15 first steps to Asian countries
1. Junzi – the ideal of Confucian life
1. Junzi – the ideal of Confucian life
There are many characteristics of Junzi.
Junzi does more and speaks less. A Junzi is loyal, obedient and knowledgeable.
Junzi disciplines himself. Junzi can live with poverty.
The Junzi
is able to moderate his desires. So, a business leader would rather respond
as: “Where? Where?” to the high praise regarding his achievements (but not like:
“Thank You very much”).
The ideal of Confucian life is a Junzi.
2. “Karoshi” – death by overwork
In Japan the emphasis on the hard work is a good
value, usually people have long working hours: they start working very early in the
morning and are not leaving until the boss leaves.
“Karoshi” – death by overwork - is caused by long
hours, high work demands, demands on perfection in the outcomes of Your work.
In Japan “Karoshi” is an occupational sudden
death. The major medical causes of “Karoshi” deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress and a starvation diet.
3. No
tissue paper relationships
It is important in many Eastern countries, especially
in Japan, to build strong group relationships, not such as when people only ask You:
“How are You?”, but they do not really want to know it.
Situation: Chinese company invited its fellow from
Australia to the restaurant before the deal. While all of them were waiting for
their meals, the Australian fellow pulled out a contract and started to discuss
the contract. All the Chinese colleagues were immediately disengaging with the
process: this person wanted to get to the points, to explain the details of the
relationship he was proposing, but Chinese people were waiting to order their
meals, as they wanted to, first of all, form a human relationship before starting
to talk about a relationship that was enshrined in a written contract.
So, that business relationship has not been built...
And that is one of the important things that You need
to understand in doing business in Asia: the relationships, the people are more
important than the actual words that are written on the page.
4. Just
Japanese
The Japanese organization looks towards the long-term
success. Toyota Motor company, for instance, has a 50-year plan. Not a 5-year
planning cycle, as in the most of the European companies.
5. Professional
promotion in Japan
Earlier people were promoted according to their age:
the older You become, the higher position You have (and!!! it did not depend on
Your results). Today promotion is based on Your merits, performance.
6. No
bribery in Indonesia
You should share what You have earned with Your
community, and the most important is that property should not be acquired by
bribery. Anyway, if You do acquire it, the right way is more important than
being wealthy in itself: this is one of the main principles of Islam (the large
majority of the country are Muslims).
7. “The
women hold up half the sky”
This saying (by Mao Zedong) means the change in the
attitude towards women. But this was not entirely successful and there is still
their discrimination in China.
Traditionally, in Asia women were discriminated. And
there is the emphasis on the authority of the husband over the wife in
Confucianism – so, some people have taken that fact and applied it to the
general society.
But in some societies of Asia there has been a
maternalistic style of leadership: for example, there is a matriarchal society
in Sumatra in Indonesia called the Minangkabau, where inheritance etc. is down
through the mother’s rather than the farther’s line.
The Philippines is often regarded as a matriarchal
society: in general women tend to hold the finances of the family there.
By the way, Liu Yandong is the second vice premier of the People’s
Republic of China and she is the highest ranking politician in China today.
8. “Kumasta
ka” – “Mabuti”!
“How are You” – “I am fine” (in the Philippines)…
If You are going to spend some time in Asia and do
business there, it is wise to try to learn the language, but in many cases
English speakers don’t make the effort.
But we cannot rely on English when doing international
business all the time. Learning a few words of another language can help break
the ice.
However, the first language of many people in Asia is
not the national language. So, for example, in Indonesia You’ll find that many
people learn their own local dialect before they learn Bahasa Indonesia.
In Malaysia, many people are not very fluent in Bahasa
Malaysia, Bahasa Melayu, because their origin may be Chinese, and they may
learn Cantonese, or Hokkien as their first language.
By the way, the country with the highest number of
English learners in the world is China. The USA is the country with the most
number of English speakers, followed by India and Pakistan.
