由威廉R。 Dodson

“愚笨。 您是愚笨的!” 我的中国朋友指责了我。 我未感到我该当了那恶习。 我在汉语语言谈判了一种交易，并且认为我会得到一个相当好成交。 我的朋友在告诉坚持了我“愚笨”，因为我在北京可能接受了物品为十价格。 我是在垂悬电话附近在我的朋友在愤怒。 朋友，混淆，呼喊， “等待一分钟! 等待一分钟! 我认为我犯了一个错误! 用中文我们对亲密的朋友说“shah”。 它意味愚蠢，愚笨。 我认为我使用了错误英国词”。 我立刻变了冷静，一旦我了解阻拦了我们的通信-和友谊的文化和语言障碍。

一个原因中国手段到沈默在西部公司中是对给进攻的恐惧。 语言或文化失态是巨大丢脸为中国报告人和-中国人感觉-为西部听众。 因为我们在竹天花板系列的另一个部分谈论了，面孔比金钱有时重要对中国人。 汉语将 费劲保护其他的面孔和尽量保存他们自己。

The Chinese owner of an accountancy in America knew one of her Chinese employees wanted to work for an American company with American managers. The owner advised the employee that she should “master at least the most basic business vocabulary: words like file, folder, and staples” before she works for American managers. “Americans will think you’re stupid,” the owner continued, “if you can’t say these basic things. Or, if you must be given direction or instruction more than a couple times because of language, then Americans will also think you’re stupid.” (I knew she didn’t mean the shah kind of stupid).

“The secret then,” the accountancy owner counseled the Chinese employee, “is to learn your job the best you can, do the best job you can, speak the least you can; then leave the company with the knowledge.”

Western managers base a substantial portion of performance reviews, salaries and bonuses on the degree to which they perceive an employee is visibly, vocally struggling to overcome the challenges of the business. Chinese employees compensation suffers as a result of simply not knowing how to present themselves to employers. The Chinese bank employee explained, “If a Western manager asks a Western employee to do something new, the Westerner will likely answer, ‘No problem,’ and begin work on the issue immediately. A Chinese employee will likely say, ‘I’ll try the best; but I will need some practice,’” which is considered an admirable response of modesty in Chinese society. This sounds like an inadequate response of disinterest to a Western manager, who expects %110 employee investment at all times.

The Western manager’s view of the Chinese employee is further dimmed by the lack of conversation or banter the Chinese makes with the manager. Friendly banter about sports or the family or the household renovation are important to Western managers, who gauge the degree to which an employee fits into the group in this way. “But if I see the President is busy, how do I bother him? And if he’s not, what do I say? I don’t know his culture. Of course, in China [in a Chinese company] I talked all the time,” the Chinese bank worker explained.

Essentially, Western managers will never be able to empathize with the barriers Chinese employees perceive in Western companies until the managers try to learn about and operate in Chinese modes of perception and communication. When Western managers take even fifteen minutes a day to engage their Chinese staff on some aspect of Chinese culture or language, they will find a garrulous and appreciative staff that will do whatever is required to make the business – and the manager – successful.

William Dodson is Managing Director of Silk Road Advisors, a China Strategic Site Selection consultancy based in Shanghai, Suzhou and Chicago. He can be reached at: contact [at] silkrc [dot] com