Unlike many anthropology readers that are as bulky as a phonebook, The Anthropology of China is relatively compact: it is only slightly bigger than a small iPad and is roughly the same length as one of the most widely used anthropology textbooks, Thomas Hylland Eriken’s Small Places, Large Issues. You might wonder: why does the size of the book matter? Considering that this book is to be used in classrooms, both price and portability affect its accessibility. Although the former is on the high side compared to other anthropology books, this is a textbook worth investing in, especially for anthropology teachers starting out on their first course on China.
Despite its modest length, The Anthropology of China is packed with useful references and valuable insights. Most importantly, it is the first book that tries to embed ethnographic studies of China in some of the major debates in anthropology. Anthropologists of other regions might ask: what is special about this approach? After all, isn’t anthropology about uncovering ‘the commonalities and specificities of humanity’ through studying particular people and representing ‘their lives through a type of writing called ethnography’ (9)? The problem is that traditionally anthropologists of China are more interested in particularities than commonalities. The tendency to give more weight to Chinese specificities stems from the field’s close affinity with sinology, which until recently was deemed ‘anti-theory’ by some critics. And for those who are interested in both the commonalities and the specificities, the fear of being seen as a reductionist or cultural essentialist silences any attempt at the comparison and generalisation that are the necessary processes of theory production. In the midst of this long-standing and unresolved debate about how far insights can be extended to more general principles (9), some anthropologists of China have retreated into writing ethnographies of the particular.
This is why the The Anthropology of China makes a timely and important contribution to the field. Instead of clamouring ‘enough about ethnography’, as eminent anthropologist Tim Ingold sarcastically did in his ‘anti-ethnography’ manifesto, Charlotte Bruckermann and Stephan Feuchtwang take notice of the discipline’s constant resort to ‘ethnographically oriented particularism’ (McLean 2013) and call for ‘a new way of studying the anthropology of China, namely one based on anthropology as much as on China’ (263). The authors hope that by bringing ‘anthropological studies of China into the field of general anthropology’ (263), it could open up new dialogues for anthropological and ethnographic theories. Likewise, in bringing theories back to the study of China, Bruckermann and Feuchtwang challenge specialists of China to stop navel-glazing and reconsider the ‘value of comparison’ (van der Veer 2016).
Image Credit: Suzhou main railway station, China (Alexander Mueller CC BY 2.0)
To demonstrate the promise of this new approach and to test how far concepts developed within a particular society can be used to understand others, the authors begin by examining the interplay between theory and fieldwork in light of Africanist anthropologist Richard Fardon’s writing on the ‘regionalisation of anthropology’ (Fardon 1990) in Chapter Two. By introducing a conceptual framework that is developed from outside Chinese Studies, Bruckermann and Feuchtwang encourage readers to question their China-oriented presumptions and take a broader view. As with the other ten chapters, a discussion of general theories is followed by ethnographic illustrations of the Chinese cases. In Chapter Two, the authors recall the life and work of Fei Xiaotong (1910-2005), a prominent Chinese anthropologist and student of Bronislaw Malinowski, to trace the trajectory and the regionalisation of the anthropology of China since the 1930s. Fei’s well-known theories of chaxugeju (differential modes of association) and tuantigeju (organisational modes of association) not only showcase the value of anthropological comparison, but they are also excellent examples of ‘nativization (bentuhua) of academic concepts rather than relying on foreign concepts to understand China’ (Harrell 2001: 155) (23).
Following an overview of the history of anthropology in China, the authors have provided us with insights from a wealth of anthropological studies in and beyond Chinese societies. Chapters Three and Four offer a very solid review of the study of kinship and relatedness in anthropology. In comparison, Chapter Five on love, emotion, and sentiment appears weaker, not least because it reflects the underdevelopment of affect theory in the anthropology of China. In the general theory section of Chapter Five, I was surprised that there is no mention of affect theories in relation to emotion and sentiment nor any attempt to historicise emotion, love or qing and their modern transformations. Although the chapter touches on changing attitudes towards sex and romantic relationships, China’s LGBTQ communities and their struggles are also completely absent. In future editions, the authors may consider incorporating this important theme into the ‘romantic revolution’ (108) section of this chapter.
