"It is still pretty much a hierarchical culture when it comes to office politics," said Helen Zhang, author of "Inside the Chinese Mind: A Guide on How Chinese Think" who believes that Chinese workplace culture is deeply rooted in Confucianism, an ancient philosophy centered on obeisance to authority.

"If you are in line with the boss and present a creative business plan, you can bypass a lot of the bureaucratic stuff," said Zhang. "On the other hand, if you are not in that line of power, even if you have creative ideas you will not be able to gain access, so in a way that is limiting creativity in all parts of the company because of the hierarchical nature of the organization."
Regardless of whether or not the Confucian tradition continues to impinge China's ability to transition its economy to one based on innovation rather than manufacturing, office culture in the country is changing. More multi-national companies have established branches in the country and tech-savvy young Chinese are exposed to international norms via the internet.

“其实办公室政治更像是一种等级文化。”《思想深处：揭秘中国人的思维》一书的作者Helen张说到。他认为中国的办公室文化深受儒家思想的影响，而儒家的哲学理论是推崇集权的。

“如果你与老板的观点一致，并能提出一些创新的商业计划，那么做起事来你会省去许多麻烦和障碍。”张继续说，“但是，如果你不同意更高职权者的看法，就算你有创意，你仍然不可能有成功的机会，这就限制了那些组织层级明显的公司在各个方面创新和发展的机会。”

不管是不是根深蒂固的儒家思想负面影响了中国经济从依赖制造业到依赖创新产业的转型，中国的办公室文化正在发生变化。跨国公司在国内设立分公司、有良好素养的中国年轻人越来越多地通过互联网了解国际商业环境，这都为办公室文化的改变提供了条件。

-------------译者：roc-------------

Most who work in fields related to management studies in China say that offices are becoming more democratized with traditional power structures fading away where employees are equals and ideas can be shared and criticized openly.
"It is difficult to tell how fast it is, evolving" Han Jian, an associate professor of management at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, said. "We need to first define with what group of employees."

The group of employees who appear to be the most influential are those born in the 1980s and 1990s. According to Han members of China's "Generation Y" are less loyal to their employers, are seeking jobs that are fulfilling and are seeking to become a part of something bigger and more meaningful.

"Not only the white collar workers, even blue collar workers, they are expecting more fair status, more learning opportunities. They want their supervisors to be more advisors rather than just a boss," Han said.

"Performance evaluation has been over-focused on growth, an emphasis on the results and the numbers instead of the process," she said.

大部分中国管理领域的学者认为职员对于传统权利架构的逐渐消失日趋习惯，在办公室雇员更加平等，意见可以被分享和公开讨论。

"很难说它演变的有多快"，韩键，管理学副教授，在上海的中欧国际经济学校说道，我们首先需要确定雇员属于哪一集团。

集团中表现最有影响力的是80后和90后，原因是中国汉族的80后对于雇佣更不够忠诚：他们认为寻找能实现抱负的工作,尝试在其中变得更强大更加有意义。

不管是白领还是蓝领，他们期望更多的公平对待，更多的学习机会。他们希望上司是一个顾问而不仅仅是老板，韩说。

绩效考核一直以来太过于集中在增长，图表、结果和数字上，而不是过程，她说。

"As a result, people have been treated as human resources, which is not a very good term to refer to people. If you focus too much on growth, you ignore the relationship side of the team, the softer side of people. Many companies are trying to adjust to this problem."

Adjusting to this problem means finding leaders who break from the status quo and can foster a new culture of "empowerment and trust-based management," said Elisa Mallis, an executive coach at Management Development Services Ltd. in Beijing.

"The older managers, the command-and-control style management, that was in the past," she said. "Organizations are looking for creativity and innovative thinking, and these younger employees are thirsty to be providing that. The trick is how to have a culture to unlock that creativity. There is a catching up that needs to be done. Catching up is a possibility, but we can't expect it to happen overnight."

In Zhongguancun, a technology hub in Beijing, it does seem that change has happened almost overnight

结果，人们被视为人力资源，这对于人们来说并不是一个好词。如果你太在意增长，忽略了团队的人际关系，人们心中的温情面。很多公司正在努力改善这个问题。

处理这个问题意味着找到一个可以打破现状，建立新的信任管理和雇佣环境的领导，Elisa Mallis说道，她是北京服务有限公司管理发展中心的执行教练。

年长的管理者，指挥、控制的管理方式已经成为过去式了，她说：公司正在寻求更加有创造力和创新思维，这些年轻雇员非常乐意提供这些，关键是怎样创造一个可以打开他们创造力的环境。这需要去快速追赶。快速赶上很有必要，但是我们并不希望操之过急。

在中关村，北京的一个技术中心，它真的似乎一夜之间发生了变化……

Only a couple of years ago, debates especially among foreign executives and investors working there complained of the dearth of innovation and lack of skilled entrepreneurs in China. Now there are more start-ups than ever, with some growing into major companies with operations overseas.

