j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

1/24

International Journal of Training and Development 9:4ISSN 1360-3736

232 International Journal of Training and Development

2005 The Author. Journal Compilation 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ,UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UK and Malden, USAIJTDInternational Journal of Training and Development1360-3736Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 200520059

4232255Articles

Management of corporate culture

r Crystal Zhao, 130-740 Springland Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 6L8 Canada. Email: [email protected]

Management of corporateculture through localmanagers training in foreign

companies in China: aqualitative analysis

Crystal L. Zhao

Corporate culture is a complex phenomenon in foreign compa-nies located in the Peoples Republic of China. For the manage-ment team of an international enterprise, it is a challenging taskto manage cultural differences. Education and training providedto local managers might be one of the important solutions.

Therefore, this study explores the effects of local managers edu-cation and training on corporate culture in foreign companies inChina. Using qualitative research, this paper presents differenttraining forms existing in foreign companies. Furthermore, thetraining in general in terms of establishment of corporate cul-ture was evaluated. General training is classified as formal andinformal training or coaching in accordance with training pur-poses. Formal training refers to training that is indispensable tothe survival and development of the corporation, while infor-mal training is concerned with the training that happens with-out deliberate design or purposes. The two kinds of training candevelop local managers in a complementary way. It is arguedthat these elements exert a complementary influence on the cor-porate culture with an emphasis on values and rituals.

1. Introduction

Local managers undertake an important position in a foreign enterprise in the Chinesephysical environment, although expatriates might shape the main values and beliefs

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

2/24


233

2005 The Author.Journal Compilation 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

of corporate culture due to their dual roles in management. Local managers bear thegreatest responsibility for the presentation and application of those values and beliefsin management practices, because they not only assist expatriates to make a successfuldelivery of the international standards and procedures required for a competitivemarket, but also manage the local staff who may not be familiar with the relativelynew operation of a foreign company. In other words, they need to help expatriates tobuild a proper corporate culture in order to meet the goals of the company, and at thesame time to manage local staff with their awareness of the local tradition and culture.

Such a challenge requires local managers to adapt themselves culturally to the newoperation in the first place through a change in their management styles and behav-iour. Then they can manage local staff and integrate individuals into the corporateculture by employing different but appropriate approaches.

A problem arises here: how to get qualified local managers with such a demandingjob description? Delivery of training provided to local managers could be one of theimportant solutions. The effectiveness of training and coaching not only depends onthe needs, the policies and the situation of a company, but also relies on how localmanagers perceive them and apply them in their practical jobs. The interpretation ofcorporate culture and management concepts and styles of foreign investing countriesby local managers could be different from foreign managers. Thus some problems are

likely to exist, and caution is needed during the transfer of knowledge and culture.The evaluation of local managers training could shed some light on the establishmentof corporate culture.

However, there are few studies focused on this topical area. The interrelationshipbetween the corporate culture and the workshop training of local managers remainsa vital area for exploration and development. Furthermore, the promising future offoreign investment in China, especially after Chinas entry into the WTO, strengthensthe need for a detailed and deep investigation in this field. Therefore, the main anddirect purpose of this study aims at filling this gap through exploring the impact oflocal managers training upon corporate culture in foreign companies in China.

2. Literature review

This section provides a conceptual framework for data analysis. There is a need tooffer a literature review of concepts relating to corporate culture and local managerstraining. Literature covering corporate culture provides a basic understanding of howa corporate culture influences the operation of an organization. Literature on localmanagers training offers a theoretical guidance to key issues about the delivery oftraining in foreign companies in China.

2.1 Corporate culture

Andrew Brown (1995) offers a definition of corporate culture as follows:

Organisational culture refers to the pattern of beliefs, values and learning ways of coping withexperience that have developed during the course of an organisations history, and which tend to

be manifested in its material arrangements and in the behaviours of its members (Brown, 1995, p. 8).

This definition suggests why individuals in an organization behave in a certain way.Corporate culture is perceived as an essential tool to make sense of the working lifeof employees and to direct organizational activities.

Deal and Kennedy (1982) mentioned two levels of a corporate culture: the level ofvalues and the level of rites and rituals. The level of values is called the core of acorporate culture, while the level of rituals the culture in action. The core providesthe common guidelines for the organizational behaviour (the rituals). The culture inaction reflects the values and creates a corporate identity. Figure 1 shows these two

levels as well as their interactions.The level of values refers to those shared values, beliefs, morals and ideologies

central to corporate survival and development. These factors reflect employees emo-

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

3/24

234

International Journal of Training and Development 2005 The Author.Journal Compilation 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

tions or reasons, driving desires or wants about what is right or wrong, what worksor does not work, providing justification for staffs behaviour, and creating a clearsense of direction to given tasks. They have evolved over a certain time of dissemi-nated, institutionalized and furthered implementation of corporate policies and strat-egies (Alvesson & Berg, 1992). Furthermore, in a modern corporation, especially aninternational company, there are highly autonomous subcultures, so there is a need toprovide core values and beliefs in order to hold those separate subcultures togetherin terms of realizing the corporate objectives or aims. Staff need to use those values,beliefs, ideologies to gain meaning in their lives at work, guide their work behaviour,and justify or rationalize their time and effort spent on given tasks. These factors are

manifested in articulated sets of beliefs, norms and operational rules of behaviour.They are comparatively more stable than the factors of the rites and rituals (the levelof behaviour), although they undertake transformation during the development of thecompany.

The level of rites and rituals points to the corporate behaviour that focuses on ritesand rituals, and behaviour norms. It presents a higher level of a corporate culture. Thefactors evolve from the deep level and help to sustain those basic core values of thecorporate culture. Without the rites and rituals, the core values would not have anyimpact on the organizational life and sometimes the rituals need to be changed in linewith company values. That is why the level is called the culture in action (Deal &Kennedy, 1982). On this level, the behaviour of managers and key staff set examples

for non-managerial staff. This level modifies the main action and activities of thestaff within their working environment. On this level regulations and rules are imple-mented through leadership, organizational structure, and management systems. Thislevel also reflects how the organization establishes, sustains, and develops a corporateculture through the organizational management mechanism. It is seen as a bridge builtbetween staff and the material environment during business activities through design-ing and providing staff with corresponding regulations and rules, and distributingresponsibilities with association to specific job tasks. However, the researchers remindus that it would be dangerous to perceive the real values and beliefs only from thesefactors, for this level may not reflect the truth of the level of core values.

On this level managers are engaged in rituals during daily management and areespecially cautious about their behaviour in terms of creating a strong cultural

image. Any weak cultural ties in management could give rise to distrust amongemployees. Failure in matching up words with deeds could result in a longer timeto build the trust required by a strong and cohesive culture for the values, beliefs,

Figure 1: Two levels of corporate culture suggested by Deal and Kennedy (1982).

The values

The rites and rituals

(The culture in action)

(The core of culture)

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

4/24


235


and main business concepts of the deep level are enculturated or transferred tostaff through managers efforts. Employees have their individual interpretation ofthe basic values and beliefs that the corporation articulates, and they decide how to behave during the course of work. From there it is the duty or responsibility ofmanagers to see those cultural factors into employees preferred behaviour (Deal &Kennedy, 1999).

Therefore, building an effective corporate culture needs to be closely linked to thetwo levels. The values and the rituals of a corporate culture suggested by Deal and

Kennedy (1982) is adopted as the framework in the current research for data analysis.Company values provide guidelines to the organizational behaviour as a whole. Forexample, leaders are influenced by the factors of the deep level and in turn determinewhat sort of management strategies and measures to apply during the routinemanagement. How the framework works will be further addressed in the design ofmethodology.

