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Collaboration in ChinaPaths to profi tAn Economist Intelligence Unit reportSponsored by Cisco

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009

Collaboration in ChinaPaths to profi t

1

Preface

Collaboration in China: Paths to profi t is an Economist Intelligence Unit briefi ng paper, sponsored by the Cisco. It is the second in a series of reports focused on management issues in China, including innovation, collaboration and personalisation. The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted the analysis and wrote the report. The fi ndings and views expressed in the report do not necessarily refl ect the views of the sponsor.

The report is based on a survey of 183 senior executives in China, desk research, and in-depth interviews with senior executives from Chinese companies. The author was Lina Tornquist and the editor was Katherine Dorr Abreu. The Economist Intelligence Unit thanks all those who contributed their time and insight to this project.

June 2009



2

Introduction

China is a jumble of networks. The country has emerged as the world’s second largest manufacturer through an intricate system of interconnected enterprises, mostly small and medium sized, each specialised at managing a portion of the giant supply chain that snakes through China and churns out everything from plastic fl owers to sophisticated computer chips.

In manufacturing, new forms of collaboration-based innovation have emerged. Loncin, a Chongqing-based motorcycle maker, keeps costs low by managing its suppliers through what is essentially an open-source system. The company gives only broad specifi cations for each component, so suppliers must collaborate to design parts.

But is China using this powerful tool effectively? To gauge how deeply the concept of collaboration has penetrated companies in China, the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Cisco, completed a survey

Who took the survey?

The online survey was fi elded in Chinese and was answered by 183 executives in China. A total of 26 regions are represented, although most respondents are located in Shanghai (22% of the total), Beijing (20%), Jiangsu (10%) and Guangdong (10%). The survey encompassed a variety of company ownership structures: 43% are from private Chinese concerns; 24% from wholly-owned foreign operations; 18% from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or those owned by provincial or municipal governments; 10% from joint ventures between Chinese and foreign concerns; and 5% from other types of companies.

Companies range in size. Thirty-one percent have annual revenues of $100 million or less, 27% between $100 million and $500 million, 9% between $500 million and $1 billion, and 33% more than $1 billion.

They represent a broad range of industries. Manufacturing accounts for 37% of respondents, fi nancial services for another 8%,

and healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology for 6%. Forty-fi ve percent are C-level executives and the others are executives and managers. They have a broad range of roles: 32% are responsible for marketing and sales, 30% for strategy and business development, and 23% for general management.

For further information, see the appendix at the end of this report.

31

14

13

9

12

21

$100m or less

$100m to $250m

$250m to $500m

$500m to $1bn

$1bn to $5bn

$5bn or more

The survey covers a broad range of company size(% respondents)

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, January, 2009.



3

of 183 executives in that country in January 2009. We found that while executives in China say they value collaboration, the concept is not always applied. And there are considerable discrepancies in how the C-suite and other executives view collaboration: the higher up in the chain of command, the more likely the respondent is to believe that collaboration is a common practice within the company.

To get a better understanding of collaboration in China, we compared the results of the 2009 survey with those of a similar, global survey, conducted in 2007, that culminated in a report, Collaboration:

Transforming the way business works. Many of the fi ndings of the China survey aligned closely with those of the global survey, which canvassed 350 senior executives worldwide. Signifi cant differences are highlighted in the paper.



4

The growing interconnectedness of companies worldwide suggests that future success is tied to collaborating across greater distances—physical and cultural—and across organisations. In Collaboration:

Transforming the way business works, the Economist Intelligence Unit concluded that “the future belongs to those who collaborate”.

China’s spectacular economic growth since the early 1990s points to a very bright future. But survey data indicate that the country is lagging in the global cultural shift that views collaboration as a necessary business tool. Although respondents say that collaboration is widespread, the survey also indicates that it is relatively limited across functions and geographies. This points to the need for increased collaboration within China’s companies.

Executives in China spend only about a quarter of their time working alone, no more than executives do elsewhere. A signifi cant number of respondents in China—67 %—say they collaborate regularly and across a broad range of issues. Although less than the 77% who claimed the same degree of collaboration in the 2007 global survey, this response is in line with the overall positive outlook on collaboration of respondents in China. Generally, they say that employees trust their colleagues and management; companies promote an open, collaborative culture; and organisations actively encourage collaboration, even more so than in companies surveyed globally.

