^aDepartment of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore, Blk AS4, 9 Arts Link, Singapore 117570, Singapore

Correspondence: Hendrik Meyer-Ohle, E-mail: meyerohle@nus.edu.sg

Received 20 March 2007; Revised 11 June 2007; Accepted 17 August 2007.

Abstract

China's economy is emerging rapidly and foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) are playing an important role in this process. MNCs no longer view China just as a place for cheap production, but increasingly as a marketplace. This has led to increased interest in how to manage local white-collar employees and this article addresses this issue with regard to Japanese MNCs. Based on a qualitative exploration of the perceptions of local employees, the article develops a series of proposals in regard to the underlying factors and problems of human resource management (HRM) by Japanese MNCs in China. Local employees describe the management style of Japanese corporations as highly ethnocentric and despite Japanese management having been portrayed as an overall good fit for fast-developing economies, local employees voice discontent over several points, ranging from seating arrangements to incentive structures. This situation can be explained by an incomplete transfer of Japanese business practices, the heavy reliance on expatriate managers, and with the presence of multiple modes of competing management styles in the current rapidly developing Chinese economy.