2.2 Direction to local managers training

A strong cultural company should attach importance to building a learning environ-ment in workshops in the long term. The importance of learning in an international

organization, according to Kolb (1996), should be integrated into the strategic plan ofthe company. There are reasons attributable to such a point of view. First, learningshould be considered as important as profit and productivity. Managers should neverstop learning from both formal and informal knowledge. Second, different perspec-tives during the learning process should be tolerated, thus generating the most effec-tive learning result.

Building a strong corporate culture is closely linked with a stimulating learningenvironment (Deal & Kennedy, 1999). It is people who design and undertake a varietyof business activities in a company, thus forming a corresponding work environment.Encouraging employees to learn and share knowledge helps to create an animate workenvironment, which particularly suits the development of the company in a morecompetitive, information-based era. In such an environment, people at work feel they

are learning something new every day and making some progress every day, and atthe same time, they are likely to express themselves and to contribute ideas for theadvancement of the prospects of the company. Therefore, an effective learning envi-ronment supports and strengthens the corporate culture in terms of its future businesssuccess.

An international company provides a chance for both expatriates and local managersto absorb and internalize the new knowledge and skills of the other. In this sense,learning is perceived as a means of knowledge transfer. If both sides have somethingparticular to offer, then learning is a way of gaining collaborative knowledge andcollective experience (Hamel, 1991; Liu, 2000). Local managers are requested to masterinternational management techniques and skills, which are mainly transferred from

foreign investing countries according to Johnson (1991). Child (1994) argues that, in aninternational company in developing countries, learning usually involves three types.The first type refers to the learning of technical skills, such as the acquisition and

installation of new machines, and the operation of those machines. This type of learn-ing usually happens among non-managerial staff. The second type of learning involvesthe introduction of new systems and procedures such as the production of control andbudgeting systems. It can happen among middle-ranking managers. The last type isconcerned with strategic plans. This learning is aimed at senior managers and makesthem acknowledge the essential elements for the survival of a business unit, such asthe criteria of business success, and the significant factors for achieving such success.Furthermore, the researcher points out these three types of learning should be associ-ated with gaining the ability of cultural adjustment. Similarly, this point is also empha-

sized by Domke-Damonte (2001) who suggests training on cross-cultural awarenessis very significant for managers working in an international business environment, foran organization could improve a cultural synergy through developing cross-cultural

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

5/24

236


teams. Both diversity awareness programs and language training initiatives enablethose managers capable of understanding each others roles and working together toaccomplish a given task.

Training to local managers may include both formal and informal elements. Thedefinitions of formal and informal education/training are illustrated by Mahoney(2001). Formal education/training refers to the education/training conducted in par-ticular settings, such as schools or colleges, and with a way of learning that emphasisesproduct rather than process (p. 31). Informal education/training is associated with

various environments in which education/training is perceived as a way of learningby which a person can become more confident, organised, expressive, or moreskilled in practical subject (p. 18). From these definitions, it can be seen that formaleducation/training pays attention to the product, which is achieved through specificpurposes or aims, while informal education/training emphasizes the process, whichfosters learning through a variety of environments.

3. Research methodology

This study is trying to understand and explain the phenomenon of local managerstraining from a corporate perspective in foreign companies in the mainland of China.

It means that a corporate culture affects the process of training, and at the same time,is manifested in such a process. Three principal research questions are formed in lightof the research purposes:

What, if any, are the types of formal training in a foreign company? What, if any, are the types of informal training in a foreign company? What is the effect of training upon corporate culture?

3.1 Interviews

The current research applied an interview method. Thirty completed interviews wereconducted from nine foreign expatriates, eighteen local managers and three heads of

outside training agencies. The foreign expatriates and local managers were from for-eign companies situated in Shanghai, the biggest city in China. Foreign companiesinclude joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. In a joint venture Chi-nese and foreign partners share profits and losses according to the contract. A whollyforeign-owned enterprise operates totally depending on the purposes and strategiesof the foreign parent company. Both of them have the autonomy to decide on theinternal organization and day-to-day management of the company. These samplecompanies cover the main business fields, such as manufacturing, high-tech, retail,hotel, and restaurant, and are established mainly by Western countries, such as theUnited States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Sweden andAustralia. Interviews in this research were in-depth ones in the light of the conceptual

framework. There were no fixed questions, instead interviewers were equipped witha list of general topics or areas with a view to putting the data into a set of meaningfulcategories. Thus interviews in the research were supposed to be descriptive, cross-sectional (range of production and positions), dealing with both facts and opinions orattitudes and seeking depth. In respect of these principles the questions were designedas semi-structured or loose-structured, open-ended, both specific and non-specific.Such a structure also provides the researcher greater freedom in arrangement ofamount of time and attention given to different topics according to the exact wording(Robson, 1993).

Interviewees were selected on the basis of the specific purpose and were anticipatedto provide relevant or potential information on the topic. They were classified intofour main categories according to their professional positions, and each of them was

identified as a significant source of information related to the research questions.The first group comprises foreign expatriates. Foreign companies co-ordinate their

business activities through expatriation. Expatriates are the main drivers of foreign

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

6/24


237


companies, although the proportion of expatriates is remarkably low in many foreigncompanies because of the strategy of and attempt at localization. They usually occupythe top or senior management positions, making and implementing strategies for thedevelopment of the company, setting standards and regulations within the company,establishing principles and the main values and beliefs of a corporate culture compat-ible with the realization of the aims of the company, and making important decisions,and providing guidance in routine management and communication. They not onlycarry out the short-term tasks, but also serve the long-term interests, such as providing

training to local successors, and cultivating loyalty and pride toward the companyamong local colleagues and employees. Interviews with expatriates explore how toapply training programs to local managers when implementing international stan-dards and rules in a working environment in a host country totally different frominvesting national cultures.

The second group are Human Resource (HR) managers or training managers.Perspectives of HR managers are of great significance in the light of their positionsand nationalities in a foreign company. All HR managers interviewed were main-land Chinese, except one who was Hong Kong Chinese. One important role of their jobs is to assist expatriates to establish or maintain a corporate culture in keepingwith the development strategy of the company. Therefore, one of their important

tasks is concerned with creating a proper work environment for staff to performtheir jobs effectively, thus helping the managers to reduce conflicts and confronta-tion in routine management. They usually apply both formal and informal trainingprograms to both local managers and staff to satisfy the purposes of the company.Furthermore, they are also local managers and generally get training for theirimprovement in both their specific jobs and in general management skills. Inter-views with HR or training managers focus on how the overall corporate cultureaffects local managers training, and what the implications or significance of train-ing programs are as a supplementary way in terms of building or keeping a propercorporate culture.

The third group consists of local managers in charge of other different functionalpositions in foreign companies. This group is of specific importance in providing

information according to their crucial positions in foreign companies. Local managersalso have a responsibility to establish, maintain or develop a corporate culture throughfulfilling their own job requirements and managing their subordinates. At the sametime, they are usually the training targets to enhance the further development of thecompany if the company designs a long-term development in China. Their perspec-tives about training programs as well as the application of the knowledge in theirroutine management reflect the effectiveness or the results of those training programs.Interviews with the local managers investigate the topic from the perspective of theChinese side in terms of the outcome of the training.

The last group is composed of the heads from training agencies outside foreignenterprises. It includes private and government training agencies in China and those

training departments of foreign parent companies situated in an investing country.Those training agencies and departments are usually used as complementary tools fortechnical, general managerial training and cultural awareness too. Interviews withleaders from these external training agencies would explore outside training sourcesfor staff in enterprises and identify the extent to which foreign companies use thosetraining agencies as a complementary measure. The United Kingdom was selectedhere for the sake of convenience of data collection as the foreign investing countrywhere the training departments of some parent companies are located.