While collaboration is viewed positively in China, the survey suggests that managers there still have a tendency to look upwards rather than sideways. Only about 40% of the executives surveyed in China collaborate with other functions within their organisations on a daily basis, compared with 55% of those surveyed globally in 2007. And in China, only 13% of respondents have ongoing day-to-day collaboration with co-workers across locations within their own organisation, compared with 35% who do so globally.

Within China, the degree of collaboration varies by company structure. Fifty-two percent of

Where China stands today

Two golden rules for successful collaboration? “Don’t create heroes and make sure everyone has the same goal.” Yin Weidong, chief executive offi cer, Sinovac Biotech

0 20 40 60 80 100

”Strongly agree” and “Agree” Neutral “Strongly disagree” and “Disagree”

Our company culture encourages sharing rather than secrecy

Senior management explains the mutual benefits of collaboration among colleagues

Employees at my company generally trust co-workers and management

Overall outlook on collaboration positive in China (% respondents)

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, January, 2009.

74 16 10

74 19 7

68 22 10



5

respondents from joint ventures and subsidiaries of foreign fi rms say they spend 25% or more of their time collaborating with teams in the same function, compared with only 38% in private Chinese companies. And 30% of respondents in joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries say they spend that amount of time working with teams in the same location, compared with 21% in private Chinese fi rms.

Despite China’s rapid economic expansion and the growing complexity of many Chinese companies, executives are less bullish about collaboration than their global peers, especially across departments and geographies. When asked how they expect to spend their time three years from now, 21% of executives in China say they expect to work more independently, compared to 17% who said so globally. They are generally less likely to foresee working more collaboratively outside of their function than their global peers were two years ago.

Michael A. Witt and Gordon Redding, specialists in Asian business systems, point to entrenched

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, January 2009.

Other functions within my organisation

Other locations within my organisation

External suppliers

External customers

External business partners

Daily collaboration less common in China than globally(% respondents who collaborate daily with the following constituencies)

40 55

13 35

14 14

23 28

10 15

ChinaGlobal

Difference


Working independently

Working with teams in the same function

Working with teams in the different function

Working with teams in the different locations

Working with teams at other organisations

Working with teams in the same location

In future, China’s executives less likely to collaborate outside their own functions than peers globally(Three years from now, which of the following do you expect to spend more of your working time doing, compared to today?)

21 17

55 34

40 55

29 62

25 50

21 28

ChinaGlobal

Difference



6

hierarchies within Chinese fi rms as barriers to collaboration. In their 2008 book, The Future of Chinese

Capitalism, they argue that hierarchies block collaboration between workers and management. “If you were to go to any of the millions of small and medium enterprises in China…and asked who in the organisation is responsible for effi ciency, learning and adaptiveness,” they write, “the average employee will point upwards and say ‘laoban’,” the boss.

Such lack of delegation has profound implications for industry, according to the authors. With the majority of decision-making pushed up the chain of command, private companies often focus on

Vaccine development in China: Collaboration helps Sinovac take the lead

Two golden rules for successful collaboration? “Don’t create heroes and make sure everyone has the same goal,” says chief executive offi cer (CEO) Yin Weidong. His company, Sinovac Biotech, is one of China’s leading producers of vaccines and has been at the front of vaccine research since China’s outbreaks of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003 and avian fl u in 2005.

Dr Yin started his research on viruses in the 1980s working as a doctor treating infectious diseases in China’s northern Hebei province. Each village had several people who were infected with Hepatitis A, a cause of acute liver disease. In 1984, Dr Yin was among the fi rst researchers in China to isolate the Hepatitis A virus, a fi rst step to producing a vaccine. At the time, immunology in China had “no people, no funds and no facilities”, he says.

That changed rapidly when the outbreak of SARS paralysed China. Driven by a desire to help, researchers across the country set aside their projects to work on mapping the disease. After a delay, China’s government rallied behind them, providing funding, longer grants and stronger private-public partnerships.

Sinovac, still a young company (it was founded in 2000), took the lead in developing a SARS vaccine. By emphasising the greater goal—quickly providing a vaccine—Dr Yin trumped traditional hierarchies and took a leadership position that would normally have fallen to the heavy-hitters from the government’s Ministry of Health.

Dr Yin applies his golden rules—teamwork and focus on a common goal—to his research teams today. He says that too often in China, even in science, individuals are made into heroes, and treated with reverence, which strengthens hierarchies, halts dialogue and stifl es new ideas.

