新浪首页 > 新浪教育 > Office clashes can be skirted

Office clashes can be skirted
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/09/27 11:45  Shanghai Daily

  If you are a senior manager trapped between a well-paid position and a cultural conflict with your foreign boss, what would you do to change the situation?

  A closed survey showed many Chinese managers with a bachelor's degree or above would simply resign.

  The survey led by Gu Qingliang, professor of marketing in Donghua University's Glorious Sun School of Business and Management, and George B. Graen, chair professor of international management at the university of Louisiana, tracked 150 Chinese MBA holders and middle-level managers in 33 top-notch Western ventures in Shanghai during the past six years.

  According to the final report, about 48 percent of surveyed managers quit jobs during the six-year research period. They said the biggest problem was that foreign bosses don't understand the Chinese way of thinking.

  "Our ideas are constantly ignored and we are treated as second-class citizens in the company. I could not stand that any more and just quit," last Thursday's Shanghai Daily quoted Kelvin Zhou, marketing director at a pharmaceutical company.

  Of course, cultural conflict is not the only reason for Chinese managers in foreign companies to change jobs.

  According to Gu, MBA holders around the age of 30 are extremely attractive in the job market. Many receive calls from head hunters every few weeks offering a salary increase of up to 50 percent.

  "Besides alluring offers and indefinite career plans, cultural conflict with foreign bosses is the most important factor driving Chinese managers away from companies they would otherwise love to stay at," Gu said.

  Chinese managers and their foreign bosses can think very differently. For instance, when it comes to performance appraisal, foreign bosses expect Chinese managers to prepare their case with documents and sell it hard while the latter just present themselves to be evaluated.

  What's more, foreign bosses base judgment solely on the final result, giving no thought to the process. Chinese managers believe failure or under-delivery caused by uncontrollable factors should be considered.

  The deep-rooted difference in values and perceptions is only one side of the coin though. Ineffective communication is the other. Language barriers, lack of communication channels or personal prejudice can all worsen a conflict.

  However, it is not fair to hold foreign managers entirely responsible. The correction of this dysfunctional system should be strategic. The headquarters of multinational companies need to examine its policies and procedures regarding expatriate assignments.

  Expats sent to work in China should be informed that they must do two things. The first is their specialty and the second is to integrate the venture into Chinese society. Those who fail to do their second job should face early repatriation or other negative incentives.

  They should also receive adequate training in Chinese culture, language and social values. If not, they should at least be interested in Chinese culture.

  Change on one side will never solve the problem.

  Chinese managers also need to respect and accommodate Western values.


评论



英语学习论坛】【 】【打印】【关闭
Annotation


新闻查询帮助

热 点 专 题
F1中国大奖赛
《2046》公映
法国特技飞行队访华
2004中华小姐环球大赛
2005新浪考研大讲堂
国庆出游宝典
“十一”缤纷车世界
全国万家餐馆网友热评
《性感文化的解析》



教育频道意见反馈留言板 电话:010-62630930-5178 欢迎批评指正

新浪简介 | About Sina | 广告服务 | 联系我们 | 招聘信息 | 网站律师 | SINA English | 会员注册 | 产品答疑

Copyright © 1996 - 2004 SINA Inc. All Rights Reserved

版权所有 新浪网
北京市通信公司提供网络带宽