Managing Chinese-African Business Interactions: Growing Intercultural Competence in Organizations

251 Pages·2019·2.991 MB·English

by  Claude-Hélène Mayer, Lynette Louw, Christian Martin Boness

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN AFRICAN LEADERSHIP
Managing
Chinese-African
Business Interactions
Growing Intercultural
Competence in Organizations
Edited by
Claude-Hélène Mayer
Lynette Louw · Christian Martin Boness
Palgrave Studies in African Leadership
Series Editors
Faith Ngunjiri
Concordia College
Moorhead, MN, USA
Nceku Nyathi
De Montfort University
Leicester, UK
Almost every continent has solid representation in the field of leadership
studies except for Africa, despite its rapid growth. A groundbreaking
series, Palgrave Studies in African Leadership fills a gap in the production
of knowledge and scholarly publishing on Africa and provides a much
needed outlet for the works of scholars interested in African leadership
studies around the world. Where many studies of leadership in Africa focus
solely on one country or region, this series looks to address leadership in
each of the different regions and countries of the continent. This comes at
a time when business and academic discourse have begun to focus on the
emerging markets across Africa. The wide-ranging scholarly perspectives
offered in this series allow for greater understanding of the foundation of
African leadership and its implications for the future. Topics and contribu-
tors will come from various backgrounds to fully explore African leader-
ship and the implications for business, including scholars from business
and management, history, political science, gender studies, sociology, reli-
gious studies, and African studies. The series will analyze a variety of topics
including African political leadership, women’s leadership, religious lead-
ership, servant leadership, specific regions, specific countries, specific gen-
der categories, specific business entities in Africa, and more.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14652
Claude-Hélène Mayer
Lynette Louw • Christian Martin Boness
Editors
Managing Chinese-
African Business
Interactions
Growing Intercultural Competence
in Organizations
Editors
Claude-Hélène Mayer Lynette Louw
Department of Management Department of Management
Rhodes University Rhodes University
Grahamstown, South Africa Grahamstown, South Africa
Christian Martin Boness
Department of Management
Rhodes University
Grahamstown, South Africa
Palgrave Studies in African Leadership
ISBN 978-3-030-25184-0 ISBN 978-3-030-25185-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25185-7
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F
oreword
A three-day summit in China in November 2006 marked the beginning of
a strategic relationship between China and Africa, as well as significant
growth in Chinese foreign direct investment and in China’s general pres-
ence in Africa (Bräutigam, 2009, p. 2). Even though China’s presence on
the continent has led to significant development and growth in Africa’s
infrastructure and manufacturing sector (Ma Mung, 2008, p. 96), the
relationship between these countries has raised concerns, criticism and
even accusations of neo-colonialism (Shen & Taylor, 2012, p. 693).
My experience of living in South Africa for over 25 years and working
in many other countries—including Namibia, Swaziland and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, just to mention a few—has equipped
me with a good understanding of the importance and complexity of
China-Africa relations, which deserve in-depth study and analysis, not
only by academia but also by other interested parties. In this regard, I
would like to offer my congratulations to the Department of Management
at Rhodes University for pursuing their interest in the study of Chinese-
African intercultural interactions, in particular, the exploration of some
practical issues concerning Chinese entities in the African cultural and
business context. This book essentially addresses the main conflict areas in
China-Africa relations, including cultural differences, impact on local
trade and commerce, and the presence of a diverse workforce resulting
from the migration of Chinese workers (Adisu, Sharkey, & Okoroafo,
2010, p. 7).
I like the approach adopted by the academics and authors in using case
studies to demonstrate accomplishments in managing Chinese-African
v
vi FOREWORD
business interactions. Authors with different backgrounds and expertise
from a variety of countries have brought us true stories of Chinese enter-
prises in a wide range of African countries: Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda,
Namibia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Angola, South Sudan, Cameroon,
Zimbabwe and South Africa. The observations and investigations in these
business cases should be a good reflection of how intercultural interaction
