Por Antonio Fonduca

Um dos erros os mais ordinários que Westerners tende a fazer na interação com o chinês é não preparar bastantes antes de o tempo. Este é um erro fatal, porque a preparação completa é chave. No possua muito palavras do sol Tzu:

“Os guerreiros Victorious ganham primeiramente e vão então guerrear, quando os guerreiros derrotados forem guerrear primeiramente e procurar então ganhar”

É completamente básico realmente, contudo assim fácil negligenciar. Para suceder em suas relações de negócio com o chinês é paramount aprender as forças e as tradições cultural antigas que afetaram a mente chinesa para milhares dos anos, e ainda hoje. No fato, há uma necessidade emergent, no general, para uma compreensão desenvolvida de interações intercultural no mundo dinâmico de hoje. Nós requeremos ferramentas reduzir aberturas cultural e realçar nossa compreensão para se.

Para evitar pitfalls mundane, nós necessitamos:

- Compreenda a língua silenciosa
- Aprenda como interpretar meanings escondidos
- Identifique as réguas escondidas do jogo

Porque a maioria de leitores são já completamente familiares com os temas comuns, como: a cara, o guanxi e o reciprocity, meramente um recap curto seguem:

1. Para cultivar a confiança, é da essência para nourish relacionamentos pessoais com o chinês.
2. Como um Westerner, você necessita começar no laço. E uma vez lá, você remanesce lá dando a cara e nurturing benefícios mútuos a longo prazo.
3. Muito o começo do relacionamento é particularmente importante. Pise com cuidado, e seja paciente ganhar a confiança e impulsionar o guanxi.
4. Renuncíe com um exemplo bom e o chinês reciprocate. Os favores da elasticidade cedo sobre e o chinês sentirão obrigados retornar o gesto.

Preparation comes in many forms. One of the best and most interesting ways of learning is through storytelling. Certainly, to learn from others mistakes and be inspired from other’s successes may be among the most effective ways to learn, next to having to go through the experiences ourselves. Therefore, I am going to share a couple of stories from interviews that I have conducted with senior Western executives with vast experiences in Chinese-Western business relations.

This first story sheds some light on differences in Western vs. Chinese viewpoints when it comes to legal agreements.

Some time ago my former boss told me I was lucky. I was set for the first year because he had already signed five contracts for five new stores. Then I started talking to one of our Chinese partners who had signed those contracts, and nothing seemed to be happening. Finally, my assistant told me, “Just because he signed a six-year contract two years ago with your former boss – a person who is not you – does not necessarily imply that he will respect the contract.” That was a big shock to me since the contract was notarized and everything. But we started to re-negotiate, article by article. Five years later, during the Asian crisis, I invited this same partner to my office and said, “Just because I signed a contract with you does not mean I will respect it. We are in a crisis.” He answered, “Fine” and we started to re-negotiate.

What can we learn from this experience? In short:

- Quid pro quo
- Reciprocity goes both ways
- Adapt to the system rather than resisting it
- See opportunities, instead of difficulties

Beware that legal contracts can mean less than a handshake to the Chinese. China is a low trust society, and the Chinese have historically had little faith even in their own government. Rather than relying on legal documents, they trust the person behind the contract, i.e. the relationship. Consider this other story on the same topic:

The difference in contract agreements is that our European and American suppliers always have long contract negotiations, where lawyers are involved and much emphasis is placed on the composition of the contracts. Only in China do we get the original back signed. They can actually take the bunch of contract, spread it out like a fan and then take one big red stamp over that, which leaves a small part of the stamp on every page.

Undoubtedly, Westerners and Chinese have different views on legal agreements. We also have different ways of expressing our respect and discontent. Misunderstandings are common. By being sensible and open minded, however, we can learn, adapt to and exploit these discrepancies to our advantage.

Indeed, understanding the silent language and identifying the hidden rules constitute huge advantages normally exclusive for insiders, but also available to sensible Westerners. As you commence to understand the underlying forces – the cultural values and the traditions – you will appreciate how to effectively interact with the Chinese.