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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

4. Roles and Responsibilities

Author : Paul Ross

Published in: Barriers to Entry

Publisher: Springer Singapore

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Abstract

The Chinese enterprise, in recent past, has transformed itself from a commercial entity whose sphere of operation was almost exclusively confined to the Chinese domestic market to one with global aspirations and an increasing appetite for revenues from markets overseas. To feed that appetite Chinese companies have turned increasingly to foreign talent for support both in their corporate headquarters and in the local offices they have established around the world. To illustrate how Chinese companies employ and engage foreign staff, how they position those staff within the company’s organizational fabric, and how they envision the role that foreign staff play in overall corporate development, this chapter presents cases drawn from Chinese hi-tech industry because the companies it comprises have been among the most aggressive in entering markets outside of China and among the largest employers of foreign talent.

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Footnotes
1
Zaagman highlights and analyzes the connection between Chinese leadership composition and foreign employee experience in: Zaagman, Elliott, “Thinking About Working for a Chinese Company? First Find Out If It’s A ‘Lenovo’ or a ‘Huawei’”, Supchina (online), October 9, 2017.
 
2
In the more recent past Chinese state-run enterprises have become more present in developed markets, but in many cases the size of the operation is conservative and the staff they maintain is small. Consider Sinopec in the U.S. Viewed as a representative office by the company and has about 100 staff, 60% are locals. Telecom operators like China Telecom have a similar model and maintain an office to facilitate, for example, bilateral traffic agreements, roaming agreements to serve China Telecom customers who may be visiting the U.S.
 
3
Here to be understood in its broadest definition (including ICT, Internet based companies, Communications, etc.).
 
4
Huawei, for example, generates more business from its overseas operations than it does from its domestic operations.
 
5
In terms of GMV in the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, on the basis of publicly available comparable transaction value data for the most recent fiscal year (Alibaba Annual Report 2017).
 
6
Estimate of Alibaba’s revenues from overseas is complicated by definition and complexity of the company’s business (e.g. revenue from e-commerce exclusively, wholesale and retail, etc.). Two reports from 2017 to 2018 respectively estimate revenues at a little less than 10% (2017) and a little more than 10% (2018).
 
7
The company’s acquisition of Singapore-based Lazada, an e-commerce platform developed specifically to serve customers in Southeast Asia is an example of how this strategy is implemented.
 
8
This does not consider board members who are not in daily management roles.
 
9
This is a bit deceptive as some of those whose nationalities are listed as Korean, Indonesian, etc. actually grew up in the U.S. and are most likely U.S. citizens.
 
10
40% of the Explorer class was comprised of ethnic Chinese.
 
11
This number arrived at by extrapolating from the number of participants in the AGLA program who have remained following conclusion of the program.
 
12
According to participants in the AGLA program interviewed, approximately 50% of AGLA participants remain in Hangzhou, a surprisingly large number given that the intent of the program is to prepare trainees for management roles in markets outside of China.
 
13
France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Turkey, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.
 
14
In 2000, then-Chinese Vice Premier, Li Lanqing and Ren Zhengfei traveled together to various African countries and entered into contracts for the company cited in Micheli and Carillo (2016).
 
15
Ages derived from university graduation dates presented in employee personal LinkedIn profiles.
 
16
Towards the end of 2018 the company experienced a decline in value of more then $200 million.
 
17
Source Tencent corporate. Additional offices include—Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Italy, Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates.
 
18
Articulation of international strategy from Tencent Senior Executive Vice-President, S. Y. Lau in South China Morning Post interview (2018).
 
19
Tencent and its affiliates spent 38 billion yuan (US$5.1 billion) in 2017 to acquire overseas assets, followed by Alibaba and its associated units which made transactions valued at approximately 23 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion).
 
20
In most cases, the degrees are from American universities.
 
22
All members of the India management team have advanced engineering degrees.
 
23
The Tencent global office map was developed by the author in early 2018. The offices that appear on the map are those that have the greaest number of staff. Remaining offices not presented have, on average, fewer than 10 employees or are managed by partner organizations. Staff numbers referenced are estimates that have been derived from information resident on websites (corporate and local), provided in company documentation (e.g. annual reports and financial filings), and shared during staff interviews. Numbers are indicative and subject to change as company hiring plans take shape.
 
24
These projections are based on reviews of company performance and direct interviews with foreign staff.
 
25
This is a statistic that is obviously important to the company as it clearly highlighted in the AGLA program’s promotional material.
 
Literature
Bradley, Diana, “Jim Wilkinson Exits Alibaba Group”, PRWeek, April 5, 2016.
“China’s Internet Giants Go Global”, Economist, April 20, 2017.
Clover, Charles “Low-Key Michael Evans Brings Goldman Connections to Alibaba”, Financial Times, August 7, 2015.
Erisman, Porter, Alibaba’s World: How a Remarkable Chinese Company Is Changing the Face of Global Business, St. Martin’s Press, 2015.
Faure, David. 2006. China and Capitalism: A History of Business Enterprise in Modern China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
“Global 2000: Growth Champions”, Forbes, June 2018.
Jiang, Sijia, “Tencent Turns to WeChat, Games and Deals for Global Strategy”, Reuters, November 20, 2017.
Micheli, Jordy, and Carillo, Jorge, “The Globalization Strategy of a Chinese Multinational”, Frontera Norte, Vol. 28, No. 56, July–December 2016, pages 35–58.
“Tencent Needs to See Market Gap Before Expanding Further Overseas, Says Executive” [interview with Tencent Senior Executive Vice-President, S. Y. Lau], South China Morning Post, June 22, 2018.
Metadata
Title
Roles and Responsibilities
Author
Paul Ross
Copyright Year
2020
Publisher
Springer Singapore
Book
Barriers to Entry

Print ISBN: 978-981-329-565-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-981-329-566-7

Copyright Year: 2020

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9566-7_4