Professor Frank Dikötter

Professor Frank Dikötter of the Department of History was interviewed by The Globe and Mail with regard to the new business practice of a Shanghai office.

In the Shanghai office of China’s biggest builder of homes and condominiums, the boss is no longer “boss.” Employees have instead been told to refer to their superiors by their names, or perhaps their nicknames, as Shanghai Vanke does battle on stifling bureaucracy and stultifying hierarchy...

The idea of striking titles is not new in China, where the lead-up to the Cultural Revolution saw the military under Mao Zedong delete all trappings of hierarchy. In their place was a mandate that everyone in uniform be called “comrade.”

“In June, 1965, all formal saluting, epaulettes, hard-peaked caps, medals, insignia of rank, tailored uniforms for officers and other privileges in the People’s Liberation Army were abolished. From a general all the way down to a soldier, every fighter had to wear a single red star on an identical cap,” said Frank Dikotter, professor at the University of Hong Kong whose books on China include a history of the Cultural Revolution.

But if the idea was to impose egalitarianism, it didn’t work. No one forgot who the generals were. “It’s an extraordinarily hierarchy-conscious society,” Prof. Dikotter said. And by 1968, China had become even more hierarchical than before, effectively transforming into a military dictatorship.

Please click on the following link for the full article:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/in-one-shanghai-office-tearing-down-hierarchy-means-never-saying-boss/article27024090/