The Chinese Transformation of Corporate Culture

Colin Hawes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780415697064
• eBook ISBN: 9781136311178
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

In recent years, Chinese policymakers and corporate leaders have focused significant attention on the concept of corporate culture. This book will reveal the political, social and economic factors behind the enormous current interest in corporate culture in China and provide a wide range of case studies that focus on how large corporations like Haier, Huawei and Mengniu have attempted to transform their cultures, and how they represent themselves as complying with the Chinese government's interpretation of "positive" corporate culture.

Hawes demonstrates how the foreign concept of corporate culture has been re-defined in China to fit the Chinese political, social and cultural context. He examines how this re-definition of corporate culture reflects a uniquely Chinese conception of the purposes and social functions of the capitalist business corporation and how the Chinese Communist Party's active promotion of "socialist" corporate culture evidences a shift in the Party's identity towards a business-friendly champion of corporate and economic development.

This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian Studies, Business and Management and Chinese studies.

Part B
Techniques and vehicles for transforming corporate culture

In the first part of this book, I demonstrated the enormous impact of the concept of corporate culture in China, especially since 2001. At the same time, I noted that in transplanting this foreign concept, Chinese government officials, academics, and corporate managers have modified the definition of corporate culture to include elements of political and social responsibility, to emphasize the importance of culture as cultivation of managers and employees, and to incorporate their interpretations of traditional Chinese and revolutionary values. As a result, the stated aims of corporate culture transformation in China generally include not just improving corporate performance and employee productivity but also transforming the corporation into a socially responsible, politically compliant corporate citizen, and its employees into civilized and self-fulfilled human beings.

These aims are certainly lofty, but how have large Chinese corporations attempted to bring about this cultural transformation? What kinds of techniques have they used to try to alter employees’ cultural values? What is the role of corporate CEOs and senior management in the cultural transformation process? Chapter 3 gives an overview of the various propaganda methods, some expected and others quite unexpected, adopted by Chinese corporations to spread their stated values among their employees. Chapter 4 focuses on corporate magazines, which in the case of many Chinese corporations appear to fulfill both practical and “spiritual” functions for employees and reveal some of the complexities of implementing corporate culture. Chapter 5 demonstrates the important role of corporate CEOs (and corporate Party Secretaries) in promoting a distinctively Chinese set of corporate cultural values both within their firms and outwards to the wider society. Finally, Chapter 6 shows the key function played by incentives, both financial and non-financial, in altering the behavior of employees to fit each firm’s espoused values.

3
Corporate culture propaganda campaigns

Techniques for implementing positive cultural values within Chinese firms

Once the cultural values and other core concepts of the corporation are formulated, the next stage is to implement them throughout the firm. In theory, if the process of formulating these values has been a truly collaborative venture involving as many employees as possible, it should not be difficult to enlist these same employees to publicize the new values and embody them in their own behavior (Zhang and Pan 2007: 134–35). Realistically, however, in any large organization there will be major swaths of the workforce who remain unaware of and uninterested in the cultural change program happening in their midst. Or they may simply retain a different vision of the firm’s values based on a prior economic model such as worker socialism. This means that the firm’s management will have to undertake a large-scale, ongoing campaign to propagate the new version of the firm’s values as widely as possible, and even more important, to get as many employees as possible to internalize those values and manifest them in their speech and behavior. This is where promotional techniques come into the picture.

Even when this process is complete – which may take many years – it does not mean that the firm will automatically perform better, as both the firm and its external environment are constantly evolving, and certain values that were appropriate at one stage of development may no longer apply at a later stage. Therefore, successful firms must build adaptability into their corporate culture program, so that employees at any level can propose modifications of values or techniques if they truly believe those modifications are necessary to improve the firm’s competitiveness (Zhang and Pan 2007: 136–37). In other words, there must be some kind of feedback function built into the system to allow management to evaluate whether the values are having a positive effect or are actually hindering the corporation’s performance (Ouchi 1981: 261–68).

Techniques for propagating values and bringing about cultural change

The techniques adopted by large Chinese corporations to bring about desired cultural change throughout their workforce can be divided into a number of overlapping categories. These include: 1 internal propaganda programs, such as training sessions, in-house manuals, corporate declarations and songs; 2 corporate stories, myths and images, especially those by or about employees, including employee-produced posters and cartoons and CEO speeches and sayings; 3 social and cultural activities and celebrations to build group solidarity, such as sports and intellectual/cultural contests, and model-employee awards; 4 creating corporate identity systems, including logos, colors, and other meaningful positive symbols of the firm; and 5 encouraging feedback from employees and building a learning organization. The overall objective is to create an environment in which employees simply cannot avoid constant exposure to both the firm’s explicitly stated values and the behavioral embodiment of those values in their colleagues’ work and actions. Both direct and indirect pressure is exerted on every employee to embrace the values and modify their own behavior to fit in with the group ethos.