Sinovac has been lifted by China’s rising tide of knowledge about infectious diseases. Work that took 20 years when he started in 1984—isolating a virus, sequencing the virus and developing a vaccine—now takes only three. The company has successfully commercialised a number of vaccines including ones for infl uenza, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B

Collaboration has been important to Sinovac’s success. The fi rm worked with an international network of institutions and companies researching SARS, for example. It now benefi ts from the increasing sophistication of China’s biopharmaceutical industry. There are at least two organisations/companies, started by returning Chinese expatriates, that can sequence proteins in China.

The company is also being helped through improved collaboration with the public sector. Sinovac collaborates actively with several government institutions including China’s Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Health.

But even as China’s government dismantles many of the walls between public and private institutions, the surveys suggest that the country may still have a long way to go in building strong public-private partnerships. Internationally, 74% of public sector workers collaborate with private sector workers; in China, only 37% say they do so. Such a lack of collaboration could mean lost opportunities for reaching common goals, including better vaccines.



7

industries familiar to the top executive. They often diversify into industries that are easy to understand or in which the leaders have personal connections. Meanwhile, China’s state sector is full of mid-level managers who act more like conduits of decisions than decision-makers in their own right.

The challenges affect external collaboration as well. According to the China survey, privacy rules (37%), cultural and language barriers (30%) and the reluctance to share information with strangers (27%) are the largest external hindrances to collaboration.

A lack of “institutional trust” in China’s business system also holds back partnerships, according to Witt and Redding. China’s legal infrastructure is not robust enough to ensure adherence to business agreements, they write, and the economy suffers from a severe shortage of information. Professionals such as actuaries, accountants and surveyors are all still in short supply, often making it diffi cult to perform adequate due-diligence and to form business partnerships outside trusted personal ‘guanxi’ networks.

A networked system of personal relationships can work well in manufacturing, but as China’s companies move up the supply chain to produce high-value, complex goods, processes become more intricate and require more specialised business models. The country is grooming a set of Chinese “national champions” to be the global multinationals of tomorrow. Developing collaborative skills is an important step for these companies to compete successfully on the world stage.

China is grooming a set of “national champions” to be the global multinationals of tomorrow. Developing collaborative skills is an important step towards achieving that goal.



8

A signifi cant obstacle to increased collaboration may be a tendency of C-suite executives to underestimate the barriers to teamwork and overestimate the extent to which management addresses such barriers. In China, information hoarding is viewed as a barrier by just 17% of C-suite respondents, compared with 41% of respondents from lower tiers of management. Meanwhile, unwillingness to relinquish responsibility to partners and co-workers is considered a major problem by 40% of non-C-suite executives, compared with only 10% of C-suite respondents.

There are also substantial differences between how C-suite respondents say they are addressing issues of collaboration and how less senior executives regard these efforts. For example, 76% of C-suite respondents agree that collaborative technology is available to every employee; only 40% of non-C-suite executives do so.

The disparity between C-suite and other executives


My organisation has a formal, transparent and credible process for collaboration

People who collaborate well are rewarded with greater autonomy within the company



Management publicises examples of successful collaboration

My organisation has metrics to track collaboration and its benefits

Senior management makes sure that collaboration technology is available to employees

We are interested in partnering with other organisations


Through partnerships, we are able to accomplish tasks that we couldn’t do alone

C-suite and non-C-suite executives do not see eye-to-eye on collaboration in China(Comparison of percentages of C-suite and non-C-suite repondents who “Strongly agree” with the following statements)

44 12

39 9

47 18

46 18

43 15

36 8

41 15

44 24

42 24

47 35

C-suiteOther executives

Difference



9

Stronger, formalised processes to support and assess collaborative efforts, including better planning and feedback mechanisms, are powerful tools to make sure barriers to collaboration are actually addressed. In China, where the confl ict-averse culture may prevent staff from presenting complaints to their superiors or allowing colleagues to lose face, such mechanisms may be particularly important to improve teamwork.

To address these types of problems, Lu Wenbing, chief executive offi cer of Little Sheep, one of China’s largest domestic restaurant franchises, strives to ensure that complaints and ideas for management improvements reach him. He publicises his email address so all employees can communicate with him directly. Additionally, the restaurant chain allows employees and franchisees to report problems through anonymous channels, an effort Little Sheep hopes will allow more honest feedback.

