Conchius

Conchius is expanding rapidly!

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:13:18 +0000

Two new key employees have joined CONCHIUS:
• Sylvain Leblanc, sales manager, will make sure that our clients get what they need when they need it
• Markus Bergfors, PhD and development solutions consultant, will make sure our client’s needs are met at the highest standards

These strategic hires secure that we keep up with the increasing requests from our clients and make it possible to keep offering the high quality training and development services that our clients have gotten used to.

Learning Power

admin — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:29:24 +0000

In 2007 about 4.95 million Chinese university graduates entered the job market, according to Xinhua News Agency. New graduates in all countries have a time where they get adjusted to their new work environment which is different from the academic world they are used to. From an individual’s point of view, from a business point of view or even from society’s point of view, it’s the ability to do the right things that matter – not the ability to memorize things. If I can memorize five important aspects of marketing, that doesn’t tell you anything about my ability to apply them in the real world. Usually it is not enough to have the knowledge; we need to have the practice – the ability to act within a context. (more…)

Chinese Employees Want Self-aware Bosses

admin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:39 +0000

In a Human Resource report recently conducted, 60% of employees stated that their Chinese bosses were “order-issuing lovers” and another 18 percent referred to their bosses as “critics”. Merely 5 percent spoke positively about their superiors. From the 16,734 leaders surveyed, more than 82 percent considered themselves good leaders and friendly to subordinates. An earlier study further indicated that more than half of bosses used an inflexible leadership style regardless of the needs of the situation.

While most Western companies emphasize promoting managers with interpersonal skills, I argue that most Chinese companies promote their managers strictly based on past knowledge and experience. (more…)

Master distributor in China

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:00:20 +0000

Conchius Limited has been appointed Harrison Assessment master distributor for the Peoples Republic of China! This is an important milestone for our strategic development plan in China. During the last three years, Harrison Assessment has proven itself to outperform other assessment tools we have tested for recruitment and talent management. We are very proud to be awarded and entrusted with the responsibility to run the Harrison Assessment master distributorship in China. (more…)

Managing in China Without Coaching

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:43 +0000

In most Western countries, leaders are used to working in an environment where the employees are highly participating in meetings and contributing their opinions and experiences to the decision making process. A Western employee feels comfortable to argue for their beliefs and to share opinions in meetings with superiors. Furthermore, a manager in the West is not necessarily assumed to be an expert in his field or industry. On the contrary, he is supposed to utilize the knowledge in his team in decisions and projects. The Western managers are therefore used to lead highly interactive teams relying heavily on two-way communication. When a team achieves strong synergy, he can and will step down. (more…)

How to Lead Effectively in China (Part 2 of 2)

admin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:09 +0000

In our management research, participants are asked what they think Western managers need in order to be more successful in their interaction and leadership of their Chinese employees. This week we continue last week’s column on essential communication skills with the participants’ leadership advice to succeed as a Western manager in China. Here are some of the most common advices from leaders with China experience. (more…)

How to Lead Effectively in China (Part 1 of 2)

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:05 +0000

In our research, we ask foreign and local executives what they believe Western managers will need in order to be more successful in their interaction and leadership. We focus our research to managers working in international companies in China. This column shares the commonly perceived crucial advice from veteran leaders and managers on how to succeed as a Western manager in China and a Chinese manager in an international company.

Most frequent advices for Western managers relate to interpersonal communication skills: (more…)

Understand your Chinese employees

admin — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:23 +0000

During the last 3 years we have interviewed more than 250 managers on different levels. The research included local and foreign managers, all working for Western international companies in China. The most common challenge for Western managers in China concern their local staffs active participation in meetings, sharing of ideas, taking own initiatives and proposing solutions in daily work; in short - Western assertiveness. (more…)

Western Managers’ challenges in China

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:54 +0000

Countless conversations are heard in China regarding how to get the Western organizations up and running quicker and more efficiently. As this is our business focus, we headed up a massive 3 year research project with leaders of Western multinationals operating in various regions in China. One interesting fact is that Western managers generally focus on how to change the Chinese employees to adhere to Western management style and philosophy. (more…)

Shanghai Office Expanding

admin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:03:41 +0000

As a step in CONCHIUS expansion plans for 2008, we have now moved into our expanded office facilities in Lujiazui. The core development team for our Chinese operations will be based here until March 2010. The move to the new office was completed on February 25th, 2008.

Peter J. Karlsson, Executive Director, CONCHIUS (Shanghai) Limited