China—not so inscrutable after all
Very interesting piece on Pysorg.com about the effectiveness of international management practices in China. From the article:
Dr Gamble said: “All the evidence suggests that, whilst it may be necessary to adapt to some extent to local conditions, time-tested management practices actually translate well across cultures.”
Basically the article says that while there must be some adjustments made for the institutional and demographic realities of China, business is business even in China. Who knew!? So all those MBA classes will actually pay off in China.This is really interesting to me as I have been looking for the book on how Chinese do business and have either come up with introductions to general Chinese culture or western business theories retold in terms of general Chinese cultural maxims. I don’t believe, anymore, that there is a “Chinese way” to do business. But there are characteristics about the Chinese business culture that are unique in their combination and influence.This should also be interesting to anyone else doing business here for a couple of reasons. First, if you are successful in your business at home you have a great chance of duplicating that success here in China. Skills and success can be translated and duplicated. Second, there is not some “secret” to cracking the Chinese market. No magic bullet, no golden connection that will give you the country on a silver platter. If anything China just requires more of the same: more due diligence, more QC, more management on the ground, more training, more time invested into starting up, more patience, more “buy-in,” more cautions and legal protections.So if you’ve got business “success” down pat in your home country, what are some of the things that (I think) you need to “adapt” to here in China.
1. Labor/people are more often the answer to problems than a tech or money solution.2. Language is key—Learning Mandarin is a great advantage.3. Regionalism—From differences in language and trust to manufacturing/industry to intra-province transport tariffs, China is more like a group of loosely federated states.4. Scarcity mentality—there is not enough for everyone, there never has been and there are too many people. Throw in political turmoil and you’ve got the scarcity mentality that most business owners grew up in.5. Change and irrationality—Local, Provincial and National government policies can be created, changed and/or (un)enforced for completely political motivations.6. Nationalism—it’s very real and very active.7. The personal nature of business and the converse lack of trust between strangers doing business.8. The incredible numbers that are China.9. Business is not M-F, 8-6. Its all day all night until the sun goes out.
This, of course, is just a quick list of the things that I think are “culturally” important when doing business in China. The good thing is, all of these “cultural” traits are not only very understandable but manageable as well.BONUS—Business, politics and PC’s.Not sure that this article will pass the censors, so I’m just recommending it and not commenting. Glen Smith of PC Magazine has a fantastic article on the interconnected nature of business and politics across the Taiwan Straight.