Despite being ironically spoken through the, anything but brief, words of Polonius, Shakespeare's quote--"Brevity is the soul of wit,"--still rings true. It takes true talent to be able to condense one's thoughts into a short, but complete statement. On the other hand, many times short thoughts are anything but complete. Keep this in mind as you post and comment over the next several weeks, being sure that your words reflect careful thought and pertinent content.
This chapter talked a lot about the process of getting jobs in China. Specifically, it discussed factory jobs. What jumped out to me as interesting is how they are so specific about the candidate. However, they aren't specific as much about job experience or education. They are specific about the candidates, gender, look, height, etc. This is a major regulation difference in China compared to the United States. An employer would most likely be sued if they discriminated on gender or height. Based on my reading, it doesn't appear that China cares as much about protecting employees or people's rights in general.
ReplyDeleteI find this very interesting that the Chinese would be concerned about a person's physical features as opposed to their characteristics and capabilities. As an American, I would assume that it would be most beneficial to hire someone that is experienced and educated, but that is what Western culture teaches. It would be interesting to find out where this originated from and why they put more emphasis on a person's "looks" than their "smarts."
DeleteThis is interesting, and it defiantly does occur. But I also know for a fact that a lot of business in China is based upon the principles of Guanxi. Guanxi is a sort of social code that is followed in China that represents the power and importance of relationships within the family and workplace.
DeleteGuanxi was the topic I read about this week and found it very interesting. You description of it being a social code is very well put and helps me better understand it as well (even through I did read a lot about it).
DeleteI read something similar in my book. One thing that it mentioned was that there are laws against discrimination, but most people that are discriminated against have a "deal with it and move on" attitude in comparison to a preference toward lawsuits like we have in the states. There have been a few lawsuits, but a lot of people just think that discrimination is normal and they accept it rather than fighting it.
DeleteChina is not alone in being the only country that hires by looks. Many other countries in Europe and Latin America hire based on appearance. It is such a privilege to belong in a culture that some what by theory does not hire by appearance.
DeleteFunny thing is that if you are not Chinese, if you are American, you can get a job with a fancy title and office and business cards and not ever do much work. There is perceived merit in a company being able to afford employing a foreigner, so it is good for their business dealings, and "face," throughout China.
DeleteAs I continued reading "The Chinese Way to Business" I was intrigued with the content relating to interpreters. Many of us are not fluent in Mandarin and will therefore have to rely on an interpreter when speaking with Chinese citizens who do not know English. The chapter spoke about how interpreting on a professional level is one of the most difficult of all arts. Although it is quiet difficult, many people view interpreting a simple process and therefore they are not paid very much. Interpreters must be both bilingual and bicultural to a very high degree in both languages.
ReplyDeleteWhen speaking about interpreters the chapter also reminded business people that adding an interpreter into a meeting causes events to last three times longer than normal due to the time it takes to relay information in each of the respective languages. It also mentioned that it is important to remember not to look at the interpreter when he is speaking but rather to look at the person who he is interpreting for.
I believe that both of those aspects are very important and relevant to remember as we travel. Whenever our leaders are setting up meeting with businesses where an interpreter will be utilized, they must anticipate the meeting taking more time. In addition, we as students should remember that it is key to look at the person who originally spoke the words rather than look at the person who is interpreting them for us to understand. This shows respect, courtesy, and professionalism.
You'll find that the same thing happens during our business and cultural visits. It's also interesting to consider that items really do get lost at times during the interpretation, and that an interpreter is not a translating machine, but a real person whose background experiences often color his her translations.
DeleteMy reading this week was about "Guanix," which translated means "door into a hierarchy or group." In short, this is referring to connections that are required of individuals in China that must be made in order to be successful. Western cultures would most likely call this networking, but almost exclusively tied to the individual. If a person leave a company the goodwill or connections that were made go with the person and are not transferred to the replacement person.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would find interesting is how Professor Oberholster has created and maintained individuals connections with individuals in China. I'm sure that the "Guanix" that he has built over the last several trips plays a large role in the quality of the trip. Likewise Professor Erskine's time in the region and his ability to speak the langauge will provide him with a much higher "guanix" level. I'd also like to know how to actually pronounce "guanix."
It is actually "Guanxi", but yes! I find this so very interesting! I remember reading an article where it said that guanxi was used by everyone in China. The greater the guanxi, the greater the favors you can get and also how if someone asks you for a favor it is almost an obligation to agree, and you cannot say no.
