CULTURE DIFFERENCES IN BUSINESS RELATIONS:THE CASE OF CHINA AND AFRICA

INTRODUCTIONmanagers or African managers have different level of
What does culture have to do with business? Manyparticipation in decision- making. In China, decisions are
business majors and practitioners immersed inparticipatory. Employees accept decisions handed
questions of financial forecasting, market studies, anddown by their supervisors. Because of their
management models have turned aside from theunquestioning attitudes towards their supervisors,
question of culture and how it affects business.they resist participation in decision-making. In Africa,
But more and more organizations are findingmanagers make individual decisions. They don’t
themselves involved in communication across cultures,consult with others but can defer to their
between cultures, among cultures; because they aresupervisors. They value personal equality. To
doing business in foreign countries, perhaps, orsummarize, I can say that Chinese managers adopt
because they are sourcing from another country,the no participatory approach to decision-making. The
seeking financing from another country, or have andecisions come from the higher superiors to the
increasingly multicultural workforce.subordinates. However, since the reforms in China,
The globalization of the world economy, on one hand,things are changing. More and more, participatory
has created tremendous opportunities for globaldecision-making is starting to be used in a certain
collaboration among different countries; on the othernumber of companies.
hand, however, it has also created a unique set ofCultural Differences in Work-group Characteristics
problems and issues relating to the effectiveThe first difference about the work-group
management of partnerships with different cultures.characteristics is the concept of “brotherhood,
It can also be observed that most of the failuresnetwork, family feeling” which is at the heart of
faced by cross-national companies are caused byall Chinese interactions. In African business style which
neglect of cultural differences. With the increasingis quasi the western business style, managers focus
importance of the China market in the worldon the deal, the possibilities, the risks and so on.
economy, many businessmen rushed to enter ChinaThere is less focus on the people they are doing
to explore business opportunities. It was reportedbusiness with. They may encourage their group
that the great barriers caused by cultural differencesmembers to learn from each other, to focus on task
like difficulty of communication, higher potentialrather than on social and interpersonal relations, and
transaction costs, different objectives and means ofto build the confidence required for superior
cooperation and operating methods, have led to theperformance. They make difference between
failure of many Sino-foreign cooperation projects.personal relationship and work. In China, it is the
Here is how arise some issues on “how toopposite. Chinese managers may initially focus more
understand China” and “how to settleeffort on building social and interpersonal relations
business” with Chinese people.(guanxi) before entering into business or contractual
Predominantly motivated by the quest for materialrelationship. They would like to spend time developing
inputs (oil and other primary commodities) requiredand maintaining guanxi during the process of
for its infrastructural investments and boominginteraction and consider it as a prerequisite to do
manufacturing sector, Chinese presence in Africa isbusiness. What sort of person you are is more
rapidly growing. The rapid growth and significance ofimportant than what you do. A good deal of time is
enhanced Chinese participation in Africa has importantspent exploring people's characters. People want to
implications while talking about cultural aspects.know your background, your family situation, your
To clarify the differences between China and Africa,likes and dislikes. A good deal of business is
I will focus on Hofstede's four cultural dimensions:conducted in banqueting halls. Chinese believe a
power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinityperson's true character comes out during these
femininity, and uncertainty avoidance and Bond'smoments. The only purpose during these meetings is
dimension about long-term/short-term orientation alsoto see people’s other side, the human side. If
called “Confucian Dynamism”. Hofstede is onethey are comfortable with you, and if they think
of the first to adopt a pragmatic problem-solvingthey can trust you, that you can be invited to
approach in the field and relates culture to“join the family”, you and your business are
management. He defines culture as a kind ofmade. Chinese managers are not interested in short
"collective programming of the mind, whichterm; they want long, life-long business relations.
distinguishes the members of one category of peopleHowever, as the economy has become increasingly
from another" (Hofstede, 1980). He explained thatmarketized, privatized and competitive, the value and
culturally-based values systems comprised foureffectiveness of the Guanxi system has greatly
dimensions: power distance, individualism/collectivism,deteriorated. In industries that have been substantially
masculinity/femininity, and uncertainty avoidance.deregulated or privatized, or where there is vigorous
Michael Bond (1989) in a further research discoveredcompetition, business is business, and Guanxi has
another dimension called long-term/short-termbeen neutralized or marginalized.  Relationships or
orientation.connections now resemble that which we find
China and Africa differ greatly with regard to theirelsewhere.
economic systems, political systems, social values,Cultural Differences in Motivation Systems
and laws, despite the substantial changes that have            In business contexts, the
occurred in China during recent years. Somemotivations of employees, partners, superiors,
differences can be found according to Hofstedecontractees, social associates, and members of a
studies on culture differences. First, in terms ofsociety spring from cultural values, or what people
power distance, China is centralized (though it hasthink is important. In order to understand how to do
shown some tendency toward decentralized power)business with members of another culture, it is
while Africa is relatively decentralized. In high powernecessary to understand what motivates them, to
distance cultures, authority is inherent in one’sknow where to begin and what you need to cover
position within a hierarchy. There are strongall necessary bases.
dependency relationships between parents andAccording to Aguinis (2002), employees can be
children, bosses and subordinates and a significantrewarded according to their performance (principle of
social distance between superior and subordinate. Inequity), equally (principle of equality), or based on
low power distance or power tolerance cultures,their needs (principle of need). In general, the equity
individuals assess authority in view of its perceivedprinciple is common in individualistic cultures while the
rightness. Second, we notice in both cases thatequality principle is widely used in collectivistic cultures.
