Newsletter Week 44 |
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Dear Reader, Here is this week’s edition, covering:- China lesson Six: It’s about time - Language, culture & communication - The China talent paradox conclusion - The secret weapon of the Chinese BPO industry We hope you will enjoy reading this edition. Have a nice weekend! All of us at China Success Stories China Expert Guest Blog China lesson six: It’s about time  The Chinese have an expansive view of time, seeing themselves as part of the continuum of history with less emphasis on the present. It is only through the passing of time that an individual or business can prove trustworthy. Hence the importance and patience of guanxi. They certainly plan, but it is for the long term. Most Western business people can only see as far as this quarter’s financial results. The Chinese businessperson is always looking much farther down the road. They look for a long-term, mutual benefit, win/win relationship. Westerners — with our day-timers, PDAs, BlackBerrys, to-do lists, and tight scheduling — are often angered and frustrated by their attitude, perception and indifference to “our” time. Our time is linear. Past, Present. Future. To the Chinese time is circular. When your culture is 5,000 years old, what’s the hurry? Everything at the right time. When I arrived in China, I was so frustrated with their tardiness. They were always late for appointments. Sometimes they... Read the rest or post a comment >> China Expert Guest Blog Language, Culture & Communication  A company is just a big team, (team defined as “two or more people working together in a common way for a common goal”). Critical for success are reasoned discussions towards mutually-acceptable solutions and frank exchanges of opinions and disagreements. All types of teams, sports, business or marriage, are only as strong as the ability of team members to cooperate and work together. Teams fail without good communication.People with experience in alien cultures, through travel or work, know that different cultures do things in different ways. Common examples are giving gifts, who sits where at dinner, and the way cultures use language to communicate. “Use language” does not mean grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary. These are just language skills. Of course a certain level of language skills-in-common are necessary for cross-cultural communication, but language skills are just a beginning, not an end. Maybe the best way to explain is to use a situation most people are familiar with: husband-wife communication. In my case though, it’s not just a... Read the rest or post a comment >> Facts & Figures Newspapers You never know when these statistics might prove to be of value to you. So without further ado, here's our weekly top 10. Top 10 Newspapers with the largest circulation
(Source: World Association of Newspapers) China Expert Guest Blog The China talent paradox conclusion  China lacks a well-established talent pool of mid and top-level leadership which is hampering the economic growth of Chinese and foreign-invested businesses. A priority for organizations is therefore to develop tailored HR policies and practices which help them attract, retain and expand their talent pool in China.As the Chinese economy grows and moves into more value-added work, the challenge of attracting and retaining staff is rising with skill levels, as demand outstrips supply. Despite these considerable challenges, the solutions are relatively simple. Foreign-invested companies based in China need to adapt to the local environment and change their viewpoint to look from inside China out, rather than outside in. They need to rethink their working practices, taking Chinese culture into account, and resist the urge to impose Western management processes and thinking on their Chinese employees. Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises also have tough challenges; they will have to work even harder at retaining managers who would rather work for foreign-invested companies. Chinese domestic companies need to create a working culture and environment which is more attractive than that offered by competitors. Read the rest or post a comment >> Advertisement  China Expert Guest Blog The secret weapon of the Chinese BPO industry  I have an ongoing bet with my COO Benny who happens to be Chinese. He believes that the Chinese Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry will eat India’s lunch in the next few years. I on the other hand have always been confident that Indian entrepreneurship and innovation will help Indian BPOs beat all competitors including the Chinese. Till recently, I never worried that I may actually lose the bet. A recent conversation with Mr. Roc Yang (CEO of China Data Group, a leading Chinese BPO) forced me to acknowledge for the first time that perhaps Benny could win the bet after all.Mr. Yang raised several reasons why China might beat India on the BPO arena. Some of these reasons I had heard before: lower employee churn rates, lower effective salary, and better infrastructure. While China may have these advantages today, either India will be able to address them over time (as in the case of better infrastructure) or China will face the same problems as its own BPO industry develops further (as in the case of employee churn). Some of the competitive factors Mr. Yang raised (such as an ability to provide end-to-end services or more sophisticated operational procedures) are quite possibly valid for his specific company but I can’t imagine that they are true for all Chinese BPOs. Moreover, I can imagine conversations with CEOs of Indian BPOs who would raise the exact same factors as competitive advantages that the Indians enjoy. An analysis of who is right is beyond the scope of this blog. Most probably, only time will tell who is right on this issue. Read the rest or post a comment >> Comments Sharon Rosen Lopez in reply to: Language, Culture & Communication Thanks for posting such a wonderful article! Not only do you personalize the information ... Languagelearner in reply to: Translation Business in Shanghai Thanks for sharing. Please be nice to us translators. Charles Greenan in reply to: Import from China: Getting Started Peter, I am completely new to importing. I do have some ideas on certain products ... |
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