as he has some serious challenges facing him in the Indian context. Obviously he is a very happy man, having a brighter future ahead of him!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-1528379006394219683?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/1528379006394219683/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=1528379006394219683&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1528379006394219683'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1528379006394219683'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/12/they-got-hang-of-it.html' title='They got the hang of it!'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sy-k9U-gwRI/AAAAAAAAAJI/0yl9k69v5Ks/s72-c/IMG00698-20091221-1743.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-6425286549500576560</id><published>2009-12-20T03:27:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-20T03:27:55.917-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Property Development'/><title type='text'>Speeding up the process!</title><content type='html'>Yes! the effect of last couple of days of&amp;nbsp;explaining&amp;nbsp;the basics are visible! Still it requires&amp;nbsp;my presence on site, but the progress is&amp;nbsp;awesome! Check out these links for a visual - Frank.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JvMZZVIX44"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JvMZZVIX44&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBTsCjk3KG4&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sy3tKtwJnZI/AAAAAAAAAJA/NPISLp8akNQ/s1600-h/IMG00637-20091220-0843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" ps="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sy3tKtwJnZI/AAAAAAAAAJA/NPISLp8akNQ/s400/IMG00637-20091220-0843.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBTsCjk3KG4"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBTsCjk3KG4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;Let's see what they have completed today :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-6425286549500576560?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/6425286549500576560/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=6425286549500576560&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6425286549500576560'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6425286549500576560'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/12/speeding-up-process.html' title='Speeding up the process!'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sy3tKtwJnZI/AAAAAAAAAJA/NPISLp8akNQ/s72-c/IMG00637-20091220-0843.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-1180126102073109613</id><published>2009-12-19T09:54:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-19T09:54:14.159-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='India Time'/><title type='text'>Time commitments</title><content type='html'>All the difficulties in a different and developing culture taken into account, I am glad there are basics that apply everywhere... like time. Time can be wasted or used anywhere in the world. Today I spent a full day explaining how to plan and take all the problems like lack of water, lack power supply, lack of skill and presence of labor force, etc into account. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is amazing what an eyeopener it is to simply plan. The sides of the factory are being built while we speak and obviously we asked for a plan of action with the deadline as the first one on the list. Now, keep in mind we have not had a written time line since the start of the project. See last blog...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The planning goes not further than a few minutes, so when they say it will be ready in 5 to 10 days it is nothing more than a WAG (Wild Ass Guess). We had enough wags last year, so we sit with them to work out the details; we get it on paper for them. It works very well, though it feels like helping my own kids getting ready for the swimming pool!! The very basics have to be explained to people working as professionals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, the power struggle is kept in high regards as a valid excuse. And it is true, even at our home we run our appliances 50% of the time on batteries in order to keep the power up. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So here we go again: “Sorry sir, no power"... Now we have this problem at least 2002 as far as we have experiences it, so you would think companies would come up with a solution for this. Anyway, we asked the guys: “what about a cordless, chargeable, drilling machine? "Too expensive sir, my company does not provide that."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So also a way out not to provide within the time line, verbally committed. Very frustrating, but not the end of it! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tomorrow morning at 7:00am I am bringing them our battery operated drilling machines... Again, we have to supply the supplier with the equipment to enforce a commitment from him, or at least to have him in a position without excuse and, we can continue our planning!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Syz1JHzub6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/EF3fa6zoYNU/s1600-h/IMG00624-20091219-1409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" ps="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Syz1JHzub6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/EF3fa6zoYNU/s640/IMG00624-20091219-1409.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Soon more...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-1180126102073109613?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/1180126102073109613/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=1180126102073109613&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1180126102073109613'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1180126102073109613'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/12/time-commitments.html' title='Time commitments'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Syz1JHzub6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/EF3fa6zoYNU/s72-c/IMG00624-20091219-1409.