Working 996: it's complicated - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Workers in China's tech industry have been fighting the long work hours they make, the 996 - nine to nine working, six days a week. It's difficult, admits William Bao Bean, managing director of startup accelerators Chinaccelerator and MOX, in the Asia Nikkei. The art for leaders at startups is motivating their teams.

William Bao Bean

As Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma put it: "If you find a job you like, the 996 problem does not exist. If you are not passionate about it, every minute of going to work is torture." 

For new entrepreneurs to compete in China's talent marketplace, they must appeal to prospective recruits' desire to make a difference and be part of something great. They must sell this vision because they cannot match the high salaries of Alibaba or Tencent. The stock options they can offer are too uncertain to ever come into value. If there is a lack of both money and vision, the startup bosses are stuck. 

Members of startup work teams are more like co-founders than employees in the traditional sense of the word and this phenomenon transcends age. College dropouts burning the midnight oil are common but most companies are led by entrepreneurs in their 30s or even 40s who lack the child-care worries common in the West because their kids are often looked after by up to four grandparents. 

The 996 regime is also not limited to Chinese startups. International technology companies, both in their operations within China and in their home markets, drive hard too. The free food provided at Google company cafeterias is not just a perk but a tool to help keep employees in the office longer. 

Chinese tech leaders must build an environment where everyone feels they are part of a team, not just an employee, where they are empowered to make a difference, and where they are persuaded to believe in the company's vision. Tech chiefs cannot simply demand long hours of staff and expect to retain talent in this very competitive labor market. People who see themselves as busy changing the world for the better don't tend to count the hours they spend doing it.

More at Asia Nikkei.

William Bao Bean is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Management skills needed for China's outbound investments - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

One of the key barriers in China's massive outbound investment programs, like One Belt, One Road (OBOR) is the lack of management talents, tells author Shaun Rein of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order on the Human Resources page at LinkedIn. "Private Chinese companies have the capital and will pay for consulting services, especially companies in the tech sector."

Human Resources:

Rein: China wants to raise USD 1 trillion to invest in dozens of countries under the OBOR initiative in order to grow economically and cement power. What are the odds of success? I think it will succeed but it won't be easy. Many companies Chinese companies simply don't have enough management talent to operate across dozens of different countries led by diverse ethnic and religious groups. As companies grow regionally, they will need to recruit and retain the right country heads and regional leaders.Right now too much decision-making is in the hands of CEOs and founders. Chinese companies, as well as corporations from nations like Pakistan and Malaysia that are part of OBOR, will need to rely on executive search firms to find the right talent quickly.    

LZ: What sectors are Chinese state-owned enterprises and private Chinese companies investing in the most as they expand overseas? Are there specific regions or sectors they are targeted? 

Rein: Private Chinese companies have the capital and will pay for consulting services, especially companies in the tech sector. They understand they need top talent as they expand, predominantly into Southeast Asia and Africa.    

LZ: What are the underlying reasons behind the international expansion of Chinese companies? Are they political or economic? Do Chinese firms prefer to grow organically or through mergers and acquisitions? 

Rein: Chinese companies typically look to grow abroad for three main reasons: 

1. To gain access to technology quicker than developing it organically. We have also seen examples in the construction industry where Chinese companies grow via acquisition. Zoomlion acquired Dutch crane maker Raxtar to move into the high-end hoisting sector, for example. 

2. To acquire western brands to bring back to China. Building a strong brand can take decades, so it is easier for Chinese companies to buy brands abroad. A Chinese company bought Australian condom maker Jissbon, for instance. 

3. To diversify revenue streams. Although China still enjoys strong growth, it is not at the 10% clip of years past, so Chinese companies are looking to buy assets abroad to diversify revenue streams away from China. Businesses like Alibaba and Baidu, for example, have been investing aggressively in the US, for example.    

LZ: Some criticism of China’s outbound strategy is that companies, especially SOEs, bring their own machinery and talent pool when they expand abroad and don’t source equipment and labor locally as much as local politicians expected. Do you see non-Chinese nationals being allowed into key management positions to bring strategic input to the business? 

Rein: In some cases, China companies actively support promoting non-Chinese to senior executive positions.Take Geely automotive has injected capital and connections into Volvo but kept most of the leadership in charge of the famed Swedish automaker. In another example, Alibaba hired Michael Evans, formerly of Goldman Sachs, to be its president of international operations. Chinese firms acquire assets abroad to get brands, technology and management know-how.

More at the LinkedIn page of Human Resources.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you interested in more experts on China's outbound investment? Do check out this page.

Related articles

• With the Belt and Road Initiative, China plays four major roles in Central and European Region
• Ford recruits Alibaba to help break into China's electric vehicle industry
• China strikes black gold, in pictures

The holy grail and China's business management - review

Jack Ma of Alibaba via Wikipedia

As China's economy keeps on moving upwards, and the West is still hoping the worst of the financial meltdown might be over, the quest for what makes China's business tick is heating up. In China's Management Revolution: Spirit, Land, Energy, Charles-Edouard Bouee uses the power behind consultancy agency Roland Berger to embark on his search for the holy grail of China's management revolution. And possibly into the question why the MBA-induced management strategies are failing.
He warns us in advance for those who hope there will be a holy grail: the evidence of its existence is still very frail. It takes us well into the second half of the book, before the first building stones are discovered.
Zong Qinghou of Wahaha tells us how he prefers salary reductions over dismissals to face a crisis; unfortunately for the interview his fight with Danone is off limits. Jack Ma of Alibaba explains how he uses tai chi in a management setting. Although his fight with Yahoo and Ebay could have been more interesting to support his case. And Liu Chuanzhi saves his company Lenovo (former Legend), after a merger with the PC department of IBM seems to head for a multicultural disaster.
Now Michael Porter's Five Forces might have outlived themselves, seeking for the secret behind the Chinese management culture is potentially interesting. Was it not the Japanese culture of Just-in-Time (JIT) that not only explained why a section of Japan's manufacturers worked more efficiently, but also provided Western producers good tools to revolutionize their production processess?
Unfortunately, China is not yet giving away its secrets yet and - as the author sights - often well-placed managers of successful Chinese companies have often no clue what they are doing better. In the process he offers us names and faces of a new generation of Chinese business gurus that only seldom make it into Western media, like Zhang Lan of the restaurant chain South Beaty and Feng Jun of the electronics producer Aigo.
If there is a holy grail of China's business management, asking those people questions is the only way to find it out. One day, when we learn to ask the right questions, we might even get the good answers. If they are willing to answer those questions.

Related articles

• Billionaire! Who is Jack Ma? (blogcritics.org)
• Major flaws of an economic success story - Huang Yasheng (chinaherald.net)
• Business Leadership in China - review (chinaherald.net)
• China's nationalism - Helen H. Wang (chinaherald.net)
• WorldExpo2010: a feel-good show for China (chinaherald.net)