The China Factor

Introduction

We are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at a training session for the Asia-Pacific sales team. Despite the long flight from California I'm excited to be there, because an integral part of my role is getting as close to the sales teams as possible. The regional teams also appreciate visitors from corporate headquarters because the visits underscore the importance of the area to the larger business. My objectives are twofold: to gather competitive intelligence and to understand the challenges of this region's sales teams and the support they need from the company in order to be more successful.

We were there to learn together—after all, if we were going to get smart about competing with the Chinese, understanding the principles and practices of their strategy was essential. Although this was the Asia team and it was well versed in Eastern business culture, Western business practices were still the standard mode of operation because we worked for a U.S.-based company.

Our guest speaker was an eccentric Chinese professor who lectured us on The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He was fascinating. Unusually tall even by Caucasian standards, he was heavyset and commanding, both in his physical presence and in his persona. He had a colorful personality and spoke with flair, with an unsubtle confidence that bordered on arrogance. His disposition may have been fueled by the fact that professors or “knowledgeable ones” are especially revered in Chinese culture. His fingers were covered with ...