I found the following HBS article about networking to be quite interesting. Most AIM students understand at some level the wisdom of the adage, "It's not what you know; it's who you know." And at some level we all realize that building the right professional relationships are critical for business success. Although this article focuses more on Chinese business relationships, it contains valuable lessons for students about to enter the workforce.
Professional Networks in China and America
While American managers prefer to separate work and personal relationships, Chinese counterparts are much more likely to intermingle the two. One result: Doing business in China takes lots of time, says HBS professor Roy Y.J. Chua. Key concepts include:
- It generally takes much longer to build trusting business relationships in China than in the United States.
- When cultivating business relationships in China, American managers may want to know as many people in the Chinese counterpart's network as possible.
To read the rest of the article, go to:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6129.html
