Alexandra Harney spoke to Women in Business in Guangzhou about how she wrote and promoted her new book "The China Price", about the daily realities for the Chinese industrial workforce, and convinced our audience why the plight of the migrant workers is everyone’s business. 

Harney gave the audience the formula for deciding if and what to write, how to define the audience, the marketing plan, the promotion plan and the meaning and rewards of undertaking such a project.  

Her deep experience first as Financial Times correspondent, then later consultant, afforded her the opportunity to hear the stories of migrants in China, the injustices of some, the legal triumphs of others. She talked about the colossal change that took place in 2008 with the introduction of the labour law, and how as a result, workers have begun to perceive their value differently.  

The broader implications for business is that the Chinese migrant workforce is set to contract as of 2015, this population 200 million strong are protected under a stringent Chinese labour law, and these people are beginning to exert their rights in the form of arbitration and law suits through the example of some outspoken activists joining exploitative companies to blow the whistle on them, or outright sue them. The old adage of treating workers right is starting to find an audience even in China’s filthy factories. The price grinding of big buyers is putting unsustainable pressure on the factories, and the ethical treatment of these businesses puts the consumer at peril.  

For more insights on this phenomenon and its consequences, go out and get the book.  

The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage by Alexandra Harney
http://thechinaprice.org
http://thechinaprice.blogspot.com

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Venue: Tuesday, 2nd February 2010, 12:00 - 14:00
Jianguo Hotel

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