Despite these shortcomings, readers will be pleased to find that most chapters are richly written with unique perspectives. Chapter Six is another great chapter on the classic anthropological topic of exchange, money and gifts. The summary of Emily Martin’s work on money in China is an absolute delight to read. Chapter Seven is about the localisation and globalisation of food in China. Like love and emotion, food has grown ‘in centrality to debate on how to understand the universality of human experience’ (144). But in this instance, the authors have done a much better job embedding Chinese food scenes in theories of globalisation.
Finally, I would like to comment on the final three chapters, each dedicated to a very interesting anthropological theory. Chapter Ten looks at the concept of hospitality, while Chapters Eleven and Twelve examine the implications of Marshall Sahlins’s ‘stranger-king’ theory for the imperial and modern state of China. Fascinating in their own right, these chapters nonetheless feel at odds with previous ones. It might have worked better if they were moved to the beginning as this would give readers a macro perspective necessary for grasping the micro.
Overall, The Anthropology of China is an informative volume offering students, teachers and general readers not only a unique perspective on China, but also on the study of China. Bruckermann and Feuchtwang have taught the book to final year anthropology undergraduates in the UK and recommend teachers of undergraduate and postgraduate courses use this book as a textbook. Having studied in the US and the UK, I would say that this book is most suitable for final year undergraduates in the UK or first year graduate students in the US. It may be difficult for students without a background in anthropology to follow certain discussions, but they will nonetheless find the cases presented in the book interesting. Last but not least, this book is a brilliant resource for new teachers like myself who are putting together their first syllabi for the exciting field of the anthropology of China.
China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation. George S. Yip and Bruce McKern. MIT Press. 2016.
There are some common factors that lead to innovation for all countries in the world. In this new book, China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation, George S. Yip and Bruce McKern outline the special characteristics of China’s path from imitation to innovation.
Four factors have driven innovation in China, which fall into two categories: customers and culture; and capabilities and cash. Besides this, enablers of innovation on both the supply and demand side lead local companies and MNCs to innovate. Supply enablers include the very large number of relatively low-cost engineers and scientists (especially the increasing number of returnees educated abroad), government support, the famed entrepreneurial spirit of Chinese business people and evolving local Internet-related industries extensively funded by the Chinese government. Demand enablers include the rapid growth of China’s market, multiple market spaces, a lack of tradition in terms of customers’ spending habits resulting from the discontinuity created by the early years of the Communist system, China’s need for simpler and cheaper products and fast-moving large-scale government projects.
The main method of this book is the case study. It uses vast cases and mini-examples to vividly illustrate the specific features of local companies and multinationals in China on their way to innovation. The samples for different topics usually cover a wide range of stakeholders. For example, on the subject of open innovation, the interviewees include representatives from Chinese companies, foreign multinational companies in various sectors, major Chinese universities, China’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Government and the China Academy of Sciences. By conducting vast interviews with numerous representatives, the book is rich in detailed examples for readers to explore.
For example, China’s Next Strategic Advantage is useful for companies running businesses in China as it provides specific instances of the keys to success in ordinary operations – including a company’s relationship with the government. The book suggests that to be successful in China’s market, one needs to be embedded in China’s innovation ecosystem. That includes applying for funding from the local government first, and then from the central government. Another example relates to Chinese talents, who might be more conservative in speaking their ideas. Company managers may find the following practice useful: having these employees exchanged to experience working in headquarters in other countries or organising the brainstorm meeting in a different way.
