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Thoughts on Managing in China
July 23, 2007

China is an interesting place to manage personnel. There are problems, starting with the educational system. Many classes are taught using memorization, and this can stifle creativity. Young workers seem to understand one way to do something but as soon there is a small change factor, then work stops or there is confusion. Giving project work may require constant follow up as to progress. I guess what I am saying that some ‘Theory X” management may be necessary to get the job done.

Hiring can be difficult in that the worker may have limited vocabulary skills to answer questions during the interview. Don’t be surprised though, if the interviewee knows all the key current supply chain jargon, and additional questions are needed to see if they really understand, or we are back to memorization. Some companies have shied away from hiring business students, depending upon the school, because the business learning is again fraught with learning things my memory and not by analysis. A good student educated to be an English teacher has better language skills, especially verbal, and they can be taught the business side when you hire them.

An experienced person, with a Western company is a valuable commodity. Hiring them can be 20 to 30% higher than an equal with no western corporate experience. After that, then is retaining them for more than a year or two, before they ‘jump ship’. There is no magic to keeping people; it is the whole picture of corporate culture, training, and management, thought even with that, no guarantees. As the idea of working in a corporation and having a corporate loyalty program is at its infancy here in China. Now if you give some advanced management training, you have the employee sign an employment agreement concerning them staying with the company. Reminds me of my military days were if we accepted some extensive training, we had to agree to an extension of our active duty time.

Some of the same motivation rules work, but salary, salary, salary, it key to getting ahead here and is still the driving factor. There are also recognized culture activities during certain holidays, with specialized gift giving. By the way, most gifts for babies, marriages etc are a red envelop of cash.. The American style of registering with a store for gifts is unheard of here. No 3 day weekend holidays either, there are three national holidays on the mainland (Hong Kong is different), including May 1st week, October 1st week, and the Spring Holiday which we know as Chinese New Year which can be as long as 10 days (no set date, but is done by the lunar calendar and is usually mid to end of February). So these holidays can be 5 to 7 days, and many travel or go home to see the family. Considering the population of China, that may be hundreds of millions of people traveling by train, bus and though expensive for some, plane.

Posted by Walter E. Buczynski, CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management) on July 23, 2007 | Comments (0)