Reviews for Chinese TAO of Business: The Logic of Successful Business Strategy

The average rating for Chinese TAO of Business: The Logic of Successful Business Strategy based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-20 00:00:00 Arthur Barda This was an insightful book on the workings of business in China. The aim of the authors is to educate businesses foreign to China on the machinations of society and government there, and plan strategies that that will result in successful profit. The book was published in 2004, so China has changed somewhat in the decade since, affected by WTO and G20 membership economic responsibilities, and expansion of its middle class and domestic buying power. However much of China still operates similarly since then. There is quite a lot of insight on China's business environment and successful strategies, including discussion with top executives of successful Chinese companies (Lenovo, Acer, Haier) and Western companies operating in China (GE, Coke), as well as analysis of these companies and companies that had failures (Microsoft). For the last few decades China's business environment has been laden with landmines for foreign businesses. Many of those that dove right in without researching the country spent up to millions of dollars of investment but left with minimal profit. To understand the hazards, the book relates China's societal and legal customs founded on historical and religious customs, based on Confucianism(the elites philosophy, including unity, order, wealth spiritual, merchant and profit prosecution), and Taoism (The ideology popular with the commoners). Additionally, family and Uprightness are huge drivers in Chinese business behaviors. It is interestingly mentioned that China's economy leans toward network-based (performance dependent on networks and networked companies), while Western economies lean toward company-based (performance dependent on the company itself). China's government is the over-bearing elephant in the room that is most critical to establish networking with, as it has a disproportionately large presence in China's business world (most large scale business and utilities are State owned enterprises (SOEs), a legacy of Communism) and can be temperamental and rule for competitors over foreigners. Therefore a strong move for foreign businesses is to team up with well-networked Chinese entities that have strong government connections, to guide them toward the government's graces. On the flip side, the majority of Chinese businesses heavily dependent on Chinese networks have failed outside of China. Further, China's public law systems do not recognize citizens' rights independent of the authorities, unlike the unalienable citizen rights of the West. Intellectual rights have also historically rested with the authorities, not the companies. Despite copyright laws created, this custom has incentivized massive intellectual-right violations and piracy, destructive to foreign businesses exposing themselves. To add to this, national, provincial and local Chinese market data has been sparse and many times doctored (SOE businesses report bloated profits to superiors to curry favor and investment), and heavily market data dependent western businesses can be falsely lulled into the wrong business strategy. The authors provide a hybrid of east and west strategies for foreign businesses to succeed in both competing against local companies and in the global economy. This is encapsulated in their approaches: The Roads of Knowledge, Speed, Action, Results, Relationships, Quality, Passion and Legacy. The Roads are explored in depth, and the sum appears to be a solid guide to profit in China.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-03-10 00:00:00 Rafael Durant "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". This quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery is included in "The Elegant Solution" and perfectly sums up the premise. I would hate to classify this as just a lean book because I think it can have value for non-lean organizations since innovation is needed everywhere. For the people who have practiced Lean, this book is of value because it taps into something important - CREATIVITY. I enjoyed the constant theme for innovation through the balance between science and art. I appreciate the structure of the book for chapters starting out with Problem, Cause, and Solution and then ending with Hansei (reflection). Modeling Toyota thinking within the pages is impactful. A major learning I have from the book is identifying problems two ways: 1) What is broken (and keeping you up at night)? and 2) What is blocking perfection? Matthew E. May delves into the thought process behind these two approaches and the second type of problem is a way I never considered before. The book discusses many obstacles to creating innovation. It is easy to just say "change is hard" but the book calls out specific biases and challenges. Knowing specifically what makes change difficult allows you to create counter-measures. The chapter about intangible value added service/products is a fresh way to look at your organization's deliverables. I have never seen stretch goals defined as well as the book and really learned a lot about Dynamic Tension. Gaining a deep understanding of the problem by going to the site where the work is done AND verifying through data is explained in actionable detail. I highly recommend this book to anybody. For organizations beginning their Lean Journey, this should be one of the first books to read before you dive into the technical details of tools because it will inspire you to keep your heart in innovation.