For Kim Woods research paper

MEMORANDUM

Name: Shan Liu

To: John Smith, Joseph Stevens, and Robert Morris, Partners

From:  Shan Liu          

Date: April 2, 2015

Subject: FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT OUR OPERATIONS IN CHINA.

I hereby submit my request to carry out a study on the effects of key factors that could affect our operation in China. This is necessary due to the previous internship program in the region that did not yield the expected results. The ideal purpose of this study is to identify the factors that could have any influence in the operation of any program in China. The factors are to be analyzed, and the way to deal with them sought to in this memo.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the factors that govern the operations in the Chinese economy which everyone needs to be aware of, which shall form a basis of training for our employees and interns to be posted in the region. China is one of the world`s biggest economies and which turns out to be the most populous country in the world (Carter & Mol, 2013).  Technology advance is one of the factors that have kept the country influential in the entire global economy. The internship program previously conducted in the region turned out not to be successful.

Audience Analysis

The targeted audience for this training program is primarily the new employees and interns being newly posted to the region. It is also secondarily intended for the employees and interns who have been or are already in the region and wish to understand more about the factors that could affect their dealings with China. The training will focus on the major career skills needed for business development officers and project implementation staff to be posted in China.

Summary of key topics

The key topics and variables include the following factors and how they will be of relevance in our dealings in the Chinese region.

· Religion

· Politics

· Attitude towards women

· Attitude towards foreigners

· Cultural Values

The following factors are identified as important and need to emphasize in the training programs. They include; religion, politics, attitude towards women, attitude towards foreigners and cultural values and are discussed in depth below.

Religion

There are five major religions in China. These include Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. The country seeks to regulate religious groups and worship. Any group that is determined to practice their religious faith outside the religious venues that are controlled by the state, or any unregistered religious or spiritual groups risk harassment, intimidation or even detention by the government. The freedom of worship is not much applicable in China. Therefore, it is prudent for the interns and staff who will be posted to China after the training to have a pre-visit training on how to cope with the religious restrictions in China (Carter & Mol, 2013). 

Politics

After the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the political stability of China in still in question and affects the business operations of any firm with its presence in the Chinese economy. It affects the prospected going concern of the organization (Saich, 2011). However, the political stability has improved since then. The political system of China is a communist one. All parties, mass organizations and representatives of various areas take part in the formulation of government policies. As entrepreneurs, the interns must be prepared to have an input into the formulation of these policies by giving their innovative ideas and information through their representatives in the firm.

Attitude towards foreigners

The Chinese usually perceive foreigners as being representatives of their company or country rather than seeing them as individuals. The Rank is crucial in business relationships. It is therefore very key that you keep rank differences in mind when communicating with Chinese nationals. In China, they prefer face-to-face meetings rather than written or telephone communication. Meals and social events are not the places preferred for business discussions, but social etiquette is necessary to follow. There are a demarcation and a borderline between business and social talks in China, so it is important not to intertwine the two. These are critical points to note and require that any new staff or intern going to China learn and consider them in their dealings. It is thus a good practice that the interns and staff to be made aware of this beforehand.

Attitude towards women

Masculinity (MAS) versus femininity just denotes the distribution of roles between genders in a society or country. Hofstede's study brings out the fact that women values differ less across societies than men's values (Saich, 2011). The men's values from one nation to another contain dimensions that are very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values. The assertive role is called 'masculine', and the modest, caring role is called 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries such as China have the same modest and caring values as the men. In the masculine nations, they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values. The Chinese rank highly in masculine versus feminine roles preference. It's important to understand this orientation to avoid any possible conflicts.

Cultural values

The cultural values of the Chinese are quite complicated, but they do share common values that range from the hierarchical structure of social life, self-restraint, and hard work to achieve these. The culture also adores collectivism other than individualism. They assume that together they can achieve more than as individuals. They hold high values and require that the young learn to respect the elders and also learn how to answer them back (Harrell, 2013). 

Schedule of tasks

The above-discussed factors could be reliable sources for training to the employees and interns so that they may act appropriately in both public and business meetings that would gain their acceptance into the region. The tasks to be performed, and their durations are as outlined in the table below:-

Activity	Week One	Week Two	Week Three
Preparation and organization of the research work · Desk review · Brainstorming sessions · Background research · Logistics planning
Field visit Data collection · Key Informant Interviews · Questionnaires · Focus Group Discussions · Observations · Resource Mapping · In-country research
Data Entry and Analysis
Preparation of Report
Data presentation, Research Summary, and Final Report submission
Closure

References

Carter, N., & Mol, A. P. (2013). Environmental governance in China Republic. Routledge.

Harrell, S. (2013). Cultural encounter’s on the China's ethnic frontiers. University of Washington Press Release.

Saich, A. (2011). The governance & politics of China.