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French etiquette for the Chinese

10/23/2012

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This is a post from one of my graduate students in France. She's a Chinese national who has lived and studied in France for several years and has a strong understanding of French language and culture.

Enjoy!

Greg

关于客气

中国人会很注意 “客气”, 所以说话不会太直接, 会比较含蓄, 想的比较多, 大部分时候会给别人留面子, 不得罪人, 寻求对两方都好的结果。 法国人相对简单直接一些。 

例如  我被邀请到法国人家吃饭, 按中国人的礼数, 客人会比较矜持, 不太会主动说要再添一些,一般会等主人问. (作为中国的主人会表现的很好客,时不时的问需要加菜吗 菜合胃口吗 要多吃啊 等等 主人会给客人直接夹菜 客人会说不用不用, 但是都接下了) 但是在法国,主人问我还要吗 我客气的回答说不用了, 按照他们的理解就是我说不用就是确实不用了,然后就不再添了。所以现在再去法国人家里做客时,潜意识里还是会有这种客气存在,但是也会随情况比较直接的表达。 反过来也挺有意思, 当我请法国人到我家来吃饭的时候,也会不自觉得给他们添很多饭菜,会客套很多次, 即便他们说够了不需要了,也还是希望继续客套。 

About « kind or standing on ceremony »

Chinese will pay great attention to "kind" or “stand on ceremony”, so to speak not too direct, be more implicative, think more, most of the time will give others face, can not be the sinners, seek to both sides are good results. French are relatively simple and direct.

For example, I was invited to dinner in a French family, according to Chinese etiquette, the guest will be more reserved, not too active to say to want adding some, generally wait for the host ask me. (Usually, Chinese host will be played very hospitable, occasionally ask “do you need some more? Dose the food fit to your appetite? Eat more!...”  so the host will give the food directly to the guest’s bowl sometime. And the guest will say “no,no…” but they accept. ) But in France, the host ask whether I want some more? I politely said “no”, but according to their understanding when I said “no” it means really no, and then they are no longer added. So now, when I was invited again to the French family, even though it exist this kind of “kind” in my subconscious, I can express more directly according to the situation. In reverse, it is also quite interesting. When I invite some French friends to dinner at my house, I will les add or service unconsciously, stand on ceremony many times, even if they said “no”, “don’t need”, I hope still to continue do this “kind” …

但是在关于打招呼的礼节上, 中国人好像没有法国人那么 客气

法国人在见面时,无论熟识度,都会有行为上的打招呼。比如 男女之间或者女人女人之间贴面礼,男人之间握手。 对我来说比较有意思的是,如果你到一个地方,已经有不少人在场了,有些时候你需要挨个人行贴面礼或握手。 在中国, 熟人见面一般不握手, 点个头或者问声好或者找个无关紧要的话题寒暄几句。 但如果是很久不见或者第一次见并且比较重要的客人, 要握手相迎。 当我刚来法国的时候,有一次在学校的走廊里,已经有不少同班同学在那等着上课, 这时我们班的另一个法国男同学来了, 他非常自然地和男生握手,女生贴面礼, 整整转了一个走廊,像是开表彰大会。在中国可能只有男女朋友或夫妻之间会有类似贴面礼的行为,所以一开始时我认为第一个和这个后来的男生贴面礼的是他的女朋友, 但后来不对啊, 1个2个3 个4 ,5,6。。。。。。然后明白只是一种正常的礼数而已。  

However, about the etiquette of greet, it seems that Chinese are not so “kind” like French.

When French meet, what ever you are familiar or not, they will bisous or shake hands. If between women and men or between women, they say hello by bisous, if between men, generally they say hello by shaking hands. But in China, generally, when we meet, we nod or  say hello directly, or do some greeting like “ the weather today is …” but not really pay attention to the weather. In general, we shake hands when we meet the friends that we haven’t met long time or we meet each other in the first time or for important customers. When I just came in France, one time, in the corridor of university, there are already a number of students waiting for the class, another French student came in that moment, he bisous or shake hands with all of the classmates in the corridor, like in a commendation congress. In China, it exist  the behavior like bisous between couples or very good friends, so in the beginning, I think the first girl that he do bisous is his girlfriend, and after that… no, 2, 3, 4, 5…so I knew that this is just a kind of etiquette. 

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Good article on our May BC trip to Asia 

10/19/2012

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This article was just published on the BC web site on our annual trip to Asia. It's been written from the student's perspective, which is terrific. Enjoy and please help spread-the-word about this Program.

Greg

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Radio Entrepreneurs interview with CCAFM in China

10/18/2012

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I'm pleased to let you know that Radio Entrepreneurs broadcast a great piece today on our International Consulting Project Asia program. 

a) My 45-second video introduction of Ms. Daisy Fang, one of our lead contacts at CCAFM is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMQnyWV84Q

b) The entire 10-minute interview link is http://www.24-hourturnaround.com/myob/1971.mp3, which I'm pleased to report they put at the beginning of today's broadcast.

c) If possible, and to support the program, please "like" them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Radio-Entrepreneurs/234482409990023

d) For anyone reading this from China, here's a format where the videos will be more easily viewable.

Thanks,

Greg
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It's great to be in Europe...

10/18/2012

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I'm very much enjoying my time in Europe. This year I'm lucky to have a class of 46 students, collectively representing nearly 10 different nationalities. None of these comes from an English speaking country, either. Many of the nationalities are from the European Union and I'm always (positively) reminded about the esprit de corps such a group brings along with it.

The students are smart, articulate, and in a refreshing comparison with past classes I've taught in France, attendance is in the high 90% range at each of my sessions. It's also nice to receive so many emails from the students after class ends each day. It's clear that regardless of their country of origin, cultural stereotypes or anything other impediment preventing an easy comparison amongst a diverse group, they all want to learn. From my end, it's another reminder of how lucky I am to have this opportunity in the classroom.

