By William Dodson

I went to a farewell party a couple weeks ago that was very touching. Jim*, the Western GM of a former client that is now a close friend, invited me to the banquet to see off the company’s former production manager, a local Suzhounese named Betsy. I had participated as instructor of one of the training sessions I had presented to the company when the manager had first joined the company, four years before. Once, years later, when the manager was visiting the company’s headquarters near Chicago, I had her over to my home for a dinner party to meet the neighbors and other local Chinese friends. She enjoyed the gathering very much.

The night of the farewell banquet four tables of forty co-workers in all had gathered to say their farewell, about twenty percent of the entire staff. I came with the HR manager of the company, also a close friend. I very much appreciated the opportunity the GM and the HR manager had given me as a friend and former Read the rest of “Belonging in China” or post a comment

In China hiring is job number one. But what about the times when you have gone through the process and have actually found someone you think is a strong fit for your company. How can you be sure that they are the right one?

What are the signs you did a good job in the hiring process and got yourself a Star, or at least a good employee:

Read the rest of “10 Star Signs” or post a comment >>

Chapter 7 Getting Your Team to Act Like a Team (part 2) 

By Yue-er Luo, Erik Duerring & William Byham

Stage Four: Insist That Teams Develop a Charter

A team charter, driven by the leader with participation from all team members, will formalize the team’s:
• Purpose.
• Accountabilities.
• Goals.
• Ground rules.

Spending time up front discussing the charter will pay off later by reducing miscommunication and wasted time in meetings.

Possible Elements of a Team Charter
- What is the team’s purpose?
- What is the team’s final product?
- How will the team measure its success? Read the rest of “Leadership Success in China: An Expatriate’s Guide” or post a comment

Chapter 7 Getting Your Team to Act Like a Team (part 1)

By Yue-er Luo, Erik Duerring & William Byham

Teamwork in China is a challenge. This might surprise those who think of Asian cultures as community-minded and harmonious, but in China the reality is different. Traditionally, this society was not based on a broad sense of community so much as along family and clan lines. Teamwork within families is commonplace, but teamwork among otherwise unrelated and unconnected individuals has little historical precedent. Also, given the scarce resources mentality that has been discussed earlier in these pages, there is little natural tendency for teamwork. All this means that teamwork does not come naturally in China at either the junior or senior level.

Young people born in the 1980s and later (known as the “Post ’80s,” “Little Emperors,” or sometimes as the “Praised Generation” because of all the positive reinforcement they received while growing up) now occupy the junior levels of most office environments in China. They tend to operate individually, Read the rest of “Leadership Success in China: An Expatriate’s Guide” or post a comment

By Mike Threatt

Firms coming into China always include research into local market conditions and human resources in their business plan.
Unfortunately, once a business is established and operating efficiently within the local system many of these firms abandon those resources which were responsible for their initial success and substitute their own (western) corporate hiring practices.
This dysfunctional cycle has become SOP for large firms and is one of the major reasons extended growth does not live up to the expectations of initial projections.

1. A Fortune 500 firm seeks to establish production/branch offices/outlets in Asia.
2. The company’s advance team makes contact with local partners and, through these partners, local government and licensing entities. Read the rest of “Losing Out on HR” or post a comment