Image Credit: Beijing CBD – Jianwai SOHO, Yintai, WTC, Jingguang (CobbleCC CC BY SA 3.0)
Besides these cases, the book utilises indicators of innovation to quantitatively illustrate the growth in the innovation performance of China. It numerates several global rankings to indicate the position of Chinese companies in terms of their innovation investments and outputs, such as the 2014 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard and the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators list. To show the innovation output of China, this book chooses four groups of indicators: scientific scholarship; China’s share of global high-technology manufacturing; its share of global high-technology exports; and China’s ranking on indices of innovativeness. Researchers may raise some interesting questions for further study from those numbers: for example, what does the distribution of the industrial R&D investment look like for Chinese companies? And what hinders Chinese companies from increasing this?
A strand of research related to this book is the role of the Chinese government in promoting innovation in China. Yip and McKern recognise that the increasing number of returnees play a very important role in promoting the innovative capabilities of China and point out the value of entrepreneurial spirit in enabling innovation. These are analysed by this book more as a fact than a strategy actively promoted by the government, though it acknowledges the effects of government support. Behind the increasing amount of relatively low-cost engineers and scientists, it is the national strategy that expands the scale of higher education and adopts policies that can attract scientists educated abroad to return to work in China. Similarly, the large number of start-ups that are born and grow in an increasingly friendly environment surrounded by stimulating policies from the government. Hence, it may enrich the book to further explore the interaction effects of public policies with the low cost of high-level labour as well as the entrepreneurial spirit, just as it does with other characteristics such as the high flexibility, adaptability and inclusiveness of Chinese markets. For example, governments have played an important role in making the market able to tolerate failures in the trials of electric cars.
The book also assumes that government organisations and state-owned enterprises need to be changed to facilitate the formation of a competitive and open system. However, MNCs and local private companies enjoy special policies from the Chinese government for certain time periods. This poses the question of what ‘fairness’ really means for such a system. To have one type of entity enjoy the same policies as another type is one way of understanding fairness. Alternatively, companies with special characteristics can enjoy policies specific to their features and needs so that they can compete with other companies of similar capabilities at the same level.
State-owned enterprises are criticised for their lower productivity. However, using productivity or innovation outputs to compare the performance of state-owned enterprises with that of other types of companies may be slightly inappropriate. Some innovation and improvement in productivity may need more time and investment both in capital and labour, while the know-how produced during this process can be easily transferred to other companies within a short time. As a result, it may be observed that other companies have better productivity and innovation performance. Therefore, when evaluating the benefits and costs of companies such as state-owned enterprises, it is necessary to include the spillover effects.
In all, built on vast and detailed interviews, news reports and existing literature, China’s Next Strategic Advantage highlights the success of China’s innovative strategies and practices and reveals the keys to the successes of various types. The authors argue that there is much for MNCs to learn from China and there is an urgent need for them to do so. Readers of various backgrounds may find this book useful. Practitioners – both company managers and employees – may benefit from guidelines for strategies towards innovation complemented by the vast cases and mini-examples. Researchers may gain insights and be inspired by the data for their own research. The book is also valuable to policymakers at different levels, who can learn a great deal of what is needed from the demand side.
China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation. George S. Yip and Bruce McKern. MIT Press. 2016.
There are some common factors that lead to innovation for all countries in the world. In this new book, China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation, George S. Yip and Bruce McKern outline the special characteristics of China’s path from imitation to innovation.
Four factors have driven innovation in China, which fall into two categories: customers and culture; and capabilities and cash. Besides this, enablers of innovation on both the supply and demand side lead local companies and MNCs to innovate. Supply enablers include the very large number of relatively low-cost engineers and scientists (especially the increasing number of returnees educated abroad), government support, the famed entrepreneurial spirit of Chinese business people and evolving local Internet-related industries extensively funded by the Chinese government. Demand enablers include the rapid growth of China’s market, multiple market spaces, a lack of tradition in terms of customers’ spending habits resulting from the discontinuity created by the early years of the Communist system, China’s need for simpler and cheaper products and fast-moving large-scale government projects.
