Time to use our cultural flexibility

BY CATHERINE HARRIS

A few months ago David Shackleton left New Zealand for China and a job that was just too good to pass up.

The English-born Mr Shackleton was, until recently, boss of Wellington's InterContinental hotel. After four years in Wellington he came to see it as home, but the chance to run 37 hotels in eastern China for InterContinental's owner, IHG, was too exciting.

"I've spent about 70 per cent of the last 20 years in Asia so it's a fairly natural progression for me, especially now that my children have left home ... so it allows us empty nesters to take off again."

From experience, he believes New Zealanders and Australians have "a lot better cultural fit" in Asia than other foreigners. He envisages more and more Kiwis finding their way there for work.

"New Zealanders and Australians travel very well, they're easily adaptable and perhaps a little more culturally flexible. And it's not all that far from where we live."

During the recession, there were reports from America that young graduates seeking work were heading to Beijing and Shanghai rather than joining the dole queue at home. Some were of Asian origin, others were not.

And while the economic situation is better here, young marketing executive Emily Swan believes working holidays or professional OEs in Asia could well become as common for Kiwis as Sydney or London.

"I've got a few friends who would be case studies of that, in the way they're New Zealand-born or came out over here when they were very young and have gone back over there recently purely for a better chance of work.

"Although they do note things like people over there just thinking, `Why would they leave a country where they only had to work 40 hours a week and got to enjoy their weekends and had places to go'?"

Ms Swan, a member of the recent Wellington mayoral delegation to China, says she also met many Chinese graduates from New Zealand universities there who are now high-powered executives.

They remember New Zealand as being relaxed, accommodating, and often their first taste of independence.

"Their memories about New Zealand and their positions of influence, I think, are a really valuable network for particularly young Kiwis to tap into."

A commerce student until last year, Ms Swan's interest in China was fuelled by her links with international students. She now works for Ramp, a branding and advertising agency which, like New Zealand, increasingly feels the need to understand the Asian audience better.

In doing that, some studies suggest we need to look closer at ourselves. An Asia New Zealand Foundation survey last year found Asians perceive Kiwis as being nice but naive.

"Trust is a wonderful quality and it's a key value in business relationships here," says intercultural consultant Irene Ohler, but not doing enough research or giving away too much information too early on is just not smart.

"What differs is how we show trust ... To us, a trusting behaviour might look quite differently in an Asian context and will take a much longer time to develop."

Ms Ohler, of Wellington consultancy iglobal, says that while Kiwi friendliness generally wins people over, our characteristic informality can also work against us in Asia.

"New Zealand is outstanding in the world as being a very egalitarian country so we are all regarded equal, we don't stand out, status is frowned upon, we don't like privileges," she says.

"If we take this overseas, we may cause misunderstandings in societies where hierarchy is really important, where it is important to know someone's position and use someone's title, and treat these people differently from other people."

And while China offers great opportunities, says Ms Swan, Kiwi companies are often not prepared to lose money for several years.

The smallness of their budgets is often mistaken for a lack of confidence.

"They come in with their New Zealand-style marketing budgets which just don't even rack up against some of the global companies getting into China and we just have no chance of having a word in there."

The flipside is that Chinese companies coming here will also find cultural differences, not least in our management practices, says Christian Yao, a Massey researcher.

"Many of these multinational companies are relatively small in size and new to the internationalisation process," he says.

"Networking is very important in China and is a way to get promoted whereas, in the Western context, promotion is based on qualifications.

"Chinese companies setting up overseas need to understand the climate and the social, cultural, economic and political differences."

But will all the talk about engagement with Asia translate into reality? Prime Minister John Key's recent call for more schools to teach Mandarin had a familiar ring for Rod MacKenzie.

As NZ Trade and Enterprise's group general manager for North Asia, Mr MacKenzie believes Asia is the place to be, but he worries New Zealand risks seeing China in the same way it saw Japan – a bit too exotic to really embrace.

He recalls how students were urged to learn Japanese and businesses were encouraged to establish links.

And although it remains an important trading partner, Japan has been surpassed by China as an economic power.

"I think with Japan, we got away with it because Japan wasn't a global game changer. It changed a lot of things, it changed itself mainly but it didn't change the region. Whereas China will change the region.

"China will eventually be setting the standards for any number of things, the prices that are paid for commodities, the types of commodities that are bought.

"And if we choose to ignore that or not engage with it ... it would be like Romania and the EU. Romania chose to go its own way and look what happened to it.

"I don't think we're as bad as that, I think we do have our eye on China but not enough yet."

He agrees with Mr Key, however, that reaching the young is the best way to make New Zealanders less fearful of unfamiliar, non-English-speaking Asia.

"Our teaching has been very European oriented for as long as I've ever known. There is evidence there is some growth in teaching Asian studies but it actually isn't a big part of the NCEA curriculum at this point so there's no big driver for schools to be teaching this.

"If we were to start to teach the same level of education about Asia and things Asian that we do with things European, then I think over time you'd see a very marked difference in the way that people are ready and willing to approach the market."

Last year the Asia New Zealand Foundation and 50 top New Zealand companies launched a campaign to get Asia into the curriculum.

Andrew Butcher, the foundation's research manager, agrees that education will play a big part in whether we see future generations of Kiwis working easily in Asia.

"And that's not just languages, although that's important. It's putting Asia awareness in your history lessons, in your geography lessons, in your music lessons. When you're studying literature, looking at Asian literature rather than just Shakespeare," Mr Butcher says.

Experts say those with only English but an in-demand skill such as IT or management usually get by in Asia, but those with an Asian language could have the world at their feet.

"I just say to my own sons this is where they should be working," Mr MacKenzie says.

"Language is a problem because even here in Hong Kong you will often need to be bilingual but if you can do it, then this is unquestionably the place to be."

- © Fairfax NZ News