MANAGING PEOPLE IN CHINA - PERCEPTIONS OF EXPATRIATE MANAGERS

Foreign direct investment has boomed in China and East Asia more gener ally over the past decade. This has been accompanied by an influx of e xpatriate managers with responsibility for managing joint ventures and subsidiaries. The paper reviews the relevant literature and draws on interviews with expatriate managers with extensive experience in China , and some other East Asian countries, to identify key human resource management issues and ways in which these were handled. The paper disc usses the importance of individual learning and the application of kno wledge of cultural differences to managing foreign invested enterprise s. We argue that organizations could significantly enhance future expa triate managerial effectiveness by systematically building, updating a nd disseminating knowledge based on the experience of expatriate manag ers.