By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-01 07:42

When an expatriate manager goes bananas over a small incident, does it signify something larger?

The Southern Metropolis Daily, a Guangzhou-based newspaper, reported that the French manager of a Dongguan company pulled out a pistol and fired a shot at the ceiling during a meeting.

"Pierre", who manages a French-invested manufacturer of wood products, carries a gun and is not afraid to use it. According to several workers' accounts, he had fired shots on at least three occasions, mostly to draw attention or calm down an unruly crowd.

The paper could not reach Pierre for confirmation. But it did talk to the local police, who said they had to report to higher authorities before determining how to pursue the case because it involved a foreign citizen.

As you can imagine, this has unleashed another spate of anti-foreign-employer sentiments. One media comment was simply titled, "How can foreigners run wild in China?"

While this is certainly not the first reported case of abuse by a foreign manager or employer, it is by far the strangest. Previously it was either a Korean or Japanese manager who resorted to harsh disciplinary measures in dealing with Chinese employees, but this Pierre acted as if he were a little Napoleon wielding absolute power in his own mini-kingdom.

Let me add that I'm assuming everything in the report is true, since I cannot verify it independently. This is a small technicality that many readers tend to ignore. Some of my earlier columns aroused controversies because readers skipped over my claim of assumption.

If the report is to be believed, what Pierre did was insane, not to mention illegal. In China, only very select authorized groups are allowed to carry firearms. This trigger-happy French executive reminds one of some notorious despots who made overdramatic scenes with their power.

Coincidentally, Pierre did not leave until one of the "smart" guys at the meeting started applauding him while the rest sat "stunned". This could be a scene from a movie.

Could something like this happen in the real world, in the 21st century? If it did happen, as the paper said it did on August 18, the reason is other than the kind of "foreign superiority" that netizens and online pundits denounce, but kowtowing to whoever controls one's fate. The nationality of a person with this kind of braggadocio is of little relevance, if any. It is essentially an employer-employee relationship that is at the core of this incident and is warped beyond belief.

We Chinese people can put up with a lot of abuse. Some people call it "resilience" and deem it a virtue. Some private enterprises employ quasi-military management styles. We've all seen restaurant workers being lined up and "trained" as if they were soldiers. And we've heard of some lines of workers, such as waiters and hair-washers, being ordered to render their services while kneeling down.

Even in the US, Chinese-run businesses have been reported to defer payment and otherwise act in violation of labor laws and ethics. Even today, there is still the lingering notion that a non-State-owned enterprise could be Dickensian in treating its employees.

Fortunately, in the past decade, we have gained a heightened sense of employee rights. More and more people have the guts to stand up to abusive bosses, whether Chinese or expat.

While the legal environment is working in their favor, another factor is against them. If your job is highly replaceable, you'll be amazed how much maltreatment you can take. And it's not just a Chinese characteristic.

When employees are armed with legal knowledge, a gun-toting boss will think twice before going berserk.

Email: raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/01/2007 page4)