(Letter from oldson) Chinese and American Culture

a) Universalism vs. Particularism

There are 5 basic values within Culture. They are…

The first of the five values is universalism vs. particularism. Universalistic orientated societies have set rules for morals, behavior, ethics and truth in specific situations. Countries which are Universalist tend to be influenced by Christianity. The legal system is also important because it is the main way to enforce the rules and contracts between businesses. America and Europeans tend to be Universalist. Therefore contracts are used to document and communicate the terms of an agreement. The contract defines the relationship between the two parties.

Asian countries tend to bee Particularist. Particularism is based on the logic of the heart and human relationships. There are basic rules morals, behavior, and ethics but the specific circumstances of a situation deem the response. The legal system, and thus contractual agreements, is only an empty shell which contain the human relationships within. The legal contract indicates a starting point for a long term “contract” with is intangible expressed through trust, dependability, loyalty and commitment.
The success of the business transaction depends on the depth and strength of the relationship.

This creates a problem because Americans rely on contractual agreements as a basis for a mutual understanding with regards to business transactions. An American will typically want to quickly begin contract negotiations, contract, hammer out the details in short period and finish the project. Later the individuals involved can relax, enjoy drinks together and get to know each other. In China the wining and dining begins before the idea of signing a contract is even mentioned. First comes guan xi and then comes the contract which will be written in a way to provide loopholes and opportunities to adapt or manipulate the original meaning. In China there is no such thing as agreements written and adhered to the ‘spirit’ of the original meaning. The original meanings will be twisted to conform to current needs and wants.

Personal Anecdotes

The first experience I had with signing a contract was with the first private school I worked at in China. I found out very quickly that when mainland Chinese sign contracts they will always verbally promise and expound upon the wonderful future benefits which will inevitability be received. The future will hold no such benefits if you do not conform to their random demands, drastic changes, strange requests and chaotic organization.
Every contract I signed always ended up in the same way: the boss ignored every single point which implied an obligation while demanding everything and more from me.

This is typical of almost every contractual agreement between a mainland Chinese person and another party. When a Westerner faces this situation they will become frustrated, upset and angry. They will verbally and physically express their dissatisfaction. This only feeds the fire and more and more will be required, further pushing the foreigner to a breaking point. The harder the foreigner fights the dirtier and more unethical the Chinese boss will become.

I personally saw dozens of foreigners come and go because they couldn’t adapt to the unreasonable demands and chaotic nature of Chinese business transactions. The contract will always start out in the honeymoon stage where there will be many promises of future benefit, glory and success. Mainland Chinese business people always use this as a hook to catch the business. Whatever you say you want they will promise to get it for you. They will claim to want only certain things but this will only be partially true. They always hide their true intent and goal (to make more money at your expense).

The Westerner will be good natured, honest and straightforward but in China this is one of the greatest mistakes one can make. One can never openly express their true goals and desires. This will become a weakness as it will be at the beginning used to attract the business and sustain it successful but gradually it will be changed to a tool to manipulate the other party.

An excellent example can be illustrated through the story of one of my co-workers. She was a German engineer and instructor at the Chang Chun FAW automobile factory (the biggest in China). She worked part time at one of the schools I worked at. She was a typical German business person: professional, well dressed, impeccably organized, always on time and perfectly efficient. In a Westerners perspective she was an ideal employee.

However there was a minor problem. She also worked at the FAW automobile factory, which meant she had another schedule to keep. In China that is a major ‘clash of interests’. Foreigners employed in China are jealously guarded by their boss, who has taken the trouble to employee the foreigner. Of course, the boss will not assist in fulfilling their obligations to provide proper visas/immigration paperwork, salary, good working conditions, housing and other such promises. In essence the boss does nothing while requiring everything.

Working at a different organization is a big no-no because the boss would prefer to have a foreigner work a few hours for them, pay them a little and restrict their freedom. The foreigner will struggle with practically no pay and not being able to work another job, earn more money, provide higher quality work, enjoy a high quality of life, happiness and improve themselves.

