Doing Business in Asia
Many Westerners wanting to do businesses in Asian nations seek information and advice about things they need to know in order to be successful? By Westerners who have already been working in Asian nations, they are told to remember as priorities the “Fs”: family, face, fate, favors and friends. Although they do have some subtle differences in meanings and connotations in different parts of Asia, nevertheless, Western businessmen need to be sensitive to these issues if they wish to be successful. The five “Fs” are explained in the following way.
Family: This means that business is often closely connected to family and that there is a family network that branches out regionally and internationally, providing efficient political, financial and emotional support, as well as distribution knowledge. This networking is particularly obvious among Chinese who control huge business Replica Omega segments in Asia and are by far the most successful business group in the region. Their large presence also helps– Singapore is 77 percent Chinese; Malaysia, 45 percent; Taiwan, a Chinese province, 99 percent. Indonesia and the Philippines also have sizable and prosperous Chinese communities. It is explained that the importance of family goes back to Confucius, who taught that family represents relationships that one can trust. Although families in the West may
be connected, they are almost never as closely connected as in Confucian Asia. This family dependence is also true in Korea. The largest corporation in South Korea is Hyundai, a multibillion-dollar company. Headed by the eldest brother, the company’s five major divisions are either managed by one of the five brothers, a brother-in-law or a son-in-law.
Face: Two interpretations are given for the meaning of “face”. One is literal–Asians like to do business face-to-face. They want to put a face together with a business, to recognize an individual and to associate with a given company. Many foreign companies have made the mistake of sending a series of different executives to Asia during lengthy contract negotiations. They are advised not to do this; if negotiations are started by one individual they should be completed by that same person if at all possible. However, if achange must be made, then the first person should take the new one and formally present him as his successor so that the two faces are identified. The second interpretation of “face” is that in a way it means “respect”. The businessman is told that he must show the “proper respect” according to the age and position of the person he is dealing with and also take into account the size of the person’s company in comparison with his own. In Western countries, age is not necessarily given respect, but in Confucius Asia, age is given great respect. Thus businessmen are told to always pay attention to any elderly persons attending a business meeting. They are also warned that it is very difficult for Japanese to speak directly and say no. This too has everything with “face”. They will do almost anything to avoid saying no, even to the point of not Replica Watches giving an answer at all. By giving no answer or saying something like “I’ll think about it”, or “I’ll consider it”, they are “saving face”, and really mean “no”. This is the opposite of the Western “yes or no” mentality. Thus a Western businessman is warned never to put a Japanese businessman in he position of having to say “yes” or “no”.
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