3.2 Framework for analysis

This research took local managers training as the basic unit for analysis in the discus-

sion of the implications of the training. The discussion was carried out around the twocultural dimensions for evaluation, the values and the rituals, which are interrelatedwith emphasis on the change efforts of the managerial behaviour of local managers.

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

7/24

238


Using the framework, the possible effects of the training on corporate culture in foreigncompanies in China were investigated.

The first dimension is modelled from the emphasis on the core of a corporateculture (Deal & Kennedy, 1982). The main values and beliefs present basic concepts ofconducting business and provide guidelines for employees performance in a com-pany. Different companies may have different core values and beliefs, but local man-agers in all the companies are supposed to assist expatriates to build or keep thesevalues and beliefs. These fundamental values and beliefs provide direction to under-

standing the foreign management values and the formation of the correspondingbehaviour of local managers. Therefore, the training could have a supportive role inthe process of value orientation.

The second dimension refers to building proper management behaviour of the localmanagers in a foreign company. Local managers behaviour in workshops is supposedto be compatible with the corporate culture for the sake of fulfilling their tasks.Furthermore, local managers are supposed to take a vital role in implementing regu-lations and rules among non-managerial local staff through general management andorganizational structures in order to guarantee the realization of the purposes or aimsof the company. Local managers set examples of the appropriate behaviour for localstaff as well as supervise these local staff. This dimension is designed to check on the

roles of local managers training and learning during their behaviour formation.

4. Presentation of the findings: local managers training

The data provided a rich collection of information about local managers training. Bothformal and informal types emerged from the data. In this section these types arepresented in terms of training contents and training methods. The effects of these typesupon corporate culture are then explored in the next section with reference to thetheoretical framework demonstrated earlier.

4.1 Formal training of local managers

Formal training in this research refers to those training programs designed or plannedwith certain purposes that are usually considered as one integrated part of the strate-gies for the development of the company as a whole. It is a compulsory or necessarypart in the process of developing local managers. These programs are deliberatelyplanned in order to provide local managers with the necessary knowledge to fulfiltheir jobs and to increase their performance in accordance with the general manage-ment and specific technical requirements of the company. Therefore, the labels of themost frequent types come directly from these programs. However, in the later discus-sion of informal training, the labels of the types are given by the researcher appropriateto the particular situation of each type because informal training is not defined withspecific purposes or aims. Table 1 identifies the types of formal training emerging

from the data in terms of training contents and training methods. Three types offormal training, on-the-job training, developing international business experienceand entrance orientation, are related to general training purposes such as learningadvanced management know-how, and gaining international experience. Careerdevelopment, which normally includes these training programs, is associated withhigher requirements for local managers with potential during training.

On-the-job training

One overwhelming view from interviews is that the development of the company isalways the priority whenever adopting some training measures. Staff needs could beconsidered as long as the need of the organization is satisfied. All the foreign compa-

nies provide on-the-job training, including two main aspects: the specific job-relatedtraining and the improvement of general management skills. The job-related trainingaims at enhancing local managers job skills or fulfilling the new tasks within the

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

8/24


239


Table1:Form

altrainingoflocalmanagers

Types

offormal

trainin

g

Descrip

tion

Trainingcontents

Training

methods

On-the-job

train

ing

Referringtotrainingrelating

tothespecific

joband

generalmanagementskills

Job-specifi

cskillsandknowledge

Standardmanagementskillsandknow

ledge

Adapting

toChineseculture

Constantlyupgradingthematerialacco

rding

tothebusinessdevelopmentinChina

Reflecting

companyvalues

In-housetraining

Runningcourses

andcoaching

Visitingandlearningintheforeign

parentcompany

ortheheadquarters

Seminars

Conferences

Studyinginoutside

trainingagencies

Short-periodcourses

Diplomasordegrees

Developing

international

business

experience

Concerningthetrainingand

workoutsideChina

Experienceintheforeignparentcompa

nyor

subsidiariesinotherareasoftheworld

Corporate

valuesoftheforeignparent

companyorothersubsidiariesworldw

ide

Waysofdoingthingsintheforeignparent

companyorsubsidiariesinotherparts

ofthe

world

Jobassignmentortraininginforeign

parentcompaniesorthe

headquarters

Workingortraininginother

subsidiariesofth

eparentcompany

ortheheadquartersoutsideChina

Career

development

Providingqualifiedlocal

managersopportunitiesfor

promotionacc

ordingtothe

developmenta

lneedsofa

foreigncompa

ny

Awiderangeofgeneralbusinessskillsand

knowledge

Acquiring

transferableskills

Systematicmaintenanceandimprovem

entof

knowledgeandskillrelevanttothe

developmentofthecompany

Settingupthede

velopmentplan

Exposuretonatio

nalorinternational

assignments

Seekingtoachiev

ehigher

qualificationsfromexternaltraining

bodies

Entran

ce

orientation

Aninductionprogramme

givinggeneralinformation

aboutthecom

panyto

newcomers,in

cludinglocal

managers

Thehistoryanddevelopment

Themissionsandcredos

Therulesandregulations

Thephysicalenvironment

Fromonetothreedaysinductionat

theverybeginningofjoiningthe

company

Talksduringfirstfewmonths

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

9/24

240


company and is mainly at the companys expense. Sometimes a company providestraining to local managers in order to manage new technical projects both within andoutside the company depending on different situations in relation to their substantive jobs. The job-specific training is derived from the companys development strategyand provided within the companys budget.

Training for the improvement of general management skills and knowledge aimsat increasing and enhancing local managers overall managerial quality and capac-ity, such as effective supervision (e.g. motivation and performance appraisal),

marketing, financial management, teamwork, communication, strategy planning,decision making, local staff training, and so on. Foreign companies provide trainingin those standard business management topics as one foreign general managerdescribed:

We run training programs. One is called developing and managing your team. We run four ofthose programs each year. We have sent our local financial manager and industrial manager andthe managers in Shanghai to those courses. We have another personal development course, whichis to develop your working ability such as setting objectives etc. Those programs are targeted todevelop local managers working ability (Foreign manager No. 2).

The contents of the training need to be modified to the Chinese culture and customersas one expatriate pointed out:

We may have one thousand training courses, but only five hundred suit the Chinese environment.Therefore, we need to know the local culture and customers (Foreign manager No. 5).

The material of the training is constantly upgraded according to the business devel-opment of an international company. A foreign manager from one headquarters madethe following comments in terms of helping expatriates to improve the training ofthose subsidiaries.

In each of the regions there is a training manager and each manager organizes training courses forpeople in that region. The management courses are being run locally and regionally. Local man-agers and local nationals are being trained as managers in these places . . . We told those regionalmanagers what we thought the main issues were for us that needed to be addressed. We also got

some feedback from these managers in Asia and European countries about what they thoughtshould be included. So we designed a program that at best addresses those issues. We are tryingto make improvement all the time (Foreign manager No. 9).

Company principles and values are sometimes manifested in the contents of trainingas one foreign manager stressed:

The first and most important thing is health and safety training . . . This goes back to our value ofrespecting people (Foreign manager No. 3).

Training in management is also concerned about the understanding of the company backgroundsand the particular ways of doing things (Local manager No. 2).

Two methods are applied by the majority of foreign companies for providing the

training. The first way, which is the more popular one, points to in-house training.That means companies use their own training facilities to develop local managers.Four types of issues appeared based on the data, categorized as running coursesand coaching, visiting and learning in foreign parent companies or headquarters,conferences and seminars.

