| Business chiefs eye China profits [message #225215] |
Fr, 14 Juli 2006 21:12 |
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Business chiefs eye China profits
By John Willman in London
Published: July 14 2006 03:00 | Last updated: July 14 2006 03:00
World business leaders overwhelmingly see China as an opportunity for
their companies, according to a survey of top executives in Europe,
North America and Asia Pacific - but most also fear Chinese competitors
will steal their business secrets.
Hay Group, the management consultancy, found that 83 per cent of the
business chiefs wanted to cash in on China's fast-growing appetite for
imported goods and services.
The majority were already established in China or had plans to be there
within the next five years. But the executives were concerned about the
Chinese business environment, with poor protection of intellectual
property the biggest worry. Other perceived barriers to success in
China included corruption, bureaucracy and the opaque legal system.
Nearly a quarter of the business leaders thought the unfair treatment
of foreign firms was one of the biggest obstacles to doing business in
the country.
The survey found concerns about the lack of good managerial talent in
China, with a quarter citing skills shortages when looking for local
managers.
More than half the executives rated the communication skills of Chinese
managers as worse than managers at home, while almost half thought they
had poor organisational skills.
A third wanted more Chinese language teaching in their home countries
and 16 per cent wanted business school courses to include China
content.
Frank Hartle, a Hay Group director, said: "We face a war for talent
both in China and in domestic markets as companies scramble to recruit
leaders and managers with an understanding of the Chinese market and
business culture."
The survey found that a quarter of the global companies had no China
strategy - with the figure rising to 29 per cent for European
businesses surveyed and 38 per cent for the British participants.
The executives surveyed expected sales in China to be worth 14 per cent
of their global revenues by 2009, double the current level. North
Americans were most optimistic, forecasting a tripling of sales.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
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