文档介绍：The Great Transition
h Lieberthal; Geoffrey Lieberthal
University of Michigan; Bain & Co.
6,925 words
1 October 2003
Harvard Business Review
70
0017-8012
English
Copyright (c) 2003 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.
China is attracting enormous attention for very good reason. The reason is not just that China is big or that its economy is the only one that’s been able to sustain rapid growth over the last three years. It’s that China is now profoundly affecting petitive capabilities of all multinational corporations. Companies throughout the world are affected by the impact of low-cost Chinese manufacturing on worldwide pricing, for instance, whether or not they have operations there or engage in direct trade.
Beneath the surface of China’s enormous plishments is plicated story: The country’s astonishing growth and exploding domestic market promise huge opportunities. But that growth also masks systemic weaknesses. China’parative manufacturing advantage makes it an alluring platform from which to export to the rest of the world. But that platform sits in a fast-changing and high-risk operating environment that has frustrated many firms’ quests for profits.
When China first timorously opened its economy to foreign investment in 1979, the rules tightly restricted the locations, sectors, and types of participation open to foreigners. As those rules gradually relaxed over the ensuing decades, the fortunes of international firms improved incrementally. But the real sea change in China’s importance has occurred only in the past few years, as China has begun to implement its World anization accession obligations, and the country has stood out so sharply as the only rapidly growing major economy in the world. The opportunities, the risks, and the importance of understanding how to fit China into a petitive strategy are entering a new stage—more dynamic, complex, and consequential for multinationals’ ess than ever before.