Chinese and American Culture
CULTURE: USA vs. CHINA
Learning about other cultures in business will necessitate learning new concepts of time and space as well as new values and attitudes. The different business etiquettes employed by the American and Chinese can be attributed to the differences in their historical and cultural development.
Whilst many things in China are in a state of constant flux, some things remain deeply rooted in the old culture of the country and one of the things which changes most slowly in any country is culture. Chinese business culture is not suddenly going to become a clone of Western or American business culture like many of foreign businessman would like to believe. They are focusing on signing a contract rather than establishing relationships and trust, which is Asian business characteristics.
China will cling on to its own approaches and ways of doing things and as China becomes increasingly economically powerful any pressure for change will probably diminish.
This is why, if you really want to succeed in the China market , you have to invest time and effort into understanding how the Chinese think and how they approach any specific business situation. Assuming that they will accommodate you or understand the American way will get you nowhere. In order to understand their values, customs, habits, it is necessary to recnognize their most common behaviour, manners, desired appearance and business commmunication.
While Chinese businessmen take time to sign a contract, Americans value time as money and may come across as impatient while making business with Chinese. For them it is highly important how time is used in business, expect that people are on-time and reliable. They use a very straight-forward way of making business, they expect people to speak cleary and direct. If you don`t tell them »how it is«, you are simply wasting their time and time is money. Chinese businessmen will most likely be offended by their directness since they tend to hide
Learning about other cultures in business will necessitate learning new concepts of time and space as well as new values and attitudes. The different business etiquettes employed by the American and Chinese can be attributed to the differences in their historical and cultural development.
Whilst many things in China are in a state of constant flux, some things remain deeply rooted in the old culture of the country and one of the things which changes most slowly in any country is culture. Chinese business culture is not suddenly going to become a clone of Western or American business culture like many of foreign businessman would like to believe. They are focusing on signing a contract rather than establishing relationships and trust, which is Asian business characteristics.
China will cling on to its own approaches and ways of doing things and as China becomes increasingly economically powerful any pressure for change will probably diminish.
This is why, if you really want to succeed in the China market , you have to invest time and effort into understanding how the Chinese think and how they approach any specific business situation. Assuming that they will accommodate you or understand the American way will get you nowhere. In order to understand their values, customs, habits, it is necessary to recnognize their most common behaviour, manners, desired appearance and business commmunication.
While Chinese businessmen take time to sign a contract, Americans value time as money and may come across as impatient while making business with Chinese. For them it is highly important how time is used in business, expect that people are on-time and reliable. They use a very straight-forward way of making business, they expect people to speak cleary and direct. If you don`t tell them »how it is«, you are simply wasting their time and time is money. Chinese businessmen will most likely be offended by their directness since they tend to hide