What is the critical missing piece in the puzzle while doing business with India or China?
The answer is cultural understanding.
Relationships matter in building trust, and only when there is trust will Asians do business with Australians. Yet how often do we hear Australian business leaders say, “Let’s cut to the chase and get to the point.” Impatience can often blow a great business opportunity out of the window in seconds. Layers of hierarchy are a ground reality in these countries.
Decisions are slow in coming and both ways.
Asians need time to build a relationship before they do business. This, coupled with the hierarchy of approvals, can indeed make for a very frustrating pace for the Australians embarking on an Asian strategy.
Doing business can be equally frustrating for Asians, as Australians tend to have very little appetite for risk. The tried and tested route is the best route followed by the majority of businesses. How many times have we heard the famous expression, ‘best practice’?
But how do you explain best practice in the context of innovation, change and disruptive technology?
Incorporating an international strategy is a must for Australia’s survival and the Asian strategy for international collaborations and partnerships cannot be ignored anymore. Where else will we find the crucial mass for doing business anywhere else but Asia? Where else will we find scalability for our great product ideas?
This is the third in a series of blogs by Sheba Nandkeolyar, CEO, MultiConnexions.
Sheba is a passionate advocate for cross cultural understanding, and for creating long term sustainability and value through international business partnerships. @MultiConnexions @AIBC_ltd @shebatweets
Click to read part 2 of the series – We are global.
Click here to read part 1 of the series – A tale of two countries.