SpringerBriefs in Business

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8860

Alexander Häntzschel

1 3

German-Sino Business NetworksUsing Organized Networks to Develop Business with China

Alexander HäntzschelHeidelberg University HeidelbergGermany

ISSN 2191-5482 ISSN 2191-5490 (electronic)SpringerBriefs in BusinessISBN 978-3-319-17857-8 ISBN 978-3-319-17858-5 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-17858-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937944

Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London© The Author(s) 2015This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

v

Foreword

How to enter the Chinese market? Where to locate a branch office? And how to hire local staff? German companies interested in developing business with China face countless challenges and have to deal with a broad spectrum of issues.

When our organization, the Mannheim Business School, aimed to launch a new executive education program with focus on China, we were happy to find a strong local partner. Together with Tongji University in Shanghai, we kicked-off a joint double-degree MBA program for executives both from Europe and Asia in 2011. Since then we successfully developed the program and had to take many decisions. In this development process, it was always helpful to exchange views with fellow professionals who already made comparable experiences or faced similar challenges. Intuitively, many professionals look out for informal networks. For example, a number of manufacturing companies chose the city of Taicang for their production sites. The “Sino-German Business Corporation City” has already attracted more than 180 companies from Germany. As a result, there is a lively exchange among the German expats living in the city, which is also just 50 km away from the pulsing center of the world city Shanghai.

In addition to informal networks, there are quite a number of formally organ-ized networks available. Their activities and services range from the organiza-tion of events and the publication of magazines to market research and consulting services. This book, which is largely based on research conducted within our Mannheim and Tongji Executive MBA, gives an introduction to this important topic. More importantly, it provides for the first time a comprehensive overview of German-Sino business networks. As a result, interested readers can more easily identify which networks might be useful for them.

As is widely known and I can confirm from my own experience, Guanxi is a central concept of the Chinese society and, thus, crucial for doing business there. The term describes networks of influence and in general usage refers in particular

Forewordvi

to the benefits one can gain due to personal connections. So let us take up this general idea and have a closer look at and a deeper understanding of German-Sino business networks.

Prof. Dr. Alexander MädcheFull Professor and Academic Director

Mannheim and Tongji Executive MBA Mannheim Business School

vii

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to all persons who supported the research and publication of this book including Daniel Albrecht, Alexander Alles, Benjamin Aunkofer, Dr. Laurenz Awater, Helene Behrens, Silke Besser, Martin Bürger, Emrah Camli, Matthias Claussen, Beate Dethlefs, Sabine Dietlmeier, Gloria Geduhn, Michael Gehlert, Stefan Geiger, Volker Girrulat, Dr. Heinz-Dieter Goedeke, Dr. Jasmin Gong, Rosemarie Häntzschel, Sarah Hanagarth, Anne-Katrin Haß, Dr. Alexandra Heidle-Chhatwani, Manuel Helf, Nicole Holzapfel, Hu Gao-Hua, Minh Trung Michael Huynh, Julia Koch, Kenneth Krallmann, Judith Kripp, Generalkonsul Bodo Krüger, Katrin Lange, Birgit Leuppert, Yadhu Vamsi Madipalli, Prof. Dr. Alexander Mädche, Dr. Prashanth Mahagaonkar, Daniel Marek, Matthias Meyer-Böhringer, Dirk Mussenbrock, Eileen Passlack, Prof. Dr. Waldemar Pförtsch, Roman Retzbach, Pia Rothe, Hanna Sand, Prof. Dr. Christian Schmidkonz, Jens Schleuniger, Stefanie Sivkovich, Ulrike Sohl, Christian Sommer, Friedolin Strack, Dr. Ulrich Teich, Verena Vöckel, Arend Vollers, Martin Wolf, Sophia Wolf, Emma Yang, Prof. Dr. Yao Ming, Vickie Zhu, and many more.

