CM: Do you approach a consulting engagement differently in China?
Han: At Bain, our approach is really a global approach. So no matter whether you're in Boston, New York, Shanghai, or London, you basically follow the same approach, same methodology. And the working process, especially internally, is pretty much the same. What's different is the issues we help our clients to address. In the U.S., companies are often concerned with grabbing share from their competitors because the market is not growing that much. But when you work in China, all the competitors — and the entire market — is growing at double digits at least. So it's not so much about grabbing share; it's more about equipping yourself to meet that market demand. So the issues facing the clients are quite different.
CM: Can you describe how a typical consulting engagement may differ in China from one in the U.S. and Europe?
Han: One of the challenges, I think, in China is that because the economy has not been open for a long time, data is not very available. As you know, Bain has a very data-driven approach. So I think that, relatively speaking, in China many of the strategies we're using here are more based on the primary insights. So in China, on every case we must conduct a considerable amount of primary research. I mean, not that in the U.S. or Europe we don't do that, but just relatively speaking, in China we rely for our recommendation more on a primary research base.
CM: Given China's growing entrepreneurial opportunities, do you expect to remain a consultant?
Han: I haven't yet made up my mind about what I want to do in three to five years. But I do see a trend wherein consultants are moving on to more entrepreneurial activities, not necessarily opening up their own shops but probably joining a relatively smaller and newer company to run that operation at a senior level, even though it's a small company, or being in the private equity world, where you know that you are more sort of participating in entrepreneurial types of activities, helping entrepreneurs to develop their businesses.
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