Category: Business

A new China West cross-culture leadership and business management book entitled ‘Guanxi in the Western Context:  Intra-Firm Group Dynamics and Expatriate Adjustment’ is launching in November, written by Dr Barbara Wang, a full-time professor at Hult Ashridge Executive Education.  The book launch will take place on Tuesday, 12 November 2019 in the Old Library at Hult Ashridge Executive Education, Ashridge Berkhamsted, Herts HD4 1NS from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

Guanxi is a form of social interaction, unique to the Chinese culture, of forging connections, making contacts and forming warm relationships in business.  While research on guanxi in China has been intense, for the first time this book examines how the employees of Chinese multinational companies employ guanxi in the West;  how Chinese expatriates develop and use guanxi in the host country, and how these behaviours affect their adjustment to their environment.  Aimed at business academia and practitioners, this book illuminates how guanxi shapes social relations in Western branches of these Chinese multinationals, supporting Western managers who seek a deeper understanding of how their Chinese counterparts operate, and Chinese managers who want to increase their awareness of the culture they are immersed in.

Based on Dr Wang’s PHD thesis, this book is the culmination of five years of study into the globalisation of Chinese companies in Western markets since 2005, and how senior executives practise guanxi versus how social network is traditionally practised in Western culture.           

Firstly, the book elaborates on the contextualisation of guanxi to highlight how guanxi emerged, evolved, and subsequently dominated the business system in China.                                                                                                

Next, it examines empirically how guanxi practice affects intra-firm multicultural group dynamics involving Chinese expatriates, host-country nationals, and host-country Chinese in Chinese multinationals.  It shows how expatriates actively practise guanxi with their homeland counterparts, but not with host-country nationals and host-country Chinese. 

Then, it examines the impact of guanxi in building Chinese expatriate adjustment to develop a process model that illuminates that guanxi development alters expatriates’ adjustment curve significantly.

Finally, the book develops a framework of cross-cultural guanxi leadership to lead multicultural teams effectively in the host county.

Dr Barbara Wang says, “This book contributes more generally to shed light on cross-cultural management in terms of Chinese guanxi practice in the Western context.  When I started my study I made assumptions that all Chinese executives practise guanxi.  However, I discovered that Chinese expats don’t practise guanxi with local Chinese for complex reasons as they don’t believe they can reap the returns they need.

“The other assumption I made was that local Europeans don’t understand or practise guanxi.  However, I learned that there is a desire to study Chinese culture and Westerners are motivated to practise guanxi even though it is not inherent to how they operate.

“I recommend that if Chinese companies want to improve their soft power they should take steps to study cross-cultural programmes and become ‘glocal’.  They should do their homework and understand and adapt to the local culture and be open to including everyone in guanxi, which will enhance their global cultural influence.  To sum up, guanxi is the code of China.”

Professor Davide Ravasi, director of the PhD Programme at UCL School of Management, comments, “From research in international business we know a lot about Western multinationals, but we know much less about the up and coming multinationals from China. Yet, many of these multinationals will likely dominate global markets in the years to come. Barbara Wang’s work illuminates for the first time how guanxi – a form of social interaction unique to the Chinese culture – shapes social relations in Western branches of these multinationals. It is an important reading for both Western managers who seek a deeper understanding of how their Chinese counterparts operate, and Chinese managers who want to increase their awareness of the culture they are immersed in.”

Professor John Yang, co-Dean of BiMBA at the National School of Development, Peking University, adds, “Barbara Wang’s new book on guanxi is full of insights and wisdom critical for both Western and Chinese expatriates as well as Chinese professionals overseas. The book not only contributes to making successful global business deals but also provides better cross-cultural perspectives to develop a healthier China versus world business relationship.”

Dr Barbara Wang

Professor of Cross-cultural Leadership, Hult Ashridge Executive Education

Dr Barbara Wang is the academic director – China of Hult Ashridge Executive Education and association dean of China initiatives. 

Her interests lie in cross-cultural leadership/management, and Chinese leadership and executive coaching.  She has extensive experience in management training and consulting and has designed and delivered leadership development programmes and coaching for multinational companies such as ABB, Volvo, Daimler, Continental, Sinopec, China Post, Bank of China and Air China.  She also teaches on executive programmes for other British and Chinese universities.

Before her current roles, Barbara was a vice president for the Western Management Institute of Beijing.  Her commercial experience extends to working for multinational companies in China where she was the retail operations director for CELINE of the Louis Vuitton group, and the global accounts manager in China for DHL.

Barbara holds a PhD from Cass Business School in the UK, where her research focused on cross-cultural leadership/management of Chinese multinational enterprises in Europe.  She has qualified in many leadership psychometric tools.

Barbara’s new book ‘Guanxi in the Western Context: Intra-Firm Group Dynamics and Expatriate Adjustment’ (Palgrave Macmillan) was published in July 2019 in the UK, and she is co-author of Chinese Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

Although the sales process is an integral part of any business, it is no secret that it is complicated. It needs insistence, a plan, and consent of human psychology and it often changes as your business grows. But it can be tough to find out how to enhance your sales, except to make more calls or find more potential clients. We spoke with sales experts to get the best tips on how to improve the sales process.

