A Brief Analysis of Cultural Differences between China and America in Business Negotiation

黃徐臻

【Abstract】Recently， the influence caused by the culture differences between China and America on business negotiation has aroused enormous attention from the business negotiator. This thesis analyzes the culture differences between China and America in the business negotiation aspect and put forward the practical method to deal with the culture differences between China and America.

【Key words】Culture Differences； China and America； Business Negotiation

Ⅰ. Introduction

Culture refers to a unique belief， habit， system， character and thinking mode， it is the whole life style of a society and a way of activities style of a human being. It belongs to all the human being of a society， as well as the unique language society. Although with the development of globalization and social informatization， home to the human being is becoming more and more like a “global village”. There are increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between China and America. To establish the long term business relationship between China and America， it is necessary for us to understand the culture differences between China and America. This thesis will focus on the business negotiation part to analyze the cultural differences in the international business activities and this chapter sets is as an introduction part， provides general information about the international business negotiation and the culture differences.

Ⅱ. Culture Differences

Geert Hofstede once defines the culture as： the so-called “culture” refers to the people in the same environment has the “common psychological program.” Therefore， culture is not an individual characteristic， but is a common psychological program in which people have the same social experiences and the same education level. The reason why there are differences in the psychological program for different groups of people in different countries or regions is that they are from the different society and work place， which is the origin of culture differences.

Ⅲ. How to Deal with the Cultural Differences between China and America in Business Negotiation

A. Strengthen Cross-Cultural Awareness

“Cross-Cultural Awareness” refers to the success in cross-cultural communication， to improve the sensitivity of the exotic culture and enterprise culture and the spirit of tolerance and understanding of each others values and behavior characteristics， building the atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation. People observe things， evaluation and management business in their own mode of thinking， behavior standard， and cultural norms not only will result in making the cultural conflict become difficult to mediate， but also the new contradictions will ensue.

B. Understanding Your National Culture， Respecting Others Culture

Understanding our own culture refers to have a thorough understanding about the formation of our own culture and evolution， advantages and disadvantages. This cultural self-consciousness induces us to distinguish the similarity and differences between Chinese culture and American culture. To understand others culture， people should get rid of their own native culture to some extent and their original culture restraint. Reviewing the American culture as the original culture by holding the dialectical thought is rather than blindly into another culture， which we call： Cultural Contrast.

Ⅳ. The Values

The view of value is the core of culture， determine the differences between various cultures. Value is people's beliefs toward to the basic value， belief and ideal system， a reflection of the state of people's life value and the summary of their practical experiences， an evaluation standard system in people`s heart. As a core part of culture and a huge potential power that determine the characteristics of value， it is one of the original reason that deeply influence negotiating style for each negotiator may unconsciously migrate their views and behaviors affected by their values to the negotiating table. Values differences mainly reflected in the social interaction that people are dealing with. Thus the following part will analyze the value differences.

V. Conclusion

These theses mainly analyze the culture differences between China and America in business negotiation. The cultural differences between each country are objectively existence. When dealing with the cross-cultural business negotiation between China and America， we should have a deep understanding of each others cultures which could help to overcome a majority of difficulties.