Few Chinese have been conditioned to equate time with money.When foreign businesspeople arrive in China at the end of a long journey,most Chinese do not expect them to immediately rush into business.Their first priority is to get the visitors settled into their hotels and give them an opportunity to rest up.And generally they will politely but firmly reject any attempt by visitors to alter this routine
Chinese who are involved in international business are generally familiar with the Western "time is money" concept.However,they do not automatically relate it to the pace of business,particularly to first meetings and negotiations,before business actually starts.Since there often appears to be no set time frame for the length or extent of negotiations,they use that to their advantage in dealing with foreigners
One tactic that the foreign side can use to help limit negotiation time is to announce up front that,because of economic or other circumstances that cannot be changed,there is a deadline.These circumstances should be expalined in detail to avoid any suspicion that the tactic is nothing more than that.Given the Chinese mind-set and business environment,however,any deadline should be reasonably long and flexible enough to prevent it from eliminating the possibility of success.
Despite having invented clocks (for astronomical purposes,not to impose controls on personal behavior),the Chinese never defined or segmented time as was done in the West.To most Chinese today,time simply flows from one day to the next.If a job isn't done today,maybe it will be done the next day or the next.It takes a substantial amount of reconditioning to program the Chinese to pattern their work and productivity on the Western time frame.
Another aspect of traditional Chinese behavior that clashes with the Western way is their custom of giving precedence to the form and process of doing things rather than actually doing them.This generally adds to the amount of time it takes to do things and is a habit that is difficult for the Chinese to break.In an office or factory setting,the only way to work through this problem is to create a well-defined work procedure that can be explained and demonstrated.It is also helpful to be patient and persistent in retraining your employees. Few Chinese have been conditioned to equate time with money.When foreign businesspeople arrive in China at the end of a long journey,most Chinese do not expect them to immediately rush into business.Their first priority is to get the visitors settled into their hotels and give them an opportunity to rest up.And generally they will politely but firmly reject any attempt by visitors to alter this routine
Chinese who are involved in international business are generally familiar with the Western "time is money" concept.However,they do not automatically relate it to the pace of business,particularly to first meetings and negotiations,before business actually starts.Since there often appears to be no set time frame for the length or extent of negotiations,they use that to their advantage in dealing with foreigners
One tactic that the foreign side can use to help limit negotiation time is to announce up front that,because of economic or other circumstances that cannot be changed,there is a deadline.These circumstances should be expalined in detail to avoid any suspicion that the tactic is nothing more than that.Given the Chinese mind-set and business environment,however,any deadline should be reasonably long and flexible enough to prevent it from eliminating the possibility of success.
Despite having invented clocks (for astronomical purposes,not to impose controls on personal behavior),the Chinese never defined or segmented time as was done in the West.To most Chinese today,time simply flows from one day to the next.If a job isn't done today,maybe it will be done the next day or the next.It takes a substantial amount of reconditioning to program the Chinese to pattern their work and productivity on the Western time frame.
Another aspect of traditional Chinese behavior that clashes with the Western way is their custom of giving precedence to the form and process of doing things rather than actually doing them.This generally adds to the amount of time it takes to do things and is a habit that is difficult for the Chinese to break.In an office or factory setting,the only way to work through this problem is to create a well-defined work procedure that can be explained and demonstrated.It is also helpful to be patient and persistent in retraining your employees.