A tactic that I see all too often, in Chinese businesses, is being penny smart but pound foolish.  I see it at the local businesses, in my neighborhood, where the merchants over charge on price and lose volume of business.  They figure that the higher the price, the less they will have to sell to become rich.  I see it at the college at which I teach, where the administration provides a poor educational and play experience for its students, and it has shabby class rooms.  They charge a high price, but graduating students tell me that they tell their parents' friends, who ask., not to send their sons and daughters there.  The school could have an enrollment of ten times its current size, if they would spend some money on enhancing their student's college experience; indeed, that was the estimated size when the project was first done, 6 years ago. 

My most recent experience was a real mind-blower.   I wanted to buy my girlfriend some art books about a number of arts, through the ages.  I was expecting to spend several thousand Yuan.  My first thought was to go to the Guangzhou Museum, down the Street from me, so, I went there, first.  I entered the lobby; told the woman at the ticket counter that I wanted to go just inside the entrance to the book store; and I was told that I needed to buy a Y15 ticket to enter the museum.  I tried to reason with her, but it was wasted breath.  In the end, I went to the other large museum, in Guangzhou, on Er Sa Dao Island, and they called someone from the bookstore to escort me in.  Guess they are not all penny smart and pound foolish, but the vast majority of businesses that I come into contact, daily, are.