Asia

The widely held notion of “Japan, Inc.” is exaggerated; there is no monolithic business-government link. Even so, the cooperation (without incorporation) between the large corporate combines and the government bureaucracy is impressive in its strength and focus on the common economic good—especially in view of its achievements worldwide. As the economic power of the United […]

Your organization can become more decisive—and can implement strategy more quickly—if you know where the bottlenecks are and who’s empowered to break through them.

When should a family business give up on an outside leader?

For the last decade, the Gallup Organization has surveyed the people of China, as both consumers of goods and employees of the companies that produce those goods. The data provide a unique picture of changing consumer attitudes, market opportunities, and management challenges.

In most companies, strategic planning isn’t about making decisions. It’s about documenting choices that have already been made, often haphazardly. Leading firms are rethinking their approach to strategy development so they can make more, better, and faster decisions.

In many countries, diversified business groups substitute for the institutions that support effective markets in capital, labor, and goods and services. Their capacity for doing this must be strengthened through restructuring, not destroyed through dismantling.

In China, the battle for the consumer is often won — and lost — not in factories or on television screens, but on store floors. As many as 45% of Chinese consumers make purchase decisions in real time, inside shops, according to surveys we have conducted, compared to just 24% in the US. Moreover, 56% […]

It’s time to stop treating the situation as a short-term crisis.

A case study in poor policy and even poorer execution.

Midcareer employees and managers, who should be at their peak of productivity, are the most disaffected segment of the workforce. Companies need to find ways to rekindle the fires of this vast, neglected group of people—or risk losing them altogether.

The “bounded awareness” phenomenon causes people to ignore critical information when making decisions. Learning to expand the limits of your awareness before you make an important choice will save you from asking “How did I miss that?” after the fact.

It helps that the country’s domestic market is massive.

Luxury goods marketers in China received some good news last month. After the country’s annual policy planning meeting, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming announced that Beijing would soon reduce tariffs and cut red tape on luxury goods imports. The decisions are in line with other policies that will stimulate domestic consumption and, the government hopes, […]

Anti-American sentiment poses a challenge to companies seeking to export to some regions of the world, most notably parts of Asia and the Middle East. At the same time, segments within those regions keenly identify with U.S. urban youth culture—the world of hip-hop and rap. Research I conducted among Chinese undergraduates suggests that this identification […]

In fast-growing markets, women are getting ahead faster, too.

They’re ahead of many global counterparts, but dissatisfaction with career progression drives almost as many women out of the workforce as childcare.

Recently I delivered a talk a the Council on Foreign Relations titled “Managing the New Trajectory of Global Innovation” explaining why and how multinationals must revamp their Western-centric innovation strategy in order to effectively leverage global ideas, talent, and markets. In our increasingly multi-polar world characterized by the inexorable rise of emerging markets like Brazil, […]

The technology is helping them bypass online censorship.

An interview with Weijian Shan

Three hacks based on behavioral science.