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【原文标题】 Culture clash complicates China's Brazil push 【中文标题】文化差异使中国进军巴西更加复杂 【登载媒体】美联社 【来源地址】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-3102326-1-1.html 【译 者】无聊人的意志 【翻译方式】 人工
【声 明】 本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，未经AC或译者许可，不得转载。
【译 文】
在一家位于圣保罗的中国杂货店的袜子货架边，蒂亚戈警告说他不想因为在工作时间闲聊而被老板逮个正着。然而在接下来的几秒当中，他又宣泄自己对那个总是在附近徘徊巡视的雇主的不满。
一个二十岁的员工对记者说：“我的老板从来不放一天假。”他只允许我们使用他的名，而不能提及他的姓氏，以避免他的雇主开除他。“假期?忘了它吧。中国老板付我们一份不错的薪水，而且还付加班费，但是他们不明白，对于巴西人来说有些东西比钱更重要。”
“我看到许多中国员工走进来，见识了中国人的工作方式，也正是在那一天，我辞职了。”
这种由文化差异带来的紧张关系正在成为中国和巴西，这两个高速发展的经济体商务发展过程中的绊脚石。
中国企业对巴西的直接投资在去年跃至170亿美元。这接近前年投资额的整整六十倍。巴西研究跨国企业的智囊机构SOBEET的分析显示，与此同时更多的中国公司选择雇佣当地人，而不是沿用从中国输入劳工的传统模式。
新的现实是两国文化之间的频繁联系也凸显了不同的价值取向对工作纪律，政府法规和工会组织的不同理解。
巴西人享有一些世界上最优裕的劳工保护政策，诸如每年发十三个月的工资，以及餐费和交通费补贴。与之相反，中国是在低薪酬，且几乎没有劳工保护的基础上迅速成为了世界第二大经济强国。根据美国全球劳工与人权研究所的报告：巴西独立劳工运动同中国中央集权的企业体制，不允许劳资谈判的工会组织产生了激烈冲突。
美国全球劳工与人权研究所理事查尔斯·克纳汉说：“你所看到的正是两种截然不同的社会运行模式，这意味着劳工没有权利组织起来，完全没有劳动保护。”
中国公司正试图推广他们的模式。但是至少在巴西，这样做使得他们很难保证员工队伍的稳定。甚至在公司的管理层也是一样。
最近，一份圣保罗业报针对五百名分别在中国，北美和欧洲公司工作的巴西高管的调查显示：42%的巴西高管在一年之内离开了雇佣他们的中国公司，另一份报告甚至得出了68%的调查结果。
巴西工人抱怨说，他们的中国雇主不懂这个国家发展工友情谊的文化特色。巴西人同时也在中央集权的企业体制和等级制度缺乏对本地管理人员的信任。
马塞洛·德·卢卡，迈克尔佩吉咨询公司在巴西的营运主管告诉我们：“文化误解也使得中国企业在巴西的发展受挫。任何一个跨工公司，一旦当他们进入一个新的国家，比如巴西，就需要接受当地的文化。然而来自一个具有严格等级制度共产党中国的企业，这个过程也许会更长。”
毕马威会计事务所的专家正帮助中国企业在巴西站稳脚跟。据该公司表示：大约30个中国的大型国有企业在巴西每年的收益超过10亿美元，超过五年前收益水平的三倍。
中巴双边贸易总额从前十年的23亿美元到去年超过了560亿美元。在2009年中国取代美国成为了巴西的第一大贸易伙伴。
巴西并非是中国进军拉丁美洲的第一站。中国公司已经成为了整个拉美地区不可忽视的力量。从阿根廷的矿产开采到在墨西哥的制造业。中国已经同秘鲁，哥斯达黎加以及智利签署了双边贸易协定。中国银行在圣保罗的营运主管张建华表示：中国企业对巴西丰富的铁矿石，大豆，石油和其他的自然资源很感兴趣。许多企业也发现接近市场是一件更加划算的事，中国公司也将迅速成长的巴西中产阶级视为一个新兴的市场。
然而中国企业在拉丁美洲的经验并没有帮助他们逾越在巴西所遇到的困难。
一位前中国联想集团在巴西的高管说：大部分巴西本地的办公人员发现很难在一时间适应世界上最复杂的繁文缛节。甚至是一些看起来很平常的事情，比如要找一根电话线活着租一间公寓都需要得到公司的书面许可。
一位匿名的管理人员（害怕让其他在联想工作的巴西人受到牵连）说：巴西员工也因为他们中国领导层令人窒息的管理方式而苦恼。她说“这不是人干的活！我们被用黑莓手机用网络链接起来，每天工作24小时，一周工作7天，中国老板希望我们花100%的时间在办公室里以便控制我们。这显然都不是巴西人的办事方式。我们巴西人吃完午餐，就去喝一杯。把巴西人都锁在办公室里不是一个取得进展的好办法。”这位高管补充说：“中国老板时常因为在员工的面前责骂巴西项目经理而给他们带来反感的情绪。他们中国人总是认为工作指令由最高领导下达会更好。但是这同巴西人的观念恰恰相反，中国人的举措使得巴西人认为他们本地的经理在公司中是毫无威信的，这降低了他们的积极性。我多次向北京反应，但是联想总是没有回复。”
中国的高管则抱怨巴西雇员的懒散和毫无职业精神。但是他们不得不雇佣巴西人，因为外来员工比例过高违反巴西的外国公司法关于雇员本地化的规定。
巴中工商总会的董事长，唐凯千回忆起他在上世纪70年代被波士顿银行派往巴西时的情景。他因为巴西人没有时间观念而倍感崩溃。她说“我四处碰壁整整一年，直到我真正融入了巴西社会和文化。”唐凯千说他认识到了休闲在巴西文化中的重要性。而且在巴西非正式性并不完全等同于没有职业道德，他认识到文化的不同并不触及原则的底线。
事实上，根据美国大企业联合会的数据，巴西员工的创造力比他们的中国同行要高30%，而中国人的实际生产力超过他们巴西同行的两倍。
“在过去中国公司用雇佣大量中国员工来解决文化问题的实践是不为巴西法律所容忍的。”巴西国家发展银行前董事长，安东尼·巴罗斯·德·卡斯特罗对中国崛起的研究如是说。“在非洲中国人大量用中国员工以无视文化问题，但是在这里他们必须和巴西人一起工作，巴西政府已经把这一点讲得很明白了”
尽管对于在两国之间建立更好的合作关系人们付出了许多努力，但是不理解现在仍然弥漫在东方人和圣保罗之间。二十九岁的西里欧·林（中国人）经营一家红火的中餐馆，坐在他的收银机旁，抱怨着他的巴西员工。“巴西人想要假期，不知道为什么，他们总提出是要休假一天，他们想去海滩上休息，去海滩当然是不错的，但是如果你让一个中国人去海滩，他们一定会去卖些什么的。”