A number of these new businesses as well as big Chinese internet companies, like Baidu, China's top search engine, say they have been directly influenced by the open, collaborative work environments pioneered by the likes of Google and Yahoo.

Yet while the two U.S. tech giants have had a major affect on IT companies in China, they have suffered their own well-publicized failures in the country because of what many have said was an inability to adjust to local cultural norms both in business and in office politics.

"We did learn a lot from Silicon Valley companies," Mike Li, senior director of business development for Happy Elements, a Chinese social gaming company that has grown from six employees to more than 500 and operates internationally.

"The management style changed and had to change. Now we need to respect every single employee because they are aware they are the top talent in the industry."

仅仅几年前，工作在中关村的外国高官和投资者经常讨论，抱怨那里缺乏创新，缺少经验丰富的企业家。现在那里比任何时候有更多的创业者，其中一些发展成为有海外业务大公司。

这些新公司中，也包括中国互联网公司，比如baidu，中国顶级搜索引擎，称他们受到了比如google和yahoo开创的 开放合作的工作环境的直接影响。

尽管这两个美国科技巨人对中国的IT公司有巨大影响，他们在中国经历了他们自己的广为人知的失败，原因就像很多人说的没有适应本地经济和办公室政治中的文化规范。

我们确实从硅谷的公司学到很多，Mike Li说，他是乐元素的高级业务发展总监，乐元素是中国社交游司，已经从六名员工成长到超过500多名，并进行国际化运营。

adlass
Yet China is booming while western economies are bankrupt...point of this article?
然而当西方的经济正在崩溃的时候中国的经济正在爆炸...这是文章的观点？

CelestialOne
Because in the west everyone has their mind of their own and are full of themselves even those who have no  creative ideas at all.  Boy can they talk and talk and talk even without any ideas or do any form of preparation.  That is why in the west,  many of the students except the Asian students  prefer subjects that are not based on science and mathematics so that they can unleash their 'creative' thoughts without having to study anything.
因为西方的每个人都有他们自己的思想，并且他们的思想充满着他们自己甚至包括哪些完全没有创造思想的人。人们可以一直不停的说而不用任何思考和任何形式的准备。这就是为什么在西方许多学生包括亚洲学生喜欢基于科学和数学的科目，因为这样不用去学习任何东西就可以释放他们的“创造力”。


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KImSchmitz
Blue sky... that's got to be a typical fake Chinese sky , isn't it Shovelingsnw?
蓝天...那一定是一个虚假的中国人的天空，是吧shovlingsnw？

ShoveIinSnow
It's bluer here, to be honest.  But it does seem to lack the "natural mist" your government talks about.  Maybe some cities are better off than others.
说实话，这里的天更蓝，但是你的ZF所说的说看起来缺少“自然的神秘”。可能有些城市会比其他城市要好


blublu
To the point, know how to act smart and bootlick, get into your bosses good book, join their circle and you will have a good life
重点的是，知道怎样表现得醒目和拍马屁，成为你老板的得力助手，加入他们的圈子，你会有好的日子。


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7685540
Dealing with the Chinese is like dealing with a gold digger.
应付中国人就像应付淘金者


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lisa560
China will disappear from the World.
中国会从世界上不见了

phirewolf
This is before or after USA repays the trillion dollars of debt to China?
这发生在米国还债给中国前还是后？

Minrain
How ? Like disappearing  as the end  of  the  world approaches  in Dec  21st 2012 with all the other nations on the earth?Just  joking. But pls tell why .Really  curious.
什么？和其他国家在2012世界末日之际地球上消失？开玩笑。但请说明原因，很好奇

ManyGoodFriender
How can a country of 1.3 billion population disappear?
This troll lisa560 is not even refer to the existing Chinese government or Party.
So just another racially inciting comment of malice, which CNN readers here saw so often from troll like ShovelinSnow, MyMinions, or some casual readers who are full of sore feeling about the economic success of China/their own or own governments' failure..
一个13亿人口的国家如何不见了？这个钓鱼者lisa560甚至不是指中国ZF和party。所以只是恶意的种族评论，来自于像ShovelinSnow，MyMinions等那些cnn读者经常钓鱼的人，对中国经济的成功或自己ZF的失败感到痛心。

