PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

Chapter 5 – Workplace belongingAlthough it is believed that this distance is necessary in order to maintain a powerdynamic, my respondents do not completely eliminate mingling with their Chinesecolleagues. Instead, strategic considerations are taken in socialising. Andrew outlineswhy off-work socialisation is often worthwhile:For me, leadership and management is much about having good relationships with mysubordinates. After all, they work for me and what they do will affect my success or failure.So, I told myself that I am not merely their boss; I have to get into their worlds as well. SoI take part in their activities, like playing basketball together after work and once a month,I will treat them to a meal to encourage them… But still, I am alert against them; after all,the distrust is very hard to be totally removed.The out-of-hour socialisation is often mentioned by my respondents as imperative notonly for earning the Chinese subordinates‘ trust or support, but also for creatingharmony in the workplace. Rather than always being a purpose-driven practice, forsome, relationships based on workplace interactions and off-work socialising may alsoturn into a true friendship or into useful localised connections. As Colin, (GM of amedical instrument company in his late 30s based in Shanghai) told me, he takes hisChinese colleagues and clients very seriously and makes friends with them because hethinks that these friendships may be potential resources for him. He explained:There is a saying in China, ―everything will be ok if you have quanxi”, on the other hand,you will get into big trouble if you do not have any quanxi. That‘s why I had made somelocal friends from work because they have better quanxi and more than you may need.Since they grew up here, they have a better sense of the ways in which people think and dothings in China. So, sometimes I would rather ask my [Chinese] friends for advice when I202