(Derived from: Thomas, A., Schenk, E., & Heisel, W. (2015). Beruflich in China. Trainingsprogramm für Manager, Fach- und Führungskräfte. Handlungskompetenz im Ausland. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 5th edition)
OLD FRIENDS
Situation
Mr. Kohn is happy: For the second time in his career, he goes to China for a few years. During a business trip preceding his renewed mission, he contacts his old Chinese friend and former colleague with whom he has worked 15 years ago at the beginning of the now very successful joint venture. Mr. Guo is meanwhile employed by another company, but still lives in Beijing. Mr. Kohn is looking forward to meeting Guo, almost sentimentally he thinks back to the old days. They would have a lot to tell each other! Of course, Mr. Kohn has left the choice of the restaurant to Mr. Guo, and the latter had not foregone the opportunity to pick him up at the hotel. The limousine in which Guo drives up shows that Guo was successful.
A warm welcome, true enthusiasm. During the journey, Guo tells who else he has invited. Actually, Mr. Kohn had been prepared for a dinner for two, but now the meeting seems to take place on a bigger scale. Some of the names Guo enumerates are absolutely unknown to Mr. Kohn. And he can hardly remember the shared experiences with them which Guo describes. Is Guo messing up memories? Mr. Kohn hardly gets the opportunity to say a word, because in between Guo is talking on his phone. Even more people seem to come to this meal, as Guo proudly points out.
The restaurant is posh and the food is exquisite. But Mr Kohn is having an extremely exhausting evening. Afterwards he can hardly remember all the men with whom he had got acquaintance and with whom he had toasted to friendship, health, long life, success, respect and the like, who of them he knew before and who maybe not. But he was not even able to exchange three sentences in peace with Guo. Apparently the latter felt no need for it. So loud, hectic and noisy as the traffic in the streets of Beijing, so loud and noisy seemed the evening to Mr. Kohn. He doesn’t really know what he should think of his friend Guo.
How do you explain Guo’s strange behaviour? He was not interested in meeting with the two of them?
Interpretations
- Read carefully all the four answers
- Click on the interpretation that according to you is most adequate
Comment on a)
This answer is not correct. If Guo would not have been interested in having a meeting with Mr. Kohn, he would certainly have come up with an excuse why he is prevented, and would not even have met with him. Inviting more guests can be only interpreted as a sign of appreciation of the relationship with Mr. Kohn, since Guo must have put some effort inviting many people and paying for exquisite food in this classy restaurant. Back to the interpretations
Comment on b)
It is quite true in China that the effort that is put into organizing a social event, can be seen as an expression of appreciation for the other. From this perspective, Guo appears to be really interested in the friendship with Mr. Kohn. The expensive car in which he picks up Mr. Kohn and the choice of restaurant speaks just as much for it as the effort that Guo took in inviting guests. However, this is not the only reason for inviting so many people. Back to the interpretations
Comment on c)
This answer is certainly the most applicable. Quality contacts with as many people as possible in China are very important and are viewed by the Chinese themselves as a kind of social capital for which one has to work. The dinner arranged by Guo can therefore be seen as an attempt to help Mr. Kohn to build his own network of relationships. Further explanation
Comment on d)
It is right that networking, the so-called ‘Guanxi’, is considered to be of utmost importance in China. It is also right that the maintenance of these networks is a costly and time-consuming affair, since it obliges to meet people in person. But it is wrong to interprete the given situation in such a way that Guo would like to make as little work as possible for maintaining his relationships. In China much importance is given to who dines with whom and in what ambiance. In that light a mass handling of his relations, as this answer suggests, would be perceived as very negative for Guo, especially by his Chinese guests. Back to the interpretations
How to solve the situation?
In this situation, it is especially important to understand that Mr. Kohn is misinterpreting Guo’s behaviour. Guo is doing his German friend and colleague a favour by helping him, to establish already at a very early stage important contacts with a wide variety of people. Even if as a result of the large setting in which the dinner takes place his wish for a personal exchange between the two of them cannot be satisfied, Mr. Kohn would have done well to have as many conversations as possible during the meal, with the intention of finding out which contact could be of use one day. One should also make use of the ritualised exchange of business cards in China and create your own file with the business cards you have collected. It is also helpful to write down the business cards with a few key words directly after the meeting, which help you to classify the contact even after months. It is not considered strange in China if you contact someone half a year later and refer to the meal arranged by a mutual friend where you have met each other.
Cultural anchoring of the guanxi system
According to the Chinese, political and social events in the state and in society are closely related to the cosmic processes of heaven and nature. They imagine a comprehensive network of relations consisting of mutually influencing forces that bring about a social and cosmic harmony. These ideas are based on the concept of Yin and Yang. This harmonious system is maintained through mutual enrichment and complementation, as well as through the productive relationships of the various forces in in society, for example the civil servants and the emperor.
This concept of the philosophy of heaven and state was especially elaborated by the philosopher Dong Zhongshu in the Han period (ca. 206 B.C.-220 A.D.). This period was also regarded as the “Golden Age of China”, as the the essential philosophical directions and political ideologies of Daoism, Confucianism and Legalism.
cianism and legalism took then shape.
Every Chinese person today finds himself in a whole series of relationship networks that have different bases and contain different loyalties. The primary relationship
network is one’s own family. This can be extended by the common origin (tongxiang), whereby the common dialect, attendance at the same school (tongxiao) or even the
common family name (tongxing) determine the cohesion. With the experience of the Maoist-communist societal system, further categories have been added to the traditional guanxi system, such as, such as simultaneous entry in the party (which is the determining element in the party hierarchy), attendance at the same party
school, or “armed brotherhood” in the liberation struggle (same army unit). The relations between different people are based on this kind of central categories and commit them to mutual loyalty.
Through long-standing friendships and, of course, business relationships new guanxi can be built, where these relationships often develop and consolidate on the basis of the categories mentioned above. If a Chinese is interested in building up such a close relationship, but a corresponding basis for the development of guanxi is not available, it is not uncommon for to call in an intermediary who establishes relations with both partners, whereupon the desired guanxi is established and can be maintained.
From today’s perspective, it can be said that this concept may be more appropriate for a relatively closed and static feudal society, but not for a dynamic, open, modern society. With China’s increasing interconnectedness into the global economy, it is also becoming increasingly important for Chinese to establish contact with foreign business partners; and of course such business relationships will change frequently. However, one can observe that Chinese still expect the relationship to focus on mutual exchange and benefit.
Further explanation
‘Brussels sprouts’ stand for very oldfashioned narrow minded circles. It is associated with the 1950’s when Dutch employees were still very obedient to their boss. Nowadays they are used to have a lot of freedom in executing their job. Often they are far more competent in their field than their manager and have a well-based opinion which is taken very much seriously by their superior. Managers are seen as organisers and facilitators of the work. Many decisions can be taken by employees themselves and do not have to wait for consent of their boss. Employees are used to taking that responsibility and considered to be capable of weighing up what is best for the company.
Not only in their work but even more in private affairs the Dutch are used to decide for themselves what they want. And they grant the same freedom of choice to others. This is the basis of the famous Dutch tolerance. It does not mean that most Dutch are strongly in favour of using drugs, abortion, euthanasia and personal gender choice. But they strongly fight for the right of everybody to decide for himself. So that they themselves may enjoy the same freedom. They say: I do not care what others others do, as long as they do not bother me. Forward to the next case