Career Development and Counseling in an International Company in Shanghai

Sammanfattning: The aim of the study is to understand the significance and the impact of the careerdevelopment and counseling with consideration of cultural aspects in an internationalcompany in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China. The aim has been achievedthrough three research questions. What experiences do employees have from careerdevelopment and counseling in an international company in Shanghai? Whatcontributions from the company do employees perceive to be necessary inexperiencing an ongoing upward trend in their career development? What kind ofcultural aspects influence employees’ career development in an internationalcompany? The field study is conducted through the Cultural Intelligence Theory. Aqualitative approach has been used in the study. Six in-depth interviews wereconducted with employees and one in-depth interview with a HR manager in aninternational company in Shanghai.The experiences that the interviewed employees at the international company havehad from career development and counseling, which is defined as a professionalguidance of the individuals and a process of helping an individual discover anddevelop his/her vocational and professional potentialities, are quite positive. Formaintaining constant progress in their career development, employees have suggestedsome practical actions that can be taken by the company. The interviewed employees’viewpoints are that managers in international companies give them freedom ofactions, which leads to more responsibility and creativity, allow them to makemistakes and learn from them, support them in their career development, provideregular feedbacks on their performance.