DeleteGuanxi is very real. We call it networking in this country, but over there it is like networking on steroids. And part of it is also making sure that you make the other person look good, give them good face. That in and of itself will require them to return the favor.
DeleteMy reading for this week introduced the flexible hierarchy as an organizational form well suited to translating the top-level priorities into actions. It illustrated the flexible hierarchy with the case of the Haier Group that is headquartered in Qigdao, China. Haier is the leader in China's home appliance markets. The principle focus of the reading was on how Haier illustrated a flexible hierarchy concepts in action. However, it was noted that they key to these concepts lies not in the general concepts, but rather in the "nitty-gritty" details of how they are implements in practice.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I understand what a "flexible hierarchy" means. Could you expand on the topic a little?
DeleteWhat are some of the "nitty-gritty" details? How were they practiced?
DeleteOne of the most interesting things that I read about this week was employment equality in China. Discrimination in hiring, especially on age, height, and attractiveness, is quite common. According to a Chinese senior executive, "In a hospital, patients of course want to see prettier nurses. People are already in a bad physical and mental state, and they want to see someone whose appearance can make them more comfortable." Many Chinese tend to accept this, seeing discrimination as just a natural thing to help please the customers. However, lots of Chinese tend to have plastic surgery to improve their appearance and potentially get a job. Almost all resumes include a photo of the individual, and this affects whether they get an interview so much that many applicants choose to have a studio take the picture and Photoshop it for them. Many jobs also have an age requirement and a height requirement. After about the age of 35 or 40, it's almost impossible to find a job. Those who have jobs will probably not be promoted after that age, and will be forced to retire between the age of 50 to 60; in rare cases they may be permitted to work until the age of 65. Many candidates that Westerners consider qualified are turned down because they're too short.
ReplyDeleteThere is often discrimination against women in the Chinese job market, although most people don't believe it's because of an inherent enmity towards women in the workforce. The problem is mainly family related. The Chinese government forces businesses to give women a huge amount of time off after they have a child. As a result, the businesses don't want to hire women because they are put at a disadvantage when the women have children, and they become less work-focused and more family-focused after the birth of a child. Others don't believe women are suited for requirements outside of work, such as the drunken dinner parties.
The one group who is not discriminated against in work is ethnic minorities. Universities and government agencies have quotas for employing minorities, and certain laws don't apply to the minorities (such as the one child policy).
I'm mostly through the section on social interaction, but it's fascinating in the differences what is considered normal in China vs. the USA. I was only able to share a little bit in this blog post but there is quite a bit of interesting information in the book.
This is very fascinating. I've always heard about discrimination happening based on physical appearances (e.g. Beijing Olympics opening ceremony girl), but I never realized how involved it can get in the workplace. Again, it shows the vast differences in American workplace culture and Chinese.
DeleteCaleb, I found this to be fascinating. While I knew that things like this existed, it was not something that I have thought about recently. Today's media and pop culture have been trying so hard to push the idea that things such as discrimination and privilege are somehow uniquely American or "western" problems. Acting as though this is a "white" problem or that "euro-centrism" is the spring from which discrimination and oppression originated. Or even more interestingly, that America is somehow behind the rest of the world in terms of fair treatment in employment. But of curse, this not true by any stretch of the imagination. Like you pointed out, discrimination is something that every culture and people group deal with to a certain extent.
DeleteAs I continued reading about Mao Zedong, I found it interesting to find where he first grasped the idea of political power. In the section that I read, the book talked about how he met with several other students and discussed how political power could be attained. He was very intrigued with the idea of having this kind of power and was told that the only way to gain it was through a political party. The section also went on to discuss his brief service in the army where his paycheck was $7 a month! His main luxury was buying newspapers. Everything else was spent on the essentials: food, water, clothing, etc. He eventually quit the army and pursued his love for education and books.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear about Moa's idea of power and political power. The section of my chapter that I read about today was about how Moa viewed women and it seemed that he respected when women took it upon themselves to grasp some type of power. That might be why women in China had one of the largest periods of equality during the Mao era.
DeleteThat's cool to learn how he shaped his ideas. Also his experience in the army sounds terrible! $7 a month doesn't sound like it could ever could be a thing. Interesting though how he quit to further his education, which make sense of how he became the leader of China.
