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Karoke
is a must-have skill for doing business in certain parts of
Asia. Some of our good friends even take Karoke lessons.
Even if you have bad tone like me, must have a 'yum guo' to advance your
business further. - TAI
TAI
With Karaoke,
A Deal in China
For a Song In East Asia, karaoke nights are
common—and help seal business deals. But, they can be daunting for the
uninitiated
The first deal Paula Beroza ever struck
in China was sealed after she sang "Red River Valley" at a luncheon.
Her solo followed one by the chairman of the Chinese company she'd wooed.
"I sang an American song that I
knew they new and he sang a Chinese song," she said. With karaoke
performances under their belts, their bond was solid.
Karaoke plays an important in the
interactions necessary to solidify good business relationships in China, Taiwan,
South Korea and Japan. It helps relax business contacts and bridge language
barriers. It is so beloved by people in East Asian countries that Ms. Beroza,
who runs an investment banking and consulting firm with offices throughout
China, has noticed karaoke machines in the executive dining areas of some
Chinese companies.
But most of the revelry does not occur
during business hours. A night out at a karaoke club is a common chaser to the
hallmark business banquet companies in China are fond of hosting. Eating,
drinking and singing together helps build trust in a society in which written
contracts mean less and personal interactions are far more important.
"When we do business in New York,
we arrange a meeting, we speak to each other, we say our terms and conditions,
we shake a hand and we sign our deal," said Cathal Conaty, who runs a
company that sources manufacturing for American and Irish companies in China.
"[But in China,] you don't just sit down and say 'I'm looking for this
product at this price.' The manufacturer wants to get to know a person and get
to know what you're like. One way to do it is when you go to a bar and you have
drinks and you sing."
Chi Chen, an engineer who splits his
time between China and the U.S., says karaoke plays a big part in entertaining
clients. "If I'm meeting a customer, dinner is almost guaranteed, and
entertainment afterward is almost guaranteed as well," he explained.
"It's not how we do it over here
where...it's kind of a funny thing," Ms. Beroza added. Karaoke in East Asia
is serious, and its practitioners are far more earnest in their art than a group
of giggling Americans belting out "Sloop John B" might seem.
For the unseasoned American doing
business in East Asia, there is occasionally a darker and somewhat confusing
side to a night of karaoke. First-time travelers could be in for a shock when
they find themselves in a private room in a karaoke club -- common in Thailand,
Taiwan, Japan and mainland China -- being asked to choose from a lineup of young
women brought in to serve them. A visitor's first thought might be that the
women are sex workers. They are young, often dressed in revealing clothes and
ready to finger-feed customers fruit or whatever else they may be eating. In
some low-end clubs, the women may indeed be sex workers, but foreign business
travelers are unlikely to be taken to these places. At most places business
guests end up, the women are simply club hostesses whose presence conveys
luxury.
"There's a whole class of women who
are just hostesses," explained Ted Fishman, a former commodities trader
whose book, China, Inc. offers tips on doing business in the country.
"The hostessing is a very
traditional way of dealing with being kind to guests," said Tracey
Wilen-Daugenti, a director at Cisco Systems who often advises women on how to do
business abroad. "Many of these establishments have hostess women and I
have gone to dinner and had my own hostess woman and been very embarrassed, but
[my hosts] actually thought they were being kind."
The most important thing to remember is
that the evening's focus is on karaoke above all else.
Still, the experience can be shocking.
Nancy Fox, while serving as the vice president of merchandising for the American
division of a Japanese apparel company, found herself inside a karaoke club with
female hostesses during a visit to Thailand with her Japanese colleagues. The
rest of her team was made up entirely of men, and they appeared to be thoroughly
enjoying themselves, but to her, the place looked like a den of vice.
"They gave me a woman, a young
woman to keep me company," she said, "while they were being
entertained by the other Thai women."
"I was furious," she said.
"I asked them to leave."
Even if the hostesses in a karaoke club
are not prostitutes, the experience may be too much for some first-timers to
handle. Despite the importance of karaoke in Chinese and other East Asian
cultures, bowing out gracefully from a night at a club will do no harm to any
business relationship. Women may find it especially appropriate to leave, or
they may not be invited at all.
"The businesswomen's side is we
find that doing the dinner can suffice," she said. Most women say leaving
early doesn't hurt their business dealings. Going out afterwards and doing
excessive drinking isn't considered very feminine." She added that it felt
easier to duck out of a late-night trip to a karaoke bar as a woman.
"I traveled with a guy who was a
Mormon and happily married with a lot of kids and didn't drink," she
recalled. His hosts wanted to stay out late with him. But he and his other team
members found excuses to slip away.
There are plenty of acceptable excuses.
"Do not be negative in excusing yourself," Mr. Fishman advised.
"Just say 'I'm tired, I'm jet lagged.' " Mentioning a family waiting
back home for a phone call also works.
But karaoke remains important, and
experienced travelers to East Asia add that it never hurts to relax and try to
belt out a tune or two. Karaoke can actually be comforting. "You're in
China and everything's so different," Mr. Conaty mused. "All of the
sudden your favorite Bryan Adams song comes on and you feel like you're home
again." - 2008 June 9 WALL
ST. JOURNAL
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