China

With an estimate of 1.345'751.000 inhabitants, China is the home for approximately 55 other ethnic groups, with a predominance of the Han with the 91.59% of the entire population.

The people's Republic of China is currently basing its economy on the industrial sector occupying a 49.2% of the total GDP, followed by the service sector (39.1%) and the the agricultural sector (11.7%) and it is the fifth economy of the world.

But these numbers do not represent the concentration of the labor force. 43% of the Chinese are occupied on the agricultural sector and most of them are kept on very poor conditions away from the development spots of the country.

The ones working on the industry and service sectors are currently, and have been for a very long time, being exploited as very cheap labor keeping wages down instead of expanding people's purchasing power and there is absolutely no room for independent trade unions guarantying the continuation of these violations.

China's Management Model

Even though there has been a lot of foreign investment since the last years on the 1980's decade and the beginning of the 90's, the main business remain the Family-owned businesses and the values that they carry.

Their management style is paternalistic and pragmatic, meaning that managers need to keep a balance between the family values and the management of the business.

Chinese businesses include highly centralised decision-making, low structuring of activities, respect for age and hierarchy, paternalistic style of leadership, strong emphasis on collectivism and group behavior and strong family management and ownership.

* People management: Good interpersonal relations between employees and the family members. predominance of good behavior and trustworthiness.

* Organisational structure: Family-oriented businesses with few written rules based on the trust the have on their employees.

* Leadership style: Again, the main characteristics are paternalism and nepotism, highlighting the moral values and the "paternalistic" obligations of the leader of guarantying the employees' welfare. Employees have the possibility to keep their jobs for an indefinite period of time even though their performance is not the best.

* Business orientation and strategy: Managers work really hard aiming to keep things under control. Patience and perseverance are two values needed to achieve this. This can also mean that the family members have to work without any wage when the company's resources are low.

References:

- Class presentation: China. By Sarah Juliana Monsalve, Laura Delgado, Raúl Sanchez.