Working in a Global Firm

I've attached a couple photos of CEIBS. My other course is called Working in a Global Firm. In the class we discussed in great detail how to manage a long-term international career, which has never been discussed in my previous classes at Kelley. In another class period we talked about the challenges of working on projects in different locations with different cultures. Eight people in our class were selected randomly to play a game and everyone else observed. I was one of the eight who were given blindfolds and given instructions. The blindfold was to simulate communication over the phone. We each had game pieces in our hands and in 30 minutes had to tell the group which two pieces were missing from the group. We could not exchange pieces with each other. We were given vague instructions, but that was to simulate the real world. Since we had no idea what was going on, there was no way to put together a plan. We just had to start communicating what shapes we had in our hands. We could ask what color the shapes were in our hands. The observers said that the initial part of the game looked very chaotic. Through discussion we were able to figure out that there were 5 colors and a total of 28 pieces, two were missing. The interesting part came when people described the shapes. Our group consisted of people from the US, Europe and China describing the exact same shapes with different words. Apparently only half the teams who have participated in the game succeed in 30 minutes and we did it in about 20. Not bad!

The best part of the class was that we had a self-directed learning project. I have been told that if I want to do business in China, I need to understand Guanxi. My goal for the project was to begin to understand Guanxi in theory and in practice. I was unfamiliar with this concept, so I wanted to know how it differed from the Western concept of Networking. I began my learning with secondary resources. I conducted research online, read articles, and read books about the topic. I had a unique opportunity to learn about it while living in Shanghai, so I also conducted primary research. I interviewed individuals in business to understand how Guanxi works in the real-world. Though I still am no expert on the topic, below I compare some of the differences.

Western Networking

• Independence

• Fear of losing resources

• Focus on economic value

• Associated with business

• Formal (bureaucracy/rules)

• Develop relationships quickly (short term)

• Reciprocity is typically in the near future

• Openly discuss disagreements

• First transaction → Then relationship

• Obligation comes from written contracts

• If not there, opportunity to build relationship without intermediary

Chinese Guanxi

• Interdependence (Confucianism)

• Fear of losing face

• Focus on social capital

• Associated with everyday life ex. hospital care, entrance into schools

• Informal (efficiency)

• Develop relationships over time (long term)

• Reciprocity has no time limit

• Harmony

• First relationship → Then transaction

• Obligation comes from relationships

• If not there, then treated like a stranger and need intermediary to make introductions