Concepto de Autodeterminación

Since 1978 China has been moving from a centrally planned to a market oriented economy. In 1994 the Company Law was promulgated in China, which permitted state owned enterprises to be

corporatised. The result for the managing cadres was often immediate wealth and a growing interest in entrepreneurial activities and capitalism. While businesses still operate within a rigid framework of strict socialist control, ―the economic influence of non-state managers and enterprises has been steadily increasing‖ (AustCham Beijing 2007c). Moreover, their influence in hiring and firing and the

103

associated need for the skills and processes of Human Resource Management has increased. The chapter will now examine the general skill situation in China and the educational requirements of one professional organisation of accountants.

4.4.1 Workforce needs

There is an historical context to the large surplus of labour with an unbalanced skills profile in China. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the workforce can be divided into three levels and three stages of development. At the lower level are operators, the middle level are highly skilled workers, and the upper level is management. In the early development stage, the workforce comprised mainly lower level workers. In the second and third stages because of the shortage of highly skilled workers the emphasis has been on fostering their development. ―A sample survey in 2002 found that 54.6 per cent of the workforce was either unskilled or low-skill workers; only 4.4 per cent were seen as highly skilled workers. Upper management accounted for 15.9 per cent, showing that the workforce needed more highly skilled workers‖ (MLSS & ILO 2004, p. 29).

Hence the Ministry of Labour and Social Security planned to nurture the development of 300,000 highly skilled workers over the following three years. The approach was to involve all stakeholders; enterprises had a major role to play in training workers, and closer links between enterprises and technical and vocational training schools were to be forged to ensure that industry needs were incorporated into training programs.

Several other measures designed to promote the development of highly skilled workers included organizing skills competitions to promote the value and status of skilled workers; improving the national qualifications system to recognize and certify skills; establishing a mechanism to facilitate the exchange of skilled workers to gain experience; and promoting greater investment in training (MLSS & ILO 2004, p. 29).

The relevance of this plan is its clarification that businesses and vocational training schools had a responsibility to work together, but it does not mention employability issues for university graduates.

Whereas expatriate Chinese managers and technicians have benefited from the employment opportunities created by FOEs (Ying, Webber & Wang 2002, p. 97), the benefit for university graduates is unknown. Unlike SOEs, FOEs recruit directly using public advertising, introductions from employment agents, local labour bureaus, individuals who are already working in FOEs and ‗intellectual exchange centres‘ which are employment agencies for professional workers (Ying, Webber & Wang 2002, p. 98). These methods require applicants to differentiate themselves; knowing how to connect their skills to the particular business needs and culture could be an advantage. In 1999

104

national employment in FOEs as a proportion of total employment was relatively small compared with employment in SOEs and collective-owned enterprises, but this has been changing. At that time, employees in FOEs were often younger, more educated and earned more than those in SOEs where non-wage benefits could comprise much of the income. Employees tended to stay within SOEs, but movement of employees, usually between FOEs, was higher.

4.4.2 Skills professional bodies require

There are many professional bodies in China, but for the purposes of this study which examines graduates with Business degrees a number of whom will specialise in Accounting, the Chinese Institute for Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) will be examined. CICPA is affiliated with the International Federation of Accountants(IFAC). In 2003 there were 67,000 practicing CPAs and over 70,000 non-practicing CPAs in China. At that time, the CPA program was available in 22 colleges and universities (Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2006) and while it is growing, it is one measure of the traditional separation between education and business organisations.

The CICPA charter (2004, p. 1) promotes behaviours such as ―the construction of professional credibility and integrity‖, a professional image that is ―independent, objective and impartial‖ and a goal to ―safeguard the public interests conscientiously, and strive to make due contribution to the accomplishment of the grand objectives of establishing [an] improved socialist market economic system and achieving the overall construction of a well-off society‖. Furthermore, its ‗30 Guiding Opinions‘ (China Law & Practice 2002) suggest ways of developing the profession, including

supporting higher education through financial assistance and benchmarking/evaluation. CICPA urges colleges and universities offering the CPA program to improve their teaching quality through

incentives, competition and the annual selection of outstanding students from the CPA program for internship in overseas international accounting firms. These are students who both perform well academically and enjoy ‗moral integrity‘22

. Finally, CICPA supplies students from the CPA program to local large and medium-sized accounting firms for internships and facilitates students joining the CPA profession (CICPA 2006.)

Relevant to this research has been the CPA competency framework to guide ‗talent cultivation‘. This links to the ―30 Guiding Opinions‖ to cultivate professional talents, knowledge, expertise, attitudes and ethics that would meet the needs of the reformed SOEs in the context of globalisation. The document serves to guide CPA education, examination and training. CICPA (2006, p. 1) asserts that:

105

efforts will be made to upgrade professional quality, practicing capability and professional ethics of the practicing CPAs and develop high-profile professional talents and managers of accounting firms that are competent for international engagements and capable of meeting requirements of the internationalization of the profession.