Even though the German teacher had been verbally promised that having another job wouldn’t be a problem the contract said otherwise. Because the boss did not have a full monopoly over the teacher he spitefully began to create problems. They constantly changed her schedule which contradicted with her original job. This was used as an excuse to blame her for not being able to teach the required classes. The German teacher refused to accept a lower pay rate or late salary and the battle really begin. Like all similar struggles I saw it was highlighted with a few intense confrontations which did not involve the mysterious boss who only gave commands but never actually showed his face. It only involved a lower level nicer individual who took the brunt of the foreigner’s anger and wasn’t authorized to accept any compromises. Everything had to be relayed back to the big boss and this constantly stalled everything. One day the German teacher did not show up and I knew that she also had fallen prey to the unethical behavior which is so common in China.

I on the other hand enjoyed great success. I patiently accepted every setback but firmly stood my ground. If the message bearer of the boss told me that I wouldn’t be paid on time I would smile and quietly say that I would be unable to come to work after a certain number of days. Phone calls would be made and salary would be promised. Normally a foreigner would go away happy but I knew that this was only a front. When I would come back on the designated day of course the salary would not be prepared. As expected, they would demand that I teach the classes without pay anyway. I would simply smile and say that I would be back 10 minutes before the class started. If I was paid on time then I would teach. If not, I would return home and await payment. There were always groans of complaint, constant berating for not being a responsible teacher, and plenty of excuses. I simply waited and would get paid where as other foreigner would have exploded and pulled out a contract and pointed out of their grievances.

In China you can never openly express anger. This is the easier way to offend someone who will hate you as long as you live, your children and their children. Even though the contract is always ignored, obligations are unmet; quality is poor one must not openly express anger. Of course, anger and insults will be expressed to the foreigner but one must simply ignore this. 5 minutes later everything will be ok and life will be good again.

Every organization I worked with in China displayed the same typical behavior: late pay, poor quality, unfulfilled promises, inconvenient or outrageous demands, the ignoring of the contract, and eventually intentional problems created to find fault in me. This is to be expected. The foreigner in China will predictably try to be patient and understanding, but this will come to an end when the problems don’t stop. Eventually they will break off the relationship or business transaction because they feel the situation isn’t fair. They of course are correct but they will not be able to continue to do business.

As previously explained a contract is only a superficially symbolic document which has no real legal or business value. Contracts in China are expressed through intangible relationships. The stronger and healthier the relationship, the more success there will be. I think that the idea of “social contract” can be used to explain how Americans approach this situation. The “social contract” is an idea which generally states that people give up certain rights in order to obtain social order. We represent these rights through a firm legal framework, social rules, and contracts. In China they have a “relationship contract” where the relationships, not law, are the guiding principles in society and business transactions.

Particularistic societies such as China focus more on relationships and believe that every situation is different and therefore behavior must be adapted accordingly. The company must be prepared to patiently deal with unexpected situations that will surely arise. The company must be flexible and bend the rules in order to satisfy business partners.

b) Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualistic cultures focus on individual people first and the group second. From individuals a collective group can be formed. Social relationships are much more relaxed and flexible. Independence and self reliability are important. This of course leads to many individuals becoming self orientated, which can lead to positive things like innovation and the realization of personal ambitions but also negative things like selfishness and inability to cooperate. In short, ‘I’ is the most important word.

