Seeing China for what it really is...
Since the earliest days of China’s “open door” policy, savvy (and not so savvy) business people have been writing books about China, how to do business here but perhaps more importantly, how not to do business in China… Most of these books are however valueless, as many are either just copies of other peoples work or more often outdated by the time they hit the shelf because of the fast pace the society in general is evolving in the major Chinese cities.
In my next 10 blog postings I will give my current snapshot view, and base it on the 10 most common things that are talked about in these books that profess to hold the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Some of the things people write I agree with, some of the stuff I definitely do not agree with, and some of the things written just shows a limited understanding of the multitude of cultures China is by the writer. I have also attended quite a few seminars with “China gurus” who clearly have read some of these books to prepare their presentation… 9 times out of 10 they have definitely read the wrong books altogether or have information that is exceedingly outdated, thus providing valueless advise to an unsuspecting audience of China novices .
People with experience only from Beijing should in general keep their mouth shut about Shanghai and vice versa, but that is the easy example… What about Urumqi or Lhasa? I did write it in an earlier blog but I see no point not repeating it again having done business in Oslo does not qualify you to do business the first day you step off the plane in Istanbul. Everyone in Europe knows this about Europe, so why not realize that this also holds true for China? If your answer is no, China is one country with one homogeneous business culture, then good luck to you…