Expect the Unexpected – Betty’s Story
“Betty” (her adopted Western name) is a fascination and an inspiration. I was introduced to Betty while she was visiting a plastics factory in Shenzhen, about forty miles west of Hong Kong, in Guangdong province. As mentioned above, Shenzhen is part of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) established by Deng Xioping. Now, twenty-five years later, the population of Shenzhen is approximately ten million. About six million of these people are migrant workers who return home on weekends and live in factory dormitories during the week. Shenzhen is the largest immigrant city in China.
Betty was born and raised in northern China, where the native language was Mandarin. Her parents were rural farmers, but they insisted that she go to school and study hard. Betty was a good student, hard-working and intelligent, and she was interested in many subjects. She studied Russian at elementary school, high school, and university, in addition to math and science. After college, she Betty moved to Shenzhen to take a “factory girl” job, where she assembled electronics for around US$80 per month. There she had to learn Cantonese, the language of southern China, studying at night in the dormitory and practicing with her co-workers and supervisors during the day. Over time, she became fluent in Cantonese and was able to get a better job at the plastics factory with a higher salary and better dormitories.
When I met Betty, she was the supervisor of the plastics factory, overseeing the production of semiconductor trays, medical device parts, and other plastic components, in addition to several hundred workers. As we toured the design and production facility, it was obvious that she was in charge of her and that the employees treated her with respect. Her cell phone rang several times and she exchanged conversations and appeared to give instructions in Cantonese. After being introduced to several American and Western European visitors, Betty decided that she should learn English to improve her chances of promotion, so she began taking English classes at night school. A few years and a couple of promotions later, she returned to Shenzhen University to get her MBA, so she could understand more about Western business.
I was surprised that I was studying for a graduate degree in business administration (and that Shenzhen University offered this degree) in the context of Chinese communism. After all, an MBA is the most pro-capitalist education you can get anywhere in the world. But what we all realize is that China practices a kind of economic capitalism along with governmental communism. The business is done with a profit motive always in mind. When thinking about Betty, it seems that studying capitalism fits perfectly with her desire to have a successful business career. Profit has become the motive in China, and the result is tremendous growth in the entire Chinese manufacturing industry for twenty-five years. Betty is a good example of the surprises that await you in sourcing and manufacturing in China. Any preconceived notions about what does and doesn’t happen in China and about how to deal with the Chinese are probably inaccurate at best and often completely wrong.
When you come to China, expect the unexpected.
(c) 2012, Rosemary Coates.