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-6502815331458408052</id><published>2009-12-10T00:36:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-10T00:37:56.793-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Trust and Commitment</title><content type='html'>Construction company manager: &lt;strong&gt;"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No problem sir, it will all be done!"&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Me: &lt;strong&gt;"Awesome, and when do you think is will be ready this time? Last week you promised me it would be done today..."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction company manager: &lt;strong&gt;"Yes sir, very sorry sir, we had a slight problem in delivering the materials, but this time it will be done 110% guaranteed". &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me: &lt;strong&gt;"I trust you and to make sure you trust your work and skill, could you give that to me in writing?"&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Construction company manager: &lt;strong&gt;"No, no, sir, I can not do that". "I could be in a big problem when I do not get it done in time!"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For some projects you have to be flexible, but for this one you have to be in liquid form! Words don't mean a whole lot and verbal commitments are more or less ideas. No wonder&amp;nbsp;projects executed at this part of the word under Indian stretchable time cannot be completed in a few weeks. The focus is on the progress and development for now as we are instructing our people to grow in discipline and order in order to become trust worthy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The structure is standing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SyCVkNgQk3I/AAAAAAAAAIo/UYD32PrPlVU/s1600-h/IMG00526-20091207-1620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" ps="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SyCVkNgQk3I/AAAAAAAAAIo/UYD32PrPlVU/s400/IMG00526-20091207-1620.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-6502815331458408052?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/6502815331458408052/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=6502815331458408052&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6502815331458408052'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/6502815331458408052'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/12/trust-and-commitment.html' title='Trust and Commitment'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SyCVkNgQk3I/AAAAAAAAAIo/UYD32PrPlVU/s72-c/IMG00526-20091207-1620.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-7105439140482246765</id><published>2009-11-30T00:04:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-30T00:04:28.364-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Frustration Ending</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;Well, finally then! After weeks of being extremely frustrated caused by the lack of diligence, delays,&amp;nbsp;threats of stopping the&amp;nbsp;project by the builder, we finally see progress in the right direction. The pictures show the corrections of the foundation and the rebuilding of the structure. Another month gone... November 12th has not been&amp;nbsp;possible... well, we knew that. At least you have a clear pricture on the value of time in this part of the world...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;Now&amp;nbsp;it looks like the quality is going to be maintained, though it requires thorough follow-up and site visits at least once a day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNdQeL8iVI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/bhu0_Say_vI/s1600/IMG00251-20091108-1652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNdQeL8iVI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/bhu0_Say_vI/s400/IMG00251-20091108-1652.jpg" yr="true" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;Nadine inspects the bolts :)... she is pretty sharp for her age and figured out by herself why the structure was incorrect!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNdpgZAQ8I/AAAAAAAAAIY/yV-w4TyWIEY/s1600/IMG00466-20091128-1809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNdpgZAQ8I/AAAAAAAAAIY/yV-w4TyWIEY/s400/IMG00466-20091128-1809.jpg" yr="true" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;This time the cross beams are perfect in place. All within +/-15 mm tolerance. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNeRj9jSNI/AAAAAAAAAIg/BqnkRAStWFs/s1600/IMG00478-20091129-1641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNeRj9jSNI/AAAAAAAAAIg/BqnkRAStWFs/s400/IMG00478-20091129-1641.jpg" yr="true" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;The construction company got what we meant with diligence and quality and planned to finish the task "as soon as possible". No confirmed deadlines as yet... that still is a bridge too far. Obviously we are more than happy the stuctrure is getting into place!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-7105439140482246765?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/7105439140482246765/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=7105439140482246765&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/7105439140482246765'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/7105439140482246765'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/11/frustration-ending.html' title='Frustration Ending'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SxNdQeL8iVI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/bhu0_Say_vI/s72-c/IMG00251-20091108-1652.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-956237797667954865</id><published>2009-11-07T01:02:00.012-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-07T01:08:35.303-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Correcting the foundation</title><content type='html'>The analogy is very catchy. In order to build to last, one needs a perfect foundation. When the template of the foundation is a little bit out of line the entire structure to be built is not as per design.