News from Oslo

With little surprise have I read that Liu Xiaobo has been awarded the Nobel prize. Reactions to that decision in China and the West could not be more contrary.
In my opinion, rewarding the prize to Liu Xiaobo symbolises the belief of many Westerners in the superiority of their democratic systems. That being said, I do not think that democracy is a bad system, but has it worked well lately?
It is doubtless that the Chinese system is not perfect, but if you look what the U.S. did when they invaded Iraq, or at their camps in Guantanamo, I don't really see why the West would have the moral upper ground (you could also look at different examples, such as the voting system in the UK, which has been due for reform for ages).
What I think is more important are social values. It may sound dated, but happiness, social etiquette, honesty and law-abidingness, are things that are a lot more important to me than disputes about political ideologies, because these things affect my daily life.
It may sound strange, but ask yourself: Would you dare tell a youngster to take his shoes from a bus seat (in China vs a Western country), or would you enjoy having a walk with your wife/girlfriend late in the evening (in a Chinese vs a Western city). One could certainly argue that this is a different topic, but it is my belief that politics and social values are very closely linked.

What can you bring to the table?

When talking about working in China, it is usually described as an exiting thing to do. The sheer drive of the economic development, the culture, but of course sometimes the frustrations when things don't go as smooth as they would in the West which spice things up and add to the excitement.
I wonder if this approach is still appropriate. To me it sounds like being in China is perceived as some kind of big adventure and combined with the life standard of most expats, it may even feel more like a luxury cruise.
How do think Pakistani immigrants feel in the US? Indian people in the UK, or Turkish ethnics in Germany?
I guess they would describe their stay abroad significantly different and in fact probably more down to earth: They have decided to move abroad for they feel it offers them better opportunities in some kind of way. That they should have in common with expats opting for a China stay.
In contrast to expats immigrants to other countries do however usually plan to stay for good, but a key difference is also that society expects a lot more from them than Chinese society expects from expats: integration, cultural adaption, language studies and so on.
In my opinion, China will at one point follow the West and ask its overseas workers to make more efforts and to integrate into society as well, rather than just fuel the economic growth. So have you ever asked yourself what it is that you can bring to the table?

The future of consulting in China

I can't seem to wonder whether the business model of strategy or management consultancies is actually going to last in China. Recalling that management consultancies like McKinsey, BCG and such were once founded in order to offer firms advice, as well as to save costs by not having to hire a bunch of highly qualified people permanently, but by only taking them on for one project, more and more companies seem to have realised that this equation does not always pay out.
This is even obvious in the West, were many firms have, quite successful, set up their own in-house consultancies (i.e. Siemens Management Consulting).
In China the situation is even more severe, because the rates top consultancies charge are, relative to the cost structures in China, even more extreme. Consultancies have thus often focused on international firms in China, rather than local firms. On top of that Chinese firms are generally skeptical as to whether or not a US or European led consultancy does really know how to do business in China.
It will therefore be interesting to see what the future brings for these firms and if a Chinese management consultancy will make it to the ranks of the international elite.

Clients in China

Recognising that Western clients are very different from Chinese clients is key for every consultant in China. Although my work experience in the West is limited, the following story should outline what I mean:
I was once working on a project for an important client and as part of the project the client had asked us to source a further firm required for the project, as they said they weren't happy with the performance of the firm they had worked together in previous years. We spend a substantial amount of time finding adequate firms, as well as selecting the most suitable one with the client. Once the selection phase was virtually finished and the potential new partner had provided concepts and put in a lot of free of charge effort, our client told us to stop working with them and to get the original partner on-board instead.
Why did they change their minds? All managers involved in the process were key decision makers, so it was not a decision forced down on them. The potential new partner was also offering a better performance at the same price.
The only plausible explanation for the shift are thus cultural aspects. The client had obviously arrived at the conclusion that maintaining a long term relationship, as well as showing benevolence to a much smaller firm was more important than the other immediate financial and performance related factors.
In fact I wonder whether this decision was not the smarter one anyway, since the old partner may not be only more reliable in the future, but also owes our client. What are your thoughts on this?