The triple-A strategy for Chinese success
A blueprint to find a more-nimble approach to position yourself as a trusted partner of China
Managers of multinational companies operating in China have long been lured by the China dream: billions of potential customers.
Old hands know the challenges are myriad. What worked in other markets didn’t necessarily work in China. It has also taken multinational executives some time to shake off a naive idea of seeing China as a constant haven immune to world economic downturns.
While this experience has jaded some, our view at Accenture is that within the next decade we expect a new era to unfold: This is a championship game for competiveness, with foreign multinationals, Chinese multinationals and state-owned enterprises, as well as local smaller companies all playing in the same field, chasing the same customers.
It will be an open playing field with a lot of upsides. There are millions of new customers in tier three and four cities, gross domestic product is still growing, and the regulatory environment is showing signs of favouring business with more robust IP protection and trade dispute settlements.
The aim should be common prosperity – for Chinese and foreign multinationals. Keep that as the end game goal and you’re on the right track
Multinationals aiming to compete in this new world order should highlight their perceived strengths, such as the ability to innovate and their operational excellence and productivity, but they should also expect local rivals (especially in the hi-tech and consumer markets) to genuinely challenge them. They had best invest and keep pace with digital offerings given the culturally and commercially complex market.
