Market Cultural Report

Executive Summary
This report focuses on the preparation of a market cultural report on China.
China, with its emerging market and remarkable GDP, together with its cheap
labour force and raw materials entice me to choose it as my country of choice.
A thorough analysis will be done on the cultural factors on China, focusing on
some of their unique cultural components, using Hofstedes cultural dimensions
as a guide.
Through the analysis and evaluation of the secondary data, differences between
the business culture of both Singapore and China will be mentioned so that
relevant recommendations can be made to businesses in order for them to
compete and operate effectively in China.
Rationale for choosing China
The rationale for choosing china is due to various reasons. Firstly, China is an
emerging country with a total population of 1.357 billion and GDP of 9.240
trillion US dollars as of 2013 (The World Bank, n.d.). Furthermore, according
to the WorldBank statistics, China has a cheap and large labour force of
787,632,272, allowing businesses the opportunity to hire manpower over there.
In comparison to many other developing countries, the population of China has
a much higher literacy rate of 91% than that of countries like India with only a
rate of 61% according to CIA World Fact Book. With a large available pool of
trained labour and Chinas very low employment cost, businesses would be able
to generate higher revenues as they can save a lot on labour cost.
Moreover, China has enough lands for businessmen to start or even expand their
businesses. With the expansion of businesses, companies would no doubt be
able to earn more profits in the near future. All these show that China is a very
promising market for businesses to expand.
Cultural Analysis of China
China is a huge country with a distinctive culture compared to other countries. It
has a total population of 1.357 billion which made up of 56 different ethnic
groups (China Culture, n.d.). The Han ethnic group is the largest ethnic group in
china which is made up of 92% of the whole population in china. The rest of the
population consist of zhuang, mongolian, hui, miao, dong, uygur, manchu,
tibetian, yao and other different ethnics groups which is made up of 8% of the
total population in china. China is also a country with a diverse range of
religions such as Taoism, Shamanism, Dongba, Buddhism, Christianity and also
Islam with more than a 100 million followers of different religions which made
china a unique culture (China, n.d.).
Business Culture of China
Confucius Philosophy
Confucius was a philosopher who has greatly influence the Chinese culture. He
observed the way to happiness and influences each and every individual to
understand and comply with their given responsibility. In Confucius rules, the
students have to obey their teachers and showing them respect, the children are
to obey their parents and the wife to listen to the husband. Each and every
individual believed in the value of not seeking recognition based on their own
achievements achieved. They also believed that anything that is done correctly
must be taken into consideration on how it will affect others.


Non verbal communication
In the Chinese culture, non-verbal communication also plays a part in
communication between one another and also between two or more different
cultures. The Chinese relies a lot on facial expression and their sitting posture
which allows them to know how someone is feeling as well as making gesture
with your hands is perceived to be rude and offending to others as well as
frowning as it acts as a sign of disagreement. Thus, during a conversation with a
chinese, they will always remain calm and it is considered disrespectful having
eye contact with them compared to other western countries which is a form of
respect. Therefore, non-verbal communication is essential when doing a
business with the Chinese.

Business Culture of Singapore
Singapore is a small country with a multi-ethnic society which consists of the
Chinese, Indian, Malays and other Eurasian groups (The Trade Council, n.d.).
Chinese made up Singapores majority hence businesses would most likely
encounter the Singaporean Chinese as their business partners. When starting up
a business with people of different culture types, it is vital to thoroughly
understand and adapt to the respective business cultures. For instance, when
dealing with malay business partners, one has to avoid business meeting on
Fridays and also during the Malay fasting period for Muslims. Businessmen are
also encouraged to understand that Malays dont consume alcohol or pork while
Indians dont consume beef. Hence it is important to take note of each
individual ethnic group dos and donts.



Languages
In Singapore, English is the working language whereas mandarin, malay and
tamil make up the official languages. Therefore it is important that businessmen
who come into Singapore knows how to communicate in English.

Puntuality
In Singapore, people are normally punctual for their business appointment and
would expect the same for the other party. If one is going to be late, it would
be advisable to call and inform them in advance.

Business gifts
While doing business in Singapore, giving a gift to their business partner is a
way of expressing your gratitude to them. Small gifts would be advisable with
the company logo on it will be sufficient. The gifts should be wrapped up and
presented with both hands as a sign of sincerity. For the Chinese, avoid giving
gifts in sets of 4 as the word 4 rhymes with the Chinese word Death .
Furthermore, clocks are advisable to be given as a gift as the Chinese relates it
to connotations to death. As for the Malays, products made of pigskin or even
alcohol are not advisable as these products contravene the laws of Islam.

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions
According to Geert Hofstedes cultural dimensions theory, there are a
total of six dimensions which can be used to analyze ones country culture.
These dimensions include power distance, individualism versus collectivism,
masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, pragmatic versus
normative and indulgence versus restraint.


Power Distance
Power distance refers to the extent to which the less powerful members
of a organization within a country expect and accept that power is distributed
unequally.
According to Hostefde Cultural Model, China was given a score of 80 on power
distance compared to Singapore with a score of 74. The ranking shows that
inequalities amongst people in china are acceptable. The power distance
between employees and managers is huge and employees have no resistance
against misuse of power by their managers. Individuals accept authorization and
always have a positive mind-set with their superior capability to lead and should
not have the desire to surpass above them.
I ndividualism versus collectivism
Individualism refers to the extent of interdependence a society maintains
among one another. It concerns mainly on how people think about themselves
in terms of I or We. An individualist only look after their family and
themselves while a Collectivist find themselves more suitable to be in a group
that can take care of one another which in turn gains loyalty.
Under the grading for individualism, China and Singapore was given a score of
20. The rankings showed that both countries belongs to a highly collectivist
society where people serve the interest of the collective group. This means that
relationships between colleagues are close and they cooperate with one another
to achive future goals.
Masculinity versus femininity
Masculinity refers to the society will be likely to excel by competitions,
achievements and success while Femininity refers to the dominant importance
in society is the way of life and caring for one another.
China was given a score of 66 which shows that they are a masculine
society whom are success driven and oriented while Singapore had a score of
48. This shows that many Chinese put work as their first priority while family
and leisure time comes second as leisure time is not as of importance as
compared to success.


Uncertainty avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent on how the members of the
culture feel threatened by uncertain situations and have created beliefs that they
try to avoid.
China was given a score of 30 which is low and although their rules were
strict but they can be more flexible in the actual situation. The Chinese language
is filled with different meanings which are hard for the western to interact with
the Chinese while the Chinese are more adaptable.
Pragmatic versus normative
Pragmatic refers to how each society maintain some contacts with their
past while dealing with the present and future while Normative refers to
society who prefer to maintain time-honoured traditions while viewing the
society changes.
China scored 87 which shows that their culture is very pragmatic. The
Chinese believed that the truth depends on the situation itself and they tend to
adapt to different circumstances. They tend to save and invest while saving at
the same time so as to succeed in whatever they are doing.
I ndulgence versus restraint
Indulgence refers to the extent where people try to control their cravings
and impulses while Restraint refers to the extent where people control their
cravings.
China has a score of 24 where it is seen as a restrained culture. The
Chinese culture have a tendency to expect the worst things in might happen to
them. They does not put much time on leisure and controlling their desires.
Thus, they have the perception that they are restrained by indulging themselves
(The Hofstede Centre, n.d.).
Recommendations
China, being a culturally unique country, it is vital to understand and take note
of some cultural know-how when one wants to start a business there. For
instance, it is important to get a reliable intermediary when starting up a
business channel as the Chinese dont easily trust people. Furthermore, the
Chinese puts great importance to ranks and relationship hence it is necessary for
one to pick the right person as a representative of the business entity when
making a business deal. It is important to build up good relationships with the
other party as this will bring about great opportunities for all the businesses.
Lastly, the Chinese thinks that punctuality is a very important issue thus one has
to be early at all times.
Conclusion
All in all, the Chinese culture requires a lot of dependent networks and
relationships to keep the business on going. Gifts is necessary between two
different cultures as a significant token of respect which helps to build good
relationships with their business partners whom can assist each other in their
business and also their social circle.
In relations to Hofstedes cultural dimensions, China ranks very high in terms of
power distance which shows that there is a high degree of inequalities
acceptance among the Chinese. With their highly collectivist culture, the
Chinese prefers to think and act as a group rather than as individuals.
Furthermore, with their masculinitys characteristics, they are very competitive
and success oriented. Therefore, in order for business to succeed, they have to
bear in mind Chinas cultural dimensions before planning to enter the China
market.