Business Culture of Singapore and China - Term Paper Example

The Comparative Analysis of Singapore and China: With the Focus on Business Culture AFFILIATION: Contents Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Cultural Analysis of Singapore and China 5 Collectivism vs. Individualism 5 Masculinity vs. Feminism 6 Future vs. Past Orientation 6 Globalization and Nationalism 7 Specific vs. General Direction 7 Emotions vs. Purpose 8 Conclusion 8 References 9 The Comparative Analysis of Singapore and China: With the Focus on Business Culture Introduction The culture is recognized as the software of human mind, and therefore, they derive the sense of right and wrong from their cultural, religious, and social practices. However, there are significant differences in culture that can influence business practices in immeasurable ways. The businesses have to align their practices according to the cultural outlook of the geographical locations in that they are operating or they plan to operate in the near future. In the light of Hofstede’s study, one can see that there are multiple dimensions to the phenomenon commonly known as culture. The experts can measure the very nature of any culture by using the milestone work of Hofstede. The framework will be applied to compare and contrast the cultures of Singapore and China. The former one is a service based economy whereas, the latter one is a production-oriented society (Alfaro, Chanda, Kalemli-Ozcanc, & Sayek, 2004). The economic and fiscal focus of both the economies differ notably, and because of this very reason, it is imperative for us to study both of them in order to guide those employees who are shifting from Singapore to China to find out better employment. The Singaporean economy is in turmoil because people do not have sufficient disposable incomes to spare that they can use to have a tour to the country that made its living out of providing tourism services to the foreigners in the past. However, times are changing, and the nations cannot think about ensuring their survival in the long-term perspective without integrating a viable sector of production in their local environments. The Chinese have made a sensible choice by focusing on productive industry that produces tangible products such as automobiles, defense technologies and domestic products as well. The products cannot go out of demand because people need them all the time in order to fulfill their needs and wants of basic nature (Clair, 2008). The fundamental model of car appeared to be as a requirement of living in the modern era because everyone needs to have their own travelling solution so that they do not have to face the indignities of transiting in public transport. The Chinese do not produce luxury cars and vans as their European and American friends do. However, South Asian economic giant is working to produce basic cars and vans that their target populations can afford. The Chinese have put in a considerable amount of effort in order to create demand for its products in adjacent economies such as India, and Sri Lanka. The human resources who have experience in their fields are looking for jobs and some of them are seeking to establish their businesses in China because of the booming nature of the economy. The investments from Singapore are being diverted to China in great numbers because profitability is substantially growing in the Chinese territory (Flatters & Willmott, 2009). The cultural differences have to be managed by the new companies in order to remain on the good side of locals because they do not treat foreigners with much of the fondness. Literature Review The globalized economy means that we are talking about a borderless world where national systems are fighting in order to gain favorable amount of Foreign Direct Investments from all over the world. The governments intervene in order to create attractive economic climate so that investors can pour their hard earned money into the country from where they hope to earn healthy degree of return on investment (Byrne & Strobi, 2004). On the other hand, Chinese economic system has a focus on strategic cost reduction in order to earn greater levels of margins with the passage of time. The foreign businesses have to follow the same corporate regime in order to have their economic goals fulfilled, but the cultural sensitivity has to remain an important aspect of the strategy that the international businesses have to craft to help their operations in China. Firstly, they have to ensure that they follow eccentric approach towards recruitment and selection of employees. The frontline ones have to be locals so that they could give the companies a localized touch, and in this way, the customers and stakeholders will not feel alienated while dealing with the organizations. The companies have to drive down their costs, but at the same time, they have to offer the clientele with enough value in order to cultivate loyalty amongst them as well (Flatters & Willmott, 2009). They do not have the strategic choice to give up on the due process of innovation in the Chinese market because if they commit that kind of fatal mistake then, their survival will become a question mark to say the least. The businesses that are trying to establish themselves in China have to learn some lessons from their Singaporean friends who did not innovate, and expected the circumstances to remain favorable at all times, and in the future as well. The Singaporean government did not intervene into the economic conditions of the country, and hoped with the best intentions that fiscal boom will continue forever (Byrne & Strobi, 2004). The focus of the country sustained at tourism industry far too long, and the revenues started to come down, as global demand for tourism industry offed immediately after the force of recession clutched the developed parts of the world. The disposable income lowered, and suddenly the economy of Singapore was crippled beyond repair to say the least. Whole of the economic degeneration took place because the government did not have the heart to fully benefit from the industrial potential of the country, and therefore, the economy developed into a services hub that had a focus of tourism services. However, the country initiated as a service based one that was a wrong strategic decision in the light of economic theory. The nations work their way up from agriculture towards rapid industrialization, and then, they emerge as service based ones after developing knowledge