Being a Manager in Taiwan - Dummie's first need to know's

Business Money
1

Well, someone should have given me this link 5 years ago. You could find some info in books like Culture shock, or even Lonely planet,
thus www.kwintessential.co.uk/intercultural/management/taiwan.html has a very comprehensive insight.

In a discussion I had with my staff last Friday, I took out 2 points which seems to be “rather impossible” to match, to overcome even after working together for 60 months. Company’s vision is mixed Japanese / European while our Taiwanese entity is held hostage in between. No, not a sinecure.

[color=#BF0000]A Paternalistic attitude driven under a Conficius embeded Hierarchy vs. the will of daring to accept or express proactively an intercultural adaptibility[/color]

The article itself:

[quote]Quote Kwintessential:

Being a Manager in Taiwan
To ensure successful cross cultural management in Taiwan, it is essential to remember that communication is both formal and somewhat indirect at the same time. Since Taiwan is a homogeneous country, much can be expressed and understood without words. It is often difficult for westerners to appreciate the subtleties of certain situations and cross cultural miscommunication may occur.

Rank and status are extremely important in business. Communication is formal, especially when dealing with someone of higher rank. Treating them too informally, especially in front of their peers, may ruin a potential deal. Do not continue business discussions during meals or social events. Your senior Taiwanese colleague will generally want his subordinates to attend meals or socializing, and business is never discussed in front of subordinates.

The Taiwanese have many rules of etiquette that dictate how people must behave towards each other.

The Role of a Manager
In Taiwan, as in other hierarchical societies, managers may take a somewhat paternalistic attitude to their employees.

Approach to Change
Taiwan’s intercultural adaptability and readiness for change is developing all the time. Taiwan is seen to have a medium tolerance for change and risk. It is important for innovations to have a track record or history noting the benefits if they are to be accepted and implemented.

The fear of exposure, and the potential of embarrassment that may accompany failure, brings about aversion to risk. Because of this attitude, intercultural sensitivity is going to be required, especially when conducting group meetings and discussing contributions made my participating individuals.

Approach to Time and Priorities
Taiwan is a fluid time culture, and, as is the case with many fluid time cultures, it is also very relationship-oriented. People in Taiwan will not want to upset others in order to push through a deadline.

While timescales and deadlines need to be set well in advance and reiterated carefully, it should be understood that these will be viewed as flexible.

Global and intercultural expansion means that some managers may have a greater appreciation of the need to enforce timescales and as such, agreed deadlines are more likely to be met.

Decision Making
To ensure successful cross cultural management, you will need to bear in mind the hierarchical business set up.

In general, the manager may function autocratically and dictate to his subordinates. Management is Confucian style, which means that subordinates are expected to provide unquestioning obedience in return for wise and paternalistic leadership.

Boss or Team Player
If you are working in Taiwan, it is important to remember that in Taiwan there is a significant deference to. This may be a particular challenge in a collaborative or team environment. More recently, this trait has been changing in the younger generations who have found employment in multinational companies and have embraced the idea of teamwork and participation.

When meeting together and moderating ideas, intercultural sensitivity is necessary. It is important to qualify ideas that are raised in a gentle manner, protecting the reputation of those bringing up ideas, so no one is shamed.

Communication and Negotiation Styles
Cross cultural management will be more effective if you understand that personal relationships are crucial to business. Taiwanese do business with people rather than companies. Designate the most senior person in your group as your spokesperson. Avoid putting your Taiwanese colleagues on the spot. Taiwanese are non-confrontational. They will not overtly say “no”; they will say “they will think about it” or “they will see”. Try to phrase your questions so that they require more than a yes or no response. This will allow you to be certain you were understood. Always provide a way out so that your Taiwanese colleagues do not lose face. Avoid losing your temper or you will irreparably damage your relationship… The Taiwanese often drag out negotiations to wear you down. If you mention that you have a deadline to conclude negotiations, they may slow down even more to gain the upper hand. Negotiations often continue after a contract has been signed. Deadlines are not strictly adhered to, although they are not typically missed by more than one week. If you are signing a contract, an astrologer may be called upon to determine the signing date. Never sign your name using red ink. [/quote]

2

Here’s my “managerial” experience and what you should consider:

  • Don’t worry to make them loose face. The face stuff doesn’t apply to you as foreigner and its better you bring issues up instead of trying to cover up someone’s mess for “face”.
  • Don’t forget most employees here don’t know how to “think for themself” so make sure to check them constantly what they are doing and if everything is still on track (I got employees not telling me they got blocking issues that existed since a week. When asking why they didn’t tell me answer was: “I thought you were busy”).
  • Don’t ask for their opinions and don’t try to be ‘same-as’ Taiwanese. This you can only understand after a couple of years.
3

wise words Engerim ! I sense that you had no Japanese working in your organization? :ponder:

4

Luckily not. Japanese think way too much! They want a backup plan for the backup plan and like to know every little detail.
They are worse enough as customers :laughing: But if you go to Tokyo… the great food you can find there pays of for it.

5

I can’t reveal nor am I allowed to link the above to my company, thus when people whom sit in the HQ at the other side of the world think of changing a mindset, I only experienced that the more junior managers you bring in whom studied abroad, overseas, the more chance you have to get things turning around.
Well, the one whom comes after me will also have to understand first the culture. I am swapping Taipei with Manila, so my job is done here. I came, I watched, I learned, but I -me - as an individual - did not conquer.

6

How much do you pay your staff…how much do you get paid. How many hours do you work? What type of benefits do the staff get…I think Taiwanese do a good job for fairly low pay.
You get to move on after a few years…no long-term commitment to see change through (major problem with most corporations). Instead of complaining make an example of yourself.