On the other hand, collective cultures focus on the group first and the individual second. From the group, individuals can be separated. Interdependence and group loyalty are important. The positive aspects are that people within a collective culture can have strong group cohesion and sense of togetherness. The negative aspects are that many people will be overly dependant, un-independent, uncreative and ignore personal problems for the good of the group. For this group ‘we’ is the most important word.
A company from an individualistic culture wishing to do business in a collective culture must be ready to focus on group harmony and meeting collective needs. The group needs must be paid more attention to (even though it might be detrimental to certain individuals). On the outside this might seem to be a very noble and note worthy cause yet in China it is only a façade. Asian cultures are collective but China is really the ultimate individualist society where greed, corruption, and treachery are rampant. This is very hard to accept and the Chinese deal with this by ignoring it, blaming others or becoming angry at the slightest analysis of China.
On the outside China seems to be very group orientated. Family and friends are close, business relationships are intimate, everybody eats together while sharing the same dishes, rides the bus together and is proud of their collective history. This is what textbooks, culture guides and so called “Old China Hands” will faithfully attest to. However, it couldn’t be furthest from the truth.
Chinese businesses transactions are jealously watched over by different individuals who all want to curry favor and steal the success. So if one wants to be successful in China they must establish meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with the individuals in power, not the company itself. Chinese companies are led by clans with powerful leaders and their own followers. If something detriment happens suddenly a boss will leave and many will follow. Chinese group dynamics are clan based to its best if the foreigners align themselves with all of the clans involved but work closely with the most powerful.
Once a trustworthy and healthy relationship is formed with the biggest players then everything will fall to place. The only reason why there are problems with quality, lateness, mix ups, etc is because the foreigner is working with a small fry who pretends to be big. An intimate alignment with the big boss means that whatever you request, he commands and it will be done.
Americans support a much different style of group behavior. Individuals are encouraged to be innovated, personalize their work and take responsibility for the company. This is opposite in China where these actions would seriously jeopardize a Chinese person situation. In China standing out and being different is discouraged and can lead to loss of face, employment and quality of life.
Chinese are very individualistic but their personality and modes of expression have been censored and limited. For their own safety they are very reserved and socially bland. It wasn’t 50 years ago when…

c) Neutral vs. Emotional

Neutral cultures, like China, are much more careful about how emotions are expressed. Oftentimes emotions are masked and direct emotionally confrontation is avoided. In emotional cultures, like America, emotions are expressed more naturally and directly. In America emotions within an organization are quite direct and straightforward. Talking behind people’s backs and beating around the bush are discouraged. This clarifies information and cuts down on miscommunication. In China and the China business world everybody beats around the bush and purposely miscommunicates and limits information in order to protect themselves and gain the advantage.

When dealing with a neutral culture it is important to understand that everything is usually not what it seems. Every situation and the relationships within the situation must be carefully post-analyzed before a final decision can be made. My negotiation experience in China proves this point: emotions are often deceptive and only superficial. They are used to manipulate the situation. It takes many years to fully and more deeply understand individuals/groups and how they really feel.

While Chinese might seem more conservative and quiet they are just as emotional and expressive. American’s tend to encourage the direct expression of feelings while China is the opposite. Sometimes emotions are a tool which is purposely used to cause a reaction. This can be very difficult to understand if it happens during the negotiation process. For example, a normally quiet Chinese coworker suddenly shouting and getting upset over a small matter and then 5 minutes later calmly drinking tea would be very confusing to an America.

Often times the emotions are used to manipulate, confuse and guard true inner feelings. This is all in the Chinese communication game. No matter what is said one must not become too involved and over reactive (even if the situation is outrageous and unfair). The Chinese always use emotions as prodding stick to test the waters and get reactions. Many foreigners react by verbally exploding and challenging the unfair treatment.

Personal anecdote

Many times the Chinese bosses I worked for and Chinese bosses I was familiar with used emotions to control people. One way would be to purposely make outrageous demands or accusations while smiling and speaking calmly. Of course the recipient would over react emotionally. This would make the person look foolish, out of control and unprofessional. Normally very volatile statements are made with a smile and calm face. This protects the speaker while damaging the listener who will always logically over react.

One time while I was insisting on getting paid on time one boss suddenly announced that certain students had bruises and accused me of physically beating the students while teaching them. Also, she claimed that I had been stealing student’s food and textbooks. It was a typical ploy: the Chinese business person is guilty yet turns the tables to accuse the other person. This draws attention away from their obvious faults.

