School of Information

The sale of American services in China is an important growth area for U.S. corporations and the U.S.-China balance of trade. Firms such as IBM and McKinsey have been successful at adding value to clients in the U.S. by tapping into their wide networks of human capital and applying them in appropriate situations. However, because of China's relatively closed network economy and distance from the U.S., firms such as IBM and McKinsey's greatest challenge is in developing human capital capable of effectively applying their companies' networks of resources in China while, for reasons of efficiency, remaining relatively autonomous from company leadership in the U.S.