In any other context, the company would be viewed as ripe for acquisition, but its JVs make for a more effective takeover defense than even the best poison pills ever devised.
In an interview last year, Phillipe Boisseau, head of the gas and power division for French oil giant Total (which has a bunch of JVs with Chinese companies) explained the Chinese thinking.
In order to the placate the workers and deal with extraneous but sometimes vexing personnel and welfare issues, the managers of the old factories were named chairmen of the JVs with Konka only sending in its general manager and his deputies for key departments.