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SvUbY_G53dI/AAAAAAAAAHo/EzaaU6rxSdY/s1600-h/IMG00220-20091106-1802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" sr="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SvUbY_G53dI/AAAAAAAAAHo/EzaaU6rxSdY/s400/IMG00220-20091106-1802.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;This is my life :). Getting the foundation right. In order to do this, you will need to dig-up the roots and plant again. The structure or pattern of the columns of the factory is off. The positions causing the problem have been removed in order to first create a perfect foundation first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our neighbors think we are crazy by putting so much effort in a part of the property you will not see anyway. The foundation is underground….why bother. Well, we do bother a lot and get it rectified now, in order to build something that will last. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Many of the serious problems in this part of the world are under ground, or under the table. Not directly visible, but with serious consequences above the surface. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the meantime we continue to have the structure re-erected by November 12th… Planning, discipline-ing, hoping, praying, and being incredibly picky on the work executed. We enforce change on the construction company which is not appreciated at all. But in order to change the way of work and achieving quality from India we have to push, dictate, and expect a level of work which is from a level higher than people deliver at present. Quite a challenge, with a lot of cross-cultural fun as well. &lt;br /&gt;Down the line people start appreciatign quality, cleanliness, and structure over chaos, dis-order and lack of meeting&amp;nbsp;expectations and dirt. It's a mission to make a business successful in India, that's for sure. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-956237797667954865?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/956237797667954865/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=956237797667954865&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/956237797667954865'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/956237797667954865'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/11/correcting-foundation.html' title='Correcting the foundation'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SvUbY_G53dI/AAAAAAAAAHo/EzaaU6rxSdY/s72-c/IMG00220-20091106-1802.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-1110609832705910579</id><published>2009-11-02T14:32:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-02T14:32:59.822-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='At CGCE P LTD'/><title type='text'>Quality takes time</title><content type='html'>Something beautiful never comes easy, is it? Last week we have been figuring out how to align the structure of the new factory with the universal ‘verticals and horizontals’. Since many of our workers believe that truth is personal and what is right for you may not be true for me, it was quite a challenge to convince them that the factory structure was really not erected according to design and drawing plans made earlier. There is at least one universal truth and that’s the plumb line. Finally last Saturday we went the head-office of the construction company in Mumbai and discussed the matter with the intention not leaving the office before a new deadline was committed to by the company management. Acknowledging their mistakes they would rectify the structure and set it up on the 12th of November. Now, please don’t call me a liar when this deadline is not kept; I just tell you what they told me. In India, when things are not important, you don’t call, even when you made an appointment or agreement. When it is really urgent you call every day, in order to keep the interest in your case up. In our case it is incredible urgent and so we call and email twice a day. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Su9Bh5gADyI/AAAAAAAAAHg/5Robeo0dTBk/s1600-h/IMG00019-20091030-1547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Su9Bh5gADyI/AAAAAAAAAHg/5Robeo0dTBk/s400/IMG00019-20091030-1547.jpg" vr="true" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;By the way, the structure has been dismantled and is being altered. At one corner the structure is 30cm (1.0ft) out of line… It took over 15 phone calls and a 9 hour drive (for a 1,5hr meeting) to have them acknowledge the mistake and take the correct action. Well… at least that’s what they have promised :). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since quality matters for a perfectionist this is not an easy project. Once it’s done it will be a cool story. For now we have to press in and get it over with as soon as possible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-1110609832705910579?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/1110609832705910579/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=1110609832705910579&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1110609832705910579'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1110609832705910579'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/11/quality-takes-time.html' title='Quality takes time'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Su9Bh5gADyI/AAAAAAAAAHg/5Robeo0dTBk/s72-c/IMG00019-20091030-1547.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-880040885014846553</id><published>2009-10-18T00:40:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-10-18T00:40:34.929-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Happy New Year!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;Happy Diwali! In India we have the New Year today according to the Hindu calendar. