January 13, 2008

Training global management in China

One of the challenges of global business is that everyone has something to learn. American managers have had to learn about Japanese management techniques like kaizen. Japanese managers, in turn, have had to learn that most Westerners (especially Americans) are motivated more by individual incentives than by group-based incentives. 

Chinese managers, it seems, face a much steeper learning curve. Not only is capitalism new to China; but Chinese managers have to learn how to think beyond the PRC’s tradition of authoritarianism. Mao motivated his underlings with fear and repression. This won’t fly in the new China.

Here is an article that covers these issues in more detail. (“Westernizing China's managers”) The title is somewhat of a misnomer, because this is not simply a question of Western ways versus Asian ways. Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and other East Asian countries have been training executives to function in the free global market for decades now. China is not just an East Asian country with the usual cultural differences vis-à-vis the West. China is a one-party Communist country, with many differences vis-à-vis the rest of the world. 

This doesn’t mean that the Chinese managers can’t---or won’t--- make it. But they will have to overcome more than 50 years of Marxist cultural baggage.  

It will be interesting to see how the first Chinese transplant companies in the U.S. function. I can’t wait for the Chinese counterpart to Gung Ho! (Ron Howard’s 1986 movie about Japanese executives struggling to train American automotive workers).

A scene from Gung Ho!