The
'myth' of Asian management By
Antony Feeny and Raja Thuraisingham
Is
managing in an Asian environment different from
managing in a Western environment? Countless
volumes have been written, and numerous PowerPoint
presentations compiled, to look at this issue.
When we started writing out new book Smart
Moves - Rewiring 24 critical management
challenges, we also inevitably gave it some
thought. On the basis of our many years of
managing both Westerners and Asians in both
Western and Asian contexts, we decided that many
if not most of the alleged differences were more
matters of nuance than of substance.
Let's
take three examples to illustrate this further,
and rather than using examples from the more
conventional management topics (such as strategy,
project management or customer service) which of
course we also discuss in our book, we'll focus on
three of the more "off-beat" issues that we've
made a specific point of
covering because they
are as much the lifeblood of management as the
conventional topics. These examples are networks,
meetings and problem-solving.
Networks,
networks everywhere Firstly, on networks.
Almost the first cultural advice given to every
foreigner who is about to do business in China is
the importance of respecting and using
guanxi, normally translated as
"connections" or "relationships".
Yes,
they're told, of course you should use legal and
regulatory processes, but if you really want to
get things done then you also need to make contact
with the right people, as well as using any
networks that you and your staff may already be
part of. And for sure this is good advice since so
often guanxi have proven their value:
they've got you a prized license, found you a
distributor, or helped you to recruit a key member
of staff.
Westerners are often astounded
by the nature and extent of these relationships,
and by how much can be achieved through links that
often seem so tenuous: a long-forgotten school, a
distant relative, or a shared ancestral village.
But you have to bear in mind that any
assistance is likely to be provided on the tacit
understanding that a return favor may be called on
years or even decades later, so make sure you use
your connections wisely. This is the case in most
Asian countries, although the richer countries
like Singapore have gone some way towards
substituting objective bureaucratic Western
systems for the traditional ways of doing things.
Most Western, and many Asian, managers see
ourselves as being the recipients rather than the
providers of these benefits. Self-evidently,
however, there are two sides to any relationship
transaction. It is rare for Western - and even
Asian - managers in Asian countries to ask
themselves how colleagues and staff in their own
organizations are being used to provide these
kinds of services, how much time they are giving,
or how many return favors are being accumulated as
"accounts payable" hidden in the personal or
company "balance sheets".
One of us
remembers being frustrated by the sudden
inexplicable absence of a key staff member for an
important engagement; it turned out that, not only
was he not skiving off on personal errands, but in
fact he was paying off the favor incurred a few
months earlier when the organization was chasing
an official permit.
But ultimately, is
this use of connections a difference of substance
or simply of degree? Managers in both cultures
depend on those around them to keep them informed,
to understand what's happening, and to meet the
right people. And a manager coming new to an
organization in both Western and Asian cultural
contexts needs to get to grips not only with the
informal network but also with the informal one if
they are to understand what's really happening
inside an organization and how to get things done.
Remember those nervous early days when you
first started in an organization? You probably got
given a scarcely legible organization chart that
had been re-photocopied 20 times along with the
system log-on codes that you didn't know what to
do with. What you also need to do in this
situation is to understand what actually happens
inside the organization's hidden networks: who
lunches with whom, who mentors whom, who has the
soft power, to whom people turn for advice, and of
course who controls the money and resources?
Many people will have known each other for
years in previous roles or organizations. A senior
executive may deeply trust a relatively junior
subordinate with whom he has worked for many years
and who does not constitute a threat in the way
that a direct report may. Another person may have
expertise in a critical technology or a long
relationship with a key customer - which is why
everyone puts up with his ranting or inane
contributions to meetings. This "anthropological"
research will soon pay dividends if you want to
know what's happening and how to make an impact.
These kinds of networks are the arteries
of the organization, the channels that are vital
to its continuing functioning. Even in a Western
environment these special or long-standing links
count for a lot, and at an emotional level perhaps
more than the formal hierarchies or structures. So
the need for and dependence on internal and
external networks are similar for both Western and
Asian managers.
While managers
instinctively understand how to use these networks
in their own countries, the challenge for an
expatriate manager (whether Asian or Western) is
both to find out about the existence of such
networks and then to know how to use them
appropriately.
