Cowboys and Dragons: Shattering Cultural Myths to Advance Chinese-American Business FROM THE PUBLISHER
"The doors are swinging wide open to increased business opportunities with China, especially after China's entry into the World Trade Organization and Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. A potential "Gold Rush" era - between China and America, especially - is imminent. But the Western and Eastern worlds could not be more different. How can businesses capitalize on these opportunities?" "Beyond the obvious language barriers are more delicate cultural differences that can make or break a deal. Readers will benefit from author Charles Lee's lifetime experience as a thoroughly bicultural Chinese-American conducting business in both China and the United States. From his unique perspective, Dr. Lee unlocks the secrets behind successful East-West business." "In more than 20 informative and entertaining chapters, readers will find a thoughtful survey of historical, social, political, and economic factors affecting China's business climate. Lively narrative compares differences in East and West on a wide range of topics - profit, competition, contracts, conflict of interest, and organizational structures, among many others." Cowboys and Dragons also includes a brief appendix with quick tips for many common daily activities in China - dress codes, dining and foods, traveling, and many more areas - that will steer a novice from committing clumsy social gaffes.
SYNOPSIS
Lee grew up in China and Taiwan, earned advanced degrees in the US, became an American citizen, and has carried out business arrangements between Asia and the US. He has drawn on his personal experiences to contemplate the differences between the two cultures and articulate ways to describe them and teach American readers (the cowboy type) how to understand and work with people from a Chinese cultural background (the dragon). This thoughtful book rises above most business books in the depth of its assessment of cultural behavior and specific instruction for successfully achieving cross- cultural communication. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A self-proclaimed "bicultural man," Lee spent his childhood in China and Taiwan and his adult life in the U.S. He's been advising and guiding the formation of Chinese-American joint ventures since 1977, when Americans were still "Capitalist Pigs" in Communist Chinese eyes. In his first book, Lee attempts to bridge the differences between the two cultures for the business reader. The key, says the venture capitalist, is to forget about the mechanics of doing business in China until you understand the cultural backgrounds, behavior and desires of the players involved. American businessmen are cowboys (no cowgirls in this book): individualistic, profit driven and ruled by law. The Chinese are dragons: group oriented, harmony driven and ruled by hierarchical authority. Roughly three-quarters of this repetitious book is devoted to elaborating on and redescribing these distinctions. Virtually every page features text boxes-up to four per page-reiterating the information in the preceding paragraph. Facts and advice, such as avoiding humor and sexual innuendo, often pop up more than once. The message, nevertheless, is sound. Lee advocates an emotionally intelligent approach to Chinese-American relationships. He refrains from value judgments, presenting differences as facts to be accepted and managed, and he recommends those differences be openly discussed and explained, suggesting mutual understanding can lead to successful endeavors. He shines in the descriptions of Chinese-American ventures in which he's participated, which are sprinkled throughout the book, and in the practical advice in Part Five's chapters on negotiating, decision making, executing and "most likely points of conflict." (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Home