9. High
context – low context
In many Western countries the words have more impact
than the context. We can compare it on the business card exchange example: in
Japan, for instance, what You DO (not just comment) with the card is very
important and is the way of showing Your respect. When
You receive the card, You should receive it with two hands, look at it, perhaps
make some comments, don’t put the card into Your back pocket and sit on it. If
You realize that the person is of a higher status than You, You may bow the
second time and do it a little lower.
10. The importance of space
There is a famous story in Saudi Arabia, of how the US
embassy held there a party: so, as the Saudi diplomat would talk to American,
the American would take one step back. The Saudi diplomat would take one step
forward, until finally, the American diplomat hit the wall.
So, when someone entered the room for this party, they
found that all of the diplomats, the American diplomats, were lined up around
the walls.
In Saudi Arabia personal space is quite small, and
people are very comfortable talking quite close to you face to face, and vice versa: Americans
tend to have much wider personal space.
11. “Giri” – a
strong sense of indeptedness in Japan
“When once I helped someone at the bus stop who just
needed money to get to the bus one day, I found on my letter box the next day a
box of biscuits…”
12. Guanxi – a relationship
This is the special way of relationship founding, when
You trust others completely. It is difficult, but effective way of business
development.
And that is one of the important things that You need
to understand in doing business in Asia: the relationships, the people are more
important than the actual words that are written on the page. People from Asia
are more interested in building long-term relationships, to know You as a WHOLE
person.
13. Golf
Golf has been becoming more important in Asia during
the recent years, it is also assumed as an important part of doing business in
Asia.
It is especially important in Japan, less so – in
Malaysia, Korea and China.
It is a good way to relax (together) and make
(business) relationships. Many companies pay for their employees to be members
of golf clubs, believing that it gives access to high-level executives.
It is an opportunity to give and receive the face:
if You are a hot-shot golfer, You might not play Your best ability if You are
playing with someone who in fact wants to make a business deal with You.
14. “Genbei” – dry cup!
To drink the whole cup until it’s dry? But what
happens if you are drunk and want to stop drinking? One technique is to pretend
to be asleep and to be gone. Then people won’t necessarily bother you.
In fact, this system of drinking applies more to the
older generation. You’ll find that some people who are intellectuals or
managers or people in the high tech industries might not necessarily drink so
much.
If you are a woman – you don’t necessarily feel the
same pressure as your drinking male colleagues.
“Strategic drinking” – to take You contacts out for a
drink to turn them into potential customers and friends. It can help people to
relax, to feel more comfortable with another person. It is not just a one off
event, it is something that usually takes place over a few nights, meetings and
becomes a regular activity. Drinking helps to build the sense of togetherness,
the sense of being one.
Drinking helps to pick up information from the people
that you are drinking with, so many of the Chinese business partners must
believe that drinking reveals the true self.
It is but not easy to give the answer to the question
of what to do if you are allergic to drink or your religious beliefs dictate
you that you cannot drink. However, it is important to participate in the
process, if possible.
Drinking is often accompanied by food (full meal, not
just peanuts etc.).
“If you don’t eat something of each of the dishes, you
will insult the people who have cooked the food for you”. It is important that
you try everything if you can. Of course, there may be some dietary
restrictions and you may have to explain why you can’t take certain food.
When a drinking party you should not sit and drink by
yourself: you should wait for a host to fill your glass (the level of filling
will be the same for everyone), then that person will propose a toast, at the
end of the toast there will be “Gan bei” – and all drink together.
Three levels of drunkenness:
“Han” – being slightly tipsy, still being in control
of your thoughts and movements;
“Mi” – a little bit intoxicated, starting to get a bit
fuzzy, but still in control of your motor functions;
“Zui” – when a person is really drunk.
Normally, during business drinking parties you must at
least be leaving with a sense of han.
15. Smoking?
In Asia people tend to smoke a lot more than in many
countries. In China and Indonesia you may find a little bit hard to cope with
the amount of smoke in the room, if you are not used to it.
The same kind of rules that apply in the West with
regards to asking people not to smoke will not necessarily apply in the Asian
context.
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