Big in Asia : 30 strategies for business success

Companies operating in post-crisis Asia find themselves confronted by obstacles that hinder development and progress. Written by two leading analysts, this book identifies the transformation of the competitive landscape in Asia. By focusing on the main difficulties faced by companies it provides a series of strategies for business success and show how to avoid failure in Asia. This is an essential guide for companies who wish to make it big in Asia.

Author Notes

MICHAEL BACKMAN specialises in Asian corporate practice. He also analyses the behaviour of Asian governments. He has a firmly established reputation for telling it like it is. He is the author of several books including the international bestseller Asian Eclipse: Exposing the Dark Side of Business in Asia, which was named by The Economist as one of the finest non-fiction books of the year. He is also an engaging conference speaker and columnist. He writes a regular Asian business column for the Melbourne Age newspaper. He has lived and worked in Asia. See www.michaelbackman.com for more details.

CHARLOTTE BUTLER is head of research at the INSEAD-Euro-Asia Comparative Research Centre. Her extensive research output over the last fifteen years has centred on a range of management issues in Europe and Asia-Pacific. In particular, her field-based work focuses on the growth of entrepreneurial firms and the influence of cross-cultural issues on joint ventures in the region. She has published over 50 case studies that are used by both Asian and western companies for executive training. and led several Workshops on business writing. In 2001 and again in 2005, her cases were prize winners in international competitions She is the co-author of Managers and Mantras and author of Dare to Do, which charts the evolution of a leading Asian conglomerate.

List of Figures and Tables	p. vii
Preface	p. viii
Part I Hit the Ground Running
Strategy 1 Ignorance is not Bliss	p. 1
Strategy 2 Know the Firm, Know the Family: Dealing with Asian Family Firms	p. 15
Strategy 3 Women in Asia: Beyond the Stereotype	p. 25
Strategy 4 Understand Asia's Overseas Chinese	p. 40
Strategy 5 Understand Asia's Overseas Indians	p. 52
Strategy 6 Dealing with Information Ambiguity, Local Consultants and Accounting Firms	p. 69
Part II On the Ground
Strategy 7 Network like a Local, Negotiate like a Westerner	p. 80
Strategy 8 Taking the M&A Route?	p. 94
Strategy 9 Managing Partnerships with Southeast Asian Firms	p. 108
Strategy 10 Managing Partnerships with Japanese and South Korean Firms	p. 122
Strategy 11 China or India?	p. 143
Strategy 12 Avoid Post-acquisition Trauma	p. 160
Part III Building Up
Strategy 13 Send the Right People	p. 173
Strategy 14 Cross the Cultural Divide	p. 186
Strategy 15 Localizing the Labor Force	p. 196
Strategy 16 Managing Change	p. 211
Strategy 17 Outsourcing: Where and Why?	p. 225
Strategy 18 Selling Consulting Services in Asia	p. 238
Part IV Staying Up
Strategy 19 Tilt the Playing Field	p. 250
Strategy 20 Think Global, Act Local - But How Far?	p. 265
Strategy 21 Building a Profile in Asia	p. 279
Strategy 22 Caveat Emptor: Beware the Banks of Asia	p. 293
Strategy 23 Avoid Blood Loss as a Minority Shareholder	p. 303
Strategy 24 China! The Frenzy Continues	p. 315
Part V Staying Clean
Strategy 25 Negotiate the Law in Asia: Bankruptcy, Contracts and Defamation	p. 339
Strategy 26 Intellectual Property Abuse: Contain the Risks	p. 348
Strategy 27 Ethical Traps on the Road to Being Big in Asia	p. 363
Strategy 28 Corruption: The Business Practice that Dare Not Speak its Name	p. 376
Strategy 29 Dancing with the Devil: Doing Business with Asia's Politicians and their Families	p. 390
Strategy 30 When Things Go Wrong	p. 396
Acknowledgements	p. 411
Abbreviations	p. 413
Index	p. 415

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