Human Resources Management in China
eBook - ePub

Human Resources Management in China

Cases in HR Practice

Doug Davies, Liang Wei, Doug Davies, Liang Wei

Share book
  1. 226 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Human Resources Management in China

Cases in HR Practice

Doug Davies, Liang Wei, Doug Davies, Liang Wei

Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

Aimed at people interested in management and Human Resources in China, this book is a collection of original and researched case studies on a variety of HR issues occurring in Chinese organisations, both privately-owned and part of multi-national enterprises, and how these issues are resolved by management. The impacts of the solutions in the organisations are also discussed. Preceded by a brief review of the Chinese and Western literature on this problem, the case is then presented and concluded by an analysis of the situations and solutions implemented.

  • Based on original research, conducted in-the-field
  • Provides actual case-studies based on actual organisations
  • Integrates a theoretical perspective and analysis of the cases to assist in a broad understanding of the issues discussed

Frequently asked questions

How do I cancel my subscription?
Simply head over to the account section in settings and click on “Cancel Subscription” - it’s as simple as that. After you cancel, your membership will stay active for the remainder of the time you’ve paid for. Learn more here.
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlego’s features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan you’ll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is Human Resources Management in China an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access Human Resources Management in China by Doug Davies, Liang Wei, Doug Davies, Liang Wei in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Business & Human Resource Management. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Year
2011
ISBN
9781780632223
1

Introduction

The role of human resources in China has been developing over the last 30 years as China has moved from a command economy to a more open market environment. Although managers in many state-owned and private organisations managed their staff effectively, it was more at a functional and operational level than strategically. Loyalty between management and employees tended to be a stabilising factor in the working relationship.
With the opening of the economy to multinational organisations, the focus of the human resource discipline has been changing, with greater importance being placed on staff retention, motivation, performance and careers. As is demonstrated by the cases presented in this book, many employees are now more prepared to move to other organisations if better compensation, career paths, and training, among other job-related aspects, are provided. One of the major concerns of many companies now appears to be retaining staff with the appropriate and necessary skills.

Method used

This book is a collection of cases which demonstrate the changing nature, acceptance and growing importance of human resources in the newly developed and developing economy of China. This differentiation is made as it is considered that the eastern part of China is as well-developed as many Western countries, and the government is developing the inland areas of the country quite rapidly, through encouragement of investment and training of the population.
The cases in this book cover a range of human resource problems in private, state-owned and joint venture operations, with in many instances solutions which have been devised within the Chinese context or modified from other sources. All of the case studies in this book (with one exception) are based on original and empirical research, and were collected from a number of interviews held in various parts of China in 2008 and 2009.
The format of the interviews followed a semi-structured series of questions in which background information about the organisation was asked, followed by a specific problem or problems that had occurred relating to management or the human resources (HR) function. The solutions adopted by the company to the problems were then given and the results of these solutions, both positive and negative, were provided to the interviewers. The approach taken was to present a proactive stance on the part of the organisation to solving problems, to demonstrate how in many instances the HR practices are becoming very innovative and culturally specific. In a number of the cases, the policies may have been developed by the parent company in another country, but appropriately changed to suit local circumstances.
Despite the structured format of the questions, however, the respondents presented much material that potentially related to other questions. As mentioned below, this then required the editors to re-organise much of the material to ensure that it was presented in a logical sequence.
Cities visited over the course of the research included Shanghai, Beijing, Zhuhai, Xi’an, Changsha and Ningbo, and interviewees ranged from general managers to HR managers and other management or associated staff. Some of the interviews were in English, but many were in Chinese and needed to be translated. All the interviews were recorded and once translated, initially transcribed with the assistance of ‘Dragon’ software.
As much of the information collected was potentially confidential, the names of the organisations in all instances have been changed to ensure privacy and to protect the company (and the interviewee, if considered necessary). Also, the specific location of a number of the companies was altered, and a broad geographical location was given for these businesses.
The organisations consisted of a variety of solely Chinese enterprises, as well as co-owned and multinational organisations operating in China, demonstrating the more open market policy being advocated in the country. The cases are of varying length but do provide an overview of many of the problems that are occurring in the Chinese HR context, as well as giving a number of the innovative solutions that are being tried.
All of the case studies in this book were written equally by Doug Davies and Liang Wei, with the exception of Chapter 7, which was written by Professor Yuhua Xie of Hunan University, Changsha, and translated by Liang Wei, and Chapter 15, which was written by Doug Davies, Liang Wei and Zhang Xinyan.

