Abstract This study investigated the roles played by the “new generation” of Chinese managers in foreign investment enterprises during their organizational change. The importance of this study lied in the focus on the behavior and thinking of the above Chinese managers who play a unique role in building a distinctive corporate culture and the core values that strike a balance between China's culture & value system and that of the West, promoting internal communication between expatriate managers and local Chinese managers, and establishing China-wide policies on recruitment, compensation, training, and development for HR. A multi-cases study approach was deployed with a primarily in-depth, semi-structured ethnographic interview technique, supported by documentary analysis and other forms of publications in both the Chinese and English languages. The results of the study produced this profile of these “new generation” Chinese managers; a group of business professionals whose value and cultural orientation combined individualistic tendency and traditional Chinese culture. The role they played could be classified into three categories: 1)an agent of change who is also a conflict solver between foreigners and “old generation” Chinese in the area in the areas of cross-cultural management 2) a follower of change who listens to change in policy and implements new strategies, and 3) an anti-change agent who advises those making changes and defends personal and company interests. Besides the above profile this study includes research on 6 factors that influenced the forming of this profile of a “new generation” Chinese manager. They are: 1) the type of foreign investment enterprise (FIE), whether joint-venture or wholly foreign owned, 2) the nationality of foreign investors, 3) the degree to which Chinese managers were grafted into the company and bought into the changes made during organizational change, 4) the degree to which factionalism within the company impacted the managers, 6) inter-personal relationships between these Chinese “new generation” managers and foreign expatriates, and 7) gender differences. The overall findings suggested that in order for these managers to achieve a more successful and active role in foreign companies, a way must be found to link their long-term self-development goals with the organizational changes.