Our survey indicates that top management at China’s companies tends to isolate itself and could benefi t from an engaged approach. Just 38% of respondents in China report that they or their function collaborate regularly with general management, compared with 60% of respondents from the 2007 global survey.

Stronger, formalised processes to support and assess collaborative efforts, including better planning and feedback mechanisms, are powerful tools to make sure barriers to collaboration are actually addressed.



10

If collaboration is important to growth, how can China’s executives make all parts of their organisation work together? One way is to make collaboration worthwhile, and to overcome obstacles to teamwork. The survey shows that the biggest barriers to internal collaboration at companies in China include information hoarding (31%), unwillingness to relinquish responsibility to co-workers and partners (27%), lack of buy-in (27%), insuffi cient resources and excessive workload (25%), and privacy rules and network security (24%).

Haier, a diversifi ed white goods and electronics manufacturer located in Shandong Province with 2007 revenues of $16.2bn, has sought to tear down barriers. It now connects performance reviews of managers, and by extension their bonuses, to the performance of other divisions within their organisation, by linking, for example, sales and manufacturing targets.

Ma Yansong, founder of the Beijing-based architecture fi rm MAD, suggests that space can also play a large role. Open-plan offi ces have been popular in the West since the 1950s, but in China, members of management are often cosseted in closed-off meeting rooms and offi ces. A better solution, he suggests, is creating work spaces that balance the need for privacy with the need for openness and insight, through the use of small, glass-enclosed conference rooms and spaces that create interaction between different teams.

Nokia, the Finnish mobile handset giant, realised the need for collaboration and re-built its Beijing headquarters in 2008 to house all its operational departments, including regional headquarters, R&D and design centres, and mobile phone production, as well as outside partners, on the same campus. It is

Making collaboration work

Information hoarding (viewing information as a source of power)

Unwillingness to relinquish responsibilities or oversight to co-workers or partners

Lack of buy-in to benefits of collaboration

Insufficient resources/excess workload

Privacy rules and network security

Reluctance to share information with strangers

Biggest internal barriers to collaboration in China(% respondents)

31

27

27

25

24

20Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, January 2009.



11

betting that physical proximity and spaces specially designed for collaboration will lead to more fruitful relations with partners and across divisions.

External factors also contribute to collaboration. Survey respondents point to partnerships (81%), increased access to collaboration technology (79%) and competition (78%) as the top drivers of collaboration at companies in China. Clearly, both friends and rivals can bring about greater teamwork.

Creation of partnerships

Implementation of collaboration technology

Competition

Corporate strategy and policies

Attitude of senior management

Globalisation of the organisation

Factors that contribute to collaboration in China(% respondents)

81

79

78

73

71

68


Collaboration is a two-way street

Before Nokia launched its new 5800 XpressMusic phone in China in the spring of 2009, the Finnish mobile phone giant disclosed the device’s specifi c features to local software developers with which it collaborates. The 5800 would have a touch screen, a motion sensor and plenty of features geared towards young music lovers, including a memory chip that could hold up to 6,000 music tracks. Armed with this information, Simlife, a game developer based in Fujian province, pitched X Dancery, a game that scores players on their ability to tap out a beat to the music from their own music library. Nokia, China’s largest mobile phone maker, liked the idea, and included Simlife’s game on its new phone in the country.

Although Nokia develops all its mobile phones for a global audience, the company depends on local software companies, such as Simlife, to develop content geared to Chinese consumers. Gamers in China, Nokia’s largest cell phone market, are often more interested in narrative-driven games and networking, rather than “ball, gun and car” games popular in the West, says Junhong Chen, Simlife’s managing director.

The pressure to attract consumers through “localised” software applications will only increase, says Dan Wong, Nokia’s China vice-

president of software and services. He believes that as mobile phones become more commoditised, phone buyers will be less concerned with typical hardware features such as talk-time and design. Instead, Nokia will be wooing customers—from farmers interested in grain prices to hipsters looking for better music experiences—through better software. Tapping localised knowledge and the bustling creativity of young, local start-ups such as Simlife is a boon for Nokia.

To make collaboration on software easier, in 2008 Nokia moved Forum Nokia, its division that deals with outside software developers, to its main Beijing headquarters. Bringing its partners inside the company was part of Nokia’s overall strategy to increase collaborative efforts between its multiple divisions and partners such as Simlife.

But much collaboration between Simlife and Nokia also occurs digitally—through electronic forums and emails. This allows Beijing-based Nokia to work day-to-day with fi rms that are located in distant provinces.

