sociocultural forces

Sociocultural Forces
Author
Institution
Author’s Notes
Sociocultural Forces
China is located in the east of Asia, well known for its tourist attraction sites with its beautiful scenarios with unique landscapes and mountains and rich culture. Being the second largest in development in the world, foreign investors from all walks of life flood there for investments and business opportunities only to be met by many barriers one major one being the Chinese culture. Chinese value their culture, which is different from the western culture, therefore for any business to flourish there, according to Da CITATION DaL79 n t l 1033 (1979), one needs to have an understanding of its culture, respect it and adopt it. One of their values is interpersonal relationship, to a Chinese relationship is more important than business, they take time in building their relationship with their partners before getting into the business, which results into the firm and long-term business. They value respect to age, seniority in all capacity in the sense that a leader deserves loyalty, respect and obedience no matter the circumstances, while the senior exercise their duties and responsibilities to the juniors. Successful business people in China know the importance of “face” which is a combined Chinese word for dignity, pride and public reputation. One has to learn to speak respectfully without being critical, abusive. Good compliments are valued in China. A slight mistake affects business relationship and performance which determines the success or failure of the organization.

They love to work as a team, involve each other in important decision making, they take time to consult to avoid the pitfall. As a team they share rewards and blames equally. The Chinese value religion, as stated by Thomson CITATION Tho99 n t l 1033 (1999). The government has also given freedom of worship, which has resulted into many religions Buddhism having the greatest influence, all regions center on living in harmony, righteous living, courtesy, wisdom, honesty and loyalty.
There are other barriers that present themselves in China as foreign investors flood into China market, causing such intense competitionCITATION Coo08 l 1033 (Cooke, 2008). one has to take time to study the market, do intensive marketing, have a competent Human Resources Management Team and develop a strong local team that will help reach the target. Corruption is real in China, whereby there is lack of transparency, as sighted by Chen CITATION Che14 n t l 1033 (2014), discrimination against foreign investors in tariff measures, inequality of subsidies and financing and poor property protection is a great disadvantage to foreign investors. Programs to teach mandarin have been helpful to investors where they get basics for communication. Chinese business cards have made it even easier to learn mandarin whereby the cards have a dual side with simplified Chinese on one side and English on the other side. With this understanding, we located a number of problems in our selection.
Problem Statement
Amongst the three final candidates, we realized a common problem, none of them had the knowledge of the Chinese national language, this means that whoever candidate we will select will need to invest time and money to learn the Mandarin language in order to have the basic ability to communicate with the Chinese people since only a few cities like Beijing and Shanghai understand English. Two of our candidates did not have working experience which will be a major challenge in terms of performance Chinese market being competitive, one will need to have knowledge and skills especially when handling a culture-sensitive Chinese.
Analysis of Relevant Information
The team agreed that the selected candidate will need to be funded to learn the Mandarin language, given time to interact with the Chinese to learn their culture and build up a strong relationship with the Chinese which will also need time and money by so doing he will get exposure and earn their trust which will give him a good starting point. There is also need to develop strong working teams that understand the culture, market and products; these will help reach our target.
Recommendations
The team recommended Gunther for the China HR post, amongst the three candidates; he was the most experienced in the Human Resources field and working currently as a Vice President of a German-based European Union Company. EU has credited him for their success thus more confident that he will deliver for this company. He has a track record of a business invention from small entrepreneurs and has performed as a leader for a period of seven years. Gunther is well organized and well versed in mobilization, excellent in his work which will set an example for the rest of the workers. He is humble and not proud to take up a junior position even if he deserves better. We strongly believe Gunther is the man we have been looking for the China office.
Implications for The Company If Your Recommendations Are Followed
If the company will put into perspective the recommendations that the team has come up with, it will raise the company mini-score, production, and attract business partners.
Conclusion
By taking all factors into consideration the company has what it takes to do business in China, if the implementation of what the team has come up with is done, we are confident that the company will meet the standard of the competitive nature of China market.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Chen, G., & Hamori,S. (2014). Rural Labor Migration, Discrimination, and the New Dual Labor Market in China. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Cooke, F. L. (2008). Competition, strategy and management in China. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Da, L. (1979). The Tao and Chinese culture. New York: Schocken Books.
Thompson, L. G. (1999). Chinese religion: An introduction. Belmont: Wadsworth.