Authors: Chow-Hou Wee and Fred Combe

November 2008
Softcover
List Price: US$21.15 / S$33.85
ISBN 978-007-127802-7

With the rapid shift in global economic power, many Western companies are jumping onto the bandwagon towards Asia, lured by the rich returns that the region can potentially provide. However, many are ill prepared for the cultural challenges, many are too impatient and prescribed in their market entry strategies and many struggle with the possibility that there is an alternative Asian approach to business. Their success rate is very poor: early failure leads to frustration and stagnation.

But what if there were a faster way to appreciate the new Asia, to understand better how Asians strategize and practice business? How could companies avoid the many pitfalls and accelerate their learning curves? What could make them sit up and realize that a fresh business approach to Asia, combining the best of East and West, could substantially increase their success rate?

Professor Chow-Hou Wee and Fred Combe share their combined academic and real world wisdom in an East-meets-West collaboration. In this book, they blend the practical, cultural, and historical realities of doing business in Asia with anecdotes and refreshing insights from great Asian influencers as well as the works of Chinese philosophers and strategists, notably, Sun Zi Bingfa, the most well known Chinese military treatise in the world.

Throughout the book, the authors explore why Asians and Westerners think and operate differently, examine how the West needs to urgently reappraise its role in Asia and propose that the West adopt a new business approach that combines Asian and Western strategy.

Chow-Hou Wee is currently a professor and Head of the Division of Strategy, Management and Organisation at the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and an Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Management at Xiamen University (China) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia). Prior to joining NTU, he was Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, and Director of the Graduate School of Business (1990–1999) at the National University of Singapore.

Professor Wee is a member of several editorial boards of international journals and has over 230 papers in various international, regional and local journals and proceedings. He is the senior or sole author of numerous books, including Sun Zi Bingfa: Selected Insights and Perspectives. Many of his books have made it to the best-seller list. His works have also been translated into other languages such as Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Indonesian.

Professor Wee is a board member of several companies in Singapore. He has consulted/conducted executive training for over 250 major organizations in 30 countries/economies, including Fortune 500 companies. He is well known for his expertise on doing business in China and applying ancient Chinese classics to modern business practices. Professor Wee is invited regularly to speak at major international business meetings and conferences.

Fred Combe is the founder and managing director of NATUS Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based corporate management consultancy, set up in 2005 to optimize clients’ business results in Asia. Prior to that, he spent 18 years in a major multinational marketing firm in Asia.

Originally from Ireland, Fred has lived and worked in West Africa, the UK, Venezuela, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and, for the last six years, Singapore, where he focused on growth strategies in Asian markets. Fred’s prime areas of expertise lie in creating breakthrough strategies, aligning winning organizations and delivering exceptional business results. A passionate believer in sustainable leadership development, Fred has transformed underperforming senior management teams into highly focused and successful leadership groups, developed and coached Asian managers into senior leaders, and is an investor in Asian start-up companies and educational development. He is currently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, Singapore.