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;The first of the New Year in the middle of October is always a nice surprise. Last night the amount of fireworks set off was very impressive; like you live in a war zone...Fire works are a little bit different here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;It quite an experience to buy creative piece of fireworks that would NEVER be sold legally in the West. Here we have no restrictions in that area at all, and with that we had an amazing show last night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Stq3GrU6tsI/AAAAAAAAAGg/8YPEQ8iMkIM/s1600-h/P1010267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Stq3GrU6tsI/AAAAAAAAAGg/8YPEQ8iMkIM/s400/P1010267.jpg" vr="true" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;As one of my American friends SMS’ed me last night that we would at least be arrested in the US with the amount of fireworks in the back of our cars… &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;In Holland we think it’s cool to get the better stuff from Belgium… here they make the best fireworks in the backyard for 10% of the European cost! and on top of that it's 100% legal!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;Yesterday and today were holidays. Tomorrow morning at 9:00am it is going to be a surprise who will show up at work. Most of the time we have a few people who do not show up at our workplaces and add a couple of extra days to their holidays...without notice. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;The common excuse for late deliveries (for that same reason) from our suppliers will be as follows: “My workers have not come back from their village and I don’t know when they will be back”. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;Many people go back to their families living outside the urban setting and will travel for a few days. On an average it takes 2 weeks from today before all the projects are back to a normal planning. A less fortunate start of the New Year I would say, but here it is the way to go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;In general, the best time to start a project in India is a week or two AFTER Diwali, but NEVER few days before.&lt;br /&gt;It’s like between Christmas and our New Year where business is often slow in the area of manufacturing (expect for Candle Making in our case).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;The construction of the new factory and the corrections being done are also depending on the availability of workers. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;From India we wish you a Happy Diwali!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-880040885014846553?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/880040885014846553/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=880040885014846553&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/880040885014846553'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/880040885014846553'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-new-year.html' title='Happy New Year!!'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Stq3GrU6tsI/AAAAAAAAAGg/8YPEQ8iMkIM/s72-c/P1010267.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-4110706292627379584</id><published>2009-10-11T01:29:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-10-11T01:29:11.481-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Check- Check - Double Check</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/StGIpbPwEZI/AAAAAAAAAGA/zXV7qPidTHg/s1600-h/PA041429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img $r="true" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/StGIpbPwEZI/AAAAAAAAAGA/zXV7qPidTHg/s400/PA041429.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Checking details is in general not the norm in my daily environment. This means that I have to check, check and double check EVERYTHING :). Checking the&amp;nbsp;values on a blood test&amp;nbsp;or checking dimensional properties of&amp;nbsp;a product sample or production. In general people care less which causes some serious challenges. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;Coming from Holland where literally everything matters to India, where simply not everything matters is a mission in itself. The company that is responsible for the structure of our new location simply assemled the entire skeleton not bothering about the dimensional properties. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The structure is not plumb-line at all :( ... 200mm out of line. The response from the builder was even more shocking&amp;nbsp;: "No problem Sir...don't worry".&lt;br /&gt;Over here many things are "No Problem". I learnt that when people already say there is "No Problem" there is a problem for sure!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;So, I simply continue to check everything. Quality does not come automatically anywhere in the world. In an enviroment where people throw their garbage on the&amp;nbsp;streets and 5% of the people uses a restroom inside a building.... you will need some additional quality measure systems in place. In order to improve the quality of life people have to change the way they think. Long and slow processes, but every first step in the right direction is one of progress!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Just keep checking :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-4110706292627379584?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/4110706292627379584/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=4110706292627379584&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4110706292627379584'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4110706292627379584'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/10/check-check-double-check.html' title='Check- Check - Double Check'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/StGIpbPwEZI/AAAAAAAAAGA/zXV7qPidTHg/s72-c/PA041429.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-4328382764739897523</id><published>2009-09-23T12:21:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-09-23T12:27:48.591-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='At CGCE P LTD'/><title type='text'>Building...