Chinese companies going overseas are not only facing external international political turmoil but also the comprehensive technological reforms of the AI+ era internally, making overseas expansion far more difficult than for international competitors.
In Mexico, the salary of an HRBP is much higher than other positions. While the average salary for an AI architecture engineer is only 20,000 yuan, the HRBP’s salary is also 20,000 yuan per month, which illustrates the importance and difficulty of human resource management in Latin America far exceeds that in China.
"We Brazilians can't even manage local employees well, let alone foreigners."
— Interview response from a local Brazilian business owner
Amazon = "other people’s child"
In interviews with several Chinese overseas business owners, we found that they often use foreign companies, particularly global giants like Amazon, as reference models. By analyzing Amazon’s organizational structure in-depth, we can better understand the core differences in global expansion between Chinese companies and Amazon. Amazon strategically distributes its core functional departments, concentrating them at its U.S. headquarters while placing departments related to market entry, sales, supply chain management, and community relations in external countries. This global layout may not be suitable for Chinese companies.
U.S. command center = core "technical" competitiveness
First, Amazon’s departments such as human resources, technical support, financial management, legal affairs, film and device research and development, advertising and media, and security management are primarily managed from the U.S. headquarters. This centralized management ensures the consistency, efficiency, and compliance of global operations.
For example, the central management of the human resources and technical support departments helps promote unified management standards and corporate culture. Centralized financial management ensures global financial consistency and legal compliance. Centralized legal affairs management can better coordinate global legal policies and reduce legal risks. Concentrating the film and device research and development departments in the U.S. helps maintain technological leadership and innovation. Centralized advertising and media strategy management ensures consistency in the global brand image. Centralized security management guarantees the security of global data and systems.
Global deployment = fast response sites
On the other hand, Amazon places global Amazon stores, communications and community impact, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) departments in external countries. This distribution strategy allows Amazon to better adapt to local market demands, enhancing market response speed and customer satisfaction. The local teams of global Amazon stores can adjust sales strategies and supply chain management according to the different market environments and consumer demands of each country, ensuring the localization and adaptability of products and services.
The localized communications and community impact teams can better handle public relations and brand management, enhancing the brand's global influence and acceptance. AWS, through the deployment of localized technical teams worldwide, ensures that customers in different regions can enjoy efficient, low-latency cloud computing services, maintaining a competitive edge in various markets.
Amazon Sphere. Source: Sean Airhart
By centralizing core management functions at its U.S. headquarters, Amazon ensures the consistency of its global strategy and the maintenance of its core competitiveness. At the same time, by distributing departments related to market entry and localization globally, Amazon can respond quickly to market changes, enhancing business flexibility and customer satisfaction worldwide. This combination of globalization and localization has allowed Amazon to maintain its leading position in the global market.
"Chinese essence, Western methods" won’t work: Copying a model requires understanding the problem first
However, the challenges faced by Chinese companies in global expansion differ from those of Amazon. Chinese companies going overseas are not all technology companies, and their business types and market positioning are more diverse. Additionally, due to data security and international political factors, Chinese companies may need to set up R&D centers and other core functional departments overseas instead of concentrating them in China. This choice is not only to comply with local market laws and regulations but also to mitigate risks globally and protect data security.
We are different: "Fast response sites" need command capabilities
When entering certain countries, Chinese companies may be required to establish data centers or R&D institutions locally due to strict data storage and processing requirements. Doing so ensures compliance with local laws and regulations, improves responsiveness to local market needs, and strengthens competitiveness. Moreover, due to the complexity of international political relations, some Chinese companies may consider setting up R&D centers in regions with lower political risks to ensure business continuity and security.
TikTok’s Hamar Data Center in Norway, part of the "Project Clover" plan.
Image source: Green Mountain
At the same time, there is a fundamental difference between the overseas expansion of Chinese companies and Western companies. This is not only reflected in the rapid iteration of technology but also in the way cultural dissemination is carried out. Western companies often promote their culture and business models in the global market through more direct, sometimes even aggressive methods, while Chinese culture emphasizes the balance of yin and yang, harmony, and finding the optimal balance between technological and market expansion, rather than simply expanding or suppressing.
Therefore, in the process of overseas expansion, Chinese companies are more inclined to combine their technological advantages with global market demands in a gentle manner, while respecting and adapting to the local cultural context.
We are different: Competing for overseas markets while facing the new generation of the industrial revolution
By comparing the global organizational structures of Amazon and Chinese companies, we can clearly see the significant differences in strategic layouts. Amazon’s centralized management model is undoubtedly well-suited for its global operations as a technology company, ensuring high consistency in technological innovation and risk control. However, for Chinese companies, simply copying this model would be tantamount to self-restriction, potentially leading to failure.
The challenges faced by Chinese companies in overseas expansion are more diverse and complex. Changing market demands, vast cultural differences, and specific data security requirements all dictate that they must adopt more flexible and adaptive organizational structures. If Chinese companies merely imitate the