Li are the participants of an interesting incident in the Beijing's division of Intel China. This incident can be analyzed with the help of some important Chinese concepts such as hierarchy and preservation of social harmony. Mr. Tang is the new manager of the marketing programs of Intel China in Beijing, and has a Western education. He also has years of working experience in the United States. Mr. Li is a young but skillful account manager, enthusiastic and assertive, who has been carrying on the project of creating a manual of tips for software vendors for two months and plans to carry it on until its completion.
After taking over Beijing's Intel division, Mr. Tang decided to do an in depth study the work output of each employee - and to make changes where necessary. One of his adjustments involved Mr. Li's project.
Since Mr. Tang considers this task extremely time-consuming and unsuited for an inexperienced employee, he decided to discontinue the project and assign Li to a more appropriated one.
He asked Qing Chen (Mr. Li's supervisor) to inform him of his resolution, but Mr. Li firmly opposed to the decision. He believed that Tang was being disrespectful. Analyzing the situation we can see that there are several Chinese communication patterns which play important roles and influence over the behaviors of the people involved.
Mr. Tang uses an intermediary (Miss Chen) to communicate the problem to his employee; a common strategy in China. He avoids direct confrontation with Mr. Li, and this is an act that aims "save face" for both of them. However with his response, Mr. Li caused Mr. Tang to endanger his authority by seeming to lose control and ability to guide his employees. .
It's clear that Mr. Tang is acting in the best interest of his company, and his power shouldn't be questioned. In fact, in the Chinese business context, it's unusual to see an employee reacting like Mr. Li who questioned his boss and showed dissent.