7

I had some of my biggest successes in Taiwan. Tell them what you want and when you want it and if you are feeling a little groovy tell them why. :slight_smile:

8

That’s a little gem of a website:

Taiwan: Never sign your name using red ink.
Finland: Never turn down an invitation to use the sauna
Belgium: Office hours are generally 8:30 a.m-5:30 p.m. Avoid scheduling meetings in July and August, …
Germany: To gain control of a conversation, a German will interject into what they other party is saying, or speak over the other parties in a louder volume.
UK: Expect your British colleagues to not be very emotive with their facial expressions and word choices
And keep in mind, the British are known for their dry wit.

:roflmao:

9

[quote=“engerim”]Luckily not. Japanese think way too much! They want a backup plan for the backup plan and like to know every little detail.
They are worse enough as customers :laughing: But if you go to Tokyo… the great food you can find there pays of for it.[/quote]

Off topic but I personally love dealing with Japanese customers. They know exactly what they want and they will go through everything in detail but they are very appreciative of patient service and quality. Nowadays it’s a rare treat to spend time on a project and please the customer with lots of little details rather than trying to farm everything out as rapidly and cheaply as possible.

10

Me too. After having dealt with Taiwanese tech companies for about 7 years, I had my first meeting with a senior Japanese executive last year. I went about it as I usually would with a Taiwanese and talked specs, when he turned the whole issue around and explained that we first need to understand the actual consumer benefit and psychology. I seriously wanted to give the guy a big hug.

11

I liked this line from the Taiwan website:

:roflmao:

But it’s true. I’ve seen it repeatedly. Seems wrong to me – a deal’s a deal – but it does seem common. And why not? In particular if you’ve got a mutually beneficial business relationship, but you entered into a crappy deal and you only recognize it after the fact, after it is (or should be) too late, what the hell . . . if you don’t perform they won’t sue you, they’re your business partner, just complain to them, tell them it’s not possible to perform, demand modification, and eventually you’ll get it (too bad for the adversary, who thought they had a deal). :bravo:

12

Me too. After having dealt with Taiwanese tech companies for about 7 years, I had my first meeting with a senior Japanese executive last year. I went about it as I usually would with a Taiwanese and talked specs, when he turned the whole issue around and explained that we first need to understand the actual consumer benefit and psychology. I seriously wanted to give the guy a big hug.[/quote]

Well be prepared to wait two years for an order :slight_smile:

13

Hehe… right on the spot. I was told that it may take one to two years to them to come to a decision. :smiley:

14

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I liked this line from the Taiwan website:

:roflmao:

But it’s true. I’ve seen it repeatedly. Seems wrong to me – a deal’s a deal – but it does seem common. And why not? In particular if you’ve got a mutually beneficial business relationship, but you entered into a crappy deal and you only recognize it after the fact, after it is (or should be) too late, what the hell . . . if you don’t perform they won’t sue you, they’re your business partner, just complain to them, tell them it’s not possible to perform, demand modification, and eventually you’ll get it (too bad for the adversary, who thought they had a deal). :bravo:[/quote]
Yes. A two-edged sword indeed.
A contract in Taiwan is merely regarded as a 1st attempt at negotiation of terms, needs and wants.
Nothing more in the Taiwanese business mind ; It is viewed as holding no authority for penalty or specified rewards for performance of actions therein agreed to.

Once you begin to understand that this is how the person signing the deal thinks…it makes things a lot easier to grok when they start “re-negotiating” what, in your way of thinking, they already agreed to.

(yeah…I know…I just ended two (2) sentences with a preposition. So what?)

15

My experience with contracts in Taiwan and China is that most smaller companies want to avoid them at all costs as they’re too troublesome. If they’ve just met you they’d rather take you to a KTV, have some drinks and talk bullshit, meet your family, etc. And build a personal relationship in order to build mutual trust.

In my last visit to China I got tangled up into a business deal with 5 parties. The Japanese customer, a Chinese manufacturer, a product designer, a industrial designer that I’ve found in Norway and myself. Now, the 3 first of these parties have done business with each other for more than 8 years, so they fully trust each other and because of this… believe that they need no contracts. They have everything transparent between them so they all know what the others are earning on projects they do together. I’ve known the product designer in that group for over 10 years, so when he stands up for me, I’m in the ‘circle of trust’ and also need no contracts when dealing with these people.

But when I brought in these Norwegian designers, whom I’ve never met before I brought them to China, everyone was cautious, as the weakest link was between myself and those designers. So we solved that by making a contract just between myself and those designers, while the rest of the business partnership is built on trust alone. We still went to KTV every bloody day in China though… to build trust. :slight_smile:

16

In a business context, perhaps I’ve lived a charmed life but generally find the Taiwanese to be more westernized, direct and easier to deal with than other Asian countries. My reference point however is my first job in Asia spent working for a large Korean technology company living and working in Suwon, Hwasung and Seoul. Everything seems more straight forward and generally easier in comparison.

17

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I liked this line from the Taiwan website:

One of my business clients said it’s even worse in China. He said it’s common that even after a price has been negotiated and the product or service delivered, the Chinese will often refuse to pay the agreed upon price and you just have to take what they give. (Anecdotal, for sure, but another reason why I have no interest in doing business in China.)

18

Actually my old Taiwanese boss used that on most of his suppliers. It’s a common tactic, build up some credit and then wham, get them to give a discount under duress. Suppliers need to insist on pre-payment or low credit lines and they won’t have a problem.

19

Reading my post from then and comparing with “being a Manager in the Philippines” while pulling my hair out and using the F-word a zillionth time…

Believe me - after havinh worked an lived in S Korea, Vietnam, Manila now - Managing taiwanese is not so bad. Just let them not loose face and they will comply - work - agree…

Fuc’kn Philippines. Counting down th days going back with my wife to Taiwan to see the family.