Entrepreneurial spirit across borders (Part 2)

Chinese firms are not usually known for exemplary management styles. Rather, they are more typically known for being hierarchical, authoritarian and resistant to change.

However, MBA students from the MIT Sloan School of Management found plenty to surprise them when they visited smaller cities and counties in Yunnan province. The week-long assignment for one student, Wouter Jan Pieter Hoogland, was to advise agribusiness Malong Hongshi Agricultural Development. Located 160 km north-west of Kunming, it specialises in organic vegetables and farm animals. When Hoogland visited in late March, he found professional leadership and advanced technology combined with China's rural hospitality.

“What I saw was a relatively flat organisational structure, led by a dynamic woman, Mrs Shen. She was open to criticism and encouraged her staff to give feedback and suggestions.” Hoogland says. “All these aspects were strongly reminiscent of what I’ve experienced in good managers in the west.”

Hoogland was one of 24 MBA students participating in the school’s “China Lab”. In partnership with MBA students from some of China's leading business schools, they contributed their management expertise to help small- and medium-sized enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Yunnan.

The basic task for Hoogland and his teammates was to review Malong Hongshi's products, services and markets. Having worked in medicine, pharmaceuticals and venture capital businesses in South Africa, Canada and the US before pursuing an MBA, he was nevertheless surprised to find the company's business practices and procedures were very similar to those seen in the west.

Also striking were the socio-economic realities in Malong County, which has a population of around 200,000. Hoogland saw a stark contrast between the community's relatively low level of development and the company's investment in technology. He also wondered about the resources put into education in China’s more rural counties.