The aspect of culture in the human resources management's process within italian diplomatic organizations abroad and the case of the Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing.

Abstract

My thesis starts from an overall framework on diplomacy and its role in today's world. Then goes on giving a full picture of sino-italian diplomatic relations (from the beginning of the normalisation process, that took place soon after 1949, up to nowadays) and focusing on the role of embassies and consulates: they work exactly like companies and diplomats can be compared to managers; they have to be coordinated with all the other Italian diplomatic organizations in the same country (e.g. China) and above all with Farnesina (which is exactly the equivalent of a headquarter). Later on, because of diplomacy’s several shapes (two of them are public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy, which is quite different from cultural relations) I will deepen the subject talking about the importance of cultural integration and the role of integrator in global organizations as well as a brief historical outline of this role and the most well-known pioneers in the relations between Italy and China (Marco Polo, Martino Martini, Matteo Ricci etc...) The second chapter will focus on human resources management in global companies and how, in this case, the practice of HRM is affected by culture (if well managed, differences can lead to a competitive advantage) Then, an analysis on Asian context and, more specifically on Chinese HR practitioners, is necessary. The third chapter will give much importance on the specific case of the Consulate General of Italy, a quite new institution of the Italian diplomatic web abroad, since it was open in 2014. It is located in the south-west of China, an area that has recently started to attract many national and foreign investments because of Xi Jinping’s OBOR strategy (aimed at connecting China with many of Eurasia countries) and where many rich and developed cities are located, like Chengdu and Chongqing (which is expected to reach and overcome cities like Shanghai and Beijing). The role of Italian diplomacy here is important and the management of resources within the Consulate, where I spent 3 months length’ internship and whose dynamics I had the chance to see and experience from the inside, is more decisive than ever. In such a context, where the number of local (Chinese) employees overlap that one of Italians, being the highest among all the other Italian diplomatic organizations (Embassies or Consulates) abroad, the communication between Chinese and Italian employees as well as the management of these two different cultures, is vital.