Intercultural communication is unavoidable in today's
society, as we are living in an increasingly globalized world. Most of us will be travelling around the
world either for holidays or jobs purposes, it is important for us to have
culture awareness. Today I will post a story about a Singapore manager who went
to China to compete in a construction project.
Yang was the manager of Z Company, he was sent to China to
compete in a construction project which was important to the company. Within
one week Yang had prepared an impressive proposal and had done plainly amount
of researches about China’s cultures. He was confident that he would get the
project.
While Yang was in China he followed the cultures of China.
As expected, Yang had persuaded the China Company to give Z
Company the project. Few days before signing contract, Yang was told that the
CEO of China Company likes to collect antiques. Upon hearing the news Yang quickly bought an
antique scissors and wrapped it in red paper. After making sure it was nicely
wrapped he sent the gift to the CEO.
However few hours later Yang was told that contract signing ceremony
had been canceled. Yang was astonished by the news. He did not know what went
wrong.
Before continue reading make a guess what caused the China
Company to cancel the contract?
The mistake he made was that he should not sent scissors as
a gift, sending scissors is a signal to the receiver that the sender wants to
cut all the relationships and connections between them. Although Yang had done
researches about China’s cultures, it is impossible for him to known all the
cultures especially the non-verbal communication.
My question is how can Yang avoid such intercultural communication
misunderstanding?
In this context, I felt that what could be done would be for Yang to research extensively on the country's culture before even trying to establish a relationship with the other party.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Yang did read up on the culture practices, it is unknown if he only searched through the Internet or books. If Yang only did his research based on sources from the Internet, it might not have been enough. Yang could have taken some time to borrow books from the library to further understand
the culture practices, taboos and beliefs. In addition, a guide book would have been useful in having tips on the culture norms of the country.
Also, Yang could have approached his colleagues who
have had experiences in clinching deals with the Chinese, so as to better understand the Chinese culture and etiquette.
Hi Kee yee,
DeleteThank you for the comment.:) I agree to what you said. Yang should have approached his colleagues or his new friends in China to avoid such mistake.
Hey Li Qi, thanks for sharing with us that “sending scissors” to business partners in China means you want to cut ties with them.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that it is almost impossible to learn about all the subtle cultural differences unless you have all the time in the world. However, if Yang wants to be successful abroad, he could have made an effort to meet new people, especially the locals, and seek their views and opinions on the gifts before sending it to the business partners. If possible, Yang could have also engaged a local.
Yang was probably too complacent with the research he had done and I guess the best takeaway from your article is that culture is a complex concept and to learn such a complex concept, reading alone is not enough. You need to interact, experience and integrate into the communities before you can call yourself a “guru”. Of course, along the way, you would make mistakes but that is also best part of it because that is when you actually grow and move on to the next level.
Hi Qi long,
DeleteThank you for the comment. I agree with you. He should have made an effort to meet new people and interact with them. I think it is a good way of gathering information and understand their cultures.
However I think in this case Yang "sort of forget" the cultures, he just acting on what he think is the best to please the CEO.
If we want to be successful in oversea business, we need to invest time to study their cultures and best solutions is stay there for sometimes.
Hi Qi Li
ReplyDelete(Whoa I just realised that our posts are really similar. But anyway, all the more I should reply)
In this day and age of the Internet and books from all over the world, committing such a mistake would become more inexcusable. In addition, in the course of negotiation for a business deal, he would have interacted with many Chinese whom he could have consulted with about the gift (for example, the secretary of the director/CEO or the receptionist of the office).
It is important to be aware that the world does not simply comprise of a homogenous culture. It is also important to know the right actions to take to address this.
Hi Li Qi,
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the above comments that doing prior research on other cultures such as by searching on the Internet or reading books on the Chinese culture might not be sufficient. What I feel Yang could have done would be to consult his colleagues or Chinese friends more about the Chinese background, and if giving the scissors would be an appropriate gift. I feel that this would be essential as most Chinese, especially the elders, who are usually superstitious :)
Hi, interesting story, but I am surprised that a Singaporean Chinese would have made that mistake ... sounds more like the kind of cultural blunder that a non-Chinese (ethnic Chinese or otherwise) would make. Suppose we need to learn more about what the 'Chinese' culture is of places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, and if they are not like the main land, then that is important to know - especially for the Chinese who live there. I would think that that custom of not giving scissors would have followed the Chinese to Singapore year ago. Please correct me if I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteThank you. What is the actual name of your blog, as I would like to follow?
Karen Patterson
xculturalbix@twitter.com
Hi Karen,
DeleteI believed that most of Chinese Singaporean do not know there's such culture of not giving scissors as gift. Personally I had gave scissors(Art scissors) as gift to my friends.
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore are ideal places to learn China 'Chinese' culture, but only limit to some of the traditional cultures example like we should never give clock or watch as gift as it is cursing the person or during Chinese New Year we should not wear full white colour.
Event if you compare Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, you would realize that Chinese in these countries have different cultures but still can see some similarities.
Business culture is complex in China. In Singapore we are more used to western style of communication(low context communication), however in China they prefer high context communication, they rely more on non verbal cues and relationships. Sometimes it is difficult to understanding the real meaning behind the sentences.
My blog name is ES2002.
My blog URL is http://liqig12.blogspot.sg
Thank you, Li Qi, for relating this story illustrating the perils of miscommunication.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it seems like a parable, with the message being "do your research before traveling." Like Karen Patterson, I find it a bit hard to believe that a Singaporean could be so inept when dealing with folks from the "mother country." Also, I used to frequent antique stores a lot and can't remember ever seeing scissors!
Nonetheless, I appreciate your effort here, Li Qi. And look at all the interaction that has been generated!
Hi Li Qi,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to point out a few grammatical errors that you can improve on.
One problem I noticed is your use of tenses. For example, you mentioned "it is impossible for him to known..." The word following "to" should be in present tense.
Also, I think it would be good if you add punctuation appropriately. For example, "However few hours later Yang was told that contract signing ceremony had been canceled. Yang was astonished by the news." It would be good to add a comma after the word "However".
You may also want to take note of the formality of your blog post. Although it may not be a formal report, I felt that your sentences were constructed in a way that appeared like you were speaking in a casual manner.
Apart from the above comments, I personally liked your story and I find it interesting!