crimsonbama
How is that any different than office culture in US?  I'm sure every boss (including myself) would want employees who's innovative and have the guts to point out my mistakes.  But seriously, how often does that happen?  I've done it on purpose dozens of time throughout the year in my company senior management meetings and only a few seem to have the guts to point out my mistakes.  I can see it in their faces that they know what's going on but its like they're sheeps waiting for someone to speak up or mess up. Well, I should say except for accounting and internal auditors, only a few would/dare to. Its extremely disappointing and I keep note on the ones who would and won't. But when I speak to the department heads and the directors, most of them won't hesitate to point of the flaws or suggest on improvements.
这和美国的办公室文化有什么不同？我确信每个老板（包括我自己）都希望锐意创新的雇员有勇气指出我的错误。但认真的说，这种事情会经常发生？我在一年中的高级管理部门会议上多次故意将事情搞砸只有很少一部分人有勇气指出我的错误。我通过他们的表情看出他们知道发生了什么但是他们只是像绵羊一样等待这其他人率先发难。好吧，我应该说除了会计和内部审计人员，只有很少的人敢（指出我的错误）。这非常令人失望我也不断的记录着谁有勇气而谁没有。但当我和部门领导对话时，大多数都会毫不迟疑的指出缺陷或提出改进的建议


I can feel their hunger and desire to move upward.  I always keep in mind on they are and hope they won't change and lose their pair of balls when they get promoted.  And I'm sure every capable CEO/Chairman of any company do the same.
Actually I've dealt with the Chinese very often.  I think its part of their culture to not correct their boss/superior in public.  However, they would correct the mistakes privately and let their bosses take credit.  That seems to be the sop among their companies.  I'm sure you've got to be within the inner circle in order to speak openly about the problems at hand.  Its really no different than ours.  How often do you hear someone correcting their bosses in office environment or in public?
（接上）我能感觉到他们的饥饿和欲望在不断的增加。我总是记得他们是并希望他们就是那么不会改变直到他们被提拔时才放弃他们的规则，我相信每一个能干的首席执行官/主席在任何公司都做同样的事。
事实上，我在中国经常经历这些事。我认为这是他们的一种传统，不在公共场合纠正老板的错误。不过，他们会在私底下纠正错误并向老板邀功。这就像他们在公司执行的一个标准作业程序。我能确定你一定是在公共场合公开讨论手头上的问题、这点他们真的与我们没有什么不同。你在公司里或者在公共场所里，听到过有人纠正自己老板错误吗？

power4things
I’m afraid crimsonbama beat me to the punch – 100% right.  Nepotism and golf-buddy bosses are hardly the purview of China … particularly these days, when opportunities are drying up and so many people are in subsistence mode, just hanging on to their job.  Actualy, a good part of the world is a "no critic" zone by culture, only we North Americans are raised to question errors and profer ideas freely without reprisal.  Not so in much of the world ...
crimsonbama抢先一步说出我想说的话 - 100%正确。任人唯亲以及跟老板搞好关系不仅仅是中国才有的……尤其是现在，工作机会越来越少，很多人都处在勉强能糊口的状态，只是想办法保持饭碗而已。实际上，世界上很多地方的文化都存在“禁止评论”的范围。只有我们北美人从小就生长在这种环境，可以随时质疑错误、提出新观点，而不会受到报复。但世界上大多数的地方都不这样……

asianracism
If you are sitting reading this story, but you have never worked in China or worked for a Chinese boss, you will not 'get' the difference between office politics in Confucian society (5000 years of cruel despots) versus office politics in a America (a democracy)
如果你只是惬意地坐着读这篇文章，而你从没在中国工作过，或者为一个中国老板打过工，你就不会“明白“儒家社会（5000年的残暴专制）中的办公室权术跟美国（民主国家）的办公室权术的差异。

phirewolf
This writer never even set foot in China. Lara Farrar can say what she wants, but that "limiting creativity" doesn't mount to anything, because the Chinese economy is doing the best in the world.
该作者从未踏足过中国。Lara Farrar可以说任何她想说的话，但是“限制创造力”这件事并不能安到每件事上去，因为中国的经济是世界上经营的最好的。


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jugaertner 6 comments collapsed
Collapse Expand I can confirm, thats exactly how it is! As a person leaving in Shanghai! They are the best in Copying, and who copies usually makes it better! But that's not thinking.
我能证明事实就是那样！作为一个正在上海的人！他们是最棒的抄袭者，他们的抄袭通常会更棒！但那不是思考。

