Preparing to Conduct Business in China
Preparing to Conduct Business in ChinaConducting business in china requires a great deal of patience, respect, timing, humility, knowledge, cunning, and just the right amount of aggression. Knowing these are the tools that are to be employed for successful negotiating is completely worthless unless you know how and when to use each of them. Missing a cue for changing from being patient to aggressive, or being humble instead of cunning, will make or break a negotiation in an instant. As the article entitled, “Scaling the Great Wall: The Yin and Yang of Resolving Business Conflict in China” states, as Americans with aspirations of obtaining a piece of the Chinese-market pie, we must invest the time to understand the sources of Chinese culture and not just the culture itself. Because within the culture of today’s Chinese business tactics, are glimpses into the ancient history of a people that have not only survived, but flourished longer than any other civilization in the history of the world. Knowing only what we (Americans) want to achieve from a particular negotiation with a Chinese business person is extremely near-sided and will almost guarantee certain defeat. Instead, we must have a firm understanding of what our Chinese counterpart is also seeking from the negotiation and therefore be able to anticipate their strategy for succeeding. This “anticipation” tactic is vital because it is the very tactic that will be employed by our Chinese counterpart against us, and as history has proven many times, that is a very successful tactic.
The Chinese consumer market is like that of a massive mountain that contains the world’s highest concentrations of gold. However, there are some very difficult obstacles to be overcome before reaping anything short of gold dust. This “mountain” has been closed off to outsiders for centuries, and most prospectors are even unsure exactly where the mountain is located or where to even start climbing the mountain. This “mountain” is unmapped by anyone other than its inhabitants, is very difficult to reach and is made of solid granite. The gold is extremely deep in the mountain, and it will take many years of diligent, patient and backbreaking work to reach the gold. Even if the gold is ever reached, and mined, anything that is removed must be shared with the people that live on the mountain. As an added consideration, the inhabitants of the mountain do not necessarily have much use for the gold, have gotten along just fine with out it, and could continue to flourish if they never had it.
This article has the potential to impact and influence the manner in which a prospector would go about finding the mountain in question. It (the article) provides some very basic tools for conducting business in China. It not only reiterates the notion that as Americans we must put aside our ethnocentrism, and provides insight into why and how our Chinese counterparts approach and conduct business. If these guidelines...
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