Jack Perkowski (China)

JLA Client Comments

EXTRACT FROM JLA SPEAKERS BREAKFAST

The only way to have success in China is to get a good local management team. Local managers have a different cost perspective to a foreigner.

I took an American colleague to stay at a new hotel near one of our component factories. Having stayed in some pretty bad hotels across China it was a relief to have somewhere decent to stay. Checking out, I saw him doing what he, or any foreigner would do in China - dividing by eight to see the cost in US dollars. Wow, he said, what a bargain.

It struck me then, the difference with having a local management team. A local manager would have seen that rate as hugely expensive, and next time shared with a colleague, or found a cheaper hotel. An American in China will always convert to a dollar rate. So when a US factory is competing with a Chinese one, the local manager will get the best deal as they will negotiate down. Managers must have the same cost perspective as their customers and competitors.