Several days ago, a Beijing-based IT company fired about 400 people overnight. No one had expected the job cuts, which broke with traditional ways of letting go of workers in China. Moreover, what was special about this case was that the day before the 400 were fired, they all received from their boss a gift- the book “Who Moved My Cheese?”
The book --- a bestseller in the US --- is being used by men and women to deal with changes in their lives and work. Some large organizations, including Coca-Cola, Kodak and General Motors, ask their employees to read it in order to encourage them to be active towards changes.
Cheese is something related to everyone’s livelihood --- our jobs, the industries we work in, relationships and love as well.
With China’s official entry into the WTO, the whole nation will face more changes and challenges. So what should we do once this “Cheese” on which we are so dependent is moved?
“ Whatever challenges and changes we meet, we should face up to them bravely,” Jiang Hengwei, a civil servant said after reading the book.
Professor Zhang Yang in Renmin University of China agrees. “ We should change our way of thinking. The coming competitive foreign companies and products provide us with great chances to learn from them and improve our own products to meet international standards and be more competitive.”
“With hardwork and wisdom , we will create a much larger and better piece of cheese.” Zhang smiled confidently.