contrary to western countries which have a strongPay for performance and pay equity are the two
individualism, China and Africa have a strongmain differences in motivation systems. From the
collectivism. Individualism-collectivism refers to the1950s until the 1980s, every aspect of China's
relative importance of the interests of the individualeconomic activity was planned, controlled and
versus the interests of the group. In collectivisticoperated by the government. There was no private
societies, the interests of the group take precedenceownership of any property or asset, and,
over individual interests. People see themselves asconsequently, no profit motive for individuals or
part of in-groups and the in-groups look after them inenterprises. The government would allocate
exchange for their loyalty. In individualistic cultures,everyone a pre-defined slice of the “big pie.”
the interest of the individual takes precedence overIf anyone wanted more than what was allocated to
the group’s interest. Third, Africa has higherhim/her, it meant circumventing that system and
value than China in masculinity, which indicates thatgetting someone in that "allocation chain" to provide a
Africa is medium masculinity while China is mediumspecial favor. People were obliged to sacrifice their
femininity. Masculinity-femininity or goal orientationindividual interests for those of the society.
pertains to the extent to which “traditional”Cooperation, interdependence, group goals that
male orientations of ambition and achievement arecreate group harmony are applied in China. The sense
emphasized over “traditional” femaleof belonging and devoting to the group are important
orientations of nurturance and interpersonal harmony.for Chinese people. Focusing on the view that
Cultures differ on what motivates people to achieveone’s success is mainly based on group work;
different goals. Cultures of the aggressive goalthey believe that one cannot claim the reward just
behavior type (masculinity) value materialfor oneself. Contrary to what some Chinese
possessions, money, and assertiveness whereasresearchers argued on this part, I can say while
cultures of the passive goal behavior type (femininity)setting salaries Chinese managers will not pay more
value social relevance, quality of life and welfare ofattention to the working experience and academic
others. Fourth, China and Africa have higher valuesqualifications of employees. In that case, the equality
for uncertainty avoidance the West. This shows thatprinciple is reflected in the motivation system.
in both sides, people are relatively risk-avoiding whileFor African managers, individual achievement is
western people are relatively risk-taking. Uncertaintyimportant. They are expected to achieve success
avoidance captures the degree to which individuals inonly by their individual efforts. Value competition,
a culture feel threatened by ambiguous, uncertain, orachievement and personal goals are their main
new situations. Cultures are characterized as eithermotivations in order to have plans to recognize their
high or low on uncertainty avoidance. Whereas lowindividual contributions. Their success relies on their
uncertainty avoidance cultures prefer positiveown efforts. Talents and work performance of the
response to change and new opportunities, highemployees will be considered by their superiors for
uncertainty avoidance cultures prefer structure andsalary increases and promotion.
consistent routine. Last, Africa has a short-termCONCLUSION
orientation while China has a long-term orientation.            As a result, understanding other
Also called “Confucian dynamism”, this lastcultures is more important than ever. If we consider
dimension assesses a society’s capacity forthat people from the same economic, political, and
patience and delayed gratification. Long-term orientedcultural background have problems communicating
cultures (China and Hong Kong) tend to save moreeffectively; we can appreciate the difficulties and
money and exhibit more patience in reaping thechallenges that people from diverse cultures face
results of their actions. Short-term oriented cultureswhen trying to communicate. Misunderstandings will
(African countries) want to maximize the presentalways be a part of cultural aspects. The objective
rewards and are relatively less prone to saving orof this topic is more or less to minimize
anticipating long term rewards. It has been widelymisunderstandings through an awareness of the
accepted that cultural differences greatly affectpriorities and expectations of business partners. In
human thinking and behavior and thus businessthis period of Globalization, examination of cultural
organizations in which people interact on the basis offactors and the subtle ways in which culture affects
shared values. Management is embedded in a widerbusiness practices and patterns of market behavior
societal setting, and is heavily influenced by localshould command increased attention from
historical and cultural norms (DiMaggio and Powell,businessmen. Companies need to think outside the
1983). The significant differences between Africa andproverbial box when formulating their business
China seem to affect some aspects of their businessstrategies and when collaborating and forming
management practice.business partnerships. As sometimes companies
Cultural Differences in business Strategiesmove to do business in other countries, a greater
Because entrepreneurs mature within a societalsensitivity to culture will be required and an
context, their attitudes toward cooperation are likelyunderstanding of cultural realities should facilitate
to be influenced by the underlying values of theirbusiness transactions.
society (Weaver, 2000). As discussed above, AfricaKnowing another culture is a legitimate concern of
and China have a strong collectivism. People dependbusinesses. More than that, it is essential. Those who
more on groups or institutions to determine whatmake effort the effort to understand another culture
they should do and emphasize loyalty to the group.gain knowledge about how to behave in that culture.
They are more likely to cooperate with others toOtherwise, if you know what people value and
avoid risks and reduce responsibilities. However dueunderstand their attitudes, you won’t
to the medium masculinity, Africans sometimes areunintentionally do something that offends and
reluctant to cooperate because their masculinediminishes your chances for business success. In
culture view cooperation in general as a sign oftoday’s global businesses’ context, the
weakness and place a high value on independencewinners are not those who study the markets they
and control. In the process of cooperation, Chinesedeal with even if it’s important but those who
tend to pay more attention to relationships. I have tostudy people they deal with.
mention that the term “guanxi” which in 
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