Doing Business in China
Vast cultural and organizational constraints confront managers of global businesses in China in their attitudes towards profitability, group identity, managerial autonomy, suspicion of inexperience and overall negotiating styles (Rittenberg 1991). This is because of the wide differences between the Western culture and the culture of the East, specifically China. Culture has been described as the "software of the mind," which guides people's daily interactions (Hofstede 2003). It consists of patterns of thinking, feeling and potential acting learned throughout life, mostly from early childhood when the person learns and assimilates the most. It is always a collective phenomenon, as it is at least partly shared with others within the same social environment, where the culture is learned. Culture is the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes a member of the group from another group of people (Hofstede). Hence, Western businesses and their managers find the huge and basic differences between their culture and that of the Chinese, which lead to problems. But conducting business in China is worth the difficulties it produces because China is considered the largest undeveloped market in the world. Americans and Can
Power distance refers to the fearful response of subordinates to power and authority and the authority's paternalistic and autocratic behavior towards subordinates (Hofstede 2003). China has a high ranking of 80 as compared to other Far East Asian countries at only 60 and at a world average of 55. This reveals a high level of inequality of power and wealth in the country, a condition not necessarily forced upon the Chinese but accepted by them as a cultural heritage. Other countries with high level of power distance include Latin America, France, Spain and most Asian and African countries. In contrast, subordinates in low-power distance countries, like the US, Britain and most of Europe, are likely to challenge their bosses, who are inclined to adopt a consultative management style of business or organization. The experience of the Chief Operating Officer of a large American company illustrates this when he held a banquet for a visiting Chinese vice minister and his group to celebrate their agreement. The vice minister was sad and apprehensive towards his people's accusing him of bowing to pressure and giving in to foreigners. He would then attempt to protect himself by imposing pre-set drafts of contracts and agreements on his Western counterpart (Hofstede). Chinese women have recently been playing an increasingly important role after centuries of subjection to men (De Mente 1999). Caught by cross-cultural trends, educated women no longer see themselves as men's subordinates and have been swiftly absorbing Western concepts of individuality, independence and personal responsibility. Many of them are dedicated to careers, improvement of their country, world peace and the improvement of the human race (De Mente). Western businesses will do well to consider these modifications in Chinese culture. Uncertainty avoidance is strong when a society or culture reacts to the unknown with apprehension and, therefore, avoids it (Hofstede 2003). Countries with a high level of uncertainty avoidance include South Korea, Japan and Latin America. Countries with a low or weak level include the US, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore and Britain, where people are less threatened by unknown situations but tend to be more open to changes, risks and innovations. The uncertainty avoidance index shows t
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1561
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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