Together or Separate Checks?: Why the East and West Conduct Business in Different Ways (in English)
Synopsis "Together or Separate Checks?: Why the East and West Conduct Business in Different Ways (in English)"
This cartoon-illustrated volume explains why there are so many great differences in the manner that the East and West conduct business. Unlike conventional works on this topic that usually focus on cultural differences, this book uncovers a deeper, more fundamental reason for the differences between East and West. Based on more than 40 original exclusively-created illustrative cartoons, author and illustrator Shaomin Li argues that the East's reliance on private relations and the West's reliance on public rules to conduct business are not merely due to cultural differences. Rather, such differences are related to their different stages of political and economic development. Although the political-economy theory upon which this book is based is complex, the writing, accompanied by the entertaining cartoons, renders the subject easy to understand. Shaomin Li, trained as a portrait artist in China, was commissioned to paint Mao Zedong's portrait during the Cultural Revolution. After Mao's death, he began graduate studies in the United States and earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. Dr. Li is currently an Eminent Scholar and Professor of International Business at Old Dominion University. His theory on rule-based and relation-based governance has earned him international acclaim and recognition, including featured articles in The Economist and recipient of Virginia's Outstanding Faculty Award. In this book, Professor Li, combining his artistic talent with both his political- economy theory and his business acumen that he acquired as a former executive at AT&T and as a CEO for an IT firm, creates a serious yet enjoyable work that allows readers to better grasp an understanding of international business. The book begins with several simple but often overlooked differences between East and West: when dining together, why do Chinese compete to pay the tab, whereas Americans ask for separate checks? Why do strangers often greet one another in the United States, but not in China? Based on his political-economy theory, Professor Li explains that these cultural differences actually result from the differing political, legal, and economic systems in the East and West! The book offers much more than a fun read; it provides insights for Westerners, especially Western businesspeople, about how to navigate Asia's relation-based maze, and for Asians to understand the inner workings of a rule-based system. The book is ideal reading for busy executives on a flight abroad, and excellent supplementary reading for international business courses at all levels-undergraduate, MBA, as well as doctoral seminars.
