Description
Issues Involved
Chinese business culture, negotiation strategies and tactics, insurance joint ventures, devolution of state-owned enterprises in China.
Abstract
A fictional Ohio insurance corporation, Olin Life Insurance Company, wishes to expand. Olin’s CEO, James Terence, views expansion into Asia, specifically China, as a chance to grow the company for the long term. Terence is not alone. With China’s 2002 accession to the World Trade Organization, hundreds of European and American insurance companies are seeking ways to tap into what they see as the limitless Chinese market: China’s population of 1.3 billion people live long lives and has one of the highest savings rates in the world. As China progressively opens its markets and dismantles its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the need for some sort of safety net for millions of Chinese workers increases with each month.
James Terence will send three of the company’s top officers to Shanghai to begin a negotiation process with the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.