Product Description

The New Silk Road
The first insider′s guide to business success in China

How is China different from other business environments?. . .
What are the pitfalls and the keys to success there?. . .
How different is the market place?. . .
How do you make a joint venture work?. . .
How do you overcome the bureaucratic hurdles to doing business in China?. . .
How do you change a traditional Chinese business enterprise?. . .
How do you develop good relationships with Chinese partners and government officials?. . .
What experience should business managers have before going to work in China?. . .
How do I find, train, and motivate local managers?. . .
How do I manage the expectations of the head office?. . .

. . .You′ll find answers to these and other crucial questions about doing business in China in The New Silk Road.

Based on interviews with the heads of operations of eleven top global corporations, The New Silk Road provides a fascinating account of how such companies as AIG, ASIMCO, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Lucent Technologies, Novartis, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shell, John Swire & Sons, Unilever, and United Technologies International broke into the China market. In a series of frank narrative accounts, these experts share what they have learned about everything from the nuts–and–bolts of developing a market for their products in China to the subtleties of the Chinese style of negotiating.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #541889 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Review
"This book is an excellent start for senior managers at home or in China and for junior managers with aspirations. Most of all it should be read by those in head office who may never go to China but need to understand what it takes succeed there and the support that should be given to their managers in China." (China Review, October 2000)

From the Author
Pitfalls of doing business in the PRC and possible solutions
I spent 5 years in China building our advisory business from 60 to 1,400 people, based in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dalian. During this period we advised hundreds of companies investing in and trading with China. The aim of this book is to summarise our experience, and that of the 11 Chairmen I interviewed, as to the pitfalls and difficulties of doing business in China and the potential success factors. China is a country that is so different from others. It is so easy to go wrong. The business environment is the most complex I have ever encountered. By writing this book I hope to contribute to mutual understanding and business success.

From the Inside Flap
The People′s Republic of China has made such enormous strides toward liberalizing its economy over the past decade that it is now the world′s second largest recipient of outside investment after the United States. With the recent signing of the landmark China/U.S trade agreement, it is only a matter of time before China becomes a member of the World Trade Organization. Yet, in some very important ways, Chinese customs, practices, and values remain as alien to Western business thinking and practice as they ever were. As many a hapless expatriate manager has discovered, gaining a foothold in the vast Chinese market can be an uphill battle on a slippery slope of tradition, conflicting objectives, bureaucratic wrangling, ever–shifting laws and regulations, and regional differences. Yet, as the stories chronicled in this insider′s guide to doing business in China demonstrate, it is a battle that can be and is being won. The New Silk Road is based on extensive interviews conducted by John Stuttard, former Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China, with business leaders who have many years of experience with the country. They include the Chairman and CEO of American International Group, Hank Greenberg, and the heads of China operations of ten other global corporations–ASIMCO, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Lucent Technologies, Novartis, Shell, John Swire & Sons, Unilever, United Technologies International, and PricewaterhouseCoopers China. It features a series of lively narratives in which these experts share their insights into and observations of all the important aspects of doing business in China. In their own words, they share the important lessons they′ve learned about everything from making sense of, and marketing to, the patchwork of strikingly different regions that make up China, to building trust and negotiating with the Chinese. Drawing on their hard–won experiences, they explain how to find and motivate Chinese managers and cope with the different business styles you are likely to encounter–from the conservative and distrustful bureaucrat at one extreme to the overly aggressive cowboy entrepreneur at the other. They weigh the pros and cons of forming a joint venture versus establishing a wholly owned foreign subsidiary in China. They provide advice and guidance on how to navigate the complex and ever–changing body of Chinese laws and regulations under which foreign businesses must operate. And, perhaps most important, they share their reflections on the critical intangibles of Chinese life, and the ways in which the Chinese people′s keen awareness of their 5,000–year history impacts virtually every aspect of doing business in that country. John Stuttard weaves these experiences, as well as his own and that of PwC China, together to form a highly authoritative business guide. The long–awaited insider′s view of doing business in China, The New Silk Road informs you of the pitfalls and tells you what you need to know to succeed in the twenty–first century′s great new business frontier.

Customer Reviews

Valuable Case Histories to Build a Better Business in China
Almost everyone who knows little about China is enthralled by the opportunity to sell products to all those people who live there. Those with a little more knowledge also get excited about having products made for export from Mainland China. Those with still more knowledge look forward to outsourcing services to China. Beyond that, some speculate that Mandarin Chinese will even become the dominant language of the Internet, and see amazing opportunities to buuild new economy businesses from a Chinese base.

But those speculations all beg the question: What should your company be doing today?

The New Silk Road is the first book I have read that reflects the views of my friends who have 20 plus years of experience doing business there. As such, it counters much of the overoptimism that makes American companies too anxious to expand there, and leads to mistakes that hurt short and long term results.

Any company that is considering its first stake in China, or re-evaluating the stakes it has today, should be sure that those involved read this book.

