Inside the Chinese Business Mind: A Tactical Guide for Managers

Inside the Chinese Business Mind: A Tactical Guide for Managers focuses on helping Western business leaders and managers get an understanding of the core values and beliefs that drive business in China. It is a perfect tool for helping business people gain insights into the vastly different, surprisingly diverse Chinese business culture—and for learning more about themselves and their own values and behaviors in the process.

At the core of Inside the Chinese Business Mind is an in-depth survey which gathered responses from over 200 business leaders in both the United States and China. Going beyond the scope of traditional guidebooks, the study incorporates elements of psychology, resulting in a fascinating portrait of the Chinese people, one that finds clear distinctions in behaviors and priorities across different regions, among various age groups, and within other demographic categories. This specific information will help business leaders develop the kind of cultural awareness that leads to greater opportunities and stronger relationships in China, at home, and within themselves.

An insightful look at how Chinese business people think and live, offering executives and entrepreneurs a better way to understand a country in which business opportunities are still growing.

Library Journal

A scan of bookstore and library shelves bears out the popularity of books on doing business in and with China. Here, Sun (CEO, Executive Balance; Survival Tactics: The Top 11 Behaviors of Successful Entrepreneurs) draws on his own experience and the results of a survey of 200-plus U.S. and Chinese business leaders designed to find the respondents' identification with particular values (health, family, career, etc.) and beliefs (self-efficacy, collectivism, etc.). Sun uses these results to draw comparisons between Chinese and Western mindsets as well as among different regions in China and in the United States and between genders and generational groups. He then shows how these values and beliefs influence interactions and decision making in a business context. VERDICT Though it skews a bit to the touchy-feely (the exercises included are called "mind gems," and Sun assigns himself the title "Chief Dream Maker"), his work will be of interest to fans of titles on leadership principles and the psychology of management, as well as those exploring business relationships with China.—Sara Holder, McGill Univ. Lib., Montreal