When ‘old’ and ‘new’ contacts come together, interesting things happen!
For years, S3 has maintained a cordial relationship with Casa Asia, a public institution that promotes international relations between Asia, the Pacific and Spain in the economic, cultural and educational spheres.
And it was Casa Asia that recently passed on a request to us from EBRO Cars, a Spanish joint venture involving Chery, a leading Chinese multinational in the production and sale of electric cars.
As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations for EBRO’s staff (80% Spanish, 20% Chinese), we delivered an informative session on effective communication within multicultural teams. A practical guide was provided to help understand how China’s history, cultural values and communication patterns influence collaboration with Spanish teams, explaining key concepts such as mianzi, guanxi, the importance of hierarchy and indirect communication.
Overall, the emphasis was placed on the fact that the key to success lies not in trying to change Chinese culture, but in understanding it, adapting to it with patience, and building relationships of trust based on respect, tact and intercultural sensitivity.
