Case 7: Managing a Chinese-Angolan National Housing Project in Angola’s Capital, Luanda

Abstract

Mr Wei is the Chinese CEO of a huge “new city” housing development project in Luanda, Angola. Although he applies different situational management styles tailored to suit African and Chinese employees, his Angolan employees feel they are somehow discriminated against and grouped as “second-class” staff. They express their unhappiness, but Mr Wei continues with his two different management styles. He applies the Daoshi role in his management position to properly guide the Angolan staff members for the benefit of the country, the company and themselves. The Angolan employees believe that Mr Wei wants to inject them with foreign values, and they dislike his language policy: Chinese with Chinese and English with Angolans. They do not feel accepted in their own language and culture. Mr Wei is not sure if he really understands the deep-rooted differences in Chinese and African socio-history that might result in mistrust and misunderstandings in his building and construction company.