Despite rapid growth and increasing investment into the region from multinational corporations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains out of focus for most top executives. China and India dominate headlines about business in Asia. As Southeast Asia’s business landscape…
Competitive China: Intensified Competition from Local Enterprises
Amid the challenges of China’s economic slowdown and rising business costs in the country’s megacities and lower-tier urban areas, multinational corporations should also expect intensified competition from their local counterparts. Domestic firms, especially state-owned enterprises (SOEs) exempt from the country’s Anti-Monopoly…
Expensive China: Rising Business Costs
Managing profitable growth has become increasingly difficult for many multinationals in China. According to recent business confidence surveys of foreign chambers of commerce in China, more multinationals experienced stagnant or decreased profit margins in 2014 than in prior years. The…
Global China: Market Liberalization & Internationalizing RMB
One of the most critical forces driving China’s market-oriented reforms is the further easing of foreign investment thresholds. Despite heavy state control in many key industries, the country’s economic rebalancing plan allows market forces to efficiently allocate resources and invites…
China 2020: Where is China headed with its “New Normal”?
In his speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos last month, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang emphasized again that the world’s second-largest economy will not suffer a hard landing and that China is ready to endure reduced GDP…
Four Lessons on Mid-level Talent in China
China’s shrinking workforce, a result of its aging population, is a significant demographic shift that multinational corporations need to consider in every aspect of human capital management. As only children, many young professionals in China are now facing the prospect…
Mid-level management talent issues in China becoming severe
For multinational senior executives, there are a few HR challenges constantly on their minds – attracting the most talented candidates, offering properly-designed training programs that equip new hires to implement localized strategies, and maintaining a high level of employee engagement.…