Mr Chen says that collaborating with companies such as Nokia allows his company to work on high-end innovative projects as well as gain access to technical support and Nokia’s massive marketing channel. Occasionally, Nokia even covers expenses for Simlife employees to attend corporate forums and conferences where both parties can gain exposure for their collaboration and attract new partnerships.



12

China’s economic star is ascendant, but could it shine even brighter if powered by greater collaboration? Government policies aim to help China’s companies move up the value chain and raise their profi le in the international arena. Increasing collaboration will be a critical tool for organisations to achieve these goals and help China maintain its momentum.

Though survey results indicate Chinese executives expect a more collaborative future, there are still cultural and organisational barriers to overcome. To make collaboration a reality, C-suite support is essential. For collaborations to achieve the best possible outcomes, they require plenty of time and planning. Strong C-suite commitment can help guarantee the needed resources.

Support from the top is not suffi cient, however. A misalignment in how upper and middle management perceive teamwork within an organisation can create barriers to true collaboration. And overcoming institutional silos requires that all teams in a company—from operations to marketing to R&D—work together. Physical layout, incentives, collaboration technology and analytical tools can all be brought to bear to encourage teamwork.

In an increasingly globalised and networked business environment, organisations must reach outside their borders as well. Finding the “right” external partners is a critical task. By trying to cover too many areas in-house, or by choosing to work only with companies within established guanxi networks, China’s companies run the risk of losing out on opportunities. To broaden the pool of potential partners and ensure that the best ones are chosen, a structured, formalised process for selecting collaborative partners is key.

Collaboration is not a zero-sum game. To make sure all parties win, partners should identify opportunities where both benefi t. Advantages may extend beyond merely monetary gain: they can include added opportunities to work on innovative projects, training or positive PR.

Collaboration is often neither easy nor intuitive. If the future belongs to those who collaborate, organisations must strive to overcome the obstacles that stand in their way.

Conclusion

Collaboration is often neither easy nor intuitive. If the future belongs to those who collaborate, organisations must strive to overcome the obstacles that stand in its way.

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

AppendixSurvey results


13

Appendix: Survey results

Regularly and across a broad range of issues

Irregularly, but across a broad range of issues

Only on selected projects or issues

I rarely or never collaborate with peers in other functions

Do you collaborate with peers in other functions of your organisation?(% respondents)

67

19

13

1

Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly Rarely or never

Other functions within my organisation

Other locations within my organisation

External suppliers

External customers

External business partners

How often do you or your team collaborate with the following constituencies?(% respondents)

40 40 14 3 1 1

13 34 25 12 2 14

14 20 24 14 12 16

23 22 24 11 9 11

10 23 24 17 11 14

0% <5% 5-10% 10-25% 25-50% >50%




Working with teams in different functions

Working with teams in different locations


How much of your working time do you spend doing the following? (% respondents)

1 6 14 26 28 25

1 10 16 31 30 13

2 14 27 33 17 7

5 29 27 25 10 5

11 31 31 17 6 4

13 34 24 17 7 5


Working with teams in different functions

Working with teams in different locations




Three years from now, which of the following do you expect to spend more of your working time doing, compared to today? Select all that apply.(% respondents)

55

40

29

25

21

21

14 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009



Finance

Marketing and sales

Customer or constituent service

Operations and production

General management

Strategy and business development

Procurement

Information and research

Human resources

IT

Legal

R&D

Risk management

Other

Do employees in your function regularly collaborate with employees in other functions? If so, which do they collaborate with? Select all that apply.(% respondents)

57

56

52

48

38

36

34

32

31

31

21

21

16

2

Senior management/executives

Process owners (people in charge of processes that cut across functions)

Marketing

Sales

Knowledge workers (people producing and analysing information)

Programme or project workers

Finance

Business partners

Service delivery personnel

HR

Don’t know

Which groups are most likely to be collaborative at your organisation? Select up to three(% respondents)

45

28

27

26

26

23

20

16

14

13

2

Private sector

Government/public sector (state-owned enterprises)

Government/public sector (national)

Government/public sector (state/provincial/regional)

Government/public sector (local/city)

Government/public sector (non-profits and other)

Do you work for the private or public sector?(% respondents)

