The China Venture

More documents

Recommendations

Info

3.4.2.6 Yes and No Chinese do not like to say "No" or to be the bearer of negative news. If they do not agree with something they will hint indirectly by saying something like "It is inconvenient" or they will raise twice an objection to a subject to show that they do not agree. 138 It is similar with "Yes". Chinese tend to response to nearly everything with "Yes". This could be an insignificant "Yes" which means "we hear you", a "Yes" which means "we listen to you", or a "Yes" which really means "Yes". You have to be careful with the interpretation of the "Yes". It doesn’t always mean an agreement on the Chinese side. If you are not sure of the meaning of the "Yes" or "No", avoid asking your counterparts directly about the meaning of the answer. Do not ask embarrassing questions. If an answer is "No" verify it by asking a question which can be answered positively. 139 It is important that all parties maintain "face". The big challenge for western people means: learn to guess what has been said even though nothing seemed to have been said. 140 3.4.2.7 Further Differences between Germany/Switzerland and China Germany/Switzerland China functional-objective integrated-intuitive Analytical Synthetic Linear non-linear team hierarchy refer to things refer to persons follow principles refer to the situation individual sense of community direct approach indirect approach TABLE 3-21: Manager-thinking: Comparison of Germany/ Switzerland and China 141 Further cultural differences arise with regard to business-partnership. Europeans value control, results and equal rights. They see business as business, want to strengthen their position and have a legal attachme nt. Chinese, however, value confidence, human attachment, equality and process. In their eyes business is also a private matter and in a business relationship, weakness has to be balanced. 142 138 Dunung, 1995, p. 117. 139 Dunung, 1995, p. 117. 140 Heiniger, 1997, pp. 134. 141 Chung/Sievert, 1995, p. 55. 142 Chung/Sievert, Joint Ventures, p. 56. 134
3.4.3 Experiences of European Companies with Joint Ventures in China A few years ago, when China was still an unknown area for business, not many Europeans had ever heard anything about intercultural management, and few thought of attending a training course. Nowadays, some western companies have quite some knowledge about China and its culture because of their past experiences. They learned from these experiences and as a result co-operation with a Chinese partner is much easier today. Most Western employees who plan to go to China, attend a 3-day seminar or something similar, so that they get at least some ideas of the Chinese culture, but there is no intensive training to prepare them adequately. China and its people are still relatively unknown to many Europeans but the companies have learned to understand the culture and to adapt to it. For this reason, our interview partners were able to give us a good idea of important factors to build up a good relationship with the Chinese partner and to be successful in business. Good intercultural management may not mean trying to find solutions for existing problems between the partners, but trying to avoid them. 3.4.3.1 Interviewed Companies Our intention was to interview companies from different industries to see if intercultural problems come up only because of the collision of two cultures or if it is also a matter of the industry. The following companies were interviewed: • Bühler AG, Uzwil, Switzerland • BASF AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany • Daniel Swarovski Corporation AG, Feldmeilen, Switzerland • D. Swarovski & Co., Wattens, Austria • Georg Fischer AG, Schaffhausen, Switzerland • Hilti Aktiengesellschaft, Schaan, Fürstentum Liechtenstein All interviewed companies have had experiences with Joint Ventures in China for several years. From the interviews, it is clear that intercultural problems do not depend on the industry a company is in. 135
Page 1 and 2:
The China Venture: Business Environ
Page 3 and 4:
Table of Contents List of Figures .
Page 5 and 6:
3.2.3.2 Special Funds for Setting U
Page 7 and 8:
3.4.1.1 National Culture ..........
