ABSTRACT

In Chapter 6, operational aspects of EU subsidiaries in China on the basis of their business data were studied. This chapter analyses the managerial characteristics of EU subsidiaries from the point of view of the managers of these companies. The qualitative data that are used were also collected from the questionnaire survey of EU subsidiaries in China carried out in 1997. A number of questions concerning different aspects of management and strategies of MNEs were submitted to the managers of the surveyed companies. These questions specifically concern competition and R&D policy, decision-making authority as well as business confidence. The results reflect mainly the attitudes of the local managers, that is, the Chinese managers, as they were the ones who in the great majority of the responding firms in the sample provided the actual answers. Their opinions on issues such as the competitive position and performance of EU subsidiaries in China will allow for a confrontation with the views of European managers and should be useful for this latter group to evaluate their enterprises from a Chinese perspective.