When dealing with this boss I patiently endured their unethical and unfair treatment while subtly preparing myself for the predictable final confrontation ahead. One time this boss refused to pay salary for one month, then suddenly relived all the teachers from classes for another month and stalled to pay the teachers until the end of the third month. She did this because the teachers kept demanding fair treatment, timely salary and their legal paperwork to be handed over to them. Instead she kept the legal documents all locked up in the school safe. So all together it was 3 months without pay. I had already saved up and was prepared so I didn’t have any problems. Other teachers didn’t fare so well and the problems worsened until near the end of the year when one teacher became so frustrated they stopped teaching and was subsequently fired. The boss refused to pay the final salary so the teacher stayed in their apartment (which was being paid for by the boss).

Previously the boss had been openly praising and overtly paying this teacher more money while accusing and criticizing me as previously mentioned. Suddenly I was the star teacher and received favorable treatment. As expected the boss suddenly canceled my contract and agreed to pay part of the final salary and bonus. Of course, I was accused of stealing items from the apartment and they simply withheld half of the salary which didn’t even equal the purported amount of stolen items.

Like many Chinese bosses, she expressed different emotions according to her needs. She cried when necessary and begged teachers to be more responsible and mature. She shouted and yelled over minor problems yet salaciously smiled and invited me out to drink coffee after terminating my contract one month early and evicting me the same day.

Emotions are a manipulative tool. When dealing with the Chinese in business transactions one must ask the following questions: what do they really want, what are the real intentions, what do they hope to get out of this?

Chinese business people always think of their own wants and needs first. They mask their emotions and pretend to be eager to please the foreign party. Over time their demands will become higher while providing less. Prices are raised while quality is lowered. Time of payment must be on the same day while delivery time will be weeks late. Unless a foreign organization is able to understand and stand up to this kind of behavior they will be bullied into submission.

Therefore during the business relationship and subsequent transactions one must play it cool by not over reacting or responding too quickly. One must take their time and do as the Chinese do: patiently wait to fully understand before any decisions are made. If the decisions are made they will be only half hearted and the out come will depend on the reactions to the plans.

d) Specific vs. Diffuse

Specific cultures, like America, have a separate private and public life. The private space tends to be small and concrete. Americans compartmentalize the different activities of their lives and adapt their personality accordingly. This means the manager of a company is assertively active at work; yet while attending a PTA meeting is quiet and passive; at

Diffuse cultures care more about face and social appearances. There can be sometimes less privacy because relationships tend to get very close in the business world. With a diffuse culture there needs to be more time spend on developing relationships and trust.

I think the most difficult one to deal with is a diffuse culture. In Asia communication always had to be carefully worded. In the words of Confucius “think three times before you act.” In the business world the Chinese are encouraged to be quiet, conservative and preserve face. It is difficult to jump head first into a problem and openly communicate because others resist the open confrontation of ideas. I remember so many times asking direct questions and never getting a straight answer. It can be very frustrating but the key is to ‘ask the right question.’

Full communication is for those who are trusted and respected. I would like to provide an example from personal experience. As a foreign stranger in China it was difficult to get good service. If you were a regular and there was face involved you would get everything you wanted. So many times I went into a store and asked for goods which were right in front of my face – always the clerks simply ignored me even when I pointed to what I was asking. “We don’t have any,” would be the response. Many foreigners would feel angry and frustrated but it always seemed to me that face and level of respect mattered a lot. When I knew the owner of an establishment it always guaranteed first rate service (even discounts). If I didn’t know the owner then it would be more difficult to get good service. It might sound abstractly confusing, but I think that face isn’t just about social prestige and appropriate social treatment but also how individuals concerned about face treat others and limit their behavior to protect themselves. (Speaking to a foreigner breaks traditional social habits and some people avoid foreigners)

e) Achievement vs. Ascription

American is an achievement culture. What you do or the amount of personalized effort matter the most. A question might be asked ‘what do you do?” The response “I work for a — company. I put myself through school and I am currently a —“. Your status depends on your personal achievement.

