hat respect, even a state-owned firm like Golden Horizon is somewhat like a family. I have particular relationships with my superiors, my colleagues, and the people who report to me. Each of us has our own part in the operation of the firm, and we are all aware of how those parts fit together. When I'm dealing with another Chinese-owned firm, it will tend to operate in the same basic way. While the head of the firm has the final say and authority, everyone has a role and interest that I have to respond to in negotiating a deal.
In dealing with a Japanese firm, for example with Mitsubishi, I always have much more of a sense that the Japanese managers I am working with are Mitsubishi representatives, like officials of a ministry or even diplomats representing a state. Their recommendations go up through the large structure of the firm, and policy decisions come back down. I feel as if I might go to a meeting one day and find a completely different Mitsubishi working group. I would have to re-establish personal relationships
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