The main method of this book is the case study. It uses vast cases and mini-examples to vividly illustrate the specific features of local companies and multinationals in China on their way to innovation. The samples for different topics usually cover a wide range of stakeholders. For example, on the subject of open innovation, the interviewees include representatives from Chinese companies, foreign multinational companies in various sectors, major Chinese universities, China’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Government and the China Academy of Sciences. By conducting vast interviews with numerous representatives, the book is rich in detailed examples for readers to explore.
For example, China’s Next Strategic Advantage is useful for companies running businesses in China as it provides specific instances of the keys to success in ordinary operations – including a company’s relationship with the government. The book suggests that to be successful in China’s market, one needs to be embedded in China’s innovation ecosystem. That includes applying for funding from the local government first, and then from the central government. Another example relates to Chinese talents, who might be more conservative in speaking their ideas. Company managers may find the following practice useful: having these employees exchanged to experience working in headquarters in other countries or organising the brainstorm meeting in a different way.
Image Credit: Beijing CBD – Jianwai SOHO, Yintai, WTC, Jingguang (CobbleCC CC BY SA 3.0)
Besides these cases, the book utilises indicators of innovation to quantitatively illustrate the growth in the innovation performance of China. It numerates several global rankings to indicate the position of Chinese companies in terms of their innovation investments and outputs, such as the 2014 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard and the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators list. To show the innovation output of China, this book chooses four groups of indicators: scientific scholarship; China’s share of global high-technology manufacturing; its share of global high-technology exports; and China’s ranking on indices of innovativeness. Researchers may raise some interesting questions for further study from those numbers: for example, what does the distribution of the industrial R&D investment look like for Chinese companies? And what hinders Chinese companies from increasing this?
A strand of research related to this book is the role of the Chinese government in promoting innovation in China. Yip and McKern recognise that the increasing number of returnees play a very important role in promoting the innovative capabilities of China and point out the value of entrepreneurial spirit in enabling innovation. These are analysed by this book more as a fact than a strategy actively promoted by the government, though it acknowledges the effects of government support. Behind the increasing amount of relatively low-cost engineers and scientists, it is the national strategy that expands the scale of higher education and adopts policies that can attract scientists educated abroad to return to work in China. Similarly, the large number of start-ups that are born and grow in an increasingly friendly environment surrounded by stimulating policies from the government. Hence, it may enrich the book to further explore the interaction effects of public policies with the low cost of high-level labour as well as the entrepreneurial spirit, just as it does with other characteristics such as the high flexibility, adaptability and inclusiveness of Chinese markets. For example, governments have played an important role in making the market able to tolerate failures in the trials of electric cars.
The book also assumes that government organisations and state-owned enterprises need to be changed to facilitate the formation of a competitive and open system. However, MNCs and local private companies enjoy special policies from the Chinese government for certain time periods. This poses the question of what ‘fairness’ really means for such a system. To have one type of entity enjoy the same policies as another type is one way of understanding fairness. Alternatively, companies with special characteristics can enjoy policies specific to their features and needs so that they can compete with other companies of similar capabilities at the same level.
State-owned enterprises are criticised for their lower productivity. However, using productivity or innovation outputs to compare the performance of state-owned enterprises with that of other types of companies may be slightly inappropriate. Some innovation and improvement in productivity may need more time and investment both in capital and labour, while the know-how produced during this process can be easily transferred to other companies within a short time. As a result, it may be observed that other companies have better productivity and innovation performance. Therefore, when evaluating the benefits and costs of companies such as state-owned enterprises, it is necessary to include the spillover effects.
