China's Expansion into the Western Hemisphere: Implications for Latin America and the United States Book

KFC in China is a very general overview of how KFC became the most sucessful fast food chain in China. Warren Liu was a vice president at KFC China and an active particpant in KFC's development there. For someone not familar with the fast food industry, it was interesting to learn a little bit about how global fast food chains work and are organized. Despite spending a lot of time emphazing how operating in China is different then anywhere else and requires a unique approach, Liu doesn't provide much insight into doing business there(unless you work for McDonalds).

The surprising thing is that despite having an author so intimately involved in KFC's growth the book almost never goes past basic generalities. For example, the author mentions how KFC struggled to get Chinese join-venture partners to agree to fast growth strategy and that eventually KFC convinced them to agree to high speed growth. There is no discussion of the specific objections or how KFC negotiated with their joint-venture partners. The book is pleasent, interesting and occasionally insightful but it is also frustrating to have an author who could add so much spice serve up something so bland.