In capitalist Hong Kong, there are a few rules of thumb for survival in business settings. Rule No 1: never question your boss. But step across the border, and managers who want to play by the same rules are in for a big surprise. Cultures clash there, and the sense of rights differ.
That lesson was learned recently by an expatriate manager from a US-based computer firm. He had a run-in with his secretary, and the ripples have carried far beyond his company. On the way home one day, she apparently locked the office door, thus preventing him from getting in during the evening. So he chastised her, saying she must not leave the office until all managers' work needs were met.
But the secretary, a local mainland recruit, refused to submit. She wrote an e-mail in reply, saying she was her own master after the statutory eight working hours. She sent copies of her message, written in Chinese, to colleagues in branches across the mainland.
She was fired, but her case has caused a heated public debate on the internet about the corporate cultures of foreign firms. Human-resources managers at such companies, most of them locals as well, have defended their employers. Some attributed the clash to the socialist work ethic of the past, where people had too much sense of equality and too little commitment to the employer.
But most messages on the online bulletin board supported the secretary. Many were from young people working for multinational firms in Beijing and other large mainland cities. The original message was circulated, and supportive comments were added as it moved from one big firm to another. These included Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Honeywell, Motorola and Nokia.
The support for the defiant secretary touches on issues that may go much deeper than a mere conflict of cultures. Widespread resentment among white-collar employees in foreign companies highlights difficult working conditions. These firms employ the younger, better-educated members of the mainland's labour force. In Shanghai alone, 300 foreign corporations and internationally funded research and development centres employ over 2 million Chinese. Despite the high salaries - which average 140,000 yuan a year - many white-collar workers seem far from happy.