File Home Insert Draw Design Layout References Mailings Review View Help Comments Share X Calibri (Body) 26 A A Aa Po O Lol Normal Paste No Spacing Heading 1 B I U ~ ab x x A LA. E Editing Dictate Editor Reuse Files Undo Clipboard Font Paragraph Styles Voice Editor Reuse Files DMG - Shanghai Case Study In 1993, New Yorker Dan Mintz moved to China as a freelance film director with no contacts, no advertising experience and no Mandarin skills. By 2009, the company he subsequently founded in China, DMG, had emerged as China's fastest-growing advertising agencies, with a client list that included Bulweiser, Unilever, Sony, Nabisco, Audi, Volkwagen, China Mobile and dozens of other Chinese brands. By 2012, it had agreed to contribute as a production partner for Marvel Studio's Iron Man 3. Today, DMG-Shanghai is a multi-national enterprise (MNE) which has a diverse workforce from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Mintz attributes his success, in part, to what the Chinese call "guanxi." Guanxi literally means relationships, although in business settings it can be better understood as connections. Guanxi has its roots in the Confucian philosophy of valuing social hierarchy and reciprocal obligations. Confucian ideology has a 2000-year-old history in China. Page 1 of 3 730 words Of English (United States) Accessibility: Good to go "D Focus 100%File Home Insert Draw Design Layout References Mailings Review View Help Comments Share Calibri (Body) 26 A A Aa Ap E VEY LO Normal No Spacing Heading 1 Paste B I U ~ x x A LA. Editing Dictate Editor Reuse Files Undo Clipboard Font Paragraph Styles Voice Editor Reuse Files Guanxi literally means relationships, although in business settings it can be better understood as connections. Guanxi has its roots in the Confucian philosophy of valuing social hierarchy and reciprocal obligations. Confucian ideology has a 2000-year-old history in China. Confucianism stresses the importance of relationships, both within the family and between master and servant. Confucian ideology teaches that people are not created equal. In Confucian thought, loyalty and obligations to one's superiors (or family) is regarded as a sacred duty, but at the same time, this loyalty has its price. Social superiors are obligated to reward the loyalty of their social inferiors by bestowing "blessings" upon them; thus, the obligations are reciprocal. Chinese will often cultivate a "guanxiwang" or a relationship network for help. There is a tacit acknowledgement that if you have the right guanxi, legal rules can be broken or at least bent. Mintz, who is now fluent in Mandarin, cultivated his guanxiwang by going into business with two young Chinese who had connections, Bing Wu and Peter Xiao. Wu, who works on the production side of the business, was a former national gymnastics champion, whichFile Home Insert Draw Design Layout References Mailings Review View Help Comments Share G A" A Aa A O Calibri (Body) 26 Lol Normal No Spacing Heading 1 Editing Dictate Editor Reuse Paste B I U ~ ab x x ADA. E Files Undo Clipboard Font Paragraph Styles Voice Editor Reuse Files Mintz, who is now fluent in Mandarin, cultivated his quanxiwang by going into business with two young Chinese who had connections, Bing Wu and Peter Xiao. Wu, who works on the production side of the business, was a former national gymnastics champion, which translates into prestige and access to business and government officials. Xiao comes from a military family with major political connections. Together, these three have been able to open doors that long-established Western advertising agencies could not. They have done it in large part by leveraging the contacts of Wu and Xiao, and by backing up their connections with what the Chinese call "Shi li", meaning the shility to do ad workFile Horne insert Draw Desrgn Layout References Mailings Revrew View Help 9Comments f\" Calrbn(BudyJ v 26 . A\" A" Aav as E v .: E E gt 1r 9 Q - j Paste l?| I H V ale x: x: A v p V i v g E E mg, (,I.' V i , Normal N0 Spaclng Heading 1 ; Editing DlCtEtE Editor Reuse V {y _. ' Files Undo Clipboard Er Font ii Paragraph ii Styles Er Voice Editor Reuse FllES V officials. Xiao comes from a military family with major political connections. Together, these three have been able to open doors that longestablished Western advertising agencies could not. They have done it in large part by leveraging the contacts of Wu and Xiao, and by backing up their connections with what the Chinese call "5hr If\File Home Insert Draw Design Layout References Mailings Review View Help Comments Share X Calibri (Body) 26 A" A Aa Ap O Normal Paste No Spacing Heading 1 B I U ~ x x AL . A Editing Dictate Editor Reuse Files Undo Clipboard Font Paragraph Styles Voice Editor Reuse Files boulevard that runs along the waterfront of the old city. Drawing again on government contacts, they were able to shut down the Bund to make the shoot. Steven Spielberg had been able to close down only a portion of the street when he filmed Empire of the Sun there in 1986. DMG has also filmed inside Beijing's Forbidden City, even though it is against the law to do so. Using his contacts, Mintz persuaded the government to lift the law for 24hours. As Mintz has noted, "We don't stop when we come across regulations. There are restrictions everywhere you go. You have to know how to get around them and get things done." A global mind-set and the ability to relate cross-culturally are often considered core traits of a successful international business leader. These traits increase adaptability across global settings and teams and are further supported by the presence of a strong emotional intellect and transformational leadership style. In the case of Dan Mintz, his global 'people skills' had a significant impact on the success of DMG- Shanghai.File Home Insert Draw Design Layout References Mailings Review View Help Comments Share X Calibri (Body) 26 A" A Aa Po O Normal No Spacing Heading 1 Paste Editing Dictate Editor B I Ubx x ADA Reuse Files Undo Clipboard Font Paragraph Styles Voice Editor Reuse Files QUESTIONS In groups of not less than 5, respond to the following questions: Drawing on the significance of culture in the workplace and the different approaches to the contextualisation and classification of cultures: 1. Critically discuss the cultural implications of doing business in China by any multinational enterprise, basing your discussion on DMG-Shanghai experiences 2. Make a careful application of the relevant aspects of Hofstede's cultural model to the Chinese context by managers of any multinational enterprise doing business in China Page 2 of 3 730 words DX English (United States) Accessibility: Good to go " Focus + 100%