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Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game |  | Author: Paul Midler
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Seller: indoobestsellers
Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 12904
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 0470405589
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.47670951
EAN: 9780470405581
ASIN: 0470405589
Publication Date: April 6, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Praise for Poorly Made in China "This fast-paced travelogue through the world of Chinese manufacturing is scary, fascinating, and very funny. Midler is not only a knowledgeable guide to the invisible underbelly of the global economy, he is a sympathetic and astute observer of China, its challenges, and its people. A great read."
—PIETRA RIVOLI, author of The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy "Paul Midler takes us for a ride through the fastest-growing economy in the world, revealing what can—and sometimes does—go wrong when U.S. companies shift production to China. Working in the heart of China's export hub, in the country's southern region, he has the advantage of a front-row seat to the no-holds-barred games played between manufacturers and importers. He introduces us to a cast of real-life characters and tells his story with a mix of affection and skepticism for what is taking place in China today. Midler delivers a revealing and often funny tale of life and commerce in a country whose exports touch nearly everyone on the planet."
—SARA BONGIORNI, author of A Year Without 'Made in China': One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
 True account of how business is done in China February 22, 2010
Katanga (Houston, Texas United States)
This is a very accurate and amusing account of behind the scenes of business in China. I also do business in China and I can relate to the many situations faced by the author and his clients. As the author suggests, the "greed" factor is to blame. Don't think just because you get a good low price that you have hit the gold mine. Lesson #1: If its too good to be true then it probably is. For some reason people fail to understand this principle. As the author expresses, many traders also fail to understand their product and thats where the crack begins. The way to a more better system is to KNOW YOUR PRODUCT, demand superior quality and to pay fair market value. You can't have both (Quality product/Ridiculously low prices). This is an invaluable read for those that want or need or just happen to do business in China.
 Poorly made and worse! February 19, 2010
Richard K. Dickey (Central California)
The author served as an intermediary between American
importers and Chinese manufacturers. He observed first-hand
the devious practices of management - choreography set up
to show non-existent production facilities, etc. Since
reading this expose, I am delighted to see some "Made in USA"
labels appearing in the local drug store.
GREAT BOOK! February 1, 2010
B. TUCKER
Very insightful look at the inside thought of factory owners in China. Well written and extremely interesting.
Accurate Snapshots of China and the People (Elliptical/ Dishonest/ Unethical) January 28, 2010
Lemas Mitchell (Chengdu, Sichuan (China))
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There is so much to say about this wonderful book that I have had to deliberately shorten the review in order to keep it helpful.
Synopsis:
This book deals with specific examples of disasters that the author found in his business as a consultant to foreign companies that want to work in China. It seemed to center around one venture (The Syrian Jew Cosmetics Importer) along with three smaller ones (Diamond Merchant, Trash Recycler, and Steel Manufacturer) and various illustrative vignettes of life in China.
Good points:
1. This author is very prescient and does not waste a lot of time seeing how many words he can use to say something. He got in, made his points, and got out. The prose flew by so quickly that I gobbled up the whole book in one night. The stories are easy enough to remember for later reference, and entertaining at the same time.
2. I could tell that this author knew what he was talking about because he experience of certain events was very similar to my experience and he gave the same reasons. (He spoke of a broken toilet at a hotel that turned into a 1- hour ordeal. The first step was for the manager to try to convince him that the toilet was not actually broken. So if no one knows it, then it really didn't happen. How many thousands of times have I been in this situation?)
3. I enjoyed his extremely perceptive analysis of Chinese culture as a religion. This explained their view of the world and the reason that *every little thing* has to turn into clash of civilizations. I particularly liked his description of the "Messianic Age" that Chinese people imagine is to come when the whole Motherland is reunified. No one knows quite what will happen (as people who have such visions of the direction of time usually don't).
4. This book was entertaining, but somehow this level of dishonesty did not surprise me (after living here for 6 years now). Midler's use of words to describe that dishonesty was something that was particularly impressive.
Questions that arose on the content of the book:
1. The Syrian New Yorker seemed to not be the sharpest pencil in the box (in spite of handling millions of dollars worth of orders). That person found out that a whole fake factory had been set up to secure his order and he still got into bed with a shady manufacturer. Was every customer this dense? Or did he have to mine through some large number of examples in order to find that first one? Did he have any experiences with diversification that showed the solution to the Syrian Jew's problems? Or were there none?
2. Giving the subjects of the book the benefit of the doubt, could this book have been a fallacy of composition (that the whole of the Chinese manufacturing industry behaved the same way as these characters)? I think they do, and for me this was enough evidence. But if he wanted to briefly drive the point home (that most of the manufacturers are in fact this way), what way would he have done it?
Things I could have used a bit more information on (but that did not diminish the quality of the book):
1. I would like to know how the author got most of his business, and what it was like trying to get such a business started. Perhaps he was still in business and didn't want to tell too much about something that might kill his income, but it might have been nice as a way to "fill in the gaps."
2. It might have been nice to have subtitles under the various chapters of the books, but that was a small matter.
3. He made it clear that China was not to be considered as another Japan, and this was nice. With the author's talent for brevity, he could have developed that case a bit more in just a couple of pages.
I bought this book new, and it was worth every penny.
Makes you think while enjoying the read January 24, 2010
Katherine Morosani (Asheville, NC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I see many people who think doing business in China is where everyone needs to be to make it in this world. I live in NC where manufacturing has moved from here to China or Mexico. Paul's book is an eye opener that not all is perfect with making the move to China. He details how the Chinese and American and other cultures do business. I found it fascinating to read, it made me think and look at the products I use. This book is a wonderful resource for people wanted to do business in China to know more of what they are getting into with moving their business there. I like that he details the pitfalls and how the manufacturers trap the client but then also the "it's just business" attitude. I enjoyed the book. His writing entertained but also gave me a bigger picture with the historical and cultural supplements to the real life stories. I learned from reading it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
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