Differences in Business Culture between China and New Zealand
Introduction
Collectivism can be described as a cultural value that is characterized by cohesiveness of citizens and also prioritization of the team rather than the individualism spirit, (Collectivism, 2018). Countries that tend to be collectivist society tend to find common interests & goals and also tend to demonstrate more orientation to groups and less towards individuals. This is the type of culture embraced in China.
Individualism is a philosophy or a culture that stresses the need of the individual citizen and rather the needs of the vast majority or a group. In this culture, the citizens are portrayed as independent and autonomous.This is the type of culture embraced in New Zealand.
New Zealand businesses, the employees tend to be more creative since they do not get afraid when voicing and exhibiting their ideas. Contrary on the same, Chinese employees are hesitant to air their out of norm ideas because they tend to be worried that they will be judged.
Individualism business culture like the onein New Zealand, benefits the companies and the country which that has embraced it. Furthermore, it also benefits the citizens and the employees since the citizens have an individualistic perspective which motivates them to be competitive and need to attain their professional goal (Cultural Differences, 2011). Individualisticpeople are independent and driven and they do not necessary rely on the government or others to succeed. In china where collectivism is embraced, the goals and objectives of the society are more ranked than those of individuals also the loyalty of the people is promoted towards the work group the individual belongs to.
Collectivists volunteer themselves for the welfare of others and people value group harmony and interdependence a lot. In this, by chance a dispute occurs, a third party is the one who comes to resolve the conflict and provide the disputant without directly confronting the two. In an Individualists culture, the involved volunteer to gain self-fulfillment, (Cherry 2013).
Business managers in both china and New Zealand need to know on how to capitalize on the positive goals and objectives which are posed by both collectivism and individualism business cultures. These know-how can determine both failure and success of a business or a company.
As managers or an owner of a business company based on any culture, it’s crucial and vital to identify thecharacteristics that employees have and portray in the workplaceand then be able to strike a balance between them where by chance they meet in order to create an efficient and a harmonious workspace (Collectivism vs. Individualism in the Workplace, 2011).
Benefits and Drawbacks of Free Trade Agreements between New Zealand and China
New Zealand managers need to learn from the Chinese managers in embracing not only their collectivism culture but also know how to mix the two different culture in their workplace so that individualism defects reduce, like of that when an employee refuses to work or is resistant to work with other team members due to selfish behaviors exhibited by them, (Chelsi Reina 2014).
Conclusion
Many of the Asian cultures like in China tend to be collectivist, while Anglo cultures like that in New Zealand tend to be individualist. This differences often have an impact on business like for example, a research that was done to survey tourist agencies around the two different cultures exhibited that collectivist agencies took longer than individualistic agencies. This gives an insight that individualistic culture tend to be more productive.
Introduction
Currently, we are in the era where countries are seeking ways on how to enhance and improve their international trade through economic integrations. Economic integration refers to the making and signing of deals and agreements between different regions or countries on the concerns of trade (Staff, 2018). Regional economic integration can be described as the efforts to stimulate free and a fair trade on a local and regional grounds. Global economic integration on the other side is the process by which a country or a company integrates with other countries internationally and also integrates different processes around the globe with an aim of operating at the same method (Cambridge, n.d.). The New Zealand government has signed a free trade agreement treaty with the Asian countries in order to promote economic integration.
A free trade agreement is an international signed treaty among two or more countries to facilitate and promote good business environments and to remove any barriers that may hinder trade.
One of the key benefits that have resulted as a reason for the free trade agreement is that New Zealanders will benefit in trade where they will be saving the exporters an annual tariff of $115.5 million basing on the current trade (N.Z Parliament 2009).A good example is that New Zealand dairy exports are $363 million which constituents 18% of total exports to China, will no longer be charged tariffs for a period of like 5 to 12 years.
In trade services areas, the new Zealanders who provide services will have a legal permission of operating in the Chinese land and as well as the domestic suppliers.
Improvements made in the March 2017 Free Trade Agreement Negotiations
Another benefit is that there will be smooth technology transfer among the two countries. The local companies from say New Zealand, will get to access the latest and sophisticated technologies from its partner China. As this local companies grow, more companies offer job training and more employment opportunities (Amadeo 2011).
