China: The Race to Market

Rating:
Summary: this man is a clueless twit
Review: At its worst, academia is full of puffed up, self-important men who have absolutely nothing to say. Still, they must do something to fill the period of 9 to 5 in the day, and writing crap - rehashing what others have said better elsewhere - is one way to do it while fulfilling their over-reaching ambitions. This book is perfectly awful, by an amateur who is not a specialist on China, but a user of the ideas of others who have made genuine effort to understand this perplexing country. He simply does not understand the balance of forces in China, between the vast under-developed areas and the industrial enclaves on the coast that may well fail to lead China to an equitable modernization. Moreover, he is an absolutely awful writer - his prose is amongst the clunkiest I have ever seen and the stuffiness of his style exudes the crudest arrogance and lack of self-awareness. As I went to the school at which he teaches, I simply must report that Story is scorned by his colleagues, and rightly so.

Not recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Author Jonathan Story has assembled in one relatively short book a dense collection of facts, hypotheses and perspectives on China. Unlike many writers who have fixed ideas about China and use their books to promote their ideas, Story gives full and fair time to competing viewpoints. He is not selling a hypothesis, but exploring possibilities. Readers who prefer easy and definitive answers may feel frustrated, because Story provides only difficult and ambiguous alternatives. Yet his approach is solid, and more accurate than a finite stance could be. The future of anything is uncertain, and China is egregiously inscrutable, so any honest pronouncement on China's future must acknowledge uncertainty, difficulty and ambiguity. If the book has a demerit, it is that the author sometimes offers interesting, but meandering digressions through the minutiae of Chinese chronology without fully explaining why the details matter. China is perplexing, so we welcome this compilation of insight - we would have been glad to read even more.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding China for business
Review: China: the race to market is an excellent book for anyone who wishes to understand the direction in which the Chinese polity and economy is developing. For providing a background for developing strategies for business development it is therefore a must. And in addition it is a very enjoyable read.

The major attraction of the analysis is the clear exposition of the various forces bearing on policy making and action in China within the Communist state, and by implication therefore on the the economy and the business environment. One cannot make business strategy without reference to a coherent macro view of the relevant environment and for any business either seeking to operate in China, or likely to be impacted directly or indirectly by events there, there can be nothing better than this book to establish a coherent view of likely development.

Rating:
Summary: China, Politics, and Business
Review: Jonathan Story is one of only a few writers who can relate so credibly the connection between business decision-making and public policy making.. In China: Race to market, he documents political and economic developments in the emerging China of the 21st century. More importantly, especially for those at the helm of Western enterprises, Professor Story explains in clear terms the opportunities and the challenges facing those seeking to establish and grow businesses in China. It's a good read: compelling, thought provoking, and laced with sound and practical business advice.