Paul Denlinger has been churning out a number of great posts lately on his blog, China Vortex. Recently, he blogged about his theory on why Chinese do not like lawyers (article here). First, let me point out that most US entreprenuers also do not like lawyers. Not only do lawyers charge a whole lot, they tend to create more friction in business dealings. Paul points out that Chinese entreprenuers seem bring this to a whole new level and try to avoid lawyers at all costs.
In thinking more about this topic, I believe differences in culture play an important role. Americans like to be direct and to-the-point. Also, there’s a strong preference for efficiency. Chinese like to preserve harmony (or face, if you will). The concept of “wasting time” doesn’t seem to be there. Americans find comfort in clarity; Chinese find comfort in ambiguity. Ambiguity gives hope, leaving the door open for future negotiations. With this, I can appreciate why the legal process pushes Chinese entreprenuers off their comfort zones.
To take this further, would you agree that the US is a preemptive society, while China is a reactive one?
agree it does sound pre-emptive vs reactive
but then again, it allow for greater collaboration and co-operation. Half the time, commercial negotiaions involve haggling over scenarios which have almost zero chances of happening. Not to mention the hefty fees and zillions caffeine shots we have to take to make it happen. the good thing though is that this rigourous process ensure that onnly projects with a higher rate of return and lower risk are undertaken
looking at another perspective, it would appear that the Chinese are more open to mediation (meeting half way) as compared to costly ligitation and hence the need to build lengthy contracts.
Unfortunately, this also increases the risk involved in businesses and make it difficult for an aggreived party without existing moral authority relationship (a variation of “face” ) for the aggreiving party to give in. this is perhaps embedded in the Confucian culture of deference (to those in higher authority, higher status, moral authority relationship). As china open up to international trade, it will find that engaging the lawyers