Contrary to what you might think, it is quite common to exchange written contracts to ensure "fairness" in China. Indeed, the Chinese are very particular about whether things are "fair or not." For example, if there is only a slight difference in salary from someone else despite the good results one has made through their tremendous efforts, it is considered unfair. This is the sense of fairness of the Chinese. For this reason, it is considered important that an employment contract clearly indicate what will be evaluated, what will lead to a promotion and how salary will increase, in addition to stating what kind of penalties one might face for being late, making a mistake or failing to achieve results.

Contracts are effective in making individuals aware of their range of responsibilities as well. While responsibilities such as serving tea, making photocopies or arriving at the office five minutes before the start of work are performed without complaint in a Japanese office, a contract can help avoid the performance of such duties being rejected with curt utterances such as "That's not my job" or "No."

It is also necessary to repeatedly explain the importance of teamwork in order to have the simple tasks often seen in a Japanese office such as "Could you give the table a quick wipe? It's dirty" or "The reference materials in the division office are a mess. Sort them out," or "Please ring and confirm if they received my fax" completed without a fuss.

Mr. Kanbayashi has been working for a long time as the general manager of the production division at a plant run by a Chinese owner, where he is the only non-Chinese employee. He says, "You will definitely fail if you resort to a strategy of respecting others and relying on their good will. Comforting them with words will also never work. It was only after I made my attitude completely clear and explicitly defined what a carrot was and what a stick was in the form of rewards and penalties that things started to go smoothly."

The "carrot" that Mr. Kanbayashi refers to is a monthly event where prize money is awarded in front of all the employees after evaluating work conduct such as "taking good care of equipment," "demonstrating good cooperation with friends and colleagues," "being independent without causing inconvenience to others" or "handling raw materials with care." He says, "Judging fairness systematically based on the work regulations helps to improve conditions more quickly, since individuals will have no illusions about receiving special treatment." According to Kanbayashi, the trick is to take advantage of the Chinese psychology of placing importance on how they are seen by others and their strong sense of competitiveness.

This may be a difficult task for a Japanese company, which aren't equipped with any such criteria to evaluate employee work performance or attitudes toward work in minute detail. Nevertheless, this is what leads to a successful business in China. We hear that there are an increasing number of incidents of employees abusing the right to take a case to court. Even those incidents, which would be tolerated under "implicit consent" in Japan, may lead to court cases in China. To prevent this from happening, companies need to quickly prepare contracts that can be understood flawlessly by anybody and cover any circumstance.