81

13

1

3

1

1

Economic development

Social services

Education

Environmental services

Transportation

Military

Public safety

Emergency services

Health care

Legal system

Other

(Government/public sector respondents only) Which part of the government/public sector do you work for?(% respondents)

31

21

7

7

7

3

3

0

0

0

21

Private sector

Government/public sector (state-owned enterprises)

Government/public sector (national)

Government/public sector (state/provincial/regional)

Government/public sector (local/city)

Government/public sector (other)

(Government/public sector respondents only) With which sectors does your organisation collaborate? Select all that apply. Note: If you collaborate within your own sector, please check that sector as well.(% respondents)

37

57

40

40

40

14




15

Map who communicates with whom, and to what extent, inside and outside the company

Measure the economic value of collaborative efforts

Measure the level of collaboration among different functions, locations or organisations

Measure the quality of collaborative efforts

Other measurement initiatives, please specify

None of the above

How has your organisation attempted to measure collaboration? Select all that apply.(% respondents)

42

39

39

38

5

8

Increasing revenue growth

Increasing operational efficiency (eg, process improvements, faster speed to market)

Increasing productivity

Improving problem solving

Improving competitive differentiation (eg, better product design, more customer loyalty)

Lowering costs

Extending our global reach to customers and/or partners

Communicating more efficiently across the organisation

Improving service for customers or constituents

Improving knowledge sharing within the organisation

Other

What would you say are the most important objectives for your organisation? Select up to three.(% respondents)

58

35

35

29

27

27

20

13

12

9

1








Lowering costs



Other

Which of the objectives you chose in the previous question would benefit the most from collaboration, in your view?(% respondents)

26

16

14

13

9

8

5

5

3

1

0

54

46

Yes

No

Has your organisation attempted to measure the influence of collaboration on any business objectives? (% respondents)







Lowering costs




In which of the following areas has your organisation tried to measure the influence of collaboration? Select all that apply.(% respondents)

40

27

26

23

20

16

14

13

10

5

0




Has decreased collaboration No effect on collaboration Has increased collaboration Don’t know/Not applicable

Globalisation of the organisation

Decentralisation of the organisation

Competition

Cost savings/operational efficiency measures

Enhancement of the distribution/supply chain

Creation of partnerships

Implementation of collaboration technology

Corporate strategy and policies

Attitude of senior management

Overall, how have the following factors influenced the amount of collaboration internally at your company or externally betweenyour company and outside entities (customers, partners and other organisations)?(% respondents)

11 12 68 9

36 16 35 13

5 12 78 5

12 20 58 10

3 16 66 15

2 11 81 6

3 10 79 8

4 16 73 7

3 18 71 8

1 Strongly agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly disagree Don’t know



We are interested in partnering with other organisations

Through partnerships, we are able to accomplish tasks that we couldn’t do alone


Senior management makes sure that collaboration technology is available to employees

Management publicises examples of successful collaboration

People who collaborate well are rewarded with greater autonomy within the company

My organisation has a formal, transparent and credible process for collaboration

My organisation has metrics to track collaboration and its benefits

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements.(% respondents)

30 36 21 4 5 2

32 41 16 6 3 2

33 39 18 3 3 4

40 39 12 4 2 3

31 40 18 4 3 3

27 29 34 6 1 4

28 28 30 8 3 3

22 31 28 7 7 5

27 29 29 7 5 3

20 25 28 13 6 7




17

Privacy rules and network security

Reluctance to share information with strangers

Lack of buy-in to benefits of collaboration

Inability to find potential collaborators

Information hoarding (viewing information as a source of power)

Unwillingness to accept solutions not developed within the group (“not invented here” attitude)

Unwillingness to relinquish responsibilities or oversight to co-workers or partners

Insufficient resources/excess workload

Lack of shared goals

Lack of top-level support

Legal issues

Cultural and language barriers

What are the biggest barriers to collaboration within your organisation or between your organisation and others? Select up to three barriers for each. (% respondents)

Barriers to internal collaborationBarriers to external collaboration

24

20

27

9

31

9

27

25

19

12

10

16

37

27

14

22

10

11

14

14

16

11

22

30

Throughout organisation In some areas of the organisation Not at all Don’t know

Communicated clear and compelling reasons to collaborate

Marshalled data and publicised success stories to convince sceptics

Engaged in team-building exercises

Publicised support for collaboration from senior management

Measured the amount or depth of collaboration

Measured the results from collaboration

Solicited collaboration champions

Set up training programmes to teach collaboration skills

Rewarded individuals and teams who have engaged in successful collaborations

How broadly has your organisation addressed barriers to collaboration? (% respondents)

