Strategy

Doing China business is both an art and a science. Feasible and practical strategies are made based on a careful consideration of all possible impact on the political system and the economic environment, cultural difference, and organizational behavior.

In our opinion, China should be seen as a giant company. This company has many business units: ministries, provinces and State Owned Enterprises (SOE). Naturally, any business you do with this giant company has to meet its long term benefit. There is no doubt that some people choose to solely rely on local government officials to get projects approved even if these projects were prohibited or discouraged. The damage will eventually appear. We strongly recommend clients check with right people on the current direction of China government before jumping into a business.

Economic environment is usually very familiar to foreign investors and operators. Our caution is on how accurate the data or information that supports the business strategies is. It is always necessary to verify them before using them.

Chinese culture is different from that of westerners in many ways. A letter written in Western style may offend Chinese due to the cultural difference. Even Chinese act differently from region to region. Knowing how people behave helps to develop right strategies.

Organizational behavior always affects the effective implementation of business strategies. State-owned enterprises (SOEs), Joint Ventures (JVs), Wholly-owned foreign enterprises (WOFEs), private Chinese business, and government all behave in their unique ways. Knowing the organizational ladder and who is who in an organization often makes a live-or-death difference in business.

We help clients to assess political, economic, cultural, and organizational impact on their strategies and to develop feasible plans to achieve goals..

We map the way to success for our clients.

An old Chinese saying says “Shi Zai Ren Wei,” meaning, human effort can achieve everything. Indeed, almost everything in China business is challenging, but very few are impossible. We have completed numerous projects that people thought to be impossible. In our experience, nothing is more important than bringing in right people onboard a project team. A winning team should be composed of those who have influence in the business world, those who are able to obtain effective information, those who open doors to decision makers, and those who know where to find the aforementioned people and work with them to complete the mission.

It is essential to understand who, besides yourself, are or should be involved in the project. They can be business partners, government officials or even higher level decision makers who usually hide themselves behind the scene but control the fate of the deal. Unless all parties are seen and play their roles, the final result will not come out even with years of waiting.

Exploring who should be involved is like mapping the way to destination. Knowing how to deal with changes during the implementation of strategies is more critical. Implementation of strategies needs to be flexible. It requires thorough understanding of the Chinese political systems and economic environment, cultural difference and organizational behavior of all parties; a broad people network to learn who is who; a clear judgment of roles people play; and a strong ability to manage relationships with all parties and finally to reach a mutual agreement. It is really an art.

Our job is to bring the right people together and complete missions.