| Uh, I think that people’s individual abilities are very important, but guanxi is even more important than individual ability. Uh, generally speaking, when Chinese people make use of someone, they prefer to make use of someone they trust. That is to say, they want to use someone with whom they have some degree of relationship. Maybe it’s a primary-school, middle-school, high-school or university classmate. Maybe it’s this relative, or maybe it’s someone a friend introduced. Maybe it’s someone they have some experience with, for example, they spent a summer together somewhere, spent a a a summer vacation together. The point is they like to use these kinds of people. Now, of course these people must also have some exceptional abilities. Uh, even if you have skills, if you don’t have guanxi, you’re going to have a hard time finding work. Now, if you have both ability and guanxi, you’re going to have no trouble finding work.
Now, if you have guanxi but not many skills, can you find work? Yes, you can find work. I believe that’s because in many organizations, there are some jobs where it makes little difference who does them, that is, it makes no difference. Today, uh, suppose, for example, that I need someone at the front desk. Now, uh, it makes no great difference whether Zhang San1 does it today, or Li Si1. So, today, in this situation, if I want to use someone from my hometown, or who has the same, um, surname as me2, the same “last name,” I don’t have to worry too much about doing so.
Now, in China, for many of the more important positions, such as accountants, they certainly want their own relatives, their own townspeople, their own brothers or sisters. Uh, for example, this this, uh, for [jobs] dealing with others outside of the company, they’ll definitely want to have their own sons, their own daughters do it. They won’t let an outsider do it. If there’s a secret “family recipe,” they’re certainly going to keep it in the family, with those they can trust, [people from] a place they trust. They won’t go, uh, somewhere else to find someone talented to do it. This is my view on relationships and abilities.
1: A “John Doe” kind of name.
2: People with the same surname are often viewed and treated as kin. | 啊，我觉得个人的能力是很重要，但是呢关系呢比个人的能力还更重要。 啊， 一般来说呢，中国人在用人的时候喜欢用他信任的人。 也就是说呢，他希望用的人呢跟他有某种程度的关系。也许是啊小学，中学啊，大学的同学，也许是这个啊亲戚，也许是这个朋友介绍，也许是啊他们这个e一起有共同的经验。譬如说，他们在哪一个地方一起去度过一个summer， 度过一个一个一个暑假。就是他们喜欢用这些人。那这些人呢当然也需要有一些特别的能力。啊，只要你有能力的话，你没有关系的话很不容易找到事情。那你如果说又有能力又有关系的话呢，那你很容易能够找到事情。
那如果说有关系能力比较少的话，可不可以找到事情呢？ 可以找到事情。 因为我相信啊在很多组织里面呢有一些事情呢不管是谁做的都是差不了多少，就是没有什么关系，今天呢啊譬如说我在前台有一个e职位我需要人。那啊今天是张三来做也好呢，李四来做也好呢, e差不了多少的。所以今天在这个情形的时候呢，我希望用一个人是从我家乡来的，或者是跟我这个e名字是同样的一个一个姓，就是同样的一个last name。 哦，在这种情形我比较放心啊。
那中国很多这个比较重要的职位譬如说这个管帐的人，他肯定是要啊自己的亲戚，自己的同乡，自己的兄弟姐妹。 啊譬如说这个这个啊对外边的这个关系，他一定是要用他自己的儿子，自己的女儿去做 。他不会让一个外人来做。他如果有祖传秘方的话，他也一定是把这些放在他自己家里面，他可以信任的人，可以信任的地方。他不会说这个到啊其他的地方去找一个很有能力的人来做。这是我对这个关系和能力的看法。 |