A January 2007 article on Maclean’s Magazine discussed the folly of Canadian businesses trying to work with China. I found the article extremely amusing, as I (through my company: Midman International) have recently sourced some products from manufacturers in China.
In the article, Gervais Lavoie, “a long-time China hand and a director for the Beijing chapter of the Canada China Business Council”, gives a striking statement to Canadian Businesses: “I tell them China is going to eat you raw, because you are so green they won’t have time to cook you.”
I find statements like the above extremely counter-productive to Canadian Businesses. Canadian commerce is averse to international trade opportunities with unfamiliar markets as it is, preferring to instead put all (or most) their eggs in the American basket. This behavior is perpetuated when people with Mr. Lavoie’s experience discourage Canadian businesses from considering opportunities in a booming market such as China, simply based on experiences with Canadian companies that were ill-prepared for an international venture. If China was so wrong, then why is the rest of the world pumping billions of dollars into their markets?
The answer is not to avoid opportunities, but to adequately prepare for them.
Much of the apprehension Canadian companies have in dealing with unfamiliar markets can be attributed to differences in culture and business practice. Examples of poor communication leading to a fallout of international business collaborations can range from a simple order-processing delay to false assumptions toppling multi-million dollar projects.
In my own experience, I was once ready to pull the plug and ask for a refund on my product orders from China when I thought that the manufacturer was deliberately avoiding my emails for over a week. Thankfully, I picked up a Chinese calendar (just to check), and it turned out that my payment arrived a few days before China’s Labor Day holiday. In China, plant workers are given a 7-day vacation for Labor Day. According to local custom, my order was not going to be a priority as everyone prepared to travel back to their home towns for the long holiday. I was eventually processed a few days after people got back to work and had a chance to dust off their files.
Do you have any interesting stories to share involving an international trade/business mishap?
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