IFAC documents have possible implications for higher education curricula that could be customised and localised for different contexts. The IFAC Education Committee discussion paper (International Federation of Accountants 1998) clearly views practical professional experience and education as vital in the context of globalisation of businesses, enhanced reliance on new information technologies and the expansion of services accountants. It recognises that member bodies may have different approaches, that explicit and relevant guidance can improve practical experience for employers and students; that practical experience environments need to be assessed for suitability; and finally that the experience gained by students should be assessed. A later paper on what it means to be a competent accountant (International Federation of Accountants 2003, p. 13) defined competence in terms of workplace outcomes (which can be quite specific) and transferable capabilities (which tend to be more general). Capabilities may be categorised in various ways. IFAC‘s International Education Guideline (IEG) 9 used six categories (see Table 22) (IFAC 2003, p.3):

Table 15 Categorisation of capabilities according to IFAC’s International Education Guideline 9

Attitudes functional skills behavioral skills technical knowledge broad business perspective intellectual abilities

These are expanded under the headings of knowledge, skills and professional values in IFAC‘s Appendix 6 (2003, p. 43) as shown in Table 23.

Table 16 Details and examples of IFAC's Capability categories

Appendix 6. Categories of Capabilities

IEG 9 refers to capabilities as ―knowledge, skills and professional values.‖ Most of the capabilities identified in the documentation reviewed for this Discussion Paper can be summarized as follows: Knowledge

General knowledge, for example history, arts and science.

Organizational and business knowledge, for example economics, management and quantitative methods.

Information technology.

Accounting and accounting related knowledge, for example financial accounting, auditing, taxation and so on.

Skills

Analytical and constructive cognitive skills, for example, accessing knowledge, understanding, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. These refer to the skills in Bloom‘s taxonomy, which are necessary for problem and task identification, information gathering and organization, analysis and interpretation (including critical, logical and independent thinking and judgment/decision

106 making).

Technical skills, including generic skill such as literacy, numeracy and IT proficiency, as well as skills specific to accounting tasks.

Personal skills, for example initiative, influence and self-learning.

Interpersonal skills, for example oral and written communication, negotiation, leadership, team work and political acumen.

Organizational skills, for example strategic planning, project management, self-management and management of people and resources.

Professional Values

Ethical behavior, for example independence, objectivity, confidentiality and integrity.

Professional demeanor, for example due care, timeliness, courteousness, respect, responsibility and reliability.

Pursuit of excellence, for example commitment to continuous improvement and commitment to life- long learning.

Social responsibility, for example awareness and consideration of the public interest.

It was noted that member bodies may want to augment these with items of their own choosing such as analytical skills, problem solving skills, information technology skills, personal skills, interpersonal and communication skills, working with others and improving own learning and performance, leadership, business planning and organizational skills. For example, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has a framework of three core competencies for entry into the accounting profession:

Functional Competencies which are Decision Modelling,Risk Analysis, Measurement, Reporting, Research, Leverage Technology to Develop and Enhance Functional

Competencies.

Broad Business Perspective Competencies: Strategic/Critical Thinking, Industry/Sector Perspective, International/Global Perspective, Resource Management, Legal/Regulatory Perspective, Marketing/Client Focus, Leverage Technology to Develop and Enhance a Broad- based Business Perspective.

Personal Competencies: Professional Demeanour, Problem Solving and Decision Making, Interaction, Leadership, Communication, Project Management, Leverage Technology to Develop and Enhance Personal Competencies (IFAC 2003, p. 37)

In addition to the IEGs there are International Education Standards (IES) developed and promoted by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Their purpose according to Needles (2005) is to facilitate the globalisation of the accounting profession through a quality assured and consistent framework in global accounting education. IFAC supports professional accounting education programmes that cover advanced accounting knowledge, the complex and changing context and technological developments. The IES skills are IES 1: Entry Requirements to a Programme of Professional Accounting Education, IES 2: Content of Professional Accounting Education

Programmes, IES 3: Professional Skills, IES 4: Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes, IES 5: Practical Experience Requirements, IES 6: Assessment of Professional Capabilities and Competence. IES 3 recognises that while many capabilities are transferable across environments differences emerge in cultures, social expectations and national legislations (Needles 2005, p. 126). IES 6 has a very traditional focus especially in developing countries which often use standardised examinations, and there has been some discussion about broadening the range of competences assessed.

107

It is therefore apparent that professional capabilities are well documented in the accounting profession and the national professional bodies work with tertiary institutions to ensure courses prepare graduates to be work-ready. While the International Federation of Accountants is very active, CICPA is also increasingly active in Chinese tertiary institutions and demonstrates that in one profession Chinese tertiary curricula and business organisations are building links.