base about their core industrial products and services (Honig, 2004). The tourism industry does not have the potential to become a leading horse in terms of GDP’s generation because its demand is too volatile in nature that makes it hard for the businessmen to trust the trends of the market for even a second. Cultural Analysis of Singapore and China Following is the cultural analysis of both the countries in the light of Hofstede’s findings:- Collectivism vs. Individualism The Singaporean culture is individualistic in nature, but the Chinese one has strong collectivist characteristics (Hofstede, 1994). The Chinese are so committed to social concerns that they have modified the democratic regime of government in order to serve their psycho-national regime that outweighs the needs of the many over those of the few. In this way, one can infer that government has formed a stricter setup of collecting taxation, and the offices take hard action against those who want or attempt to flee the system (Drake, Aos, & Mller, 2009). The Singapore does not have an effective taxation network, and they are following informal business culture because they are operating in the industry of hospitality majorly, and therefore, the wish of the customer is their command (Cooper, 2004 ). They are allegedly running prostitution business in order to fulfill the dark needs of the clientele who they host from all around the globe. The culture of China does have to offer a favorable playground for those who are interested in hospitality industry because of growing tourism demand in the region. The global human resource industry is tilting in order to find out new jobs and business opportunities in China so there will be a boost in real estate industry, and hospitality as well. The Singapore works and operates in order to serve the needs of the few, and they follow Marxism as a national philosophy. However, their Chinese counterparts operate with a completely divergent mindset, and they work to enhance the quality of life that general public is spending. Masculinity vs. Feminism The China has the culture of male dominance, and females do not make up to the highest ranks of organizations in different fields of life. However, they join the workforce as salesgirls, and teachers in most of the cases (Hofstede, 1994). The strategic leadership roles are reversed for males. The Singaporean nation is more of the feminist in nature, and therefore, the females are more strongly present in the workforce. The overpowered presence of females in the world of hospitality because they have a soothing affect on the tensed nerves of guests who want to relax from their busy routines in the cherished environment of lake views, and beaches of sophisticated nature (Butler, 2004). The females in the featured society do not operate powerfully, but they have to exist and survive with the help of using their bodies as the tools of attraction for the guests. The females have to end up as toys in the hands of the riches (Cheung & Halpern, 2010), and therefore, both of the societies are masculinally charged, but the nature of the phenomenon has different natures in both of the national cases. The Chinese use the females as eye-candies, but socially females are respected, and Singaporeans do not pay social regards to the second gender, and they have to engage in physical labor in order to earn their bread and butter (Daniel, 2004). The businesses in China have to bestow males with the organizational power, and females have to perform clerical jobs at best because the culture will not accept them as leaders in any field of life. Future vs. Past Orientation The Chinese are planning to have great national times in the future because they are passing by the stages of industrial development with the speed of light. However, their Singaporean friends do not have that ability and much required power to predict the future industrial needs so they wanted historical regime to continue in the times that are different from those that have passed recently. The Chinese are working their way out from early stages and phases of industrial development, and they are experiencing a trend of transition into a service-based one with the passage of time. The abovementioned discussion proved that Singaporean and Chinese cultures have past and future orientations respectively (Honig, 2004). The professionals who plan to engage in the latterly mentioned economy need to commit themselves to the notion of personal and organizational development in order to ensure their survival in the challenging market of the country. Globalization and Nationalism The Chinese have attached themselves the concept of globalization as strongly as possible because they have to feed the largest population of humans in the world. They are creating demand for their products and services worldwide (Hofstede, 1994), their Singaporean friends do not have such plans, and they are attempting to uphold their nationalistic identity in the globalized world. The business will develop the need to have global expansion within time, if they are planning to stay in the corporate game on a strategic level. Specific vs. General Direction The Singaporeans have the need to develop their national image with the help of tourism industry, but their Chinese associates need to have generalized socioeconomic growth so that all relevant fields with national development can contribute towards longitudinal development in all fields and professions of life (Hofstede, 1994). The businesses cannot focus on one or two fields, and therefore, they have to integrate entrepreneurial spirit in order to survive. Emotions vs. Purpose The Singapore has the culture of emotions, but Chinese have to work with the vision in order to stand up to the challenges of various kinds and natures. The former culture does not like foreigners entering the national system (Hofstede, 1994), but Chinese attract them in order to increase their share of FDI. Conclusion This document is developed in order to highlight, and discuss the cultural differences between Singapore, and China. The businesses have to operate more formally in order to last long in the politically charge market and economic arena of China because the system has a global focus, and the professionals and organizations have to exert their energies and competencies in order to have constant development so that their competitive advantage can remain validated in the long run. 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