SAO PAULO – Stocking shelves in a Chinese grocery store, Thiago warned that he didn't want to be caught chatting during working hours. Within seconds, however, the Brazilian unleashed a pent-up flood of complaints about the owners, who lingered just beyond hearing distance.
"My bosses have never heard of a day off," said the 20-year-old, who would only allow his first name to be used, for fear of losing his job. "Vacations? Forget it. They pay well and they pay for extra hours, but they don't understand that some things are more important to Brazilians than money.
"I've seen many workers walk in, see the Chinese way of doing things, and quit the very same day."
Such cross-cultural tensions have become a stumbling block in an otherwise meteoric rise in business ties between China and Brazil, two of the world's fastest-growing economies.
Chinese companies' direct investment in Brazil jumped to $17 billion last year, nearly 60 times the investment the previous year, according to SOBEET, a Brazilian economic think tank. At the same time, more Chinese companies are hiring local workers rather than following their old practices of bringing in Chinese laborers.
That new reality has meant frequent contact between two cultures that hold vastly different expectations about the role of workers, government regulations and unions.
Brazilians enjoy some of the most labor-friendly protections in the world, with guarantees such as one-month annual bonuses and stipends for meals and transportation. China, on the other hand, has quickly become the world's second biggest economy on the strength of a low-paid work force and, in practice, virtually nonexistent labor protections, according to the U.S.-based nonprofit Global Institute for Labor & Human Rights. Brazil's strong independent labor movement also clashes with a centralized Chinese system of company unions without collective bargaining power.
"You're looking at a whole different model of how society operates," said Charles Kernaghan, the institute's director. "That means no rights to organize, virtually no labor protections."
Chinese companies are attempting to export that model and, at least in Brazil, have been finding it difficult to retain workers, even in management positions.
A survey of 500 Brazilian executives working for Chinese, North American and European companies recently conducted by the Michael Page International recruitment firm for the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo found that 42 percent of Brazilian executives working for Chinese companies left their jobs within a year, a 68 percent higher turnover rate than found in the other firms studied.
Brazilian workers complain that their Chinese employers don't understand the country's culture of developing personal relationships among co-workers. Brazilians also bristle against a centralized office hierarchy that puts little trust in local executives.
