Originally Posted by
moondog
This is similar to the point I was attempting to make in post 182. The airbus supplier I referenced carries a heavy expat staff that doesn't cut corners. In fact, from my perspective, the Chinese factory is more efficient than their facilities in France and Morocco. Meanwhile, my cousin is working on the new BMW plant in Shenyang. Based on his descriptions, that is an air tight ship; the fact that the worker bees are Chinese (as opposed to German) matters not in his opinion.
Yes, many Chinese managers have a heavy tendency to try to cut material and machinery etc. costs beyond safety levels. In effect, replace existing materials with cheaper but unreliable ones and/or neglect using latest production technology due to high operation costs.
Also, quite a few Chinese company owners view joint ventures and FDI only as means to channel money into their own and family accounts. The goal is often not to really set up a long or even medium term partnership but to use the age old strategems to relieve the foreign investors of their cash and then move on to the next victim.
On the other hand, you still get companies in Korea where the first thing the owner does after receiving an investment is to buy a plane ticket to an undisclosed location and disappear with the money.