China Companies Want To Boost Sales In US, Europe -Study
Top Chinese companies are increasingly seeking to expand into North America and Europe as they search for new markets and technologies, says a study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.
The reminder of the international ambitions of many Chinese companies comes at a time of much hand-wringing in the U.S. and elsewhere about growing economic competition with China. But the study points out that Chinese companies' investments in overseas markets have a decidedly mixed record of success.
"China's top manufacturing companies are beginning to see growth taper off in many product areas, thus idling plant capacity. Naturally, these companies are now looking to foreign markets to absorb excess capacity," says the report by consultants in Roland Berger's Shanghai office.
In televisions, personal computers, and air conditioners, domestic production already exceeds demand, the report says. So manufacturers are starting to focus on developed markets like North America and Europe, which they see as sources of higher-margin sales and continued growth.
"China's domestic industries won't likely again register the enormous growth rates of the 1980s and 1990s," the report says, though companies still haven't accumulated much experience dealing in overseas markets.
"Many Chinese firms haven't yet developed a clear strategic focus when going abroad," says the report, with some investment decisions being mainly "opportunistic."
But personnel problems could be the biggest stumbling block. The survey found that even the best Chinese companies pay little heed to cultural differences, and have inflexible salary and hiring practices that have made it difficult for them to attract top foreign talent.
"Our assessment of actual Chinese internationalization strategies to date is that many fail due to the lack of appropriately trained management staff," wrote the Roland Berger consultants.
中国顶尖企业热衷国际化战略
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants的一份研究报告称，越来越多中国顶尖公司正在寻求向北美和欧洲发展，以寻找新市场和新技术。
随著美国及其他地区与中国之间的经济竞争日益加剧，众多中国公司表现出向海外扩张的雄心壮志，但该研究报告指出，中国公司在海外市场的投资结果显然成败参半。
这份由咨询公司Roland Berger驻上海办事处撰写的报告称，中国顶尖制造企业在很多产品领域的增长开始逐渐停滞，造成大量生产资源闲置。于是这些公司开始寻求在海外市场发挥过剩的生产能力。
报告称，在电视机、个人电脑和空调等产品领域，国内产量已超过需求。因此制造商开始将目光投向北美和欧洲等发达国家和地区，他们希望这些海外市场可以带来更高的利润和持续增长。 报告称，中国国内企业不太可能再次遇到像八、九十年代那样的高速增长，国内企业尚未积累到应对海外市场的足够经验。
报告称，许多中国公司向海外扩张时还没有形成一个清晰的战略重点，一些投资决策带有浓厚的机会主义色彩。
而人才问题可能是国内企业走向世界所面临的最大障碍。调查发现，即使是中国最好的公司也对文化差异重视不足，加上僵化的薪酬和聘用制度，使得他们很难吸引国际顶尖人才。 报告称，由于缺乏高素质的管理人才，中国企业国际化的战略到目前为止很多以失败告终。