ix

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Introduction to the Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Aim and Value of this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3 Research Conditions and Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 Benefits of Organized Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.1 Network Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.2 Economic Value and Social Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.3 Strength of Weak Ties, and Structural Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.4 Small World Phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.5 Brokers Between Cultural Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172.6 Access to Buying Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.7 The Network Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3 Overview of German-Sino Business Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253.1 Historical Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253.2 Types of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293.3 Forms of Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323.4 Target Groups and Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343.5 Cooperation and Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363.6 Services and Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.7 Accessibilities and Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

4 Descriptions of the Leading Business Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474.1 German Asia-Pacific Business Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474.2 Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514.3 German Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534.4 German-Chinese Business Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Contentsx

4.5 German-Asian Business Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604.6 German Asia Pacific Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634.7 China German Business Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654.8 Network Hesse-China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674.9 Chinaforum Bavaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694.10 German Centre Shanghai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724.11 Chinese Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.12 Asian Social Business Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754.13 China Business Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

5 Experiences and Expectations of Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855.1 Relevance of Business Contacts and Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855.2 Demanded Services and Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865.3 Willingness for Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885.4 Member Experiences and Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895.5 Design of the Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956.1 Summary and Interpretation of the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956.2 Practical Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006.3 Suggestions for Further Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

xi

Abbreviations and Translations

Abbreviation Original Name English or Chinese Name

AEN Asian European Network Asian European Network

AHK Greater China Deutsche Auslandshandelskammer in China

German Chamber of Commerce in China

APA Asien-Pazifik-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft

Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business

APFB Asien-Pazifik-Forum Berlin Asia-Pacific Forum Berlin

APK Asien-Pazifik-Konferenz der deutschen Wirtschaft

Asia-Pacific-Conference of German Business

ASBC Asian Social Business Community

Asian Social Business Community

BDI Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie

Federation of German Industries

BGA Bundesverband des Grosshandels, Aussenhandel, Dienstleistungen

Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade

BSC Business Startup in China Business Startup in China

CBC China Business Club China Business Club

CBCX Chinese Business Club Chinese Business Club

CBL China Business Lunch China Business Lunch

CCC China Competence Center China Competence Center

CCPIT China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

CCX Chinese Club Chinese Club

CDC Chinesisch-Deutsche Business Plattform

CDV Chinesisch-Deutscher Verein

CEA Chinese Enterprises Association Chinese Enterprises Association

(continued)

Abbreviations and Translationsxii

Abbreviation Original Name English or Chinese Name

CEATEC China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation

China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation

CFB Chinaforum Bayern Chinaforum Bavaria

CFL Chinaforum Lueneburg China Forum Lueneburg

CGBE Chinese German Business Exchange

Chinese German Business Exchange

CGBN China German Business Network China German Business Network

CGC The Greater China Group The Greater China Group

CGD China-Kompetenzzentrum Duesseldorf

China goes Dus

CGIN German Chinese International Network

German Chinese International Network

China KMU Sourcing

China-Einkaufsmarkt fuer kleine und mittelstaendische Unternehmen

ChDG Chinesisch-Deutsche Gesellschaft Hamburg

CJK China-Japan-Korea Business Lounge

China-Japan-Korea Business Lounge

CRM China Marketing und CRM in China

CUV Chinesischer Unternehmerverband

CZH Chinesisches Zentrum Hannover Chinese Center Hanover

DAG Deutsch-Asiatische Gesellschaft

DAPG Deutsche Asia Pacific Gesellschaft

German Asia Pacific Society

DAW Deutsch-Asiatischer Wirtschaftskreis

German-Asian Business Circle

DCC Duesseldorf China Center Duesseldorf China Center

DCFS Deutsch-Chinesisches Forum Stuttgart

DCG Deutsche China-Gesellschaft German China Association

DCIH Zhonghua/Deutsch-Chinesische Industrie & Handelsvereinigung

德国中华工商联合会

DCJF Deutsch-Chinesische Vereinigung junger Fuehrungskraefte

German-Chinese Young Professionals Federation

DCW Deutsch-Chinesische Wirtschaftvereinigung

German-Chinese Business Association

DGA Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Asienkunde

German Association for Asian Studies

DHKG Deutsche Hongkong Gesellschaft German Hongkong Association

DIHK Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag

Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce

(continued)

(continued)

