In the past phase, every time I visited a company and met with an enterprise leader, what impressed me most was that Chinese enterprises are all pursuing the same management concept (keeping up with global trends), which is corporate culture. More interestingly, all companies prominently display their corporate culture in conspicuous places within the company (absolutely Chinese-style). The meaning of this is to let outsiders see that the company adopts modern management concepts and methods, and it constantly reminds employees that this is a company with corporate culture. After visiting many companies, you will find how similar the corporate cultures of companies across the country are? People-oriented, innovation, integrity, customer first... these are probably the only ones listed.
The concept of corporate culture originated from Western countries and is a tool used by Western countries in managing enterprises beyond management systems and regulations. The history of Western enterprises has over a hundred years. Western countries have a system based on institutions, thus forming a standardized system for corporate governance. The role of institutions themselves is to constrain, allowing company employees to reach a basic bottom line required by the company. As companies grow, especially when they enter the mature stage, managers begin to realize that purely using institutional methods to manage enterprise employees does not easily motivate work enthusiasm. People then began studying China's five thousand years of history and found that the most effective way to stimulate a country and its people is through "culture." The power of "culture" is infinite. Experts started applying "culture" in Western enterprise management to motivate employees, calling it "corporate culture."
However, the real history of enterprises under China’s market economy system is only about twenty years. Our enterprises are still in an accumulation process, and our social systems and institutions are also under construction. It can be said that Chinese enterprises have not yet reached the standard systems and institutional management models of Western countries. Blindly pursuing the most advanced concept of "corporate culture" ends up being nothing more than empty slogans. This is why people say: The United States is a country without cultural heritage (the entire country has only over two hundred years of history), while China is seen as a country with a long historical culture (five thousand years of cultural history). Culture requires accumulation.
In fact, corporate culture is just a kind of corporate atmosphere. The slogans and content of corporate culture are not important. A good company has an internal atmosphere that makes each employee love the company and be willing to contribute to it, and this is good corporate culture.
When a company is in a period of rapid growth, employees feel the company's development, share in the fruits of success, and are filled with hope for the future. At this stage, corporate systems and corporate culture do not seem so important to the company; however, when a company enters the mature stage or even faces crises, apart from having a perfect governance system and mechanism, corporate culture often plays a crucial role.
The foundation of managing a company lies in its corporate standards and systems. Without an excellent standard system, much of what we see as so-called corporate culture in many companies is merely "the boss's personality." How can such "culture" be sustained (Culture can be sustained within a company and become part of its value system)? Once the boss changes, the new boss brings a new personality and a new corporate culture. Such a company cannot possibly develop a true corporate culture over time.
In 1997, when I returned to China to establish Microsoft Global Technology Center, I simply applied Microsoft's entire set of corporate standards and systems, skipping the self-exploratory learning process of establishing a company. Although the entire center was newly established with all employees recruited locally in China, whether it was the employees transferred from Microsoft headquarters to the Global Technology Center or those inside Microsoft, everyone felt that the center was genuinely Microsoft. This demonstrates the advantages of systems and standards. Because Microsoft has a complete set of standardized corporate systems and standards, it allows a new branch to quickly achieve a high level of governance systems and standards in a short period, becoming an excellent company. I was not satisfied with merely copying a Chinese version of Microsoft. I copied Microsoft's management system and standards as comprehensively as possible but hoped to create a Microsoft belonging to the Chinese, a Chinese corporate culture. There are fundamental differences between Westerners and Chinese in terms of professional values. Westerners view work as a means of survival (so once on vacation, they completely immerse themselves in holidays). On the other hand, Chinese people consider work as part of life, such as friends mainly being colleagues at work, and many people regard the company as a sense of belonging, feeling like home...
First, I made Chinese-style changes in the recruitment process. The common mindset among Chinese people is that the harder the interview process, the better the place must be. Therefore, I adopted a very strict interview system (veto + general manager decision-making). Any employee joining Microsoft must undergo interviews with at least six Microsoft employees. Any one of the interviewers has veto power. In addition to giving interviewers a sense of ownership, this increases the difficulty of the interview. If the candidate passes the interviews with six employees, I would act as the final gatekeeper, deciding on the spot whether to hire them. This interview system achieved results beyond expectations. First, every Microsoft employee participates in interview training and new employee interviews, having the authority to decide future colleagues (at least to veto), making each employee feel they belong to the company's decision-making system, enhancing a sense of belonging. Second, since I introduced the interview decision system at the end, it fully demonstrated people-oriented principles (all employees entering the company must go through the general manager's interview), showing the company's emphasis on each employee. Plus, I decided on the spot whether to hire and informed the interviewee immediately, showcasing Microsoft's efficiency. Third, coming to Microsoft for an interview is like a life experience, attracting many challengers, especially top-notch ones, because only the best can join such a company. Some come just to prove they are top talents, while others just want to experience Microsoft's interview process...
Western companies, due to their long-standing corporate standards, have formed a working style among employees under these standards, combined with some basic social norms, leading to professional standards. However, in China, there is generally a lack of professional standards, whether it is recent university graduates or those with work experience. One could say there is a lack of an atmosphere and environment for professional standards.
--- David Chen, December 4, 2008 ---