Tips on how to improve sales – for the sales team

Slice down your sale goals

Viewing your annual or monthly sales goals can be devastating. Break large targets into flexible pieces. E.g., you might decide to perform specific tasks every day: find two new business prospects, make five phone calls, and make one new meeting. Design a search plan that defines how you will make new leads.

Inverse the sales funnel

It makes sense to follow a regular sales funnel as part of your sales strategy. If you find that nothing is shaking, try working opposed. Rather than focusing on your income goal, focus on client service. Talk to your clients and find out what they need from you. Develop a sales plan by cutting each step into feasible daily tasks.

Use emotional aptitude to make client relations

Selling is both knowing who you are selling to and selling a product. The bond you build with your clients can be a critical factor in deciding if you are selling or not. Emotional aptitude is informing of its own and emotions of other people.

Tips on how to improve sales – for sales manager

Improve sales strategies

A good sales plan outlines how you will bring new clients. And also how you will create or expand links with potential clients. Besides, how you will continue to sell your product or service to existing customers.

When making your strategy, you should:

• Define your target audience and create your ideal customer profile
• Resolve how the lead is generating
• Perform SWOT analysis
• Form income targets
• Set your conversion goals
• Define your business place in your market
• Prepare a plan in case of an error

When you create your first sales strategy, you can also create a plan listing what to do in the event of an error. Examples of these cases are a loss of a notable sales agent or a mismatch of your sales target. Your skilled plan should indicate who will be told of the problem and how. Also, consider the steps you and your team can take to fix the issue. In some cases, avoid repeating these errors in the future.

Manage your sales team effectively

Your sales strategy is as good as your team. So, you should develop motivated and well-trained sales agents. The best way to do this is to learn about the people in the group. As a manager, you must know what drives them as an individual.

During the sales training, be honest with your reps regarding goals, notices, and ways to assess their efficacy. A manager should plan meetings (monthly) with each seller to find out what they need and where they struggle.

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The most awaited international business conference is coming. Join InvestPro UAE Dubai 2019 Conference and Workshop, which is held on November 13-14 at the Oberoi Dubai hotel.

InvestPro UAE Dubai 2019 is the largest and most significant conference on investment migration, wealth management and asset protection in the Middle East, which will gather over 300 attendees, a multitude of industry leaders, financial advisors and international service providers who will share first-hand information on the latest developments in residence and citizenship planning, taxation, investment opportunities.

The InvestPro conference program:

• Investing in technology companies, Awad Capital (UAE)
• Immigration by investment to USA (EB5), Mona Shah & Associate (USA)
• International insurance solutions and tailored risk management programs for Ultra-High-Net-Worth families, Sophos Advisors (USA)   
• UK Immigration Options vs. Global Alternatives: Case Studies, Beyond Residence &Citizenship (UK)   
• Navigating Market Risk with Alternative Assets, MMG Finance LLC (Panama)    
• The Caribbean is Dead: The U.S. is the Future for International Banking, Stern International Bank (USA)   
• Cyprus as international economic center, MCIT (Cyprus)
• Obtaining a higher education degree in Cyprus as a way to integrate into economic, social and political systems worldwide, Aurora Consulting (Cyprus)     
• New opportunities in Georgia: Simple registration/Operations. Easy banking. Low taxes, Hualing Kutaisi Free Industrial Zone (Georgia)    
• Business in Russia: Create opportunities and Navigate business risks, Interfax (Russia)     
• Substance and the Migration of Companies to Dubai, Swiss ILC Management Services (UAE)  

You may see the final conference program by the link.

Why attend InvestPro?   

• 25+ Speakers – CEOs and Owners of leading companies of the industry;     
• More than 16 hours of practical material and insider information;    
• More than 26 workshop tables and opportunity to receive consultation;      
• 300+ potential customers, clients, and new partners for 2 days networking in the heart of Dubai;      
• Representatives of more than 30 countries: Europe, CIS and Baltic region, Asia, the United States, and Canada;    
• Business networking with your clients and partners during the cocktails at the end of each day, coffee breaks and lunches;    
• The luxurious venue, perfect conference organization and the highest professional level of participants.    

Participation terms:    

• Companies from UAE: the participation for 1 Top Manager from the company is complimentary until 01.11.19 with your unique promo code CFIco.
• The cost for delegates from other countries, as well as companies that are located in UAE and engaged in consulting in the field of investment abroad, the purchase of real estate abroad, asset management, opening an account in a foreign bank, registration of a company abroad – EUR 300.
• Receive 10% discount with CFIco10 promo code.

REGISTRATION

Do not miss the most significant conference in Dubai!

For more information, please contact Bosco Conference: +44 203 519 34 84; bc@bosco-conference.com

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