Multinational Companies in China: Navigating the Eight Common Management Pitfalls

This book explores some of the most common mistakes made by multinational companies doing business in China, in both cultural and managerial contexts. These shared mistakes could be as far-reaching as managing talent, local vs. global decision making, or could be as mundane as managing title, pay and performance. Many mistakes are rooted in a lack of understanding of the Chinese market in two areas: the unique talent and culture environment, and the immense opportunity potential. Very often, MNCs’ global or local leaders lack the ability to make discretional decisions with one-size-fits-all approaches under the cloak of global consistency, or treating a China operation as one-of-the outfits (and a small one in the world revenue pool), even though they understand the market potential in theory. MNCs have enjoyed great success in China while many others have yet to realize their opportunities. China business continues to grow, and opportunities continue to develop. This book will guide business leaders on how to avoid the most common management pitfalls in China business, and will help the capitalize on the huge opportunity that remains in this region.

Table of Contents:
Part I – The Overview Chapter One – Multinational Companies in China – An Introduction to the challenges they face and the mistakes they make  Part II – 8 Common Mistakes   Chapter Two - Managing Talent – Why attracting and retaining talent will be harder than you think  Chapter Three - Budgeting Headcount – How this common Western practice simply does not work in China  Chapter Four - Defining the Asia Pacific Region – Geographic sense does not always make business sense  Chapter Five - Managing in a Matrix – Matrix management is a violation of Confucian thinking. You can do it, but you should never just impose it   Chapter Six - Managing Titles, Salary and Performance – In scarce talent markets like China, you cannot do this the way you do in your Western country   Chapter Seven – Solving Issues Locally vs. Globally – If it is raining in New York, you don’t force people to use an umbrella in Shanghai   Chapter Eight - Managing Expatriates – This is a dynamic process that requires constant observation and tweaking. Beware the sensitivities of local colleagues  Chapter Nine – Selecting Leaders – If China has the largest population in the world, why are most multinational leaders foreigners?  Part III – Preventing Future Mistakes   Chapter Ten - Where Do We Go From Here? – What can multinationals do to make things work better in China?  Part IV – Human Resource Practices - Areas of Convergence and Divergence between China and the West  Chapter Eleven - Comparing the Latest Human Resource Management Practices in China and the West – How are they similar and how are they different? What can multinationals in China learn from Western Human Resource practices?  Epilogue – The Story of Uber and Didi Chuxing – West meets East and East wins by a mile

About the Author :
Xin Guo is President and CEO of Career International, a leading HR service company in China. Prior to joining Career International, Mr. Guo was the Managing Director for Mercer Greater China and a global senior partner. During his ten-year tenure at Mercer, Mr. Guo held various leadership positions including Asia Pacific Human Capital business leader and Deputy Head for Asia Pacific, with the responsibility of leading Asia. In the past 20 years, he has held various management positions in the consulting industry both in the US and China. Mr. Guo graduated from Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautic with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master‘s degree in Systems Engineering. He also received an MBA degree from University of San Francisco. Frank T. Gallo, Ph.D. is the founder and president of Calypso Consulting, a firm dedicated to improving the level of leadership in China. Frank has lived in China for 16 years and is the retired president of Watson Wyatt China. Frank is the author of the highly acclaimed Business Leadership in China: How to Blend Best Western Practice with Chinese Wisdom, Revised Edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2010). His second book, Chinese Professional-Global Mindset was published by PHEI in April 2013. His most recent book is The Enlightened Leader: Lessons from China on the art of executive coaching (Emerald, 2015). Frank holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Hofstra University and a Ph.D. in Organization Behavior from the Center for Applied Social Science at Boston University.

Review :
Guo and Gallo focus on mistakes multinational corporations make when setting up and operating companies in China. Targeting business leaders of multinational companies in China and at corporate headquarters, they relate common pitfalls that multinationals face in China, as well as the mistakes they make when setting up and operating in China. Citing their focus as different from studies which spotlight the cultural or behavioral side, this perspective is from the angle of human resources and talent management instead. Disclaiming the book as a manager’s manual, they shed some light on how the differences come about—the cultural background, the market development level, and the talent environment.