The Influential Factors Of Chinese Enterprises Management In Namibia, Africa

Since the implementation of the strategy of "going out" by the central government in2000, the African market becomes one of the key areas, and more and more Chinese enterprises invest in Africa. In1990, China and Namibia has established diplomatic relations, and China has become the third largest trading partner of Namibia in2009. The amount of Chinese enterprises in Namibia increased from8in2008to40in2013, but they are facing some management challenges such as political system limitation, cross-cultural management conflicts, labour disputes and so on.This study focuses on the influence factors of Chinese enterprises’ local staff management in Africa from the perspective of managers. On the one hand, it helps to enrich the academic research on resource management issues of overseas enterprises in Africa. On the other hand, it helps to improve the local management of Chinese enterprises in Africa. Like Wood and Kamoche scholars, this study also agrees with the academic point that is there is no unified management mode which is suitable for the whole Africa because of the social diversity. So based on the close economic and trade relations between China and Namibia, and the data availability, this study takes the Chinese enterprises in Namibia as the specific study object. The study adopts qualitative research method, and gets the data by deep interview. The objects of interview are20mid-high level managers of Chinese enterprises in Namibia.By introducing the general situation of Namibia and Chinese enterprises in Namibia, and by combining data coding analysis and relevant theories, this paper creatively builds the model of the influence factors on Chinese enterprises’ management in Africa based on the North’s institution theory. The formal institution includes the local labor regulations and labor unions, and the informal institution is the culture crossvergence between China and Africa including the convergence and divergence. Under the concrete analysis of three factors influence mechanism and their relationship, this paper discusses the influence of the overseas management level of Chinese enterprises which depends on the institution theory. In addition, several other factors also has been discussed, like the influence of the western modern management system, the influence of the Chinese enterprise leaders’ level and the influence of local economic and technical environment.Based on the research results, this paper puts forward five suggestions for the local management of Chinese enterprises in Namibia:First, manage employees in accordance with the law by setting up the concept of rule management. Second, well handle the Chinese enterprises’ relationship with the unions and the local government by enhancing communication. Third, improve the applicability of the management by adopting the management model appropriate for local employees. Fourth, promote the cultural accommodation between China and Namibia by respecting local customs and spreading Chinese culture. Fifth, strive to improve enterprise internationalization management level by adhering to the thought of openness and inclusiveness.