American Factory

What are some of the Chinese beliefs of American culture?

One Chinese belief of American culture is that Americans were lazy and offended very easily.

What are your thoughts about the Chairman’s idea of putting American artwork instead of Chinese artwork in office areas?

I think that the Chairman should have put both artworks because it is a Chinese company, and they should have something from China, but they should also have American artwork because they are in America. I think it would showcase the unity that both countries are trying to have.

How do the differences in cultures affect the workplace?

I believe that the differences in the cultures do affect the workplace because the Chinese are willing to work longer hours and eat Twinkies for lunch every day, while the Americans are mostly there for their pay. There is also a huge language barrier, and they have to use translators to communicate.

What does the company in China use to motivate their staff?

The company in China uses celebrations and parties to motivate their staff. One of the biggest ones was shown on the show, Chinese New Year’s.

What differences did you notice between the Chinese and the Americans at the meeting in China?

When the Americans went to the factory in China, they were shocked and surprised to see that the Chinese worked longer, got less money, and got maybe two days of vacation each year. Most of the workers had kids, and they didn’t see their kids enough since they were always in the factory.

What differences did you see in the Chinese factory and the US factory?

Some of the things that I saw that were different between the Chinese factory and the US factory were that in the Chinese factory they were much more organized, they didn’t talk while they worked, they had teams, and they worked together to get the job done faster.

What are the differences in the work ethics of each culture?

The differences in the work ethics of each culture are that the Chinese are used to working a lot more for lesser pay and with barely enough days off to be there for their kids.

What did you learn about Chinese team development?

I learned that Chinese team development was that every day they have some sort of roll call where they stand and count the people in their team to make sure everyone was there. They have a whole process that they do every day, and I think it’s good and also very helpful to the workers.

What tactics were used to get unionized?

The tactics that were used to try to get unionized were that the workers were wearing t-shirts that were promoting the vote for a union. They had people outside of the building chanting and singing, and they also had seminars that Fuyao was paying for to convince people not to vote for the union.

What are your thoughts about forming a union?

My thoughts about forming a union are very mixed because the union can be good or bad. It can be good because it helps the workers be heard, it also helps workers keep their jobs, and people can have a safer workplace.

On the other hand, the union can be bad because it can create lazy workers (people who hide behind the union and don’t do their jobs properly). It takes money away from each worker’s paycheck, and the worst thing of all is that the owner of the company can get fed up and move to a different city or state and leave hundreds of people unemployed.

How do you feel about automation?

I feel that automation is good for the company but bad for the people. It benefits the company because the company can get products out faster and would save some money on pay. It is bad for the people because they lose their jobs.

I think that the solution for automation is that people should start learning how to work machines, go to college for technology and engineering, and this way I don’t think they would be affected by automation so badly.

Is there anything else that stuck out to you about the film?

Another thing that stuck out to me from the film is that in China, people are not allowed to have guns. When the Chinese men came to America and saw that one of their coworkers had guns, they took a lot of pictures and had a good time.