Business Ecosystems in China

'Business Ecosystems in China talks about a new source of competitive advantage, innovative business ecosystems, in a new industry, the Internet sector, in China. As such, it shows that China is going beyond its traditional cost-based competitive advantage in manufacturing industries. The book describes brilliantly in great depth how a few online companies have grown at incredible speed in China. This work also raises the key question of whether these Chinese Internet giants will be able to transfer their competitive advantages to the rest of the world to challenge Google and other established Western players.' — George Yip, Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Imperial College Business School, and lead co-author of China’s Next Competitive Advantage: From Imitation To Innovation

'This book opens readers’ eyes to the value of the ecosystem. In China, I was fortunate enough to back Robin Li at Baidu. He was instrumental in helping create the Chinese ecosystem portrayed in this book. I know that powerful ideas are created from people working with other people with different backgrounds and cultures. That is the basis for the Draper Ecosystem, and has served us well as educators with Draper University, as business creators with Boost and Hero City, and as investors with Draper Associates and the Draper Venture Network. Read this book and it will help you with whatever your endeavor might be.' — Tim Draper, Founder, Draper Associates/DFJ

'I have had the pleasure to work in the Ecosystem of Mark Greeven and Wei Wei since 2013. They were pivotal in the designing and executing of a DSM Innovation Curriculum for the director level of business, R&D, Marketing & Innovation leaders, fitting into the Chinese business environment. Key notions such as "market and customer based innovation" versus "product and technology based innovation", "try quick, fail fast, succeed quick", "lead time to market", and a "China-specific Business Canvas building" were merged into the curriculum design. And most impressively, we met with entrepreneurs in the Hangzhou Ecosystem of start-ups, and this created a vibe in the hearts and minds of our business leaders that paid off: one of the action projects delivered incredible results from "Ideation" to "initial product testing in the market". I believe that we will see more growth in the global business environment from the Business Ecosystems that Mark and Wei explore in this important research.'— Jan Anne Schelling, Vice President HR Asia, DSM Group People & Organization

'This book offers a mind-blowing deep dive into the functioning of leading Chinese Giants. The research is detailed, meticulous, and thought-provoking. It debunks a few myths on the structuring of Chinese business ecosystems, and explains how Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, Xiaomi and LeEco have shaped the rise of Chinese entrepreneurialism and the creation of competitive advantages in high-velocity markets. The book is a must-read for academics and executives who want to understand the rapid transformation and success of China on a global scale.'— Cyril Bouquet, Professor of Strategy and Innovation, IMD Business School

Full reviews are available here: http://www.gslpartner.com/Endorsements%2020170703.pdf