"The cultural misunderstandings are going to frustrate the development of Chinese business in Brazil," said Marcelo de Lucca, director of Michael Page's Brazil operations. "Multinational companies, when they arrive in Brazil or any country, have to adapt to the local culture. But the Chinese, with their old culture, being a country ruled by a strong Communist party with extreme levels of hierarchy, for them this process will take longer."
Global accounting firm KPMG, whose specialists help Chinese companies get started in Brazil, say about 30 of China's big state-run companies with annual revenues above $1 billion are now in the country, more than three times the number five years ago.
China and Brazil's bilateral trade surpassed $56 billion last year, up from $2.3 billion a decade earlier. In 2009, China replaced the U.S. as Brazil's biggest trading partner.
Brazil isn't China's first foray into Latin America — Chinese companies have a strong presence across the region, from mining operations in Argentina to manufacturing in Mexico. China has bilateral trade agreements with Peru, Costa Rica and Chile.
Zhang Jianhua, chief of the Bank of China's operations in Sao Paulo, said Chinese companies have been enticed by Brazil's wealth of iron ore, soy, oil and other natural resources, and many companies are finding it more cost effective to move closer to the commodities. Chinese companies also see Brazil's booming middle class as a lucrative market.
Chinese companies' experience elsewhere in Latin America, however, hasn't helped them avoid problems in Brazil.
A former top executive for Chinese computer maker Lenovo said most Brazilians at the company's local offices were frustrated by demands to come up with almost immediate results in a country with some of the world's worst red tape. Even seemingly mundane tasks, such as getting a phone line or renting an apartment, can require trips to the notary and stacks of paperwork.
Brazilian workers also balked at what they saw as their Chinese superiors' suffocating management style, said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of putting in jeopardy the jobs of other Brazilians at Lenovo.
"It was not the quantity of work — we're all chained to our Blackberry, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week," she said. "But the Chinese bosses wanted people physically in the office 100 percent of the time so they could control them.
"That's definitely not how deals are closed in Brazil. It's over dinner, at lunch, having a drink. You cannot keep your work force locked up in an office and expect to make headway in Brazil."
The executive added that Chinese bosses would often create ill will by upbraiding Brazilian project managers in front of their staff.
"They thought the workers would do more if the orders were coming from the big boss, but that's not what Brazilian workers think — it's just the opposite," she said. "They lost motivation because they thought their manager had no respect within the company, to the point that he was being dressed down in front of them. I saw that a lot."
Calls to Lenovo were not returned.
Asian executives have had their own complaints about what they've seen as the lax work ethic of Brazilian employees, but are up against laws that require all foreign companies in Brazil to hire locally.
Charles Tangwho founded the Brazil-China chamber of trade and industry 25 years ago, vividly recalls the difficulties he encountered when the Bank of Boston first sent him to Brazil in the mid-1970s. He was particularly frustrated with what he said was some Brazilians' lack of punctuality.
"I banged my head against the wall for a year or so before I really got into Brazilian culture," he said.
Tang said he soon learned the Brazilian way — essentially to relax, realize nobody is going to arrive at a meeting on time and understand that informality doesn't necessarily equate with a lack of professionalism. He realized that the differences in style ultimately didn't affect the bottom line.
In fact, data from the U.S.-based business group The Conference Board show Brazilian workers were 30 percent more productive last year than their Chinese counterparts. Chinese worker productivity, however, grew at more than twice the annual rate than that of Brazilian workers.
In the past, Chinese firms circumvented such complications by importing thousands of their own workers, a practice Brazilian officials don't tolerate, said Antonio Barros de Castro, a former president of Brazil's state development bank who has closely studied China's rise.
"They know that here they have to work mostly with Brazilian laborers, the government has made that clear," Barros said. "In places like Africa, they resolved work force problems by ignoring the problem, by working with Chinese workers."
Despite efforts to build better working relationships between the two countries, distrust was still rife on a recent afternoon in the Liberdade neighborhood of central Sao Paulo.
Celio Lin, 29, sat by the cash register of his family's busy Chinese restaurant complaining about the Brazilian staff, while his mother checked on the line cooks by tugging on their coats and attentively peeking into pots of soup and noodles.
"Brazilians want vacations for I-don't-know-what, they want a day off for I-don't-know-what, they want to go to the beach, to relax," Lin said. "The beach is obviously pleasant, but if you send a Chinese man to the beach, he'll go there to sell something!" |
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发表于 2011-6-3 16:36
发表于 2011-6-3 17:55
![OY1~JALXICE%]4~4F5G`}5H.jpg](http://bbsatt.m4.cn/attachment/forum/day_110603/1106032032192e7099b7bcb66f.jpg "OY1~JALXICE%]4~4F5G`}5H.jpg")
巴西是霓虹国的殖民地，抵制天朝是正常的！
