Workplace Communications 4th Edition
Cultural differences in trade relations: the case of China and Africa
INTRODUCTION
What does culture have to do with business? Many large companies and professionals involved in the problems of financial forecasts, market studies and business models have moved away from the issue of culture and how affects business.
But organizations increasingly be involved in communication between cultures, between cultures, between cultures, because doing business abroad, perhaps, or because they are the source of another country, seeking funding from another country, or has a staff of more and more multicultural.
The globalization of world economy on the one hand, has created enormous opportunities for global cooperation collaboration between countries, moreover, however, has also created a unique set of problems and issues relating to the effective management partnerships with different cultures. It is also noted that most the failures experienced by transnational corporations are caused by neglect of the differences in cultural diversity. With the growing importance of Chinese market economy global businessmen rushed to enter China to explore business opportunities. It was reported that the main barriers caused by cultural differences as difficulty of communication, higher potential transaction costs, different objectives and means of cooperation and methods of operation, led to failure of many projects of Sino-foreign cooperation. This is how raises some questions about how to understand China "and" how to solve business " Chinese people.
Mainly motivated by the pursuit of material inputs (oil and other materials materials) required for investment in infrastructure and a booming industrial sector, the Chinese presence in Africa is booming. Rapid growth and the importance of strengthening the participation of China in Africa has important consequences in cultural terms.
To clarify the differences between China and Africa, which will focus on four dimensions of culture Hofstede: distance power, individualism / collectivism, masculinity / femininity, and uncertainty and the size of Bond in the direction long-term/short-term also called "dynamic Confucian. "Hofstede is one of the first to adopt a pragmatic approach to solving problems in the field and is related to the management culture. He defines culture as a kind of "programming collective mind, which distinguishes the members of a class of persons of another" (Hofstede, 1980). He explained that the cropping systems values consisted of four dimensions: power distance, individualism / collectivism, masculinity / femininity, and uncertainty. Michael Bond (1989) in the search of others have discovered another dimension called long-term/short-term guidance.
China and Africa are very different with respect to their economic systems, systems political, social values and laws, despite the changes that have taken place in China in recent years. Some differences can find studies on the differences Hofstede's cultural. First, in terms of remote power, China is centralized (if they showed a trend toward decentralized electricity), while Africa is relatively decentralized. In cultures very remote power, authority is inherent in his position in a hierarchy. There are strong dependency relationships between parents and children, bosses and subordinates and a social distance between superior and subordinate. In low power or remote power tolerance of crops, people to weigh the authority for its perceived fairness. Secondly, we note that in both cases, unlike the Western countries that have a strong individualism, China and Africa have a strong collectivism. Individualism, collectivism refers to the relative importance of individual interests against the interests of the group. In societies collectivism, group interests prevail over individual interests. People are part of the group and carers group membership in exchange for their loyalty. In individualistic cultures, the interests of the individual takes precedence over the interests of the group. Third, Africa has more value than that of China in masculinity, which indicates Africa is the way of masculinity, while China is the feminine term. on masculinity-femininity orientation or goal of the extent to which the "traditional" male-oriented ambition and success are revealed more "traditional" women guidelines interpersonal affection and harmony. Different cultures what motivates people to achieve different objectives. Cultures of the type of aggressive goal (masculinity) the value of material goods, money, and confidence, while cultures of objective behavior such liabilities (female) the value of social relevance, quality of life and welfare of others. Fourth, China and Africa have higher values to avoid the uncertainty of the West. This shows that both parties are relatively safe people, avoiding people in the west are relatively risk-taking. Control uncertainty captures the extent to which individuals in a culture feel threatened by ambiguous, uncertain, or new situations. The cultures are characterized by high or low evasion uncertainty. Given that the cultures with low uncertainty avoidance prefer the positive response of the changes and new opportunities, high uncertainty culture prefer consistent structure and routine. Finally, Africa has a short-term orientation, while China has a long-term orientation. Also called "dynamic Confucian, "the latter scale assesses the ability of a society of patience and deferred rewards. The long-term oriented cultures (China and Hong Kong) tend to put more money and more patience to explain the results to draw their actions. In the short-term oriented cultures (African countries) want to maximize their benefits and these are relatively less sensitive to the savings and anticipated long-term rewards. It has been widely accepted that cultural differences greatly affect the mind and human behavior and therefore the professional organizations in which people interact on the basis of shared values. The management company is part of a wider creation, and is strongly influenced by historical and cultural norms (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). There were significant differences between Africa and China appear to affect certain aspects of its business management.
