Andrew Imms, EFEC Strategic Advisory Board member, entrepreneur and automotive logistics executive, has begun a new chapter in his career, as a guest lecturer in business at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln.
Andrew invited Lily Lin, CEO EFEC, to share her views with his students, on the theme of doing business with China. The invitation was based on EFEC’s track record of success and Lily’s reflections as the leader.
Lily thought it would help if she and her colleague Andrew Thomson, Chief strategic officer to give a joint presentation to help visualize the viewpoints and also stress the key elements of why intercultural understanding matters when it comes to building win-win partnerships for business.
The EFEC mission is to facilitate win-win partnerships between China and the UK for businesses and individuals.
Lily’s opening remarks conveyed a truth she holds dear: “we are all the same, in different ways; we are different, in the same ways”.
This set the tone. It is a starting point of view, and helps to overcome fixed views that can so easily get into the way of making new contacts and creating new business.
In business, culture really matters – ‘the way we do things round here’.
The fundamental lesson we have learned about culture is being reminded again and again that the things that unite us all over the planet as people vastly outnumber and outweigh the subtle differences in the way we do things.
The small things matter, just making sure things go the right way.
[图源—Illustration: Brad Vaughn]
In our experience we see these subtleties in terms of variations in the extent to which three dynamics work.
First, there is a mix of individualism versus collectivism – how far people value their personal rights, freedom and achievements or that they value group harmony, loyalty and consensus over their personal preferences. This varies depending on circumstance, time and place.
Then, there is the relationship between the individual and authority: power distance refers to the extent to which people accept unequal distribution of power in society and in organisations and how they question authority.
And finally, the relationship with time itself; time orientation reflects how people perceive, value and use time in their lives.
The truth is, across China and the UK, as for any community, each factor is present and necessary. The differences as such are subtle. EFEC success is attributed to listening, noticing and understanding the subtleties.
The students were well-engaged with the discourse and had some very good questions and we are staying in touch with Andrew and the course as it progresses.