Guanxi

(Paperback)

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Microsoft, China and Bill Gates' plan to win the road ahead In an age of global innovation, could an unlikely partnership between the world's most famous capitalist and the world's largest communist nation be helping to determine the future of computer science Guanxi is a compelling behind-the-scenes tale of how Bill Gates' software dreams are coming true in China. Guanxi (gwan-shee), the Chinese term for the mutually beneficial relationships that are essential to success, tells the story of the juggernaut research lab that underpins Microsoft's developing relationship with China. The gripping narrative moves between Beijing and the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA, and follows the lab's emergence as a centre of excellence for Chinese computer science. Microsoft has invested well over 100 million dollars and hired more than 400 of China's best and brightest - what was once an outpost is now at the very heart of software research, creating dramatic payoffs for both Microsoft and China. As pundits rail against the 'China threat' to Western competitiveness and offer passionate (yet often hackneyed) arguments against outsourcing, Guanxi explores the true ramifications of China's technological progress - and how it can be turned to everyone's advantage. Sprinkled with telling observations, compelling characters and lively anecdotes about the brilliant successes and sometimes painful stumbles of the world's most powerful software company, Guanxi is essential reading for business leaders, entrepreneurs and technology workers around the globe.

Reviews

If you're thinking about doing business with China, better read Buderi and Huang's inside account of how Microsoft is using guanxi to 'insource' Chinese talent in its wars against Sony, Nokia, and Google. -- Bob Metcalfe, Inventor of Ethernet and 2005 Recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Technology
You may find it to be either an inspiring glimpse into the future, or a terrifying one, but it is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand where the world is headed. -- Jeffrey E. Garten, Juan Trippe Professor of International Trade and Finance, Yale School of Management

The world may be flattening but it remains culturally diverse: business in China is not like business in Seattle. Buderi and Huang display for us the strategies that Microsoft used to harness the brain power of China in China. They describe the bumps and the triumphs. They show that in a flattening world, it is crucial to remain conscious of the power of history. A highly readable and very
informative book.

-- David Baltimore, Nobel Laureate, President of the California Institute of Technology, president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
A fascinating inside look at Microsoft Research Asia, at its history, its personalities, its culture and its ambitions. A must read for anyone who is interested in the explosive developments when modern technology meets with a civilization that is at once the oldest and the youngest in human history. -- Chen Ning Yang, Nobel Laureate, Professor Emeritus, Stony Brook University and Tsinghua University

Author Bio

Robert Buderi, a Research Fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, is the author of two acclaimed books, Engines of Tomorrow, about corporate innovation, and The Invention That Changed the World, about a secret lab at MIT during World War II. He has written for Time, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, The Economist, the Atlantic Monthly, and may other publications. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gregory T. Huang is a features editor at New SCientist who holds a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. His writing has appeared in Nature, Wired, and Technology Review, among other publications. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.