Common Cultural Traits in Asia (2 of 3)

The Importance of Personal Network

Personal Network (or alternatively known as guanxi in Chinese, ningen kankei in Japanese) is mentioned in many literatures. To get things done in East Asia, it’d be easier to utilize a personal network of family members, relatives, friends, business partners, and government officials. Although the effect of guanxi has been exaggerated to a certain extent, it is common experience of business people that getting support from a few key contacts or pushing certain “hot buttons” can greatly facilitate the resolution of difficult problems. Although in a sense this also happens in the West, people in US or Europe tend to observe and stick to procedures, formal processes, rules and regulations, whereas Asians in general are easily influenced by personal relationship.

The Concept of Shade

Yin-Yang is another essential concept in East Asia. Chinese traditional thinking emphasizes the importance of maintaining a harmonious state between yin and yang in almost everything, resulting in notions that pervade in all aspect of life – balance, harmony, equilibrium, and steadiness. The ideal state is not a state that goes to one extreme, but rather between extremes. It also leads to the concept of shade, an area between black and white, or yin and yang. It can even be both yin and yang. Chinese and Japanese can usually accept ambiguities in business, can go ahead with a business deal without contract, and try to resolve an issue from the perspective of balance and equilibrium. This also shows in daily conversation, as few Chinese or Japanese will say things too definitive.

Humbleness

Being perceived as modest and humble is a virtue in East Asia. People showing off their possessions, knowledge or achievement are usually seen by the others as arrogant, and therefore in negative light. A common mistake for Western managers in China or Japan is that they appear too dominating in meetings, or to put forth their objections too blatantly. East Asians tend to be very quiet in meetings partly due to their upbringing and partly to their acting humble. They want to appear as modest by not saying too much, and even if they have to raise different viewpoints they would use words very carefully and indirectly.

To be continued...

Copyright © 2008 Knowledge Century Limited.

Common Cultural Traits in Asia (1 of 3)

East Asian cultures are heavily shaped by traditions and thinking of Buddhism and Confucianism (whereas Central Asia is strongly influenced by Islam, South Asia by Islam and Hinduism, and Southeast Asia by Buddhism and Islam). (Cauquelin, Mayer-König & Lim, 1998) In East Asia the ideas of yin-yang, duty-based society, obedience to power, and personal network have been recurring themes. The followings are several cultural characteristics that appear consistently in most studies of East Asian cultures and values:

Face The concept of face (mianzi in Chinese) is very important in East Asia. Face is loosely associated with respect, but at a more superficial level. In most occasions, it’s critical not to make a person lose face in front of the others, regardless of the respect borne by the same group. To make a person lose face is equivalent to insult. This code of conduct can lead to phony behavior or sometimes extreme pretense. Foreign speakers in China or Japan have the following common experience. Accompanied by an interpreter, the speaker told a joke which received loud laughter and applause from the audience. Afterwards in a dinner, he was told by his local colleague that the interpreter did not actually translate his joke. Instead the interpreter told the audience that “the speaker just told a joke which I don’t think you’d find funny but please laugh anyway.” And the audience dutifully laughed and applauded. This is an example of saving face even for a guest people barely know.

We vs. They Mentality The concept of ‘we’ group (ingroup) in contrast to ‘they’ group (outgroup) was defined by Hofstede (1990). This is related to his individualism-collectivism construct. In general ‘we’ group is associated with collectivistic cultures. The ‘we’ group members in a narrow sense include family members and close friends and, in a broad sense people with a common race, religion, or political orientations. East Asians engage more easily in conflict with ‘they’ group members than with ‘we’ group members. In the business world, the mentality of they applies to people outside of one’s company or one’s industry, or foreign companies.

To be continued...

Copyright © 2008 Knowledge Century Limited.

Defining Geography and Methodology

Geography - Which Asian Countries?

We first try to define which Asian countries are to be covered here. The most common way to divide up and identify all Asian countries is listed below:

• East Asia: China, Hong Kong S.A.R., Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan
• South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
• Central Asia: Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
• Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
• AustraAsia: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Island Countries, Papua New Guinea

This paper will focus on East Asia and will touch upon South Asia and Southeast Asia. Central Asia and AustraAsia will not be covered.

Theoretical Framework

Culture is “everything that people has, think, and do as members of their society.” (Ferraro, 1997) Culture of a society evolves over many generations from religion, belief, history, and pervading values. Culture can affect people’s attitude, behavior, ethics, communication patterns, and etiquettes. (Blake, Walker, & Walker, 1995)

External behaviors originate from internal values, which cover the following: truth, honesty, harmony, order, liberty, democracy, justice, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, patience, love, respect, family and kinship, friendship, politeness, education, wisdom. (Cauquelin, Mayer-König & Lim, 1998) It’s generally agreed that Asian values are different from Western values in substantial ways, despite the fact that over the past fifty years or so they come much closer due to increasing interaction between the two worlds.

Of particular significance to the study of culture and its implication to work is Hofstede’s four dimensions of work-related values. (Hofstede, 1980) The four dimensions are: Individualism-Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity-Femininity. They provide a useful framework for our analysis of cultural behaviors in Asia.

This paper will use the Hofstede’s four dimensions of work-related values as a basis for dissecting values and behaviors. We will focus on (1) project management and other related issues; and (2) the practical aspects of all these studies as applying to real-life project delivery in Asia. In particular, there will be in-depth discussion on several areas that a project manager will be particularly interested in namely, Authority, Conflicts and Their Resolution, Team Motivation, and Negotiation.

To be continued...

Copyright © 2008 Knowledge Century Limited.