Cultural Diversity and China
Cultural diversity is a substantial part of the business assembly in the world today. The ability to interact with people from the western world to the eastern world has been made easily accessible through the use of technology. The means by which we communicate has made the transferring of information faster and less personal. However still to this day the most direct, effective and personal way to communicate with others is face-to-face communication (Varner, 2008).
This process allows for the interaction of differing cultures; to process information, understand each other to collaborate on business opportunities. The mergence of cultures in business is a process, which needs to be thoughtfully entered upon. If an assumption were made that all people communicate by nature through processing information in the same way, there would be no effective communication, as this is not the case. People process communication on different levels and because of this we need to be made more culturally aware in how we interact. An action may be perceived very differently when presented to two people of differing cultures. To maximize business relations between cultures it is in the best interests to better understand the historic diversity of a culture.
The history of a culture plays an integral roll in the traditions, actions and thought patterns of many people. When you understand the history of a culture, you can better understand the reasoning behind business practices and processes they use. Preparation is a key component to any success; cultural awareness can also be successfully accomplished with preparation. Chinese business etiquette is a high context environment and as far as appearance, behavior and how they communicate is very different then those of a low context culture. In China your professional appearance is very important. For the purposes of business, men usually wear very casual suits with neutral colors. The women in China
This process allows for the interaction of differing cultures; to process information, understand each other to collaborate on business opportunities. The mergence of cultures in business is a process, which needs to be thoughtfully entered upon. If an assumption were made that all people communicate by nature through processing information in the same way, there would be no effective communication, as this is not the case. People process communication on different levels and because of this we need to be made more culturally aware in how we interact. An action may be perceived very differently when presented to two people of differing cultures. To maximize business relations between cultures it is in the best interests to better understand the historic diversity of a culture.
The history of a culture plays an integral roll in the traditions, actions and thought patterns of many people. When you understand the history of a culture, you can better understand the reasoning behind business practices and processes they use. Preparation is a key component to any success; cultural awareness can also be successfully accomplished with preparation. Chinese business etiquette is a high context environment and as far as appearance, behavior and how they communicate is very different then those of a low context culture. In China your professional appearance is very important. For the purposes of business, men usually wear very casual suits with neutral colors. The women in China
References: Alder, Nancy J. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. Fourth Edition, South-Western College Publishing 2001. Ricks, David A. Blunders in International Business, Blackwell Publishers; 3rd edition, January 2000.