The Seven Deadly Sins of Doing Business in China
The Find: One expert claims that many Western managers working with Chinese business people mask their fear and confusion with an air of superiority; instead, she suggests, they should strive to understand and avoid the seven deadly sins of doing business in China.- The Source: A post by Janet Carmosky, CEO of the China Business Network, on the Business Pundit blog.
The Chinese... are relationship-oriented. Chinese only use the people they know, like, and respect. To them, a transaction is not really business. This is part of the reason we have quality problems. To them, shipping a container of widgets for a letter of credit is not a relationship, even if you've been doing it for 16 years. Before they do a transaction or project with you, they want to know who you are... They're not comfortable doing a project or transaction first.The primacy of the personal in China can lead to misunderstandings, Carmosky claims. "From a Chinese point of view, if situations change... naturally you're not going to be bound to the initial agreement. That would be rigid and unrealistic... They believe that if you're going to be business partners, it's not about the rule of law, it's about the relationship." From one side of the table that can look a lot like breaking a contract, but on the other it's just an appropriate amount on flexibility and respect. The complete list of deadly sins:
- Assuming Chinese Do Business the Same Way Americans Do
- Assuming a Contract Will Get You Respect from China
- Assuming Chinese are Unethical Because They Don't Respect Contracts
- Thinking Chinese Need American Business
- Treating Chinese Our Way, and Assuming They Will Adapt
- Thinking All You Need is One China Guy
- Thinking We Don't Have to Worry About China Yet
The Question: Readers who are old China hands: are these tips on target?
(Image of sin removing handwash by Lori Greig, CC 2.0)