Abbreviations and Translations xiii

Abbreviation Original Name English or Chinese Name

DOAG Deutsch-Ostasiatische Gesellschaft

DVS Deutsche Vereinigung Shanghai German Association Shanghai

Emden Company Koeniglich Preussische Asiatische Compagnie in Emden nach Canton und China

Royal Prussian Asiatic Company in Emden to Canton and China

EUCBA EU–China Business Association EU–China Business Association

GC Beijing German Centre Beijing German Centre Beijing

GC Shanghai German Centre Shanghai German Centre Shanghai

GCBER German-Chinese Bureau of Economic Research

German-Chinese Bureau of Economic Research

GCBX German-Chinese Business Exchange

German-Chinese Business Exchange

GdCf Gesellschaft der China-Freunde Association for German-Chinese Friendship

GDCF Gesellschaft fuer Deutsch- Chinesische Freundschaft

Association for German-Chinese Friendship

HCG Hamburger China-Gesellschaft

JGBN Japan German Business Network Japan German Business Network

NHC Netzwerk Hessen-China Network Hesse-China

OAV Ostasiatischer Verein German Asia-Pacific Business Association

OAV Bremen Ostasiatischer Verein Bremen East Asiatic Society

SGBN Sino-German Business Networks Sino-German Business Networks

SGS InterNations Shanghai German Speakers

InterNations Shanghai German Speakers

SJ SinoJobs SinoJobs

VDMA Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau

German Engineering Foundation

VGBN Vietnam German Business Network

Vietnam German Business Network

Zollverein Deutscher Zollverein German Customs Union

(continued)

xv

List of Figures

Figure 2.1 The individual and the network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Figure 2.2 Emergence of a network at the beginning of a social event . . . . 9Figure 2.3 The status of a network at the end of such an event . . . . . . . . . . 10Figure 2.4 The advantage of the bridging tie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Figure 2.5 The advantage of structural holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Figure 2.6 Six degrees of separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Figure 2.7 Five brokerage roles of actor X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Figure 2.8 Cultural dimensions of Germany and China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Figure 2.9 Roles in the buying center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Figure 2.10 The emergence and benefit of the network effect . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Figure 3.1 Timeline of the establishment of German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Figure 3.2 Map illustrating the locations of German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Figure 3.3 Types of German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Figure 3.4 Service ratio of German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Figure 3.5 Companies in the ten largest German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Figure 3.6 Professionals in the ten largest German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Figure 3.7 Connections between German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . 37Figure 3.8 Market situation, including macro-environmental factors,

of German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Figure 3.9 Events organized by German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . 40Figure 3.10 Publications distributed by German-Sino business networks . . . 41Figure 3.11 Consulting and other services offered by German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Figure 3.12 Social media activities of German-Sino business networks . . . . 44Figure 3.13 Openness of German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Figure 3.14 Membership fees of German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . 46

List of Figuresxvi

Figure 5.1 Confidence in usefulness of German-Sino business networks . . . 86Figure 5.2 Activities and services demanded from German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Figure 5.3 Willingness to contribute time to activities

of German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Figure 5.4 Benefits of the members from German-Sino

business networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

xvii

List of Tables

Table 3.1 The 30 most relevant German-Sino business networks . . . . . . . . . . 30Table 3.2 The ten largest German-Sino business networks in terms

of corporate members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Table 3.3 The ten largest German-Sino business networks in terms

of individual members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Table 5.1 Key questions of the online survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

xix

List of Infoboxes

Infobox 4.1 German Asia-Pacific Business Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Infobox 4.2 Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Infobox 4.3 German Chamber of Commerce Greater China . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Infobox 4.4 German-Chinese Business Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Infobox 4.5 German-Asian Business Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Infobox 4.6 German Asia Pacific Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Infobox 4.7 China German Business Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Infobox 4.8 Network Hesse-China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Infobox 4.9 Chinaforum Bavaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Infobox 4.10 German Centre Shanghai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Infobox 4.11 Chinese Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Infobox 4.12 Asian Social Business Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Infobox 4.13 China Business Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80