between the Chinese and Africans on the African continent can be
enhanced to improve organisational success. We must acknowledge, how-
ever, the existing differences between business environments, traditional
cultures and local legislation in various African countries. Success in
selected countries and organisations does not necessarily mean the success
of Chinese involvement in Africa as a whole.
The approaches and methodologies applied by the authors are appro-
priate to the subject and purpose of the research, which aims to bring
practical insight and suggest competent ways to deal with intercultural
interactions in Chinese-African organisations. The conclusions and rec-
ommendations derived from these case studies are more convincing than
pure theoretical and literature probes. As the saying goes: action speaks
louder than words.
I would like to use the opportunity to thank and congratulate all the
authors, the editors and the Department of Management at Rhodes
University for their great effort and dedication in carrying out this task
and presenting a quality intellectual product to the readers, who will cer-
tainly find value and benefit in the texts contained in this book.
Johannesburg, South Africa Shengfei Gan
May 2019
reFerences
Adisu, K., Sharkey, T., & Okoroafo, S. C. (2010). The impact of Chinese
Investment in Africa. International Journal of Business and Management,
5(9), 3–9.
Bräutigam, D. (2009). Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Ma Mung, E. (2008). Chinese Migration and China’s Foreign Policy in Africa.
Journal of Chinese Overseas, 4(1), 91–109.
Shen, S., & Taylor, I. (2012). Ugandan Youths’ Perceptions of Relations with
China. Asian Perspective, 36(4), 693–723.
A
cknowledgements
We would like to thank Rhodes University’s Department of Management
for hosting the project “Chinese organisations in sub-Saharan Africa”, for
Rhodes University assisting us in all of our research endeavours in differ-
ent countries in Africa, for supporting us financially and with our vision.
Special thanks go to Mr Trevor Amos, who heads the department.
Further, we would like to thank our cooperation partners in different
African countries who supported us in conducting our research projects
in various organisations and countries. In particular, we thank Samuel
Kussaga and Moses Hella in Tanzania, who contributed to our research
projects in South Africa and who assisted us in analysing and interpret-
ing the data.
For language and technical editing, we would like to thank Mrs Ruth
Coetzee, who has worked for us reliably for several years on different
papers, articles and chapters, and also on this book project.
We acknowledge, with thanks, the seed funding for this project pro-
vided by the Sandisa Imbewu Fund at Rhodes University. This benefited
the research for Chaps. 4 and 16.
The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation of
South Africa for Grant No. 93636 towards the research for Chaps. 5, 9
and 12 is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed in these chapters
and conclusions arrived at are those of the authors and are not necessar-
ily attributed to the National Research Foundation.
vii
c
ontents
Part I Cultural Insights into Chinese-African Management 1
1 Introduction 3
Claude-Hélène Mayer
2 Chinese Cultural Concepts and Their Influence on
Management 19
Zhaoyi Liu
3 African Cultural Concepts and Their Influence on
Management 37
Samukele Hadebe and Dion Nkomo
Part II Intercultural Training Cases: Dealing with
International Communication, Cooperation and
Negotiation 59
4 Case 1: Dealing with Organisational Strategies in the
Tanzanian-Chinese Chalinze Water Project 61
Christian Martin Boness
ix
x CONTENTS
5 Case 2: “Not who I am, not what I mean”: Intercultural
Communication in Chinese- South African Interactions 71
Fungai B. Chigwendere
6 Case 3: Dealing with Organisational Structures, Decision-
Making and Participation in the Zambian Textile
Industry 85
Christian Martin Boness, Naiming Wei, and
Claude-Hélène Mayer
7 Case 4: A Negotiation Between Chinese and Namibian
Organisations in Namibia 101
Haiyan Zhang, Chen Ni, and Liusheng Wang
8 Case 5: How to Make Friends in Rwanda: A Chinese Tea
Ceremony 111
Christian Martin Boness
Part III Intercultural Training Cases: Entrepreneurship,
Management Styles, Language and Identity 125
9 Case 6: Setting Up Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises
by Chinese Entrepreneurial Immigrants in Maputo,
Mozambique 127
Mattheus Johannes Louw, Lynette Louw, and Fiona Geyser
10 Case 7: Managing a Chinese-Angolan National Housing
Project in Angola’s Capital, Luanda 135
Christian Martin Boness, Naiming Wei, and
Claude-Hélène Mayer
11 Case 8: Language, Culture and Power in the Chinese-
South African Telecommunications Sector 149
June Sun
12 Case 9: Transforming Employee Conflicts in a Chinese
Construction Firm in Kampala, Uganda 161
Sidney Muhangi