When Management Styles Clash

New multinational executives based in Asia often speak of great success in establishing and selling products locally, but a lack of support from home that makes them feel like “the Lone Ranger,” said Kyung Yoon, ’78, vice chairman of Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. “My response is always that there are two parts to the job. One part is being market-oriented and being the best person in your market. The second is managing your headquarters. The people who do really well at that are stars who are very good at getting support.”

Yoon was among panelists who focused on management October 21 at the Hyde Park Center. It was one of several events at the sixth annual Chicago Asia-Pacific Business Conference organized by the student-led Chicago Asia Pacific Group.

Yoon said companies face a dichotomy in choosing between expatriates and locals to manage Asian operations. Local players tend not to understand what they need politically, stylistically, or culturally to get support from headquarters, she said. Meanwhile, many expatriates tend to treat their time in Asia as a “check mark” on their resumes, Yoon said. “They act as if they are a class above the locals and it shows through,” she said. “People are very perceptive at picking up dismissive attitudes.”

Many Americans expect locals to understand how they manage by telling them, “I’m very straight-forward. What you see is what you get,” Yoon said. “They just are totally insensitive to how they’re sounding,” she said. “They don’t make the adjustments externally to tune in to the local culture.”

Asian-bred employees often experience cultural difficulties in asserting themselves at American companies, Yoon said. “There are certain assumptions about authority and being able to articulate your opinions and challenging your counterparts around the table,” she said. “Generally speaking, many Asians tend to be kind of deferential in those situations and are penalized because they are seen as dull, not proactive, unoriginal, and unable to lead. If you look beneath the surface, it’s not true; it’s just style and how uncomfortable they are in stepping up, voicing their opinions, and taking leadership in that format.”

Among the biggest trends expected in China over the next few years are the outsourcing of business services, increasing trade with Latin American companies, and the flattening of foreign direct investment in Chinese manufacturing, said Bill Dodson, CEO of Silk Road Advisors. “One of those reasons is the Chinese government has purposely slowed the investment in order to reduce the amount of hot money slushing around the economy,” Dodson said. “Also, farmers are very upset at way so much land has been taken over for commercial purposes.  And the government is becoming sensitive to environmental issues as well.”

Students who organized the management panel wanted speakers to relay their own experience, said second-year Eric Lam. “We wanted to go into more of what happens when you’re on the ground and you’re doing business there,” he said. “Marketing is one easy target, but actually leading an organization is very interesting as well, from both an organizational perspective and also, from my personal interest, in human relations.”

—Phil Rockrohr