China - Wait for Management 2.0
New York Times reports that there is a surge of interest in Management Literature, in China to help its surreal growth trajectory.
There are three problems, I see in this surge in china:
1. Western Style Management is getting reinvented from merely aggregating capabilities such as Standardizing, Pooling and Integrating Talent etc., to Amplifying Human Capabilites, such as taking advantage of amplifying Passion, Talent and Intelligence. Gary Hamel and others call it Management 2.0.
2. As Dan Ariely notes in Predictably Irrational, "Introducing market norms into social exchanges,violates the social norms and hurts the relationships." "...Once you've offered to pay for the delightful Thanksgiving dinner, your mother-in-law will remember the incident for years to come." "...Money it turns out, is very often the most expensive way to motivate people. Social Norms are not only cheaper but more often more effective as well."
Yet in Western Enterprises, it is a prevalent practice to use market norms to motivate. While the West is trying to learn this subtelty, we would be inculcating older practices to the Enterprises in China.
3. Benevolent paternalism, which is virtually non-existent in Western Organizations is intertwined to the cultural fabric of both Society and Business, in the East. Instead of making a move to a rational,impersonal and individualistic mode in the workplace, benevolent paternalism can be harnessed effectively in the workplace.
So, Wait China. ...Until the Western Management Framework, moves from the Industrial Era to the Knowledge Era.