Page 9 and 10:
List of Tables TABLE 2-1: THE AREAS
Page 11 and 12:
GBP Pounds Sterling GDB Guangdong D
Page 13 and 14:
1. Introduction: The China Venture
Page 15 and 16:
After a short discussion with the p
Page 17 and 18:
co-operate with other firms, especi
Page 19 and 20:
The Chinese operating legal system
Page 21 and 22:
First of all, Britain’s predomina
Page 23 and 24:
democratic centralism, all governme
Page 25 and 26:
The courts are the state organs exe
Page 27 and 28:
more than three hundred intermedia
Page 29 and 30:
2.2.8 Company Law China’s first n
Page 31 and 32:
Things seem have to become a lot cl
Page 33 and 34:
2.3.1.1 Financial sector developmen
Page 35 and 36:
securities, trading, initial public
Page 37 and 38:
underdeveloped compared with market
Page 39 and 40:
established in January 1996 by 59 p
Page 41 and 42:
Chinese Banks Foreign Banks Financi
Page 43 and 44:
system formulation has been put on
Page 45 and 46:
The separation of production and co
Page 47 and 48:
swap centres (see also above). From
Page 49 and 50:
investors with little experience an
Page 51 and 52:
them, while a branch with a shortag
Page 53 and 54:
Loans, public offerings of shares,
Page 55 and 56:
is often to acquire foreign capital
Page 57 and 58:
2.3.3.2 Debt financing As getting t
Page 59 and 60:
the approval of special authorities
Page 61 and 62:
control compared to national enterp
Page 63 and 64:
usiness in China and related issues
Page 65 and 66:
3. Pre-Entry Strategic Consideratio
Page 67 and 68:
While the testing for the general r
Page 69 and 70:
of relevant contacts to suppliers a
Page 71 and 72:
partner companies with free servici
Page 73 and 74:
strengths which his own company lac
Page 75 and 76:
Central Committee of the Communist
Page 77 and 78:
environment for foreign investment
Page 79 and 80:
legal and regulatory environment of
Page 81 and 82:
3.2.4.3 Legal Framework for Foreign
Page 83 and 84:
• China’s entry into membership
Page 85 and 86:
• stipulates that advanced techno
Page 87 and 88:
Government approval. Foreign invest
Page 89 and 90:
Co-operative Joint Venture Status P
Page 91 and 92:
Reflecting on these points the foll
Page 93 and 94:
Success Factors concerning Products
Page 95 and 96: Success Factors concerning Company
Page 97 and 98: high-technology are eligible for th
Page 99 and 100: Available Distribution Channels A m
Page 101 and 102: Available Distribution Channels Mar
Page 105 and 106: Illustrative Case Studies The follo
Page 109 and 110: Which Aspects should SME's Focus on
Page 111 and 112: Strategy No. 1: Have Cash A comfort
Page 113 and 114: expenses have a detrimental effect
Page 115 and 116: As a conclusion, network oriented m
Page 117 and 118: 3.2.13 Case Study: Swisstec, Lyss 3
Page 119 and 120: factor which makes the foreign firm
Page 121 and 122: developed within the SME, its impac
Page 123 and 124: 3.3.1.3 The Role of Technology Mana
Page 125 and 126: Indirect export and direct export a
Page 127 and 128: maintenance or the use of establish
Page 129 and 130: Government Central Exploiting Sales
Page 131 and 132: in the most advanced provinces and
Page 133 and 134: network through which the products
Page 135 and 136: Siemens or Motorola, they may have
Page 137 and 138: Chinese partners. He also began to
Page 139 and 140: orders. However, a country may also
Page 141 and 142: Germany/Switzerland China democrati
Page 143 and 144: 3.4.2.4 Conversation at the first m
Page 145: only after a certain time and even
Page 149 and 150: ones who atte nded a course. They s
Page 151 and 152: Another Chinese tactic is, as menti
Page 153 and 154: 4. Post-Entry Strategic Considerati
Page 155 and 156: and the other one in China. The com
Page 157 and 158: experience in operating production
Page 159 and 160: In these two cases, the companies m
Page 161 and 162: 5. References Aharoni, Y. (1966): T
Page 163 and 164: Dony, A. G. (1998): Market Entry St
Page 165 and 166: Islam, I. / Chowdhury, A. (1997): A
Page 167 and 168: Madura, J. (1993): International Fi
Page 169 and 170: Semkow, B. W. (ed.) (1995): China F
Page 171 and 172: 6. Appendix 6.1 Fact Sheet People
show all

The China Venture

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?