</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Srpl7yUaRWI/AAAAAAAAADI/tXqb3P9thBA/s1600-h/a103_2346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" iq="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Srpl7yUaRWI/AAAAAAAAADI/tXqb3P9thBA/s400/a103_2346.JPG" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Look at that! The beauty of a team that carries on their work during my absence...while I was in bed, they constructed the&amp;nbsp;next phase of the development. The building&amp;nbsp;is in progress just like India at large: slow, but steady. &lt;br /&gt;Most of the delivery times as we have learnt over the years have to be multiplied. That works as follows: When our supplier tells us it will take 3 to 4 weeks to deliver the materials that actually&amp;nbsp;means 3 TIMES 4 weeks&amp;nbsp;= 12 weeks :). This really helps a lot&amp;nbsp;in having the reality, hopes and expectations all come together in the same time frame. It also eases out a lot of the&amp;nbsp;frustrations for us and our customers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Amazing how workers climb the pillars without making use of any safety devices... love it when things can be simply done without too much difficulties. That part of the entrepreneurial venture is pretty awesome! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You just don't wanna fall sick...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-4328382764739897523?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://frankbbakker.hyves.nl/album/43840435/Nieuwbouw/CZLLhikL/' title='Building...'/><link rel='enclosure' type='' href='http://www.cgcengineering.com' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/4328382764739897523/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=4328382764739897523&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4328382764739897523'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4328382764739897523'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/09/building.html' title='Building...'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Srpl7yUaRWI/AAAAAAAAADI/tXqb3P9thBA/s72-c/a103_2346.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-1827170558015399279</id><published>2009-09-23T10:38:00.005-06:00</published><updated>2009-09-23T11:41:33.689-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Health and Sickness'/><title type='text'>Dealing with Malaria</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;Being sick in India is the last thing you want to be. The quality of life at this part of the world is different and so is the health care system... sorry for the big gap between posts, but yes, i have been in bed for the last 3 weeks. Malaria was the diagnoses, when the doctor finally came. A day later than planned, since the local festivals caused the doctor's offices as well as some of the hospitals to be closed. I don't know what that looks like, but here they are able to close a hospital for a festival...amazing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;High fever, chills, and feeling terribly cold (with 29 degrees room temperature). I have been treated with medication and had to take lots of rest. Fever and shivering took all the energy... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;I have another blood test tomorrow as the local hospital "messed up the last samples" according to the local doctor reading out the results. "By seeing these results you should not have been among the living", was the doctors conclusion. &lt;strong&gt;Very affirming that the test was wrong...since I was alive!&lt;/strong&gt; Here you go to a very expensive and highy recommended hospital to find some reliable truth in healthcare and they mess up the tests... so we go another round of sampling and will know the outcome on Friday. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;Health and care are words with different meanings here and are hard to find. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;Now, keep in mind that Pune is a relatively well developed city in India, but as soon as you require more than just a pain killer you are faced with more of the real condition of the city. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;Business has been going on the way it should. Was a good test if the people we work have developed in the right direction. It's an awesome team we work with and they have done a terrific job! I hope my health will return quickly so we can continue the adventure of exploring the possibilities in a land developing slowly, but steady!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: verdana;"&gt;Keep you posted - Frank&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-1827170558015399279?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/1827170558015399279/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=1827170558015399279&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1827170558015399279'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1827170558015399279'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/09/dealing-with-malaria.html' title='Dealing with Malaria'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-8763012570668885757</id><published>2009-08-29T11:45:00.004-06:00</published><updated>2009-08-29T12:10:09.174-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>Longterm Perspectives</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SpltaEeUNQI/AAAAAAAAAC8/023qZxnzgc8/s1600-h/IMG00325.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375447924888319234" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 151px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SpltaEeUNQI/AAAAAAAAAC8/023qZxnzgc8/s320/IMG00325.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Outsourcing and Offshoring do not always give the quick results overseas companies expect. In order to make business work in India one will have to have a longterm perspective and a certain amount of perseverance. The possibilities have often been overwhelming as the markets within India function quite different from the west, and are very open for business. Down the line business is executed on the bases of relationships. Longterm perspectives and investing a lot of time in local relationships is crusial to the success of any cross cultural venture. Often not the quick-fix western customers are looking for in a time of recession, but for longterm sustainability a must. So, I will have another cup of chai and share a ten to eleven pm dinner! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The image shown is the new property we are developing to expand our operations. Will share more of the development in detail next time.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-8763012570668885757?