In all, built on vast and detailed interviews, news reports and existing literature, China’s Next Strategic Advantage highlights the success of China’s innovative strategies and practices and reveals the keys to the successes of various types. The authors argue that there is much for MNCs to learn from China and there is an urgent need for them to do so. Readers of various backgrounds may find this book useful. Practitioners – both company managers and employees – may benefit from guidelines for strategies towards innovation complemented by the vast cases and mini-examples. Researchers may gain insights and be inspired by the data for their own research. The book is also valuable to policymakers at different levels, who can learn a great deal of what is needed from the demand side.
The Wanda Way: The Managerial Philosophy and Values of One of China’s Largest Companies. Wang Jianlin. LID Publishing. 2016.
Find this book: 
In the extensive literature dealing with capitalist economic agents, it is common to observe the importance given to the figure of the entrepreneur. J.A. Schumpeter addressed the innovative entrepreneur figure and its contribution to economic development, while John Maynard Keynes emphasised the need for the ‘animal spirit’ of the entrepreneur for an economy.The Wanda Way: The Managerial Philosophy and Values of One of China’s Largest Companies consciously inserts this player into the Chinese scenario and shows that, regarding the role of the entrepreneur, its relevance remains the same.
Entrepreneurs must have the ability to identify opportunities and turn them into business. To obtain success in this endeavour requires commitment and a special capacity to deal with risk. The Wanda Way brings the reader one case of sustained success in business from one of the largest managers in China in the twenty-first century, Wang Jianlin, head of Wanda. The Wanda company began working in real estate before quickly becoming a group that operates across several economic activities. Wang’s career has coincided with a period of rapid growth in the Chinese economy. The Chinese scenario often arouses curiosity about its business practices. Wang offers a different case from the first generation of Chinese businessman who brought conditions as they prepared to enjoy the country’s economic takeover. Wang reveals his particular methods of managing his business in a style that is a successful combination of day-to-day business, his micro-management perspective and a macro view of opportunities for growth.
The book is therefore an autobiography organised in a particular way. Firstly, because Wang does not have an academic background, this stands him out in the economic arena and especially in business management. At the beginning of his operations in the labour market, Wang was a military soldier, acting as an official border guard in North China. His first steps into the business world were, above all, due to its competitive nature and his perception of timing and opportunity. Secondly, the autobiography is outlined through transcriptions of lectures and interviews, followed by comments. For the reader, it is interesting to observe how Wang built his own management model and how this is adapted to the Chinese reality. Deeply influenced by Confucian philosophy, the third distinction of his autobiography is how Wang explains to his interlocutors the basis of his success. His operating model, in his words, is to conduct business operations in an honest and artful way. This is necessary to minimise the perception that Chinese economic activity is immersed in chaos and that fraud is a commonplace.
Image Credit: Wang Jianlin, Chairman and President, Dalian Wanda Group, speaks during the Success versus Survival in a Global Downturn session at The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, 10-12 September 2009 (World Economic Forum CC BY 2.0)
The book consists of twelve chapters and a brief description of the life of Wang. These chapters refer to subjects covered by Wang in lectures at universities, both in and outside of China, to audiences consisting exclusively of students in management; interviews to CCTV (the Chinese state media); and a speech to his employees about the launch of the e-commerce element of his business. Across all chapters, Wang seeks to highlight the differences in the management of his company that has made him one of the greatest Chinese entrepreneurs in the twenty-first century. Here I focus on the four pillars of innovation in management according to Wang. These have made possible the transformation of a local company into a nationwide enterprise, a national champion as mentioned in the current economic literature.
The transformations listed by Wang as essential to making Wanda a success involve issues of business management as well as the ability to take advantage of opportunities arising from the significant expansion of the Chinese economy, both domestically and beyond its borders. According to Wang, establishing a culture of innovation and ongoing changes in the Wanda group’s management is the key to his success. Therefore, the first essential factor was making a local company in the Dalian region gradually become a nationwide enterprise. Deng Xiaoping’s speeches in his tour of the interior of China served as a stimulus for cross-regional and national development. Wanda quickly ceased to be just a real-estate company and started to operate in other markets, from the entertainment industry to the sports sector (Wang was the first owner of a professional football club in China).
