Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is indispensable in influencing employees to act in a way that positively influences the success of an organization or business. Even then, without understanding the corporate culture or societal culture among particular demographics, it is impossible to strategically plan on successfully motivating employees. The difference in culture in the US and China is an aspect that can be used to contextualize the above assertion.
While America's culture mainly influences individual development, China's culture mainly focuses on societal change. China's culture can be explained by communist ideologies that have historically shaped the country's politics, economics, and even communities in general. On the other hand, however, emphasis on individualism has shaped America's culture. In light of the above differences, a Chinese firm might focus less on extrinsic motivation but pursue means that ensure intrinsic motivation. Examples include societal stability, harmony at the workplace, and job security(Hon et al., 2011). On the other hand, American firms might have to pursue motivation factors such as monetary rewards and better work benefits.
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China's motivation culture differs from the US' in a number of ways. In China, aspects such as cultural values, traditions, and leadership practices are highly regarded(Jaw et al., 2007). Moreover, equity in the workplace and factors that influence individual contributions to societal development are prevalent in China's culture. On the other hand, the US culture emphasizes job rewards, especially when one's undertakings at the workplace are consistent with the workplace values. Hence, the motivation culture focuses on the enhancement of individual desirable attributes, for example, hard work or work ethics.
A US firm setting up operations in China needs to thoroughly understand China's corporate culture and how it influences employees' actions and motivation in general. In China, for example, business etiquette is indispensable. Employees value factors such as comprehensive communication. Even then, indirect communication is preferable.Besides, aspects such as a thorough understanding of one's roles and those they relate with are important for Chinese employees. A firm moving to china should also take into consideration aspects such as employee training and development. China's education system does not put an emphasis on problem-solving, hence, adjustment of employees to fit an American problem-solving model might need a strategy that is different from a model that focuses on the development of American employees. A Chinese employee's work culture with respect to the above would be slow decision making and pre-meditated actions. In terms of employee motivation, a US firm has to keep in mind the need to foster Confucian dynamism among Chinese employees(Scott et al., 2003).
Although culture majorly influences how Chinese employees are motivated, globalization has influenced a change in corporate culture all over the world, including China(Merchant et al., 2011). Like in other parts of the world, incentives that can be offered to Chinese employees working for an American company include an attractive base salary, paid holidays, attractive allowances, and offering gift cards to individual employees, among others. If the American firm is situated in China, a traditional package for all employees can be designed to motivate employees. Enhanced social benefits and bonuses should, for example, be part of the package. Most importantly, while an international manager should consider China's and America's approaches to providing incentives to employees, they could also strategically offer other incentives that they consider indispensable. International managers from countries with desirable employee benefits, Finland, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands, could, for example, borrow incentives ideas from their home countries(Merchant et al., 2011). This helps in the diversification of the forms of incentives offered, hence, ability to appeal to a wide range of employees, especially if they have been exposed to a corporate culture that is different from that prevalent in mainland China.
References
Hon, A. H., & Leung, A. S. (2011). Employee creativity and motivation in the Chinese context: The moderating role of organizational culture. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly , 52 (2), 125-134.
Jaw, B. S., Ling, Y. H., Wang, C. Y. P., & Chang, W. C. (2007). The impact of culture on Chinese employees' work values. Personnel review .
Merchant, K. A., Van der Stede, W. A., Lin, T. W., & Yu, Z. (2011). Performance measurement and incentive compensation: an empirical analysis and comparison of Chinese and Western firms' practices. European accounting review , 20 (4), 639-667.
Scott, D., Bishop, J. W., & Chen, X. (2003). An examination of the relationship of employee involvement with job satisfaction, employee cooperation, and intention to quit in US invested enterprise in China. International Journal of Organizational Analysis , 11 (1), 3-20.
