Asians Never Say No -- Really?It is TRUE Asians, especially the Far-Easterners, never say 'No'. Well... to most of us... But don't ever think of taking advantages on this 'opportunity', because it does not work that way. Because when Asians say 'Yes', it does not always mean 'Yes' either. No, they are not really lying. They are just saving your face. According to the culture, being said 'NO' to is very embarrassing. If an Asian gives you a 'NO', it means they won't want any more contact with you. And it means he/she is offending and insulting. So... how could you get a right answer to your question? Easy... Just ask the right question. Be careful not to ask a wrong question -- for example, if you ask, "can you do that?" , an Asian employee or partner of yours will always say "Yes" even though he knows for sure what you've asked is not practical and the result will be more losses to the business. This is because (1) He CAN really do what you've asked -- if he says he can't do it, it'll take his pride; and (2) Telling you your order is not quite right will embarrass you (according to the way he thinks). When he says yes, he is saving the faces of both you and himself. For Asians who have been involving in International business for a long time, they could be different. But do you want to take a chance? What you can do to prevent this misunderstanding is to rephrase your question a bit. Do not use a yes-no question. You can ask, "What if we...", or "Is it possible for us to...", instead. In business, if you ask something which is not possible to your partner, they will say "Yes", but won't do it anyway. They will probably even do it and suffer the loss... Do I have to tell that you won't see this partner again? One more example, there was a survey conducted by a Western academic researcher in China. The question was -- "Do you go to a .... church emple?", with Buddhist, Catholic, Taoist, etc. as choices. The result showed error because when they added the number of Christians, Buddhists, Confucians, and Taoists together, the total number was three times larger than the sample size! This was because Chinese are spiritual, and ones who visit churches emples will visit more than one of them, the researcher's assumption that a Buddhist will go only to Buddhist temple, etc. could not apply here. If the question had just asked, "What is your religion?", the result would be more accurate. (Moreover... if we said we didn't go to such a good place, it'd make us look bad. So sometimes we lie. Problem with that? ;-) About the author: Nucha Aquino is a Work-At-Home-Mom who loves to travel. She currently teaches International Business and Management in a Graduate School in Laguna, Philippines. When the baby is asleep and there is no class, she writes about her International experiences and publishes 2 ezines: Small-World Ezine at http://small-world.netfirms.com , and eLaguna's eBiz Tips at http://eLaguna.net/newsletter.htmRead similar articles: How To Fail... Faster Then a Speeding Bullet!An Introduction to Viral Marketing Ideas to Create Own Work At Home Online Business Product Experience the Strange and Twisted World of Internet Cafes Build and Maintain Websites For Profit How to be Successful Working at Home Sell More of Everything Help Your Visitors Remember You with Buddy Icons Web Design Contract 10 Blazing Ways To Sky-Rocket Your Profits sylwester albania sylwester w górach Cialis wakacje grecja
|