On September 26, 2007, Columbia Business School's Chazen Institute welcomed Alan G. Hassenfeld to the University Club in midtown Manhattan as part of the ongoing Jerome A. Chazen Lecture Series. Mr. Hassenfeld, who became chairman and CEO of Hasbro in 1989, has spent his entire career at the leading toy company, which his grandfather founded in 1923. With more than three decades of experience in dealing with China, Mr. Hassenfeld shared his historical perspectives on China and projections about the country's future with his audience of more than 70 students, faculty members and alumni. Raymond Horton, the Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Ethics and Corporate Governance at Columbia Business School, moderated the discussion.
"Everything's changed. You almost can’t believe your eyes." Such were the words Alan Hassenfeld used to describe the dramatic transformation of China since his first visit in 1974, when Chinese customs personnel provided him with his own copy of Mao's little red book as he entered the country. During that first visit, Mr. Hassenfeld was struck by the rustic character of the country, the ubiquity of bicycles and the relative simplicity of Chinese life, even for visitors—he recalled, "For entertainment at the hotel, you could play Ping-Pong or write home." Change since then has been "truly a renaissance, almost a miracle," he said, pointing as one example to the growth and architectural transformation of Shanghai.
Despite Mr. Hassenfeld's admiration for China’s economic development, he characterized China as now being at a critical juncture in its history, repeatedly underscoring the urgency of the country’s need to tackle its burgeoning environmental problems. "China truly is at a crossroads. Their GDP is growing 10 percent a year, but what most people don't realize is that maybe 12 to 15 percent of the GDP is given back in trying to take care of some of their environmental issues. The environmental degradation in China is incredible," he said.