Da Mulligan franco

Quando un'azienda installa i funzionamenti in Cina sembrano essere affrontati a due scelte distinte: local andante del `', o imponendo la coltura dominante di affari della loro organizzazione.

Non è una scelta facile e non ci sono risposte definite quanto a cui l'itinerario gli porterà i risultati migliori. In assenza di una conclusione definita può trasformarsi in in una battaglia delle volontà per vedere quale coltura vincerà.

Scelga la coltura locale e sarete in una posizione per motivare più efficacemente il personale locale, ma gran parte dei funzionamenti del commercio diventerà opaco ai non-locals. Le cose otterranno fatte ma non necessariamente il senso le sedi le desidera a. Che cosa guadagnate nell'efficacia, come definito localmente, perdete nella visibilità.

Molte aziende, d'altra parte, adottano il metodo che ci è una coltura perfettamente buona all'interno della loro organizzazione, una che le ha servite bene per molti anni in molti paesi e che la Cina è differente. Queste aziende tentano di portare ognuno in conformità con questa coltura. Possono trovare che il reportage livellato di superficie ottiene più meglio ed i dati che ottengono sono ora in una disposizione che il HQ capisce, ma in esso appena non potrebbero essere i giusti dati.

O almeno gli stereotipi comunemente tenuti li conducono a questi due piani d'azione.

Nel nell'ambiente esiste una coltura corporativa mescolata che unisce il subtlety della coltura locale con l'orientamento di prestazioni dell'azienda multinazionale più tradizionale. 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