Running Head: MEMO - OPERATIONS IN CHINA 1 MEMO - OPERATIONS IN CHINA 4 MEMORANDUM Name: Shan Liu To: John Smith, Joseph Stevens, and Robert Morris, Partners From:  Shan Liu Date: April 2, 2015 Subject: FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT OUR OPERATIONS IN CHINA. I hereby submit my request to carry out a study on the effects of key factors that could affect our operation in China. This is necessary due to the previous internship program in the region that did not yield the expected results. The ideal purpose of this study is to identify the factors that could have any influence in the operation of any program in China. The factors are to be analyzed, and the way to deal with them sought to in this memo. Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the factors that govern the operations in the Chinese economy which everyone needs to be aware of, which shall form a basis of training for our employees and interns to be posted in the region. China is one of the world`s biggest economies and which turns out to be the most populous country in the world (Carter & Mol, 2013).  Technology advance is one of the factors that have kept the country influential in the entire global economy. The internship program previously conducted in the region turned out not to be successful. Audience Analysis The targeted audience for this training program is primarily the new employees and interns being newly posted to the region. It is also secondarily intended for the employees and interns who have been or are already in the region and wish to understand more about the factors that could affect their dealings with China. The training will focus on the major career skills needed for business development officers and project implementation staff to be posted in China. Summary of key topics The key topics and variables include the following factors and how they will be of relevance in our dealings in the Chinese region. · Religion · Politics · Attitude towards women · Attitude towards foreigners · Cultural Values The following factors are identified as important and need to emphasize in the training programs. They include; religion, politics, attitude towards women, attitude towards foreigners and cultural values and are discussed in depth below. Religion There are five major religions in China. These include Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. The country seeks to regulate religious groups and worship. Any group that is determined to practice their religious faith outside the religious venues that are controlled by the state, or any unregistered religious or spiritual groups risk harassment, intimidation or even detention by the government. The freedom of worship is not much applicable in China. Therefore, it is prudent for the interns and staff who will be posted to China after the training to have a pre-visit training on how to cope with the religious restrictions in China (Carter & Mol, 2013).  Politics.

1. Running Head: MEMO - OPERATIONS IN CHINA
1
MEMO - OPERATIONS IN CHINA
4
MEMORANDUM
Name: Shan Liu
To: John Smith, Joseph Stevens, and Robert Morris, Partners
From: Shan Liu
Date: April 2, 2015
Subject: FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT OUR
OPERATIONS IN CHINA.
I hereby submit my request to carry out a study on the effects of
key factors that could affect our operation in China. This is
necessary due to the previous internship program in the region
that did not yield the expected results. The ideal purpose of this
study is to identify the factors that could have any influence in
the operation of any program in China. The factors are to be
analyzed, and the way to deal with them sought to in this memo.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the factors
that govern the operations in the Chinese economy which
everyone needs to be aware of, which shall form a basis of
training for our employees and interns to be posted in the
region. China is one of the world`s biggest economies and
which turns out to be the most populous country in the world
(Carter & Mol, 2013). Technology advance is one of the factors
that have kept the country influential in the entire global
economy. The internship program previously conducted in the

2. region turned out not to be successful.
Audience Analysis
The targeted audience for this training program is primarily the
new employees and interns being newly posted to the region. It
is also secondarily intended for the employees and interns who
have been or are already in the region and wish to understand
more about the factors that could affect their dealings with
China. The training will focus on the major career skills needed
for business development officers and project implementation
staff to be posted in China.
Summary of key topics
The key topics and variables include the following factors and
how they will be of relevance in our dealings in the Chinese
region.
· Religion
· Politics
· Attitude towards women
· Attitude towards foreigners
· Cultural Values
The following factors are identified as important and need to
emphasize in the training programs. They include; religion,
politics, attitude towards women, attitude towards foreigners
and cultural values and are discussed in depth below.
Religion

