COUNTRY COMPARISON

Li Shen, a young Chinese manager who eagerly accepted a job as a marketing manager for L’Oreal after doing her MBA in Europe found herself working at the company’s Shanghai office. Her excellent command of English and acceptable French gave her confidence when dealing with her European colleagues. She didn’t feel there was a cultural gap between her and her European peers, until she was invited to Paris to present her ideas about a marketing campaign in China.

“I prepared my presentation tirelessly,” she recalls. “I spent all thirteen hours of the plane ride from Shanghai rehearsing each slide so my points would be convincing.”

There were 12 people in the meeting and Shen was the only non-European in the room. Her ideas were prepared and meticulous but she was taken aback by the challenges thrown at her by her French colleagues. They started by questioning why she had chosen to change a specific colour in a print ad. As she was explaining, other members of the group began to challenge her other decisions. Shen felt attacked and humiliated, mostly upset with herself. “They obviously did not feel I was the marketing expert I claimed to be,” she recalled.

When the meeting was over, Shen rushed for the exit, but before she could escape, she had a surprise. Several of the participants who had challenged her came up to congratulate her and tell her how polished and interesting her presentation was. “At that moment, I realised I was more Chinese than I thought,” she said.