Culture Differences in Business

                In China and the United States, there is a huge social difference in how business is handled. In American culture, Americans tend to not mix business with their personal lives. This means that in American culture, people tend to not get to know each other better in the workplace. Things that we do are colleagues not attending work parties or having a drink with a coworker after a shift. In Chinese culture, this is different because the Chinese emphasizes on building a relationship first before and conducting business after there is a strong relationship between business partners. This shows a big social difference between the cultures because one is more direct into the business side while the other is more concerned about building a relationship. I think that in the Chinese culture, there has to be a sense of trust before any business can take place because it shows how well business partners can trust another person based on how much time is spent getting to know the other people they are dealing with. In American culture, it is mainly contracts and agreements which can be signed and agreed to without ever meeting the other person. This happens because of the social media that we have and how people communicate with each other through email or phone calls. Chinese culture emphasizes face to face meetings sometimes that mean traveling overseas repeatedly if they really want the business. This shows commitment to the other business partner, which in turn will get you a deal with a Chinese business partner. Of course there are other factors that come into play such as business etiquette and how to handle a Chinese business partner. But in this world, more cultures are being more relaxed because of the different types of business we conduct every day. Chinese cultures seem to be a little bit more understanding to American culture because they simply see it as people who have different values. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Chinese want business first and a trusting relationship later. In the Chinese culture, building a relationship comes first before all others because it shows that the person is trustworthy and that they really want to be business partners. In the simplest terms, Americans think mainly about getting a contract and making money while the Chinese wants these professional relationships to flourish to make friends and to also have a better relationship in business.