Workers view Shanghai Hanye as a member of the family: Empowered employees encouraged to put the company first

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore employee empowerment at the Shanghai Hanye Information Technology Company.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the various forms that employee empowerment takes at the company, its limitations and the advantages it has brought.

Findings

It reports that empowerment is serving to encourage: honest, open, co‐operative and harmonious communications and relationships in the workplace; loyalty to the company; greater participation in the cultural life of the organization and its decision‐making processes; and a more unified enterprise spirit.

Practical implications

The paper explains that employees are expected to: contribute ideas that could help to overcome organizational difficulties; sacrifice self‐interest in favor of the interests of the organization; work on regardless if misunderstandings or conflicts occur; and serve as intermediary for building relationships with other organizations.

Social implications

The paper reveals that this type of “spiritual” HR is part of the prevailing ethos in the People's Republic of China.

Originality/value

This study provides interesting detail, from an insider perspective, on employee empowerment in a Chinese context.

Citation

Le, J., Zhang, J. and Han, Y. (2013), "Workers view Shanghai Hanye as a member of the family: Empowered employees encouraged to put the company first", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 21 No. 5, pp. 12-14. https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-05-2013-0037