Western managers and their Chinese competitors

Know your competitor
by Getty Images via DaylifeAre Chinese managers better, equal or less than Western managers, is one of the questions Allroadsleadtochina asks after reading this report (PDF) of the Institute of Leadership and Management. That in itself is of course a gross generalization and is an approach we indeed can cover better at hotel bars and other informal meetings.
But the report gives some interesting approaches in its advices to managers like "Know the competition". That now seems a rather basic observation, but dealing with competition, especially on the scale and the speed it occurs in China, is something most Western managers are not prepared for, simply because back home they very seldom had to deal with such fierce competition.
The report:

Our perception of Chinese managers remains rooted in the past. China is still seen by most managers as a society whose economic strength relies on low costs, long hours and tough management. In fact our research suggests that China is starting to develop a distinctive and highly effective management culture – sophisticated, very commercial, innovative and ambitious.
Western economies risk losing out in the same way they did to Japan in the 1970s if we do not take the Chinese management challenge seriously, and react accordingly.

That is an advice worth noting.Most of the larger companies have learned the lesson the hard way. Western manager of Unilever and P&G were initially so obsessed with each other, they failed to note the domestic competition. And they were not alone. That has change for many of the larger companies, but for the smaller enterprises entering China, the arrogance they have in looking at China might cost them dearly.