By Rhett Farber   

To create a company of leaders, training is not enough. Also critical are effective pay systems, daily guidance and an encouraging work environment.

In China’s international business environment, no longer is it just senior managers who require leadership skills. Mid-level managers, first-line supervisors and even project managers, program managers and product managers need skills to motivate and coach others and to make strategic and tactical plans. Creating an internal leadership pipeline starting from first-line supervisors and following through to top executives is the only viable long-term solution to meeting this rapidly increasing demand. Read the rest of “Training is not enough” or post a comment

By Frank Mulligan

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:

1. Stars hit the ground running and things seem to happen quickly. Look for solutions to problems you have been fretting about for some time, and also for problems you never even thought you had.

2. Fitting in comes easily to Stars. If you find have an instinctive level of comfort in the information you are willing to share with a new recruit, like as not you have done a good job in hiring them. Read the rest of “10 Star Signs” or post a comment

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.

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By Blake Keller 

I’m currently in the middle of a crisis. The lessons learned during this bit of trouble will certainly make me smarter, and hopefully, will help you avoid a similar situation in the future.

I’ve done business with a company for about three years. Let’s call them SH — it’s representative of their company name, and also reminds me of a certain phrase, as in “went to SH*#!” When I was Director of Engineering in China for an American company, SH was one of our preferred vendors. When I started my own company, I sent whatever work was appropriate to SH, and was quite happy.

So why the trouble? I have a good process which I follow. I know much about SH. I’ve audited them, I’ve studied them, I know the owner and the key staff. How could it have gone wrong? Read the rest of “Vendor Evaluation (or You Can’t Know Everything)” or post a comment

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 …

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