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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:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 89580
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 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'
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 38
 Potemkin villages and U.S. business addictions exposed August 26, 2010
Stephen J. Snyder (Lancaster, Texas United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm in the middle of reading a quite informative new (2009) book, "Poorly Made in China."
Author Paul Midler, a non-Chinese U.S. native, learned Chinese as an undergrad and eventually got an MBA. Not wanting a stereotypical U.S. finance job, he became a middleman in southeast China's economic heartland -- a middleman between U.S. importers and Chinese manufacturers.
First, many American companies dealing with China are just that -- importers. Their companies never made a thing in America. They're start-up or near start-up entrepreneurs, aglow at the idea of selling cheap made-in-China stuff like health and beauty aids (and how dumb is it to ship 90 percent-water shampoo across the ocean) as house or generic brands to sell at places like Dollar General.
And, Chinese plants dealing with such importers seem to cheat in the manufacturing process every way they can, besides the obvious, exposed ones such as lead in paint and melamine in dog food. They simply refuse to pay for internal quality inspectors, then try to obstruct U.S. ones, people like the middleman author. They deliberately underbid in an intensely competitive market, then cut corners in any way they can.
Then, when they really get busted? Like the lead on Barbies last year? Did the Chinese manufacturer apologize to Mattel?
NO. Remember what happened? Eventually, Mattel apologized to the Chinese manufacturer for bringing its integrity, its Asian "face," into doubt.
And, that's another theme of the book. Asian "face" gets mingled, and mangled, with a developing Chinese aggressiveness, and you get more and more shenanigans like this.
Meanwhile, the importers, like the "other person" in a dysfunctional relationship, afraid that if they stand tough, a competitor will get a better deal, often quail, show inopportune emotion, or otherwise lose "face." If it happened to Mattel, contrary to a couple of reviewers here, it's happening a lot in China, don't doubt it.
Meanwhile, it appears, from this book and many other things, the Chinese Potemkin economy is a 3-legged stool: Beijing, local governors, and the manufacturers themselves. The manufacturers are often playing off Beijing and local governors, probably through a mix of threats, kickbacks, etc.
So, American importers have a mix of ongoing infatuation with China, fear of leaving if a competitor stays, fear of provoking a manufacturer if a competitor doesn't, and more. It's hugely dysfunctional.
And move? To where?
Vietnam? Perhaps more corrupt in some ways, and just not enough population, etc, to absorb significant amounts of Chinese manufacturing.
India? Worse infrastructure than China. Plus, mix a decentralized government and democracy, and bureaucracy can be worse. Plus, there's never one central person to bribe, if needed.
Back to Mexico? With all the drug violence? Less and less likely.
In other words, Midler does a great job of painting the dysfunctionality of this whole system.
This is a must read.
 How about strategies? August 17, 2010
Lynda Dumais
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book is interesting. However, like so many books and videos on doing business in China, it describes the worst and omits to propose solutions. Mr. Midler talks about situations that I know to be real. However, as a consultant specialized in supporting companies in their Chinese ventures, the book proposes few strategies and processes that could be of some use to Western importers. If they read the book, the companies I work with will immediately look for suppliers in other countries than China, which is not THE solution (although I think its part of a global sourcing strategy). Again, a entertaining book for the list of horrors it describes and a not so good reading for those who believe their are ways of avoiding most of the problems described or dealing with the Chinese tactics used against our importers.
 Everyone should read this! July 25, 2010
booklover
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A fascinating, informative read. This is a truly amazing account that reads like a detective novel, pulling you into the maze of China's manufacturing practices for the American market and the cultural conditioning that makes 'saving face' a priority over satisfying the client's requirements for the manufactured product. I guarantee you will learn perhaps more than you wanted to know about what's in your home and what's in the health and beauty products you buy at your favorite big-chain stores. And you will gain a new perspective on the "new China"...
I loved it!
Like he was with me on every buy July 16, 2010
Man from New York
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have done business in China since 1986. I know from experience how tricky and dangerous it is, especially for the newcomer. Curiously Mr. Midler refers to suppliers in Shantou (Canton Province) and I too have many suppliers there. Apparently this behavior amongst the Chinese is across the board no matter what product you work with. And they don't care no matter what threats or promises you make. I actually had one supplier who told me he would no longer sell to me because "you complain too much"! No loss to me, easily replaced you can be sure. Communists or not, the almighty greenback is king in China but as Mr. Midler makes very clear, it is not going to get you what you think you contracted for. Something close, maybe, but not right on target. The Chinese screwed up so many of my shipments that I got the distinct impression that the translaters were interpreting my directions, not translating them. So I spent years learning to speak Mandarin. I am totally fluent now, have often been mistaken for being Chinese on the telephone by those who had not yet met me. No matter, I told them straight out what I wanted in their own language and STILL they basically did it wrong to shave off a few bucks to their advantage. I could never understand that way of thinking, in America we keep the customers happy to perpetuate our business with them, we do not consistently antagonize them. This book will open your eyes if you want to do business in China and if you are already there you cannot help but agree with everything he says. Pay close attention, he knows what he is talking about. They will go behind your back and try to deal directly with your customer, they will yes you to death and then do whatever they please without any regard for you or your customer. I can offer dozens of examples but the one that most illustrates this is the supplier who sent the advance samples for approval, they were perfect. He then went and made the million piece order to his own liking. It was a Halloween item to be made in Orange and Black, the 1000 piece advance samples were right on the money. When the order came in, it was made in Red and Blue. They told us the factory boss thought Orange and Black was a terrible color combination so he made what he thought was pretty. Hence we had a million red and blue product with ghosts and goblins and all printed on them, in red and blue and the words "Happy Halloween". THAT is when we transferred half our entire production of all products to India. We still do some business in China but had I read this book twenty years ago I never would have gotten involved in China at all!
I highly recommend this book, it is all true and frightening so use it well and be aware. Be very aware.
The personal view provides a nice supplement to this subject June 18, 2010
Really Like to Read (DFW Area, Texas)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a series of anecdotes based on the author's experience supporting a small number of US firms outsourcing production to Chinese businesses.
As the author notes 'everybody wants to be in China' and amusingly observes that doesn't actually mean 'in China' as most of these committed business people subsequently end up in Singapore or Hong Kong. The background information provided about the extreme cultural shift for Western people, touching everything from food to real estate to shopping options is helpful, especially as it is provided by somebody that is literally on the ground, an American expat in China.
I have some colleagues in Asia, and probably use numerous products manufactured there. This is a good book for someone like me, with the equivalent of a toe in the water on this topic. The anecdotes provide enough background information to enable understanding the issues that outsourcers face a bit better. Business people seriously engaging in Asia will find some value in the stories from a social and cultural perspective, but will want to supplement with other sources for building the knowledge and skills to do business there. As the author notes, the problems outsourcers face aren't limited to doing business in China, they must also figure out how to differentiate themselves in their home markets when all of their competition is selling essentially the same thing manufactured in the same place, and counterfeiting is quite common.
The tone is conversational, with good humor, and it is easy to read. I think doing business in Asia is much like the old fable about the 3 blind men and the elephant, where each man is touching a different part of the animal and obviously having an entirely different experience than the other two men. This book provides one perspective, and it is a worthwhile early step on a long walk toward understanding business in Asia.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 38
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