After reading the case that is below, How can a foreign company entering China ensure that it tackles the most important “little” things that end up being huge barriers to success as we approach the year 2020 when China is expected to have significantly increased purchasing power among its middle class?​ Write your opinion, as a manager, on how to face cultural issues like those described in the case, when entering foreign markets.

The People's Republic of China opened up to foreign investments in the late 1970s. Since that time, numerous companies have tried to establish operations and sell their products to customers in China. Many more companies will try in the years to come—China is expected to have some 190 million people in the middle- and upper-income categories by 2020. This is an increase from only about 17 million people in these income brackets as recently as in 2010. China's purchasing power for virtually all products and services has strong potential, and foreign companies will seek these market opportunities. What have we learned culturally that can help Western-based companies in China's marketplace?

Some background on China can serve as a starting point for better understanding the culture in China and what some well-known companies such as Best Buy and eBay have done to target the Chinese marketplace. The motivation for many foreign companies to enter China—beyond those that have been there for a few decades for reasons of low-cost production—was the triple growth of the Chinese economy that was seen from 2000 to 2010. China overtook Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world behind only the United States, and its large population makes for an enormous target market. Investment from foreign companies was the largest driver of China's growth in the decade from 2000 to 2010. However, many companies also increased their exports to China. The United States, for example, saw its companies increase exports to China by 542 percent from 2000 to 2011 (from about $16.2 billion to $103.9 billion), while total exports to the rest of the world increased by only 80 percent in the same time period.

Interestingly, while foreign investments grew, domestic consumption as a share of the Chinese economy declined from 46 percent in 2000 to 33 percent in 2010. This consumption decline—coupled with slower growth globally and, ultimately, the worldwide economic downturn that started in 2008—raised questions about China's momentum. Right now, around 85 percent of mainstream Chinese consumers are living in the top 100 wealthiest cities. By the year 2020, these advanced and developing cities will have relatively few customers who are lower than the middle- and upper-income brackets by Chinese standards. The expectation is that these consumers will be able to afford a range of products and services, such as flat-screen televisions and overseas travel, making the Chinese customer much more of a target for a wide variety of consumption. This begs the question, can the unprecedented Chinese growth really continue, and would it come from increased consumption?

The resounding answer is yes according to research conducted by McKinsey & Company. McKinsey found that barring another major economic shock similar to what we saw in 2008, China's gross domestic product (GDP) will continue to grow, albeit not at the historic levels seen between 2000 and 2010 when it grew about 10.4 percent annually. The growth from 2010 to 2020 is expected to be about 7.9 percent per year, which is still far above the expected growth for the United States (2.8 percent annually), Japan (1.2 percent annually), and Germany (1.7 percent annually)—the three countries among the top four worldwide economies along with China. And, the key is that consumption will now be the driving force behind the growth instead of foreign investment. The consumption forecast opens up opportunities for foreign companies to engage with Chinese consumers who are expected to have more purchasing power and discretionary spending.But culturally translating market success from one country or even a large number of countries to the Chinese marketplace is not necessarily as straightforward as it may seem. Often, a combination of naiveté, arrogance, and cultural misunderstanding have led many well-known companies to fail in China. Lack of an understanding of issues such as local demands, buying habits, consumption values, and Chinese customers' personal beliefs led to struggles for companies that had been very successful elsewhere in the world. Let's take a brief look at Best Buy and eBay as two examples.

Best Buy, the mega-store mainly focused on consumer electronics, was founded in 1966 as an audio specialty store. Best Buy entered China in 2006 by acquiring a majority interest in China's fourth-largest appliance retailer, Jiangsu Five Star Appliance, for $180 million. But culture shock hit Best Buy, best described by Shaun Rein, the founder of China Market Research Group. He pointed to a few reasons for this culture shock and lack of success. First, the Chinese will not pay for Best Buy's overly expensive products unless they are a brand like Apple. Second, there is too much piracy in the Chinese market, and this reduces demand for electronics products at competitive market prices. Third, like many Europeans, the Chinese do not want to shop at huge mega-stores. So, these three seemingly easy-to-understand cultural issues created difficulties for Best Buy. Solving these issues, Best Buy believed that it would have to develop and implement a different business model for the Chinese market than it has used, for example, in the United States. Now, how far should a company go outside its normal business model to adhere to cultural values and beliefs of a new market? Strategically moving forward, Best Buy opted to close all of its Best Buy–branded stores in China and focus on its wholly owned local Jiangsu Five Star chain of stores. But will this new strategic business model be successful with the new makeup of customers in China expected by 2020?

