China

CHINA
China is the greatest country in East Asia, is considered the number one exporting country, Mandarin is the most spoken language, the liberalization of the economy brought to china its huge economy forward, Now China is the biggest economy after the US.
China was known because of its centralized organization in politics and in industry. Being Mao Zedong the head of the state, China followed a very clear path in commerce, in enterprises (that where part of the state -SOE's) and in management by a unique, almighty leader. Anyway, globalization did its job, and China had to change in order to continue its constantly evolving economic system.

There are some studies that try to explain how China has managed its recently economic opening and there are some hypotheses that show this and changes in the external environment as market forces increasingly underpin Chinese economic life. “Structural change in the economy may be then accompanied by changes in enterprise structures and management practices. People management is a central feature of how economies are run and market-led change may be re-shaping its core norms and values in the direction of HRM rather than the old-style personnel management model associated with the ‘iron rice bowl’ employment system, albeit a new form of HRM ‘with Chinese
characteristics".

MAO ZEDONG

"Mao Zedong (also Mao Tse-Tung) was the world's most prominent Chinese communist during the 20th century. Mao's Red Army overthrew Chiang Kai-Shek in 1949, and the communists seized power of mainland China. Ruthless and ambitious, Mao turned China into a world military power and created a cult of personality, forcing the distribution of his image and his "Little Red Book" (a collection of political maxims) upon the Chinese people. His campaign to export communism made China a threat to the West and led to confrontations in Southeast Asia and Korea. Under Mao's rule China endured a series of economic disasters and political terrorism, but for more than 25 years Mao was China, as far as the rest of the world was concerned. After his death, leaders like Deng Xiaoping steered the country away from pure communism, and the Cult of Mao began to disappear. These days Mao is ranked among the worst of 20th century dictators. Alongside Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler".

Taken from: http://www.answers.com/topic/mao-zedong


The relevance of Guanxi and the existence of Chinese business networks as supporting factors to the internationalization process of Chinese companies.

Guanxi is highly related to the Chinese management style and as a business strategy for HRM. Nowadays is not having the same importance because of globalization and because the companies are acquiring patterns of the western management style. Guanxi refers to commitment and friendship and is a giant linkage between the people, especially when they are doing businesses, its all about trust and reliability. For the Chinese companies Guanxi reflects the spinal core of the business. In order to success it is important to be aware of the Guanxi network connections. They consider customers as the most important in Guanxi basically because of the relationships that they could build. Communication is essential during the activity, especially face to face communication because it is important to see the other and analyze the situation as a whole. Location, networks and links are very important to Guanxi, in the culture management it will provide a better application of it. It is considered for the Chinese the tool to achieve perfection, harmony. Guanxi is still a crucial factor in the internationalization process of the Chinese companies, because is more a cultural issue, and culture doesn’t change easily it takes time.