Tommei Tong,
CEO and Executive Director, TOM Group Ltd.
Moderator:
Kenneth Morse, Senior Lecturer and Managing Director, MIT Entrepreneurship Center
Panelists, including Edward Tian and Tommei Tong, above, offered advice to those interested in entering the Chinese market.
Tommei Tong of TOM Group explained that finding the right local partner and understanding the unique aspects of doing business in China are crucial to success. For example, she said, one key part of the Chinese business world is the dominance of the government. As the panelists all pointed out, in order to succeed in the Chinese market, entrepreneurs will need to adjust to this dynamic and work with the government, rather than try to avoid interacting with officials.
In response to an audience question, the panelists pointed to the opportunities that the upcoming Beijing Olympics represent, and again emphasized that in order to take advantage of those opportunities, companies will need to adjust their strategies and products to the Chinese market.
The panelists have different backgrounds and histories, but all seemed to find the challenge of entrepreneurship in China′s emerging market "addictive," as Fredy Bush of Xinhua Finance described it. In addition, all seemed energized by the changes they have seen in China in recent years. Edward Tian of China Netcom described China as "hungry to be modernized," and others agreed that China is increasingly governed by a more uniform set of nationwide rules and regulations, which will improve the ability of companies to work in all regions. There was also a consensus that the capital market in China is overheated, and that there is more money available than there are entrepreneurs to take advantage of it.
Moderator Kenneth Morse of MIT brought up the issue of the shortage of professionally trained managers in China, and Tian agreed that he considers this a major challenge. Although there is no lack of opportunity for workers, he said, managers in China need more training in budgetary issues, performance review and management.
An audience member pointed out that a related but opposite issue is not just attracting, but retaining workers, especially since many of them may want to become independent entrepreneurs. The panelists agreed that offering stock options is a good way to tie employees more closely to a company, but they also agreed that people work for more than money. Bush pointed out that employees need to feel that their voices are heard and that the company is going somewhere. At the same time, Morse mentioned that employee spin-offs of new companies is not necessarily a bad thing, since these spin-offs are the drivers of growth and innovation.
The panelists offered advice throughout the session to those interested in entering the Chinese market: Believe in your company and have patience; be willing to take risks; be open to doing business with the government; find the right business partners and/or local managers; and do enough research to understand the local environment.
Global Conference 2013
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, philanthropist Bill Gates and Strive Masiyiwa of Econet Wireless discuss advancing prosperity in Africa.