eBay, the popular e-business site focused on consumer-to-consumer purchases, was founded in 1995. The company was one of the true success stories that lived through the dot-com bubble in the 1990s. It is now a multi-billion-dollar business with operations in more than 30 countries. But China's unique culture created problems for eBay in that market. Contrary to the widespread cultural issues that faced Best Buy, one company in particular (TaoBao) and one feature more specifically (built-in instant messaging) shaped a lot of the problems that eBay ran into in China. Some 200 million shoppers are using TaoBao to buy products, and the company accounts for almost 80 percent of online transaction value in China. Uniquely, TaoBao's built-in instant messaging system has been cited as a main reason for its edge over eBay in China. Basically, customers wanted to be able to identify a seller's online status and communicate with them directly and easily—a function not seamlessly incorporated into eBay's China system. Clearly, built-in instant text messaging is a solvable obstacle in doing business in China. It sounds easy now when we know about it, but may not always be the case when we take into account all the little things that are important in a market.

Jaguar Electronics, Inc. is a specialized electronics firm located in Charleston, South Carolina in the United States. The company was founded in 1965 and has enjoyed success and modest growth as a supplier of components to large manufacturers of specialty electronic-mechanical devices. Recently the company's management has decided to begin manufacturing and marketing a product called the 'Airflow'. The Airflow is manufactured by assembling two component parts:

(1) mechanical assemblies (MA), which are purchased from a company in Belgium; and

(2) electronic assem­blies (EC) manufactured by Jaguar Electronics at its Charleston facility.

Jaguar Electronics has manufactured and supplied the electronic assemblies to several national manufacturers of products similar to the Airflow for several years. Most of the consumer demand for the final products comes from areas enjoying a relatively warm climate throughout the year. Accordingly, the manu­facturers of those products have sold their goods with great success throughout the southern and southwest­ ern United States. The population and economic growth in these areas have contributed greatly to the success of this type of consumer product.

The man largely responsible for Jaguar Electronics' proposed move into manufacturing and marketing Air­ flow is the company president, Mr Smith. He has spent his entire career in the electronics industry and was with Jaguar Electronics for several years before becom­ ing its president. His reign as president has been very successful. However, he has viewed the impressive sales growth of EC units with mixed feelings. As a supplier of EC components, Jaguar Electronics has prospered from the growth in sales of products such as Airflow. However, Smith has always felt that his company was not reaping all of the benefits available in sales to the consumers. At the same time he felt that Jaguar Elec­tronics did not have the resources to compete success­ fully with the large firms that dominate the US market. Smith employed a consultant to determine where increasing consumer demand for Airflow-type prod­ucts would approach a level sufficiently high to justify entering these smaller markets. After reviewing the consultant's recommendations, Smith decided that Jaguar Electronics should target two of the higher-income countries in Latin America, Country 1 and Country 2. These nations, because of the income levels in particu­ lar cities, had the potential to be lucrative markets for Airflow. The consultant estimated the potential demand for Airflow to be 20,000 units per year in Country 1, and 40,000 units per year in Country 2.

The consultant had also recommended four options available to Jaguar Electronics as to how the widgets could be produced and distributed to these markets:

1. Assemble the widgets in Charleston and distribute them from that point.
2. Assemble them in Country 1, and distribute them from that point.
3. Assemble them in a free trade zone in Country 2.
4. Assemble them in a free trade zone in another coun­try, Country 3, which had no significant potential domestic market for Airflow, but a lower labor cost.

Smith held a meeting to brief his production manager, Daphne R. Feldblum, and his distribution manager, Karl Q. Winklepleck, on the proposed Airflow venture and the consultant's recommendations. Both had been with the company for several years.

