Abstract

Founded on the basis of the Qingdao Refrigerator Factory in 1984, Haier has developed from a failing collective factory into a famous multinational corporation. As one of the most typical multinational corporations in China, Haier built American Haier Industry Park in the South Carolina as early as 1999, and bought Greenwich Bank Building in New York City as North American headquarter in 2002, representing that Haier rooted in the American market. However, in the process of rooting in the USA, Haier was faced with a lot of challenges, especially the cultural conflicts between China and America. If the managers of the multinational corporations can’t be aware of the cultural conflicts and take appropriate actions to solve the conflicts, then the cultural conflicts will become the important factor of hindering the development of multinational corporations. This thesis aims at finding out the cultural causes of the cultural conflicts Haier America encountered in America – the cultural conflicts between China and the USA. Based on the experience of Haier America, the thesis also intends to sum up the generalities of cultural conflicts in Sino-US multinational corporations, and tries to present some feasible suggestions for cultural integration.

Key words: Haier America; corporation culture; cultural conflicts; cultural   integration; cross-cultural management

摘要

海尔于1984年在青岛冰箱厂的基础上建立而来。而海尔如今已经从一个濒临倒闭的集体工厂变成了一个名扬海内外的跨国企业。海尔作为中国最具典型性的跨国企业之一，早在1999年就在美国南卡莱罗纳州建立了美国海尔工业园，更在2002年买下纽约中城格林尼治银行大厦作为北美总部，此举代表海尔实现了对美国市场的承诺——在美国市场站稳脚跟。海尔在美国扎根的过程是一个漫长而艰难的过程，其中必然面临诸多方面的挑战，而中美文化冲突就是其中一个不可小觑的方面。而对文化冲突的认识不足与处理不当，会成为阻碍企业发展的重要因素。本论文以海尔美国作为研究对象，剖析其在美国所遇的文化冲突，追溯其文化冲突背后的文化根源。本论文在以海尔美国作为案例的基础上，尝试总结出中美跨国公司文化冲突的共性，并力争对症下药，探索缓解文化冲突、实现文化融合的方法。

关键词：海尔美国；企业文化；文化冲突；文化融合；跨文化管理