1 Internal propaganda: training programs, manuals, declarations and songs

Most large Chinese corporations have established training programs or study groups for new and existing employees, at which the corporate values, mission and spirit are discussed, concrete examples are given, and employees are expected to provide suggestions on how they might apply the values in their own work. Some firms have set up what they call “universities” or “academies” to train their employees, and one of the core programs offered by these universities is corporate culture training.¹ An increasing number of firms have also produced detailed “corporate culture manuals” that contain explanations of the firm’s values, with case studies applying these values to different areas of work, along with rules of etiquette and behavior where specific situations that employees may face are identified and the appropriate response for each situation is set out with reference to the broader firm values (Li 2007: 432–56; Jincheng Anthracite Mining Group 2011; Mengniu Group 2011b). One such manual, produced by the Xinkuang (New Mine) Group, a major mining firm based in Shandong Province, contains the following sections: corporate logo, flag and symbols; profile of the corporation; corporate oath; corporate spirit, values, philosophy and objectives (with explanations); and rules for employee behavior (with a rhyming poem appended summarizing the basic ethical principles for employees) (Li 2007: 446–52).

Xinkuang Group’s rules for employee behavior include moralistic exhortations such as: “In your every word and action you are representing the Corporation’s image, and you should behave reasonably and in a civilized manner”; “In society you should be a good citizen who respects law and social order; in the Corporation, you should be a hard-working employee who respects the firm; at home, you should be a good family member showing respect for your parents and love for your children.” The rules also include more specific behavioral requirements such as: “When visiting the office of another employee, you must first knock on the door and wait for permission before entering”; “When you enter working areas or office areas, you are not permitted to smoke; during work days and in office areas you are not permitted to drink alcohol, and you are forbidden from coming to work or participating in meetings after you have drunk alcohol; when attending meetings, you should turn off your mobile phone or set it to silent ring” (Li 2007: 451).

While such manuals and study sessions may be useful for getting new employees up to speed on the company’s culture, employees will quickly forget the lessons learned unless there are constant reminders and repetition of the values. They may easily revert to “negative” behaviors such as laziness, tardiness, and lack of attention to quality. So besides their formal training programs, most corporations also adopt some kind of blanket propaganda approach to ensure that all employees are unavoidably confronted with the corporate values several times each day. Big character posters or wall paintings listing the values and other core slogans are displayed at high-visibility locations throughout the firm’s various offices, factories, meeting places, and entrances, and they may also be posted on a constantly repeating loop on the firm’s website, accompanied by inspiring pictures of hard-working and contented employees and managers. Perhaps the only difference from the revolutionary propaganda techniques of earlier decades is that the acceptable values have a more contemporary, market-based slant.²

Some corporations also give their employees cards with the values and mission printed on them, and employees must carry these cards constantly, and refer to them whenever they are not sure how to address a tricky corporate situation. Such cards may also double as corporate identity cards, or as smart cards that can be used to purchase items in the company’s staff canteens or stores (Du 2010).

Posters, websites and identity cards ensure that employees are surrounded by the corporate values every day, and whether they consciously read them or not, the values will doubtless register in their subconscious minds. However, memorization and repetition of corporate values has an even stronger impact, and some firms require their employees to recite “declarations” or “oaths” containing the values and ideals of the firm every morning and evening, almost like a religious ritual. Tengen Group, one of China’s largest privately controlled electrical instrument manufacturers, pioneered in China the technique of communal recitation of the Tengen Declaration, and it has since been praised and imitated by numerous other firms, both large and small. The Tengen Declaration contains an interesting mix of practical and moral exhortations:

Each new day is full of hope.
Our lives must have purpose,
And our work must be well planned.
Today’s work must be finished today:
We must not waste any precious time in our lives.
Let us employ our determined will to conquer difficulties and correct bad habits,
And let us use our industrious sweat to create a glorious future.
As self-improving and self-confident Tengen employees,
The ideals in our hearts will surely be realized!

(Tengen Group 2011f)³

Besides the Chinese text of the Declaration, Tengen’s website also includes a promotional video of its employees reciting the Declaration in unison. The video cuts in sequence from offices to labs and factory floors, where all the employees stand in orderly rows, dressed in suits or company uniforms, and enthusiastically parrot the words to the camera (Tengen Group 2000).

An even more uplifting example of a declaration is that of the Xinkuang Group, which brings to mind the kinds of oaths of loyalty that might be uttered by blood brothers in a martial arts novel:

Corporate Oath: We stand here at the foot of Mount Tai, on the banks of the Yellow River, facing the sun as it slowly rises in the East, and we solemnly declare: We are the glorious employees of Xinkuang Group. We love our country and we are devoted to Xinkuang. With utter sincerity and unity, with high aspirations and creativity, working in tune with our environment and society, through fierce competition we will refine ourselves into a strong and determined team. Let us use our wisdom and integrity to mine [coal] that will provide light and warmth, and will help us achieve our strategic objective of becoming a larger and stronger enterprise. With 10,000 hearts beating as one we bravely advance into the future!

