China: Managing a Diverse and Multicultural Workforce in Multinationals in a Growth Economy

This case suggests a system of understanding the Chinese employees of a typical multinational company operating in China, based on attitudinal, behavioral, and psychological factors. The study particularly focuses on Chinese staff members of multinationals in terms of their career ambitions, consumer habits, and attitudes to each other, to foreigners, and foreign companies in China generally. Chinese staff, the author argues (based on more than ten years of observation and a detailed survey he conducted), can be categorized as in one of three main types: Chuppies, Westernized and Traditional, or “Mandarins.” They can be a mix of two or three of these types and their behaviors can evolve between types over time. Understanding these differences can help the non-Chinese manager and student of HR issues in China to operate more effectively and gain more insights – as the author himself discovered in the process of researching this case.

China: Managing a Diverse and Multicultural Workforce in Multinationals in a Growth Economy

This case suggests a system of understanding the expatriate employees of a typical multinational company operating in China, based on attitudinal, behavioral, and psychological factors. The study particularly focuses on expatriate managers and staff in multinationals' career ambitions, consumer habits, and attitudes to their organizations and the challenge of working and living in China generally. Expatriate staff working in China, the author argues (based on more than ten years of observation and a detailed survey), can be categorized as in one of three main types: The Gilded Cage, The Half-Way House, and The Localised Westerner. They can be a mix of two or three of these types and their behaviors can evolve between types over time. Understanding these differences can help the non-Chinese manager without China experience and the student of HR issues in China to operate more effectively and gain more insights – as the author himself discovered in the process of researching this case.