DeleteI've learned a lot about the quick-witted mannerisms that Chinese people show. In "China Fortunes: A Tale of Business in the New World," we observe the unstoppable current of business in China. We can see this through Jack's different financial investments in different products, one of which was the electric factory worth $1 billion. Contrary to popular belief, Chinese economic standards for energy resources and other corporate enterprises were behind the Western standard. Even though the Chinese would eventually surmount the US in this area, they still continued to produce extremely high amounts of grain from the large scale of farmland. So, we can start to see from about 1979 that the Chinese economy truly ushered in a new era of prosperity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. With the statistics and research that has gone into China's developing markets, it is undoubtedly fascinating to see their economy flourish.
DeleteThis week I continued to read the book "The 36 Ancient Chinese Strategies for Modern Business." This week the stratagem was Conserve Energy While the Enemy Exhausts Himself.
ReplyDeleteWe trace the history of this stratagem back general Sun Bin once again. If we remember for Stratagem 2, Sun Bin was being attacked by General Wei. So he sent part of his army to attack Wei's homeland to draw some of his force away. After the first day of battle however, Sun Bin found that he still didn't have enough troops to defeat Wei so he retreated. Each night that he did ordered his soldiers to light fewer and fewer fires so as to convince Wei that the men were deserting. After 3 days, Sun Bin lead Wei and his army into a ravine were the shot arrows down on them and killed them.
From this story, our author tries to make a modern application with the history of Samsung and Sony in the digital market. The author contends that Samsung waited and allowed Sony to spearhead development of LCD, PDP, and OLED screens. Sony spent time and money on all three when only one would emerge as a leader. While Sony wasted their time, Samsung developed other areas and positioned themselves to spring on the market once a leader emerged. Honestly I thought the application was a little bit of a stretch in light of the stratagem.
At any rate, I think that it is very interesting to see who these ancient stories have translated down over time into modern day principles for success. I think that members of all cultures should look back to their history as well as the history of others in order to learn valuable lessons from the past. I believe that there is a delusion that there is a impenetrable wall between may cultures. While there certainly are differences, there is much we can learn from one an other if we are just to look back.
This week while continuing to read about China's economy I learned about urbanization and infrastructure. Over the years China's population has moved from the country to the city twice as fast as the United States from 1860 to 1930. Urbanization affects the country's economic growth by making new employment opportunities. I also learned about the Hukou system and the impact it has on China's economy. The hukou system is the reason China says it is only partially urbanized and it is also known as the residence registration system. This restricts the citizens to move around their own country. I thought this was really interesting because it is not too easy for the citizens to move from the rural country to the city and vise versa anymore.
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting how China developed faster. In the book I am reading the U.S. paid to help improve China's infrastructure to help enhance the trade industry. They built railroads, then the Chinese helped to build our railroad and even the Panama Canal to help increase trade even more with America.
DeleteThis week, I continued finishing a section on "Made in China" by Winter Nie & Katherine Xin. The section that I focused on shown the light on partnerships and how they may be counter-productive instead of innovative. International investors were not only recognizing, but also studying China's quick growth within industries, especially Zong's Wahaha branding. In 1996, a french company that went by the name as "Danone" noticed the fascinating growth rate of Zong's company and decided to invest in it. Because Zong believed in continuous expansion of his company, he allowed for Danone to partnership and own 51% of their share. Because Danone had owned more percentage into Wahaha, they had a greater influence in the company. When Zong started to create and grow businesses outside their contract, Danone striked down on management asking them to halt business outside of contract. This "halt" went against China's business monopoly laws and Wahaha was against it. In the end, Zong continued the company even with thoughts of leaving the company at the time because he was the face of the company. I learned that partnerships, even when they promise significant and quicker growth, are not always necessary to continue advancement. I also learned that it is important to study China's entrepreneurs and their regrets in business actions.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting Darryl. Having significant control from outside investors is not always the best thing for the company.
DeleteIn this section of the chapter, the author talks about the state of women during the revolutions throughout China's history. From that I wanted to focus on women in the Mao era because this seems like an area of dissent in the overall view of Chinese women throughout history.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting part about this chapter was the actual debunking of common assumptions of what it was like for women under Mao. On paper, women were "liberated" because of the legal abolishment of arranged and child marriage in 1950 and because they were given equality in farm ownership, but there were qualifications to that. The marriage act was not widely enforced, especially in rural areas due to concerns from parents. Women were also forced into agricultural work but had to go through the "double day" of working all day in the fields and then also having to do all of the housework as well. I found it interesting to see how forced changes to try and push equality do not foster true equality. This changed my view on women in Communist China because I always just believed that during this time that women in communist countries had far more rights than women in the United States. This also hints at how it could be very problematic to have a government dominated by men trying to figure out what is best for women without actually asking them. If in the Moa era women had more of a political say then maybe their experiences would've been better.