The second factor that contributed to the rise of Wanda enterprise is directly related to diversification. As the opportunity arose, Wang observed the dynamics of the market and made them into real business. That was how Wanda migrated from the residential property to commercial property sector; the same occurred when Wang saw an opportunity for providing services in their business ventures, such as insurance, medical services and movie theatres, amongst others. Diversification was therefore key to the Wanda enterprise, and opportunities arose as the Chinese population’s access to goods and services grew.
The third factor that changed the performance of the company was increased investment in the cultural industry. Wang set a target for Wanda, which was to establish itself as an appropriate environment for the spread of Chinese culture. Using the example of Western countries, Wang replicated the existing models in the USA and the UK to create its own cultural brand.
Finally, the last factor highlighted by Wang as differentiating his form of management is the dissemination of a culture of social responsibility and charity. It is known that, despite significant Chinese growth in the last thirty-five years, there is still income inequality and a lack of access to certain goods and services. Wang has made ‘creating wealth together, sharing with society’ a mission of the company and its employees.
However, on careful reading of the book, other points are not highlighted by Wang that also make a difference in the business world. The Wanda Way is more than these four pillars of transformation, the ability to use the opportunities presented by the growing market and the demand of the Chinese population for services. Wang works with global objectives, but ones that are possible to achieve: he wishes to meet the needs of the domestic market, expand its activities and become a global player at the level of his competitors. Wang’s approach is characterised by modern management appropriately suited to the scenario in which it is inserted: both the Chinese political system as well as the global economy. The goal of becoming a global business leader in different arenas therefore reveals a common feature shared by successful entrepreneurs at a global level: the search for semi-monopolistic control of activities.
The book is compelling, especially for those who are interested in better understanding China. At the same time, the book illustrates that the management of large companies, whether in China, the USA or the UK, tends to follow a more fitted capitalist model than exclusively functioning according to local singularities. A sense of opportunity and the personal skills of the manager, as illustrated by the case of Wang Jianlin, have a significant impact on the results obtained.
The Wanda Way: The Managerial Philosophy and Values of One of China’s Largest Companies. Wang Jianlin. LID Publishing. 2016.
Find this book:
In the extensive literature dealing with capitalist economic agents, it is common to observe the importance given to the figure of the entrepreneur. J.A. Schumpeter addressed the innovative entrepreneur figure and its contribution to economic development, while John Maynard Keynes emphasised the need for the ‘animal spirit’ of the entrepreneur for an economy.The Wanda Way: The Managerial Philosophy and Values of One of China’s Largest Companies consciously inserts this player into the Chinese scenario and shows that, regarding the role of the entrepreneur, its relevance remains the same.
Entrepreneurs must have the ability to identify opportunities and turn them into business. To obtain success in this endeavour requires commitment and a special capacity to deal with risk. The Wanda Way brings the reader one case of sustained success in business from one of the largest managers in China in the twenty-first century, Wang Jianlin, head of Wanda. The Wanda company began working in real estate before quickly becoming a group that operates across several economic activities. Wang’s career has coincided with a period of rapid growth in the Chinese economy. The Chinese scenario often arouses curiosity about its business practices. Wang offers a different case from the first generation of Chinese businessman who brought conditions as they prepared to enjoy the country’s economic takeover. Wang reveals his particular methods of managing his business in a style that is a successful combination of day-to-day business, his micro-management perspective and a macro view of opportunities for growth.
