A First Time Expatriate is Experience in a Joint : Business Technical
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Steven R. Hendryx, “The China Trade: Making the Deal Work,” Harvard Business Review (July - August, 1986., pp. 75 - 84.
and Michael H. Bond, “The Confucius Connection: From Cultural Roots to Economic Growth,” Organizational Dynamics (Spring 1988., pp. 5 - 21.
Geert Hofstede, Cultures' Consequences; International Differences in Work Related Values, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA, 1980.
Wenzhong Hu, and Cornelius Grove, Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for the Americans, Intercultural Press Inc. Yarmouth, ME, 1993.
Then one day, early in February 1994, James received the call from Singapore, which proved to be the most disappointing news he had heard during his entire China experience. Controls had chosen to recall him back to home office. He was directed to train his replacement and return home within the month.
Things had been going very well for several months now, and he was accomplishing a great many things. There was still so much he planned to do, including to convince the Chinese IV partner that they needed to reduce the number of workers significantly.
Although he and Lily handled the news and the return arrangements with a great deal of dignity,
James and Lily had a different social life than that enjoyed in the United States. They spent hours walking and talking. Occasionally, when they were in Shanghai, they had the opportunity to see shows. They saw the acrobats, went to symphony concerts and ballet, and even joined the crowds when Foster Beer brought Australian bands to perform in a Shanghai park.
The concerns Lily had expressed prior to expatriating disappeared as she made friends and became integrated into the social fabric of the area. Because her appearance was indistinguishable from the indigenous Shanghai-area people, she was more readily accepted and learned more about local happenings than most Westerners. At one point, two months after their arrival, Lily was hospitalized with a lung infection. Even this was resolved satisfactorily. She particularly noted that the skill level of the medical practitioners seemed to be very good, from the diagnosis to the way they painlessly took blood samples. Overall she found it easy to occupy her time. She was a traditional wife, who had not worked full-time
since her children were born and never had difficulty occupying the time in her life because she was a woman who was compelled to learn about everything and everybody. She spent much of her time traveling with James to and from the site and when he was working, she sought out the people and assisted at a mission nearby because she had some experience in n having earned her RN before marrying James.
The Randolfs preferred to eat food with fresh ingredients, and were happy away from the “supermarket” society, so Lily also spent a lot of time shopping. They felt that they were able to eat quite well in China.
James and Lily learned as much of the local Shanghai dialect as they could. In spite of never becoming fully proficient, the fact that they attempted to speak it greatly pleased the local residents- They spent much of their spare time interacting with the people of the area.
Sometimes Filtration Inc. •would put on a social affair for the expatriates in Shanghai. James and Lily were always invited. While on the island, how - ever, they always ate at the restaurant in the -factory. Contrary to what they were told at their orientation training, they found the Chinese to be gregarious and fun loving during meals. Meals were used as an opportunity to build relationships and share experiences.
Most of the Chinese people were not Communists. They' would rather ignore the political situations going on around them and get on with their lives. They were eager to learn anything they could about what Westerners could teach them. Almost without exception, they looked up to Americans and would begin to imitate them after a while. James found it very gratifying. He was also delighted with their treatment of his wife Lily, which bordered on reverence. James wondered about the reasons for this. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she, through her parents, had previously escaped Communist oppression and found a better life, which symbolized to the Chinese that there was hope for all.
James never saw a Chinese man leering at a woman, as is common in the United States. In China, sexuality was a private matter. They tended to live a simpler life than do most Westerners. Their children were treated with reverence, even doted over. Their chaotic traffic jams seemed always to be dealt with very calmly. James never observed swearing or anger, as is common in the United States. James also found that the Chinese have an attitude that they know more than Westerners do, hut that this never manifested itself a boastful way. The attitude was more that at some point in time, Westerners would come around to their way of thinking. It was almost as though they played the role of a wiser urban patriarch guiding his young country cousin during the latter's first visit to the city. See Exhibit C6-3 for more information on Chinese culture and management.
James loved to walk the floor and see what was happening in the factory. His position gave him the authority to direct actions to be taken, but often he did not have to use this authority in that way. The Chinese workers seemed to be influenced by his every action. If he would make a point to pick up trash in the parking lot, the next day he would observe that the trash had all been cleaned up. Another example was when he straightened some papers in the pigeon holes of a filing system. The next day every stack of papers was perfectly arranged. lie felt that there had never been a time when he had walked the floor and it hadn't paid off in some •vary. He found Chinese workers to be very attentive to detail.
He was often tested by the Chinese managers and workers alike, as is not uncommon in other parts of the world. He perceived that they would test his commitment, leadership, and decision-making ability. They would determine how far this manager could he pushed. These tests provided him with the opportunity to do the right thing. A case in point was when a drunken salesperson accosted a woman in a nightclub. James took him to a private place and severely chastised him.
During his assignment, he remained cognizant of the fact that one of his jobs was to make the Managing Director look good. This required him to fire a translator on the spot when the translator remarked that anyone who wanted to stay in China was stupid.
He had great admiration for the Chinese workers at the JV. They proved to be very cooperative people. They had a great deal of pride and were very loyal to their company and the industry in which they worked. James often commented that, with informed leadership, Chinese workers would be as good as workers anywhere in the world.
What James liked best, however, was his interactions with the Chinese people. Every day brought him a new experience.
The JV also had a labor union, but by comparison to the United States, the organization was extremely weak and superficial. James's only dealings with the union related to a request for donations for a retirees' party the union wanted to hold. Since the JV had no retirees and this was new ground for him, he referred them to the Managing Director.
Prior to the formation of the IV, the Secretary for the Communist Party and the Managing Director were co-equals when it came to “running the Chongming Electro Assembly company.” About 325 of the 18W employees at the JV were Communists. After James's arrival, there ax's always a question as to what would happen to the Party office, which was located adjacent to the Managing Director's office. In many ways, the Party served a function similar to that of labor unions in the United States. It represented the workers and entered into discussions related to labor relations issues. The Communist Party could be viewed as a different channel to deal with issues, and James quickly recognized them as an ally.
James's only personal experience with a government bureau was while getting his residency papers established. The rules he encountered were extremely inflexible, everything had to be just right, and no copies were allowed because the Bureau required originals. The Bureau office, which was the size of a walk-in closet in the United States, was extremely crowded, and the process required forcing one's way up through the lines to get to the table where female police officers would process the paperwork. After it was all over, he noticed that they had spelled his name wrong. He did not return to correct the mistake.
Chinese managers at the JV were considerably more educated than the workers, They had matriculated at various universities and graduated with degrees in Engineering, Management, and the like. In one case, the manager's experience and education came from his time as a career-soldier in the Army.
James observed that when Chinese managers were dealing with subordinates, decision making was very top-down. This resulted in virtually all decisions of any consequence being made by the Managing Director. James was extremely fortunate that the Managing Director appointed by the Chinese partner was willing to share his power. He and the Managing
Director developed an excellent relationship, which James consciously worked on in the firm belief that this was the key to business success in China. Toward the end of his time at the IV, James was frequently being left in charge of running the factory while the Managing Director was visiting outside friends of influence, customers, and potential customers. The only other manager that shared this distinction was the Director of Personnel.
The Personnel Department in this is as in the state-owned Chinese companies, was unusually powerful when compared to most U.S. companies with which James was familiar. It maintained the all- important employment lilies and was very connected to the Communist Party.