I am of the view that as a general rule in business, the deal and its details, and whether they make sense for both sides and the transaction is profitable, are the main drivers of success.  Not the cultural differences and nuances.  I.e, it is critical that you master your skills and coursework in OB, Econ, Stats, Marketing, Accounting, Finance, Operations, Strategy, MIS, Law, Negotiations, Ethics,  etc.  This international field study is not an excuse to minimize your performance in those areas.

When this rule is violated, or when people enter a deal and do not understand the core business issues and what they are agreeing to, chances are there will be big trouble and a monetary loss (not profit), lawyers retained and lawsuits filed.

This includes not just domestic but also global business and transactions in places like China and India.

This is not to say that the cultural understandings and sensitivities that surround any global business transaction are not important and/or that the many cultural insights you will take away from this field study are not important.  They are.

However, I would caution you to not necessarily buy all the hype you may hear that your deal will die if you hand your business card over with one hand versus two, or that you will lose your potential Chinese client if you pass on their late night dinner and karaoke invite to return to your hotel for some sleep because you are jet lagged.

But for an excellent case study and example of a possible exception to the general rule and weighting scale I note above, see this excellent recent front-page Wall Street Journal article, Lenovo Goes Global, But Not Without Strife, on the cultural difference struggles at China-based Lenovo between American and Chinese management.  Clearly, in this case, cultural differences and misunderstandings are jeopardizing success.

(As an aside, the last few years of our trip we visited Lenovo.   An excellent host and an impressive firm.)

Others, including Dan Harris of the always good China Law Blog, have written similar posts on this topic.  See, e.g., the CLB’s recent post, China: When Cultural Differences Matter.   (I had hoped to make this post last week but Dan and others beat me to the punch.)

Late or not, check out the WSJ article.  Good stuff.  Your thoughts?  Are you less or more stressed now about whether your business cards are perfectly translated into Mandarin?

Final point: In China my experience has been that it’s okay to make cultural mistakes and gaffes as long as the other person feels that you care about them, their culture and are making an sincere effort to understand and connect.   It is not okay to not care or be a person who does everything right and by the book but your heart is not in it (the Chinese (and Indians) are not stupid; they can sense a faker and somebody only interested in making a buck a mile away).