Door Anyialsup

De verandering en de vooruitgang in China zijn astronomisch zelfs aan een Chinese inwoner als zelf. Telkens als ik aan bezoek terugga, moet ik vragen of ben ik nog in de steden dat ik met vertrouwd was. Met het doel om uiteindelijk aan China terug te gaan om mijn carrière te ontwikkelen, geloof ik het lonend is om sommige gemeenschappelijke bedrijfspraktijken en het onderstrepen van culturele normen in China van het standpunt van een buitenstaander opnieuw te bezoeken.

Guanxi en Mianzi - Belangrijke culturele concepten
Het gedrag van Chinese mensen en organisaties wordt nog grotendeels geregeerd door Confucianisme. Voor buitenlandse zaken om in China te slagen, is het belangrijk om twee zeer belangrijke sociale concepten te begrijpen die worden afgeleid uit Confucianisme - Guanxi (verbindingen) en Mianzi (gezicht).

Guanxi is een centraal concept in de Chinese maatschappij. Letterlijk, betekent `Guan' poort, barrière, betekent `xi' verbinding of band; zo betekent het woord verbindingen, verhouding, of voorzien van een netwerk. Dit woord wordt dat wijder in plaats van „verbindingen“ en „verhoudingen“ wordt gebruikt - aangezien geen van beiden van die termijnen voldoende van de brede culturele implicaties een weerspiegeling vormen die guanxi beschrijft. In wezen, beschrijft guanxi `' de verbinding of het verband tussen om het even welke twee mensen die verbonden zijn omdat men een gunst voor andere heeft gedaan, zou en andere moeten de gunst in de toekomst ooit terugkeren.

Het is natuurlijk dat er guanxi tussen verwanten, oude klasgenoten, medewerkers, bedrijfspartners, of om het even welke oude kennissen bestaat. In kenmerken, is Guanxi persoonlijk en cultiveert die door tijd, en gewoonlijk wordt het gebouwd op vertrouwen, niettemin niet sentimentality. Chinese tend to consciously build a guanxi network around them (Wang, 2005).

Guanxi is a critical means of entering into business in China. It is so pervasive in the Chinese business world that any business, local or foreign, inevitably faces guanxi dynamics. While Western businesspeople are pressured to keep their personal and professional lives separate, the lines between family, friends, and work are far blurrier in China. Guanxi is not inherently unethical though many corruptions do arise from such social phenomenon. When applied properly, guanxi helps business partners develop deeper and closer relationships than is standard in the West (Fernandez and Underwood, 2005, p22). Mianzi literally means face, and symbolizes a person’s esteem and honor.

Confucianism defines Chinese social behavior protocol. It stresses the social order through one’s proper behavior based upon his/her social status and relationship with others. Whenever a person does not conform with such social codes, or, does not acknowledge the other’s social status or reputation, it said one causes the other to lose face. “Giving” face is an act of honoring such social codes.

Losing or giving face is external and perceived according to social codes by others. It is important for Chinese to give face, especially in a public setting. When an act is perceived by the other and bystanders as losing face, it is very difficult to compensate or re-conciliate. Losing face one time can mean losing business with that client or contact forever.

Choice of Location
China does not have a homogeneous market; rather it is collection of many local markets. Each region in China is greatly different in local culture, economic development level, business practice and local government regulations (McGregor, 2005). Often a favorite product in one city is not necessarily a choice in another city. For example, Qingdao beer is a Chinese brand that sells all over the world and a favorite in Shandong province; but, in Beijing, the favorite beer is Yanjing beer, a local brand.

Among more than 300 cities, a majority of the foreign enterprises operate mainly in first tier cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. These cities have well developed infrastructures for business; better developed rules and regulations; more efficient city government; a bigger talent pool and higher standard of living. The down side is the cost of doing business is also high and markets are saturating.

More foreign enterprises are looking to move into the second tire cities – Chengdu, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdo, Shangyang and Chongqing (Marshall & Heffes, 2006). These cities are striving to develop their economic magnitude and eager to attract foreign investment. The downside is that they still lag quite far behind the first tier cities in business development and market sophistication. For foreign businesses, it takes more effort and patience to go through hurdles in government bureaucracy and deal with the lack of skilled managerial talent for hire.

The remaining Chinese cities are largely untouched by foreign businesses with the exception of a few multinational enterprises such as McDonald’s, KFC, WalMart and French retail giant Carrefour. Because of such vast differences, it is crucial to find a local partner originating from the city of choice. For instance, it is usually not a successful formula to have a Shanghaiing as a partner to work out a business deal in Beijing, and vice verso.

Negotiation of business
The concepts of guanxi and mianzi indicate that a majority of human interactions are personal based. Chinese generally don’t like to do business with strangers, but they will, if there is a guanxi person acting as a go-between. To have a business deal, most Chinese would like to take time to find out the human side of foreign business people. What sort of person you are is more important than what you do. A good deal of time is spent exploring your character. They want to know your background, your family situation, your likes and dislikes. This is a relationship and trust building process. To have help from a guanxi person (local partner) will move the process forward more smoothly.

Most of the getting to know each other process involves banquet and entertainment (Karaoke) and small talk. Until the local business decides that you are trustworthy and fit to work with, no formal, serious negotiation will happen. Therefore, patience is really a virtue in dealing with Chinese partners. One of the biggest mistakes Western companies make is to consider only China’s low costs of doing business, while underestimating the high transaction costs that comes with a business climate based on relationships and reputation (Loyalka, 2006).

As for formal meetings, being on time and dressing properly is important. It shows respect and seriousness to your business partner. During the meeting, Chinese tend to avoid saying no because they do not want to make you lose face. This can cause confusion and misunderstanding at times, so when you phrase questions, try not to ask questions that have to be answered yes or no; instead ask how or when they do certain things. Try to have a clear organizational hierarchy of the Chinese business; for lower level staff will always defer to their superior and an agreement with a subordinate can be easily denied by the superior. Present your plan in a clear and abbreviated form and get it translated into Chinese. If your Chinese partner is committed to a deal, many technical and practical details can be worked out at a later time.

The commitment to a business deal is far more important than a contract. Signing a contract is just an intention of the commitment. Many contractual details have to be reviewed and negotiated afterwards. Because law and regulations are in development and subject to change in China, a contract can sometimes be difficult to reinforce when economic situations change or government interference arise(Child, 2006). Therefore, to have good government “guanxi” to solve contractual disputes or government interference can be very beneficial.

Anyialsup, aalsup.spaces.live.com