Below are some of the best pathways.<\/p>\n
Learn what you can before you make a move.\u00a0 There are books, websites, chambers of commerce, consultants and government trade development agencies in your own country and the target country, and other resources.<\/p>\n
You should consider a number of candidates.\u00a0 Consultants, trade development agencies and chambers of commerce can help with this.\u00a0 Plan to personally interview the finalists.\u00a0 Learn what you can about their existing activities and relationships.\u00a0 (See also the\u00a0Case in Point<\/em>\u00a0\u201cTrusting Relationships\u201d in Chapter 7.)<\/p>\n Unless you are a famous person, or represent a well-known company that almost anyone would love to do business with, it will help immensely if you are first introduced to the person with whom you want to meet.\u00a0 The higher the importance of the person you want to meet, the more important this is.\u00a0 Government trade offices, banks, accounting firms, law firms, and consultants will often provide this service at little or no cost.\u00a0 The introduction need not be made by someone known personally by the person to whom you will be introduced, although this is preferable if it is possible.\u00a0 It is enough that there be a relationship between the introducer\u2019s organization and the organization of the person to whom you will be introduced.\u00a0 Even if there is no such relationship, it is sometimes enough if the introducer is a person of high status, such as government official or a corporate executive.<\/p>\n After an introduction, although much is done online and virtually today, try to arrange a personal meeting with the key people with whom you want to interact.\u00a0 Asians, being from collectivist cultures, place a high value on the personal side of a relationship and tend to discount people who are not members of their family, clan, organization, or nation.\u00a0 A personal meeting enables both parties to gain a better understanding of the other, to communicate their messages better, and to garner information from the other that will assist in building a continuing relationship.<\/p>\n After a relationship is established, communications often become informal and very efficient.\u00a0 Some years ago, a senior executive of Cleveland Cliffs Iron Ore Company negotiated substantial long-term “take or pay” contracts with Mitsui & Co. to supply iron ore to Japanese steel mills from Cleveland Cliffs’s Robe River mine in Western Australia.\u00a0 The relationship began with a formal introduction of the Cleveland Cliffs executive to Mitsui through Mitsui\u2019s bank, followed by several social visits.\u00a0 Detailed contracts were eventually concluded, and Cleveland Cliffs began supplying the ore on a regular basis.\u00a0 Production and contract problems sometimes occurred, and the Cleveland Cliffs executive would visit Mitsui in Tokyo to discuss them.\u00a0 “The formal introduction and those early personal visits were crucial,” said the Cleveland Cliffs executive.\u00a0 \u201cAfter a few years, our relationship was so good that all I had to do was pick up the telephone or send a message to Mitsui to resolve a production or contract problem.”<\/p>\n Many Asians are highly sensitive to status and rank.\u00a0 Communications to senior Asian officials, and meetings with them, should clearly recognize their status.\u00a0 Junior executives of your own firm should not be paired in meetings with more senior officials of an Asian firm.\u00a0 Little will be accomplished.<\/p>\n When the time comes for primary business negotiations with a prospective partner or representative, have a clear negotiating plan that will minimize potential conflicts and augment the chances of reaching an agreement \u2013 and a good business relationship \u2013 that will stand the tests of time.\u00a0 For negotiations with Asians, if a relationship has not yet already been built between the parties, it is often a good idea to host a social event \u2013 for example a meal the preceding day \u2013 to exchange personal information and get to know the other party.<\/p>\n If a good relationship has not yet developed, there is a risk that one of the parties may take advantage of the other party\u2019s time constraints \u2013 for example if the other party needs to complete the negotiations by a certain date.\u00a0 And some Asians may take advantage of a Western party\u2019s culture of \u201cgetting things done and moving on\u201d by insisting on a protracted meeting schedule or dragging out negotiations until the Western party concedes points in frustration.\u00a0 But tactics like this are not likely to occur if a prospective partner or representative has been carefully selected and steps have been taken to develop a good relationship.\u00a0 Negotiating points that are won by gamesmanship are Pyrrhic victories.