Doing Business in China For Dummies Paperback – August 6, 2007

I am offended by the title - it is antithetical to the Indn Way. There is a huge difference between ignorance and stupidity; ignorance (you did not know a thing was wrong, so you did it) is easily curable (education), while stupidity (dummies - you knew a thing was wrong, & did it anyway) is much harder to cure. The book is good, but a bit wordy. Fix the title to something less insulting; edit it to something shorter; then it could get 5 stars. Otherwise, I & others like me have too much to do to wade thru extraneous words to find what we need. I gifted it to my library; they were thrilled to get another book.

I wanted broad strokes, just an idea of doing business in China. I needed this information for a project and thought I'd get greater detail at a later date. The book provided exactly what I was looking for. It detailed the specific types of foreign companies, corporate structures, business practices and etiquet.If you need something more substantial this might not be for you but if you only want top line, it was excellent.Good investment.

This book provides the basic considerations for starting any business in China. It explains what to expect in China, and the advantages/disadvantages to expect. Along with some other books on China busines, I was able to get a great insight into our competition, without having to travel to China.

It was my fault for not researching the book for exact content but it did have at least some useful information. Whith the price I payed who cares even a few torn out pages would have been ok but book was better shape than at a bookstore.

Only 60 pages in and I've already gained perspective and more patience.

I am using this book for MBA graduate school class and have found this to have relevant and useful information. We will be visiting China as part of our class experience.

Great book. Very informative.

Among the "Dummies" books, this one seems both timely and among the best. Besides emphasizing the need to guard proprietary & intellectual info, including trademarks (1st-to-file rule of registration), I liked the caveats and values discussion on partnerships in Chap#7. I know a Kansas company with a global product that started easily in China using the J-V approach (and a savvy ex-pat), but then grew ahead of its own forecasts by shifting to proprietary operations once they'd gained their partner's confidence (China, of course, wanted the product). I also appreciated recognition of the need to make uniform (or to integrate) corporate cultures and processes across national borders. While strength can come thru diversity, it's also possible for confusion to reign if systems on opposite sides of the globe don't match up. To me, one thing this suggests is that our (USA's) global output would rise if we joined Britain (and everyone else) in the move to METRIC weights & measures, however gradual we do it. More universal products for US (and perhaps fewer lost missions to Mars due to mixed-measurements)! One area seeming to deserve more attention in the book was the brief section on Growth Industries. Rather than a short page on Environment & Energy, emphasis could have been added on the role of these two "E's" in ALL that goes on in a modern economy. What business can prosper without fuel; and can we make the power we need sustainable and "natural", before choking and burning things up? Whatever environmental and energy solutions are engineered as we endeavor to save ourselves and our systems, they will be brought to market most universally (and at least cost) if China AND our great US of A work together. As mentioned on pg 28, "building energy supplies close to the site of the end-user" may be the way of the future (distributed generation). For the "dummies" and "nerds" who will be seeking solutions and making essential change happen, this book is a push in the right direction (global cooperation in business).Dave FriedrichsAnn Arbor, Michigan

There's some good information in there, but it's about 50% content, 50% waffle. Half the size would have been a major improvement.

. This book was excellent, contained a lot of useful information but in simple terms. I certainly picked up quite a few useful tips prior to my visit.