China as an opportunity and a challenge for Western service providers[La Chine, une opportunité et un défi pour les prestataires de services occidentaux]

This article analyzes the issues of cultural differences in the production and delivery of services in the globalized world. A focus is set on the differences between Western and Chinese cultures. As a framework for the comparison and country-specific analysis, the basic dimensions of cultural differences are presented based on the literature. In the numerous studies carried out during the last decades, the following dimensions have been found to be typical in the Eastern cultures: collectivism, indirect communication style, high power distance, and long-term orientation. In China, these Eastern characteristics are mixed with deep traditions of the Confucian culture, with the socio-political system of the country, and with the rapid, but regionally uneven development in recent years.