The Differences of Seating Etiquette in Business Banquet between China and Britain

陸蓉蓉

Abstract：ThebusinessbetweenChinaandBritainisanimportantlinktopromotethestabilityofChinaandBritainandtheprosperityoftheworldeconomy. Andseatingetiquetteinbusinessbanquetisveryimportantduringthebusinessnegotiation.

Key words：Setting etiquette，business，banquet，culture，West

1.Introduction

Businessetiquetteisembodyingthecodetoconductrespectingmutuallyinbusinessaffairsactivity. Thecoreofbusinessetiquetteiskindofthebehaviorcriterion， whichusedtorestrainourdailyflexiblebusinessaffairsinallaroundfacts.

Seatingetiquetteisnotjustknowwhichseattochoose. Seatingetiquetteisalittlepartinthefieldofetiquette， butdifferentoccasionneedsdifferentseatingetiquette.

2.MeaningoftheResearching

Withthedevelopmentofthesociety， modernpeopleadvocatesimplicityandnaturalness. Somecomplextableseatsfadeawayovertime， andnewseatsrulesarealsogeneratedonsomeoccasions.WeshouldunderstandthedifferencesinseatingetiquettebetweenChinaandBritain， sothattheguestscanbereasonablyarrangedatthebanquetandthetocreateajoyfulcommunicationatmosphere.

3.FormationsandFunctionsonSeatingEtiquetteinBusinessBanquet

3.1.ChineseSeatingEtiquetteonFormations

3.1.1.SeatingArrangementPrinciple

DoingbusinessinChinawillalmostcertainlyinvolvesharingabusinessmealwithChinesehosts. WhileitmightbetemptingtothinkthateatingregularlyatyoursuburbanChinathinkshighlyonConfuciantraditions， soChineseseatingetiquetteinbusinessbanquetalsoobeytherulesthatrespectingforseniority. Superiorsandinferiors' seatingareobviousdifferent. ChineseseatingetiquettecontainsseatingarrangementprincipleswhichisonlyusedinChinaaboutapartofthem. ChinesehavetheirownconsiderationsthatBritishpeopleshouldpayattentionto.

3.1.2. ConsiderationsduringtheBusinessBanquetinChina

InChina， amealisagroupexperienceandyouwillnotorderyourownentrée. Thehostwillordernumerousdishesthataresharedamongeverybody. Group-stylebusinessdiningwillgiveyouachancetosampleeverythingandabanquet-styledinner， disheswillbeservedinsuccession. Oncethefoodisbroughttothetable， allowtheguestsofhonortoservethemselvesfirst.

3.2. BritishSeatingEtiquetteonFormations

Theplaceofhonoratthetableistotherightsideofthehostbecausemostpeopleareright-handed. Unlessprotocolisbeingobserved， otherguestsshouldnotbeseatedaccordingtotheirimportance. Beyondthesefewguidelines， guestsshouldbearrangedinthewaythatthehostfeelswillbemostcongenialforconversation.Inbusinessbanquet， seatingarrangementsaremadebythehost. Itisnevercorrectforgueststoshiftnamecardsortakeaseatatatableotherthanonetowhichtheyhavebeenassigned. Itisacompany'sprerogativetodecidehowtoseatitsguests.

3.3.FunctionsoftheSeatingEtiquetteinBusinessBanquet

3.3.1.ThePromotionofBusinessRelations

Theproperseatingetiquetteinbusinessbanquetcanreducemisunderstandings， treatbusinesspartnersproperlyandrespectdifferentculturalcustom， canincreasetheprobabilityofcooperationbetweenthetwoparties. Evenifyouhavealreadybecomethepartners， knowingtheseatingetiquettestillcanpromotethebusinessrelationsandcreatetheconditionsforthenextcooperation.

3.3.2.AnReflectionofaPerson'sCulturalAccomplishment

Understandingtheother'sculturecanreflectone'spersonalculturalaccomplishment. Sometimesitrepresentsthewholeofyou. Asaperson， ourpersonalculturalaccomplishmentisaveryimportantpartofus. Whenyoudobusinesswithforeigners， knowtheirculturaletiquetteandrespectitreflectsyourownculturalaccomplishment. Personoftenliketodobusinesswithhighpersonalculturalaccomplishmentperson. Withthis， youwillhavemoreopportunitiestodothebusinesssuccess.

4.Conclusion

Insocialinteraction， wemustimproveouretiquetteconsciousnessandetiquettetraining， grasptherulesofetiquette. Whendeterminingtheseatingorders， payattentiontothegeneralwaysandinteractwithothersproperly. Theseatarrangementhasbecomeanactiveandcharacteristicmediasymbol， whichnotonlyembodiesthegroupconsciousnessandculturalspirit， butalsoachievesthepurposeofemotionalcommunicationbetweenindividualandindividual， groupandgroup.

Reference：

[1]李道魁，2015，《現(xiàn)代禮儀教程（第五版）》，西南財(cái)經(jīng)大學(xué)出版社

[2]金正昆，2014，《商務(wù)禮儀》，北京大學(xué)出版社

[3]鐘敬文，2016，《中國(guó)禮儀全書》，安徽科學(xué)技術(shù)出版社

[4]刑世杰，2013，《中華禮儀全書》，長(zhǎng)春出版社

[5]薛明揚(yáng)，2013，《中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)文化概論（中冊(cè)）》，復(fù)旦大學(xué)出版社

[6]周春生，2016，《直覺(jué)與東西方文化》，上海人民出版社

[7]JSMartin， L.2006，GlobalBusinessEtiquette， WorldScientific.

[8]王慧敏，2006，《商務(wù)禮儀教程》，中國(guó)人民大學(xué)出版社

[9]冠兵，2015，《英國(guó)禮儀趣談》，期刊：世界機(jī)電經(jīng)貿(mào)信息

[10]怡冰，2014，《英國(guó)商務(wù)禮儀漫談》，期刊：軸承工業(yè)

[11]孫金玲，2016，《談商務(wù)活動(dòng)中的座次禮儀》，期刊：商場(chǎng)現(xiàn)代化

[12]王玉霞，2010，《禮儀中的左右尊卑辨析》，期刊：蘭臺(tái)世界

[13]張雪梨，2017，《中西方餐桌禮儀的差異》，期刊：福建質(zhì)量管理

[14]汪洋，2016，《中西方餐桌禮儀的差異》，期刊：才智

[15]蔣慧，2017，《鴻門宴中的座次文化》，期刊：現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)文（教學(xué)研究）

[16]趙然然，2015，《中英餐桌禮儀與文化的對(duì)比分析》，期刊：商業(yè)故事