The school's Administration has made everything a pleasure, as well. Everything is discussed in French, which is great practice for me, of course, and all the different aspects of running a course (i.e., room assignments, projection equipment, home assignments) have, to date, gone off without a hitch. It's also been nice interfacing with the students and faculty in the School's cafeteria or taking a break to get coffee.  Finally, all of the material I've read about French culture and the requisites "do's" and "don'ts
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Greetings from the Loire Valley in France

10/14/2012

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Greetings from the Loire Valley. I'm here for a week teaching a course at one of the local business schools in the region. I have an 8-year history previously teaching before in another French city (Bordeaux) and as much as I enjoyed that experience, the hospitality in the Loire Valley is even kinder. Last night I walked into town to view the castle, the church and then ate at one of the restaurants. The food and warmth were palpable. This morning, I walked around the corner to the boulangerie for breakfast. I couldn't help but feeling I was in the middle of the scene Belle described in her opening song from Beauty and the Beast. [Go 30 seconds into this video and then watch it for 90 seconds, please]. While Belle was ridiculing the village as being too provincial, for me, it's just a fantastic, realistic commentary on the warmth of what will be my "village" for the week.  This local isn't even a village, as much as it's a small town / city, but the conclusion is still the same. Literally, people were traversing in-and-out of the store politely saying "bonjour" and going about their morning business. I'm so incredibly lucky to be here...
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Latest Radio Entrepreneurs Interviews

10/10/2012

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Here's the latest interview on the Radio Entrepreneurs show. I again had the pleasure of bringing one of our MBA grads, Mr. Matt Morgan, who joined the business where's he working after I taught a case about them in one of my classes (Veconinter). How Matt got his job is one of my favorite all time BC stories.  

Here are the 2 links the station provides: A short video clip and then the full audio segment.  More interviews coming soon, too.  

Separately, this is another set of links in a solo interview I completed on international business etiquette. Video and Audio.

Thanks,

Greg
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Observations From Three Factory Visits in China (Samir Jaluria)

10/9/2012

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In May 2010, through Professor Greg Stoller’s International Management Experience -  Asia class, I had the opportunity to visit three factories in China: a US furniture manufacturer’s company-owned factory in the Free Trade Zone right outside of Shanghai, an independent, third-party watch strap manufacturer’s factory in Shenzhen and another independent, third-party female boot manufacturer’s factory in Dongguan. Through these three visits, I was able to gain a glimpse of manufacturing in China.

In terms of production efficiency and innovation, the company-owned furniture factory was far superior to the other two factories. This factory employed Just In Time Manufacturing, had efficient, reliable and cost-effective supply chains, outsourced production of their smaller ticket items and employed methodologies to ensure that they had enough inventory on hand to ensure uninterrupted production. One neat thing they had was a sign next to each stack of inventory noting when inventory levels had gotten low and detailing the precise number of boxes that needed to be ordered. In addition, as this factory strongly believed in environmental sustainability, they even had an environmentally preferable purchasing program (which they referred to as “Green Supply Chain”), whereby they would only work with suppliers that exceeded their baseline requirements on environmental sustainability. The other two factories were, lamentably, far less efficient and innovative. Their production schedules seemed to be based upon customer orders (which can sometimes be erratic) and they did not engage in thorough forecasting. Their quality control processes was abysmal (one of the factories had a 5% failure rate!) and they hadn’t automated many processes that were being done manually.

 In terms of cleanliness and order, there was definitely a sharp contrast between the company-owned factory and the other two factories. The company-owned factory had a reputation to maintain and thus, kept things in pristine order.  Similar to US factories I had visited, they also had stringent safety procedures in place to protect the staff’s safety. While the conditions at the other two independent factories were not inhumane, they were definitely not on par with the company-owned factory. The workers were working too close to comfort and were wearing minimal protection (very low quality gloves, aprons and goggles!). In particular, the female boot factory had a tanning smell that permeated throughout the factory which made me feel uncomfortable. 

The one challenge that all three of the factories faced was reducing turnover in the face of a shortage of workers. The company-owned furniture factory mentioned that their employee turnover rates were then about 10% because they did not offer overtime. The Operations Director (who gave us the de-brief and tour) also mentioned that they faced stiff competition from many Shanghai-based factories. The managers at the other two factories lamented that they too were facing a shortage of labor (one manager estimated that the labor shortage was about 4 million workers in the Shenzhen area alone!) and that there was no long term commitment on workers’ part. One manager explained how a group of employees had recently left his factory to go to another one for a marginal increase in benefits. Factories throughout China’s manufacturing regions are facing these challenges.

Overall, these were worthwhile and insightful visits. Getting a first-hand experience of Chinese factories and comparing them to US factories that I had previously visited is a priceless experience. It is one thing to read about such factories in The Financial Times—another to actually visit them and walk on the factory floor among the workers. 

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    Useful links:

    CCAFM is our international consulting partner in Beijing, China.  They're smart, creative, honest, successful business people.

    Ms. Beth Goldstein is a good friend and doing some great work in the entrepreneurship space. Check out her blog.

    Mr. Yuya Kiuchi is a periodic guest blogger on this site, originally from Tokyo, Japan. Check out his personal page or Wikipedia profile.

    Mr. Samir Jaluria was one of our standout students in the full-time MBA Program at Boston College, and is a periodic guest blogger on this site. He is currently a management consultant and freelance writer. Check out his LinkedIn Profile.

    Mr. Jeffrey Ross, managing partner of Glenoe Associates LLC has owned or
    operated 6 businesses: Retail, hotels, distribution, fast food and assisted
    living.  Jeff's a Mentor for my Business Planning course. 


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