Managing Chinese-African Business Interactions

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. Cultural Insights into Chinese-African Management

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Introduction

      • Claude-Hélène Mayer

      Pages 3-17

   3. Chinese Cultural Concepts and Their Influence on Management

      • Zhaoyi Liu

      Pages 19-35

   4. African Cultural Concepts and Their Influence on Management

      • Samukele Hadebe, Dion Nkomo

      Pages 37-57

3. Intercultural Training Cases: Dealing with International Communication, Cooperation and Negotiation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 59-59

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   2. Case 1: Dealing with Organisational Strategies in the Tanzanian-Chinese Chalinze Water Project

      • Christian Martin Boness

      Pages 61-69

   3. Case 2: “Not who I am, not what I mean”: Intercultural Communication in Chinese-South African Interactions

      • Fungai B. Chigwendere

      Pages 71-84

   4. Case 3: Dealing with Organisational Structures, Decision-Making and Participation in the Zambian Textile Industry

      • Christian Martin Boness, Naiming Wei, Claude-Hélène Mayer

      Pages 85-99

   5. Case 4: A Negotiation Between Chinese and Namibian Organisations in Namibia

      • Haiyan Zhang, Chen Ni, Liusheng Wang

      Pages 101-109

   6. Case 5: How to Make Friends in Rwanda: A Chinese Tea Ceremony

      • Christian Martin Boness

      Pages 111-124

4. Intercultural Training Cases: Entrepreneurship, Management Styles, Language and Identity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-125

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   2. Case 6: Setting Up Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises by Chinese Entrepreneurial Immigrants in Maputo, Mozambique

      • Mattheus Johannes Louw, Lynette Louw, Fiona Geyser

      Pages 127-134

   3. Case 7: Managing a Chinese-Angolan National Housing Project in Angola’s Capital, Luanda

      • Christian Martin Boness, Naiming Wei, Claude-Hélène Mayer

      Pages 135-148

   4. Case 8: Language, Culture and Power in the Chinese-South African Telecommunications Sector

      • June Sun

      Pages 149-160

   5. Case 9: Transforming Employee Conflicts in a Chinese Construction Firm in Kampala, Uganda

      • Sidney Muhangi

      Pages 161-168

5. Intercultural Training Cases: International Human Resource Management

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169

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   2. Case 10: Sharing Knowledge in a Sudanese Oil Refinery Through Cultural and Language Trainings

      • Christian Martin Boness

      Pages 171-178

   3. Case 11: Working Conditions in a Chinese-Ugandan Communications Company

      • Christian Martin Boness, Naiming Wei

      Pages 179-189

   4. Case 12: Managing a Chinese-South African Restaurant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

      • Zhaoyi Liu

      Pages 191-202

This book provides deep insights into intercultural collaboration among business partners, employees, managers, and entrepreneurs in Chinese-African professional interactions. It presents cultural and theoretical knowledge on Chinese and African management, leadership, and philosophy. Chinese and African scholars and professionals share their insights into how to address intercultural management challenges proactively and successfully. The cases provide insights into a wide variety of industries and offer actual scenarios studied in governmental, parastatal, and private Chinese-owned organizations in twelve African countries. This book will benefit a broad readership including scholars in employment relations and business management as well as African and Chinese collaborators in academia, government, NGOs and industry.

• Cross-cultural management
• intercultural interactions
• China
• Africa
• Chinese-African leadership
• positive psychology
• positive organizational behavior
• intercultural leadership
• Cross-cultural communication
• intercultural communication
• international human resource management
• IHRM
• intercultural competence
• Ubuntu
• immigrant entrepreneurship
• leadership styles
• MNCs

“This book takes an in-depth look – via a case study approach of multiple companies and projects in ten different African countries – at labor (as well as culture, language, and management) issues in China-Africa engagement! This is a welcome addition to a growing literature that has, thus far, emphasized China-Africa macro trends involving trade, investment, loans, and the economic and political issues.” (Yoon Jung Park, PhD, Executive Director, Chinese in Africa/Africans in China Research Network; Associate Director, School of Advanced International Studies-China-Africa Research Institiate, JHU)

“The path to success will never be the same, but one can always learn from others' experiences. This book is a must-read for anyone trying to understand Chinese businesses in Africa. Read this book and learn from one of the best.” (Jindi An Deputy Chairperson, Belt & Road Africa Think-Tank Alliance)

• Department of Management, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

  Claude-Hélène Mayer, Lynette Louw, Christian Martin Boness

Claude-Hélène Mayer is a Professor in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, an Adjunct Professor at the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, and a Senior Research Associate at Rhodes University, South Africa. Her research areas are transcultural management, mental health and well-being, women in leadership, transformation of emotions, shame and psychobiography.

Christian Martin Boness is an Associated Researcher at the Department of Management, Rhodes University, South Africa.

Lynette Louw is the Raymond Ackerman Chair of Management and current Deputy Dean, Faculty of Commerce at Rhodes University, South Africa. Her areas of specialty and research include strategic management, organisational behaviour, and cross-cultural management

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