Different Approaches of Sino-AmericanNegotiations from Cultural Perspective

【Abstract】With the development of globalization， Cross-culture business has become an important part of international business communication activity. In order to gain the win-win situation for both parties， negotiators from different cultural backgrounds must have a thorough understanding of different cultures， and analyze the different approaches among the cross-culture negotiations. This paper is to elaborate the different approaches in business negotiation through a typical business case.

【Key words】cultural difference; business negotiation; negotiation approaches

【作者簡介】劉念，江蘇安全技術職業學院。

1. Introduction

With the emergence of a global economy and the Chinas entry into WTO， China has witnessed a sharp increase in foreign investment and numerous China-based firms into the international market. The paper is a comparative study of the different business negotiating approaches and techniques between China and America.

2. Theoretical Background of American Culture and Chinese Culture

American people emphasize on individualism， and they believe “the rights of the individual are the most important ones in a society.” People care more for their own interest， their own freedom and independence in doing most of the things.

As for Chinese people， the word “individualism” is related to the derogatory meaning as egoism， which represents selfishness in quality and looseness in discipline. In traditional Chinese beliefs， collectivism which is influenced by Confucianism is appreciated. The main spirit of Confucius thinking encourages Chinese people to lay great emphasis on the groups performance.

3. Different Approaches Between American and Chinese Negotiators from Cultural Backgrounds

Different cultures place an important role and bring various approaches between American and Chinese negotiations. In this paper， the author uses a business case to illustrate the cultural influence on the business negotiation. The case is abstracted form Japanese International Negotiating Style.

A group of American manufacturers are going to sign a bike production contract with Chinese clients. But after singing the contract， Chinese clients receive accurate information and find that there are quality problems of the products. But all of them are expected to be delivered next week. Whats more， as the cost of raw materials of bicycles increase for some reasons which can not be controlled， American manufacturers need Chinese side to sign another contract and negotiate a higher price to cover increasing costs. Chinese clients have found that is really an excellent business development opportunity， but need to negotiate a joint venture with American company. So each party needs to know the partner' s future needs and priorities and before that， the two parties are going to negotiate with each other.

For American negotiators， as soon as they hear the problems about the bicycles， they immediately go to the factory and check the quality problems and express the apologies and deal with it right now. For the case， the author finds the typical American-style solution is direct. They intend to discuss the problems face to face. Individualistic culture of the United States encourages people to put the personal interests first and reverse the unfavorable conditions to achieve the desirable outcome of the situation.

For Chinese negotiators， when they find the bicycles quality problems， they dont directly talk about how to solve， whereas， they go to the factory and test several bicycles firstly. Then they ride a bike with the American director of the manufacturer in the countryside. After that they ask： “whether all bicycles will make noise？ Whether it is a problem to the buyer？” They just leave the questions to the other side， which reflects a tactful way to deal with in the collective culture is standardized. Chinese indirect cultures value conflict avoidance in interpersonal communication and are careful not to bring contentious issues out into the open or to bring tensions into a relationship.

4. Conclusion

It is clear that only the correct understanding and proper grasp of the differences between the negotiation and a good command of the desirable techniques can effectively help the negotiators to obtain the “win- win” purpose.

References：

[1]白遠.商務國際談判[M].中國人民大學出版社，2002.