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Cultural difference in business | Valerie Hoeks | TEDxHaarlem

Mar 06, 2024
Transcriber: Cecile Brevet Reviewer: Christine Frey (Chime) It all started in the year 2000. I was 17 years old and walking with my backpack through unpaved alleys on the outskirts of Beijing. I saw men on bicycles. With entire closets and refrigerators in the back I saw little children running around half naked playing soccer, while their parents were trying to sell mushrooms and spinach sitting on the floor. I saw a butcher behind his stall shooing away flies that were trying to land on his meat. Everyone was smiling, including this guy: literally sitting in his shop, trying to sell second-hand computers.
cultural difference in business valerie hoeks tedxhaarlem
Why were I so moved by these Chinese people and their country? Was it the typical smile that covered a path that I didn't yet know? Or was it the energy I felt walking through those streets? The only way to find out was to start learning Chinese and start communicating with these people to learn more about their world because their world is very different from ours. I mean the way people behave, the way they interact. Take this as an example: (Video) A subway station in China during rush hour. Which of you has been on the Chinese subway before?
cultural difference in business valerie hoeks tedxhaarlem

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cultural difference in business valerie hoeks tedxhaarlem...

So, you definitely know that getting on the subway in China is not easy, but getting off the subway in China is almost impossible. (laughs) People just use their elbows to get away and don't give you room to get out. So, looking at these examples in combination with the fact that Chinese people don't really express their emotions as much as we do, one might believe that Chinese people are tough and cold-hearted people, but in fact, for Chinese people, warm relationships are very important. You could even say that Maslow was wrong. Relationships are not on the third level of human needs, they are truly a necessity in life.
cultural difference in business valerie hoeks tedxhaarlem
And I think that we Westerners, who tend to point the finger at what happens in China, I think we can even learn from the Chinese and how they treat others; and if we project that into our own behavior, I think we can become better people. I even wish that each of you would have the opportunity to fly to China once in your life, not only to climb the great wall but to really listen to the Chinese and hear what they have to say. Why is the relationship in China so important? Still, today many Chinese are strongly influenced by the thoughts of a man named Confucius.
cultural difference in business valerie hoeks tedxhaarlem
His sayings are really like a Bible for the Chinese. I mean, here in the Western world, the Bible gains less and less support today, but in China the sayings of it are alive and well. (Chinese) Yǒupéngzìyuǎnfānglái, bùyìlèhū (English) It is really a great pleasure to meet friends who come from far away. So Confucius's philosophy emphasizes personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relations, and simply sincerity. He advocates strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, and respect for the elderly. So, knowing this, you can understand why relationships are so important in China and why they need to be built to be successful.
Maybe some of you have had that experience in China and then heard of the word Guanxi. Guanxi literally means connections or relationships, but in reality it is much more than that. Guanxi is how things are done in China. Yes, the Chinese are hesitant to deal with people they have never met and it takes a long introduction phase, but once you get to the mutual trust phase, you will find that the Chinese are extremely loyal and faithful. So why is Guanxi so different from how we know it? I mean there are many characteristics, most of them strongly based on Confucian philosophy, that cause these

difference

s, but there are three of them that I would like to share with you tonight.
In China, if you want to maintain your relationship, there is a requirement called reciprocal favor. "Rénqíng" in Chinese. If you ask someone for a favor, you will eventually have to pay them back. If not paid, this is truly considered unforgivable in China. So the more you ask from someone, the more you owe them and that's how Guanxi is like an endless cycle of favors. Let me give you an example: I don't know about you, but I barely remember the names of the teachers at my elementary school. My Chinese colleagues and friends, however, visit their professors for tea (who are now in their 70s) every Sunday afternoon, every week, since they graduated.
For them, this is a way to pay back what they received years ago. I love this, I love how the Chinese have this long-term vision. So where does this need for balance come from? Think about concepts like Yin, Yang and Feng Shui. I mean retailers like IKEA can use these concepts for commercial purposes, but in China they are really important values ​​in life. I once sat with a

business

partner in his office in Beijing and we were discussing a certain topic but I felt like my words didn't really reach him. So he was just shuffling in his seat and at some point he interrupted me saying, "Valerie, I'm sorry, but would you mind changing the chairs, I don't feel comfortable sitting at this angle from the front entrance." So, in line with this culture, there is another concept that is very valuable that the Chinese refer to as "harmony." He.
Harmony emphasizes the preference for the proper functioning of a society or a group. That is why the Chinese prefer to wait for the right moment instead of imposing a certain request, as we sometimes do here. So, when you don't realize it, it may seem like the Chinese are extremely lazy and wait until the last minute to fix things. But that is not the case. And if you bring your checklist and deadlines to China and think that's going to work, you're going to have a tough time and believe me, I know. In 2000, I was traveling through the countryside of China. and back then, people were quite surprised to see a tall redhead walking by.
At one point, I even had to help a cyclist up after hitting a tree while he watched me. (laughs) I arrived in Tai Shan, a relatively small town in the south of China and there I met a girl or actually I walked around first and I couldn't find a place to sleep, so I was wandering around and that's where I found myself. A girl named Chen Wang asked me to be her friend and we sat all afternoon in a park learning each other's languages. But as time went by, I became more and more uncomfortable with the fact that I still didn't have a place to sleep.
So I shared my concern with my new friend, but she just brushed my question aside. She used to ask again and again, but I managed not to and just waited and see what happened. So after a while, I obediently followed her for a long walk and the best two-hour drive on unpaved roads, sometimes stopped by 20 donkeys trying to cross the road. We finally arrived at a very old school building. And on the third floor, there was a room, the size of my kitchen, filled with six bunk beds that offered space for 12 girls to sleep, live and study.
So I spent a few days and nights with my Chinese classmates learning about their student lives and surroundings and I tell you, it was much more interesting than a boring hotel. So, I really believe that if we can sometimes put aside our impatience and really see and wait for what will happen and if we are open to the approach of the Chinese, then much more beautiful things will come to us. So the last feature that we probably find difficult to understand is the fact that for Chinese people, for many Chinese people, making a mistake in public is one of the most humiliating things in life.
Face, reputation, "miànzi" in Chinese, really determines your position in a social network. So the face depends on how attractive you are, how many friends you have, the skills you have, the connections you have, how much money you have. Faces can be won, but faces can also be lost. Therefore, in the daily life of Chinese people, the face plays a crucial role. To give you an example, a Dutch client of ours signed a contract with his local Chinese partner Mr. Fan who is also a good friend of ours and everyone was happy because of the long negotiations after a few days and then the Dutch client left to return home.
One day, after the Dutch client flew home, Mr. Fan turned to us, looking terrified: "One of the investors has left." And, of course, it would have been an obstacle to cooperation. But to be honest, we were very happy that Mr. Fan came to us instead of contacting the Dutch client directly, because naturally the Dutch client would have been very angry, causing Mr. Fan to lose face, ruining the long-term relationship. Now we had the opportunity to find a solution together, close the gap by finding another investor, and in doing so, we saved Mr. Fan's face and our client's

business

.
So, also in this case, I think that if we managed to look at a certain situation from different angles, I think it would positively benefit our business achievements. So, I have an image of this image, largely projected on the wall of my office in Amsterdam because this man reminds me of the first time I set foot on Chinese soil and reminds me of all the lessons I have learned over the years. Have a long-term vision, be patient, be open and know how to listen. So I hope tonight has inspired you to also consider your own approach and I invite you to fly with me to China to learn from the Chinese. (Applause)

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