3. There are five major religions in China. These include
Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. The
country seeks to regulate religious groups and worship. Any
group that is determined to practice their religious faith outside
the religious venues that are controlled by the state, or any
unregistered religious or spiritual groups risk harassment,
intimidation or even detention by the government. The freedom
of worship is not much applicable in China. Therefore, it is
prudent for the interns and staff who will be posted to China
after the training to have a pre-visit training on how to cope
with the religious restrictions in China (Carter & Mol, 2013).
Politics
After the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the political stability of
China in still in question and affects the business operations of
any firm with its presence in the Chinese economy. It affects
the prospected going concern of the organization (Saich, 2011).
However, the political stability has improved since then. The
political system of China is a communist one. All parties, mass
organizations and representatives of various areas take part in
the formulation of government policies. As entrepreneurs, the
interns must be prepared to have an input into the formulation
of these policies by giving their innovative ideas and
information through their representatives in the firm.
Attitude towards foreigners
The Chinese usually perceive foreigners as being
representatives of their company or country rather than seeing
them as individuals. The Rank is crucial in business
relationships. It is therefore very key that you keep rank
differences in mind when communicating with Chinese
nationals. In China, they prefer face-to-face meetings rather
than written or telephone communication. Meals and social
events are not the places preferred for business discussions, but

4. social etiquette is necessary to follow. There are a demarcation
and a borderline between business and social talks in China, so
it is important not to intertwine the two. These are critical
points to note and require that any new staff or intern going to
China learn and consider them in their dealings. It is thus a
good practice that the interns and staff to be made aware of this
beforehand.
Attitude towards women
Masculinity (MAS) versus femininity just denotes the
distribution of roles between genders in a society or country.
Hofstede's study brings out the fact that women values differ
less across societies than men's values (Saich, 2011). The men's
values from one nation to another contain dimensions that are
very assertive and competitive and maximally different from
women's values. The assertive role is called 'masculine', and
the modest, caring role is called 'feminine'. The women in
feminine countries such as China have the same modest and
caring values as the men. In the masculine nations, they are
somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the
men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values
and women's values. The Chinese rank highly in masculine
versus feminine roles preference. It's important to understand
this orientation to avoid any possible conflicts.
Cultural values
The cultural values of the Chinese are quite complicated, but
they do share common values that range from the hierarchical
structure of social life, self-restraint, and hard work to achieve
these. The culture also adores collectivism other than
individualism. They assume that together they can achieve more
than as individuals. They hold high values and require that the
young learn to respect the elders and also learn how to answer
them back (Harrell, 2013).

5. Schedule of tasks
The above-discussed factors could be reliable sources for
training to the employees and interns so that they may act
appropriately in both public and business meetings that would
gain their acceptance into the region. The tasks to be performed,
and their durations are as outlined in the table below:-
Activity
Week
One
Week Two
Week Three
Preparation and organization of the research work
· Desk review
· Brainstorming sessions
· Background research
· Logistics planning
Field visit Data collection
· Key Informant Interviews
· Questionnaires

6. · Focus Group Discussions
· Observations
· Resource Mapping
· In-country research
Data Entry and Analysis
Preparation of Report
Data presentation, Research Summary, and Final Report
submission
Closure
References
Carter, N., & Mol, A. P. (2013). Environmental governance in
China Republic. Routledge.

7. Harrell, S. (2013). Cultural encounter’s on the China's ethnic
frontiers. University of
Washington Press Release.
Saich, A. (2011). The governance & politics of China.
Week 7 Global Research Paper
Due Date: Sunday 5 p.m. - Week 7
Assignment Instructions:
Complete this assignment using the following memo format for
the transmittal memo (first page of the Week 7 Global Research
Paper assignment):
MEMORANDUM
To: John Smith, Joseph Stevens, and Robert Morris,
Partners (include their titles)
From: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx
Date:
Subject:
In addition to this first page,write an APA-formatted report (8-
10 pages including Executive Summary) that includes:
· APA-formatted title page
· No more than one page Executive Summary (following the
title page).
· Glossary of terms (if needed).
· Reference page in APA format (final page of the report).
· Appropriate illustrations in addition to the pages of content in
the report.
· Single space within paragraphs and skip a space in between
paragraphs.
· Use a Size 12 Times New Roman or Calibri font.