This week as I continued to read, "The beautiful country and the middle kingdom" I learned a lot about what the church has done for China. Two organizations that played a huge role was the YMCA and the YWCA. They helped to increase better hygiene and end foot binding, but also got to share God's word. In 1839 the first single woman to work as a missionary was sent to Asia was Adele Fielde. After Fielde, single women in Asia became the largest group of American missionaries. It was interesting because many of these women went to China with an education, they were not aloud to use it in America so they went to China and became surgeons and college professors, along with other careers. Those that taught wanted to teach the Chinese women how to read, so they started school for teaching the women. These women came to be know as "Bible Women." I can't wait to see what other fascinating stories I find as I continue reading this week.
ReplyDeleteFoot binding was such a debilitating practice for women. When the Japanese were attacking China during WWII, many of these women had to crawl in order to flee because their feet, in addition to being incredibly painful, made it impossible for them to move quickly while walking. This Smithsonian article discusses the practice further:
Deletehttp://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-footbinding-persisted-china-millennium-180953971/
The abuses of woman in china are unbelievable . Beauty is not Pain it is simply beauty by natural design. It is sad to think of the numerous woman who could not walk and were a burden to their families and in capable of protecting themselves because they could not walk due to binding.
DeleteThis week's chapter talked about how to start business in China. It says that you first need to know exactly what you are planning to do there, then you need to contact the CCPIT (by mail) and then your embassy in Beijing, since they will know and will best help direct you to where you need to know. It is really interesting that the "guanxi" keeps coming up, even as a foreigner, you should use guanxi, go to those with higher powers and use people as connections to get to your goal. After you contact someone to do business with, you must be very well prepared, from choosing a team with great people, to learning the material the Chinese want to hear.
ReplyDeleteAnother very interesting thing that I read is that young people are not seen as an asset. People under the age of 30 are seen as immature and it is unwise to bring someone like that to a business meeting. I am really enjoying my book, and look forward to learning more about the culture.
I have also found it interesting how integrated guanxi is to Chinese culture as well. The book I'm reading, Business Leadership in China, recently used the example of bending the law in your favor, using guanxi and social resources.
DeleteViews of aging and elderly definitely differ strongly between cultures. In the US, we are very much a youth-oriented culture; this obsession is obvious in everything from marketing to divorce rates. In Chinese philosophy, age means wisdom and thus deserves respect. In Confucius, Analects, it states,
Delete"The Master said, At fifteen I set my heart upon learning.
At thirty, I had planted my feet firm upon the ground.
At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities.
At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven.
At sixty, I heard them with docile ear.
At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right.”
This week I learned how the youth in China get easily offended by the western media. An interesting fact that I learned this week is how they have an anti-CNN.com. This website not only goes against CNN but also other western news. They would take something as small as an image from western news and crop it if necessary, change the words if it has a caption, and make it pro-china by criticizing why the western media are trying to rip China's image. According to the author most youth feel like China does not get enough credit in the eyes of the western media as they deserve. Creating a anti-CNN.com is a way how the youth reflects patriotism and loyalty to their country.
ReplyDeleteI found your post very interesting, Rosalba. It is interesting to see how the youth from other countries perceive the western media. You can also see the similarities in the youth in our country and China by their means of showing loyalty to their country.
DeleteThat's so interesting. I had no idea that a site like that would ever exist. It's interesting to see how the youth in china retaliate when they disagree with something versus how the youth in america would retaliate. It's also interesting to see how loyal and patriotic the youth in china are.
DeleteDuring this week's reading about how to do business in China, the importance of finding the right partner is crucial to one's success. The author emphasizes to spend time on searching and researching for a partner that is suitable for you and to help you make an informed decision. Finding a suitable local partner is typically the difference between a business succeeding or failing.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting. I'm curious to know whether it is only important to find the right partner for a business purpose or if this applies to all relationships in China. Generally here in America finding the right partner is important for personal reasons but not necessarily succeeding in a business setting.
