Business ecology report
Chinese dialogue
Human Insight's founder takes up new role in Chinese business school
In March 2007, Human Insight's founder Peter Robertson was appointed Visiting Professor at the Management school, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Peter's appointment highlights some of the issues involved in attempting to enter the Chinese market and other 'culturally different' markets.
The big opportunity
- Last quarter the Chinese economy grew faster than forecast - by over 11% - based on a 2006 value of US$ 2.65 trillion.
- China will pass Germany to become the third largest economy in the world later this year.
- China's population is over 1.3 billion.
- Its trade surplus could become the greatest in human history and export curbs have recently been introduced.
- Western companies see huge opportunities and the new breed of Chinese managers and leaders are learning Western business theory and techniques.
But that's not the whole story. There are cultural problems to overcome. Many people are talking; fewer listen. Should the traffic be one way? Isn't there as much to learn from the Chinese success story as there is to teach about Western business?
Human insight: teaching, learning and working in China
Peter Robertson's work at the Global Entrepreneurship Research Centre of Zhejiang University Business School focuses on themes important in the new China:- Leadership programmes for the high tech zone in Zhejiang Province which is home to five thousand entrepreneurs.
- Providing leadership team development facilities for multinationals, domestic banks and government agencies.
- Joint research into the field of business ecology applied to leadership challenges.
Why does this approach particularly suit the organisations and students - both domestic and international - who are trying to grasp these huge opportunities?
Contrasting the limitations of another business discipline shows business ecology's strengths.
Testing, testing
The psychometrics industry is worth well in excess of $1 billion worldwide. In many ways psychometrics addresses the same sorts of problems as business ecology: the diversity of human skills and personalities; how these can be mapped on to winning teams or into strong cultures; how individuals will react to differing work circumstances. Many of Human Insight's consultants use psychometric tools when they are appropriate, and Western psychometrics is making inroads into the Chinese organisations.
But there are three key areas where business ecology is better able to jump perceived cultural divides than psychometrics.
- It is very difficult for core psychometric techniques to be 'multicultural'. You cannot simply translate a psychometric tool from one language to another; you have to adapt it. Adapted versions often turn out to measure different things from the original and English and Chinese versions of a test are rarely, if ever, absolutely equivalent.
In other words, what psychometric tests measure may well be culturally specific.
This causes real problems for multi-national companies seeking to take a common approach to HR throughout the world, or two companies from different countries - such as the examples given above - seeking to form strategic alliances.
Business ecology looks at far more fundamental evolutionary drives which have developed over thousands of years. These are not culturally specific but are shared by human beings throughout the world. Using a tool like the Aem-cube makes a unified approach to multinational strategic HR much easier.
- Psychometrics focuses on individual differences. It's proved difficult to link those individual descriptions to real business issues and, in particular, to the behaviour of groups of people; teams, divisions and organisations. In this, psychometrics reflects its Western origins, and the Western cultural bias for individualism.
By contrast, business ecology takes a more balanced approach, linking predictable organisational behaviour (through the use of the S-curve) to individual evolutionary drives (as measured by the AEM-cube®). It is thus better placed to cope with issues in collectivist as well as individualistic cultures, and to align organisations and individuals.
- Business ecology deals with evolutionary drives which are common to all people. It is easier to create a dialogue between different cultures. To use psychometric theory in, say, the Arab world, consultants have to translate, teach and, to some extent, sell their concepts. The fundamental evolutionary basis of Human Insight's work is not owned by any one nationality and is easier to set up a fruitful dialogue rather than simply attempt to impose a particular philosophy on regions with historically different experiences. This latter strategy went badly wrong when it happened in parts of Eastern Europe, for instance.
The benefits to our clients
Peter's new role will inform our existing experience in helping organisations as they approach the change, leadership challenges and staff issues that arise when entering new national markets. Human Insight's commitment to international learning and dialogue is implicit in our approach and its results will help you as you address the complex change implicit in addressing international opportunities.
Peter Robertson
If you would like to comment on any aspect of these reports please email info@human-insight.com