Human beings differ from one another all around the globe, by culture,

values, and perspective. Those differences has an impact on businesses, and

as a business man you should pay attention to those differences to be
successful. Furthermore, the values that shapes our lives is usually taught by
our families and our culture. My family taught me a lot of elements that I
value, but Im only going to mention the most important three values that I
have. Being trustworthy, merciful, and generous. The foundation of these
values I learned is from the Quran and the Prophet Muhammed. For example,
trustworthy is mentioned in the Quran more than ten times. Moreover,
Prophet Muhammed is called Al-Amin thats Arabic for trustworthy. Merciful
and generous is mentioned in the Quran 268 times, and according to Prophet
Muhammed he said: Save yourselves from hell, even if it be by giving only
half a date (of a palm tree) as charity Furthermore, my father used to take
me when I was young to give food to poor people before month of Ramadan,
and that became as a culture to our family.
The values I learned not only shaped my life but my abilities and
qualities too. For example, my value of being a trustworthy individual has
benefited me in gaining friends and build a strong relationship with the
people around me. Moreover, from being a trustworthy individual, I know the
people around me who I can trust and the people that I cant trust. Being
merciful and generous let me gain the ability of knowing how the poor people
feel and see how they suffer from their condition, and to have sympathy for
them.
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China is rich with a beautiful culture, and they have a lot of values to
shape their lives. Furthermore, Chinese people are affected by a wise
individual called Confucius. According to him It is really a great pleasure to
meet friends from a far. Chinese people really cares about their relationship
with others, the stronger your relationship with others the more successful
you are. Thats what Guanxi means, relationships or connections.
Furthermore, Chinese are skeptical when dealing with people they have
never met. However, they are loyal and faithful to the people they trust. In
addition, Chinese people value three aspects that it shapes their lives,
reciprocal favor, harmony, and reputation.
Reciprocal favor means when a friend or a coworker did a favor on your
behalf, you must return the favor in the future. However, in case you didnt
return the favor it considered to the Chinese a disgraceful action, therefore,
you lose relationship with people. For example, according to Valerie Hoeks
Chinese students visit their teachers after graduation every Sunday.
Moreover, Harmony or patience means that waiting for the right moment to
get things done, instead of rushing. For instance, according to Valerie Hoeks
when she visited a Chinese village and she couldnt find a place to stay the
night, she met a new friend. While talking with her new friends she started to
worry about her lodging situation while her friend waited patiently for the
right moment to take to the dorm in school where she had an amazing
experience. Reputation is an important value to the Chinese, because it
determines your position society, and the connections you have, the
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reputation can be earned and can be lost. For example, when the Dutch
client sighed a contract with a Chinese business owner, and when the Dutch
client left. The Chinese business owner talked to Valerie Hoeks company to
solve the problem without contacting the Dutch clients, which will make him
angry and cause the Chinese business owner his reputation.
As I said earlier, people differ from place to place, they differ in appearances,
their culture, and their values. As a business man I should respect and deal
with the differences. Chinese people value long-term view and circle of
favors, patience, and reputation. My values are trustworthy, merciful, and
generosity. Those different values could affect the international relationship
between us in good or bad way depends on how well you deal with the
differences. For example, one of my values is to be trustworthy and the
Chinese value relationship and connections, if I was truly a trustworthy
individual I will build a strong relationship with whoever Im doing business
with. Moreover, another value of mine is to be generous and merciful with
people, so I will give help to whoever needs it. Therefore, I will enter the
never ending circle of favors. All in all, if I managed and work with those
differences between us, I will be successful in international business.