The Boston College Center for Work & Family (CWF) is pleased to announce the release of a new paper in our Executive Briefing Series entitled Work-Life in China. The Executive Briefing Series highlights research findings, data trends, and best practices in a concise format, aiming to foster action-oriented dialogue in organizations. Work-Life in China is the first in a new series of briefings on emerging markets, sponsored by CWF Global Workforce Roundtable member Johnson & Johnson. Upcoming briefings in this series will focus on India, Brazil, and Russia.

Work-Life in China explores the demographic trends and cultural values prevalent in China that impact the nature of work and the employer-employee relationship. China continues to be a major focus of the global economy. Global companies operating in China need to understand the economic, employment, social, and cultural contexts of China and, in order to meet the needs of their workforce, the impact they have on the dynamics between work and personal lives. This briefing, condensed from the policy paper Work and Life in China (Center for Work & Family, 2008), explores these contexts.

The briefing features best practices from leading organizations, including Dow Chemical Company, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Kraft Foods, Merck & Co., Royal Dutch Shell and State Street Corporation, providing insight into strategic issues that organizations need to consider when working in China or in partnership with Chinese companies.

The Executive Briefing is free and available to the public. A hard copy may be obtained by contacting cwf@bc.edu or 617-552-2869. The briefing is also available in pdf at the Center for Work & Family publications website. Past editions of the Executive Briefing Series are also available on the website including: Building the Business Case for Work-Life Programs, The Multi-Generational Workforce, Creating a Culture of Flexibility and Managing Workload.