\u00a0 They sacrifice long-term success for short-term gain.<\/p>\n With primary business negotiations, when the negotiating parties do not share a common language, it is sometimes helpful for the parties to engage a trustworthy independent interpreter experienced in the language of each party.\u00a0 An interpreter can assist in clarifying points of discussion.\u00a0 If a mutually-chosen interpreter cannot be agreed upon, each party should consider having an interpreter on its team who is experienced in the language of the other party.\u00a0 The party\u2019s own interpreter can advise on the best way to present certain points and can help resolve issues and misunderstandings.<\/p>\n For ongoing communications with an Asian partner or representative, a structured plan for reports and communications should be organized.\u00a0 Telephone conferences between managers of operational activities, and separate conferences between top executives, should be scheduled to occur at regular intervals.<\/p>\n If the language used in a communication, meeting or telephone conference is not the mother tongue of both parties, it is important that the party for whom it is the mother tongue should endeavor to be especially clear, explicit and to the point.\u00a0 If one is communicating in writing in a language that is not the recipient\u2019s mother tongue, short, declarative sentences should be used, and jargon, difficult words, and idioms should be avoided.\u00a0 In face-to-face meetings, the same applies, and the mother tongue party should be careful to speak deliberately and enunciate clearly.<\/p>\n By virtue of a strong work ethic, most Asians are diligent and do not like to waste time, except perhaps when socializing to build a relationship and a foundation of trust essential to business.\u00a0 Communications to Asians should result in no surprises for the persons with whom you communicate.\u00a0 If a face-to-face meeting is arranged, its purpose should be communicated in advance, you should appear on time, and the discussion (apart from social pleasantries) should not stray from the meeting’s purpose.\u00a0 Be precise about what you will do next.\u00a0 After the meeting, a thank-you letter should be sent promptly, and you should do anything you committed to do during the meeting as soon as practicable.<\/p>\n There is the belief in some quarters that “Business is business wherever you are.”\u00a0 Yet it is more accurate to say that “Business is different wherever you are, and there are bottom line costs to ignoring the differences.”\u00a0 If you or your organization\u2019s staff are not of the same culture and mother tongue as your Asian partner or representative, you should consider arranging some cross-cultural and language training.\u00a0 This is especially important if you or your staff members will be living and working in an Asian country that is not your own.\u00a0 And learning the language of the host country is not difficult if you are living there and interacting daily with native-speakers.\u00a0 Often the spoken language is quite easy to learn, sometimes not requiring pronouns, tenses or conjugations.\u00a0 Moreover, it is a business advantage to be able to communicate with counterparts and workers in the host country.\u00a0 Even if you do not develop a facility in the host country\u2019s language, your effort to speak it will be tremendously appreciated by the native speakers with whom you interact.<\/p>\n When entering markets in Asia, it is best to first enter a small market and limit the products and services offered.\u00a0 You can then expand the breadth of the market and offerings as you learn from successes and failures.<\/p>\n Depending on the nature of an opportunity or business, it is well to consider at the outset what your next steps will be after starting up \u2013 including what will be the stages of development of the enterprise, what further investments might be made, and how you would go about terminating the enterprise and recovering your investment.\u00a0 In general, starting up, developing and maintaining an enterprise in Asia is the hard part.\u00a0 Recovering an investment can also be difficult.\u00a0 Terminating an enterprise is normally easy but often results in leaving money on the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When pursuing opportunities and interests in an Asian country, whether you are a non-Asian or an Asian from a different Asian country, there are some important pathways to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArrange an Introduction.<\/h2>\n
Arrange a Personal Meeting.<\/h2>\n
Observe Rank.<\/h2>\n
Business Negotiations.<\/h2>\n
Interpreters.<\/h2>\n
Build a Structured Communications Plan.<\/h2>\n
Be Clear and Concise.<\/h2>\n
Avoid Surprises, Get Down to Business, and Follow Up.<\/h2>\n
Cross-Culture Training and Learning a Language.<\/h2>\n
Start Small.<\/h2>\n
Think Ahead.<\/h2>\n