Firstly, a foreign company normally runs some courses using its own coaches andteaching materials usually designed by the foreign parent company or the headquar-ters. Some big companies have set up their own training centres, providing uniformtraining to local mangers or staff in all the subsidiaries established in China. A foreignparent company or the headquarters either uses expatriates or dispatches trainers toChina to teach its local managers. More often the expatriates take the role of beingtrainers as well as managing the company. Almost all the parent companies pay

enormous attention to their overseas assignments of expatriates. Expatriates technicalskills are of great significance to their foreign assignments and are commonly con-sidered as the priority for expatriation. A foreign manager from one headquarters

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

10/24


241


addressed this issue with emphasis on the importance of technical skill andcompetence.

What we tend to do is to send people to China because of their technical experience. Some ofthem are promoted to management positions really based on their technical competence . . . Ifyou didnt have the technical experience, you would not be in a managers job (Foreign managerNo. 9).

Classroom teaching is different from that in the Chinese context. The training methods

are based on Western management training, including student-focus, role-playing andhaving fun. A coach adopts an adapted syllabus based on the syllabus from the foreignparent company. Local managers involvement and commitment attribute to the out-come of the training. Typical Chinese teaching methods are mainly teacher-centred,while Western teaching methods focus on participants involvement. The classroomatmosphere is lively and active, stimulating local managers interests in learning. It isimportant for students to draw conclusions by themselves. One foreign managercompared the two different teaching systems:

We are thinking of new and better ways to train people and thinking of ways to make trainingmore exciting and more fun for people. This is an absolute key because if people are having funthey remember things and they learn things much more quickly. This is one of the big troubles wehave in China. The Chinese education system is such that people traditionally have always beentold things. This is the answer and you must remember the answer and when I ask you the questionyou must give me that answer . . . In the UK our approach to education is very different. We will

be told the names of people involved and then we will be asked our opinion about why thesethings happen. We will be asked exam questions to which there is no right or wrong answer. Youmust put together a good argument. You must use your knowledge to construct an argument basedon facts and things that you know (Foreign manager No. 3).

Furthermore, Chinese culture should be considered when conducting managementtraining as one expatriate put it:

I get cultural awareness training and Western business management training provided by theforeign parent company, and I have to put the two together because I would work in China. I canlook at the Western training if that will work, and that will not work and how can I change it so

that it will work in China (Foreign manager No. 7).

The consideration of the national culture during the process of training is supportedby the study on the direction of local managers training in general by Johnson (1991).The study suggests that a trainer should own a clear awareness of cross-culturaldifferences in the contents and methods of management courses when providingtraining to local managers in developing countries.

Secondly, sending local managers on orientation visits to the foreign parent com-pany or the headquarters is perceived as an effective developmental tool. It can be forthe purpose of learning about a new system or new projects. It also can be concernedwith being familiar with the business environment of the foreign parent company.Local managers can take advantages of these opportunities in observing the culture

of the foreign parent company, even of the foreign country. They can acquire someknowledge of foreign business values and behaviour. The account of one foreignmanager shed some light on this point.

Currently, every year, we have a trip from Shanghai to the UK for two weeks . . . They look atstores, understanding why we do things the way we do things in the UK, because in Chinasometimes we do the same thing in a different way, since customers are different (Foreign managerNo. 3).

Thirdly, some companies see conferences as good chances for local managers todevelop their on-the-job capacities. These conferences are concerned with either a job-specific field or general management skills. They provide valuable chances for learningand exchanging different perspectives as one local manager related:

I attend the conferences to exchange information. Normally, every year from three to five times, Irepresent the company to attend these conferences . . . I hope, in future, I can participate in someinternational conferences (Local manager No. 12).

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

11/24

242


The last training form refers to the application of seminars based on the data from twocompanies. One expatriate described the regular seminars provided by his companyand considered them as beneficial to local managers in terms of increasing technicalskills and spreading the principal values of the corporate culture as well.

The topics of these seminars cover factors of both the technique and corporate culture. Expatriatesare the speakers. We raise a different topic each week and each expatriate gives a speech accordingto his/her expertise. He or she shares the concepts of the management and the style of working inmodern enterprises with local staff as well as the new technical information . . . We dont have strict

regulations or rules for local staff to follow and on most occasions they learn the ways of doingthings through such casual coaching. We create a corporate culture in which we hope local stafflearn the ways of doing things through their own observation, not just being told directly all thetime (Foreign manager No. 1).

The second training method involves sending local managers to study in outsidetraining agencies. There are mainly two kinds of these agencies. One kind is run byforeign educational institutes, mainly applying Western ways of teaching. The otherkind is established by relatively local government offices. This kind of trainingusually focuses on two purposes. Firstly, it provides short period training for jobspecifics, such as jobs of foreign airlines in China as one head from a trainingagency stated:

We provide training to people whose work is related to a certain foreign airline, such as operation,administration and customer services (Head No. 2 from outside training agencies).

Secondly, it involves gaining degrees or diplomas in management at different levels,such as Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA). An agency usually engagesforeign lecturers and adopts Western management curriculum and material. One headfrom a training agency set up by the Shanghai Personnel Bureau described the trainingpatterns in management:

We apply three different teaching patterns in the management training. In the first teaching pattern,all the lecturers are foreigners who speak English. Students mainly come from foreign companies.The second pattern means foreign lecturers and Chinese lecturers teach the whole course jointly,50% and 50%. The last pattern points to teaching in Chinese language exclusively, targeting these

senior and older Chinese managers who have very low English levels (Head No. 1 from outsidetraining agencies).

Those training agencies mainly apply Western teaching methods as one head from atraining agency established by a foreign university revealed:

The lecturers come from the university and they apply Western classroom teaching methods, suchas role plays and case studies, in order to get people to think differently (Head No. 3 from outsidetraining agencies).

The emphasis on on-the-job training suggests the great significance of developingtechnical and managerial skills of local managers in terms of the growth of the com-pany. Such an importance is supported by many studies (Baumgarten, 1995; Wong &

Law, 1999; Valentine & Godkin, 2001). However, in contrast to the current study, thesestudies did not explore much the training in terms of the contents and methods. Therichness of training contents and the variety of teaching methods discussed aboveenable a company to use the full potential of its local nationals.

Developing international business experience

There is a general lack of international working experience among Chinese managerscompared to their Western counterparts as demonstrated in previous studies (Wong,1999; Neelankavil et al

., 2000; Cui et al

., 2002). The current study confirms this view.In this vein, foreign companies, especially at the beginning of their establishment,provide their local managers with chances to obtain some experience of international

business operation. The length of time depends on the concrete requirements andpurposes of the company. Developing local managers international business experi-ence mainly stems from the strategy of localization.

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

12/24


243


Generally speaking, local managers can get three kinds of benefits from their workor training outside China. First and most important, they acquire some internationalbusiness experiences, which are beneficial for the development of the company andtheir individual improvement as well. One expatriates comment sheds some light onthe reason for developing local managers experience of international operations.

Because we need to develop them, not just in China. We are an international business, and youmust see what happens outside of China. So we need to develop the staff by sending them to otherplaces to see how other places work (Foreign manager No. 2).

Second, local managers can have a better understanding of the core values, which aresubscribed to by all the subsidiaries of the international company as one foreignmanager mentioned:

The senior local people go to the parent company to familiarize themselves with the company andits culture and the people they will be working with (Foreign manager No. 4).

Lastly, they get opportunities to observe the working environment, investigate theways of doing things, and talk to the colleagues in the investing country. Through allthese activities they get some knowledge of the management styles of the internationalcompany.

