Chapter 8

The Greatest Leap Forward

The Transition From Relation-Based to Rule-Based Governance

CITIC’s (Failed) Attempt to Change the Old Way of Doing Business

In the late 1990s, in order to modernize its business operation, China International Trust and Investment Corp (CITIC; then the largest state-owned investment company) asked the consulting powerhouse McKinsey to develop an information system for its risk management. The system used statistical models that, based on the information about loan applicants, predicted the risks of issuing loans to them. After months of intense model building and testing, and some $1 million in consulting fees, McKinsey delivered the system to CITIC for use. Facing the issue of the high rate of bad loans and ...

Get Managing International Business in Relation-Based versus Rule-Based Countries now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.