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Pointers for Expatriates working in China
September/October 1998
by Guest Columnist Piset Wattanavitukal
Piset Wattanavitukul has been in charge of the China Business Division for Osotspa Co. Ltd., since February, 1996. His main task is to formulate and execute the company's business and investment plans in and with China. Besides Osotspa, he has worked for C.P. Group and GFPT Group as the Chief Operating Officer for their JV operations in China since 1991.
He carried on a dual career both in teaching and in business management for 10 years in which he served as the Chairman of the Management Dept. of the School of Business Rajamongkol Institue of Technology for 8 years before deciding to concentrate in business management.
As a co-founder of the Dynamic Packaging Co., He was its director in charge of Marketing and Planning for 8 years pioneering Shrink Packaging in Thailand and for a time controlled 85% of that market through the uses of "Total System Selling" and "Preventative Maintenance Services".
The firms that he subsequently served included: Thai-Asahi Glass, C.P. Group, GFPT Group. During his brief debut in the Management Consulting areas, his clients included: Thai-German Specialty Glass, Thai-Asahi Glass, Citibank, TOA-Thailand, etc.
His career in business was essentially in Marketing and Strategic and General Management although his academic background was in Accounting and Marketing which he received degrees from San Francisco State University.
Among the non-business work, he served 3 years as an advisor for the Thai Police Dept in the area of Information System Modernization, and 6 years as the Accreditation Board Member for degree programs in private colleges and universities for the Bureau of University where his last assignment was the evaluation and approval of MBA programs for the Assumption Business Administration University.
He's now 51 and intends to return to teaching on retirement form business.
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When in Rome do as the Romans do. The same applies, though selectively, for China. Here's a few tips to help you win Chinese friends and influence them:
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Arm yourself with plenty of Chinese words of courtesy and use them as frequently as you can. For examples: "xie xie ni" (thank you), "ma fan ni" (may I trouble you to . . . or please do me a favor), "mei you guan xi" (that's alright), "dui bu chi" (I'm sorry, or excuse me). For some reasons relating to the recent historical and cultural development, you'll find that your Chinese friends, admit it or not, are starving for kind words from others. Try it to see it! A little bit will go a long way. Soon, you will find yourself with more friends than expected and China not that bad a place to live and work in.
- Learn some simple frequently used words in Mandarin. Local dialect will be even doubly effective. Simple words such as "ni hau" (how are you), "min tian jian" (see you tomorrow), "heng hau" (very good), "ke yi" (acceptable), "gan bei" (bottom up), "jai lai yi ge" (try again once more). . . even when your pronunciation is not as accurate as can be, are appreciated as a demonstration that you are trying to speak their language. This diplomatic gesture will greatly reduce the distance between you and your Chinese counterparts, thus making them more comfortable in communicating with you.
- Learn to sing at least one popular Chinese song at the karaoke. Chinese love to sing at karaokes. In China, no restaurant, especially the private reception room, is complete without a karaoke set up. Most of your Chinese friends can sing very well. You may discover that those serious faces in the bureaucratic offices turn into smiling happy faces when they show off their singing talents. Some of the government officials can sing with near professional perfection. Many of them can even sing the Classical Operatic Songs (jing xi). Ask them to show you their talents. That's one of the most effective ways to get around the serious faces.
- Memorise and quote the famous words from the famous Chinese and their leaders whenever opportunities open up. Here're a few of my favorites:
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Chairman Mao Tse-Tung: "Ten thousand years is too long, seize the minutes and seconds"
This is particularly suitable to push for speedier execution of work and to accelerate self improvement.
- Chairman Mao Tse-Tung: "If you tell yourself a lie repeatly enough time, you will believe it."
This is applicable in convincing them to drop their old excuses for not being able to improve themselves or to follow company rules and policies.
- Deng Xiao-Ping: "Black cat or White cat makes no difference as long as it catches the mice."
Use this to emphasize the acomplishments of the objectives of the task, rather than the insistence on stubborn ineffective methods.
- Dr. Sun Yat-Sen: "Now, the revolution has not succeeded yet, all cadres must keep trying."
To emphasize the continuity of the effort to do better and try harder.
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The further north from Shanghai or farther inland from the coast the more persistent your hosts will be in insisting that you drink the strong Chinese white liquor with them as a gesture of friendship and respect. If you do not want to risk drinking these 50 degree proof local liquors, get yourself some medical excuses and stick to it. Do not back down even one sip. If you allow one sip, your entire defense will disintergrate. They will push for more drinks, and before long you may find your breath contains enough alchohol to light cigarettes and your head will swirl like a jet turbine. A convenient phrase to remember is "hau peng you se mo dou si jiu" meaning for between good friends, everything is the same as liquor. This will give you a reason to use tea or coke as a substitute for the white liquor. Another phrase that will come in handy is "chi guan yan". This same phrase has two meanings. The first meaning is that you have a infected sore throat (therefore, cannot drink), or another meaning is that you have a strict or jealous wife (therefore, you cannot drink or go womanising). This rather humorous line can help you lower the tension and persistence of your hosts.
- Train and give strict orders to your secretary and receptionists to adhere to very stringent visitor and calls screening. The Chinese are used to asking to see the top man of the joint all the time even when they need not to. A great number of these would-be intruders visit on the pretext of representing news media, publications or government agencies wishing to help boost your firm's publicity with personal interviews. An effective method of defense is to have your company biography brief printed on a one to two page news release. Train your receptionist and secretary to offer to mail or fax a copy of that to them instead of an interview. This can save you a lot of difficult situations against these advertisement space solicitors.
- Ask someone you trust to make up a good Chinese name for you and put that on your business card. This is a very welcome gesture of acceptance of your host country's culture. Learn to write your own Chinese name too. This will be an even better diplomatic gesture.
- Live with simplicity and direct yourself with high degree of self-discipline. Chinese people respect people in high places who live simply and behave with humbleness and self discipline. Learn to eat the famous local food. Again, this is very effective diplomatic gesture although, hygienically, inadvisable for some places or some dishes.
- If you object to eating strange food such as dog meat, or animals' sexual organs, etc. let your host know it. Otherwise you may have to try it since these dishes are expensive and are reserved for more respected
guests only.
by Guest Columnist Piset Wattanavitukal
Khun Piset can be contacted through our regular columnist: Kriengsak Niratpattanasai
DBS Thai Danu Bank, Bangkok, Thailand
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