Corinne Dillon with her Chinese colleague

    As more Americans migrate to China for work, more Chinese and Americans are working side by side. These cross-cultural partnerships, while beneficial in many ways, are also highlighting tensions that expose differences in work experience, pay levels and communication.

    In the last few years, a growing number of Americans in their 20s and 30s have headed to China for employment, lured by its faster-growing economy and lower jobless rate. Their Chinese co-workers are often around the same age.

    “The tight collaboration of the two countries in business and science makes the Chinese-American pairing one of the most common in the workplace in China,” said Vas Taras, a management professor at the University of North Carolina, a specialist in cross-cultural work group management.

    But the two groups were raised differently. “Young Americans were brought up in a commercial environment,” said Neng Zhao, 28, a senior associate at Blue Oak Capital, a private equity firm based in Beijing. “We weren’t, so the workplace is a unique learning process for my generation.”

    It is imperative for Americans working in China to adjust, said Michael Norman, senior vice president at Sibson Consulting, an American firm. “In the West, there is such a premium on getting things done quickly, but when you come to work in China, you need to work on listening and being more patient and understanding of local ways of doing business,” he said.

    Ming Alterman, 25, a senior account executive at Razorfish, a Shanghai-based digital media firm, is the only American among 40 employees. He said Americans need to understand the importance of building so-called guanxi. The word means relationships, but has implications beyond the obligatory happy hour, occasional lunches with the boss or networking.

    “In China, it’s really expected that you become friends with your boss and you go out and socialize in a way that doesn’t happen in the U.S.,” said Mr. Alterman.

    The Chinese now rising in the work force were raised and educated in a system that tended to prize obedience and rote learning. Their American counterparts may have had more leeway to question authority and speak their minds. This can affect workplace communication.

    When Corinne Dillon, 25, was working at a multinational company in Beijing, she noticed that her Chinese colleagues were sometimes hesitant about expressing their opinions, which she thought was rooted in views about hierarchy.

    “Because foreigners are often in higher positions in companies, or even when they are not, there is sometimes an implicit respect given to them that makes Chinese people not want to directly disagree with them for fear of being perceived as impolite,” said Ms. Dillon, who is now director of sales and marketing at That’s Mandarin, a language school based in Beijing.

    The difference cuts both ways. Ms. Zhao, of Blue Oak Capital, recalled her first experience working for an American-run agency in Beijing. What her American boss perceived as directness left her feeling humiliated, she said. “I remember I was so embarrassed when my American boss told me he didn’t like something I was doing, right in front of me,” she said. “The Chinese way would have been much more indirect.”

    Communication styles, said Ms. Taras, can create workplace challenges. “Americans often perceive the Chinese as indecisive, less confident and not tough enough, whereas the Chinese may see Americans as rude or inconsiderate.” This, he said, “can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings, but also affect promotion and task assignment choice, and ultimately performance.”

    Despite the tension, the Chinese-American pairing holds many economic and political benefits for both countries. Having Americans working alongside the Chinese in China, said Mr. Norman, “is one of the best ways to cultivate and internalize this understanding for the future”.

    Source: The New York Times

    在华工作的美国人面临文化冲突

    随着越来越多的美国人到中国内地工作，中国人和美国人一起工作的情况也越来越多。这种跨文化合作，虽然在许多方面都是有益的，但也造成了一定压力，比如暴露出双方在工作经验、收入水平和沟通时的差异。

    过去几年，受中国快速增长的经济和低失业率吸引，越来越多二三十岁的美国人前往中国寻找工作。他们的中国同事基本上是同龄人。

    跨文化工作管理专家、北卡罗来那大学管理学教授塔拉斯说：“中美两国间紧密的商业和科技合作使得中美同事成为中国办公室最常见的情形。”

    但这两个人群成长的过程不同。“美国年轻人是在商业环境中长大的，”28岁的赵能（音）说，她是北京蓝橡资本投资公司的高级合伙人。“我们却不是，对我这个年龄段的人来说，办公室工作是一种独特的学习过程。”

    在中国工作的美国人急需调整自己，美国希波森咨询公司高级副总裁迈克尔·诺曼说。“在西方，迅速把事情做完是最重要的，但来中国后，你要聆听，要更耐心，要多理解当地办企业的方法，”他说。

    25岁的明·阿特曼是上海一家数字媒体公司Razorfish的高级客户经理，他是公司40名员工中惟一的美国人。他说美国人要了解建立“关系”的重要性。这个词意思是关系，但却暗示要和老板或者客户随便吃吃饭什么的。

    “在中国，你要成为老板的朋友，然后你们一块出去以根本不会发生在美国的方式进行社交，”阿特曼说。

     办公室里的中国员工是在一种倾向于遵守纪律和死记硬背的系统内接受成长教育的。他们的美国同事则更多地向权威发问，表达自己的想法。这些差异会影响工作中的沟通。

    25岁的科琳任职于北京一家跨国公司，她注意到她的中国同事有时在表达自己观点时会犹豫，她认为这种情况来自根深蒂固的阶级观念。

    “因为外国人基本都是公司高层，就算不是，也会有种对外国人盲目的尊重，中国人就不希望直接表达反对意见，担心自己这样不礼貌，”科琳说。她现在是北京一家语言学校的销售总监。

    这种差异对双方都有伤害。蓝橡资本的赵能回忆自己最初在一家美国公司的经历。她说，她的美国老板所谓的直白让她受到了侮辱。“我记得当时美国老板告诉我，他不喜欢我正在做的事情，就当着我的面，我觉得非常难堪，”她说。“中国人的方法会更委婉些。”

    塔拉斯教授说，交流方式的不同会制造办公室内的斗争。“美国人通常认为中国人不够决断，信心不足，不够坚强，而中国人则认为美国人做事太粗鲁欠考虑。”他说这会“引起冲突和误解，还会影响晋升和工作分配，最终会影响个人工作表现。”

    尽管存在压力，中美合作对两国间的经济政治都有好处。迈克尔教授说，美国人和中国人在中国共同工作，“这是为了将来培养和融合双方互相理解的最好办法。”