John West
That's exactly the same criticism that level against Japanese and the Koreans years ago.  Sure at this stage it appears Chinese are copying - but as with everything - they are learning. You learn by copying. And there is nothing wrong with that. Infact, the so called "west" copied/stole Chinese technologies since ancient time. Paper, printing, gun powder, compass, silk...etc etc.  Of course, the next phase of their evolution would be to innovation, just as we are seeing now in Japan and Korea. Your foregone conclusion is nothing more than your myopic (and racist) view of Chinese.
这正是许多年前日本人和韩国人所面临的批评。当然在这个阶段中国人似乎在抄袭——但是同时他们也在学习。你会从模仿中学到东西。这并没有什么错。事实上，所谓的“西方”在古时候就抄袭/偷窃了中国的技术。造纸、印刷、火药、指南针、丝绸——等等等等。当然，他们改革的下一个阶段就是创新了，就像我们现在看到的日本和韩国一样。你们的预定结论不过只是你们对中国人的短视（和种族歧视）。

haopengyou
"There is a catching up that needs to be done. Catching up is a possibility, but we can't expect it to happen overnight.""Regardless of whether or not the Confucian tradition continues to impinge China's ability to transition its economy to one based on innovation rather than manufacturing, "
Two words in these two statements, "catching up" and "impinge" are dismaying indications of Western blindsideness.  Constructive globalization is impossible until we all recognize that every people, every culture and every mindset has something to offer an emerging, enlightened global society and that it is not a one way street where America is the standard and progress everywhere means merely that the rest of the world needs to catch up with it.  Although I haven't read Helen Zhang's book, I suspect that she herself would never casually dismiss Confucian tradition as a mere impingement.
For more than two millennium both Confucianism and Buddhism have dramatically impacted the Chinese mentality--and this resulting mentality not only has unique and  highly praiseworthy characteristics and perspectives that we can all learn from, as with mentalities of all peoples, it has its own drawbacks that could benefit from perspectives from other cultures.  In my personal give and take with the Chinese (as an American living and working in China), I would say that I have learned far more about what constitutes good character than I have been able to teach.    It is my hope that CNN will begin to think a bit more deeply about the subtle ways they reveal Western (and often totally unintentional) arrogance.  The "unintentional" part is scary because obviously they haven't a clue that it is arrogance, but the fact that it is unintentional is also a hopeful sign--once it is recognized, perhaps the CNN staff can begin to correct this flaw in their reporting.
“快速赶上很有必要，但是我们并不希望操之过急。”“不管是不是根深蒂固的儒家思想负面影响了中国经济从依赖制造业到依赖创新产业的转型，中国的办公室文化正在发生变化。”
“赶上”和“负面影响”这两个分别在两个句子里的词让人失望地看到西方的阴暗面。要使全球化变得有建设性，我们必须要承认，各个民族，各个文化和各种观念对这个新出现的开明的全球社会都能做出自己的贡献。这个不是单行线，只能以美国为标杆，各个地区的进步只能意味着世界其他地方需要赶上美国。虽然没拜读过Helen Zhang的书，我猜测她自己也不会随意把儒家传统不屑地描述为只有负面影响。
两千多年来，儒教和佛教对中国人的思想产生了巨大的影响-所产生的思想，如同其他民族的思想，一方面，它是独特的，具有值得颂扬和学习借鉴的特色和观点。另一方面，它也有缺点，但可以借鉴其他的文化中的观点来充实。在跟中国人交往当中（本人是在中国生活和工作的美国人），我可以说，我在个人修养方面学到的知识比我可以传授的要多得多。因此我希望CNN能开始审慎地考虑一下他们自己没注意到的所显露出来的西方的傲慢（通常是完全下意识的）。这个“下意识”很可怕，因为他们很显然不知道那是傲慢。同时因为那是下意识的，因此也一个希望的信号-一旦察觉到了，或许CNN的职员可以开始改正他们在报道中的毛病。

Wrascal1991
"If you are in line with the boss and present a creative business plan, you can bypass a lot of the bureaucratic stuff," said Zhang. "On the other hand, if you are not in that line of power, even if you have creative ideas you will not be able to gain access, so in a way that is limiting creativity in all parts of the company because of the hierarchical nature of the organization."  -- No different than what I see in my large US-based company...
“如果你与老板的观点一致，并能提出一些创新的商业计划，那么做起事来你会省去许多麻烦和障碍。”张继续说，“但是，如果你不同意更高职权者的看法，就算你有创意，你仍然不可能有成功的机会，这就限制了那些组织层级明显的公司在各个方面创新和发展的机会。 ”
-----这和我在我的美国大公司里看到的没什么两样啊……


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Firozali A.Mulla , Tutor
This is in all places from East to West and will stay on why choose BRIC or China now
这在从东方到西方的所有地方都存在，并继续停在为什么金砖国或中国。


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jura5423
The Wet has less to fear from China than originally thought because of the cultural limitations that are referred to in this article. And if and when they do open up, they will be so much more like ourselves that there will be less reasons to get involved in trade disputes and more reasons to compete fairly.  
西方从中国那里不会受到想象中那么多的威胁，因为这篇文章所指出的文化限制。如果他们一旦开放，他们就会变得像我们一样，那样就更没有理由卷入贸易争端，而更有理由公平竞争了。