Cultural differences in business strategies
Because the mature business in a social context, their attitudes toward cooperation are likely to be influenced by the underlying values of society (Weaver, 2000). As noted above, Africa and China have a strong collectivism. People depend more on groups or institutions to determine what to do and focus on group loyalty. They are more willing to cooperate with others to avoid risks and reduce liability. However, because of the way masculinity, Africans are sometimes reluctant to cooperate because his colleagues Men generally see culture as a sign of weakness and a high value on independence and control. In the process of cooperation, Chinese tend to pay more attention to relationships. I should mention that the term "guanxi", which means in relation to the English or the connection is business center in China. In studies Weaver (2000) found that entrepreneurs of the companies that are masculine and individualistic have a lower appreciation for cooperative strategies in relation to contractors of companies that are feminine and collectivist in nature.
Differences in cultural conflict management
To resolve conflicts, Chinese and Africans have different ways. For the Chinese, where harmony and personal relationships are very important, do not like open conflict, why that the use of indirect means to solve problems. Whenever there is a conflict, use the power of experiencing it or settle things in private. The negotiation and compromise are key for them in this case. Unlike them, the directors of Africans and Europeans or Americans, directly facing the problems and bring them to air. To solve the problems, everyone is involved to rational arguments and ideas to propose solutions. You may notice that this method of avoiding Chinese because for them that create differences that are very desirable. African managers are reluctant to devote their time and effort together to resolve trade disputes. helping others is necessary. However, by Bond (1991), strong collective orientation and uncertainty values in China encourage Chinese managers to use indirect forms of influence involving third party assistance. indirect ways are used by Chinese managers to deal with an application difficult, even controversial. In this way, they avoid losing face or damage "guanxi."
Cultural differences in decision making Risk-taking/Risk-avoiding
Chinese managers and African countries are very different attitude toward risk in making decisions related to their different control values of uncertainty. Chinese managers, with a high uncertainty avoidance have an adventurous spirit and sense the absence of risk. decisions, the immediate cause them to lose the opportunity to compete in a market that is avoided in case you feel the circumstances are uncertain. Most of the time, want to know when making decisions less risky. For managers of Africa, is almost the same. Intermediaries and lower level supervisors are less willing to make decisions without consulting his superiors. The result is that decision making is much longer than expected and requires greater participation of stakeholders at different levels of professional and social. Control measures for Africa uncertainty indicates a low risk taking and resistance to change can be delayed more projects that are problems in the middle of the cycle.
Participation decision making levels
The process of decision making is to make sense of ambiguity and risk taking (Jackson, 1993). The manufacturer of working in the information available on what has already happened, which is assumed to have occurred or is happening. The second aspect is visionary (Brady, 1990). A risk is taken, because it uses a perspective based on (often assumed) knowledge of the past and project what might happen in the future if a certain line of conduct is followed. Chinese executives or managers in Africa have different levels of participation in making decisions. In China, decisions are participatory. The employees accepted the decisions made by their supervisors. Because of their attitude toward their supervisors blind, resist participation in decision making. In Africa, the managers make individual decisions. They do not consult others, but may rely on their supervisors. Have equal of individuals. In short, I can say that Chinese managers not to adopt the participatory approach to decision making. The decisions come from senior subordinates. However, since the reforms in China, things are changing. More and more participatory decision-making began to be used in a number of companies.
