Diversity
The opportunities offered by international collaboration
Bringing together KWS’ growing diversity under a common umbrella, respecting and understanding different cultures and perspectives, and leveraging the potential of diversity to the full – that’s a challenge, yet also a great opportunity. And that’s particularly true for a European company like KWS that also aims to be successful in China.
Janina Koger spent one-and-a-half years in China up to the beginning of 2020 and experienced the spirit of curiosity, openness and respect among colleagues at first hand
KWS owes its growth and success over the past years to its many international teams and successful teamwork across borders. Our colleagues in China also contribute to KWS’ excellent results thanks to that. As at many other KWS locations, the work of our teams in China involves intercultural collaboration in diverse ways: at the company, department or project level.
That can be extremely exciting, but also challenging – especially when different cultural, social and economic “worlds” are represented in one team. Openness, understanding and sensitivity, as well as a curiosity to learn more about other cultures, are vital to prevent misunderstandings. For example, it is felt to be insulting in China if someone raises a problem or gives negative feedback in a very direct manner – while reticent communication may be wrongly interpreted as a sign of weakness in other cultures.
So what is the best way for cultures to work together? The secret of success is summed up by KWS’ ethos: respect, support & prosper. “If a company from the West wants to be successful in China, besides setting up a strong local organization, it has to invest in people who have a global mindset,” says Gyula Szelle, head of KWS’ corn and oil crop business in China. “In particular international colleagues who decide to work in China, as well as colleagues who cooperate in joint projects in international teams, must be dedicated to spending substantial time and effort on understanding how differently (and yet often similarly) China works compared to the West.”
Our colleagues from the KWS breeding team with Chinese breeders in Xinjiang in 2019
The next challenge Gyula Szelle names is to blend these cultural differences together to build up a unique, mixed company culture. “That brings together the strengths of the local and international teams and managers and makes a key contribution to our success.”
That requires good relationship management, explains Gyula Szelle: “Business and private relationships in China have practically no boundaries (unlike in the West). Finding the right balance is not so easy for a foreigner.”
Curiosity, openness and respect
Marketing Expert Janina Koger was in China until January 2020 and formed a bridge between KWS’ headquarters in Einbeck and Beijing for one-and-a-half years. She describes what makes working together in a team in China so special: “Curiosity and openness combined with respectful interaction. Then you can also make mistakes. This is how both sides can learn from each other and achieve the best possible results together. Only together can we grow in a market like China.”
HR team lead Heidy adds: “And in our joint venture Kenfeng-KWS, this cooperation at as equals begins at the company level: Kenfeng, as a state-owned Chinese company, and KWS have already been cooperating very successfully for more than 40 years. This cooperation is also based on respect and treating each other as equals, so that both companies can learn and benefit from each other and ultimately grow together.”
These examples show just how much our Chinese and international colleagues are interconnected within the KWS world
The local breeding team in China, for example, works closely with international project managers from Germany and France to develop new corn varieties for Chinese farmers and to further advance our business there. On the other end of the value chain our sales colleagues in the joint venture are cooperating closely with Kenfeng’s sales team to bring our products to the end customers.
Many more examples could be named. They show that different cultures harmonize very well in teams – “respect, support & prosper” makes it possible! |
INFORMATION
KWS in China
KWS has operated in the Chinese market for more than 40 years. KWS’ office is based in Beijing. It is responsible for administration and corn licensing business, and is home to colleagues from the Business Unit Sugarbeet team. KWS has been the market leader in sugarbeet seed business in China for many years.
Our success in China is attributable in particular to trusted cooperation with dependable business partners with whom we have a long working relationship. In our Corn Segment, collaboration with the state-owned Chinese seed producer Kenfeng led to establishment of the joint venture Kenfeng-KWS.
In addition to KWS’ office and the joint venture’s office in Beijing, there are four locations that are dotted around China and where research and development is carried out. |
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
