In early January 2006 the GLOBE students went to a second study trip in the last 6 months – a 3-day trip to Shenzhen visiting three factories. It was eye-opening because we have never visited (or even imagined of) factories with over 10,000 workers. The study trip focused on the management styles and interestingly, the three factories demonstrated very different management styles.
The first stop was a visit to HUNG HING PRINTING CO., LTD. It was established in 1992, and has become one of the biggest printing factories in the Guangdong province in recent years. It is listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has over 15,000 workers during the peak seasons. During the visit, the general manager explained to the GLOBE students the people-oriented management style adopted by the company. The main idea is “to get everyone involved in the management process”. A good relationship is built up between the management and the workers, allowing the workers to voice their opinion freely. They also illustrated how the integration of human and machinery can lead to such a success. The fact that the principle is very different from those taught on textbooks allows students to broaden their business knowledge on top of the theories learnt in class. GLOBE students also get the chance to have some acquaintance with the printing process. This experience allowed them to have a further understanding of the working condition of low-cost labor in Mainland China.
On the second day we visited a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed electronic company. Having a scale of more than 3,000 workers, the company applies almost every management theory we have learnt from the textbook. It adopts a task-oriented approach of management and emphasizes a lot on quality control. It gains an ISO 9001, 14001 and six sigma recognition for its high quality production. The company applies the concept of vertical integration to add values to its LCD products by providing a one-stop efficient service, satisfying the needs of international customers such as Sharp, Sony Ericson and Samsung. Since the production process is more technical in nature, the company employs skillful workers with good education. The human resource it possesses is very impressive compared to other companies in mainland. The company also takes a leading role in valuing the importance of creating a joyful and pleasant working condition and environment. Recently it has built a multi-purpose recreational centre including a gym and library facilities for its workers, which may attribute to the very low turnover rate of the company. It also encourages the workers to form a labor union! GLOBE students find it very impressive that the investment in high-growth product, together with appropriate management strategies, can result in rapid growth in revenue.
The last stop was a visit to the MJ Tin Can Factory LTD. As compared to the previous technologically advanced and intricately structured factories visited earlier, this factory works on a smaller scale (with 600 workers) which resembles a traditional Chinese factory. The workers operate on heavy machines with bare hands, which make us concern about industrial safety. One unique Chinese culture, having “red slogans” imprinted on the walls of the factories, were seen everywhere. They read “Safety and Money are equally important” and “Mind your own safety”. GLOBE students are glad to know that the Chinese government has been paying more attention to industrial safety, which attributes to a drastic drop in the number of accidents reported last year. Another underlying reason may be that factories in China are starting to comply with the stricter standard enforced by the central government. While GLOBE students were still skeptical about the extent of compliance of factories owners to introduce industrial safety to the workers, they witnessed the growth on safety awareness in China and looked forward to seeing further improvements in safety standards in other industries. GLOBE students hope in the near future, China is not only a “World factory” but also a “World Safety factory”.
