Cultural Characteristics of China - Term Paper Example

Cultural Characteristics of China Introduction The performance and growth are among the key objectives pursued by the leadership and management of companies. The achievement of growth and improved performance is influenced by internal and external business environment. The organization has control over internal business environment. However, organizations have no control over most of the external factors affecting their operations. Therefore, they must be tactical in utilizing opportunities and reducing the threats posed by external factors. The first approach to operating effectively in an environment full of external business factors is seeking knowledge about the external environment to facilitate the adoption of appropriate strategies for managing the threats and utilizing opportunities. Culture is an external factor that the management and leadership of a company should consider when formulating and implementing business strategies. Cultural characteristics of a place determine the preferences, attitudes, practices and purchasing behaviors of consumers from a given population. Culture varies from one country, population, or community to another. This paper discusses Chinese cultural characteristics influencing the business environment in the country. Cultural Values An organization is made up of stakeholders, who come from the communities in which it operates. The culture of a country or a community influences how stakeholders engage in business transactions and their value system. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the management and leadership of an organization to ensure that its strategies are aligned with the cultural values of its stakeholders for sustainability and performance purposes. Cultural values influence how best employees can be best managed to achieve a high productivity. They also affect how consumers, community, and shareholders relate with an organization. Therefore, cultural values determine the relevance of a business enterprise within a given market. Chinese cultural values that influence business include guanxi, reciprocity, harmony, trust, long-term orientation, communitarian culture, neutrality, and particularism. Guanxi is a Chinese concept referring to the personal relationship between two individuals. Guanxi is derived from Confucianism’s collectivism and relational culture. In China, guanxi is an informal obligation that every member is expected to follow to maintain relationships in business or social contexts. It facilitates the creation of close-knit ties that influence business transactions between individuals. Guanxi is built on mutual commitment, loyalty, and obligation. Therefore, healthy relationships and teamwork among employees of an organization are founded on mutual commitment, loyalty, and obligation. The sustenance of guanxi among the Chinese is achieved through reciprocity. Although the principle of reciprocity is universal, it has a particular salience as a Chinese cultural value. As such, Chinese organizations in a business relationship are obliged to benefit from their transactions. Business transactions in china usually occur when parties involved are certain of benefiting. Guanxi collapses when there is no reciprocity. Long-term orientation is another cultural value in china that may be used to the advantage of an organization. China has a high score on continuity. Chinese are long-term oriented, indicating that once business relationship has been established between two organizations, it is hard to be broken. Furthermore, loyalty is a key cultural value in china that every Chinese is expected to have. This value can be used to strength and improve the relationship between suppliers and an organization. Suppliers have to meet their mutual agreement with their customers to sustain their relationships. Similarly, the long-term orientation among the Chinese is a positive attribute that enables companies to avoid high employee turnover. Trust is a crucial value in the Chinese culture. The long-term orientation and guanxi demand trust between two parties transacting business. Suspicion prevails among Chinese people. Therefore, they are suspicious and cold towards strangers or people outside their groups or families. Family members, relatives, friends, workmates, and classmates among other spheres have the trust of the Chinese. Trust must be reciprocated to be sustained among the individuals. Dishonesty and the lack of reciprocity destroy the long-term relationships, which are nearly impossible to reestablish when it is broken. The need for trust in China is the great deal of malpractices such as adulterations of goods. Trust and long-term relationships are used as a means of protecting businesses from such opportunistic behaviors. The Chinese culture is collectivist, which is the phenomenon where people view themselves are parts of different groups (Ralston, Holt, Terpstra and Kai-Cheng 183). Individuals’ behavior and practices are guided by norms, duties, and obligations defined by their collectives. The collectivist perspective is concerned with the health and collective benefits of the whole team. This aspect of the Chinese culture is important in shaping the organizational culture and building teamwork among employees. Research evidence supports the creation of teamwork among employees to boost individual performance of each worker and the organizational performance. Through teamwork, employees can complement each other and learn to manage their weaknesses. Teamwork, which is promoted by collectivism, is good for creating a learning culture in the organization. Collectivism culture discourages selfishness, which is unpleasant for achieving efficiency in an organization. The collectivist culture of the Chinese explains group-oriented culture and ideology. This indicates that employees’ satisfaction is achieved when they align themselves with and take part in realizing organizational goals. For convenience, individuals have to align their individual goals with organizational goals. The collectivist nature of the Chinese is consistent with their exclusive attachment to their groups. Particularism, as a cultural aspect of the Chinese, relates to their hostility towards outsiders and loyalty to their collectives. Technology Technology is one of the key drivers of high production efficiency through the introduction of advanced techniques for executing business functions. Technological advancements enhance the access to information through computers and programs. Improved information technology improves the knowledge of managers, employees, and other stakeholders in executing their roles. The relevance of decisions of the leaders should be supported by evidence associated with the business undertaking and the specific organization. Data-based decision-making is common trend in the business world and have positive impacts on the success of the implementation of strategies. China is among the countries with advanced technologies in the world. The development of technology in china is a result of the support provided by the government. The Chinese government acknowledges that innovations are the driving force behind development and strategic foundation necessary for building a modernized economy. The government has launched research and innovation programs and established nation libraries to maintain its leading position in strategic hi-tech sectors. The technological advancement of china is responsible for its infrastructural development in transport and communication, which are essential to the efficient operation of a business. Organizations are advantaged while operating within China since they can access and share information efficiently. Transport systems have reduced delays of inventories and movement of workers from and to their workplaces. Healthcare The well-being of employees is a crucial factor that the management and leadership of an organization should consider to ensure high performances. The central government of china has the overall responsibility in the legislation, policing, and administration of national health. The Chinese healthcare system is founded on the principle that every Chinese has the right to basic healthcare services. Local governments are tasked with provision of healthcare services. Through legislation, the country has undergone massive healthcare reforms within the last ten years to improve the healthcare system. With the implementation of a universal healthcare system, china has managed to realize health insurance coverage of 95% (Sun, Gregersen and Yuan). The insurance system in China has created opportunities for developing healthcare and medical research. Additionally, the technological advancements in the country have improved healthcare service delivery through the application of electronic health records, bid data, and improved equipment among other technologies. Conclusion The performance of an organization is influenced by external and internal business environment. A company has no control over external factors such as culture. The Chinese cultural values define the accepted practices, behaviors, and nature of business transactions. Among the cultural values in China that firms should consider include guanxi, reciprocity, trust, loyalty, long-term orientation, harmony, and particularism. The Chinese are collectivists and embrace group-oriented ideologies and culture. These cultural values have a positive impact on the performance of an organization since they facilitate the development of a stable organizational culture, relationships, and teamwork among employees. The technological environment also favors business operations due to the improved access to information and development of efficiency business techniques. The improvement of the healthcare system through reforms has enhanced the quality and access to healthcare services. Cultural values, technology, and the healthcare system of China favor business activities. Works Cited Sun, Y., Gregersen, H., & Yuan, W. (2017). Chinese health care system and clinical epidemiology. Clinical epidemiology, 9, 167. Ralston, D. A., Holt, D. H., Terpstra, R. H., & Kai-Cheng, Y. (1997). The impact of natural culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China. Journal of international business studies, 28(1), 177-207. Read More