The form of training for international business experience is different dependent

upon different purposes of companies. But the most general form emerging from thestudy is sending key local managers to work in the parent company or the headquar-ters and subsidiaries situated in other countries for some time. Overseas assignmentsfor local managers outside China provide valuable opportunities to gain internationalbusiness experience. One expatriate introduced the plan for developing local managersin terms of increasing their international management capacities.

We are sending Chinese nationals to other countries for training . . . So we have one in Hong Kong.I am looking at putting another one into Korea for twelve to eighteen months. Maybe we will sendsomebody to Spain . . . For development reasons, we will send them somewhere else. We also sendthem to the UK for short periods for specific reasons (Foreign manager No. 2).

Local managers longed for such training activities, feeling there are tremendous benefits in these working or learning opportunities, which greatly improve theirtechnical and management skills. One local manager felt proud of the high levels ofmanagement quality and excellent performance of customer services in his company.He attributed the achievement partly to such coaching programs.

I had been sent to learn in the subsidiaries situated in Hong Kong, observing the managementstyle and culture elements there during the first two or three years of the establishment of thecompany. Now it is generally considered among customers the management style and thequality of service here are better and higher than that in Hong Kong . . . The headquarters evendispatch some managerial staff from subsidiaries in other Asian countries to study here (Localmanager No. 10).

These accounts point to the importance of cultivating international business experi-

ence of local managers as demonstrated in the previous studies (Paauwe and Dewe,1995; Baumgarten, 1995). These studies placed the same emphasis on the internationalbusiness and training and development activities of local managers as that of expatri-ates, otherwise, the consequences can be negative in the long term.

Career development

Career development normally includes training. The need for career developmentstems from the need of the company, aiming at providing qualified local managerswith opportunities for promotion according to the developmental needs of a foreigncompany.

Findings covering the contents of career development are analysed in the followingthree aspects. Firstly, local managers identified for promotion need to master a rela-

tively wide range of business skills and knowledge in general. One HR manager talkedabout the preparation for the promotion of one local manager from a low-level positionto a senior management position.

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

13/24

244


He needs to take all the management courses provided by the company. On finishing those courses,he is going to stay in the Business Department for two months, learning skills of negotiation andarrangement of projects. Then he will be sent to the parent company for one month in order to getsome knowledge of the operation of our international projects (Local manager No. 1).

Secondly, career development involves knowledge transfer skills. It means localmanagers can apply their knowledge in a new situation according to the developmentof the company as one foreign manager stated:

Our national training centre that was created has been a great success. It has proved very beneficialproviding the business with local managers who can open a new store in a new city. We providethem with the tools and the knowledge and experience to share that knowledge and experiencewith all the other members of their teams (Foreign manager No. 3).

The above account supports the study (McEllister, 1998), which explored the trainingin terms of retention of local managers in Western companies in China. The studyimplies an importance of training for developing the potential to meet the futuredemands.

Finally, continuous improvement in knowledge and skills of local managers is ofimportance to career development. In other words, career development is engagedinto the systematic maintenance and improvement of knowledge and skills relevantto the development of the company. It reflects the continuity of training provided tolocal managers. Expatriates and parent companies in general attempt to create alearning environment in order to provide necessary and important training for localmanagers and staff. Furthermore, local managers are encouraged to learn new knowl-edge and skills in a more conscious way rather than only being pushed by the com-pany. The knowledge and skills of higher stages are built on the basis of lower ones.Therefore, new knowledge and skills are provided in a constant way in order tomaintain the competitive ability of the company. One foreign manager pointed out theimportance of providing training in a continuous way:

Now in any business the product life cycle is going to change so you will produce something. Thetraining will work well for a while. Then the design changes, therefore, you need more training to

be able to cope with that change (Foreign manager No. 8).

Several ways for career development were mentioned in the interviews. They includesetting up development plans, exposure to national or international assignments, andseeking to achieve higher qualification via external training agencies.

Some companies set up a systematic plan to identify local managers development,including providing training in job-specific skills and general management capacity,job rotation, and increasing international business experience, and so on. Setting devel-opment plans is supportive in facilitating the process of localization. One local man-ager from a restaurant chain talked about the development plan in terms of in-housetraining and coaching.

The company set up a training system for the newly recruited assistant managers. First, they need

to learn to manage a particular section . . . Second, they need to learn to do machine maintenance. . . Third, they need to learn to manage their staff . . . Last, they need to learn to deal with customerservices . . . The company spent plenty of money on the systematic training, and both the theoriesand the procedures are designed by the headquarters. The local managers had been cultivated forsuch a length of time as to be committed to the company image. In the later development of thecompany, many local managers have become an indispensable part (Local manager No. 14).

Key local managers or staff are provided with opportunities for promotion. They canbe more motivated if they see their own development corresponds with the develop-ment of the company. Local managers should not accept a development plan in apassive way, for promotion opportunity does not come to them automatically. Self-improvement during the preparation period is important in getting promotion whenthe chance really comes. For example, local managers in one foreign company are

expected to draw up their own training and development plan with reference to thetraining and development plan of the company. They are encouraged to take the initialstep and some responsibility for such planning (Local manager No. 4). The view is

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

14/24


245


somewhat consistent with the study (Anon., 1993), which suggests the implementationof personal involvement during local managers training and development.

National or international assignments and getting higher qualifications are anothertwo ways for career development. International assignments can assist local managersto develop an international corporate perspective rather than insights limited to localinterests (Baumgarten, 1995). A company supports their studies aimed at gettingdegrees by paying some tuition fees according to the extent to which the study isrelated to their jobs (the analysis of on-the-job training). Local managers are sent to

work for a short period of time in their parent companies situated in the foreigninvesting countries or subsidiaries in other countries or areas in order to increase theirinternational business experience as discussed above.

The importance of career development is manifested in the study on the manage-ment of human resources in foreign companies in China (Bjrkman & Lu, 1999).The study stresses that career development of local managers is perceived as a usefulinstrument to retain good local personnel, especially in terms of internal promotion.Furthermore, similar to the findings of the current research, local employees areencouraged to take some responsibility for their own career planning.

Entrance orientation

According to interviews, all the targeted companies provide entrance orientation orinduction to newcomers as a way of becoming accustomed to the overall workenvironment and to gain an initial feel of the corporate culture. Generally speaking,an entrance orientation covers these main factors: introduction to the developmentof the corporation and prospects for future growth, explanation of the missions orcredos, declaration of rules and regulations, and orientation of the physical environ-ment (including the buildings, the products, the technology level, and so on).Entrance training displays the corporate culture for the first time to newcomers.One HR managers introduction to the entrance orientation is representative of thisissue.

We have three days entrance orientation. It includes introduction of the company in general such

as the history, the mission, the regulations, the performance assessment, the contracts, and thephysical environment (Local manger No. 10).

Many elements of a corporate culture will be repeated or strengthened during the laterwork. Some companies, in the first few months, organize talks with newcomers inorder to get feedback about both their work and cultural adaptation as one HRmanager described below:

At the end of the third month of entering the company, we have a talk with every newcomer forone hour. This is the reflection of the corporate culture and is very important. We give suggestionsto his or her work and answer his or her questions. We also ask his or her opinions about thecompany (Local manager No. 5).

Induction programs are applied to both new local managers and non-manageriallocal staff. However, some companies demonstrate that, apart from the general con-tents of the entrance training, new local managers are provided with more detailedinformation in their entrance training in terms of corporate culture and correspond-ing management values and concepts. Furthermore, they need to master more basicknowledge about the company in order to transfer the information to his or hersubordinates. For example, one company requires all the local managerial people(including both new and old local managerial people) to attend the general entranceorientation whenever the company adds new topics or information (Local managerNo. 11).

