Economy
Related: About this forumCulture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio
MORAINE, Ohio When a giant Chinese glassmaker arrived here in 2014 and began spending what would become more than a half-billion dollars to fix up an abandoned General Motors plant, it seemed like a tale from opposite land: The Chinese are supposedly stealing American jobs as no less an authority than President Trump has pointed out.
But now the Chinese were suddenly creating them. More than 1,500 jobs, in fact.
The Chinese company, Fuyao Glass Industry Group, decided the money was worth spending in this Dayton suburb to be close to its key customers, the big American-based automakers that buy millions of windshields each year.
And it was not alone.
From 2000 to the first quarter of this year, the Chinese have invested almost $120 billion in the United States, according to the Rhodium Group, which tracks these flows. Nearly half of that amount has come since early 2016, making China one of this countrys largest sources of foreign direct investment during that time.
But with the explosion of investment has come unexpected trouble. At Fuyao, a major culture clash is playing out on the factory floor, with some workers questioning the companys commitment to operating under American supervision and American norms.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/business/economy/ohio-factory-jobs-china.html?
bobbieinok
(12,858 posts)At one time didn't a major GOP politician claim that US factories should be run on the Chinese model
regarding workers' rights and safety standards? IIRC no GOPER disagreed.
msongs
(67,193 posts)Yonnie3
(17,376 posts)I worked in manufacturing for more than a quarter century. Three anecdotes come to mind.
At one place of employment a joint venture with the Japanese was formed. We had imported and rebranded a Japanese controller from a competitor of the new venture partner. Although this imported controller was no longer sold and was in the last year or two of support, all those who supported that product were moved off site so the top level Japanese managers wouldn't see their competitor's obsolete product. When that product was fully obsolete, those employees were assigned third shift low paying work. The employees who did not quit were eventually laid off. The explanation for this poor treatment of employees was that Japanese culture required it. I can't say if this was true.
Another place of my employment was a start up of a factory by a British firm in rural Virginia. It took time for the rural Virginians and the British to overcome their cultural differences and was difficult for both sides. We have a culture and language that is not radically different that the British. If we had difficulty with this small difference, the difficulty must be immense with the Chinese.
We had a top level manager from England take us aside one morning and say "I've never been as pissed as I was last night." I knew the meaning, but the other two technicians thought they were being fired.
elleng
(130,126 posts)Thanks.
Yonnie3
(17,376 posts)You're welcome.
I've got be careful. I worry that I'm becoming one of those old men who have a paragraph for any key word they hear. Sort of a recorder with automatic playback. Reminds me of the time ...