The book is therefore an autobiography organised in a particular way. Firstly, because Wang does not have an academic background, this stands him out in the economic arena and especially in business management. At the beginning of his operations in the labour market, Wang was a military soldier, acting as an official border guard in North China. His first steps into the business world were, above all, due to its competitive nature and his perception of timing and opportunity. Secondly, the autobiography is outlined through transcriptions of lectures and interviews, followed by comments. For the reader, it is interesting to observe how Wang built his own management model and how this is adapted to the Chinese reality. Deeply influenced by Confucian philosophy, the third distinction of his autobiography is how Wang explains to his interlocutors the basis of his success. His operating model, in his words, is to conduct business operations in an honest and artful way. This is necessary to minimise the perception that Chinese economic activity is immersed in chaos and that fraud is a commonplace.
Image Credit: Wang Jianlin, Chairman and President, Dalian Wanda Group, speaks during the Success versus Survival in a Global Downturn session at The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, 10-12 September 2009 (World Economic Forum CC BY 2.0)
The book consists of twelve chapters and a brief description of the life of Wang. These chapters refer to subjects covered by Wang in lectures at universities, both in and outside of China, to audiences consisting exclusively of students in management; interviews to CCTV (the Chinese state media); and a speech to his employees about the launch of the e-commerce element of his business. Across all chapters, Wang seeks to highlight the differences in the management of his company that has made him one of the greatest Chinese entrepreneurs in the twenty-first century. Here I focus on the four pillars of innovation in management according to Wang. These have made possible the transformation of a local company into a nationwide enterprise, a national champion as mentioned in the current economic literature.
The transformations listed by Wang as essential to making Wanda a success involve issues of business management as well as the ability to take advantage of opportunities arising from the significant expansion of the Chinese economy, both domestically and beyond its borders. According to Wang, establishing a culture of innovation and ongoing changes in the Wanda group’s management is the key to his success. Therefore, the first essential factor was making a local company in the Dalian region gradually become a nationwide enterprise. Deng Xiaoping’s speeches in his tour of the interior of China served as a stimulus for cross-regional and national development. Wanda quickly ceased to be just a real-estate company and started to operate in other markets, from the entertainment industry to the sports sector (Wang was the first owner of a professional football club in China).
The second factor that contributed to the rise of Wanda enterprise is directly related to diversification. As the opportunity arose, Wang observed the dynamics of the market and made them into real business. That was how Wanda migrated from the residential property to commercial property sector; the same occurred when Wang saw an opportunity for providing services in their business ventures, such as insurance, medical services and movie theatres, amongst others. Diversification was therefore key to the Wanda enterprise, and opportunities arose as the Chinese population’s access to goods and services grew.
The third factor that changed the performance of the company was increased investment in the cultural industry. Wang set a target for Wanda, which was to establish itself as an appropriate environment for the spread of Chinese culture. Using the example of Western countries, Wang replicated the existing models in the USA and the UK to create its own cultural brand.
Finally, the last factor highlighted by Wang as differentiating his form of management is the dissemination of a culture of social responsibility and charity. It is known that, despite significant Chinese growth in the last thirty-five years, there is still income inequality and a lack of access to certain goods and services. Wang has made ‘creating wealth together, sharing with society’ a mission of the company and its employees.
However, on careful reading of the book, other points are not highlighted by Wang that also make a difference in the business world. The Wanda Way is more than these four pillars of transformation, the ability to use the opportunities presented by the growing market and the demand of the Chinese population for services. Wang works with global objectives, but ones that are possible to achieve: he wishes to meet the needs of the domestic market, expand its activities and become a global player at the level of his competitors. Wang’s approach is characterised by modern management appropriately suited to the scenario in which it is inserted: both the Chinese political system as well as the global economy. The goal of becoming a global business leader in different arenas therefore reveals a common feature shared by successful entrepreneurs at a global level: the search for semi-monopolistic control of activities.
The book is compelling, especially for those who are interested in better understanding China. At the same time, the book illustrates that the management of large companies, whether in China, the USA or the UK, tends to follow a more fitted capitalist model than exclusively functioning according to local singularities. A sense of opportunity and the personal skills of the manager, as illustrated by the case of Wang Jianlin, have a significant impact on the results obtained.
