Understanding Chinese Business Etiquette: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Using Hofstede Model

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication
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1BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Introduction
In the age of globalisation, for improving customer base and having business growth in
terms of productivity and financial profitability, organisations from different industries are trying
to penetrate into the international markets by considering several unique business strategies.
Similarly, Mary, a business owner of ‘The Aroma Shops' in Wagga Wagga wishes to enter the
market of China (as the products of the shop encompass chutneys, chilli sauce, jams and pasta)
for transforming the individual capitalism into the global capitalism. For this reason, the study
strives to provide some recommendations to Mary by understanding Chinese business etiquette
so that, Mary can utilise those strategies for planning a favourable first impression while having
a meeting with Mr Lau who is a manager of a popular China shop. For dealing with Chinese
business etiquette, the researcher focuses on the areas of potential cross-cultural
miscommunication by using the Hofstede cultural framework.
Business etiquette in the selected market: China
Entering new market is always tricky and emerging business into the market of China
with full of customers who think differently, speak an entirely different language and have
different cultural norms can perhaps be appeared daunting from outside. For this reason, it is
very important to understand the business etiquette of Chinese people before planning market
entry strategy. Similarly, it is essential for Mary to have an in-depth understanding of the
business etiquette in China before having a business communication with Mr Lau. According to
the viewpoint of Shaw (2015), first impression and appearance are an essential Chinese business
aspect and culture and thereby, people should not wear fashionable clothes but to wear simple
and high-quality clothes for showing modesty and status.
Chinese people follow hierarchical manner while entering the meeting venue and
therefore, head of the delegation usually enter the venue of meeting first. Further, it is worth
mentioning that, the business leader always introduces the rest of the attendants before starting
the meeting. Hence, it can be stated that, in the Western culture such as in Australia, a handshake
in the business meeting is done in some of the firm manners while in China; people are expecting
to have handshake in some short and soft manner. In regard to this, as opined by Pauluzzo &
Shen (2018), Chinese people must greet each people present in the meeting with applause and it
is expected that all individuals should applaud in return. Apart from this, in China, meeting
always begins on exact time and thereby, foreign people needs to be punctual for having a
successful business meeting onwards. Being late for the meetings is considered as rude in the
aforementioned market.
In continuation with the above discussion, it can be stated that an individual who is
planning to have a business meeting in China from a foreign country needs to carry business
cards written in both English and Mandarin language. Further, the business card needs to be
shared in two hands with the Chinese counterpart as it shows respect towards the Chinese
culture. Hence, it is worth mentioning that, an individual needs to use traditional Chinese
characters if the person wants to develop own business environment particularly in Hong Kong
or Taiwan.
Apart from sharing business card, it is worth mentioning that, Chinese people prefer to
address one with his or her last name. Therefore, for a foreign business owner, it is essential to