Doing Business - Foreigners and Chinese

[pikachu]

Hello,

I have a roleplay to invent and write down for friday.

It refers to my business course.

Could anyone help me ?

It must be a dialogue between foreigners and chineses, the topic must be about business, and I have to point out cultural problems like the Guanxi...

Which differences and Dos and Don'ts must I point out absolutely ?

Thanks.

Pikachu

[edit: moved from Randon to Culture, title changed. Roddy]

[Yun Feng]

Hello' date='

I have to point out cultural problems like the Guanxi...

Which differences and Dos and Don'ts must I point out absolutely ?

[/quote']

Hello.

Perhaps the following URL can provide some useful information for part of your task.

http://workingknowledge.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=3714&t=globalization

Yun Feng

[Guest Anonymous]

I never understood why foreigners believe guanxi is a strictly Chinese issue. When you apply for a job or try to make a deal in any country, wouldn't having connection benefit you? Anyway, it's just something I never truly understood.

One thing I believe might help is that whenever you hand and receive something, it's polite to use both hands. This is a ritual that derived from Confucism.

[woodcutter]

Right on Kulong. The same applies regarding many other issues.

When explaining the behaviour of the Chinese, we consult a Chinese cultural expert.

When explaining the behaviour of westerners, we consult a psychiatrist!

[Zingaro]

I don't know that "guanxi" is viewed in the West as a strictly Chinese issue. It's just that there's a variation on that theme in the West, and so isn't usually recognized for what it truly is.

Whereas Chinese custom is to use an intermediary, Western custom is to build a network. The end result is still very much the same, but the process is different.

For example, I am a writer by profession. I have found in my career that my friends/personal acquaintances/network have been far more valuable to me than any professional agent (intermediary). This is true at most levels of American business culture, from college/university on up.

The question is how to trust a stranger with your business (or personal) matters. The solution in China is an intermediary. The solution in the West is a network of connections - who actually function as intermediaries in many regards.

[woodcutter]

What makes you think that an "intermediary" is all important in China? Guanxi revolves around being the friend or relative of the person with the power to distribute the goodies, same as anywhere. Friend of a friend, or relative of a friend, will do at a push. The Chinese merely feel this state of affairs is only to be expected, and have widely understood codes of action and reciprocation, while we in the west like to make a song and dance about being egalitarian, while actually practising a good deal of nepotism and jobs-for-the-boys.

[xuechengfeng]

What makes you think that an "intermediary" is all important in China? Guanxi revolves around being the friend or relative of the person with the power to distribute the goodies, same as anywhere. Friend of a friend, or relative of a friend, will do at a push. The Chinese merely feel this state of affairs is only to be expected, and have widely understood codes of action and reciprocation, while we in the west like to make a song and dance about being egalitarian, while actually practising a good deal of nepotism and jobs-for-the-boys.

Thank you for the dose of reality. It seems to me that every book I read on the subject seems to make it out like it is a strictly Chinese custom, and there isn't a "good ol' boys" network in the West, which is obviously not the case.