Building an in-house China team

Undertaking proper market research to gain a better understanding of the market is one aspect of the effort to prepare for entry into China. Another is the development of an in-house China team to use this understanding to penetrate the market. All too often, a company does not deploy sufficient resources to build a China team within its organization. This is entirely understandable for those companies which are only testing the water. But those who have established a firm interest will need to set up an in-house, expert capability before launching themselves into a campaign to tackle the market. Unfortunately, few organizations attempt to do this, and in many cases such responsibility is delegated to a department handling the Asian region market in general.

Those who do attempt to set up their own China department naturally have some difficulty in deciding the best way to find and recruit staff who can offer the appropriate qualifications, including linguistic and general communication skills.

Recently graduated language students are one obvious pool of potential talent, but only a most exceptional recruit from the field is likely to meet more than a part of the job requirements. Even their linguistic skills are likely to be limited unless the student has spent years in China, not only while at university. Also, unless the students are much older than normal first degree graduates, their general business experience can hardly be very wide. All these considerations may make it difficult for new recruits, coming straight from university, to perform initially as anything other than a student interpreter. This is not to say that good recruits cannot be found from this pool of talent, but they will need time before their skills are likely to meet total requirements.

On the other hand, the pool of foreigners available who are both experienced in the China market and linguistically qualified, is likely to be severely limited. Most of those who might meet the requirements will either already be retired , or still be gainfully employed. If such an experienced person can be found to act in the liaison role, and recruited as a part of the company team planning its China entry strategy and tactics, this is certainly a good solution to the problem, but mature people with experience of the Chinese market and Chinese language qualification are more likely to be successfully in mid-career, than in the job market.

Fortunately, there is a third, growing source of suitable talent: the pool of Chinese with good English and an understanding of western culture, who have either worked in western countries for years or been educated in western schools. These second-generation Chinese, born, brought up and educated in western countries, are known as 'bananas'. When recruiting these, companies should be careful not to make judgements based only on their Chinese appearance. Their understanding of Chinese culture, business experiences with and/or in China are just as crucial as when you recruit your own fellow countrymen. There is an increasing number of young elite who, after several years of experience working in China, are now studying in western schools . Their business experience can be valuable in building your China team's capability.

If you intend to set up an office in China, it is possible to recruit local Chinese talents with business experience and essential communication skills. Although they may have less understanding of the foreign culture, many will have worked with foreign companies and gained a reasonable understanding of western business norms and practices. They will bring with them a much broader and deeper knowledge of the Chinese language, and should have a greater understanding of Chinese culture and systems. They can certainly make very good members of a foreign business team. However, although a decision to recruit from the mainland immediately broadens the scope of the search, such a solution may well not commend itself to a company which has no Chinese experience, and therefore no criteria by which to judge the suitability of the candidates. The use of a professional head-hunter may help to solve the problem. Following China's WTO accession , foreign headhunting services in the form of joint ventures are now available.

Finally, since China is a country with a traditional respect for age, young graduates will have to overcome age prejudice, in addition to their lack of business and technical experience. Therefore, it is advisable to appoint a middle-aged manager to take charge of the China operation.