A Home for Culture Vultures

Working with the Chinese?

Then you need to make a good impression from the get go!

Is there a correlation between culture and the COVID-19 pandemic?

This is a question we’ve posed before in previous blogs.

Do you work with the Chinese?

If so, there are some fundamental cultural concepts you need to be aware of.

Do you work with the Chinese?

A common challenge many foreigners come across is how to handle the word ‘no’.

It’s fair to say that most countries stereotype others.

Whilst stereotypes can provide some sort of understanding of another's culture, they are generally unhelpful and misleading.

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing havoc across the globe.

Markets are in meltdown, flights have been grounded, gatherings banned and whole countries on lock down as the world tries to slow down its spread.

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the globe, China has claimed relative success in dealing with the virus.

On closer inspection, much of this success comes down to Chinese culture.

Way before the Coronavirus hit, many people around the world wore fask masks.

Ever wondered why?

Do you work or do business with the Chinese?

Then you really need to get to grasp with the importance of face – mianzi – in Chinese culture.

Doing business in China? Then you'll be attending lots of meetings!

If you’re attending meetings in China, then it’s important to understand a little about Chinese culture and how meetings are run.

Wherever you travel in the world, getting someone’s name wrong can be the difference between making a good impression or a bad impression.

If you’re travelling to China on business, it’s important that you take the time to understand the naming structures.

If you want to know how easy it is to do business with China, then look no further than the Business Culture Complexity Index ™ (BCCI), a tool which provides some great insights for expanding businesses.

The BCCI uses a number of data comparisons to produce a single ‘ease of doing business’ score for the world’s largest 50 economies, culturally speaking that is.

We hear a lot in the news about cultural differences with Western companies going East, but rarely about Eastern companies coming to the West.

A great little article in the South China Morning Post by Mark Magnier suggests that when it comes to navigating different business cultures, Chinese companies are finding very similar challenges when working on the global stage, especially in the USA.

With so many cultural differences between China and the West, the decision to relocate to China as an expat can be a difficult one.

Although expats do indeed have some complex cultural differences to navigate however, there are a huge number of positives for people taking the move.

With Taiwan the first country in Asia to legalise same sex marriage, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the acceptance of homosexuality was new to Asian culture.

However, homosexuality was generally an accepted part of the culture in many Asian countries until the West introduced its puritanical Christian religious ideology and played an influential role in bringing an end to the long-standing traditions in this part of the world.

Doing business with the Chinese?

If so, then it’s more than likely that food will be involved at some point!

We are delighted to announce the release of our latest online cultural awareness training course - on China.

The new addition to our catalogue of online courses offers lots of fantastic insights into Chinese culture, the people and of course, Chinese business practices.

The global nature of commerce means today's businesses are always looking for opportunities outside of their domestic markets.

Acquiring, or merging with, a foreign company is common way to achieve this.

"Guanxi" (pronounced (jwan-see) is one of the most powerful forces in Chinese culture.

Though the direct translation of "guanxi" is "relationships", the concept as it is used and applied in Chinese culture is much richer and encompassing.

As part of the 2014 Export Week, Commisceo trainer Joyce Jenkins was invited to speak at UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) Women in Export event.

UKTI offers its services to UK based companies seeking to expand their business overseas, providing expert advice and practical support for exporting into foreign markets and understanding overseas business practices.

Their Master Class, held at Gatwick on the 13th of November, dealt with the challenges faced by women when exporting, with a particular focus on doing business in the Far East.

In addition to gaining a better understanding of the role UKTI can play in assisting companies in exporting, attendees heard from representatives of women-led businesses who had overcome barriers to trade in this region. Victoria Christian, Global Brand Ambassador for luxury goods producer Clive Christian, along with Claire Selby, Managing Director of educational materials producer Yellow House English Ltd., spoke about their respective experiences entering markets in the Far East.