This course examines the business environment in China and its commercial, legal, organizational, and cultural dimensions. Through case studies of Chinese businesses, foreign businesses, and joint ventures in China, students will learn the opportunities and challenges of doing business in China from both a Chinese and foreign perspective through guest lecturers, field study, readings, and discussion. (3 credits)
Method of presentation:
Three-hour classes once a week. Lectures with discussion, including theoretical topics and the practical experience of local business people. Where possible, lecturers will utilize existing written case studies and relate them to the current situation in that enterprise or sector or to on-going or recurring problems of conducting business in China. Field visits to Chinese, foreign and joint-venture work sites.
Required work and form of assessment:
Readings for each class, class participation. Mid-term exam; two short essays. A major original research project in the form of a case study to be undertaken in consultation with one of the lecturers and presented/submitted at the end of the semester. The final mark will be made up as follows: class participation - 20%; mid-term exam - 15%; two short essays - 15%; research project/essay - 50%.
content:
Chinese business culture: traditional values; value change with the introduction of the market economy; the role played by 'guanxi'.
Politics and the Chinese business environment.
Chinese enterprise leadership and decision-making; the work roles of senior managers; personnel practices and reward systems.
The township enterprise.
Strategies for entering the Chinese market; the experiences of foreign firms in joint-venture enterprises; the wholly owned foreign enterprise.
International business negotiation in the Chinese context.
Business law and taxation; property rights.
The probable influence of W.T.O. on Chinese, joint venture and wholly owned enterprises.
The outlook for the future.
Required readings:
(One or more of the following, selected by the instructors):
Brown, David H. and Robin Porter. Management Issues in China: Domestic Enterprises. 1995.
Child, John and Yuan Lu. Management issues in China: Vol. II: International Enterprises.
Child, John. Management in China during the Age of Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.
Li, J.T. et al., Eds. Management and Organizations in the Chinese Context. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
Selected case studies (Harvard Business School)
Recommended readings:
Davis, Deborah S. Ed. The Consumer Revolution in Urban China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Drysdale, Peter and Ligang Song, Eds. China's Entry into the WTO: Strategic Issues and Quantitative Assessments. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Oi, Jean C. Rural China Takes Off: Institutional Foundations of Economic Reform. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
White, Gordon, et al. In Search of Civil Society: Market Reform and Social Change in Contemporary China. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.
Doing Business In China
This course examines the business environment in China and its commercial, legal, organizational, and cultural dimensions. Through case studies of Chinese businesses, foreign businesses, and joint ventures in China, students will learn the opportunities and challenges of doing business in China from both a Chinese and foreign perspective through guest lecturers, field study, readings, and discussion. (3 credits)
Three-hour classes once a week. Lectures with discussion, including theoretical topics and the practical experience of local business people. Where possible, lecturers will utilize existing written case studies and relate them to the current situation in that enterprise or sector or to on-going or recurring problems of conducting business in China. Field visits to Chinese, foreign and joint-venture work sites.
Readings for each class, class participation. Mid-term exam; two short essays. A major original research project in the form of a case study to be undertaken in consultation with one of the lecturers and presented/submitted at the end of the semester. The final mark will be made up as follows: class participation - 20%; mid-term exam - 15%; two short essays - 15%; research project/essay - 50%.
(One or more of the following, selected by the instructors):
Brown, David H. and Robin Porter. Management Issues in China: Domestic Enterprises. 1995.
Child, John and Yuan Lu. Management issues in China: Vol. II: International Enterprises.
Child, John. Management in China during the Age of Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.
Li, J.T. et al., Eds. Management and Organizations in the Chinese Context. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
Selected case studies (Harvard Business School)
Davis, Deborah S. Ed. The Consumer Revolution in Urban China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Drysdale, Peter and Ligang Song, Eds. China's Entry into the WTO: Strategic Issues and Quantitative Assessments. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Oi, Jean C. Rural China Takes Off: Institutional Foundations of Economic Reform. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
White, Gordon, et al. In Search of Civil Society: Market Reform and Social Change in Contemporary China. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.