Are Chinese Workers Experiencing Stress?
CSUF Management Professor Initiates Study
B. Thomas Mayes travels to Asia to study how Chinese workers are handling new challenges.
March 17, 2006 :: No. 170
China has become an economic giant,
fulfilling expectations by becoming the world’s fourth-largest
economy.
Its economic
ascendancy is spurring market conditions and staffing challenges
that are changing the face of how that Asian country’s
companies hire and retain employees.
Those changes are being
explored by B. Thomas Mayes, a Cal State Fullerton professor
of management who is heading to China to study how workers
there are coping with competition within their own companies
and from workers abroad.
“I’ll
be looking at the physical and mental symptoms they might be experiencing,” said
Mayes, who previously studied workers and stress-related health conditions
with funding from a National Institute of Mental Health grant. “Are they
suffering stress as American workers and managers do? Are they experiencing
the same type of stress-related feelings or health symptoms?
“Workers
and managers in China don’t have as much security as
they had as recently as 20 years ago,” said the researcher
who specializes in organizational behavior and human resource
management.
Mayes noted that, until recently, his acquaintances
in China felt secure about their jobs and that they always
would have food, clothing and housing to meet their needs.
Not anymore.
“Today, there is more pressure to get
a good job and perform it well, in order to be financially
secure.”
Reports
of changes in Chinese business operations have surfaced in
management and human resources journals, but little has been published on how
these changes affect managers and workers, noted Mayes.
The Cal
State Fullerton professor will be traveling to Shanghai,
where he expects to connect with his academic counterparts. One aspect of his
research will be to gather data on the changes in China’s human resources
management practices, including how job performance is evaluated and whether
pay is pegged to performance.
“I
also want to find out about employee training,” said
Mayes. “Are
companies paying for advanced training, or are employees
on their own?”
In addition,
the professor will be conducting surveys asking employees
and managers how they feel mentally and physically. The questions he’s
been formulating have been translated into Chinese.
“It’s
amazing how modern China has become,” said Mayes, whose first ventured
there in 1988. “When I first visited Shanghai, there were no skyscrapers.
When you walked around at night, the streets were dimly lit and people would
come up to you just to practice their English. Others would gather around just
to hear the conversation.
“Today,
many of the streets are very brightly lit; the skyline is filled with tall
buildings, and foreigners attract little attention,” he added.
The
Long Beach resident has taught at Cal State Fullerton since
1984 and is a past president of the Western Academy of Management.
He holds a doctorate from UC Irvine.
Media Contacts: |
B. Thomas Mayes, Management Department, mayes@fullerton.edu
Pam McLaren, Public Affairs, 657-278-4852 or pmclaren@fullerton.edu |
«
back to News Front
|