Beijing Jeep: A Case Study Of Western Business In China [Paperback]

Jim Mann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 081333327X | ISBN-13: 978-0813333274 | Publication Date: March 28, 1997 | Edition: Updated

When China opened its doors to the West in the late 1970s, Western businesses jumped at the chance to sell their products to the most populous nation in the world. Boardrooms everywhere buzzed with excitement—a Coke for every citizen, a television for every family, a personal computer for every office. At no other time have the institutions of Western capitalism tried to do business with a communist state to the extent that they did in China under Deng Xiaoping. Yet, over the decade leading up to the bloody events in and around Tiananmen Square, that experiment produced growing disappointment on both sides, and a vision of capturing the world’s largest market faded.Picked as one of Fortune Magazine's "75 Smartest Books We Know," this updated version of Beijing Jeep, traces the history of the stormy romance between American business and Chinese communism through the experiences of American Motors and its operation in China, Beijing Jeep, a closely watched joint venture often visited by American politicians and Chinese leaders. Jim Mann explains how some of the world’s savviest executives completely misjudged the business climate and recounts how the Chinese, who acquired valuable new technology at virtually no expense to themselves, ultimately outcapitalized the capitalists. And, in a new epilogue, Mann revisits and updates the events which constituted the main issues of the first edition.Elegantly written, brilliantly reported, Beijing Jeep is a cautionary tale about the West’s age-old quest to do business in the Middle Kingdom.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Mann served as the Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times from 1984 to 1987, then returned to China in 1989 to cover the democracy uprising. He now works as a Foreign Affairs columnist and State Department correspondent for the paper’s Washington bureau.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press; Updated edition (March 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081333327X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813333274
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must-read for China-bound business execs, August 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Beijing Jeep: A Case Study Of Western Business In China (Paperback)

This is a very good account of the difficulties AMC encountered in trying to set up the first automobile-manufacturing joint venture in China. In fact, these were the same difficulties many other American businesses ran into in the 1980s, when everyone was eager to get into the Chinese market. I think the same problems remain today. In fact, the Chinese bureaucracy is 10 times more corrupt (in more than one incident the first thing visiting Chinese officials to the U.S. ask of their American hosts is "where is the brothel with blonde girls?") and the Chinese people more anti-Western than in the 1980s. The BJ Jeep story is not outdated. Every business exec who thinks of doing business in China must read this book, not some sugarcoated account of how great China is. I grew up in China in the 80s and witnessed the economic revolution firsthand. What pained me the most, even as a teenager, was how corrupt the Chinese society and government was becoming. Red envelopes -- the venue for bribery -- were becoming commonplace, and demanded by every level of bureaucrats with any degree of power. My recent return trips to China confirmed that the situation had not improved at all but worsened. Busisiness negotiations are a nightmare with the mainland Chinese. The book has a very interesting discussion in the beginning about how overseas Chinese are so efficient while the mainlanders are both inefficient, greedy, and inept. Trust me, all these are still true today.

From my point of view, China is not a market every American business should or must enter. Most foreign companies that have joint ventures do *NOT* make money in China and will probably not do so in the foreseeable future. The only ones that made a lot of money were the Japanese, who flooded (as told in the book) the Chinese market in the 80s with cheap, good consumer goods that the mainland Chinese hadn't seen. Nowadays it's more difficult as China's own companies are getting competitive as well as people are no longer held in awe by Western-style products. What this book teaches, then, is how to keep your expectations low if you want to do business in China, as well as how to avoid some of the common mistakes American executives tend to make, such as assuming the efficiency of the Chinese system or presuming the chain of command. This book will serve as an excellent reminder that mainland China is still many, many years behind the West in both management style, operational efficiency, and cultural honesty.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good but mostly out of date., April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beijing Jeep: A Case Study Of Western Business In China (Paperback)

Pretty good but as most of the issues took place over a decade ago it is mostly out of date. For example, the thinking of the Chinese has changed a lot since then. In particular, management. They are far more profit oriented and realistic then they were then. The face oriented attitudes towards the West still exist though. Thus it is still very useful in regards to the issues joint venture management in China must deal with.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A book worth reading but..., July 27, 2000

By 

Hui (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beijing Jeep: A Case Study Of Western Business In China (Paperback)

While the book has provided plenty factual information on China, there is a lack of in-depth analysis of the thinking of Chinese people and rationale behind their behaviours. One thing that is particularly uneasy for me, as a Hong Kong Chinese, is the sceptical view of the writer on the Chinese people and the country. I would say that the book is good for foreigners who know little about the development of China in the 80's and want to take a break to read some interesting stories, rather than those who really want to explore the current business environment in China.