In an ascriptive culture the response would be influenced by background, birth, gender, status, age, and connections. Normally when I asked Chinese students to introduce themselves it focused on the status of the university they attended or the position in the company. It was never directly admitted but I could see that everybody’s status was determined by the university they attended and the subsequent job they had. There was always the oddball, a poor hardworking farmer who had worked his way through school and had a good job. Individuals like this person would sometimes be looked down upon.
Once I got to know students they always introduced themselves and their family based on their social position/power and connections.

Chinese power dynamics

The collective behavior is determined by those in power, who come form the politically powerful upper socio-economic class. Political power means social and business power. Politics, Business and organized crime go hand in hand in China. Educated Chinese people often joke that China has the largest organized crime syndicate in the world: the Communist government.
Within a Chinese organization there will be different groups which struggle for power. They all work to gain the advantage, maintain and develop lucrative relationships, and work their way up the social power ladder.
Chinese group behavior and norms are determined by the boss. To be a boss in China means you have power. You can either give life or destroy life. If a coworker or maverick individual gives you trouble you can send out thugs to harass, threaten and physically attack. China is a thugocracy. So the collective group depends on unethical individuals to control and guide their behavior, not the other way around. Many people (including Chinese literati) criticize Chinese for being sheep like, passive, and brainwashed. Most Chinese are aware of the situation but they are powerless to change it. They simply bit the bullet and accept the way things are in order to survive.
When dealing with business transactions it is important to work with and please the boss who has the real power. While many individuals involved in the business will brag and act big they are most likely small potatoes. The real boss is the one who is unseen yet his policies are everywhere. It is very difficult to meet the real boss face to face. Many powerful bosses purposely avoid being directly involved and have their bidding done through scapegoats, who take the blame for all the problems.
I experienced this many times personally. At the first school I worked as time passed and the bosses unethical behavior become progressively worse the boss became more and more difficult to see. The boss would refuse to pay salary or overtime, suddenly cancel or add classes, stall on sponsoring the visa/immigration paperwork and even steal the foreigners work permit. All of this was supposed to intimidate and control the foreigners, who inevitably rebelled.
At the beginning the boss would always invite everybody out to a nice dinner and then at the end break the news. This only worked so many times. Each time we met to discuss the problems the boss would rely on a minion translator who would explain everything and give the same excuses over and over again. It didn’t matter if you were bleeding to death you would still get the same lame excuses. Over time some foreigners became very upset and verbally expressed their outrage. Suddenly the boss would not be available. Every time there was a meeting the boss would give an excuse and not show up at the last moment. The minion of the boss would inform the teachers about how the problems had been unresolved and how their issues were irrelevant.
Teachers who continued to stubbornly defend their rights and demand fair treatment would eventually be fired. Everything would be done to harass the teacher. The boss, being a powerful figure, would contact every educational institute and spread lies about how horrible the foreigners were. I helped many foreigners find jobs when they could not due to situations like this.

Culture: relationship and rules

Due to different factors (face, traditions, social hierarchy, constant proximity, extended families, etc) relationships are much more sensitive to change and complicated in certain countries. The relationships you have determine the reaction of certain individuals to rules. These rules can be legal, social and corporate.

Asians tend to pay much closer attention to smaller details and interpret them in more meaningful ways. American’s tend to brush off smaller things (this is considered petty) and try to be more open and accepting. (This is a generalization of group behavior and in no way can collectively sum up the behavior of every individual. There are always exceptions to every rule).

A relationship is a double edged sword and must be treated that way. If you have a strong relationship you might find the sword is your protector. If you fail to maintain a relationship you might find the sword to be your financial doom.

In Asia every day effort must be extended to maintain and develop relationships. This can be a huge problem for American’s who aren’t used to focusing so much seemingly worthless time and energy into a relationship which immediately has no value. I had a very difficult time when I had to deal with business (mafia/government) leaders.

