Trust in German-Chinese Business Cooperation: Insights and Lessons to Be Learned

What makes international joint ventures successful? Among other key success factors such as strategic fit, material and political-relational incentives, and the cultural compatibility of the joint venture partners, the role of one factor in the successful establishment and management of joint ventures is critical: the mutual trust among the managers involved. This book explores how to establish, develop, and continue to nurture mutual trust between the managers of German and Chinese joint ventures. A series of guided interviews conducted by the authors reveals assessments of Chinese and European executives about their mutual trust in the context of the cultural differences between the two countries, the worldviews characterizing China and Germany, and their impact on the behavior of their executives. The authors then use these judgements from the interviews to make recommendations for action to build more successful cooperation in German-Chinese business cooperation in future joint enterprises. Trust in German-Chinese Business Cooperation is essential reading for managers of international companies and students of business management, business psychology and intercultural management.

Dr. Edgar Klinger is Lecturer in International Management and Marketing at the University of Osnabrück and the Welfenakademie in Braunschweig.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolf Sievert can look back on 50 years of experience as an entrepreneur in Chinese business. Furthermore, he is Honorary Professor for Intercultural Management of the University of Tübingen and the University of Osnabrück. He has also taught at Chinese universities as a visiting professor. In 2012, he founded the Sievert Foundation for Science and Culture.

Günter Bierbrauer was Professor of Psychology at the University of Osnabrück, and he was also a permanent Visiting Professor of Legal Psychology at the Law Faculty of the University of Lucerne, Switzerland.

Prof. Michael Harris Bond is Visiting Chair Professor of Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, teaching cross-cultural management. He is the co-editor of The Handbook of Chinese Organizational Behavior.