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/8763012570668885757/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=8763012570668885757&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/8763012570668885757'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/8763012570668885757'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/08/longterm-perspectives.html' title='Longterm Perspectives'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SpltaEeUNQI/AAAAAAAAAC8/023qZxnzgc8/s72-c/IMG00325.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-117824653980319746</id><published>2009-08-24T01:18:00.004-06:00</published><updated>2009-08-24T01:51:13.067-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='India Opportunity'/><title type='text'>Indo-Dutch Mix</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SpJCcPrNB1I/AAAAAAAAAC0/i1HPIJLW6eQ/s1600-h/IMG00105.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373430358417934162" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SpJCcPrNB1I/AAAAAAAAAC0/i1HPIJLW6eQ/s200/IMG00105.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;After 7 years in India it is very hard to see my Dutch upbringing in an objective cross-cultural perspective. Many of the Non-Indian people I work with often expect the Indian businessmen to fully understand where they come from and let me be Dutch: They Indians don't! They will do it their way as I would do business the Dutch way when i am in Rotterdam. The Knowledge Culture in the Netherlands does not go very far in India. Being 'right' here simply stays at with you and does not really change a lot in the relationship with your supplier or buyers in India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I require a level of EQ that outshines our IQ in order to relate cross culturally in a very productive way. It is very interesting and offers a huge opportunity to make businesses work better in the global village. Just like one of our new customers mentioned Saturday: “During the last project with a large Indian company we all agreed on the specs and the deadlines, until the deadline date reached”. All of a sudden we had all kind of misunderstanding and a new deadline had to be established :)… this is the way it goes all the time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Managing an entrepreneurial venture the Indian way will drive most Western managers absolutely crazy. The influx of foreign companies is India is on the rise and managing the Indian way becomes more of a requirement. As a Multinational company you HAVE to HAVE an India-plan ready to be executed, or this country with it's 1.1 billion potential customers will shop elsewhere. An amazing opportunity is right in front of us... now understanding the Indian system better.&lt;br /&gt;As one of my friends puts it: “the Dutch take about 5 years to plan, calculate, and process and then complete the project in 1 year time. We plan only for 1 year and complete it in 5!”&lt;br /&gt;(It is not about who is right or wrong… we simply work and enjoy life with them, and find a new way to work together, a little bit more planning, a little bit more chaotic and uncertain)… Down the line you do have to get your project completed, so: Let’s make this work!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-117824653980319746?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/117824653980319746/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=117824653980319746&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/117824653980319746'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/117824653980319746'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/08/indo-dutch-mix.html' title='Indo-Dutch Mix'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SpJCcPrNB1I/AAAAAAAAAC0/i1HPIJLW6eQ/s72-c/IMG00105.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-3914589206579820725</id><published>2009-08-18T22:17:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-08-18T22:19:39.198-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cross Cultural'/><title type='text'>"Yes" and "No"...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sot9TFHC9pI/AAAAAAAAACs/hFgHH70L_zQ/s1600-h/IMG00550.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371524747312166546" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 257px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sot9TFHC9pI/AAAAAAAAACs/hFgHH70L_zQ/s320/IMG00550.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Coming from a country where 'Yes' means '100% Yes', it is amazing to be faced with a total different reality in Pune, India. The majority of our suppliers and local customers say 'Yes' to many of the requests put forth to them, but most of these sayings mean nothing more than 'I heard what you said'. 'Yes', as a reply from a relation here has to be followed by the question from my side: 'your 'Yes' containes which percentage of 'No'?' So by the time I've figured out that the 'Yes' was '100% No' I have wasted a lot of time... It is amazing what levels of frustration this causes, but at the same time an incredible opportunity when managed well. It is really cool to see to relationships being so different from the Western style, but at the same time by asking more questions solving some very basic misunderstanding.&lt;br /&gt;'Yes' does not always mean 'Yes', and 'No' not always 'No'. If somebody asks you something here and you say 'No' they will ask again, thinking you means 'Yes', but you will only say that after a couple of "No's". I have seen large business deals being cancelled because of this simple misunderstanding... Before going to India to take part in one of the largest markets in the world today, I have to balance my Dutch and Indian culture very careful every day. Yes! the people we are employing and working with on a daily basis slowly, but steadily change. (Yes = 100% Yes works very efficiently :))&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a class="quickedit" title="Edit" onclick="'return" href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=7783839984539296958&amp;amp;widgetType=Image&amp;amp;widgetId=Image1&amp;amp;action=editWidget" target="configImage1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a class="quickedit" title="Edit" onclick="'return" href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=7783839984539296958&amp;amp;widgetType=Profile&amp;amp;widgetId=Profile1&amp;amp;action=editWidget" target="configProfile1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-3914589206579820725?