(easily?) Made in China!: From 0 to 100 in Cultural Understanding in 186 Pages

By Heidi Larsen, Bright Beetle and By Herskind

Are you experiencing challenges in your Chinese supply chain? Are you about to establish your very first production line in China? Are you looking to avoid the most commonly made mistakes? This book teaches you how to benefit the most from your Chinese supply chain and gives you ready-to-use business tools, worksheets and forms to build your success in China...

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9788799504503

Book preview

win!"

PART 1: The Rising

Are you ready to refute these myths? Then read on, for here you will get the tools to avoid the most common mistakes. To become successful in China. And to repair lost Guanxi and a damaged collaboration.

What makes the crucial difference to me is the invaluable network that has blossomed over the years. A network is not created automatically. It requires your willingness to invest time and resources. Your involvement in business connections. For as with everything in life, we are dealing with a direct Return On Investment (ROI for short). How much you get from the relations in your network is directly proportionate with how much you invest. This is why building relationships is crucial – and maybe the most important point I can advise you on.

Does it sound like a hassle? Of course there are short cuts. And it might sound cynical, but seeing as there are only so many hours in a day, it might be highly advantageous to prioritize your contacts and business relations. Divide your contacts into primary and secondary. Remember though, despite this division, that ALL relations are important. It becomes obvious if you merely aim to establish useful relationships. Your heart needs to be in it. As stated earlier, networking does not mean not-working! But you can easily do research on a supplier prior to a visit.

How to build your professional network with special focus on Chinese relations:

• Write down all contacts – or keep all business cards together.

• Invest in a small notebook to carry around with you and write down important dates connected to the relation in question. Children’s birthdays, wedding anniversaries, spouse’s name (preferably the Chinese name as well) etc.

• Select a particularly good relation to use as cultural interpreter. An interpreter who can help you in connection with particular customs and etiquette prior to for example weddings and other social arrangements.

• Never act or speak condescendingly to a supplier. Your logic is not his logic and he is the expert. If he is not, it is you, who have chosen the wrong supplier for the job.

• If a conflict arises, it is important to maintain a fairness and respect towards the supplier. Rumors of unfair play get around.

• Show humility. You are a guest in their country. Avoid projecting European habits and ethics onto the supplier. Avoid starting all sentences with In Europe we…

• Be curious and open to possibilities. Invest in spending time with your collaborators. A hotel room is a hotel room. It is by participating in life outside of it that you truly achieve results. And to the question of when you are going home? Always reply When we have finished…

In my opinion, however we look at the situation, when you have said YES to working with China, you have also said YES to acquiring a minimum of cultural understanding. There are countless cultural game rules. But as soon as they are well established as a business discipline, you can get far in the building of long lasting bridges between two very different cultures. This does not mean that success is only possible if you play by every rule at the same time. Regard them as a palette of tips and tricks you can use in a particular situation. When it comes to China, the focal point will often be adaptability.

Setting the scene

Different. Very, very different. That was my immediate impression of China when I first arrived in Shanghai in the spring of 2005. When you first arrive in China or anywhere in Asia, everything is so fundamentally different from anything you have experienced. The first thing that struck me was the very characteristic humid air, which is so pervaded by so many different scents (especially from their cuisine). The air that feels heavy with spices and moist on the skin at the same time. The masses of people will probably be what is most noticeable. There are constantly people everywhere, no matter where you are and when. A hotel reception might for the untrained eye seem abandoned. But do not be fooled. No matter how small a province you have travelled to, the night staff is as least as (in)efficient as during the day. This means, depending on the size of the hotel, at least three people in reception: one to receive passports (NEVER travel without one), one to accept credit cards for the deposit (MasterCard is recommended, but make sure to always carry cash) and one to carry your luggage and place it with its opening towards the wall in your hotel room. Ergo; a highly and fundamentally different country and culture.

"A person, who has lived solely in the West their entire life and has never travelled or spent time in Asia, is like a tree on which the sun has only shun on one