By Tom Doctoroff
Macmillan Palgrave, $27.00, 272 pages
China, it is a vast and largely untapped market. It is a huge country of over 1 billion people and has a growing middle class that has money to spend on products. The question becomes how can large companies take advantage of this opportunity and tap this vast market? Tom Doctoroff examines China inside and out for business people. He goes through and explains the culture, the way people think, and how companies are run. From Confucius and the role of the clan in life to how people put society first and not themselves. That China will struggle to become an innovator, and more than just a manufacturing base. How companies do not reward experimental behavior and that employees should be subservient to the all powerful CEO. How visible status means everything. It is a struggle for Western companies to gain a toehold in China, but it is not impossible.
This book has a few contradictions. Mr. Doctoroff praises how China will always be a force, and then he goes on to list several major issues that could hold back China without ever really acknowledging them. This is a simply written book, and a quick read for business professionals.
Reviewed by Kevin Winter
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