An American goes to China to arrange a business deal. The scenario is all too common. A Sino-American transaction is contemplated, negotiated, and, seemingly, consummated. Everything seems to be going well. Then suddenly the unanticipated comes "out of the blue." The Chinese partner negates his promise or fails to do what he said he would do when he said he would do it. Trust, now shattered, is replaced by the downward spiral of a lost opportunity. This disappointment is repeated myriad times every business day. It is usually not expected; it should be. At the conception of each stillborn failure is an American’s ignorance of Chinese culture and the multiplex of paradigms that control and direct all behavior in the land of Confucius and Tian’an men Square.
Ideally, someone contemplating a significant venture in China should spend time there to learn their approach to life and business. Reading about the country, watching films and videos, talking with other Americans who have spent time doing business there, spending time with Chinese nationals who are visiting or have moved to this country, are all helpful activities, but they cannot replicate the benefit that comes from on-site immersion. Explaining a culture to the uninitiated in words alone is very difficult. It is rather like explaining what an avocado tastes like to someone who has never eaten one. You can use analogies and adjectives, but your effort will be fruitless. Similarly, you need to experience a culture to understand it.
By way of example, consider the concept of "saving face." Most Americans are aware of its importance, but ignorant of its meaning. They assume that it connotes not embarrassing their counterparts in public situations. But this is merely simple courtesy. And unfailing courtesy is appropriate behavior in every social setting; it is not unique to China.
In China, face is a complex reality that incorporates the concept of trust. In the West, trust suggests that "I can rely on what you say." But in the Chinese culture, if you are someone I can trust, it means that you will protect my feelings with my family and friends whom you will never even meet. You will enhance my pride when I return home. You will not do, say, or be something that would cause embarrassment to me, or indirectly, to them. How can you protect someone’s feelings with people whom you don’t even know? Learning about the culture helps. It is the first step in anticipating the problems and challenges of doing business in China.
Five Insights: Having absorbed the meaning and importance of "face" and "trust," it will help you understand the complexity of Chinese behavior if you consider that their decisions are guided by five concurrent, seemingly contradictory, realities. Keep them ever in your mind. The Chinese do.
First, China is a Confucian society. Dating back to 500 BC, this pragmatic set of social rules permeates their every behavior. It seems, at times, that it must surely be genetic. Filial loyalty, courtesy, and diligence are values not dissimilar to Western culture. Indeed, the "Golden Rule" was first proposed by Confucius as the concept of "Li." Similarly, the value placed on education, on hard work, integrity, modesty, patience, and perseverance are similar to what Max Weber described as the Protestant Ethic, values which resonate in American culture today.
