Feel free to read and download all our Management Columns as seen in the Business Section of Shanghai Daily each Saturday and Sunday.
How to keep your local talents? - August 12
All companies want high performing and professional employees. In our research we have verified that some companies have consistently better performance in employee retention and productivity than others. But what is it that successful employers do that is different? Let us explore this and give some small pointers.
Western Managers’ Challenges in China - August 19
Countless conversations are heard in China regarding how to get the Western organizations up and running quicker and more efficiently. Western managers generally focus on how to change the Chinese employees to adhere to Western management style and philosophy. The question we might ask ourselves is; are we going about this in the most effective manner? Let us turn the table around to see the implication of this well meant actions.
Understand your Chinese Employees - August 26
The most common challenge for Western managers in China concern their local staffs active participation in meetings, sharing ideas, taking own initiatives and proposing solutions in daily work; in short – assertiveness. Managers with short experience in China, sometimes interpret this lack of assertiveness as indifference, laziness, arrogance or even lack of intelligence.
When do Yes mean No in China? - September 2
A seemingly simple thing as the use of “Yes” and “No” is so vastly differently used in Chinese vs. Western culture that almost nothing can be taken for granted. Even the most veteran Chinese employees in Western companies struggle to understand and use the Western meaning of a “Yes”. Saying “No” to the boss is very challenging and will be avoided at almost any cost. This is not because of lack in self confidence or incompetence, but rather to avoid confrontation and possible loss of guangxi.
Experience - Hard currency among Chinese professionals - September 9
A manager’s ability to stimulate an Assertive behavior among his staff will determine his effectiveness in China. Western managers in China need to understand the cultural values defining behavioral differences (explained in previous columns) to be able to coach local employees in the right direction. Expatriates must successfully explain WHY using Western Assertiveness and Accountability skills will benefit their employee’s career and development. If this is accomplished, good coaching skills will result in professional staff with growing experience.
Find the strengths of local staff - September 16
With the right frame of mind, managers will understand the nature of their local staff’s innate talents, put them in the right place and enjoy a stimulating and positive environment. The praise from those managers that have succeeded in getting good results together with their Chinese staff is usually overwhelmingly positive. Successful leaders realize that top performing organizations are built on their employee’s strengths, not by focusing on and improving their weaknesses.
How to Lead Effectively in China (Part 1 of 2) - September 23
In our research, we ask foreign executives what they believe Western managers need in order to be more successful in their interaction and leadership of their Chinese employees. This column shares the commonly perceived crucial advice from veteran expatriate leaders on how to succeed as a Western manager in China.
Most frequent advices relate to interpersonal communication skills:
How to Lead Effectively in China (Part 2 of 2) - October 14
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.
How to Select the Right Talents - October 21
One of the hottest topics that managers in China are mulling over is how to successfully select and develop talent. How can it be done in a practical and consistent way? To find a reliable, consistent and cost effective way to select, develop and retain qualified employees is the key to any business. Some behavioral assessment tools have now reached a high enough standard to be interesting to evaluate to support this process in a company.
In most cases it is attitudes and personal behavior patterns (rather than a lack of skill) that keep employees and managers from being more successful. By using a behavioral assessment tool when developing employees, the time invested in training and development can be much more productive. For an assessment tool to be effective and useful it has to pass four simple criteria:
Cultural Differences - The Triple A Circle (Part 1 of 2) - October 28
When studying the results from our interviews it becomes clear that Assertiveness, Accountability and Professionalism (Professional Attitude) are linked to each other. In fact, the easiest way to understand how closely they are interlinked is to connect the three into a circle, see the Triple A Circle™.
In short to be successful, Western managers in China need to understand how Assertiveness and Accountability are perceived and used in the Western vs. the Chinese culture. In a Western company, without Assertiveness, one cannot be perceived as Accountable. Without Assertiveness and Accountability skills used in combination, one will not get experience and thus will not start to be perceived as behaving with a Professional Attitude.
Cultural Differences - The Triple A Circle (Part 2 of 2) - November 4
A Western employee who does not confirm understanding with his boss by asking “why, what, and when” will be perceived to be lacking common sense or not caring for the outcome (not Accountable). A Chinese employee, on the other hand, will be considered lacking common sense and questioning the manager’s authority if these questions are asked on a regular basis. The big difference is that Western employees are much more comfortable in using the why, what, when and how questions to confirm they have understood something correctly. This is because the company culture in Western companies is built on employees being Accountable and Assertive in a more direct way, compared with a Chinese company culture.
How Foreign Managers succeed in China - November 11
The successful human skills in China are similar for any internationally successful manager, with a few modifications. These priorities of successful managers whom we have interviewed in China are overwhelmingly consistent. Before making large changes these managers assure that they understand the implications of actions in the Chinese environment and carefully introduce the right changes at the right time. Assimilating the Chinese culture enables them to communicate effectively with their employees. They realize that not until they have leveled with their employees will they be able to explain why their employees and the company will benefit from adopting necessary new actions and attitudes.
Chinese Core Business Values (Part 1) - November 18
The existing difference between the Western attitude towards unknown people and strangers is fundamentally different from the Chinese. Typically, the Western cultural value is to trust unknown people until they prove they cannot be trusted. The Chinese culture on the other hand, distrusts others until they prove they can be trusted.
Trust is therefore essential to build and sustain in China. Without building trust and a guanxiwang the only thing keeping the business on course is the instilled intention of a long-term relationship. Without this intention anything could happen when doing business with unknown business acquaintances.
Chinese Core Business Values (Part 2) - November 25
Hierarchy and Face are two concepts of central importance because of their pervasive influence in interpersonal relations among the Chinese. Face can be classified into two types; 'lian' and 'mian-zi'. 'Lian' represents the confidence of society in one’s integrity and moral character. Loss of 'lian' makes it impossible for a person to function properly within the community.
Chinese Core Business Values (Part 3) - December 9
Guanxi cannot be sustained between two parties if there is no need of reciprocity. Like face (see previous column) the principle of reciprocity is universal but, in the Chinese case, the concept is very clear. The norm obliges the one who has first received a benefit to repay it at a later time. Consequently, there may be less hesitancy in being the first which facilitates the exchange and the social relation can get underway.
Power distance is the perceived difference in authoritative power between levels in a hierarchy. In China, the distance between hierarchal levels is big compared to the West. This makes it difficult and many times inappropriate for employees in a company to communicate upwards in the structure with the assertiveness that we are used to in the West today.
Chinese Core Business Values (Part 4 of 4) - December 16
Time for the Chinese has two orientations: past-time orientation and community. This implies that for Chinese, once a relation is established it is hard to break and once a relation is broken, it is very difficult to re-establish. Continuity indicates that Chinese people are long-term oriented.
The Confucian 'Doctrine of the Mean' urge individuals to avoid competition as well as conflict, and instead strive to maintain inner harmony. It has been found that traditional Chinese cultural values and cognitive orientations have influenced the Chinese people to preserve harmony by avoiding confrontation and to adopt a non-assertive approach to conflict resolution.
Shanghai Daily Management Column 