The trade agreement will also improve the investment area where investments in one country will get the same priorities and protection that the other one gets. Like for example the businesses and companies in New Zealand from china will get the same avenues like that of New Zealand gets.
The number one drawback of these free trade agreements is that it reduces the tax revenue that an individual country gets from tariffs. China will struggle to replace the lost revenue from imports fees and tariffs (Amadeo, 2011). A good example is that the import tariff china was getting from New Zealand wines and dairy products will reduce due to the scratching of the import fee.
Intellectual property is no longer in protection. Theft of inventions, ideas and new processes are not protected anymore as the agreement gives way for the country to access it freely.
There will be a lot of job outsourcing in both countries companies. Due to the reduced tariffs on products and services, companies tend to outsource cheap workforce and also tend to reduce their workforce in order to compete with their rivals in the same field from the other country, (Amadeo, 2011).
In March 2017, Premier Li Keqiang and New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English, held a joint conference with an intention of free trade agreement upgrade negotiations(“China and New Zealand to upgrade free trade agreement,” 2017). Some of the negotiations that were agreed on to be improved included;
Promoting and facilitation of small and medium-sized enterprises participation in trade by both China and New Zealand.
There was also an agreement on customs and trade facilitation on both sides. They agreed that FTA was to provide a predictable and transparent base for trade and also include ways to simplify and modernize rules and procedures for exports and imports, (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2017).
It was also agreed by both parties to improve and enhance and foresee sustainable development.
On the animal welfare issue, it was noted that there was to be an improvement where both countries agreed to come together and cooperate to provide high standards of animal welfare, (Gao, n.d.).
New Zealand Government Policy on Foreign Direct Investment
Promote market access for products and services and also public procurement.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an investment in a business by an investor in form of a controlling ownership in another country for which the foreign citizen investor has total or partial control over the business (Wikipedia, 2018). Usually the businesses and companies that perform foreign direct investments are called multinational enterprises or multinational corporations. By New Zealand exports to other countries being high, it means that the investors from New Zealand who export the commodities make foreign direct investment.
New Zealand government has a policy on Foreign Direct Investment and investments which is are under New Zealand Trade & Enterprise government agency. This agency is the one responsible for facilitating, promoting and attracting foreign direct investment which may be in form of group ventures of like partnerships with new corporate relocation and companies. The New Zealand government policy has imposed on tax incentive to place due the reason promoting foreign direct investment. Also the 2015 law on foreign investments granted foreign investors the accesses to the New Zealand domestic market (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, n.d.).Recently New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office has announced some findings which are intended for those who intend to Foreign Direct Invest (Study, 2016). This new operation will change the existing systems in some ways; coverage, where the screening has been amended to increase the asset threshold and also to incorporate special properties. Next is the criterion for screening, which now requires all foreign investment to submit investment management plan, residency intentions, and economic development benefits. Monitoring where investors will be mandated to confirm their compliance of consent from time to time (Santandertrade,2018). And finally it will have enforcement where New Zealand regulators have been granted power to impose administrative penalties.
Surging capital inflows has been seen in recent years where countries have reaped handsomely due it. A capital inflow has raised the levels of investments and have facilitated economic growth to soaring heights. But surging capital inflows are double edged sword which has both positive impacts and negative impacts, (Jang-Yung Lee, 2016).
There are changes which can be put in place for countries to facilitate more capital inflows. Countries should tighten the monetary and fiscal policies so that there will be no capital inflows going aside.
There should capital controls put in place to control in inflows either indirectly or directly through regulation. This is recommended as it will promote low capital inflows to substandard level.
Countries should let foreign exchange reserves to accumulate since this will add value to the already imposed industries. This should be either with or without sterilization of resources (Rangarajan,2009).
Capital market refers to activities and processes that gather assets from entities and make them available. The main goal is to improve the efficiency of transactions, (Staff, 2018).
The nature of capital market can be well described through its salient features. A capital market is a complex and unique establishment which comprise of issuers, regulators, facilitators, and investors, (Prasanna, n.d.). It is a processes trough which long term resources for government, firms or individuals are polled together and made available to different sectors of the economy. There are some problems which hinder the promotion of capital markets. Capital market scan be promoted through great emphasis on the activities that will boost the economy and this will stimulate the economic growth and development.
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