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/3914589206579820725/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=3914589206579820725&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/3914589206579820725'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/3914589206579820725'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/08/yes-and-no.html' title='&quot;Yes&quot; and &quot;No&quot;...'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/Sot9TFHC9pI/AAAAAAAAACs/hFgHH70L_zQ/s72-c/IMG00550.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-2964558252386574060</id><published>2009-08-16T05:38:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-08-16T05:40:13.450-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='RTL-Z Dutch News Broad Cast'/><title type='text'>Click here for the RTL-Z Link</title><content type='html'>Just click the link for the full version of the news broadcast...&lt;br /&gt;-Frank&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-2964558252386574060?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.rtl.nl/components/financien/rtlz/miMedia/2009/week33/vr_0900_india.avi_plain.xml' title='Click here for the RTL-Z Link'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/2964558252386574060/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=2964558252386574060&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/2964558252386574060'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/2964558252386574060'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/08/click-here-for-rtl-z-link.html' title='Click here for the RTL-Z Link'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-4711359775943625725</id><published>2009-08-16T04:07:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2009-08-16T05:35:42.466-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Opportunity'/><title type='text'>Financial Crisis Global Opportunity</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SofdQeDqOoI/AAAAAAAAAA4/biIiMU1Wdrk/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"&gt;&lt;img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 241px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370504355678665346" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SofdQeDqOoI/AAAAAAAAAA4/biIiMU1Wdrk/s400/untitled.bmp" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Yes, it is true. The financial crisis is not a global thing anymore. A lot of places in the world see their economies grow at rates others are just dreaming of. In India I see the growth topping 5% and so did our company over the last year. Expanding in our new location in the months to come we expect sales to cross our projections. India is HOT and very likely to be the next selling market for many international companies. What a great opportunity to launch your product or service in a billion peoples market. Now, there are some cross-cultural difficulties to overcome...we know a lot about that.&lt;br /&gt;The Indian Business Culture is not always efficient and values differ from the ones we have been taught in the western parts of the world. 'In your face' corruption, bartering, quality understand...yes, that will be a bit of of a challenge. But as always, every challenge has interesting opportunities to constructively add to the quality of life, anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;RTL-Z (Dutch national news channel) has been very curious about the development of my Indian company and send a reporter to do an interview...pretty cool!!&lt;br /&gt;More business soon!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-4711359775943625725?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.rtl.nl/components/financien/rtlz/miMedia/2009/week33/vr_0900_india.avi_plain.xml' title='Financial Crisis Global Opportunity'/><link rel='enclosure' type='' href='http://www.rtl.nl/components/financien/rtlz/miMedia/2009/week33/vr_0900_india.avi_plain.xml' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/4711359775943625725/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=4711359775943625725&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4711359775943625725'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/4711359775943625725'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/08/finacial-crisis-global-opportunity.html' title='Financial Crisis Global Opportunity'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SofdQeDqOoI/AAAAAAAAAA4/biIiMU1Wdrk/s72-c/untitled.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629185323732227258.post-1765895297692727458</id><published>2009-06-01T12:22:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2009-06-01T12:29:11.364-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Business and community development</title><content type='html'>I think it is the opportunity every business has to make a difference beyond the workplace. After been working in India for 7 years, I know now that that is possible. Will tell you all about it!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5629185323732227258-1765895297692727458?l=missioninbusiness.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/feeds/1765895297692727458/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5629185323732227258&amp;postID=1765895297692727458&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1765895297692727458'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5629185323732227258/posts/default/1765895297692727458'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://missioninbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/06/business-and-community-development.html' title='Business and community development'/><author><name>Frank Bakker</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11401882178172302585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='31' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_89UgbDVbnrs/SsscTiBFCVI/AAAAAAAAADs/UfF330Kx9ws/S220/small+nicole+and+frank.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
