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Felt this Firsthand?

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Caesara

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Joined: July 31, 2004
Posts: 4572
Location: The Middle Kingdom (Shanghai)
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Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 09:06 AM
Post subject: Felt this Firsthand?

Anybody come across this phenomenon professionally? In my office, at least, it doesn't seem to be an issue. We've got Westernized Chinese bosses and Chinese-Chinese bosses and Sino-fied Westerners, plus a horde of mixed-background office staff and everyone seems to get along.

As a relatively new Shanghai inhabitant, I'll throw a question out there: should we trust the People's Daily with this story, or do you think this is more an offical explanation for local job insecurity than solely impartial reporting?

Cultural conflicts lead to job hopping

Culture differences with Western bosses is the main reason many highly paid Chinese managers at local foreign ventures leave their jobs, a recent research report suggests.

The report, which was co-compiled by George B. Graen, chair professor of international management at the University of Louisiana and professors from Donghua University, tracked 150 Chinese MBA graduates and senior managers in 33 local foreign ventures over the past six years.

About 48 percent of the surveyed Chinese managers with a bachelor degree quit their jobs during the six-year research period, saying that the biggest problem was their foreign bosses don't understand the Chinese way of thinking.

The turnover rate was only 24 percent for managers who said their boss has a strong understanding of Chinese culture, the report said.

For managers with a lower education, the contrast was especially sharp between those with a CEO who understands Chinese culture and those without.

The research suggested that 24 percent of managers with a college degree resigned their jobs over cultural conflicts with their bosses. However, only 12 percent of those with a more localized boss changed jobs during the six year study.

"Interviews with those managers revealed that personal competence and culture acceptance by Western bosses are the major factors forcing them to change jobs," Graen said.

"But the latter is more critical and more trouble-causing because many CEOs simply didn't realize that," he added.

Expatriates sent to work in China, according to Graen, are expected to do two jobs - both leading the company to achieve economic growth and helping to integrate the joint venture into Chinese society and markets. But many Western bosses know little about the country and don't consider it important to learn, local managers said.

"Our ideas are constantly ignored and we are treated as second class citizens in the company," said Kelvin Zhou, market director at a local US pharmaceutical company.

"I could not stand that any more and just quit," he added.

Source: eastday.com People's Daily Online, September 24, 2004.

Magnolia
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Joined: June 01, 2004
Posts: 31098

Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 09:25 AM

As for the question about the reporting ... take it with a grain of salt, says me.

However, I do think that this problem does exist and can be prevelent in certain industries. Not the fault of either party, just a barrier that must be overcome.

In my own office, I see many examples of this type of situation, but they work both ways. It is not only the foreigners who are not listening to the ideas and suggesttions of the locals. Don't see too much of staff members feeling as though they are treated as second class citizens though.

Interesting topic because I also find that within my own office, many of the local staff are hesitant to put forth ideas. Certain members will also never make a decision and will in fact expect someone else to make any and all decisions. Whenever there was a large problem, people would come to me and expect me to solve it. It is now policy that if you have a problem, think about it, devise possible solutions and come to me with the problem and the possible solutions if you are unsure of what to do or do not want to responcibility. It has been wonderful because many members of the staff will see things as a challenge, which was something that was not actively encouraged before. As a result, time and effort is saved, productivity (except mine) is increased and the employee becomes more confident. The reverse is also true; if I have a problem to solve with a manufacturer, then I put forth a list of possibly solutions and let the person who is in regular communication work out which one will work best dependent on their knowledge of the manufacturer.

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lucar

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Joined: July 05, 2004
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Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 10:36 AM

Quote:

professors from Donghua University

You just posted this because you wanted to use "DONGUA" University.

...I have my own opinions about this. Does anyone file anything in your office Caesara or are there just masses of loose papers thrown haphazzardly into random locations? Every company I deal with here I need to build a file system for in my home office.

Caesara

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Joined: July 31, 2004
Posts: 4572
Location: The Middle Kingdom (Shanghai)
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Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 10:50 AM

You caught that, did you, lucar? Two more points for you!

Very Happy

I get that. Many locals seem to expect that they should wait until there is a problem, bring it to management, and expect to be told - in exact and painful detail - how to go about solving it. There's often an argument, sometimes almost perfunctory, to assuage responsibility for the proto-FUBAR, and then they expect that they should go ahead and obey management's instructions to the letter.

Overall, we have an excellent group of people in my office. But they do seem to be more comfortable working when they're directly and specifically instructed to do something.

Magnolia
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Joined: June 01, 2004
Posts: 31098

Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 10:56 AM

Quote:

But they do seem to be more comfortable working when they're directly and specifically instructed to do something.

That is a key statement that sums up how many local people within my office prefer to work. They are not proactive in many ways but prefer to be told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. I keep waiting for someone to ask me why they have to do it.

Isn't it better to understand the functioning behind the scenes? Gives weight and understanding to the tasks at hand and enables an employee to make qualified, rational judgements based on a thorough understanding of the overall process.

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Benoist_Shanghai
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Joined: May 18, 2003
Posts: 3057

Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 11:28 AM
Post subject: Re: Felt this Firsthand?

[quote="Caesara"]Cultural conflicts lead to job hopping
the biggest problem was their foreign bosses don't understand the Chinese way of thinking.
personal competence and culture acceptance by Western bosses are the major factors forcing them to change jobs,"

Expatriates sent to work in China, according to Graen, are expected to do two jobs - both leading the company to achieve economic growth and helping to integrate the joint venture into Chinese society and markets.[i]

By "cultural conflicts" and "understanding the Chinese way of thinking", they mean accepting inefficiency, lack of initiative, customer care and foreward thinking...?

Ok then, sounds right. Rolling Eyes

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Barker

Joined: Aug 14, 2004
Posts: 161

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Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 07:42 PM

[ALL Nick-La and Littlefox posts removed for yet another flame war]

izanami
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Joined: Jan 27, 2004
Posts: 1037

Posted: Sep 24, 2004 - 11:37 PM

i think many local managers quit also because they think there's a glass ceiling. but that's another debate altogether.

talk about not filing. creating a systematic and automatic report mechanism, a knowledge driven and an open communication culture among locals is a difficult task.

but i disagree that Chinese lack initiative, customer care, and forward thinking. I actually think those qualities are present in my colleagues, maybe they are not as prominent as in the West....but for these Chinese who have been subject to an entirely different economic system and different reward standards...I think there's been good progress.

I just think they need to pay greater attention to details and organization.

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