China Resource Network
an organization that trains executives to be more effective in their China operations

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Many times in your career you have benefited from a mentor, someone who has held that position before, who knows the ins and outs of the organization and business culture, and who can advise you.  When it comes to taking over an international management role - that mentor is hard to find.  At CRN we provide that between our group members, but sometimes you need a more immediate or longer term discussion with someone who can help you to develop the skills you need to manage inernational teams.  Typical coaching doesn't work internationally, you need someone who has experience in that country.

Cross Cultural Catalyst is our Coaching Partner.  Founded by Kimberly Kirkendall and James Domingo the company has coaches with experience in various international envrionments (China, Japan, Brazil, etc) who can provide you with coaching that is relevant to the business regulations and culture of that country or region.  

We provide one on one coaching as well as training programs in both the US and overseas. 

 

Cross Cultural Catalyst Coaching

In 2015 we held a Seminar In Shanghai for the Sales Managers of some of our CRN member companies.  During the seminar we used a combination of lecture and group discussion to discuss many of the challenges that Sales Managers in China face when reprsenting US companies.  

For the Sales Managers, it can be difficult to promote higher priced, complex engineered products to many customers.  Tte American response it "sell on value" - and what US managers often hear is that the Chinese want to buy on price. But the real conflict is that what Chinese buyers value is different from what many US customers value.  We worked with this class to understand how to communicate their customers value perspecitve back to the US.  

Additionally, many managers also struggle with the US expectation that they communicate frequently and in detail.  For Chinese this is seen as a lack of trust, for Americans it's about sharing information. 

We also talked about US management structure, how even the CEO can't make a decision in a vacuum but needs to report back to the board with details on the situation and their analysis of it. Many Chinese companies are entrepeneur owned, and the boss is the top decision maker who doesn't need to gather support or explain their decisions. State owned companies are even more top down management style, so to Chinese it often seems that US leaders are weak and indecisive. 

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