8. · Use headings and subheadings effectively.
Description:
Scenario:You are the intern coordinator for an IT consulting
company that specializes in working with entrepreneurial global
clients. Although the three partners have been impressed with
the internship program you set up this year, the international
incident in Country X cost the firm substantial money and
generated negative publicity. Upon your return from Country X,
the partners informed you that your program will be eliminated,
and they don’t have another position to offer because you are
not an IT consultant.
Your only hope to save your job is to convince the partners that
you can train the interns before they travel to foreign countries.
The partners accepted your proposal.
Robert Morris reminded you again in another private meeting
that the report must be written in the APA format, The partners
describe what they want to see in this sample report.
Audience for the Report:
Although the transmittal memo is written to the partners, the
audience for the report will be the employees and interns
because you will eventually use this report as the material for a
training session.
Your task is to convince the partners that you can train the
employees and interns before they travel to a particular foreign
country. The audience expects a factual report that sheds light
on the economic, political, and social environment in that
country to help them make an informed decision about doing
business or sending employees or interns there. John Smith is
enthusiastic about your proposal to write an informative report
about customs in the country and subsequently set up a cultural
training program for interns and employees, but Joseph Stevens

9. is not. Of course, John is retiring, so his vote counts less.
However, Robert Morris recommends that you write a proposal
to describe the audiences for the report and the content that
would subsequently be taught. He is asking for a research paper
on one nation with respect to how its culture differs from ours
to help the executives decide whether to do business in the
country.
Top level executives who are responsible for devising strategies
and formulating policies to ensure that all goals and objectives
are met include John Smith, Chief Executive Officer; Joseph
Stevens, Chief Operating Officer; and Robert Morris, Chief
Information Officer. This group consists of motivated readers
who are in need of the report to make important business
decisions. The company contains 500 employees, 20 of which
would be slated to go overseas. Ten employees would conduct
business development (sales) and 10 would conduct project
implementation which would require working closely with top
and mid-level managers in the corporate headquarters and inside
a factory in that country. In addition, once project
implementation is underway, at least 100 of the employees
would be interacting with the employees in the other country
via email, skype, and the internet.
The sections of the report should describe the cultural customs
in one nation and show how they are the same or different from
our own customs. You have persuaded the partners that this
information can be used to train the employees and interns to
act appropriately in public and in business meetings.
The partners require that you cover at leastthree of the
following sections in this sample Global Business Report:
· Climate
· Nonverbal communication/Language/attire
· Politics
· Religion (can branch into attire, etc.)

10. · Food/social etiquette/dining
· Security, crime, and/or attitudes and norms concerning women
· Attitudes toward foreigners, particularly U.S. citizens.
· However, other information/topics may be included if you
clear them with me.
· The report should describe
· the cultural customs in one nation you select and show how
they are the same or different from our own customs, and which
audiences for the report will be most impacted by the variance
in customs from our own
· what happens when our employees/interns do not understand
the customs and commit faux pas and the impact that can have
on business interactions (for example, one of the employees
responsible for sales does not follow a custom of the country
and commits a major or minor faux pas),
· what adaptations company employees must make when they
interact with the individuals they do business with in the
foreign country in order to carry out business successfully
(weave in examples from your company employees working
closely inside a factory in that country with employees from the
country).
Illustrations:
In addition to the one-two pages of words in the memo, include
appropriate illustrations. These illustrations may be inserted in
the appropriate paragraphs and/or at the end of the memo.
DON’T USE MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS!
ONLY ONE ATTACHMENT WILL BE OPENED AND
RETURNED TO YOU.
GRADING CRITERIA FOR GLOBAL RESEARCH PAPER
400 Points
Maximum
Score

11. Front matter (including transmittal memo and title page)
5%
Executive Summary (one page or less)
10%
Body Paragraphs and Conclusion
50%
Back matter (references page and glossary if needed)
10%
Appropriate grammar, punctuation, and technical writing style
for the audience
25%
100%
Bottom of Form