Intercultural Business Negotiation

趙瑩

People from different nationalities are programmed by their own distinct cultures （Hofstede， 1984）. Negotiators national culture is often found to exert an important influence on the negotiation process： National culture shapes negotiators assumption and thoughts， which direct strategy formulation and mold behavioral patterns （Cohen， 1993； Rubin & Sander， 1991）， thus research in this area are developing fast.

This paper tries to analyze papers taking the social constructivist perspective as an alternative which views culture as a collective and relational textual settings （Soederberg and Holden， 2002）， trying to figure out how culture can be used to advance intercultural negotiation， to achieve a competitive advantage in international business （Clausen， 2007）.

A dynamic constructivist view of culture helps us see that effects of cultural differences can be at times diminished and at times amplified. It is important， to look not just at how negotiation styles and outcomes may differ between negotiators from different cultures， but also at factors that enhance or constrain change and convergence in negotiations in cross-cultural settings. In The Dynamics of Consensus Building in Intracultural and Intercultural Negotiations they investigate these factors in two studies， which compare intra- and intercultural negotiating dyads.

Situational factors， such as bargaining context， power difference， role， in-group/out-group relationship， and so on， can moderate cultures main effect. Thus in The Effects of Interaction Goals on Negotiation Tactics and Outcomes： A Dyad-Level Analysis Across Two Cultures cultures main and moderating effects are assessed within a context in which the two negotiators， who are strangers to each other， also have differential power （employer vs. employee）. Such a context allows the authors to assess the extent to which cultures effect on goal pursuit is moderated by role.

Sharing a similar professional culture could make it easier for people from different countries to discuss issues successfully. Successful Sino-Western Business Negotiation： Participants Accounts of National and Professional Cultures explores the role of national and professional cultures in Sino-Western negotiations. Specifically， this investigation addresses the experiences of Chinese and Western business negotiators from an interpretive perspective and tries to learn more about participants responses to national and professional cultures in the context of their business negotiations.

One limitation to all three studies is their reliance on simulation studies， providing just some specific instances of negotiation interactions， and some elements were unavoidably constrained specifically to fit the scenarios. Further research on these issues could use additional scenarios with different structural features. Studies are also needed that draw from field observations of practicing negotiators and that examine the cultural influences， exploring the emic and etic aspects of negotiatorscognition and behavior in cross-cultural settings.

References：

[1]Clausen，L.（2007）.Corporate Communication Challenge：A ‘Negotiated Culture Perspective International Journal of Cross Cultural Management，2007，7：317.

[2]Cohen，R.（1993）.An advocates view.In G.O.Faure & J.Z.Rubin（Eds.），Culture and negotiation：The resolution of water disputes（pp.22-37）.London：Sage.

[3]Faure，G.O.& Sjostedt，G.（1993）.Culture and negotiation：An introduction.In G.O.Faure，& J.Z.Rubin，& J.Z.Rubin（Eds.），Culture and negotiation：The resolution of water disputes（pp.1-13）.London：Sage.

[4]Hofstede，G.（1984）.Cultures consequences：International differences in work-related values.Beverly Hills，CA：Sage.

[5]Leigh Anne，L.，Ray F.，Bruce B.，Michele J.G.，& Zhi-Xue Zhang The Dynamics ofConsensus Building in Intracultural and Intercultural Negotiations Administrative Science Quarterly，2012， 57：269.

[6]Meina Liu & Steven R.W.The Effects of Interaction Goals on Negotiation Tactics and Outcomes：A Dyad-Level Analysis Across Two Cultures Communication Research，2011，38：248.

[7]Soederberg，A.& Holden，N.（2002）Rethinking cross cultural management in aglobalizing business world.International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 2（1）：103-21.

[8]Vivian C.S.& Ling Chen Successful Sino-Western Business Negotiation：Participants Accounts of National and Professional Cultures Journal of Business Communication，2003，40：50.