Juicy executive gives juicy advice

Pat Yang, edited by Raymond Chuang

As the president of Chia Meei, a juice-processing company that distributes products such as concentrates to numerous brands around the globe, I have observed some characteristics in our business partners that are crucial not only to the development of commercial affairs but to our everyday human relationships. From Chia Meei’s work with companies of the various nations, we have learned that companies of different cultures must be approached differently. Learning from these successful commercial relationships, we can apply what we know on a deeper level to respecting and understanding differences of cultures in everyday life. From our observations, the Japanese are a polite people who take pride in being detailed. The high reputation of today’s products labeled “Made in Japan” reflect their organized, obedient, and meticulous ways that have developed over the centuries from ancient Samurai culture. Exploiting these cultural strengths commercially, the Japanese have consistently pursued and achieved both wealth and fame. Through our impression of the Koreans, we see that their culture thinks highly of Confucian philosophy; thus, they emphasize not only on respect for their seniors, but for their peers as well. From my experience of their loyalty and filialness, I have found that most Koreans consistently choose Made-in-Korea brands over those produced in other nations in spite of compelling reasons to do otherwise. Overall, we can say that Koreans are patriotic people who pay great attention both to relationships within their own families and to their business connections. Situated in the heartland of the Indo-China Peninsula between China and India, Buddhist Thailand has for many centuries served as the gathering place for different races, religious groups, and cultures of South East Asia. To incorporate the wide variety of people of their nation, Thailand has developed a distinctive hospitality and warmth that is well known to both international businessmen and tourists. The country’s tendency to temper difficult situations with extreme courtesy, smiles, and optimism has been one of their strongest and most appreciated characteristics. Additionally, from our experience we see the Thai’s “openness” from our commercial affairs. These business partners’ simplicity and honesty are undoubtedly encouraged and promoted by the nation’s venerated, royal family. In the early days of Chia Meei’s business relationships within the Thai market, however, language barriers made communication an arduous task. Through both Chia Meei’s and the Thai companies’ genial perseverance, our relationships ultimately matured and broke our linguistic estrangement.Finally, from relationships with companies in the United States, we have learned to appreciate their emphasis on pursuing justice and freedom. Consistently, the United States has proved to be innovative in technological advancements. The Americans have created in our business dealings an impression of creativity, adventure, and sometimes even heroism—qualities that have pushed them far ahead economically in the world today.Each culture and nation has numerous qualities we can admire and emulate—characteristics that we can appreciate and learn from not merely for business but for enhancing the quality of our relationships with our neighbors, friends, and colleagues. We can learn to be more detailed and meticulous in our work to better ourselves as the Japanese have done to become so successful at globalization. While aiming for good relationships with the international community, we can, like Korea, stick to our own ideals of patriotism and concerns about local politics. We can learn to think outside the box and to venture intellectually and creatively beyond memorizing answers and becoming test machines. Instead, we can fight for our beliefs as the Americans have done to dominate the world economy. Emulating the American’s imaginativeness, we can improve ourselves and rise and expand to a newer level that is much more important even than making money in a large juice provider company.