1: Good Morning, today we will present a …..

bla bla bla

2: INTRODUCTION
One of the aspects of culture that is very important to be mastered in daily
business life is communication. Microsoft Encarta gives a definition of
communication as being „the process of sharing ideas, information, and
messages with others in a particular time and place”.
SLAJD 3
CONFUCIANISM AS A MAIN INFLUENCE ON THE CHINESE CULTURE
The key idea of Confucianism is to maintain the harmony of ideal order of human
beings. Furthermore, it sees the whole nation as one community where everybody
has his own position determined by the five unequal relationships: father to son, ruler
to subordinate, man to woman, older brother to younger brother, and older friend to
younger friend.

4: collectivism
This cultural dimension describes the weight of the individual's goals compared
to the purposes of the collective. As Chinese show collectivistic tendencies
within their group individual needs are subordinated to their group aims.
In communication, one would more refer to "we" instead of "I", which would be
the individual approach. Decisions would rarely be made alone but discussed in
the group which is expected in more individualistic countries, such as Germany.
5: individualism
In German schools, kids are trained for independence and it is important for
them to express THEIR individuality. Restriction of individual rights or freedom
for the sake of the community leads to massive conflicts as we can see in the
pandemic crisis. In contrast for the Chinese it is normal to see themselves as a
part of a collective that comes with mutual obligations -

SLAJD 6
TASK AND RELATIONSHIP ORIENTATION - AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICT
Influenced by Confucianism, the main goal of communication in China tends to be
the maintenance of harmony, communication will be rather more relationship-oriented
than task-oriented. Unlike Germany, tending to be rather individualistic, the transfer of
information is therefore subordinate.
This leads to a conflict avoiding behavior which you would seldom find in Germany
as in individualistic cultures people are expected to cope with conflicts.
One very efficient approach in avoiding conflict is silence because saying less will
reduce sources of provocation and therefore disagreement. This behavior is part of
the Chinese good manners and can be found in several sayings, for example "A good
child has ears and no mouth". Germans who tend to be low context need more words
to communicatee and therefore feel uncomfortable to find themselves in silent
situations

SLAJD 7
TASK AND RELATIONSHIP ORIENTATION - AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICT
Germans tend to focus on the tasks which have to be done and do usually not invest
a lot of time into relationship-building whereas for Chinese establishing a good
relationship is the fundament of every business connection. Germans get straight to
the point in order to be efficient while Chinese struggle to collaborate if their
emotional need for relationship-building is not met first.

8: neutral – affective
Neutral cultures try to hide emotions while affective cultures more naturally
express emotions. Germans often shows emotions when having disagreements
about facts during a discussion. Although they avoid getting personal, the tone
of the voice and body language becomes more vital and sometimes even
agressive.
While Germans would not necessarily take such behavior, Chinese could be
easily offended due to their tendency towards high context and neutral
communication style. On the other hand, it may be difficult for Germans to
assess a Chinese's thoughts as they are often hidden behind a less expressive
face.
SLAJD 9
HIGH CONTEXT - LOW CONTEXT
Context in communication describes the amount of information one needs to
understand a message. Low context cultures need direct and explicit verbal
explanations while high context cultures are able to read between the lines, decoding
the information one is not willing to directly express. Problems may occur when low
context Germany and high context Chinese communicate with each other.

