Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone

The purpose of the research conducted is to investigate the effects of local managers' education and training on corporate culture in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China. In order to realise the purpose, the project sets up three corresponding aims. First, an examination of...

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Main Author: Zhao, Li
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11531/
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author Zhao, Li
author_facet Zhao, Li
author_sort Zhao, Li
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The purpose of the research conducted is to investigate the effects of local managers' education and training on corporate culture in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China. In order to realise the purpose, the project sets up three corresponding aims. First, an examination of corporate values and the corresponding cross-cultural issues in Western companies in a Chinese context is given. Second, a prescription of various adaptation forms of these companies is provided. Finally, the effects of the training on the corporate culture are evaluated and presented. The study employs a qualitative methodology for the exploration. Foreign companies covering the main fields of business activities in China were selected with an emphasis on the two countries: the United Kingdom and the United States. Thirty participants from those sample companies were interviewed face-to-face with semi-structured questions. The fieldwork was carried out mainly in Shanghai, which is the biggest city and an economic zone in China. At the same time, documentation was used as a complementary method in terms of providing relevant information. Data were also collected from two Asian foreign enterprises in China for benchmark. Final results in light of the research purpose and aims indicate that a foreign company in China, which is internationally accepted, is likely to apply a corporate culture that accommodates both similarities and differences between the local culture and the original culture of the foreign parent company. Such a corporate culture is not judged by its form, for it is neither a typical culture of a Western organisation nor typical one of a Chinese enterprise. It allows the corporation to keep international standards and simultaneously be capable of cultivating local managers to accept it emotionally. In this sense, local managers' education and training need to be perceived as a cultural process and delivered in a flexible way. The effects of the training upon the corporate culture are identified.
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spelling nottingham-115312025-02-28T11:14:04Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11531/ Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone Zhao, Li The purpose of the research conducted is to investigate the effects of local managers' education and training on corporate culture in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China. In order to realise the purpose, the project sets up three corresponding aims. First, an examination of corporate values and the corresponding cross-cultural issues in Western companies in a Chinese context is given. Second, a prescription of various adaptation forms of these companies is provided. Finally, the effects of the training on the corporate culture are evaluated and presented. The study employs a qualitative methodology for the exploration. Foreign companies covering the main fields of business activities in China were selected with an emphasis on the two countries: the United Kingdom and the United States. Thirty participants from those sample companies were interviewed face-to-face with semi-structured questions. The fieldwork was carried out mainly in Shanghai, which is the biggest city and an economic zone in China. At the same time, documentation was used as a complementary method in terms of providing relevant information. Data were also collected from two Asian foreign enterprises in China for benchmark. Final results in light of the research purpose and aims indicate that a foreign company in China, which is internationally accepted, is likely to apply a corporate culture that accommodates both similarities and differences between the local culture and the original culture of the foreign parent company. Such a corporate culture is not judged by its form, for it is neither a typical culture of a Western organisation nor typical one of a Chinese enterprise. It allows the corporation to keep international standards and simultaneously be capable of cultivating local managers to accept it emotionally. In this sense, local managers' education and training need to be perceived as a cultural process and delivered in a flexible way. The effects of the training upon the corporate culture are identified. 2004 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11531/1/410456.pdf Zhao, Li (2004) Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Corporate culture China international business enterprises training of employees intercultural communication
spellingShingle Corporate culture
China
international business enterprises
training of employees
intercultural communication
Zhao, Li
Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone
title Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone
title_full Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone
title_fullStr Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone
title_full_unstemmed Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone
title_short Cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the People's Republic of China: with specific reference to the Shanghai Economic Zone
title_sort cross-cultural issues in local managers' education and training in foreign companies in the people's republic of china: with specific reference to the shanghai economic zone
topic Corporate culture
China
international business enterprises
training of employees
intercultural communication
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11531/