The key lessons are that company goals must be more carefully considered, partners chosen more thoughtfully, expectations of near-term profits lowered, a focus shifted to developing Chinese management and workers, and a longer-term perspective taken on developing and maintaining relationships. Perhaps the most fundamental point of the book is that things are very uncertain in China. With lots of effort you can reduce the uncertainty, but it will still be higher than in almost any other country. So there will be a premium placed on making decisions that will be good ones regardless of what happens in the Chinese business environment.

When you do your homework, you will find that China has more competition than almost any other country and lots of excess capacity. A small percentage of the people can afford to buy what you want to sell. Regulation and bureaucracy will keep you out of the best markets for what you want to do. The rules will change tomorrow. Everything will take a long time. Political tensions among your home nation and China will be used against you in business. Sounds challenging, doesn't it?

While China is underdeveloped economically and in entrepreneurial and business skills, the people are well educated and know a lot of things you do not. For one thing, they know the many different markets in China and how to do business there. They have local connections that you need. They also have skills in negotiation and strategy that you may not have. So seek out how to make the best of both worlds, rather than just plan to do business like you do in your home country. In fact, your product will probably have to be customized for the Chinese market.

Mr. Stuttard does an excellent job in his essay, "Reflections on China at the End of the Second Millennium," of summarizing the lessons from the case histories. Be sure to reread this essay after you finish the book. It will help put the case histories in perspective for you.

He has done well in choosing a variety of case histories, that reflect varying levels of success. The book is especially lucky to have the perspectives of comapnies with a great deal of Chinese experience like American International Group, John Swire, United Technologies, and Shell. In each case, either the company's CEO or the operating head in China is the person interviewed.

The people who run the business in China for you will be very vulnerable. When unpredictable shifts cause results to fall, their heads will be on the chopping block in some companies. That's not a good idea, because the set-backs will often not be due to any fault of their own.

You will also get helpful hints on the best ways to recruit talent, conduct training, and integrate expatriates.

After you have finished reading and enjoying this valuable book, I suggest that also consider where else the lessons of this book apply. I suspect that your success in many other parts of the world would be enhanced if you employed these lessons there, as well. Also, how else can you overcome communications stalls among your various operations and with your various stakeholders?

Focus on what needs to be done now to develop your short and long term potential!

Invaluable for businesses tackling the China market
Making a success of business in China is (for many) a hard graft: not least of their problems is the inexactitude of the market-place. China has far from a complete set of laws governing business, regulations continue to evolve or be applied in individual ways in different places, and officialdom remains a major obstacle. All of these combine to test even the most intrepid businessman. For many would-be businesses in China they tend to have to fall back on the experiences of those who have gone before. Some comfort can be gained from learning from others. Assembling anecdotal evidence, although far from scientific, does at least offer some ground rules for the approach to the China market. Put to one side the views of some people that China is a market just like any other and should be approached in the same way that one tackles any overseas market, it clearly makes sense to draw on the experiences of others. This is the starting point for The New Silk Road - Secrets of Business Success in China Today, John Stuttard's excellent new book. Mr Stuttard has interviewed 11 chairmen of leading companies in China to ask them how they have managed to succeed in at best a testing and at worst a troublesome commercial environment. The words "patience", "long-term", "flexible", "challenge", "respect" crop up on just about every page. In addition to that, Mr Stuttard has made for a highly readable tome by allowing people to speak for themselves. And not just that - he has chosen highly eloquent people whose views matter. All too often, business people talking about their businesses get drowned in a sea of meaningless jargon which is neither helpful nor interesting. Mr Stuttard's interviewees all speak in plain English (with one exception), which he echoes in his own, flowing writing style. Mr Stuttard was for five years chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers China (and of Coopers & Lybrand China before the merger in July 1998). In his many years of offering strategic and commercial advice, there cannot have been a single question that he has not asked himself about how to do business in China. The result is that The New Silk Road is brimming with insights, home truths and excellent pieces of advice which bring together in one handy volume most, if not all, of the important collected thoughts of business advisers, researchers, journalists and others over the past 20 years. Mr Stuttard summarises the main points and conclusions to come out of the interviews in an extended introduction. Anyone thinking of embarking on the China market is well advised to read through his comments carefully - perhaps with a cold towel wrapped around their heads. There are no less than 14 problem areas that he lists as being the potential causes of difficulty as the overseas company seeks to set up its business ranging from bureaucratic, distribution and supply hurdles to "unwanted employees and social liabilities". But forewarned is forearmed. Those businesses that tend to be successful are those that have done extensive preparation and market research and have a clear sense of what it is they want to achieve. However, to be really successful may depend on something more: enthusiasm. In China you can't do things by half-measures, and those who survive and prosper are those who relish the experience of living, working and doing business in China.

Good overview of key issues of business in China
John Stuttard provides a concise overview on his reflections on China at the start of the 21 Century (he says end of last Millennium).

I was fascinated by the frequent quotes from the key people John interviewed which highlighted the time it takes to achieve things in China. Yet in the last three years we have seen massive change with huge infrastructure changes and rapid growth.

The perspective on the diversity of the massive Chinese market and the need to think and act local I felt was also a great insight.

Interesting management challenges which we can learnt from and help to develop.

Andrew Gaule
Henley-Incubator