OF KUNG FU AND CHOCOLATES: A STRATEGIC NARRATIVE OF KATHY’S BUSINESS SOJOURN IN CHINA

Abstract

The remarkable growth of China in the last decade catapults it rapidly into one of the most prominent players in international business. Thus, it is not surprising that many studies have been undertaken to explore various business phenomena relating to China such as how Chinese companies explore global business opportunities and how companies from all over enter the Chinese market. A review of the literature shows that many of these studies focus on corporations and SMEs (Yang and Lee, 2002, Wang and Kess, 2006, & Chen, Griffith and Hu, 2006). There is a lack of studies on individual entrepreneurs’ effort to enter the Chinese market. To fill in this gap, this case study narrates the experience of a foreign venture undertaken by a European entrepreneur who started a bistro to enter the Chinese tourism supply chain. To provide a business perspective to the narration, a strategic analysis of the venture is carried out using the focus group technique. The experience of the entrepreneur is captured in the form of a narrative based on an in-depth interview and observation of the business site. A short case of the venture is then written and distributed to the focus group to assess based on the strategic audit technique. The results of their assessment is then categorized according to the emerging themes and assessed using SWOT analysis and recommendations and strategy map are proposed. This study provides a ‘thick description’ of the challenges faced by and opportunities available for the lone foreigner who ventured into the Chinese market.