Through the learning process of entrance orientation, the attitudes of new localmanagers are shaped in order to help them to make adjustment to the behaviour the

company prefers (Anon., 1993). The induction programs thus guide the newcomers tofit into the new work community by gaining a primary understanding of the com-panys structure, mission, history, culture and physical environment.

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

15/24

246


4.2 Informal training of local managers

Informal training is labelled so as to distinguish it from the formal training pre-sented above. The informal training or coaching refers to a kind of training that is notdefined in a concrete way for specific purposes to develop local managers. This kindof training or coaching usually takes a complementary or supportive role rather thana compulsory one during the cultivation of local managers. It helps local managers to

enhance their impression or understanding of the company culture and to strengthenthe implementation of the new management concepts and values in practice. Thepatterns of informal training are identified in the Table 2.

Casual coaching

Interviews show casual coaching exists in most companies. Casual coaching in theresearch refers to a kind of informal training happening in daily management practicewithout the expectation of reaching specific training purposes, but it actually provideslocal managers with opportunities to enhance their understanding of the companyvalues and ways of doing things. It helps to enhance the value orientation in practice.

It is manifested in a variety of both job-based and casual interactions such as

meetings, talks, and chats happening among the members of the management team.These meetings and talks usually focus on business information sharing and problemsolving. Managers can exchange their opinions, and at the same time, learn the wayof doing things, especially from their superiors. A company has time schedules forregular meetings and talks for managers at different levels each day, each week andeach month. One local manager felt he got some benefits from such talks with his bossabout the routine management.

Everyday I interact with my boss. His experience and knowledge are richer than mine. Therefore,in a sense, I perceive this kind of interaction as coaching (Local manager No. 12).

Managers sometimes have casual talks during their breaks and meals. A kind ofcultural information sharing occurs during the conversation happening between expa-

triates and local managers during their breaks and meals. One local manager felt wellinformed through these casual talks with the expatriates during coffee breaks andlunches.

Table 2: Informal training forms of local managers

Types ofinformaltraining

Description Contents Forms

Casualcoaching

A kind of traininghappening in dailymanagement withoutspecific trainingpurpose and aims

Management conceptsand ways

Corporate culture Culture of the foreign

investing country

Meetings Talks Chats

Behaviourmodelling

Imitating the properbehaviour of peersthrough observation

Proper ways of doingthings

Observation

Socialactivities

Different activitiesorganized by thecompanies

Communication Socializing local

nationals to fit into theculture

Celebration

Holidayparties

Relaxationactivities

Ceremonies

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

16/24


247


Conversation is important to the communication in this company. We talk about the foreign culture,arts, wine and lifestyle. Such topics often appear during gatherings, breaks, lunches and trips (Localmanager No. 13).

She gained some knowledge about the culture of the foreign investing country, and ithelped her to develop the business sense of the corporation.

Generally speaking, casual coaching gives local managers some opportunities togain a better understanding of the company values and management style throughpersonal interactions. It is well known it is the traditional style of Chinese managementthat needs to make transition to the market economy, and such a change inevitablycauses some anxiety and uncertainty in local managers working in foreign companies.Working closely with local managers and socializing with local managers outsideworking hours can ease their anxiety and reduce their uncertainty that the changesgive rise to according to Liu and Vince (1999).

Behaviour modelling

A few companies raised the issue of behaviour modelling in terms of cultivatingcorporate culture among new local managers. This term means a trainee learns byobserving the behaviour of model persons (Cascio, 1991). A newcomer can learnthe company principles or the ways of doing things through imitating others proper

behaviour. Imitation of the behaviour of your peers is perceived as an important wayof learning the new ways of doing things as one local manager mentioned:

The company owns a good business sense. You can observe or learn from peers during day-to-daywork. From many cases, you can get some idea that the ways of doing things in this company isdifferent from others . . . We dont push you to do things in such a way, but you need to observeand to follow (Local manager No. 17).

Behaviour modelling should happen in a conscious way for the sake of achievingbetter results. Self-effort is stressed during the imitation as one expatriate mentioned:

In the company, if you sit there, doing little, nobody will come to interfere. However, you wouldfeel great pressure when you see that others are busily engaged in their work (Foreign managerNo. 1).

A few empirical studies explored the issue of behaviour modelling in foreign com-panies, especially on the side of local managers. Wong and Law (1999) conductedthe study of the exploration of managing localization in Western companies in China.They suggested that expatriates should set models in terms of providing developmentexperience to local managers. Behaviour modelling, from the above accounts, can beinstrumental in facilitating the implementation of new company values and manage-ment style.

Social activities

Social activities are organized mainly for the sake of entertainment and celebrationsfor employees. However, they reflect the corporate culture in terms of the casualcommunication as one local manager described:

We organize parties during important holidays. The atmosphere is very lively, for people can talkin a casual and free manner . . . Sometimes, the board director (an expatriate), the general manager(an expatriate) and the vice-general manager participate in our parties, talking and eating together(Local manager No. 1).

One foreign manager talked about ordinary relaxation activities organized by hiscompany.

We organized small tours around the country. Last year we went to Tongli (a popular sightseeingtown in Zhejiang Province). Even the general manager (an expatriate) went there as well (Foreignmanager No. 1).

Ceremonies are seen as a common ritual appearing in some companies such as namingceremony and fund collecting ceremony. Company images are enhanced in ceremonies

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

17/24

248


as one local manager stated when he described the naming ceremony that happenedrecently in his company:

We stress the European image of our company. We just had a naming ceremony. We designed thewhole process based on company values. We engaged a consulting company to design the processsuch as making the stage, hiring a music band, purchasing the food and drink, building the

bathroom, sitting room and work room. We even hired a medical specialist and an ambulancebecause we had six hundred guests present during the session (Local manager No. 9).

The issue of social activities is compatible with the study (Selmer, 1999), whichshows expatriates can conduct effective interaction with local managers by socialinvolvement with them. Such an effective interaction helps to build up trustbetween expatriates and local managers during day-to-day management.

5. Discussion of the findings: implicationsof the training for corporate culture

This section provides an integrated analysis of the effect of local managers trainingon corporate culture, based on the research findings. The discussion attempts to satisfythe third research question in light of the theoretical review of corporate culture

demonstrated earlier, reflecting the impact of local managers training on corporateculture. This section applies the model of the structure of corporate culture suggestedby Deal and Kennedy (1982). Such an integration is achieved through the analysis ofthe following two aspects: value orientation and behaviour formation.

5.1 Training in terms of value orientation

The study of local managers training has a particular implication for value orientationin terms of cultural adaptation of local managers. Effective cultural adaptation of localmanagers can facilitate value orientation. Most literature from perspectives of foreignparent companies stress the cultural adjustment of expatriates for the sake of handling

cultural differences. However, the current research perceives a similar significance inlocal managers cultural adaptation in dealing with cross-cultural differences. Valueorientation is manifested in understanding and complying with the corporate valuesand beliefs. Therefore, cross-cultural adaptation of local managers needs to be takeninto account when setting up an overseas subsidiary, especially in a country with avery different culture.

