(news) NEW CONTRACT FOR THE SHANGHAI INNOVA MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

The Shanghai INNOVA Management Institute received the order for a series of trainings of a multicultural management team in China. The client is a renowned manufacturing enterprise from Germany with an annual turnover of 1.3 billion euros. (October 2010)

 

(news) DR LAURENZ AWATER SPEAKS AT GERMAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

On September 13 Dr Laurenz Awater, general manager of the Shanghai INNOVA Management Institute and lead trainer, spoke in front of the HR Workshop of the German Chamber of Commerce on ‘Embracing Conflict – An Approach to Team Development’. Dr Laurenz Awater’s lecture was well received and a lively discussion ensued. (September 2010)

 

(Blog) WHAT MOTIVATES CHINESE STAFF? (PART TWO)

As starting point for a ‘Cultural Integration Program’ the Shanghai INNOVA Management Institute conducted face-to-face interviews with the binational management staff of a French-invested company situated in Jiangsu Province. Our findings show how much a need exists among local employees to develop an emotional bond with the corporation they are working for. While the overall level of compensation is clearly important, the perception of fairness or unfairness is even more so. (September 2010)

 

 

 

(news) ONE-YEAR TRAINING PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHED

In May the Shanghai INNOVA Management Institute accomplished an one-year training program for the management team of a German-Chinese joint venture company from the automotive supplier industry. With an annual turnover of 5 billion euros the client's parent company is one of the 100 largest industrial conglomerates in Germany employing more than 20,000 people at 150 different locations worldwide. The program focussed upon team development, management skills and leadership and was delivered using role plays, simulations and case studies from business practice. It integrated individual coaching sessions for which applying assessments of conflict handling modes and personality type instruments proved to be helpful. During the one-year period the management team made significant progress in areas as team interaction and problem solving capability, accountability and result-orientation. The successful handling of complex business cases within an international matrix organization could be celebrated at the end of the program. (May 2010)

 

(news) ARTICLE PUBLISHED

In the November/December edition of the ‘BusinessForum China’, issued by the German Industry and Commerce Greater China, Dr. Laurenz Awater, General Manager and lead trainer of the Shanghai INNOVA Management Institute, published an article on organizational development: ‘Where the Buck Stops: Why Creating a Culture of Accountability in China is that Difficult’. Click here for a free download. (December 2009)

 

(Blog) FROM CONFLICT (AVOIDANCE) TO COLLABORATION

It is always an interesting experience to observe how much our dominant or preferred conflict mode is pre-determining our mostly unconscious choice of style in approaching difficult situations. To one and the same situation avoiders respond by conflict avoidance, compromisers by seeking compromises and competitors by fighting hard for their position or conviction. An extreme diversity of approaches makes reaching team agreements much more difficult than necessary. In other words, if team members could first decide on a common approach, conflict solution, problem solving and collective decision making become a much less cumbersome process. Through numerous interactive exercises, case studies and role plays team members (four compromisers, one competitor, one collaborator and one avoider) learnt about their own preferred conflict style and its advantages, limits and potential costs, and made significant progress in understanding when and how to use which style. Individual participants felt empowered by the training. As one manager put it: ‘Before I felt it always difficult to deal with conflicts. Now with these tools at hand, I think I will handle conflict much more effectively in daily practice.’ At the end of the two-day session the team defined team norms for dealing with conflict constructively as a part of their team charter. (August 2010)

 

(Blog) TEAM ASSESSMENT

With one of our clients we recently conducted a team assessment covering five dimensions influencing team effectiveness. Its results showed that the team lacked in terms of mutual trust and conflict handling skills, that open communication is a problem, and team members do not dare to hold each other accountable to standards they have agreed upon. Through this assessment a higher degree of alignment could be reached between the extended management team and general management. As next step we conducted two training sessions on conflict management which greatly contributed to the team’s ability to communicate problems openly. (July 2010)

 

(Blog) WHAT MOTIVATES CHINESE STAFF? (PART ONE)

It is a wideheld misconception to believe that Chinese staff is only motivated by money. During one of our recent workshops we made a survey among a team of (relatively junior) Chinese mid-level managers and supervisors. For them flat hierarchies, transparent and fair performance evaluation and compensation, being judged and promoted according to one’s abilities, and a stable and well-paying job ranked high among the possible motivators. Our understanding is that having sound and healthy HR policies in place, can be a major comparative advantage of foreign-invested enterprises in the ‘war for talent’. This certainly must include career prospects and training and development opportunities. (June 2010)

 

(Blog) WORKING WITHIN A GLOBAL MATRIX ORGANIZATION

Working within a matrix organization poses a challenge, in particular for Chinese managers who tend to be directed towards their boss and superior and easily feel lost in a organizational structure without clear responsibilities and authority. This two-day workshop introduced to participants seven key compentencies for leaders in a matrix organization and practical tools for managing the different reporting lines and stakeholders. The high complexity of the organizational structure demands a type of manager who is practicing proactive communication and is assertive enough to take the lead, even towards others higher in rank. Delegates discussed several business cases and the learning points from examples of successful collaboration across boundaries, functions and hierarchies and were encouraged to understand the matrix organization as a chance for further empowerment. (May 2010)

 

(Blog) WORKSHOP ON 'CORPORATE CULTURE, LEADERSHIP CULTURE AND CROSS-DEPARTMENT COLLABORATION'

The 2-day workshop on 'Corporate Culture, Leadership Culture and Cross-Departmental Collaboration' we recently conducted for a French client company proved to be highly successful. In the very beginning of the workshop the foreign management feared the ice could not be broken and the large majority of Chinese mangers would stay rather silent and uncommitted. The facilitation and workshop structure however soon led to a gradual change and at the early afternoon of the first day it was already felt that the workshop would be a success.
At the end the foreign management was impressed by the wealth and quality of contributions (which was supported by a number of easy-to-apply evaluation tools provided by us) and stated that their expectations had been by far surpassed. We were especially proud that such a sensitive issue as trust could be analyzed and discussed (the main trust gap was identified and its root causes analyzed). As one of the numerous possible follow-up actions conflict management training was mentioned.