When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Economy

When Business Crosses Cultures, Etiquette Alone Won't Cut It

When dealing with 'distant cultures' like China, communication is key. But a bit of business-is-business pragmatism doesn't hurt either.

The Chinese two-handed method of presenting a business card
The Chinese two-handed method of presenting a business card
Claudia Labarca

-Analysis-

SANTIAGO — Ask Google "how to do business in China" and you'll get about 30 million answers. That's if you pose the question in Spanish. In English, it'd be closer to 1.2 billion answers.

Most of the search engine's Spanish-language tips are about the customs or cultural traits people seeking to do business in China should consider. It will advise you on basic points of etiquette: like presenting your business card with both hands, for example; exchanging gifts; or showing respect for Chinese culture.

Such pointers work on the essential premise of inter-cultural communication, namely trying to understand partners from another culture. And that's important. But as the sociologist Mark Granovetter argues, we also run the risk of "over-socializing" economic relations with China. By that he means emphasizing social criteria at the expense of rational and economic criteria.

The risk of over-simplifying Chinese identity, of assuming that there is a single, national conduct.

This over-socialization may even be deemed an example of "orientalism," as termed by the historian Edward Said. Orientalism positions your interlocutor as fundamentally different (and implicitly pre-modern or un-modern), and subject to cultural considerations that exceed strictly rational bounds.

At the same time, taking a strictly rational path doesn't necessarily spell success in inter-cultural business relations either. Based on conversations I've had with Chilean business executives who interact with China, there seems to be a range of approaches used. At one extreme are people who see cultural considerations as irrelevant. In their mind, business is business, regardless of where you live or work. On the other extreme are those who put themselves at a disadvantage by trying — often without success and generally on a superficial level — to assimilate alien norms of behavior and thus strengthen interpersonal ties.

With the latter approach, there's also the risk of over-simplifying Chinese identity, of assuming that there is a single, national conduct, and equal cultural and trading values across China. A society that has some 1.4 billion members and dozens of different ethnic groups, and that has undergone the globalization process at differing paces since the rule of the late Chairman Deng Xiao Ping, must, by definition, have a diversity of business practices and values. And yet, for people wanting to do business in China, those differences may be difficult to identify, try they might to take a culturally sensitive approach.

Perhaps the best way to avoid extremes is through constant interaction and observation of the other side, and by seeking reciprocity — what political scientist Robert Axelrod calls the "tit-for-tat" approach. An improved version would be a rational, collaborative model, wherein cultural variables effectively coincide to improve economic cooperation.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

In Nicaragua, A Tour Of Nightlife Under Dictatorship

Nicaraguan publication Divergentes takes a night tour of entertainment spots popular with locals in Managua, the country's capital, to see how dictatorship and emigration have affected nightlife.

In Nicaragua, A Tour Of Nightlife Under Dictatorship

The party goes on...

Divergentes

MANAGUA — Owners of bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the Nicaraguan capital have noticed a drop in business, although some traditional “nichos” — smaller and more hidden spots — and new trendy spots are full. Here, it's still possible to dance and listen to music, as long as it is not political.

There are hardly any official statistics to confirm whether the level of consumption and nightlife has decreased. The only reliable way to check is to go and look for ourselves, and ask business owners what they are seeing.

This article is not intended as a criticism of those who set aside the hustle and bustle and unwind in a bar or restaurant. It is rather a look at what nightlife is like under a dictatorship.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest