Working Successfully within Cultural Boundaries

Soon after starting our job in China, we realized that the greatest challenge we faced would not be our day-to-day responsibilities but a completely foreign work environment and culture.
We were used to the very direct, sometimes confrontational, but more equal style of management in the United States. Here, we were faced with the never-direct, never-confrontational style of management common in Asia.
We often hear similar stories. One woman shared her experience of returning to China after more than 15 years in the US. Although she spent most of her childhood in China, she felt that her colleagues’ thinking processes were completely foreign to her. She needed to adapt herself to the culture of her company only then would she be successful at her job. In the end, she wasn’t able to successfully re-adapt herself to the culture. What she didn’t realize was that, rather than disagreeing with her ideas, they disagreed with her method of implementing them. For example, instead of recognizing her company’s strict chain-of-command, she had in one case taken her plan straight to the company chairman. This action consequently caused her superiors to lose face. She had unwittingly broken a cardinal rule of Chinese culture.
One man who spent many years overseas before returning to China to head up the local operations of a multinational company, had a similar experience. In his first management team meeting, he presented his plans for a new direction in China operations. His request was met with an uncomfortable silence, with none of the managers daring to speak up. They had not been prepared for his open style of management. Soon he quickly determined that his first on-the-job challenge would be to build up managers’ confidence in him, and that he had to do this individually, not in a group. Within a year, their management team meetings were transformed into the interactive, brainstorming sessions that he intended them to be.
Therefore, it wasn’t until after we had learned to appreciate the culture of our workplace and earned the confidence and trust of our inferiors that we were able to move forward and successfully do our job. We must first understand and accept a culture for what it is; only then will we be able to successfully work within it.
If one wants to work successfully in a different culture, what is the first thing he/she should do

题库:综合类 类型:最佳选择题 时间:2017-07-03 03:12:27 免费下载:《单选集》Word试卷

Soon after starting our job in China, we realized that the greatest challenge we faced would not be our day-to-day responsibilities but a completely foreign work environment and culture.
We were used to the very direct, sometimes confrontational, but more equal style of management in the United States. Here, we were faced with the never-direct, never-confrontational style of management common in Asia.
We often hear similar stories. One woman shared her experience of returning to China after more than 15 years in the US. Although she spent most of her childhood in China, she felt that her colleagues’ thinking processes were completely foreign to her. She needed to adapt herself to the culture of her company only then would she be successful at her job. In the end, she wasn’t able to successfully re-adapt herself to the culture. What she didn’t realize was that, rather than disagreeing with her ideas, they disagreed with her method of implementing them. For example, instead of recognizing her company’s strict chain-of-command, she had in one case taken her plan straight to the company chairman. This action consequently caused her superiors to lose face. She had unwittingly broken a cardinal rule of Chinese culture.
One man who spent many years overseas before returning to China to head up the local operations of a multinational company, had a similar experience. In his first management team meeting, he presented his plans for a new direction in China operations. His request was met with an uncomfortable silence, with none of the managers daring to speak up. They had not been prepared for his open style of management. Soon he quickly determined that his first on-the-job challenge would be to build up managers’ confidence in him, and that he had to do this individually, not in a group. Within a year, their management team meetings were transformed into the interactive, brainstorming sessions that he intended them to be.
Therefore, it wasn’t until after we had learned to appreciate the culture of our workplace and earned the confidence and trust of our inferiors that we were able to move forward and successfully do our job. We must first understand and accept a culture for what it is; only then will we be able to successfully work within it.
If one wants to work successfully in a different culture, what is the first thing he/she should do
A.Learn to appreciate the culture of his/her workplace.
B.Earn the confidence and trust of his/her superiors.
C.Get along well with the colleagues.
D.Work harder than others.

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