International Trade/Offshore Manufacturing/Sourcing/Export/Import/Consulting Consider Cultural Issues In China By Dr. Yuling Pan Recognizing the tremendous potential the market of the People's Republic of China (PRC) represents, a great number of international companies have either established business ties with China, or are in the process of doing so. However, among the standard obstacles that are to be expected when embarking on any international venture is culture. In the case of the PRC, the cultural differences between the Chinese and the Americans, for example, need to be overcome in order to do business successfully. How does one overcome these cultural differences and successfully deal with the Chinese in the business world? The first and most critical step is to be culturally sensitive to the Chinese value system and behavioral patterns. There are three concepts that are essential to Chinese behavioral norms: Mianzi (face) Guanxi (personal connections Limao (politeness) We can look at these three concepts in this way: mianzi addresses the basic need to safeguard face in order to maintain psychological balance; guanxi (personal connections) relates to the inter-dependency between the members of a group; and limao (politeness) involves the strategies employed to attend to another's face, as well as to protect one's own face, and as a result, build up personal connections. Although the concept of face exists in the United States, it carries far more social significance for the Chinese than for the Americans. In the United States, face is associated with individual integrity. In China, face is the prestige and influence that a person has, which is associated with social status. The more influential a person is, the more "face" he/she has. Thus, face is a social value attached to an individual and reinforced through the interaction with other members of society. There are two principal reasons for the high importance of face in China. First, China has had an extraordinarily stable society for centuries. Second, China is a highly hierarchical society. Causing someone to lose face is seen as a challenge to his/her status in the hierarchy. Consequently, loss of face is not merely a matter of personal embarrassment; it also threatens to disrupt the social order of the community. The concept of guanxi has to do with the Chinese inter-dependency between members of the group. The guanxi system has evolved over the long history of China as a result of the group cohesiveness of the culture. In Chinese society, inter-personal relations are viewed as either "inside" or "outside" (of a group). Inside (nei) relations are those of close regular contact, such as family relationships, friends, co-workers, schoolmates or people from the same locality. Outside (wai) relations are those temporary contacts one has with taxi drivers or clerks in service encounters. The guanxi system, no doubt, consolidates inside relations. Guanxi can serve many purposes: political, social as well as business. Politeness (limao) is the proper way of behavior in a society. But what comprises politeness may differ from culture to culture. In Chinese culture, to be polite means to acknowledge hierarchical differences between the speaker and the addressee and use face-saving strategies to attend to the addressee's face need. Politeness behaviors are also very different in inside and outside relations. In an inside relation, politeness behavior is hierarchical in nature. The superior has the option to be authoritative or to be friendly with the subordinate. But the subordinate is bound to be deferential, respectful and obedient toward the superior. This non-reciprocal use of politeness strategies is considered as appropriate because both parties' face is protected: the superior is acting and being treated as the superior, and the subordinate, by showing respect to the superior, gains protection, trust and mentorship from his/her superior. In an outside relation, however, no face work is required. The interaction between two strangers can be very direct and terse. That is why many non-Chinese find it hard to understand why the seemingly deferential Chinese can be so rude in a service encounter. Being aware of how these three key cultural concepts precondition the Chinese ways of conducting and handling relationships makes it easier to deal with the Chinese. Mianzi, guanxi and limao have deep implications in all aspects of business. Generally speaking, in building rapport and establishing an inside relationship with Chinese counterparts, it is much easier to carry out any kind of business if there is an established connection between the two parties. Extensive face work is often required before dealing with business matters. For all business transactions, such as negotiations, between Americans and Chinese, it is important to: Emphasize the trust shared by both parties. This trust comes from the relationship built in the period of extensive face work that must precedes business talks. In some cases, having a common trusted relation can be accepted as a way to establish trust. This concept also applies to American business people. Business discussions and transactions will be much easier if Americans have a solid contact person in China. Identify the hierarchical order among the participants. Pay special attention to name cards and titles. Get to know who is the most important person in the group. Usually the most powerful person will not be the most visible one. The person that comes second in the power hierarchy is usually in charge of the interaction process. Show respect so that the Chinese counterparts' face is properly addressed. For example, when expressing disagreement, first give a partial agreement before stating your position. A direct statement of disagreement is very face-threatening. Give reasons before showing the conclusion (in contrast to the argument style generally used in American English), or just provide your reasoning and let the listener draw the conclusion. As China's economy grows, there are increasing business opportunities for the American business community. Although the political relationship between China and the United States is quite tense at the moment, in the long run, China presents a huge business market that no one can afford to ignore. To be aware of the importance of the concepts of mianzi (face), guanxi (personal connections) and limao (politeness) in Chinese culture is essential to understanding Chinese behavioral patterns and cultural norms, which when properly applied, will lead to business success. When this article was first published, Dr. Yuling Pan, senior instructor of Chinese at Diplomatic Language Services Inc., had been working in the field of foreign language teaching and cultural training in China and the United States for 15 years. Dr. Pan has done intensive studies on Chinese politeness behavior in official, business and family settings, and presented papers at numerous academic conferences. Advertise on this site Put your company on this site!