Peter is a young British national working in a social networking site based in Shanghai, China. He came to the country just one year ago, attracted by its fastgrowing economy and good employment opportunity.

He told his friends, “I am the only foreigner in the company and most of my co-workers are around the same age.”

He works very hard and he feels sure that he has won the respect of his co-workers. He is always proud to say “When I was in college, I did a lot of internship.

But I know many local colleagues here did not have working experience before they joined this company.”

In the workplace, Peter observes that local workers tend to work slowly, with more patience and do everything possible to maintain good “guanxi” (Chinese way of interpersonal relationships). Peter comments,

“My colleagues seldom challenge the authority. They are not tough enough and much less confident than most Americans. And worst of all, they are too obedient, passive and indecisive.”

While everything is going fine for Peter, things become different when he knows how his co-workers think about him. One day, he went to a local pub together with his co-workers. After several round of drinks, one colleague told, “You are my friends and I cannot tell lies to you.” He paused and then continued, “I do not know why I am paid less than you. We have almost exactly the same type of work. Everyone here keeps on talking behind your back. You are too outspoken and sometimes they even think that you are too rude and inconsiderate. They are not happy and complain a lot about the company being so in flavor of a foreigner.”

Peter is upset now. He could not sleep for quite a few nights. What should he do? Try to identify the problems for him and provide possible recommendations.