Why Chinese Executives choose Western Companies
- Published in China Daily 6 January, 2010
In 2006, we launched a large research study with over 100 Chinese Executives working in Western Multinationals. One of the questions we ask the participants is why they choose a career in a Western company. While we expected money to be the number one reason for choosing to work in Western companies, Chinese executives described that money is only an initial short term motivator. The majority of participants list other reasons of why they continue working for Western multinationals.
The top reasons are:
• Western organizations are more organized and efficient - less politics
• Western corporate culture allows more personal freedom and space to grow
• Western corporations have an open atmosphere
We asked the Chinese participants to identify the strengths of their Western colleagues. The Chinese managers view that their Western colleagues are very good at:
• Focusing on results and being straight forward in communication
• Not hiding bad news and staying open minded
There is a strong correlation between these findings. Chinese Executives enjoy working in the Western corporate environment because they want to achieve more and get the chance to express themselves. This is more allowed in the Western corporate environment where individualism is not only allowed but even promoted. The employees have a chance to grow and development is a natural part of the development plan in a Western company. This newfound freedom is one of the greatest satisfactions to the Chinese employees.
Most Chinese employees have been groomed in school to conform to the reality in local companies. Therefore, many Chinese initially find it difficult to trust that most Western companies have such high acceptance levels for mistakes without monetary or other punishments. Furthermore, instead of looking at relationships first, the Western companies focus their energy on the results. The results are clearly defined and everyone commits to them. This means that results are not the manager’s achievement alone but a team effort. Western companies have an environment focusing on personal CONTRIBUTION, not on personal relationships. Seasoned Chinese executives find it highly stimulating that problems in fact can be handled in a straight forward manner without fearing relationships getting in the way. It is about getting the job done, not so much about protecting relationships and handling politics.
Western companies that successfully bridge the cultural values holding back the synergies are the short and long-term winners in China. They will find that their employees stay even if they get better salary offers from competitors. To be able to create winners in each position is always crucial for top performance in China as well as in any other place in the world.
- Peter J Karlsson