Por Mulligan franco

Cuando una compañía instala operaciones en China aparecen ser hechas frente con dos opciones distintas: local que va del `', o imponiendo la cultura dominante del negocio de su organización.

No es una opción fácil, y no hay respuestas netas en cuanto a las cuales la ruta le traerá los mejores resultados. En ausencia de una conclusión definida puede convertirse en una batalla de las voluntades para ver qué cultura ganará.

Elija la cultura local y usted estará en una posición para motivar el personal local más con eficacia, pero de las operaciones del negocio llegará a ser mucho opaco a los no-locals. Las cosas conseguirán hechas pero la manera las jefaturas las desea no no necesariamente a. Qué usted gana en eficacia, según lo definido localmente, usted pierde en visibilidad.

Muchas compañías, por otra parte, toman el acercamiento que hay una cultura perfectamente buena dentro de su organización, una que las ha servido bien por muchos años en muchos países, y que China no es ningún diferente. Estas compañías procuran traer a todos conforme a esta cultura. Pueden encontrar que el reportage llano superficial consigue mejor, y los datos que consiguen ahora estén en un formato que el HQ entienda, solamente ellos apenas no pudieran ser los datos derechos.

O por lo menos los estereotipos comúnmente llevados a cabo nos conducen a estos dos panoramas.

En el del mundo real existe una cultura corporativa mezclada que combine la delicadeza de la cultura local con la orientación del funcionamiento de la compañía multinacional más tradicional. Finding that blend is an eternal quest, and nobody I know thinks that they have achieved it. Many of these people are aiming for the sun but getting to the moon is good enough.

Retail Research

Then along comes Dr Jos Gamble of Royal Holloway, University of London. He has just conducted research on the retail industry in China, in conjunction with the ERSA. His conclusions are not the usual bromides about thinking globally, and acting locally. There is a welcome depth, and a plain-speaking tone.

He essentially says that China is much like any other market, and that adjustments should really only be made for institutional features, like the labor market. Other than that it is business as usual. You operate as you do overseas, except when there is a specific reason why you can’t, like a law or a deeply ingrained practice.

It’s a bit of a relief when someone just says it out like that.

In the retail sector, this approach equates to replicating exactly the store procedures, employment relations and customer service standards of the parent company. Dr. Gamble studied both Japanese and UK firms and found that they used the same processes, and looked for the same outcomes, in almost all cases. But for some issues, like better customer service, they used a different approach to achieve the same outcome.

Japanese companies operating in China were more prescriptive and detailed in their way of dealing with customers than the UK-owned stores, which encouraged workers to adapt behaviour they used in everyday life. Either approach seems like a good idea to reduce staff turnover. Control over the working environment is a major motivating factor in China.

Dr. Gamble concludes that: “Most of the world’s major global retail firms are desperate to grab a slice of the largest and most rapidly growing emerging market. All the evidence suggests that, whilst it may be necessary to adapt to some extent to local conditions, time-tested management practices actually translate well across cultures.” 

His research was based on interviews with management and staff in eight Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, as well as key players in the UK and Japan. He was interested in how global organisations transfer management practices and retail concepts to their overseas subsidiaries.

The retail environment is different from most others, for sure, but you could probably make the same conclusions for any industry in China. It may well be that Dr. Gamble’s advice is applicable only to stores and malls.

If it is not then it tells us that overseas companies operating in China should make all attempts to introduce their own culture to their operations here, except when there are specific barriers that cannot be overcome, such as law or a custom.

Now, that’s cleared things up a bit.

Frank Mulligan, Talent Software