Book Review: Chindia

Title: Chindia: How China and India are Revolutionizing Global Business
Edited by: Pete Engardio
ISBN: 978-0-07-147657-7


Overview
I was drawn to this book at a Heff Bookstore in Taipei during winter break. The title was intriguing because most international business books are about China or India but not both countries. The fact that it was one of the few English business books about China also convinced me to purchase it. Chinda is a collection of Business Week articles about business in India and China. The chapters are in a logical order beginning with an intro of India’s and China’s business history and progresses to a wide variety of topics in following chapters. Each chapter consists of articles related to that chapter’s topic. Each article and chapter can be read stand alone with out having to read previous chapters. If the reader wants to read only about India or China it is possible but the reader would miss out on the differences of doing business in both countries.

Relevance
Even though we were supposed to read China-related books this one is a very good book for anyone interested in international business because it opens the reader to the differences between business in China and India. This book is very relevant in today’s business world and would be especially beneficial for businesses considering to offshore or outsource any kind of work. What I learned is that China is a better place than India to manufacture goods. The reason why is that India’s infrastructure is not developed enough to handle transportation of goods and that employees have a difficult time commuting. However, India is much better at providing services because, being a former British colony, India has many white-collar workers who speak English.

Good Parts
The best part of this book is that the reader would learn a lot—even more than expected—about the differences between and doing business in the two countries. As mentioned above, China is a manufacturing powerhouse while India is not. I never knew why until reading this book.

One reason why I like this book is that it uses actual figures such as the average salaries of an Indian engineer compared to an American engineer or the average wage of a worker. These figures allow the reader to assess the possible savings but at the same time know that the workers are earning a decent amount compared to the average Chinese or Indian citizen. Another important set of figures is the analysis of consumer segments in China, which helps the reader understand the Chinese frame of mind. Some of these figures bring up interesting facts. China receives much more venture capital than India but India’s return is much better.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed is the variety of topics. Many business books will focus on just the business portion in the foreign country. This book touches on education, women in work force, and social agenda. Education trends in both countries show that more people are entering and graduating from college each year. However, the supply still does not meet the growing demand as businesses need more skilled employees. The book also covers the strengths and weaknesses of employees in both countries. Indian business school graduates have a strong sense of managing while Chinese graduates management skills are weak.

Bad Parts
There are not many “bad” aspects to this book. One slightly irritating part is that it can be repetitive with highlighting certain successful companies. Since these are originally articles, there tends to be a background of the same examples of successful businesses before proceeding with the main points of the article.

The second bad aspect of this book is that some parts are depressing when it comes to Americans losing jobs to outsourcing or off shoring. It is not only limited to blue-collar manufacturing jobs but white-collar jobs are also at risk (not very exciting for me as an American college grad). It seems that any sector can move overseas. Engineers in India are just smart, Filipino accountants are trained in U.S. GAAP, and many traditionally in-house departments are being off shored or outsourced to name a few of the depressing realities of a global business environment. This means that Americans will have to gain more skills and become more productive to compete.
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Recomendation
Chindia is an excellent book that readers will not regret reading. It is thoroughly engaging and full of interesting information that the reader may not have known. This book is appropriate for readers who are only interested in India or China but the full benefit comes from reading articles about both countries.