SLAJD 10
HIGH CONTEXT - LOW CONTEXT
Directly addressing or criticising a person may be interpreted as respect less
behavior, and could cause offence on the Chinese side or even make them lose face.
Germans in China need to learn how to package their information on the one hand
and learn to understand the hidden high context messages on the other hand.
Examples in business could be "We would like to ask you for further information" = "I
am afraid that I did not understand that point. Please repeat it"
Germans are direct and don't beat around the bush. Giving direct & open feedback
and criticizing directly is their understanding of efficiency, honesty & respect. In
China, this directness is often perceived as rude and damaging the relationship.
Subtle & indirect feedback & criticism is the cultural norm and indirect communication
via a third person is not unusual.
11: chinese modesty
“Humiliate yourself but show the other respect”. This Chinese saying describes
the Asian concept of modesty. In most Asian countries, one praises the
characteristics of the others and abases oneself. This can surprise Germans when
Chinese react to compliments by often denying them. If for example a Chinese
interpreter was told that his German was very good, his reply would likely be
“Oh No, my English is very bad”. Especially in Human Resources this could
lead to misunderstandings as German HR Managers could take such denials of
their applicants regarding their skills as literally and would consider them as not
competent. Furthermore, this self-humiliation leads to an apology for advance
behaviour. It could for example happen that before a Chinese businessperson
starts his presentation he would apologize for its bad quality.
12: chinese modesty V2
Self-humiliation and the high level of politeness also lead to different meanings
of “Yes” and “No”. In China, it is considered rather impolite to accept an offer
in the first place and should only be accepted when being asked the third or
fourth time. The Germans on the other hand would likely interpret a “No” as a
No and would not ask another time.
SLAJD 13
LOW POWER DISTANCE VS HIGH POWER DISTANCE
Cultures with very high hierarchies have high power distance whereas low
hierarchies lead to low power distance.

SLAJD 14
LOW POWER DISTANCE VS HIGH POWER DISTANCE - GERMANY
Compared to China in Germany, the distance between hierarchy levels is rather low.
Bosses should be somehow part of the team, approachable, and can be criticized
openly whereas in China the hierarchical order has to be respected and the boss’s
decisions should not be questioned. Hierarchy is openly displayed with privileges and
understatement is rather misunderstood.

14: Low and high power distance - CHINA

In Chinese business, your status will likely be determined by your position in the
company and often by seniority, the “chief determinant of power in China”.
Power distance assigns the right to speak and authority. In school, the teacher is
always right, as well as the boss in a company. As a result, two Chinese first
have to clarify their hierarchical positions before starting a conversation. If ranks
are not given by the situation one might ask directly for the age or profession of
a person whereas questions regarding the age can be uncomfortable for Germans
(especially women) as it is part of their private life.

15: Monochronic v Polychronic cultures

In a monochronic culture, people prefer doing one single thing at a time while in
a polychromic culture, people would prefer to multi task at the same time..
Germany is a monochronic culture while China is a polychronic. These
differences can sometime cause problem in business transaction, example, a
German prefer a close door conversation during business meeting and would not
like to be interrupted by phone calls or people intruding into the office. They
feel less important and disrespected if business is going on at the same time the
phone is ringing and staff interrupting the conversation. The Chinese have a
flexible time manner which allows them to switch from one task to other as the
need arise. To a polychronic, time is unending, and flows like the sea from
endless past to present unto the future.

For a monochronic such as German, only one thing is permitted at a time until is
successfully completed before they can switch to another. Monochronic also
regards time as distinct, with an ending, they see as a single unit of hours,
minutes and seconds. They prefer to plan, organize their schedules around the
ticking of the time. They value time so much that lateness is not acceptable,
punctuality is compulsory and people are expected to meet deadlines at work. In
Polychronic cultures such as China, people like to relax, enjoy themselves, and
be the person they are rather than weighing themselves down with the highly
demanding world of business planning and activities. They do not regard
lateness as an offense and people are allowed to work around their schedule as
long as the work is completed.

SLAJD 16
TIME & PUNCTUALITY
Time is a religion in Germany. Being punctual, meeting deadlines and planning
business & private meetings in advance is a way to show respect to others. In China
time is rather seen as flexible and fluid and respect is rather shown by having time for
someone spontaneously.

17: Separation of WORK- and PRIVATE relations

Germans typically do not mix these spheres and establishing a close private
relationship with colleagues normally takes a lot of time. In China, it is the
cultural norm to spend time with your colleagues after work and to bring private
issues to work. It is expected that a boss offers support not only for work-related
matters but also in case of personal- or family problems.
18:CONCLUSIONS

As we have seen, Germany and China have very different approaches regarding
their way of communicating. Being aware and possessing knowledge of these
differences does not make one a successful intercultural communicator. It is a
long and difficult process to bridge the intercultural gap but sensibility,
awareness, and knowledge make it a lot easier.

SLAJD 19
COMPARISON
And here we prepared a short comparison table