Local managers value orientation

In an international company, expatriates are usually in a critical position to be recom-mended to gain the skills of cultural adaptation and cultural sensitivity to the localculture and tradition. They are facing a bigger challenge during their international

management according to a variety of empirical studies (Mendenhall & Oddou, 1985,1986; Hendry, 1994; Bhagat & Prien, 1996; Gudykunst et al

., 1996; Li et al

., 1999; Selmer,1999; Walsh et al

., 1999). From the point of view of cultural awareness of expatriates,these studies explore their knowledge and ability for cultural adaptation in light oftheir intercultural awareness. Mendenhall and Oddou (1985, 1986) suggested fourmain coping strategies for expatriates working in an alien cultural work environment.They are via a self-oriented dimension, an other-oriented dimension, a perceptualdimension and a cultural compatibility. The self-oriented strategy means that anexpatriate should adopt concrete coping steps such as attending social activities andlearning the language of the host country. The other-oriented strategy suggests thatan expatriate needs to deliberately build relationships with locals in order to avoidmaking common cultural mistakes. By adopting the perceptual strategy, a foreign

manager should be open-minded to new experiences and information, rather thanperceiving things from the perspective of his or her own cultural frameworks. Thecultural compatibility strategy suggests that personality and the background of an

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

18/24


249


individual need to be taken into account for an effective adaptation. In the currentstudy, the discussion of the findings of informal training is consistent with the fourstrategies in many ways such as casual talks or chats with local managers, attendingsocial activities, and so on. The findings demonstrate that expatriates in China canadapt appropriately to the Chinese culture, and this in turn can be supportive in localmanagers adaptation to the corporate culture.

However, expatriates are not the only people to run the international company andthere is usually a very limited number of them. Local managers, in a sense, are like

international managers because they are also involved in the management of thecompany, although not from a very dominant position. The ultimate success of aninternational company depends on both the effective fulfilment of an expatriate assign-ment and the effective work of local managers (Baumgarten, 1995). Generally speak-ing, the purpose of value orientation is to socialize local managers and make themwilling to make as much contribution as possible in their work. This view is compatiblewith the empirical study on the check of the relationship between the utilization oflocal managers and the overall performance of foreign companies (Abramson & Ai,1999). Cultural socialization provides a big possibility for local managers to get bothmaterial and emotional satisfaction from their jobs and make sense of their workingtime.

In foreign companies local managers are granted more power and responsibilitiesin workplaces. Their opportunities for communication with their superiors are in amore open way. The socialization is a natural process rather than a temporary submis-sion to money and authority. The temporary submission only makes the corporationprosper for a temporary period of time. During the process of socialization, the essenceof the culture of China, which is one of the most ancient civilized countries in theworld, is by no means ignored by foreign companies. The results of the currentresearch augment knowledge to the cultivation of company core values in the Chinesecontext. It is easy to recognize that cultural differences tend to affect daily businesscommunications and working relationships between expatriates and local managers.Understanding and valuing national cultural diversity and leveraging diversity inindividual behaviour and management style could assist to improve the effectiveness

of the management team performance in international companies (Hofstede, 1983;Higgs, 1996; Hoon-Halbauer, 1999).

Value orientation and training

To most Chinese managers working in foreign companies, training becomes a kind ofcultural practice, which is closely linked to employee motivation and organizationaleffectiveness. On the one hand, it is evident that they absorb the new knowledgethrough comparison with the local management culture and behaviour. On the otherhand, their learning is directed in a way that the corporate culture could be enhancedor enriched through the effectiveness of daily management. Exploration of the culturalawareness of local managers is an important factor relating the development and

strengthening of company values.Both formal and informal training and coaching provide opportunities for the cul-tivation of values and beliefs of local managers. Formal training usually offers a directaccess to the understanding of company values or principles. During the on-job-training, cultural elements are involved in the process of management training pro-grams such as the design of contents and training methods. As far as the contentsare concerned, reflecting company values and adapting to the Chinese culture indicatethat the cultural elements provide guidance to training programs. The training meth-ods produce chances available for local managers to acknowledge the corporate valuesfrom different angles such as Western classroom teaching ways, exposure to theforeign domestic ways of doing things, and exchange of information or sharingexperience during seminars and conferences. Developing international experience

and career development inevitably offer plenty of opportunities for observing orlearning the cultures in foreign parent companies, the headquarters, or other overseassubsidiaries. By doing so, local managers can adapt themselves to or develop the

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

19/24

250


corporate culture of the company situated in China through comparison and transfer.Entrance orientation gives local managers their first impression of essential culturalelements at the beginning of their work. Local managers need to use more effort inunderstanding those elements than non-managerial staff.

Informal training offers an indirect access to the mastery of company values. Amongthose informal types, casual coaching provides the biggest opportunity for a betterunderstanding of new values through both formal and informal personal or groupdiscussions, talks, and chats. Various meetings (planned or non-planned) are seen as

rituals and can provide opportunities for managers to reinforce cultural values andbeliefs rather than just getting things done (Deal & Kennedy, 1982). Local managerscan get some ideas about the essential elements of corporate culture from superiors orexpatriates through their ways of thinking, suggestions and advice, comments, anal-ysis of problems and exchange of opinions about national cultures of both the hostcountry and the foreign domestic country. To benefit from such casual coaching, theattitudes of expatriates are important such as supportiveness, friendliness and open-ness. Behaviour modelling suggests the formation of the proper behaviour of newmanagers through the modelling influence of peers and superiors. Local managersimitate the right ways of doing things through observation. The right way of doingthings of top managers generally reflects the main values of the company. The learning

takes place in a kind of assimilation. Social activities provide cultural exchange invery informal ways such as celebrations and ceremonies. Local managers can getsome information about company values when the content of information is checkedthrough such cultural exchange. From a corporate perspective, informal trainingapproaches appear to have an equal value in cultivating company values as formaltraining.

Local managers also need to be sensitive to the culture of the foreign investingcountry in order to adjust themselves in a more effective way to the core companyvalues and the corresponding management concepts and beliefs. Furthermore, somecountry knowledge helps local managers moderate the tension and oppression duringthe new or relatively new working environment, especially at the beginning of theircareers in foreign companies. For intercultural awareness, visiting, working or learn-

ing in the foreign parent company and talks or chats are common forms in both formaland informal kinds of training.

Training with respect to the company values focuses on the change of relatively oldcorporate values and structures. Local managers get chances to learn new ones andapply them in management practice. It is worth mentioning three aspects for attention.The first aspect concerns the attitudes and application of new ways of doing things.On the one hand, local managers need to bear in mind that there are many relativelyout-of-date concepts and values in the Chinese business environment and these valuesneed to be replaced or improved by those of a modern enterprise. On the other hand,they need to be sensitive to those new values and comprehend them in a practical way,because the Chinese environment is different from where those values were generated.

The second aspect reflects that working attitudes may be accepted by local managersthrough cultivating company values, but it may be difficult to change the originalculture norms and values. The fundamental values of a person are much more stablethan attitudes (Arnold et al

., 1998). Deep cultural differences result from incommen-surable mentalities and it can be very difficult to sort out the problems from the deeplevel (Markoczy, 1998). So deep cultural diversities require more mutual understand-ing and a longer time to deal with them. The change of espoused values at theorganizational level is relatively easier through stimulation, imitation, and training,while fundamental change is a very slow process. Adoption of the fundamental fea-tures should happen in a critical way depending on the inclination of individuals.Therefore, always showing tolerance and understanding to different perspectives anddifferent behaviours of local managers would be beneficial in the long run.

The final factor lies in the different company policies and management measuresthat have vital influence on the adaptation process, such as the definition of the criteriaof salary and bonus, the performance appraisal systems, the welfare delivery system,

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

20/24


251


training and coaching, and recruitment. Training for local managers might be a usefultool in cultivating the company values. But a good result is dependent upon the properlaunching of these different company policies and management measures in combi-nation with working styles of expatriates and self-efforts of local managers.

5.2 Training in terms of behaviour formation

The behaviour of staff preferred by an organization is formed on the level of the

culture in action. The behaviour of the managerial staff is of remarkable importancein light of their influence on non-managerial staff. The training types emerging in thecurrent study suggest possible support on the behaviour formation of local managersrequired by a foreign company. These programs go beyond just training local manag-ers for modern management skills and specific expertise, and try to provide localmanagers with the capacity to perform in an international context, not just in China.