(Li 2007: 447)

Coal mining has probably never sounded so noble. While daily recitation is certainly one of the best ways to memorize and internalize values statements, there is some incongruity in using this age-old rote-learning method in hi-tech corporations like Tengen that claim to be encouraging innovative and creative solutions for their customers. Indeed, one of Tengen’s other slogans, found on its home page, is “Innovation and competitiveness are what motivate Tengen people to grow and make progress” (Tengen Group 2011e). Merely memorizing a set of abstract values certainly does not mean that employees will then apply those values in creative and imaginative ways to real-life situations. There is also a risk that the constant repetition will cause resentment and apathy among the workforce. The author recalls one such example when staying in a Beijing apartment block in early 2008. Every few days, the sounds of monotonous chanting would emanate from a hairdresser and beauty parlor on the ground floor. Listening more closely, one could make out the content – lofty sentiments about being delighted to put the customers’ needs first and thrilled to maintain excellent hygiene standards – but the listless staff forced to recite these “values” were clearly in no mood to put them into practice.

To avoid these drawbacks and make generalized values more personally meaningful to employees, most large Chinese corporations adopt other, more subtle tools besides the blunt instruments of memorization and values training sessions. One such tool is the corporate song.

Corporate songs

A surprising number of large Chinese corporations have introduced corporate songs to express the firm’s values in musical form. The songs are performed at all major corporate events and ceremonies, and in most cases the corporation will have an in-house massed choir drawn from among the employees to lead the singing. Some corporations post their corporate songs as sound files and/or sheet music images on their websites, presumably for employees to download and practice in their spare time.⁴ The tunes tend to be rousing, march-type themes, often borrowed from or modeled on revolutionary songs of earlier decades, but with new lyrics more relevant to the corporate era. In other words, corporations are happy to co-opt the uplifting and fervent style of Communist revolutionary music and the patriotic associations of the tunes, while retooling them to focus on the specific firm’s values and the need to work together to make a profit.

One representative example is the corporate song of the Guanghui Group, a privately controlled conglomerate based in Xinjiang Province. It is set to the well-known tune “March of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.”⁵ It contains noble phrases such as:

Guanghui is our stage
On which we can display our youthful talents.
With our singing we tell the world about our miracles,
And with our wisdom we create the future …
Fearlessly we mold the spirit of Guanghui’s employees;
We are the generation that will build a new century.

(Guanghui Group 2005c)

Using music to spread the firm’s values among employees is at least more entertaining than simple memorization, and may foster a deeper emotional connection to those values due to the nostalgic associations of the melodies. However, having a song composed and performed still does not solve the problem of how employees will creatively apply the values in their daily work. More promising in this respect is the way in which many Chinese firms have encouraged their staff to produce images and write stories that depict the firm’s values being applied to real work situations in a vivid, moving, humorous or arresting way.

2 Corporate stories, myths and images: applying values to concrete situations

Firms such as Haier, Baosteel and others hold regular competitions for staff to draw cartoons, paint pictures, or write their own sayings to promote the firm’s latest set of values. In the process, rather than simply being passive recipients of those values in training sessions, employees take a more active role in spreading these values to others. They also start thinking about the values more creatively and internalizing them. Some of the corporate sayings thought up by Baosteel employees include: “There are no poor quality customers: there is only poor quality service”; and “Our products reveal our values” (Baosteel Group 2009). These slogans may be conventional platitudes, but by rewarding employees for thinking them up, the firm does at least give these employees a sense of achievement and ownership of the values, rather than imposing the values upon them from above.

Likewise, Haier Group gets its employees to create cartoons and other images based on the firm’s latest cultural values, and these images are exhibited around Haier’s workspaces and on its website. One cartoon, by Chen Yan of Haier’s Wuhan division, illustrates the slogan “Only by innovating can we add value to existing resources.” It shows a chick that has just emerged from its eggshell on a rainy day and has modified half of its eggshell into an umbrella. Here the employee artist has effectively used humor to get the message across, something that will, it is hoped, attract other employees to read and internalize it.⁶

While Chen Yan’s example uses a modern cartoon style, other employees prefer to present their contemporary business message using traditional Chinese calligraphic styles. One example, by Xiao Xun of Haier’s commercial air-conditioner division, transcribes the slogan “Haier’s way is the way of innovation” in archaic, but visually appealing, seal script calligraphy.⁷ It is interesting to see the juxtaposition of the ancient art of brush and seal calligraphy with the modern corporate public rela...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction The corporate culture phenomenon in China
• The theory and politics of corporate culture in China
• Techniques and vehicles for transforming corporate culture
• Bibliography
• Index