Mr. Jin:
At 23:09 04/12/1995 -0500, you wrote:
>Replying to Re: LO only half an answer? LO3984
>I keep wondering if the above phenomenon [the generation and consumption
> of the consulting "ism" of the day by consultant and buyer respectively] stated
> by Gordon is universal or simply a result of Anglo-American exceptionalism.
>As a former business school assistant professor in China and now a Ph.D.
>student in the field of technology policy and competitiveness at George
>Mason University, I was shocked by the pervasiveness of consulting
>services in the U.S. and the difficulty in selling consulting service in
>China.
My comments were largely made with North American and European
consultancies in mind (although they do differ in style and content across
the pond). Asian cultures are certainly different in many ways,
consultancy being one among many. Mr. Hiroshi Takano, Senior General
Manager, Trade and External Relations, Sony Corporation, spoke to a view
of Chinese culture at the recent Osaka APEC meeting. Takano-san addressed
the topic of the Chinese business presence in Asian countries and, in
particular, the matter of who are the Chinese and the overseas Chinese.
As manager of Sony's Singapore operations, Takano-san observed that the
Chinese have strong family ties; Chinese companies tend to form
non-conglomerate-type companies that are more family based; the Chinese
have been able to maintain a 'Chinese' identity over time despite the
occasional invasion; and the Chinese business presence is heavier in trade
than manufacturing. I would add that the offshore Chinese wilfully form a
Chinese-only commercial and social "ghetto" (which invariably insults the
host country -- witness the great backlash against the Chinese in
Indonesia post-Sukarno).
As Japan's role in Asian economic development has diminished due to the
recession in Japan, the role of the Chinese has continued to rise -- and
that rise is signaled by further backlashes against the Chinese in
Indonesia and the more recent New Economic Policy in Malaysia to support
Bumiputra entrepreneurs.
He sees relations between China and other Asian nations affected by the
proportion of 'Chinese' inhabitants. Speaking of mainland China,
Takano-san noted that money and capitalistic activity have replaced the
traditional Maoist version of Communism. I would maintain that much of
Chinese government and bureaucracy has become nothing short of a
kleptocracy.
The Chinese are no more monolithic than, say, Islam or Christianity, and
this great diversity, combined with a [Chinese] family-centric view of
business, does not promote the same level of consultancy usage as in
Anglo-European cultures. And where mainland Chinese have accepted
"consultancy" services, it is largely in the areas of technology transfer
and not management consulting.
>When it comes to the organizational change regarding to human resource
>management and organizational learning, it seems to me that American firms
>are heavily reliant on external agents, such as consultants to enable and
>design organizational change, while in Japan, organizational change is
>more endogenous.
Consultancy exists in Japan, but is most often, "banking family related,"
i.e., the consultancy serves the satellite firms to the bank central to
the organization. Depending upon your point of view, it could be seen as
captive or insider.
>It seems to me that the American heavy reliance on consulting services is
>in part due to the high turnover rate and low exit cost..
I believe this is more the symptom rather than the disease. Europeans,
for example, retain large systems consultancies the way that US firms
retain legal firms.
>The high turnover rate forces
>knowledge workers in the US develop their knowledge and expertise in a
>sellable way (US: I am a software engineer; Japan: I am a Toyota member).
While I accept this to be true to some degree, I believe the greater issue
is the family/group centric nature of the Asian/Chinese culture and the
individual centric nature of Anglo-European culture.
My apologies for not replying sooner but things had been a bit hectic of
late.
-- Best regards, Gordon Housworth Intellectual Capital Group ghidra@mail.msen.com Tel: 810-626-1310