Understanding a Changing China: Key Issues for Business

As China becomes the world’s largest economy, so it becomes important to understand the key issues shaping the country’s business environment and the behaviour of Chinese businesspeople. This is difficult because those issues are contested. Is China growing at 3% or 8%? Is the Chinese consumer going to save the world? Are state-owned enterprises national champions or zombies? Have we reached the end of "Cheap China"? Can China innovate? Is business still dominated by personal connections? Are markets or the state in control? Does Chinese culture impede or support organizational effectiveness? Are Chinese dragons at your door? Will the finance and property sectors implode? Is the Chinese model sustainable, or will it end in tears? On all these issues there is ill-informed "noise", and an abundance of partisan interpretations. The purpose of this book, therefore, is to provide an even-handed analysis of the key issues that will shape the threats and opportunities arising from China’s development in the next decade. It cannot resolve the competing claims made. However, it does provide the reader with the ideas and the sources of evidence needed to understand and to make well thought-out judgments as China continues to evolve.

Table of Contents:
1. From Ancient Civilization Through Humiliation to Powerhouse 2. China’s Miracle, China’s Tensions – the Four "izations" 3. China’s Strategy for Development: From "Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones" to "Revving up the Consumer" 4. Chinese Culture, Guanxi, and their Consequences 5. Enterprise Reform and Chinese Firms Today 6. Technology Development in China 7. The End of "Cheap China"? 8. Behemoths, Shadows and Casinos: The Financial System 9. Entry Strategies for the Chinese Market: Is the Joint Venture Dead? 10. The "Two Billion Socks" Syndrome: Marketing to China’s Diverse Markets 11. Ethics, Corruption and Sustainable Development 12. Managing and Leading People in China 13 The Challenge from China: How Serious? 14. Will It End in Tears?

About the Author :
Howard Davies is Adjunct Professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He served in the Faculty of Business from 1990 to 2013, as Professor, Dean, and Associate Dean. His publications on China Business include papers in Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies and Organization Studies. Matevz Raskovic is Senior Lecturer in International Business (tenure track) at the School of Marketing and International Business, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He was also 2017 Fulbright Visiting Scholar at FAS Sociology, Harvard University, and was previously Assistant Professor at Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Review :
'A concise, accessible overview of fundamental issues in contemporary Chinese political economy and development. This work deals with the complex issue of the nature of different kinds of companies in China, from state to private to hybrid, the role of industrialisation, globalisation and urbanisation, and the kinds of complicated outcomes these have led to. But it does so in an easy to understand, and well-illustrated way, allowing those unfamiliar with these important issues to get a quick grasp of the quick essentials. It helps that the work is also very readable, and the information presented easy to digest.' — Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Politics, and Director of Lau China Institute, King’s College London 'In an overcrowded context of books on doing business with China for managers, Understanding a Changing China: Key Issues for Business stands out as a first well-balanced business textbook useful for not just business students and MBAs, but also China business novices seeking to understand the many faces of contemporary China. The book provides a holistic and well-balanced framework, as well as uniquely dynamic perspective. This books will help students, MBAs and the wider international business community understand not just the key concepts and issues, but the dynamics and causal mechanisms behind China’s many paradoxes.' — Andrea Sianesi, Dean of MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business, Italy, and Chairman of the Alliance of Chinese and European Business Schools (ACE) 'Understanding a Changing China provides an excellent overview of China's reform program – both its substantial successes and remaining challenges. Its perspective is broad based, addressing the cultural and historic context of China' development as well as the economic perspective. The book will be valuable to a broad range of readers interested in China's rise as an economic power.' — Dr Nicholas R. Lardy, Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and author of Markets over Mao