Newsletter Week 43

Dear Reader,

China Expert Guest Blog

Talent Management Insights for China

The secrets for attracting and retaining talent are not mysterious or complicated. They are within the grasp of all foreign-invested and domestic companies in China. Manpower China developed a Workforce Optimization Model (see graph V) to provide insights, based on over 12 years operating in China, which gives five practical steps for successful employee attraction and retention. It is vital that organizations view the five areas as a holistic, integrated solution; neglecting even one of the areas will weaken the solution considerably. The insights are listed below and will be individually explored further:

1. Create a learning organization
2. Appoint competent leaders
3. Establish an appropriate organization and culture for China
4. Provide competitive compensation and benefits packages
5. Select the right people.

Using the Balanced Scorecard for Strategy Execution in China

More than half of the largest organisations in the world have begun using balanced scorecards to improve the way they organise their business. In the first of a two-part series in China Staff, Irv Beiman and Yongling Sun of eGate Consulting Shanghai discuss how the balanced scorecard methodology can be applied to workplaces in China.

Foreign invested enterprises are facing rapidly increasing competition in China. Entrepreneurial Chinese companies learn fast, have a lower cost base, and usually have better guanxi in the China market. What is your strategy for success in China? How will you compete? Why should your market buy from you?

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

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China Expert Guest Blog

Legal Concerns of Foreign Companies in China

More than four years working for the Chinese law firm Wang Jing & Co., assisting foreign companies in their business activities in China, I have been frequently asked about the major legal concerns that foreign companies in or entering in the Chinese market must deal with. In surveys, foreign businesses operating in China often identify legal issues as among their biggest challenges; while many are idiosyncratic, what concerns are most frequently encountered? Below, I will attempt to identify and share my perspective on the key legal issues in the fields of commercial transactions, corporate activities and intellectual property rights protection that many companies face. 

Commercial Transactions – the Need for Due Diligence
The first step in China for many foreign companies is commercial in nature. China has become the workshop of the world for numerous products, and is at the same time an attractive – albeit daunting – market. However, legal issues frequently arise from such transactions.

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China Expert Guest Blog

Communication in Chinese Offices

China fascinates the West. Not just different and more than merely exotic, Westerners see Chinese as “mysterious,” a people somehow unlike any other, a puzzle we-can’t-seem-to-solve … or understand.

Chinese people are not mysterious. Different yes, very much so, but they can be understood. The Chinese puzzle can be solved. All you need is patience, a willingness to do some hard work and enough common sense to treat the Chinese as people, not mysteries.

This booklet is in no way a criticism of Chinese culture! It simply looks at the source of Chinese attitudes towards communication and how Chinese culture affects business communication.

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China Expert Guest Blog

Translation Business in Shanghai

A good simultaneous interpreter in Shanghai can earn up to RMB500 an hour. I teased a friend of mine (who was one) that she was having a dream job, and shouldn't be quitting. She would take on 1 to 2 assignments a month, lasting 5 days max, and earn between 7,000 to 10,000 RMB a month. By the average local standards, 10,000RMB a month is more than enough to live comfortably. The remainder of the 25 days in a month, she spends it doing the things she likes. She finally calls in quits one day citing the "pressure".

Pressure? What pressure? What’s so difficult in repeating what someone just said. Shouldn't be too difficult if you are fluent in both languages? Right?