DeleteMy most recent reading in Business Leadership in China covered the difference in law and contracts in the west vs China. Business leadership in China referred to this as the rule of law vs the rule of man. In the west we can count on very well defined laws, that everyone must abide by. In China, laws can be interpreted differently. A prime example of this is the disregard for copyright laws and intellectual property rights in China. Another interesting note is how Chinese businesses view contracts - they view them as flexible, able to be revised when needed. I'm sure this can be very frustrating for westerners practicing business in China. A solution presented in the book is managing expectations on both sides of the agreement. As long as both sides plan on the contract being flexible from the outset, it is manageable.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I'm not too late. I haven't gotten much time to progress in my book. I did finally reach the first story done on a family that gave their daughter up for adoption. It follows a family with 2 daughters and a son. The middle child, a daughter, was adopted out to the brother-in-law's family as they did not have a daughter. The adoption was an open adoption and also done within the family so the daughter eventually found out that she was put up for adoption specifically because she was female. It's interesting to see how that would impact growing up, she went on to medical school and did well but the emotional toll that it had/has on her will probably never leave.
ReplyDeleteIn my reading for the week Mei Fong brought up a very interesting point about the one child policy. She wrote in a quote by an advocate for a two child policy who now believes that there should be not restrictions at all on how many children can be born. He says, "I gradually realized it is not about giving birth to on or two children. It is about people making their own decision." That is all people ever want, to be able to decide for themselves on anything. Limiting people but more importantly limiting biology can have very very bad repercussions as we can see now.
ReplyDeleteThe following paragraph says that with the newly enacted two child policy, only about 35% of couples file for qualification. The baby boom that officials were expecting because of the two child policy is not happening.
That's really interesting! You would think that after approving the two child policy their would be more couples who file for the qualification so I think it's crazy how only 35% of couples apply.
DeleteI sympathize with Mei Fong, but consider this. If you have a country that is geographically the same size as the United States, and the population is still largely rural and uneducated, and family sizes are still large... how does the government get this growth under control? The One Child policy evolved (over a couple of decades) out of what is known now as Mao's Great Famine. Chinese don't know about this so much but recent scholarship has uncovered this. During the 1950s somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 million people died. Starved to death. It was a combination of population, bad government policies, and drought, but the government response - after previously encouraging people to have larger families - was to control the size of the population. Now that the culture within China is to have smaller families the government has basically ended the OCP. But for those who disagree with the OCP, consider the alternative? Would China now be a country of 3 billion people, rather than 1.5? Or 5 billion? In the same geographical space as the US, with 312 million? Hard to imagine that! AND... as a potential enemy, do we Americans really want an enemy that has a seemingly endless supply of soldiers? Already the Chinese have more men of military age than the US has in total population.
ReplyDeleteSomething I really found depressing from my book this week was that I discovered has to do with the One Child Policy in China. If woman do not pay the government a tax for having more then one child their family member like their mother in law can be put in jail. So Sad. I do not think that people should be tax for having children. People have right to have as many children as they want. I think people should not kill baby fetus's just because they are girls. Sadly, a lot of couples want boys and they will kill their girls baby, if they realize they are having a girl. Boys bring honor and support to the family when they are older so families would rather have baby boys instead of girl as their only child.
ReplyDeletemy reading this week has talked about the american automotive industry jeep and the effect they have had on China through manufactoring on Chinese soil.Jeep is the longest standing automobile joint venture in China, although it has not been the most successful due to a lack of modernization. The constant desire to move forward with technology and the trend of integrating new technology into vehicles is an area where jeep did not excel. because of this, jeep fell behind their other American competitors in China.
ReplyDeleteMy most recent reading in China Business Culture, covered the revolution in Chinese business. Business in China was finally accepted as a worthy occupation and ignited there competitive drive. Although many were excited for the social and economic changes happening, there were still some people in China who still held their traditional values on "equality in results". Often those still lingering with old traditions found it incredibly frustrating and outrageous with the rapid social change. But new values were also combined with deep-rooted concepts giving emphasis to friendly cooperation so much so that the Chinese now believe personal relationships with others is the key to success in business. Guanxi, or friendship networks is considered more valuable than money. The people of China believe that guanxi reduces both risk and competition in business. I really enjoyed reading this chapter because of gaunxi is such a big part of how they do business in China and it was just really interesting finding out how guano works.
ReplyDelete