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回复： Why is so hard to for majority Chinese companies to take documentation seriously?
Subject:回复： Why is so hard to for majority Chinese companies to take documentation seriously? From:Simon <wingman1985 -at- yahoo -dot- com -dot- cn> To:Peter Neilson <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>, "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 16 Jul 2013 09:05:19 +0800 (CST)
I think you are right. This is more of a culture issue. The usual org chart of almost all Chinese companies put the big boss at the top. No insubordination or resemblance of it is allowed within this kind of structure.
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发件人： Peter Neilson <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
收件人： "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>; Simon <wingman1985 -at- yahoo -dot- com -dot- cn>
发送日期： 2013年7月15日, 星期一, 9:28 下午
主题: Re: Why is so hard to for majority Chinese companies to take documentation seriously?
On Mon, 15 Jul 2013 08:45:55 -0400, Simon <wingman1985 -at- yahoo -dot- com -dot- cn> wrote:
> I contribute my two cents here:
> Most Chinese companies have no proprietary technology. Secondly, most Chinese bosses think business is an art of connection(Guanxi). Good processes and practices come next.
>
> What do you see the reasons? I have been with a local Chinese company for three years and the notion of "documentation" seems to be very disconnected with local staff.
I think that documentation sets up opportunities for discord. If the software is undocumented, then there is a single source for understanding. That source is (of course) the management's view of what the software does, based on the developers' replies to management's questions.
It is not up to the non-management staff to be having discussions with a tech writer (someone outside the control structure) about matters that concern control. The local staff might see independent investigation as outside the plan, and thus a possible threat to management. They would then prefer not to be involved. As I understand it, disagreements are to be handled casually and by suggestion, rather than directly and overtly. In my experience within that culture, the astute person does not say, "No, you are wrong!" Instead it's, "I am thinking that perhaps you might be right."
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