Culture and etiquette matter while doing business
Print Edition
FOR business persons approaching China for commercial purposes, understanding several key cultural concepts is useful in personal and business dealings.
Understanding the ins and outs of Chinese etiquette, from proper banquet behavior to gift-giving and business card exchange, can only help to enhance business relations and avoid embarrassing faux pas.
Face
The Asian concept of face, or mianzi, is similar to the Western concept of face, but it is far more important in most Asian countries. Face is associated with honor, dignity and a deep sense of pride. Causing someone to lose face, even if the offense was unintentional, could cause serious damage to a relationship.
In addition, the concept of face is important in the business world. In China, sending someone of lower status to receive a high-ranking guest could cause the guest to lose face. Similarly, seating someone of high rank inappropriately at a banquet, where guests are seated according to rank, could damage that person’s sense of honor and dignity.
If the guest attends an event planned in his or her honor and later reciprocates with a similarly impressive display both sides can gain face, the host because he or she had the means to put on such an impressive event, and the guest because he or she warranted the event. The absence of the guest of honor from an event that was especially planned could damage the host’s face.
Guanxi
Guanxi (connection) combines aspects of face, obligation, reciprocity and hierarchy. Simply put, it is a network of relationships that carries a certain expectation of mutual benefit.
A guanxi network is made up of people one can count on and trust, who can pull strings and arrange for extra help. First and foremost, these people are family, then perhaps classmates or colleagues.
In granting a favor or help, there is the unspoken expectation of reciprocity, and the receiver is somewhat in debt until the favor is returned.
Generation gap
Guanxi and face are interconnected and are both critically important in understanding Chinese business practices. However, a generational and geographical gap in the importance of these cultural concepts is emerging in China today.
Thus, though it is essential for foreign business people to have a deep understanding of face, guanxi and the more subtle aspects of Chinese culture when meeting with older Chinese colleagues, those concepts are slightly less important when interacting with younger urbanites.
The rising importance of sound business principles and credentials makes it easier to accomplish things without relying exclusively on guanxi connections in contemporary China. Also, China’s shift toward the rule of law is weakening the need for guanxi.
Guanxi is certainly still relevant — it is a simple fact of life that the right connections help anywhere, but it is no longer the golden ticket to obtaining good jobs and accomplishing business objectives in China.
Subtle communication
Comprehending the differences between expats and Chinese communication styles is crucial for business success. For example, Americans tend to use a direct communication style in which “yes” means “yes” and “no” means “no.”
In China, however, a direct “no” would cause the person whose proposal is being rejected to lose face, so an indirect style of communication prevails. Thus, a nod of the head could mean either “yes” or “I hear you, but I disagree,” and silence does not necessarily imply consent.
Learning how to maneuver through this language takes time and attention to indirect nonverbal cues. This is important for foreigners to keep in mind at a business meeting.
Young people in China today may not have a clear understanding of Confucius’s “Analects” or of his influence on Chinese and other East Asian civilizations, yet aspects of Confucian principles still pervade China today. Despite the current emphasis on making money, concepts like manners and humility are arguably as important today as they were in ancient times.
It is considered impolite to boast or brag, so a common response to a compliment or praise is to be self-deprecating. Complimented on an exquisite home-cooked meal, a Chinese host would be more likely to make a self-deprecating response about the evening than accept a compliment about the food.
Accepting compliments straight out is considered impolite. Yet a distinction must be made between humility and humbleness, for though it is considered polite to show humility in one’s actions, the tendency for China’s nou-veaux riche to flaunt their wealth is anything but humble.
A Chinese millionaire, living in a gated community and driving a Porsche is certainly not humble, yet when asked about business, he or she will likely claim not to be doing that well in an attempt to show humility.
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