Cultural differences between Eastern and Western countries

蔣政

【Abstract】Base on the cross culture communication theory， this paper will be going to analyze the possible problems that would happen during the business negotiation among Eastern and Western countries. Through the analysis of differences between US and China in business negotiation， we can make a conclusion that in order to achieve success in communication， understanding the culture of others thoroughly is the key point.

【Keywords】： culture differences

1.The cross culture communication theories

（1） Hofstedes cultural dimensions

Geert Hofstede identified four bipolar cultural dimensions in 1980 and then introduced a fifth element in subsequent studies. The model of Holfstede has a great significance in studying the differences of negotiation styles between US and China.

Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and create institutions to avoid such situations. In high uncertainty avoidance cultures， people have high need for security. Low uncertainty avoidance cultures also called uncertainty accepting cultural.

Individualism & collectivism refer to the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. High individualism countries focus on individual goals and benefits. High collectivism countries pay more attention to grope targets than individual goals and are more likely to be influenced by social norms.People belong to groups or collectives look after each other in exchange for loyalty.

（2） Halls cultural dimensions

High context culture and long context culture was put forward by Edward Hall in1976. In high context culture， people have consensus of experience and the information network， so message can be transferred by gestures， distance and even silence. In such cultures， messages are implicit and indirect.

In low context culture， messages are explicit and specific. Communicators send and receive accurate messages directly with spoken or written words.

2.The differences between US and China in business negotiation

（1） The ways of thinking

The Chinese are accustomed to think comprehensively. In international business negotiations， the Chinese members prefer to discuss the integrate principles abide by parties and the common interest of both parties at first. They think that the general rules of contract are the keys to determine other details. Only by determining the general principles， can details of contract be discussed. “Principles first， than details” is the routine of business negotiation for China. When carry out a negotiation. So the most obvious feature of Chinese business negotiation is from general to specific aspects.

Americans tend to think linearly. In the negotiations they attach more importance to "concrete" r than "whole".

（2） The attitudes toward time

The Chinese think time is iterative， and they are accustomed to think from long-term vision. They would like to spend a lot of time to analyze comprehensively， think about a wide range of issues and the importance of measuring issues. When carry out a negotiation， Chinese members always have a long-term sight. Compared with finishing the negotiation timely， they prefer to negotiate at leisure.

The United States is a highly developed country， and the pace of life is faster than other countries， so the Americans cherish the time highly， they pay great attention to the efficiency of activities. In the business negotiations， the Americans focus on the progress of business negotiation and time limitation.

3.Conclusion

Based on the Hofstedes cultural dimensions and Halls cultural dimensions， the paper chooses US and China to represent the Eastern and Western countries respectively to discuss the differences and problems that may have in business negotiations between US and China from five aspects. Through the analysis of differences between US and China in business negotiation， we can make a conclusion that in order to achieve success in communication， understanding the culture of others thoroughly is the key point.

Reference：

[1]Ralston， D. A.， & Holt， D. H. The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values：a study of Unite State， Russia， Japan， and China. The Journal of International Business Studies， 2007.

[2]Lingli Yang， & Han Zhang. To analyze the differences between United States and China business negotiation from the perspective of cross culture. Journal of International business- Foreign Economic and Trade University， 2012.

[3]Qiuying Wang. The problems that may happen in negotiation between United States and China because of culture differences. Journal of Foreign Economic and Trade Practice，2012.