49 36 9 6

27 44 20 9

40 40 15 6

40 37 18 6

29 37 26 9

27 41 25 7

23 40 19 18

37 33 23 7

32 33 24 11

E-mail

Instant messaging

Intranets

Web conferencing

Online chat/instant messaging

Workflow systems

Online project management systems

Document management tools

Shared calendars

Document collaboration

Discussion forums/ message boards

Wikis

Blogs

Collaborative design tools

Other

Which of these tools do you think would be or are most helpful in facilitating collaboration at your organisation? Select up to three.(% respondents)

77

49

22

20

19

13

9

9

7

6

5

2

1

0

2




E-mail

Instant messaging

Intranets with shared online data on employees, clients, vendors and projects

Web conferencing, with live audio and video sent across a computer network

Document management tools (allowing people to collect, organise, and manage documents in a central location)

Online chat/instant messaging (allowing people to exchange simple text messages instantly)

Document collaboration (allowing people to collaborate on documents in real time)

Workflow systems (allowing people to track progress of a work process)

Discussion forums/message boards (allowing people to post messages or questions on a specific topic)

Shared calendars (allowing people to post events, meetings, or time-sensitive tasks)

Online project management systems (allowing people to schedule and track activities required to complete a project)

Blogs (allowing people to publish an online chronological journal)

Collaborative tools for designing products

Wikis (allowing multiple authors to post and edit articles, building up a body of knowledge)

Other

Which collaboration tools do you personally use for professional purposes? Select all that apply.(% respondents)

96

67

38

36

33

32

32

27

18

16

13

11

9

8

3

Manufacturing

Financial services

Healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology

Professional services

Chemicals

Transportation, travel and tourism

Energy and natural resources

Logistics and distribution

Consumer goods

Automotive

Education

Government/Public sector

IT and technology

Retailing

Entertainment, media and publishing

Construction and real estate

Telecoms

Agriculture and agribusiness

What is your primary industry?(% respondents)

37

8

6

5

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

State-owned enterprise

Enterprise owned by provincial or municipal government

Partially privatised company with significant state ownership

Joint venture between Chinese foreign concerns

Wholly owned foreign operation

Private Chinese concern

Other

How would you define your company’s structure?(% respondents)

15

3

4

10

24

43

1




19

Marketing and sales

Strategy and business development

General management

Information and research

Customer service

Operations and production

Finance

IT

R&D

Risk management

Human resources

Legal

Supply-chain management

Procurement

Other

What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions.(% respondents)

32

30

23

16

15

13

11

10

10

7

6

4

4

2

4

Undergraduate degree in business administration from Chinese university

Practical on-the-job training

Ongoing education provided by the company

Graduate degree in business administration from Chinese university

Graduate degree in business administration from foreign university

Undergraduate degree in business administration from foreign university

Other

What is your educational background in management?Select all that apply.(% respondents)

39

21

20

20

10

9

5

Government positions

Mostly state, provincial or municipal enterprises

Both in government and state-owned enterprise positions

In joint venture between Chinese foreign concerns

In wholly owned foreign operations

In private Chinese concerns

During your career, have you worked in the following types of companies or held government positions? Select all that apply.(% respondents)

9

12

17

21

30

42

31

14

13

9

12

21

$100m or less

$100m to $250m

$250m to $500m

$500m to $1bn

$1bn to $5bn

$5bn or more

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues in US dollars? (% respondents)

Board member

CEO/President/Managing director

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller

CIO/Technology director

Other C-level executive

SVP/VP/Director

Head of Business Unit

Head of Department

Manager

Other

Which of the following best describes your title? (% respondents)

2

6

5

8

23

6

10

19

10

10




Shanghai

Beijing

Guangdong

Jiangsu

Zhejiang

Shandong

Hubei

Fujian

Jilin

Liaoning

Sichuan

Anhui

Chongqing

Hebei

Hunan

Tianjin

Gansu

Guangxi

Guizhou

Jiangxi

Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia)

Qinghai

Shaanxi

Shanxi

Yunnan

Xinjiang Uygur

In which region of the Chinese mainland are you personally located?(% respondents)

22

20

10

10

9

7

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Whilst every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this information, neither The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. nor the sponsors of this report can accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this white paper or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the white paper.

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