Managing the Dragon, by Jack Perkowski BOOK REVIEW

This is a great story book with a moral at the end, to boot!   Managing the Dragon is a this-is-how-I-did-it style book with little hidden lessons found in hundreds of small tales and personal experiences.  It's a timely read and a useful tool for anyone coming to China.  And there is a very good blog by the same name that updates Jack's current status too!No one is going to be able to do what Jack did, but that doesn’t hurt the value of the book.  A “smaller” more employee perspective is in another book, Mr. China, by Tim Clissold (my review here).  The two books really should be read together.  Tim worked for Jack and many of the stories in each book are told from a different perspective in the other book.  Tim can speak Chinese but isn’t a businessman.  Jack is the opposite.  Both apparently like to drink. A lot.The only thing that I really I didn’t like was the attitude that what Jack was doing was unique.  In terms of $, yea, there probably aren't many other people that will ever do this.  But as he starts out, there are thousands of people with the same experiences.  The attitude that “I’m the first one here” and “No on has ever done this before” got a little old.  He’s not unique, he’s not first, and hundreds of thousands of others, overseas Chinese for hundreds of years, have done similar things but with less exposure.  But since he doesn't speak Chinese Jack just didn’t bother to hire someone to look them up.  Not to mention all the foreigners that were here before Jack (many of whom he hired!).  The story is really great, but Jack’s a bit more than willing to throw people under the bus that he realized (after the fact) were not his best hiring decisions.General perceptions of Jack and his experience:*Jack knows business, but not China (at the start), and he has enough money to fail and keep going until he gets it right.  I’m not sure if the point of this is that business is business everywhere or that if you have deep enough pockets and a good head you will eventually get it right.*You can crack any market with the right connects (and enough money).  Jack had connections that no one (without that much money) else will every have access to.*You too can probably figure out the right things to do if you take two well-funded years off to research first.  Most people can’t duplicate what he did.  But you can still learn from the experience.*Managing in China is going to be more difficult than anyone every imagines.Other more practical lessons:•    You can never really do anything in China unless you have control of the management.•    China changes constantly and quickly•    China (markets) is fragmented because of size (among other reasons).•    Chinese markets and foreign buyers in China want better quality, butter prices and better service than they can usually find local.•    Everything is hard, but nothing is impossible.•    Chinese factories were (and many still are): “sprawling, state-owned… dirty, not well lit… with too much work in process inventory… highly vertical [and] did everything, but nothing very well.”•    “If China is important, get your best people there.  Whether they have China experience or speak the language is beside the point.”•    “I believe that specific industry, product, or technical knowledge should be weighted more heavily than China experience.”•    First domestic MBA in ’91.  This means that no local educated MBA has more than 15 years experience.  For individuals, this isn't such a big deal.  But for entire industries (and entire countries!) the effects are staggering.•    Management is the biggest challenge in China.•    Chinese managers know China better than foreigners probably ever will!•    Taking the time to build quality managers is always worth it.•    Nothing is what it seems.•    Trust and experience are the keys to by-in/success.Jack is a good writer, has great experience, teaches great lessons and the book is easy to read and apply.