Local managers behaviour formationIn an international company in China the management skills of local managers are basically related to the Western management concepts and values with a properadaptation to the local practice. It is a challenge for local managers to run the routine

management of local staff with modern management skills, because many of themhave never worked in an environment of a foreign company.The understanding of key concepts and values alone is by no means enough to

ensure proper management behaviours. Considerable effort is required to practisethem in general management. The new competencies need strengthening over anextended period of time in order to enhance their attitudes and abilities in workplaces.In a foreign company local managers are encouraged to solve problems through theirown efforts. Working out a problem in a better way, not the only way. Local managersneed to build self-responsibility and self-dependence in their managerial practice.By forming the behaviour the company prefers, local managers not only establishthe typical management style of the company, but also further acknowledge culturaldifferences between the investing foreign country and China. By doing so, local man-

agers can get the opportunity to compare the actual application of managerial conceptsand skills as well as the basic corporate values between the parent company and theChinese one(s) and make proper managerial adjustment. It can be helpful to integratelocal managers into the company culture.

Behaviour formation and trainingOn-the-job training refers both to the job-specific and management skill training andexerts some influence on behaviour formation. Most companies are willing to spendmoney on increasing local managers on-the-job skills. The technical level of localmanagers might not exactly match the level of technology and skills of the companyas a whole. However, it affects the general level of technology through the manage-

ment of other local staff. There are two roles for expatriates to take within theirauthorities. One of them is to provide technical knowledge and criteria to local man-agers as the international standards and procedures require. The role is involved insuch activities as on-the-job training, coaching, supervision, and appraisal. The otherone refers to offering personal support to their subordinates in order to help them toreach those criteria. The role is manifested in giving advice to their subordinates whenfacing technical difficulties. Providing advice can happen during the workshop, meet-ings, talks, and discussion. Technology innovation is one of the common credos inforeign companies and expatriates are generally professionally competent in the par-ticular field of the business. An in-depth knowledge of technical detail of expatriatesis essential for creating an atmosphere of technology innovation. Local managersattitudes about technology innovation affect the general technology innovation within

their functional departments. Local managers are encouraged to pursue technologicalknowledge for the sake of the continuing improvement in the performance of thecompany in terms of quality and services.

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

21/24

252 International Journal of Training and Development 2005 The Author.Journal Compilation 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The learning process provides local managers with exposure to those managementconcepts and values. During the training or coaching process, widespread adoptionof Western teaching methods helps local managers to learn in a more internationalcontext. Local managers are expected to be actively involved in the process rather thanin a passive way. During the teaching process the student-oriented classroom teachingstrategy is emphasized. By using Western teaching methods local managers get oppor-tunities to change their behaviours. Seminars, conferences as well as visiting andlearning in the foreign parent company or the headquarters enhance their understand-

ing of these management concepts and values. Attending courses for diplomas ordegrees is equally meaningful in mastering management skills. However, a companyis not a business school, in which students are supposed to have more opportunitiesto make mistakes and to correct them. An enterprise is basically a profit-earning unit.Learning in workplaces, based on the study, is anticipated to produce a more pro-ductive result rather than learning from mistakes. Training aims to generate moreproductive business benefits, based on which individual needs and desires might becautiously interwoven into the realization of the purposes or goals of the company.

Business trips and international assignments to foreign parent companies, the head-quarters or other overseas subsidiaries are valuable to their improvement in modernmanagerial knowledge and skills. Increasing international experience enables local

managers to learn in practice in an international context. Exposure to overseas assign-ments and training is assisting understanding the ways of doing things outside China.They may get knowledge about how these management concepts and values work inparticular situations and how the corporate culture affects the interpretation of them,thus helping them enhance their modern management skills.

Career development is the extension of training to on-the-job training andincreasing international experience for the sake of promoting those local managerswith potential. It helps those qualified local managers enlarge their business skillsthrough the similar training ways demonstrated in the above two types of formaltraining. It needs to be pointed out that the training focusing on career developmentis designed and applied in a systematic way in light of the developmental strategiesof the company such as localization. In other words, the requirements for training are

higher than those general training programs on management. The learning can happenboth in China and abroad, enhancing the effect of international experience and practiceon the knowledge gained.

Entrance orientation is a necessary part of local managers training, although it isnot the main part. It gives local managers the chance to have an overview of thecompany and the corporate culture at the outset of their work. Local managersneed to own a better mastery of company missions or credos, rules and regulations inorder to set models for their subordinates. The first impression of corporate culture isused to guide their management behaviour, and such an impression, in turn, isenhanced during their later management practice.

It might seem that training for improvement in management behaviour happens

mainly through formal means, because the results are tangible. In fact, informal train-ing, which is intangible, provides almost as much of an opportunity for managerialformation in a complementary way in routine management. It usually happens in asubconscious rather than in an intended way. Most opportunities exist during day-to-day management in the types of casual coaching, behaviour modelling and socialactivities. Casual coaching takes the forms of meetings, discussions, and talks thathappen almost every day. It can be seen from the analysis in this section that, forlocal managers, these meetings, discussions and talks, especially with their immediatesuperiors or expatriates, might exhibit a positive effect in a consistent way in terms ofthe ways of thinking and doing things, thus helping local managers form appropriatebehaviours. People can share experiences and transfer knowledge through construc-tive conversations. Such conversation is associated with the change of our attitudes

and behaviour (Wolfe, 2001). In a similar sense, behaviour modelling might promoteappropriate managerial behaviour of new local managers preferred by the company.The new ways of doing things can be learned through careful observation of line

8/4/2019 j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

22/24

Management of corporate culture 253 2005 The Author.Journal Compilation 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

superior managers, especially expatriates. Social activities are another type ofinformal training that happens during company celebrations and ceremonies. How-ever, in this case, management behaviour is formed by reference to signals mainlyfrom the non-work-related topics comparing to the other two types of informaltraining illustrated above.

In summary, local managers training is not considered as an event, but a process,engaging cultural adaptation. A foreign company attempts to enhance the competen-cies of local managers in different situations and on different occasions through apply-

ing multiple methods in workplaces. The competencies acquired from training needtime to develop and become strong in practice. The right or appropriate applicationof the knowledge in the local environment requires a period of time for practice. Thedelivery of local managers training of management skills needs to make sure that thenew knowledge and values are accessed and rewarded during their work, yielding aneffect in the change of their behaviour. In this sense, the company could get the benefitsin terms of its long-term development.

6. Conclusion

For the first time the two main elements (the values and the rituals) of corporateculture were applied for the investigation of the possible effects of training on corpo-rate culture in international companies. The evaluation of training was achievedthrough examining the training in a full range due to the cultural environment, notonly the tangible training (formal training), but also the intangible training (informaltraining). The results show local managers training is a complex phenomenon exert-ing indirect effects on the two levels of a corporate culture. The evaluation was carriedout around the training in terms of value orientation and behaviour formation,which are related to the level of values and the level of rituals, respectively. In thissense, local managers training was evaluated on the basis of the consolidated analysisof the specific cultural environment of foreign companies in China.

Corporate values are not always apparent and are sometimes quite difficult to

comprehend. The interpretation and mastery of company values and beliefs need to be guided and enhanced repeatedly in the workplace practice of local managers.International managers contemplating the establishment of a cohesive culture need tonote that the process of training is, in fact, a kind of cultural process. In other words,a kind of cultural adaptation is involved in the training process. The core values of thecompany indicate the direction to local managers traini

j.1468-2419.2005.00234.x

Documents