Motivation for Working for a Government Organisation - Assignment Example

Interview with government employee 1. What is your motivation for working for a government organisation? Working for the government guarantees me more job security than working in the private sector. 2. What makes job security more guaranteed in government-owned organisations than in privately-owned firms? Most privately-owned firms are characterised by close family ties, which means that senior management positions in such organisations are always reserved for people who have notable connections. As an outsider, you can be fired any time a person with close ties to the business emerges. 3. Do you think the Chinese business environment can still afford to have strong family or friendship connections in the modern world? Yes and no. For local firms operating in China, they will still continue to have the traditional structures that are based on connections and ties. But for public organisations and those firms that deal with international organisations, there is need to depict a modern aspect whereby people are employed based on their qualifications rather than family or friendship ties. 4. Would you say that there have been any major reforms in the public organisations in China? Please explain briefly. Yes. In the past, the wage structure of the state sector in China was too controlled, too egalitarian and poorly linked to organisational efficiency and labour effort. Since the 1990s however, the wage system was liberalised and state-owned enterprises were allowed to create their own internal wage structure within the limits of the overall wage budget of the government. These organisations were also allowed to independently determine wages based on their efficiency and profitability. 5. Do you think the State is still the leading employer in China based on organisations like yours? No. With the reforms that have taken place in marketplace, the private sector has become competitive and should therefore be employing a relatively higher number of people than the state-owned business enterprises. I am not sure of the margin but I am certain that the non-state sector outdoes the state sector in employment in areas such as ICT. 6. Do you think China is progressively becoming a capitalist state as far as employment is concerned? Please explain briefly. Yes. You might have heard of the Chinese word “Dagong”. This denotes a process of turning individuals into working subjects, especially for a capitalist boss. The term also connotes selling labour or commodification and a capitalist exchange of labour. Under “Dagong”, one is no longer under the protection of the state and he or she can be dismissed at will or be replaced by another person who is willing to sell his or her labour for a lower price. This is what it means to be competitive and it is the direction the Chinese labour market is headed. 7. Based on you answer above, can the Chinese characteristics be maintained in the labour market and especially in a state-owned organisation like yours? No. I don’t think Chinese characteristics will fade away any time soon. What cannot be ignored is the fact that the market situation is changing. China appears to be seeking convergence with Western and Asian practice in many aspects of its human resource management and labour management relations, although with Chinese characteristics. 8. What do say of socialism of Chinese characteristics? I think that over time, more and more countries will interact with China or Chinese companies. As such, in one way or another they will adopt some aspects of the Chinese ways of doing things, hence socialism of Chinese characteristics. Interview with government company director 1. What are the differences between the private and public sector organisations in China? Private and public organisations are different in three main categories: goals, leadership as well as job security. In the private sector, goals are less uncertain than they are in the public sector. Also, the private sector has less leadership turnover than the public sector, and finally, the employees in the private sector have smaller job security compared with those in the public sector. 2. What are the causes of these differences? To begin with, setting goals for state companies in China is takes long because of the bureaucracies involved. The public sector comprises government and party bureaucracies, state-owned non-profit units, as well as government-led associations. In the presence of a strong authority, there are collusive behaviours at the local level. The higher level authorities may recommend evaluations, but those at the lower levels will ignore such directives and so on. The other two differences are related to the fact that public sector organisations are perceived to offer a better work environment than private sector organisations. 3. How are these differences related to China’s development path? The differences are largely attributable to the fact that China’s development path has been related to reliance on the public sector for development. The public sector comprises social and cultural elites which represent the most powerful political and economic forces in the society. These elites have been instrumental in the development path of the country. As such, the private sector still remains unpopular. 4. Compare China’s business environment now and the situation in the 1980s I can say that the Chinese business environment has been evolving rapidly since the 1980s. China’s economic reforms in the last three decades or so have fostered market competition through the growth of non state-owned enterprises and the gradual opening up of the economy. Standards of living are rising and this means that today, consumers are demanding better quality and more variety than they did in the 1980s. 5. How did communism shape the business environment in China today? Like all communist states, China had an economic planning system that was too subject to elite political intervention and too independent from social demands. However, over the years there has been a tendency to decentralise economic activities from the central government to local governments, which has resulted in increasing competition for development between localities. This can be related to the dictum “building socialism with Chinese characteristics”, which means progressively changing to a market-oriented mixed economy based on the socialism principles. 6. What are the features of “building socialism with Chinese characteristics” in today’s state firms? My organisation and other state organisations are featured by taking their own path towards modernisation, upholding activation of the economy as a fundamental policy, respecting knowledge and talented personnel, and reforming the system of economic administration. These are some of the key aspects of “building socialism with Chinese characteristics.” 7. Briefly explain the role of human resource management in your organisation. How is it different from the situation in private or foreign-owned organisations? In a state-owned company like the one I work for, the human resource department has considerably more power than the human resource department in private companies of foreign-owned companies. This is because the selection, promotion and human resource allocations are not automatically based on the requirements of the position, and may be premised on the “guanxi” or a “culture of connections” within the companies. In addition, a new position could be created just for a particular person. As such, open and transparent communication is not an aspect of the human resource department; instead, human resource professionals are expected to keep confidential secrets. Further, in many cases managers do not use norms and regulations to manage people but they use special interpersonal relationship skills to make sure that things are done well. The major difference between state-owned firms and private firms or those that are foreign-owned lies in the human resource regulations. For instance, you would find the same practices in manufacturing, marketing, or sales departments in a company like ours but you would not find the same practices in the human resource department. HR functions like selection, promotion and performance management are normally based on job analysis and competency modelling. Nevertheless, selections for senior level CEOs or civil servants are not merely based on job analysis and competency modelling. Political influence usually plays a role in selection of such cadres of people. 8. How do you perceive the issue of human resource management in China? Essentially, HRM which is an aspect that emerged from North America, was specifically based on individualistic assumptions. However, China’s model of development has been collectivist and this tends to dominate the HRM patterns in China. With globalisation however, this is expected to change as more aspects of HRM are embraced; but as I mentioned earlier, the culture of guanxi based on clans, family, and workgroups will still dominate recruitment in china in both in the public and private sectors for some time. 9. What is your view of socialism of Chinese characteristics? Companies working with Chinese leaders are in one way or another required to conform to the Chinese way of doing things. Even Chinese leaders who have been inviting foreign companies to participate in the ‘modernisation’ of the Chinese business environment have requested such companies to adapt the new changes to suit China’s situation. As well, Chinese companies are venturing in foreign markets and spreading China’s development model to other developing countries. This is what can be viewed as socialism of Chinese characteristics. Read More