Sometimes, it is a little hard to get a straight answer around here. I started a little business project that I thought was going to be a straight forward process, but it has turned into a cultural business learning experience.
The learning experience has brought up an interesting ethical question too, which are the small lessons we would sometimes wish we did have to face. When is something culturally appropriate though technically bending the law, and when it is a matter of right and wrong? As with much of life and business, many of our dealings fall into that wide gray area between the obviously black and white issues.
I went to a print shop to ask about printing post cards. The printing is not a problem, but they were a little concerned that I might need to receive some permission from the government before I could print them. As I started asking around, one knowledgeable source says that there is no need for the certification anymore, another knowledgeable source says it is definitely needed and I need to go to bureau X, then the next guy says maybe I need to go to bureau Y, and so on.
I have not received the same answer twice. Can something so simple as a post card be so complex? In China...yes. And how does this become a question of ethical business practice?
Several Chinese folks have said to me that if I keep asking "Do I need permission to do this?", the bureau will inevitably say yes, because they will say yes just to be safe and not break any rules. Well, that is the polite answer. The not so polite answer is that they may want to pocket some "tax" or "processing fee" by making me go through some out dated or meaningless procedure.
In reply, though, I try to explain to my Chinese friends that a Chinese person bending the rules is one thing. It is another thing for a foreigner to try to get away with the same tricks. You know, white, American foreigners do not exactly blend in that well here. I would rather find the right way to do things. However, when there is possible punishment for the zealous quest to do right, it really does motivate a person to just do things the "local way."
Another option is to just find a Chinese person and have all the dealings done in their name. Problem one (the business problem), you really need to trust this person, because they can do anything they want if it is all in their name. Problem two (the ethics problem), does it really change anything if you bend the rules in somebody else's name? Is that not what mob bosses do by knocking off someone by sending a hit man? Crude illustration, but applicable.
For now, at least, I have found some Chinese collegues who can make discreet inquiries for me. One, nobody will know there is a foreigner involved (unless these local government bureaus are reading my blog, of course), and their is less fear of doing anything wrong or temptation to get any money out of cheating that foreigner. Two, I can ask my questions and find a much more reliable answer than if I had asked myself. Plus, the extra benefits: I do less work, and the natural connections of the one doing the asking works to my benefit instead of some random foreigner doing everything on his own.
