Product Description

Within 20 years -- possibly far sooner -- China will have the world's largest economy. That will powerfully impact you: your job, your company, your economic future, and your country. In The Chinese Century, Oded Shenkar shows how China is restoring its imperial glory by infusing modern technology and market economics into a non-democratic system controlled by the Communist party and bureaucracy.

Shenkar shows why China's accelerating growth differs radically from predecessors such as Japan, India, and Mexico -- and how it will lead to a radical restructuring of the global business system. Discover why the U.S. is most vulnerable to China's ascent... how China's disregard for intellectual property creates sustainable competitive advantage... and how China's growth impacts every global business and consumer.

Above all, Shenkar shows what you must do to survive and prosper in "the Chinese Century."

· Cheap labor + millions of high-skilled professionals

· How China will sustain dominance in low-tech industries as it enters high-tech realms

· Building tomorrow's Toyotas and Sonys... faster and cheaper

· Chinese multinationals: learning from joint ventures, preparing to lead

· Leveraging Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and the "Chinese diaspora"

· Bringing together the world's most powerful pool of human resources

· $2 Rolexes, and beyond

· Piracy, counterfeiting, bootlegging, and stolen intellectual property

· From economics to geopolitics: counterbalancing America

· Previewing China's increasingly assertive foreign policy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #281085 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From the Back Cover

Within 20 years-- possibly far sooner--China will have the world's largest economy. Already, China is the #2 economy in the world for direct foreign investment, behind the US. Worldwide bestseller The Chinese Century reveals how China is restoring its imperial glory by infusing modern technology and market economics into a non-democratic system controlled by the Communist party and bureaucracy. This book powerfully demonstrates how China's accelerating growth is leading to a radical restructuring of the global business system. Read it, and you'll discover why the U.S. is most vulnerable to China's ascent... how China is increasingly serving as a counterweight to American economic and geopolitical power... how China's disregard for intellectual property creates sustainable competitive advantage... how China is leveraging the world's most powerful pool of human resources... how China will sustain dominance in low-tech industries as it enters high-tech realms... and how China's growth impacts every global business and consumer. The paperback edition includes a brand-new epilogue with up-to-the-minute strategies and tactics for competing with Chinese companies and succeeding in Chinese markets: best-practice approaches to everything from alliances to product development.

About the Author

Oded Shenkar holds degrees in East-Asian Studies and Sociology, as well as a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is the Ford Motor Company Chair and Professor of Management and Human Resources at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University. Professor Shenkar has studied China for over thirty years and is the author of numerous books and articles on Chinese business and management. His work has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Business Week, and the Economist, among many others. He has also been cited in major Chinese outlets such as the China Daily and Reference News. He is a frequent advisor to multinational corporations, governments, and international organizations on China-related matters.

Customer Reviews

The claims in this book about Chinese economic growth rates and gross domestic product are simply wrong
In late 2007 the World Bank issued a revised statistical analysis of all the countries in its data base.The World Bank corrected its previous erroneous statistics, which had been adjusting the prices of Chinese goods and services too far upward based on purchasing power parity comparisons.These lowered prices dramatically reduce China'a figures.The corrected figures show that China does not have a gross domestic product in the $10-$11 trillion range,as compared to the USA's gross domestic product of around $13 trillion, but a gross domestic product of no more than $6 trillion.

The same report demonstates that the Chinese middle class is substantially smaller than previously estimated and may be no more than 100 million out of a population estimated to be at 1.4 billion.


Finally,the exaggerated yearly growth rates reported by China are also erroneous.The real growth rate is about one-half of previously accepted figures.This means that China is NOT on track to over take the USA as the world's largest economy.The exact same revisions also apply to India.India is NOT growing anywhere near to the gross domestic product figures that have been reported.

The author of this book needs to completely revise it .Erroneous data and information ,followed by erroneous analysis based on the erroneous data,can only result in misleading readers.

Disappointing overall
It is rarely that I have written less than a glowing review of any book dealing with the topics of globalization, outsourcing and the ilk. As someone who is intrigued by these issues, I have found all of my reads thus far to be riveting and educative. I wish I could I say the same about Oded Shenkar's book "The Chinese Century." I am afraid that was not the case.

The book suffers from some clear flaws. First and foremost is the fact that it focuses solely on one facet of the Chinese growth story, viz. exports and imports, and that too from a largely US-centric world view. For someone who is interested in understanding the different facets of the Chinese story and its geopolitical ramifications (as can be seen today in China's relations with Sudan, Iran, and Venezuela among others), this book clearly falls short.

Second, the tone adopted by the author is one of unbridled optimism regarding China's growth prospects. I, for one, do not necessarily share the same world view. No nation has been able to eat its cake and have it too. If you want to be a modern nation enjoying all the economic benefits that come out of a free market system, you also need to be a democracy that is built on the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, a free media and a vibrant middle class that is not afraid to speak up its mind. I am not sure China will be able to escape that painful transition at some point of time. The question is not "If", it is a question of "When". I would have therefore liked to see the author explain how China can make the transition from a communist nation ruled by a narrow clique to a modern nation without a democratic change thrown somewhere in between. I am afraid that he did not.

Finally to round off, I would also like to point out that the book suffers from typographical errors that are clearly unacceptable in a book published from Wharton School Publishing. Two examples, both from the same page (pg. 85 of the paper back edition) for the skeptics who need proof. "Finally, there is the potential liability and litigation cost when a safety-related product such as a break pad fails, and the legitimate manufacturer is implicated." Or, "The direct losses of U.S. IPR owners in copyrighted industries (such as movies) alone in China have been estimated at more than $1.8 annually." The proof reader probably needs to be told that it is not "break pads" but "brake pads" and that the losses to IPR owners are closer to $1.8 billion than $1.8!

Overall I am happy that the book finished at 187 pages. It's a disappointment though that not much of substance was said in those 187 pages.

Important Information!
"The Chinese Century" reminds us that our trade deficit with China is rapidly growing (up 20%/year from '01-'03), and also tells us that its composition is changing - the four highest categories in '03 were all technologically related (misc. manufactured articles, office machines and ADP equipment, telecommunications and sound-recording equipment, and electrical machinery). (Apparel/clothing and footwear were in 5th and 6th place, down from 2nd and 3rd in '99.)

Shenkar also imforms us that the Chinese are working to continue "moving up the food chain" via increasing the rate that overseas Chinese students return to China, increasing R&D spending within its organizations, and forcing overseas partners to provide valuable trade secrets. The percentage of American white-collar associated jobs lost in manufacturing has gone from 30% ('79-'89) to 35% ('90-'99), and is likely to increase further, shaking belief in the theorized overall benefit of job migration to more complex work, and the belief that education is good insurance against unemployment. (The unemployment rate for electrical engineers now is greater than the unemployment rate in general.)

China is often pilloried for violating intellectual property rights; Americans, however, should remember that the U.S. was also a major violator in the 19th century, and remained so until it emerged as a major producer of copyrighted/patented knowledge. Presumably China will follow a similar path. China is also attacked for not adjusting its exchange rate vs. the dollar - however, since its productivity-adjusted costs are about 12% that in the U.S., currency adjustment would not begin to solve the U.S.-China trade deficit. In addition, Americans need to remember that China needs to create 15 million new jobs/year to handle population growth, plus additional jobs to cover those lost due to closing ineffective government enterprises and rural residents wanting to move to its cities.

The book's avowed purpose is not on how to stop the tide of Chinese imports, but how to remain competitive. Unfortunately, its recommendations (more education) fall far short of what would be required, and are contradicted by its own material.