Culture Quiz 251 She has never travelled outside of China and so has no idea
the wear and tear that multiple long-haul flights can cause.
She relied on an incompetent travel agent.
Comments
The answer is . Most Mainland Chinese people who are in
administrative positions have had no opportunity to travel
beyond Mainland China because it is difficult to secure
a passport and they do not have the financial means to
travel. Because of this, their decision-making criteria may
be far different than that of a person who has weathered
long-haul flights, layover and time zone changes. It is likely
the secretary’s primary decision making criteria, without
further instruction, is to save money for the company. She
was probably relying on the advice of a travel agent that
has also never travelled outside of the country and is on a
promotional perk scheme.
It is important when you are asking your administrative
staff to undertake tasks to give clear direction, lay out
decision-making criteria and set up a review process before
fi nal confi rmation.
SITUATION 3
The first three days of your new ayi’s work have gone
smoothly. The house is clean, refrigerator well stocked,
her cooking is fabulous, and your bed so tightly made that
you have to peel back the sheets each night to crawl in. On
the fourth day when you return home, you are absolutely
horrified to see your favourite Irish wool sweater laid out to
dry shrunk to a size most appropriate for a two-year-old. To
assure that this situation will not happen again, you:
Fire your ayi on the spot and call the service to find you
a new one.
Dock your ayi’s salary the cost of the sweater to teach her
a lesson so that she will never make that mistake again.
Explain to your ayi that from now on, she must read the
care instruction labels and show her where to find them
in your clothes.