9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just a broad intro to China as a business threat, but a handbook on how to do business there, June 22, 2007
This review is from: All the Tea in China: How to Buy, Sell, and Make Money on the Mainland (Hardcover)
If you have been following the rise of China as an economic and business power in the world, you have probably read articles and books explaining the broad facts of China's population, economy, government, and what big business has been doing there. Jeremy Haft takes us a step further in providing a practical guide for those who aren't mega companies, but want to know how to do business in China.
The author does business in China, has a business that helps other do business there, and provides the broad strokes on what you need to know about the country today and what some of the pitfalls might be. He opens with his working with a boisterous entrepreneur who was part of the Tiananmen Square protests and has now moved into the ranks of those moving up through the economic strata.
Haft claims that China's really part of a round world rather than a flat one. While there is a lot of Internet connectivity, for example, most businesses have little expertise in using it for business process. While the Chinese manufacturing process is nimble, it isn't coordinated and the kind of vertical integration possible in the West doesn't yet exist there. I also found it interesting that the author rejects the idea China is prospering simply because they have taken "our" manufacturing jobs. It is increasing efficiency that is putting pressure on manufacturing jobs all over the world, including in China.
We then get a crash course in Chinese business culture, how negotiations are likely going to be handled and the way many Western business types close off future business success simply by creating offense without being aware of doing so. It is important to be aware of what counts as respect and what counts as offensive to the Chinese. Also, our standard concepts and expectations about business are the product of centuries of development that has not taken place in China. Things need to be spelled out to every dot on every "i" and the cross on every "t". Even the way logistics is set up matters to your success and profitability. How one partners, with whom one partners, and if one has a presence in China all matter and Haft helps the reader understand why.
The author then helps us understand how and why to buy from China. Sometimes it is lower costs in one's existing market. Other times it is to expand into adjacent markets while holding onto one's present share. Another possibility is to start new markets. Maybe you want hedge off the advantage one of your present competitors is going to have by moving production overseas.
And there is more possibility to sell into China then I would ever have expected. They lack a great many raw materials and certain advanced equipment, medical supplies, and much of everything that has a "value added" component. Who knew? Haft spells all this out and what the prospective seller will need and have to do to be successful. He also is clear that your Chinese "partners" are not all that chummy and will try to go around you to get to your customers and you need to be aware of that threat.
China is a reality in today's business world. We have to find a way to work with them while also learning to compete successfully against them.
This is a very helpful book for those wanting to get up to speed on the current issues.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bible on Doing Business in China, June 22, 2007
This review is from: All the Tea in China: How to Buy, Sell, and Make Money on the Mainland (Hardcover)
All the Tea in China is really a bible on how to do business in China. It brilliantly captures the nuances to interacting with your counterparts that only experience can teach. For the price of a few lattes at Starbucks, one can avert the painful and often costly mistakes for newbies of doing business in China. This book should be required reading for all corporate execs considering or already doing business in China. Previous books on this subject either fell to two extremes: overly optimistic or purposefully pessimistic. "All the Tea in China" strikes a fitting balance with a several dashes of humor to boot. Chapter 4 provides a serious, nuts and bolts explanation on how to make that initial dive into the labyrinthine purchasing world of Chinese factories. Finally, Haft strikes a blow at the popularized, but misplaced notion by Thomas Friedman and others that the "world is flat." In fact, as Haft demonstrates, not only is the macro-economic world not flat, but in reality has many bumps, with some natural and others being speed bumps. Having to travel to China for business on a regular basis for both publicly and privately held US companies, I found that I could empathize with many of the book's anecdotes. Buy this book, you won't be disappointed.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
How to Succeed at Business in China, November 11, 2011
All the Tea in China
How to Buy, Sell, and Make Money on the Mainland
Jeremy Hart © 2007
Portfolio (Penguin Publishers)
ISBN 978-1-59184-159-3
192 pp. (Hdbk)
By apparently making every possible mistake, Jeremy Hart learned how to understand Chinese business people and businesses. He's thus an excellent teacher about what to do and what not to do to conduct business in and with that economy.
Although written four years ago, most of the book should still be relevant. Hart writes of pitfalls and important cultural idiosyncrasies in attempting to deal with Chinese manufacturers, investors, banks and governments. He gives clear guidance about working with Chinese businessmen. He also includes a list of companies now successful in business with China.
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