Customer Reviews

When we are the foreigners: What Chinese think about working with Americans

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A great, concise overview of the cultural differences that all too easily surface in Sino-American business interactions. The case studies dealt with perils and pitfalls that, I suspect, many readers on both sides of the Pacific will readily recognize, some perhaps a bit too close for comfort.

Although focused on US and Chinese interactions, this book has some concepts that can be generalized to other cultural clashes and disconnects, particularly in the area of languages and the all-too-often situation of "I think I understand what you said" (but not really, due to semantic subtleties that can require many years study to discern). Although I don't speak Chinese, I do speak Portuguese, spent a decade in Britain and understand how easily it is to understand something at a high level, yet miss some underlying nuances that can come back to cause trouble down the road. Conversely, the comment "native speakers of English seldom appreciate the amazing ability that they have to soften their words, make subtle changes in meaning and adjust their tone" should be required reading and internalization for anyone who goes abroad on an international assignment.

I have long realized that US English uses an amazing number of baseball metaphors and colloquialisms that must leave Chinese and other foreign speakers completely flummoxed at times, as to their content. However, this book serves as a helpful reminder in that area of ambiguity for non native speakers. Many years ago, someone from Britain, who was in the process of relocating to the States to accept a job, asked me to give him a primer on all the baseball expressions that permeate US English, so that he could understand what he would be hearing. If a native English speaker from Britain struggles to grasp America's love affair with baseball and its resulting ubiquity of usage in discussions, how much more must a Chinese speaker wonder what it was that he/she just heard.

Another concept that resonated profoundly, again due to living and working abroad, though not in China, was the concept of Americans' tendency to cut to the chase, the quicker and better to close a business deal, whereas the Chinese spend much more time cultivating relationships before discussing business. Again, this is not unique to US/Chinese interactions and, in my opinion, is one area where Americans could do a better job. At the risk of overgeneralizing, we are the ultimate "throwaway society," to include not just consumer goods, cars and buildings but also people, as soon as they have served the purpose for which we're interacting. Conversely, there are cultures were it takes years to develop a solid relationship -- but, once developed, is there for life, regardless of the passage of time or distance.

One area I would have liked to see the book explore further is the concept that it isn't necessary to ever resort to bribes in other cultures, just honest and carefully cultivated relationships of trust. I fully support that position but would have appreciated additional information, hopefully including examples, of how attempts to soilicit a bribe were left untouched, while still improving the long term relationship. Having never been in that situation, it would nevertheless be useful to have more amplification on how it's done.

This book deserves two solid thumbs up and a thoughtful read by anyone involved in international business, whether living in one's country of origin or an expat.

I am a Chinese student who studies in the United States. I am always interested in doing business between the U.S. and China. This book definitely is a good preparation for anyone who is or wants to conduct businesses in China. Through interesting real life stories, I have learned to systematically recognize the difference between the eastern and western culture.

Being in the States for almost five years, I have experienced both culture deeply and have experienced many culture differences in situations like the "case scenario" presented in the book. I deal with culture differences everyday. However, some of the differences I see daily become hard to notice. I am no longer sensitive to them until this book helped me to recognize them. What's so great about this book is that:It not only helped me recognize the differences, but also taught me a way to deal with the difference.

The conversational tone is very easy to follow. I liked reading of different opinions from both Americans and the Chinese professionals after each case, which allowed me to think about the problems in different prospective. The book also uncovered some common Chinese philosophies that formed the Chinese logic.
I think this book has built a bridge to the culture differences between the U.S. and China and is worth reading.

As a business consultant who goes back and forth between the US and China and speaks English and Chinese, "When We are the Foreigners" is a great addition to a reading list for those North Americans (or any country who uses English for business) who either is or will be conducting business in China. It is also an informative read for any Chinese who have a good grasp of the English language and are bound for North America and beyond. A good one for the airplane check-in bag.

I am often wary of the Big China Books who do vast generalizations and put China business in a nice little box. The selling point of this book is its dialogue format of comparing and contrasting communication styles and decoding messages that are often misunderstood and/or lost in translation between cultures with direct and indirect styles of communication. It's easy to fall back on old habits in your native language and culture whichever side of the table you are on, even for people who have been in either country for a while. This book serves as a great preparation checklist before flying over on a plane, walking into a big meeting, or even on a day-to-day basis with your local Chinese or American/Canadian coworkers.

The tone of the book is light from a business perspective but also maintains an academic flavor. This book also serves as a bridge between theory and practice in the business world, where high level executives accuse academics of being too far removed from the action and academics accuse high level execs of executing the "Ready, Fire, Aim!" plan. What this means is you have a book that is an easy read but also rich in theoretical frameworks.

The sources interviewed give their perspectives on 8 common topics related American-Chinese culture differences (direct vs indirect communication, giving praise, value added selling, to name a few) and offer very honest and accurate opinions. It is clear they are experienced business practitioners in multinational settings. As mentioned before, the dialogue style allows the reader to see multiple perspectives of a cultural feature (most notably Chapter 3, comparing speaking styles to Chinese cookbooks) where there are often disagreements on the realities of business contexts. I think many expats find themselves more stubborn and dogmatic as they spend time in a country so this type of open discussion gives even the "foreign expert" some new nuggets of knowledge as they read the book.

Given the name of the book title I would have liked to see a chapter or section devoted to the use of the word "foreigner" and its connotations in Chinese and English. This is a common language nuance that might have been discussed to the point of ad nausea in other books but is worth exploring because it can either be very positively or negatively charged depending on who you ask. Many Chinese and some expats claim that the terms laowai and waiguoren are neutral in use, whereas many expats in China get a little upset when you hear the word thrown around a couple times in a sentence. Whatever viewpoint you hold, in certain contexts it says a lot about how some native Chinese speakers make sense of people from outside of China. To be fair, this could also shed light on how North Americans view Chinese and Asians (to which they are often grouped). It's a slippery slope topic for sure, so the goal would be to allow more insight and understanding, which is what the subtitle of the book suggets.

All in all, the task of making sense in multicultural communication contexts is a skill worth developing and I think "When We Are the Foreigners" is a step in the right direction. It helps the reader look past their own belly button and allows them to better understand and enjoy some great business relationships and friendships that are developed in this global economy.