Your First Business Trip to China

Product Camp Austin 16 - Your First Business Trip to China

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Your First Business Trip to China

David Hetherington

2/13/2016


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Dave’s Key Experiences in China


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1987 – Beijing Telephone Authority

Dave in Beijing February 1987

• Visit to Beijing Telephone Authority.

• Work out in-band tone signaling protocol to enable PBX direct inward dialing.

• It was cold.• People were pleasant.• Facilities and infrastructure

were slightly better than today’s North Korea.

• Fresh fruit and vegetables were very limited.


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1997-2001 – Tivoli Asia Pacific Lab

T

IBM KSDI

Hyundai IT

IBM China NLS

IBM YamatoSW Lab

Tivoli Tokyo

IBM Taiwan

IGSPerth

T

T

T

TT

T Tivoli GoldCoast

Jane,China manager

Dave with Jane’s“Red Army” Dart Team

• Increase Tivoli’s profile in Asia

• Start with I18n test team.

• Grow to 150+ people

• Innovative partnerships.


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2006-2009 – Engineering Services

Dave at Shanghai Motor Show April

2009

Part of Shanghai team with U.S. design/verification leads May 2009

• IBM Shanghai chip design center• Chip front end design, back-end design,

FPGA, board design, embedded SW.• Around 110 people, 37% female, average

age is 26 in 2008.• Work on automotive radar chipset


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Local Transport Air Travel Food Fashion

1987 Mostly bicycles. Some Soviet cars, a few imports

IBM only allows Hong Kong to Beijing Route

Limited fresh fruit and vegetables. Few restaurants.

Mao Suits

1997-2001

Lots of cars = traffic jams

Better planes, old airports

Restaurants: either tasty food or pretty hostess

Individual Choice

2006-2010

Extensive high-tech subways

Sparkling, efficient airports

Restaurants: excellent food, beautiful building AND pretty hostess

High Fashion

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The Tornado of Change


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Crystal Ball

1960 1970 1980 20001990 2010 2020 2030

Low

Medium

High

Germany& Japan Korea China

Labor Cost~ Standard of Living

Low CostManufacturing

Shift to HigherValue Products

Live by IPManufacturing

Moving Off Shore


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Travel


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HotelsHotels in major cities are very nice

No tipping. The bellboy will take your bag

Major international chains are quite reliable

Breakfast is usually wonderful

The lobby lounge will often have music

Tip – if you are adventuresome, try a true Chinese hotel like the Kunlun in Beijing


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TaxisChinese taxis are not great

Cars in poor condition

Drivers rarely speak English

Beware of illegal taxis at airports

Tip – in Shanghai “Dazhong” taxis are quite professional

Tip – print hotel’s Chinese webpage in advance to show driver

大众


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Dress for Success


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Dress for Success – MenFirst Visit• Grey Suit• White Shirt• Necktie• Black Leather Shoes

2nd+ Visits• Whatever seems to fit

Tip: China is in a constant state of construction and it rains a lot too. Forget the leather sole Gucci shoes. Get rubber soled shoes you can walk over debris in. See Ecco, Rockport, Mephisto.

Tip: South China can be blazing hot. If you are going a lot, invest in half lined, summer weight fabric suits.


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Dress for Success – WomenFirst Visit• Grey Suit with Skirt• White Shirt• Conservative Black Pumps

2nd+ Visits• Whatever seems to fit

Tip: Same as for men. Expect to walk a long way over rough surfaces. Forget the high fashion spiked heels. What you want are the shoes worn by Japan Airlines stewardesses – from a sensible maker like Clarks

Tip: South China can be blazing hot. If you are going a lot, invest in half lined, summer weight fabric suits.


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Language and Communication


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Should I Learn Chinese?Definitely: learn a few expressions like 您好吗 ? (nín hǎo ma?)

Recommended: learn Pinyin pronunciation rulesDon’t Kid Yourself:

• Useful verbal proficiency will require ~2000 hours of effort

• Reading proficiency will require ~8000 hours of effort


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Better Idea – Learn to Drink TeaFamiliarize yourself with the different varieties of Chinese tea.

Read up on Feng Shui

Chinese Knotting is also interesting,

Read a book on Chinese History


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Go with the Flow / The Problem of Loudness

Don’t fight the crowd, swim with it.

Loud and conspicuous does not mean “cool” or “powerful”

Gracious and polite does not mean “weak”

When considering being stupid in public – remember you are NOT anonymous.


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Your Key Chinese Teammate


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Problem - NegotiatingChinese Team…. American Team…

Technical Expert

Decision Maker

Staff Guy

Person TakingNotes

Person WatchingYou

Person ArrangingLunch

It’s John Wayne!!

“I don’t need no stinking team! All I need is my trusty Winchester!”


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Problem - Using TranslatorsSalesman as Translator

Freelance Translator

“Our system has several

performance limitations.”

“Our system can handle absolutely anything!!”