Cultural differences in the work group functions
The first difference in the pattern of group work is the concept of "fraternity, network, family spirit "found in the heart of all exchanges with the Chinese. The style of African Affairs, which is almost the business style of the West, managers focus on the transaction, the opportunities, risks and so on. There is less attention to people they do business. They can encourage your group members learn from each other, to focus on the task rather than social and interpersonal relationships, and build confidence for superior performance. They make the difference between relations personal and work. In China, quite the opposite. first Chinese managers can focus more efforts in strengthening social and interpersonal relations (guanxi) before entering the business or contractual relationship. They spent their time developing and maintaining guanxi in the process of interaction and consider it as a sine qua non for doing business. What kind of person you are is more important as what you do. Much time is spent exploring the characters of individuals. People want to know their history, family situation tastes. Much of the activity takes place in the banquet rooms. Chinese believe that the true character of a person be held during those times. Only goal in these meetings is to see the other side of the people, the human side. If you are comfortable with, and if they think they can trust you, you may be asked to "join family, you and your business are made. Chinese managers are interested not in the short term, they want long business relations throughout life.
However, as the economy has become increasingly commercialized, privatized and competitive, the value and effectiveness of the Guanxi system has greatly deteriorated. In industries that have been deregulated or privatized, or when there is intense competition, business is business, and Guanxi has been neutralized or marginalized. relations and now look the connections that are found elsewhere.
Cultural differences in the motivational systems
In a business context, the motivations of employees, members, supervisors, contractors, stakeholders, and members of society a source cultural values, or what we think is important. To understand how to do business with members of another culture, it is necessary to understand what motivates them to know where to start and what needs to cover all the bases necessary.
According Aguinis (2002) employees can be rewarded according to their performance (principle of equity), like (the rule), or according to their needs (principle of necessity). In general, the equity principle is common in individualistic cultures, while the principle of equality is widely used in collectivist cultures. Pay for performance and equity pay are the two main differences in motivation systems. From the 1950s to the 1980s, all aspects of economic activity in China has planned, controlled and operated by the government. There was no private ownership of property or assets, and therefore no benefit to individuals or businesses. The government allocated each slice of pre-defined "large." If someone wanted more than what was assigned, this meant that the shunt system and find someone in this chain of "distribution" to provide a special favor. People were forced to sacrifice their individual interests to those of society. Cooperation, interdependence, group goals that create harmony group apply in China. The sense of belonging and to devote the group are important to the Chinese. Focusing on the idea that its success based largely on the working group believe that they can claim a reward for yourself. Contrary to what some Chinese researchers argued that part, I can say while fixing the salary of Chinese leaders should not pay more attention to work experience and academic training of employees. In this case, the principle of equality is reflected in the motivational system.
For managers in Africa, individual success is important. Is expected to the success of their individual efforts. competitive value, performance targets and key personal motivations for having plans to recognize their individual contributions. Its success is based on their own efforts. The talent and employee performance is considered by his superiors for salary increases and promotions.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, the understanding of other cultures is more important than ever. If we consider that the people of the same economic, political, and cultural context problems of effective communication can appreciate the difficulties and challenges that people face when cultures communicate. Misunderstandings will always be part cultural aspects. The purpose of this section is more or less to minimize misunderstandings through knowledge of the priorities and expectations of partners business. In this era of globalization, the examination of cultural factors and the subtle ways in which culture influences business practices and behavior patterns on the market should keep the focus of employers. Companies must think outside the proverbial equal to formulate their business strategies and to collaborate and establish business partnerships. In some companies are moving to do business in other countries, greater cultural sensitivity will be required and an understanding of the cultural realities should facilitate transactions commercial.
Knowing another culture is a legitimate concern of business. More than that, is essential. Those who make the effort to understand the efforts the other culture to gain knowledge of how to behave in that culture. Otherwise, if you know what people value and understand their attitudes, you do not inadvertently something that offends and reduces your chances of business success. In the world of business "in the current context, the winners are not the markets and the study of concern, however, it is important, but those who study people in their care.
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About the Author
CISSE DAOUDA
International Trade Ph.D.Candidate Zhongnan University of Economics and Law-Wuhan-CHINA
Tel:0086-13429878747
E-mail:cissedaouda2008@hotmail.com
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