Business etiquette can be divided into five parts,
1) Office Etiquette
2) The Etiquette of Dining
3) Business Etiquette
4) Cross-Cultural Business Etiquette
5) Business Etiquette in China
Office etiquette can be further divided into smaller parts,
Telephone, mail, faxes and e-mail,
As for the case for China they believe that everyone is their company’s representative thus when answering phone call they should have good manner as it is just like meeting the person across the line in face. We can start the conversation by saying a simple hello or your name, as most of the offices in China have secretaries thus there isn’t a need to introduce your company. If you as the manager doesn’t have the time for the call we should tell the person across the line that we would call them back rather than multi tasking work and phone call as it would seem rush and it would reflect badly on yourself. Filtering the phone call is alright in China as you could prevent the loss of time to prank callers, but the secretary must be trained in handling the call correctly, if you are too busy to answer phone call you could instruct the secretary to tell callers that you are busy it’s a common event in China offices. This truthful reason would let the caller know that you would call back. If you didn’t call back you wouldn’t know if you would have known that is a potential customer or not.
Most mails required replies in China unless it’s a mass produced mail. As Chinese bosses believe that when you don’t reply mails it would cause the company to lost valuable customers or future customers.
While in China most fax machines are office properties and thus when a fax comes in, anyone could read it so it’s most precise that we don’t use the fax machine for personal use, this applies to the e-mail too.
The Etiquette of Dining, it’s for having meal with their china counterparts.
For Host
1) Breakfast and lunch is the best for business meals rather than dinner as dinner is for VIPs
2) Never ask a guest on where he would like to have the meal at, we should offer choices for the guest with a min of two choices
3) Always confirm the date time and location with the guest a day before
4) Pay the bill before the guest comes
5) Act like you just arrive before your guest by not ordering any drinks
6) Keep your coat on until your guest arrive and have a handshake with you
7) Offer the guest the seat of his or her choice and take the worst seat
8) Offer ideas for meal for your guest
9) Never order alcohols if your guest doesn’t drinks
For Guest
1) Never be late or too early
2) Follow your host tone rather than leading him or her
3) Do not stack everything on the table
4) Turn off all hand phone
Business Etiquette to have a successful business in China is totally different from the rest of the world as in China everything is all about relation and face or pride. Thus we should always be humble and listen to other rather than of just speaking out. To achieve closer relation with business partners we should memorize their name and call them correctly. We must be careful on using their first name as we don’t know if they are older or more higher ranking than us. By keeping our promises it would build trust between the both parties, by giving out sincere compliments would further show your humility. To criticize others would cause them to have bad impression on us, even if we must criticize we must do it in a fair way and not over criticize. Always apologize if needed but never overdo it as it would show as it would cause mistrust on the apology. Always look out for peoples who are unfamiliar to the environment as you would never know if he or she would be your advantage later on. Always ask for permission to smoke is a polite way in China. When giving gifts don’t overdo it as it would cause the receiver to be uncertain on your kind intention. Dress appropriately for all occasions as it would show that you are certain on what you are doing. Punctuality is important for meeting and dinner. These are some of the guide lines for returning telephone call within 24hours and important letters in three days, and normal letters in two weeks.
In china wal-mart had adapt to its consumers by selling live animals rather than following what they do in USA, this shows than things are being done differently in China as China decision making is a group work rather than individuals, this causes thing to move on much slower as they need to seek different group approval rather than one person.
To do business in China we should avoid bright colors. Suits should be dark and conservative. Women are advised to wear flatter shoes, not high heels.
Business cards are extremely important in China. When you receive a business card, accept it with both hands, but don’t immediately put it in your pocket. This is seen as disrespectful. Instead, take a few seconds to look at it carefully, and then place it in a business card holder. As a business card in china represent a person face or pride.
Business Etiquette in China is the last part of this business etiquette,
Language is the biggest challenge in China as the local population don’t have a command of good english
Lessons ends at 3pm for today and we went to Wuhan digital mall, we took bus 901 all the way from WUST past 鲁汉 to reach the digital mall. We thought electronics would be cheaper in China than in Singapore as China is where most of the electronic are made at. We are totally wrong, things here are more expensive than what we had in Singapore, first we went into a Funan like digital mall which sells thing far more expensive than what we can find in Singapore, i found Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens selling for about SGD 140 which is far more expensive. On the fourth floor of this building are second hand electronics, most of the electronics are stolen goods as they don't sell the whole set which you normally see at second hand shops.
Was looking for Razer mouse with Jia Hui and Shu Gen but the Razer mouse there are truly much more expensive than Singapore, we tried to reduce the price to about SGD 70 by buying three mouse together but the China lady insist on her price and she look like as if she wanted to quarrel over the price. I observed that most of the things there could be at least but by half price and when China people bargain prices they seem like quarreling and fighting, their style of bargaining is totally different from Singaporeans.Wanted to take mini-van back school but the hippie driver wanted to charge us 210 for 18 peoples and told us that he need two and a half hour to go back WUST which was a lie, as bus 901 took only 45min. Therefore we took bus 901 back to WUST, the bus was overcrowded as usual and body contact was at a maxium and the chances of you losing your wallets is also at maxium.
Had 煮炒 at canteen 2, in China they call 小炒. Although the qulity couldn't be compared to Nanyang but the price is much more cheaper than outside.
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