After briefing the two managers, Smith asked: 'What course of action would you recommend?' Feldblum replied: 'We should probably assemble them where the labor cost would be lowest.' Winklepleck commented: 'We should also consider transportation rates, insurance rates, import duties, and free trade zones.' Smith decided that Feldblum and Winklepleck should work together to compile the information nec­essary for making the best possible decision.

Two weeks later the information shown in Tables 13.2 and 13.3 had been compiled.

With the data available, Smith had a meeting withFeldblum, Winklepleck, and a member of the corporate legal staff to discuss what should be done. The meeting went poorly. Feldblum still believed that the company should locate assembly in the place with the lowest labor cost. Winklepleck realized that he should have provided a spreadsheet indicating total costs associated with each approach.

Table 13.2 Cost, demand, weight, and tariff data

Annual demand in Country 1               20,000 units

Annual demand in Country 2                40,000 units

Labor costs for assembly

in Charleston                                  $5.00/unit

in Country 1                                    $4.50/unit

in Country 2 free trade zone            $4.00/unit

in Country 3 free trade zone             $3.75/unit

Cost of components

MA,FOB Brussels {Belgium)            $25.00/unit EC, FOB Charleston                $30.00/unit

Product weight

MA                                                   60 lb/ unit

EC                                                   40 lb/ unit

Airflow                                           100 lb/ unit

Import duties as a percentage of price paid)

Table 13.3 Combined rates for transportation and insurance between respective points

(Note: Projected sales volumes would justify shipping by container load. Though shipping rates would actually be charged per container load, for ease of calculation the rates below are shown as dollar costs per hundred pounds ($/cwt). If products were shipped in less­ than-container loads, rates would be much higher.)

Footnote by Winklepleck: Ocean freight shipments from Belgium to Country 3 are very infrequent.

The total cost figures for assembling in Charleston and Country 3 appeared to be very close. If it was possible to obtain some type of free trade area in Charleston, or if the US government could refund duty on the component MA when the finished product was exported, Charleston would actually be less expensive. In any event, figures for all of the combinations should be carefully calculated.

Winklepleck also had some questions in his mind that he wondered if he should raise. They seemed to be important, but the president might not be pleased to have them brought up. If assembly were to be done overseas, how would quality be controlled? Should the company consider making a product for export that it thought it couldn't market successfully in the United States? Did the company have the resources needed and was it prepared to make the effort required to begin marketing internationally: establishing market­ ing channels, product promotion, etc.? How Jong would it take to reach the projected sales overseas, and what would be needed to promote the product? How sure could they be that they could ever sell the expected number of units in each of the two overseas markets?

Questions to be Answered: Try Solving Using Excel

1. Calculate the total costs if the Airflow is assembled in Country 1 vs. Country 2, vs. Country 3. Note that Country 2 and 3 have a foreign trade zones and Country 1 does not. Note also that calculations should be done for total sales to supply the two countries.
2. Which country should they select to assemble the Airflow to maximize profit?
3. If the duty rate for Country 2 increases to 20%, how would this change your answer in question #2?

What we call the single payer, single provider and the healthcare system used in the United Kingdom is:

• How does the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) assist developing countries with debt management?
• What is the principal goal of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? How does it work to accomplish this goal?

1.what are the advantages or disadvantages of campaigns to Democratic systems?
2. how might voter identification laws influence who participates in elections?
3. how would political campaigns change if citizens United is overturned?

1. True or False? The author contends that every financial meltdown includes a little understood "financial contraption" that increases overall market leverage.

2. True or False? The purchase of United Copper shares by Otto and Arthur Heinz was a successful short squeeze that resulted in a significant increase in the per share price of United Copper and a boost in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

3. True or False? The 1907 anti-trust ruling against Standard Oil, which included massive fines, would prove to be a significant factor leading to the Panic of 1907.

4. True or False? May 9, 1901 became known as "Blue Thursday," the day IBM, known as "Big Blue," lost more than 20% of its market value.

as prussia strove to establish itself as the leading German states it achieved a victory in 1834

1. Has there been a "power shift" away from states and towards multinational corporations?

what justifications are put forward by realism that the states are the prime actors international Relations