Synopses & Reviews
Its time to rethink the way we think about China.In this thought-provoking book, noted China experts from Harvard Business School and the Wharton School assert that while China has experienced remarkable economic growth in recent decades (nearly 10 percent for more than thirty years), it now faces major challengestests that could shift the countrys political and economic trajectory.
A lack of accountability, transparency, and ease of operating in Chinacombined with growing evidence of high-level corruptionhas made domestic and foreign businesspeople increasingly wary of the China model.” These issues have deep roots in Chinese history and the countrys political system.
Regina M. Abrami of the Wharton School and William C. Kirby and F. Warren McFarlan of Harvard Business School contend that the countrys dynamic private sector could be a source of sustainable growth, but it is constrained by political favoritism toward state-owned corporations. Disruptive innovation, research, and development are limited by concerns about intellectual property protection. Most significant of all is the question of Chinas political future: does a system that has overseen dramatic transformations in recent years now have the capacity to transform itself?
Based on a new and popular course taught by the authors at Harvard Business School, this book draws on more than thirty Harvard Business School case studies on Chinese and foreign companies doing business in the region, including Sealed Air, China Merchants Bank, China Mobile, Wanxiang Group, Microsoft, UFIDA, and others.
Can China Lead? asserts that China is at an inflection point that cannot be ignored. An understanding of the forces that continue to shape its business landscape is crucial to establishingand maintaininga successful enterprise in China.
Review
"
one of the best books on China that Ive read in a very long time."
Thomas W. Lee, Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs at the Foster School of Business, University of WashingtonReview
ADVANCE PRAISE for
Can China Lead?:
William V. Hickey, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sealed Air Corporation
Can China Lead? is a thoughtful and well-written perspective on the development of modern China, its emergence as an economic power, and its future outlook. This is a must-read for anyone doing business in China today and anyone interested in the leadership challenges that China will face going forward.”
Rodney Chase, former Deputy Group Chief Executive and Managing Director, BP plc
These Harvard and Wharton luminaries have written a challenging and disturbing assessment of modern-day China while brilliantly illuminating the countrys traumatic twentieth-century journey. While the authors express real doubts about Chinas readiness to embrace a world leadership role anytime soon, this book will help all of us understand China just a little better.”
Karen Mills, former Administrator, US Small Business Administration
Entrepreneurship may be Americas secret sauce, but its an essential part of Chinas heritage as well. From a deep historical understanding, Can China Lead? asks what will happen when the Chinese and American entrepreneurial economies face off in a global marketplace.”
George Yeo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
The authors doubt that China can lead the world, admitting that China may not have any such ambition in the first place. Analyzing the countrys deep contradictions, this book will teach you how business is done in Chinaand it does so brilliantly.”
Tom Lee, Hughes M. Blake Professor of Management, Foster School of Business, University of Washington; former President, Academy of Management
One of the best books on China that Ive read in a very long time.”
Synopsis
Three of the fields foremost experts explain the rapidly changing context and challenges of doing business in China.
Synopsis
A book for anyone doing business in ChinaMost literature on doing business in emerging markets has focused on why to enter these markets and how to build your business once you get there. But with the rapid changes that globalization has brought on, whats needed is an updated look at the current difficulties of doing business in these regionsand in China in particular. Why is it so much harder for companies to operate there today even from just a decade ago?
Three of the fields foremost experts, all Harvard Business School professors, explain the rapidly changing context and challenges of the region. Based on their combined experience, F. Warren McFarlan, William Kirby, and Regina Abrami argue that China is at an inflection point, with changes in its economic path that will play out in the coming decades. Dismantling persistent myths, the authors describe the rapidly changing context in China and the new challenges shaping business there, and examine whether companies should rethink their growth aspirations and strategies in the region. The book draws from more than 30 case studies by the authors on Chinese firms and other companies doing business there.
A provocative and necessary addition to the global conversation, Can China Lead offers a radical reassessment of China's capabilities that flies in the face of conventional wisdom.
About the Author
Regina M. Abrami is a Senior Fellow at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), Director of the Global Program at the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science. Prior to this, she was a member of the Harvard Business School faculty for eleven years, and chair of its inaugural international immersion program.
William C. Kirby is the Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University. He is Chairman of the Harvard China Fund. He has served as Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. He is an honorary professor at Peking University, Nanjing University, Chongqing University, Zhejiang University, East China Normal University, Fudan University, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and National Chengchi University.
F. Warren McFarlan is a Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School, as well as the Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus. He is concurrently a guest professor at Tsinghua Universitys School of Economics and Management and codirector of the schools China Business Case Center.