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Review focus: Culture shock, China, cross-cultural experience, Chinese attitude, business, respectful, trustworthy, American, European, Westerners
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
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Foreign people who have had little or no cross-cultural experience are likely to encounter varying degrees of culture shock on their first and even successive visits to China, regardless of how friendly the political environment might be. Culture shock comes in a variety of ways and degrees. It can be so subtle that it is not immediately noticeable and is often vehemently denied. Or it can be so obvious and "shocking" that one is completely thrown off balance. The effects of culture shock are accumulative. Like drops of water on the head (an old form of torture), the drop may be hardly noticeable at the beginning but as time goes by it begins to sound and feel like the blows of a hammer. It can be the same with little but persistent irritations or setbacks, such as not getting a direct response when you ask a question, being pressed by masses of people, or not being able to take various small services for granted. Of course, not being able to read or speak Chinese almost always results in serious cultural shock for average business people who cannot speak or read the language and become illiterate for all practical purposes and are virtually helpless. Their ability to communicate is, of course, dramatically reduced. They become dependent upon interpreters and the few Chinese who speak their language. The cultural differences between China and their own countries are also greatly magnified. Experiencing culture shock on this level often results in foreigners' becoming either antagonistic and excessively critical or, it they want to make a deal, overly eager to please, less critical then they should be, and highly susceptible to pressure from the Chinese side. The Chinese are also masters at putting newcomers under obligation by treating them to effusive, costly hospitality and weakening their position by the use of psychological ploys. Foreigners with little or no cross-cultural experience tend to interpret Chinese attitudes and behaviour in their own cultural terms, even when they know better. There is also always that strong emotional reaction that Chinese behavior is irrational and wrong, and will not be right until it is just like theirs. In any dealings with the Chinese, it is difficult but vital that foreign business people keep in mind that, from the Chinese viewpoint, they may be the ones who are off base. Foreign business people should keep uppermost in their minds that business in the Western sense has never existed in China and is only now in the earliest stages of creation. Business does not always have the same sacredness in China that it does in the United States, Japan, or Germany. Among government officials especially, there is often the very strong feeling that business comes second to politics, and when business interferes with political goals, it is business that bites the dust. (Which is not too different from political attitude toward business in the U.S.!) The Chinese are also influenced not only by intense feelings regarding their political system but their cultural ways as well, and these invariably play a role in their business relationships with foreigners. Their feelings often take precedence over what foreigners regard as common sense or what Americans, with whom they often appear to have the least in common, fondly refer to as the "good deal". Contrary to appearances, however, veteran China observers frequently note that the Chinese actually feel more compatible with Americans than they do with most other foreign nationalities. They say the Chinese believe that Americans are more trustworthy and respectful than others. It is certainly true that most Americans are impressed by the incredible long history of China and the arts and crafts of its civilization, and tend to demonstrate this feeling in their behavior. The Chinese like that.
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from Chinese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
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