“after mounting the

LPAR you need to instantiate the partition”

“LPAR 一个mounting 后您得 instantiate 这个 partition”


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Get Real – You are NOT Going to be AloneMom and Pop Small CompanyHopelessly difficult, find an easier market to go after.

MidsizedCompany

You will be working with a trading company of some kind.

Multinational

You will be working with your China subsidiary

These guys will NEVER let you go see the customer by yourself!


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Solution – Focus on Your Key Teammate

This is the person who will translate for you.This is the person who will tell you what is really going on.

This is the person who help you negotiate.Rethink your communication style from “I” to “We”


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The Customer Meeting


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First Customer MeetingIf you are buying something… If you are selling something…

Don’t worry about anything!

Be American!

Show up in a clown suit and cowboy boots!

Demand a fork!

Speak in a loud voice!

Don’t go alone.

Prep thoroughly with your key Chinese teammate.

Conservative business attire.

Talk about politics!

Follow, don’t lead. Let the Chinese tell you where to go and when.

Don’t rush to take a seat.


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Business CardsDisregard American TV impressions of elaborate rituals – it is not THAT important…

Nevertheless, common sense respect + some Asian body language applies…

Offer cards with both hands.

Examine other’s card respectfully for a few seconds after receiving it.

Don’t scribble on their cards, deface them or otherwise disrespect them during the meeting,

Tip: collect cards in order, and place them in front of you arranged to match the seating…


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About Your Training Center in Thailand...

The customer may insist on inspecting your training center in Thailand....

....even though you don’t have a training center in Thailand.


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Fun Afterwards


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Chinese Formal DinnerThe Table will be Round...

Don’t rush to take a seat..

Cold dishes will be served first..

The Chinese will probably wait for you to eat first

Careful – there will be a LOT of dishes.

The Chinese will usually drink tea. You can have tea, beer or water.

Female serving staff will brush against you.


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Chinese Restaurant with Friends

Rules for selecting a restaurant.

Snake eating procedures…

Snake eating Procedure A

Snake eating Procedure B

Empty = forget it!

Beautiful Girl in Qipao out front = fancy decor, high prices, bland food.

Packed, Loud, Chaotic, a Little Run Down = Great place to eat!

Snake eating Procedure C


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ShoppingIf possible get your key teammate to take you shopping…

...and let her negotiate the price

You will be treated to wonderful theatrical expressions....

...foot stomping

...and all around your very own private performance of Beijing opera! VERY ENTERTAINING!


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Maintaining Relationships


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Ongoing Collaboration

Timezones…

English E-mail Blizzards

English Status Reports


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Cool Internet Communication Tools


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Plain old telephone call ...at a time that is not in the middle of the night

for the Chinese team Concise E-Mail in advance with agenda and

summary of what needs to be discussed Presentation file sent in advance so the Chinese

side can look it over before the call Remember “a picture is worth 1000 words”

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Lower Tech = More Practical


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Plan your trips to include at least one weekend Ask your key Chinese teammate to recommend

activities Usually, that person will insist on showing you

around... ...Let them. Take a lot of time to chat about

nothing. Admire whatever they show you If they don’t offer to accompany you (usually

some sort of personal constraint) go wherever they recommend anyway...and report how much you enjoyed it on Monday.

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Get to Know Your Chinese Teammate


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Reference


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Some China Related Books1. The Man Who Stayed Behind by Sidney Rittenberg

Fascinating account of a U.S. Army Officer who decided to stay in China after World War II and was actually accepted as a mid-rank Communist party official….when he wasn’t in prison. This book provides the only eye witness explanation of the Great Leap forward and of the Cultural revolution that actually makes sense and enables the reader to imagine what the people were thinking and why they participated.

2. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan One of the top U.S. living fiction authors, Amy Tan clearly based this novel on extensive interviews with older women in the San Francisco Chinese community. An absolute must for any Chinese who is thinking of immigrating to the U.S. in terms of the joys and sadness that will come from raising children in the United States.

3. Mr. China: A Memoir by Tim Clissold Hilarious account of a British guy who took the “just show up” approach to China.

4. The Soong Dynasty by Sterling SeagraveVery readable account of the famous three Soong sisters and their outsize influence on China, Taiwan and world history.

5. The Private Life of Chairman Mao by Li Zhi-SuiThis book is quite controversial in China (banned in fact) because it presents Mao Zedong in a less than flattering light. In China determining what is a historical “fact” can be extremely difficult and certain aspects of this book may be distorted. Nevertheless, as Chairman Mao’s personal physician, Li Zhi-Sui was an insider eye witness to many of the important events in 20th Century China and the reading is interesting.


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David Hetherington

◦ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djhetherington◦ GitHub: https://github.com/DavidHetherington◦ Dave’s “Minimal SaaS” Demo:

http://cities.asattepress.com/

2/13/2016

Contact

https://www.linkedin.com/in/djhetherington

https://www.linkedin.com/in/djhetherington

https://github.com/DavidHetherington

https://github.com/DavidHetherington

