As defined in the “Cultural Foundations of Global Business” [need appropriate citation], culture is defined as the “collection of beliefs, values, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish the people of one society from those of another” (page 121). Pierre Marcolini (“Pierre” or the “Company”) will face three primary cultural challenges in entering the Chinese market. First, and most significantly, Pierre will face culture differences with respect to modes of communication and expression. In terms of the Hall framework, cultures differ in the “extent to which the context of a message is as important as the message itself” (page 132). In China, the content of a message is often much less important than the person delivering the message, body language, gestures, and various other social cues. In Belgium’s contrasting, “low-context” culture, however, the content of the message is paramount; therefore, in entering the Chinese market and dealing with partners, employees, and customers, Pierre’s managers must pay close attention to the non-verbal, contextual means of communication inherent in Chinese society if they wish to communicate effectively with their Chinese counterparts.
Second, Pierre will face culture difference with respect to the expectation of hierarchy within firms, or in the terms of the Hofstede framework, the power distance inherent in organizations. While leaders in Belgian and Northern European firms need not have substantial amounts of power compared to their subordinates (low power distance), Chinese culture promotes more autocratic organizations in which leaders have substantial authority and in which subordinates are expected to display unquestioning loyalty to their superiors (high power distance). Additionally, the vast majority of Chinese organizations are close-knit, family-controlled small businesses in which power is assigned