Having going through the class discussions about the Google Way and the Apple way of managing workers, I learned more about the "system" in almost every China company, and thus, I think that the Apple way of managing and innovation through extrinsic motivations is more suitable to be implemented in Chinese companies, comparing to the Google Way of providing intrinsic motivations.
The Chinese are used to a hierarchy system where people of lower reputation or workers of a lower position in the company are supposed to follow whatever orders that are given to them without question. Even during meetings, when the boss, director or even manager suggested some new ideas, the worker do not speak out even if he has an idea greater than all of the others. This is a total contrast with the Google Way, where everybody is supposed to be giving their own opinion. Thus, this would not be able to maximize the potential of talented workers.
Unlike the way Google is encouraging their workers to work hard, people in Chinese companies work hard solely for one reason: money. The extrinsic bonuses such as a promotion, raise in salary, etc. that a person get when he/she finishes her job perfectly is the main motivation as to why the workers are working hard. In their point of view, doing a job well done means improving the company, which brings to the point where the company earns more and so, rewards the workers. On the other hand, most workers in Google work hard in order to improve the status of the company, as they will feel that they owe the company due to all the free food, 20% free time, etc. that the company gives. Hence, I feel that the Google Way is not suitable to be implemented in Chinese companies because of the hierarchical system that the Chinese people are used to.
Now, to the second part of this journal, I would like to talk about the role of Confucianism in modern China. I will be talking about the Confucian ideology of moral values, and about people living together in harmony.
I feel that the Confucianism is just a temporary revival in modern day China. First, the idea that moral value is over money is not quite possible in modern China. People in China act in their own self interest to such an extent that they streets of China are well known for being dangerous and that people walking alone at night is almost impossible to escape from being robbed. Not only that, but in the current society, it is extremely difficult to find somebody who would encourage moral values over money. This is due to the fact that money is now the root of everything, even respect. Even though some people may argue that moral values are indeed more significant than money, but if you put a 50 dollar note on the ground and a stranger picks it up, at least 60% of the people who found the note would keep it to him/herself instead of even trying to find the owner of the money. If the person is to bring the money to a police station of ask around, most likely the police that is on duty or the other stranger being asked about the cash would simply just slide the note into his/her pocket when the founder of the money leaves. Hence I feel that the role of Confucianism in modern China can be described as "easier said than done".
Not only that, but in a survey done in year 2008 shows that China is ranked 10th among 13 major Asian economies in terms of how corrupted a nation is. On a scale of zero to ten, where 0 is the least corrupted, Singapore scored 1.13, coming in top of the list. However, China scored 7.98, which is an increase of 1.69 comparing to the previous year. China was ranked even lower than India, who scored 7.25 to come in 8th. It is evident that Confucianism is just a temporary revival in modern China as the people in China were not capable of living in harmony and have a mindset of unity. This directly leads to the fact that people in China are not willing to help the poor, which is also one of the ideologies of Confucian. This can be seen from the fact that if people in China are actually doing something to help the poor, China won't be so corrupted because some people won't be "forced" to commit illegal acts.
In conclusion, I feel that the Google Way is not suitable to be utilized in China companies as shown in the way Lenovo failed to improve their market sales after hiring a Westerner with the mindset of the Google Way. Not only that, but I also feel that Confucianism is just enjoying a temporary revival in modern China because it is obvious that the ideology of Confucianism is not working on the people's way of thinking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Your point on chinese pocketing the money is too stereotyping. You should discuss what really forces those who wants to pocket the money to take it and keep it.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, if police in china are found keeping money from acts of honesty, they will be shot(not very appealing to die over 50RMB eh?).
I like your point about corruption but you should elaborate more on why and what influences them to do so(upbringing? environment?)
THx Rain
I agree with your point that the current Google Way is really unsuitable for China's system. However, I would actually to read more about how you think that this problem can be solved for Google.
ReplyDeleteAlso, regarding your point about Chinese pocketing money, I too agree with Xia Yu that it is not a completely vaid point. This situation actually happens in almost every country. But, why is it so prominent in China? That is what I want to know.
Rong =DDD
to xiayu, i feel that it is quite obvious that the main reason why people do not give in money they find to the police because firstly, they do not have morality, which is very hard to instill in people, as mentioned in your own blog. Second, it can be explained by the word "selfish". They do not give a thought about what others might be facing because of the few dollars that they lost and nobody returned. They only think about themselves and decide to keep the money to themselves and spend it on their own. Thank You
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be the same concept if the Chinese workers work hard just to get the bonuses such as a pay bonus, while the Google employees work hard too because of the free food? They are still incentives and perks to encourage the workers. Why would the chinese employees not be used to "The Google Way" just because of this slight difference, when one is just an incentive while the other consists of perks to encourage the employees?
ReplyDeleteAlso, i slightly disagree with your statement that "it is extremely difficult to find somebody who would encourage moral values over money" nowadays. Parents in China, for one, would possibly want their children to prioritize moral values over money. If children are brought up with these moral values instilled in them since young, the future generation of Chinese would definitely become a more morally-inclined generation of people. That would indeed cause most of them to prioritize moral values instead of money, in my humble opinion.
han ying (13)