Cultural Divide

I think the culture divide can be understood as different kinds of ‘gaps’. There is an income cap, a culture gap, an education gap, a social gap, etc. The ‘gap’ merely means there is a difference between the individuals and this means there is usually a hierarchy. Rich vs. poor, educated vs. uneducated, cultured vs. uncultured, etc.

These gaps come into play as individuals within a corporation interact. Social groups are formed and members are expected to play by their culturally assignment role. The boss can take extra time off for lunch because they are the boss. The worker should stay later and work without overtime because they are the worker.

Recognizing differences

The process of recognizing differences one the one hand can be enlightening but on the other hand can produce prejudice and hate. If you delve deeply in a culture’s traditions and ideas it can sometimes be quite sensitive to those involved. After teaching American English and Culture classes for years in China I found that no matter what there were always individuals who had trouble reconciling differences. This took the form of ethnocentrisms, prejudice and hate. It is the same for everyone regardless of nationality. Recognizing differences can produce an uncomfortable feeling which must be acted up (usually in the form of cultural racism and put downs)

It has been sociologically proven that one of the ways to overcome prejudices and allow individuals to not only recognize but accept diverse differences is through positive and cooperative interaction.

Status within a culture

To figure out how a society sets status within a culture we must first look at what are the cultural values. Most all cultures rate status according to socio-economic level. Society and culture sets an ideal standard for individuals to work towards. Every individual reacts differently to their cultural/social experiences. Their status reflects personal achievements and culturally approved success.

Merton’s theory of deviance can shed light on this: there are five basic reactions to “a discontinuity between cultural goals and the legitimate means available for reaching them”. They are conformity, innovation, ritualism , retreatism and rebellion. Individuals who confirm, innovate, and ritualize are socially/culturally accepted while those who retreat or rebel are not accepted.

Thus if you overtly play by the rules and “win” (or covertly and unethically play by the rules and “win”) a high social status is conferred.

Time and past/present/future oriented societies

Each culture has its own specific perspective about time. Not only that but each culture has its own orientation in regards to the past, present and future. To briefly explain the three time orientations: a present orientated society focuses on current events and goals. A past orientated society focuses on tradition and what happened before. A future orientated society look forward to change and developments.

China is an extremely past orientated culture/society. Because China developed in a set geographical area the same traditions, ideas, values, beliefs have been handed down over thousands of years. Some have even survived the Communist regime’s propaganda and white washing. China has a history of 4,000 years old.

Being geographically isolated and sharing a common culture had very special influences on the Chinese society. Other influences include Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and other schools of religion/philosophy.

Behavior is governed by keeping history, tradition, ancestors, culture and society in mind. American’s are obsessed with obtaining and enjoying today which might not be there in the future. On the other hand, traditional Chinese thought focuses on the past but many will admit that China is stuck in a past orientation.

Time to the Chinese is a cyclical motional, like the Buddhist reincarnation wheel of life – all beings are constantly reborn as they struggle to attain enlightenment and free themselves from the burden of earthly life. Control and proactive action during life is very important. It all comes down to timing. Timing is controlled through limited communication and information. Chairman Mao, the leader of the Communist revolution and founder of China based his revolutionary ideas on ancient Chinese warfare and modern guerilla tactics. The key to success was hunkering down and waiting until the right chance came along.

How does the components of culture relate to my business?

Many of the above mentioned components of culture are necessary to understand in order to be successful in China. Relationships, or guanxi, are a must. The success of a foreign business in China depends on the strength and power of your contacts and social network. Nothing can be done without having connections. This is all part of the Chinese culture, which emphasizes taking your time in order to guarantee long term success and mutually beneficial relationships.

Social status is also very important, as are titles, business cards, seating arrangements and other certain business protocol behavior. A lack of understanding will be verbally acknowledged with politeness but the real damage will be hidden from view. Emotions are always hidden in China and used as a tool. A sudden outburst might lead to sudden contract agreement and reconciliation. The key is to not react and play things by ear.