Meetings, and meetings,
and meetings Secondly, on meetings. In most
organizations, almost everything of any importance
happens in a meeting. Unfortunately, all too many
meetings are too long and fail to resolve issues
or otherwise to meet their objectives. So making
sure that meetings work well is absolutely
critical to any organization - yet few
organizations handle meetings effectively.
Setting some simple rules can help to
resolve this problem. For example, schedule
meetings in advance with clear aims, appoint a
chair to be responsible for a successful outcome,
limit the attendees and the duration, ban
smartphones and other communication devices,
outlaw repetition and echoing of previous points,
prevent pre- and post-meetings, rapidly issue a
brief decision-based summary, and so forth.
So what has this to do specifically with
Asian vs Western management? Well, the traditional
view portrays Westerners as participating loudly
in meetings while Asians sit quietly in the
background waiting for the older/senior boss to
tell them what to do. Of course there may be some
truth in this as there is in many cliches, but we
all know Westerners who by nature are quiet and
introvert, and Asians who by nature are vociferous
and extrovert even in a public context. Equally,
we all know tyrannical bosses who simply want a
meeting to agree their views for form's sake, and
they may be either Asian or Western.
So
this issue should not be seen as specifically
Asian vs Western. Rather, it is the responsibility
of the skilled manager to ensure that relevant
views are aired in a meeting and given proper
consideration, and that the appropriate conclusion
is reached. And, yes, of course issues of age and
seniority make this a more subtle skill to master
in an Asia context for those reared in a Western
tradition, but knowing how to draw out diverse
views and how to bring a group to a conclusion is
not a culturally-specific skill but it does
require sensitivity and focus.
Facing
up to problems Thirdly, on problem-solving.
To run a business effectively, a manager must have
a fundamental belief that almost all the problems
likely to be encountered have a simple solution.
In fact very few problems are really complex - but
frequently they are dressed up in layers of
unnecessary and distracting "fudge". It is the
manager's job to cut through this fudge,
understand the basic issues at stake, and have the
courage to come up with a simple solution that the
organization can execute.
There is a range
of techniques for solving problems, some of which
we discuss in our books. However, no technique in
the world is going to help you to solve a problem
unless you remove some of the obstructions in the
process of reaching a solution. One of the main
reasons that a problem can appear - and thus
become - insoluble is that we sometimes
subconsciously block out the root cause simply
because we shy away from the price that has to be
paid to fix the problem.
A common example
is the case of a truly nice person who is liked
and respected by everyone, but who just can't
handle his or her job. This can cause misery for
his subordinates, peers and bosses who refuse to
recognize the underlying problem with this person.
We may subconsciously shy away from admitting this
root cause simply because if we do, then we are
immediately faced with the problem of getting rid
of a nice guy. So we invent all sorts of other
reasons why something isn't working because the
solution carries too high a price for us. Once the
root cause has been established, a solution has to
be found and then executed properly.
And
how is this different between a Western and an
Asian context? Well, the problem per se isn't
different, nor is the difficulty or refusal to
face the underlying root cause. What is different
is the type of barrier that prevents us getting to
the root cause, or the degree of underlying
transparency.
For example, in an Asian
context the origin of the manager's refusal to
face the fact of an underperforming employee as
described above may well be based on an unknown or
unrevealed relationship of patronage. The skill of
the manager may be to understand the specific
cultural background and basis of the problem,
after which managing it is more straightforward.
Of course this question of understanding
the subconscious biases that result in us refusing
to face the unpleasant implications of a problem
are not unique to the business world. We can see
them play out in politics and public life as much
as in our working lives - but that's a different
story.
Raja
Thuraisingham and Antony
Feeny
are the authors of Smart Moves
- Rewiring 24 Critical Management Challenges
(Blue Toffee Publishing 2012).
Thuraisingham spent most
of his career at the international consulting and
outsourcing firm Accenture, ending up as partner
in charge of its Asia-Pacific Resources Operating
Group, and is now an independent publisher and
lecturer. Feeny has lived in Asia for 25 years
carrying out strategy, economic and management
consulting projects on four continents, and most
recently worked in rural policy development and as
a professor of management practice at a business
school in China.
(Copyright 2012 Raja
Thuraisingham and Antony
Feeny)
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