Using Chinese managerial values to win the war for talent

Abstract

China's rising importance as an economic and political power makes it crucial for Western business to understand what drives Chinese managers and leaders. For foreign investors in China, this is even more important as they compete for increasingly scarce managerial talent. This contribution uses original research, including in-depth interview and survey data, to examine the values of two generations of Chinese business managers. We use these data to help understand employees' motivations and how multinational corporations (MNCs) can more effectively design human resource management systems to attract, retain and leverage talent in China. The piece concludes by suggesting successful strategies for attracting, managing and retaining staff in MNCs in China and winning the war for talent.

Keywords:

• Chinese management values
• inter-generational values
• multinationals in China
• Schwartz Values Survey
• talent strategies
• war for talent

Notes

1. The data source for all SVS data beyond the current research set is the Israel Social Sciences Data Center (ISDC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2. 38% students, 21% teachers, rest general; assessed 1988–2005; median 1994.