is currently Head of the Bachelor of Business (BAdmin) course for RMIT University's programs in Hong Kong. Marianne has lived and worked in several Asian countries and has held senior academic and administrative posts. Marianne has 20 years experience as a human resource manager and was President of her own ®rm in Canada. She is also a Director of St. Louis Management. Marianne has published many articles on international management and knowledge management

Considers the transfer of management knowledge to the People’s Republic of China through Western universities as a complex process involving cultural as well as educational issues. Shows that the traditional case study format prevalent in MBA style executive education must be modified for use with Chinese executives. Describes a management education programme for Chinese executives. Attributes a successful outcome of facilitating factors that included using a modified version of Mintzberg’s model of managerial work and a case‐study method attuned to the participants’ learning and cultural needs. Presents a learning model appropriate for use in any high context culture.

Using an open interview technique, information about the challenges facing Australian and Vietnamese managers working in joint ventures was gathered from ten Australian and 26 Vietnamese respondents. Our analysis suggests that salient differences exist along several dimensions: collectivism/individualism, the nature of relationships and attitude to work; use of public and private space and attitude towards causality. A model of management development is presented to deal with the challenge of inter‐cultural management development.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the Chinese cultural architecture on motivating workplace behaviour for enhanced productivity in Chinese workplaces. Design/methodology/approach -The paper describes the Chinese cultural architecture and presents a cursory review of the substantive literature in this field. Based on this review, a conceptual framework for managing within Chinese organizations is presented, based on the first-hand experience in the field as well as anecdotal evidence provided by practitioners in international management. Findings -In the light of research, which suggests that the realities about motivation in the context of Chinese workplaces are more complicated than originally thought, this paper moves away from viewing Chinese workplace behaviour from a purely systems-based perspective. Although ideas about collectivism and individualism certainly explain important aspects of workplace behaviour, an orientation to practicality and the emotive side of life in Chinese workplaces also affects behaviour in quite subtle ways. Research limitations/implications -While the development of a conceptual framework for practicing managers provides a guide to managing in China, work that is more empirical is necessary to test the resilience of the framework. Practical implications -The paper offers practical steps to improve the performance and productivity of both managers and employees in Chinese organizations. Originality/value -The framework presented utilizes the conventional collectivism/individualism dichotomy with notions of practicality and emotion in Chinese workplaces. This is one potential step forward to the development of a more motivating management style in China.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine aspects of the social, cultural, political and legal architecture of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China. The paper aims to identify inhibiting and facilitating factors in the Chinese environment as they pertain to establishing of a workable regime for IPR in China. The paper also offers some practical strategies that foreign managers can employ to reduce the risk of piracy of intellectual property (IP) in China.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review of the main influences on the formation of Chinese attitudes to IPR are identified and discussed. Against this background, a model for the establishment of a new regime for IPR in China is proposed.Findings – While the cultural architecture of IPR in China is often identified as the major influence on the level of IP piracy, other aspects of the Chinese political, business and social environment may actually facilitate the acceptance of, and respect for, IPR. Indeed, the experience of Taiwan in building new norms for IPR suggests that a new regime for IPR in China is clearly possible. This is because new norms of respect for IPR can emerge when sufficient facilitating factors are present in the environment. Nevertheless, while the potential to reduce IP piracy exists, foreign managers must continue to remain vigilant in the marketplace and use a combination of strategies to protect IP as new norms of respect for IPR emerge in the coming period.Research limitations/implications – Foreign managers in China can gain significant advantages by understanding the deeper influences of the social, cultural, political and legal architecture on the formation of attitudes to IP and IPR in China. Through such knowledge, this group will be better equipped to contribute to the process of establishing new norms of respect for IPR in China in the medium term.Practical implications – This study contributes to the literature on IPR in China. Armed with this knowledge, foreign managers are better placed to negotiate the difficult and complex Chinese business environment.Originality/value – This paper presents a model for developing a workable IPR regime in China and describes low‐cost strategies to reduce the current level of IP piracy.

Investigates the impact of national culture on organisational learning in a global context, as well as implications for international management development. Studies on organisations generally accept the existence of two “cultures” within an organisation – the “systems” culture and the “organisational” culture. National culture too has a significant, yet often underestimated, impact on organisational learning in international joint ventures. Motivated by national culture, stakeholders strive continuously to create sufficient shared meaning and management practices to make a joint venture viable. Using examples drawn from an Australian/Malaysian collaboration, explores the ways in which organisational learning and management behaviour are shaped by the often intangible influence of national culture. Offers a model to suggest means by which managers on both sides of a joint venture can improve understanding of the impact of national culture through critical inquiry and reflection. Also suggests that while cultural ways of knowing sometimes collide rather than converge, internal organisational processes can have a positive impact on the operations of a joint venture.

Western ideas about work have developed as macro and micro level changes continue to shape the social relations of work. As anywhere working developed as an alternative to traditional work arrangements in the 1990s, a system of checks and balances ensured the work practice delivered customer service and product quality. Western low-context work cultures situated the work practice as a logical development in the chronology of the social relations of work. With its tipping-point in the West reached, anywhere working received less attention in high-context work cultures. Specifically, this chapter investigates how the concept of “national culture” impacts thinking about anywhere working. In the high-context work cultures of East and South East Asia, employers, employees, and the stakeholders of organizations and governments have divergent views about the legitimacy of this work practice. The chapter discusses the influence of national culture on thinking about anywhere working in high-context work cultures, drawing on current data concerning anywhere working in selected Asian economies.

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