Table 9.4.Third-culture management issues in Sino-Western ventures.
Performance appraisal
American way: Prepare your case with paper documents and sell it hard
by pushing the envelope with accomplishment.
PRC way: Prepare your Zen to be judged by your father/superior by
emphasizing process not achievements.
Leadership/followership
American way: Be a team player and seek to grow out of your job by
excelling at special assignments from your boss
(self-actualize).
PRC way: Be a super team player and maintain group harmony
(selflessness) and expect to be ‘‘looked after’’ by leader.
Participation in decision-making
American way: Seek to contribute to your boss’s decisions through
suggestions, background work, consultations, and
playing devil’s advocate (all when appropriate).
PRC way: Seek to do your own job and not involve yourself in your
boss’s job; only do what is specifically requested by
your boss.
Teamwork
American way: Be a team player but push the team to excel by going
beyond your assigned tasks and helping your
teammates when appropriate.
PRC way: Be a team player and maintain harmony by not becoming
too visible (the nail that sticks up gets hammered).
Documentation and proposal-writing
American way: Prepare documentation and proposals with great care and
precision because these documents may become part of
your permanent file.
PRC way: Prepare documentation and proposals in a terse outline
form so as to minimize loss of face through Chinese-
English awkwardness and weak English vocabulary.
Presentations
American way: Prepare with great care, precision and for optimal data
impact using PowerPoint slide shows with sound and
clips because these are opportunities to be discovered
by people upstairs.
PRC way: Prepare with technical accuracy, but above all avoid loss
of face due to language and cultural disadvantage.
294 George Bear Graen