ABSTRACT
Chinese media reports show that a militaristic management style tends to be most often found in Taiwanese-managed factories. Assaults on Chinese workers take a variety of forms. According to media reports, numerous incidents of corporal punishment had occurred at a Taiwanese-funded enterprise, Yixin Footwear Industry Company Limited, located in Baiyun district in Guangzhou. The difficulty in managing mainland workers has always been one of the headaches reported in surveys of Taiwanese businesspeople who invest in China. One Taiwanese businessman says that commending workers in order to induce self-respect in them is not a useful means to increase productivity. The workers' protest here was quite unusual in that it was initially over an issue of human dignity, rather than simply over pay or working conditions. In manufacturing, the workers are usually recruited individually. Even when recruitment is through a labor service company or an agent, at the workplace workers are on their own.
