MANAGING THE MANAGEMENT GAP

ASK JACK PERKOWSKI WHY so MANY FOREIGN-owned plants in China are concentrated along the coast, and he'll agree with the analysts who describe it as logistical

And that's just one aspect of China's management gap, says Perkowski, founder and CEO of ASIMCO Technologies, Beijing, one of the most successful Western-owned manufacturing businesses in China.

Perkowski traces his China gig to 1990 when he interrupted his 20-year investment-banking career at Paine Webber to assess Asian opportunities. That research led, in 1994, to the formation of ASIMCO Technologies, Beijing, one of the first global automotive components companies born and based in China. ASIMCO now has 18 plants scattered throughout nine provinces and three more located in the U.S. "If those plants suffer logistical problems, those issues have nothing to do with the convenience of expat managers-we don't have them," exclaims Perkowski. "Most of our plants are located in the interior of the country. And while logistics have ceased to be a problem for the interior, those locations continue to maintain low-cost benefits."