Why most US market entries fail

Paul Denlinger is not only a freshly enlisted speakers at Chinabiz Speakers but is also developing as a prolific columnist at his weblog. Today he addresses the failure of most US companies to enter the China market, for sure an interesting topic.

My experience is that there are errors which are repeated over and over again. It gets like being condemned to watch a single Broadway show, over and over again, where the only things which change are the sets and the actors; the lines are the same.

His focus in mainly on IT and media companies, but the message is clear for all: a failing strategy leads to internal warfare and failure:

This puts the China office in a continuous battle with the US headquarters for resources; the Chinese local competitor has no such restrictions on what it can do, and the Chinese company surges ahead in capturing market share, and eventually, revenue. The American company then organizes what can best be called a “strategic withdrawal”, as did eBay.

More at Chinavortex. Later today Paul will also have an article at Chinabiz.