Literature review

Each of the cases has a brief introductory review of the literature, with the exception of Chapter 7. Chinese literature has been generally used in this book to provide some framework to the cases presented. This is not because of the shortage of literature in the west covering many of the cases discussed, but because of the limited exposure of Chinese research into HRM in many countries outside China. There was some discussion regarding this approach, but the authors thought it most appropriate to broaden the exposure of Chinese academics.

Issues discussed in the studies

There are 15 case studies of varying lengths included in this book, beginning with Chapter 2. Many HR issues are discussed, as well as some general management concerns to the companies, where raised by the interviewees.
Chapter 2 examines the need for a succession plan to be provided in an organisation, and gives the framework that was used to implement an effective and viable succession system due to the staff turnover occurring in the city of Shanghai. The issue of staff shortages is also raised.
Chapter 3 looks at the problems experienced by a furniture exporting company based in Ningbo, and the difficulties experienced by management in obtaining suitably qualified staff to work within the organisation. The issue of staff taking responsibility for their work, compensation and training issues are also mentioned.
Chapter 4 raises a number of HR issues occurring at a joint venture operation in central China. Problems discussed include staff development, cross-cultural problems, recruitment, remuneration and performance management, as well as industrial relations matters. Solutions that are being implemented are also discussed.
The airline industry is growing rapidly in China. Chapter 5 examines the relationships between the various stakeholders, and the difficulties in devising a suitable and viable airline and related organisational structure. Coupled with this is the difficulty in obtaining and retaining suitable staff, safety and occupational health matters, and employee loyalty.
Chapter 6 studies the HR impact of a merger and acquisition of two United States based companies with subsidiaries in China, and the effect on the culture of the acquired company. Training, staff reduction, recruitment, leadership, expatriate issues and industrial relations changes are raised.
Chapter 7 examines a number of performance and compensation initiatives that were introduced into a previously state-owned enterprise and the concurrent problems arising due to the acceptance of the change processes by staff. Performance-related pay is proposed, and the study provides more questions than answers on cultural change practices.
The balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used as a tool to more accurately assess performance within organisations. Chapter 8 examines the role of the BSC and how it reduced duplication of duties, thus improving efficiency, enhanced training, and focused on better staff alignment and improved communication and customer service.
Chapter 9 examines the problems of staff turnover following a change of management in a multinational company, with its headquarters located in Shanghai. Major recruitment was needed to ensure that the staff complement was maintained, with an emphasis placed on educating staff in the company’s core values through more effective induction programs and cultural change initiatives.
The service industry in many countries experiences difficulties in retaining staff. The reasons include lack of job security, limited career paths, and perception of potential employees regarding the industry. Chapter 10 looks at a number of initiatives undertaken by a hotel in Zhuhai to ensure the motivation and retention of valued staff.
Chapter 11 examines the difficulties in attracting suitable staff to a business incubator in a small regional city in Guangdong Province. The initiatives used to attract suitable staff to the city and to provide training for existing residents, supported by the local government, thus raising the economic standing of the city are given.
Chapter 12 focuses on a Chinese-owned organisation which has had substantial success in retaining and motivating staff by adopting a caring approach to its employees and providing them with a safe and attractive working environment. Low turnover, high retention and high motivation have been the results coming from this approach.
With the increasing demand for staff with skills and qualifications in engineering and other technologies, many companies have difficulty in retaining staff due to the shortage of suitable employees. The company discussed in Chapter 13 is using remuneration as an incentive, with mixed success, through gain-sharing to attract and retain talented employees. Equity issues are an aspect that needs further consideration, however.
Chapter 14 examines the cultural problems that a foreign company experiences when it becomes involved with a Chinese organisation. The emphasis is on changing the culture, especially as it refers to safety and financial re-organisation. Resistance to the changes and solutions are given, which are adaptable to companies experiencing similar problems.
Compensation strategies are a popular tool in motivating and retaining staff within an organisation. Chapter 15 examines the changes in evaluating and remunerating staff in a manufacturing workshop located near Shanghai, and the different incentive systems used, and the problems that were encountered in the expansion of the business with it using stock options and gain-sharing plans.
Staff motivation and the relationship to performance and compensation are the core areas examined in Chapter 16, in which the organisation designs and implements a reward-based performance system. This system has the effect of improving staff behaviour, reducing customer complaints and generally improving the profitability through increased customer business.
The concluding chapter examines some of the trends occurring, and briefly examines a recurring issue, noted throughout the research and discussion with the interviewees, of skilled staff shortages in the most populous country in the world.
2

Succession planning in the Chinese subsidiary of a multinational enterprise

Introduction

Succession planning in an organisation results in a plan being devised to locate potential successors, review their readiness for the position and develop them for an appropriate role within the organisation (Evan et al., 2002). Unfortunately, despite it being an essential HR planning tool, succession planning tends to be only a second thought in many organisations...

Table of contents