中美文化差异对商务谈判的影响.docx

中美文化差异对商务谈判的影响.docx

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中美文化差异对商务谈判的影响

CONTENTS

Abstract……………………………………………………………1

Introduction………………………………………………………2

Chapter1DefinitionsOfCultureandBusinessNegotiations....3

1.1Culture......................................................................................4

1.2BusinessNegotiations................................................................5

Chapter2AnalysisofCulturalDifferenceBetweenChinaAndAmerica……………………………………………………………5

2.1Individualismvs.Collectivism………………………………5

2.2InductiveThoughtvs.DeductiveThought……………………6

2.3Low-contextvs.High-context………………………………7

Chapter3TheImpactofCulturalDifferenceonSino-AmericanBusinessNegotiation……………………………………………11

3.1ThememberofNegotiationTeam9

3.2FormsofAgreement10

3.3PaceofNegotiationProcess....................................................11

Chapter4SuggestionsforEffectiveCross-culturalNegotiation

4.1OvercomingCulturalBias.......................................................12

4.2PreparingWellbeforeNegotiation14

4.4OvercomingCommunicationObstacles..................................15

Conclusion………………………………………………………20

Notes………………………………………………………………22

Bibliography……………………………………………………23

ImpactsofCulturalDifferenceson

Sino-U.S.BusinessNegotiations

JiangYufeng

（ForeignLanguageDepartment,HunanCityUniversity,Yiyang,Hunan413000,China）

Abstract：

WiththerapiddevelopmentofeconomictradebetweenchinaandAmerica,thebusinesscontactsofthetwocountriesbecomemoreandmorefrequent,theimportanceofbusinessnegotiationgetsobviousgradually.However,thehugeculturaldifferencesbetweenthetwocountriesmaygiverisetopotentialculturalconflictsandunnecessarymisunderstandings.SoitisimperativethatnegotiatorsshouldlearntheculturalfactorsinSino-U.S.businessnegotiation.Thethesisemphasizestheimportanceoftakingculturalsensitivitiesintoconsiderationduringbusinessnegotiationtomakepropernegotiationtactics.Inviewofsuchasituation,thisthesismakesanefforttohighlighttheculturalimpactsonnegotiationandputsforwardseveralsuggestionsinreconcilingculturaldifferencesinordertomakethenegotiationdevelopsmoothly.

Keywords:

culturaldifferences;Sino-U.S.businessnegotiation;impact

摘要:

中美两国间经济贸易飞速发展，双方商务交往活动越来越频繁，商务谈判的重要性也日渐显现。

然而，由于中美两国之间存在着巨大的文化差异，中美两国谈判者之间很可能出现文化冲突以及不必要的误解。

因此，两国商务谈判者了解中美文化的差异显得十分必要。

中美双方在商务谈判中必须增强对文化差异的敏感性，制定出合适的谈判策略。

本文重点讨论了中美之间的文化差异及其对商务谈判的影响并提出了化解文化冲突的几点建议，使中美贸易谈判能顺利进行。

关键词:

文化差异;商务谈判;影响

Introduction

Atthebeginningofthetwenty-firstcentury,thevisionofaglobalvillageisnolongerregardedasanillusionbutarealityduetothetechnologicaladvancesincommunication,travel,andtransportation,whichhasmadetransnationalbusinessacommonphenomenon.AstoChina,ithasbeenundergoingtremendouschangessinceitsenteringintoWTO.ChinaandtheUnitedStates,serveasthetwotypicalcountriesintheEastandtheWest.SincethenormalizationofrelationsbetweenChinaandAmericabegan35yearsago,Sino-U.S.businessrelationshipshavebeengrowingatafastpace.Atpresent,AmericaisthesecondlargesttradingpartnerofChina.

However,Thecultureofthetwocountriesistotallydifferentfromeachotherintermsofbeliefs,values,lifestylesandworldperspective.Thatmayresultintheunsuccessfulandunfruitfulnegotiations,soweshouldtakeacloselookattheculturaldifferences.

ThisthesisismainlyacomparativestudyofimpactsofChineseandAmericanculturaldifferencesontheinternationalbusinessnegotiation.Andtheobjectiveistoimprovetheknowledgeandunderstandingofrelevantnegotiation-relatedculturaldifferencesandoffersomerecommendationsfornegotiators.

Chapter1DefinitionsOfCultureandBusinessNegotiations

1.1Culture

1.1.1WhatisCulture?

Asfarasweallknow,thedefinitionofcultureisnumerousandvague,Culturecanbeviewedasconsistingofeverythingthatishumanmade（Herskovits1955）;collectiveprogrammingofthemindwhichdistinguishesmembersofonehumangroupfromanother（Hofstede1980）;asetofsharedandenduringmeanings,values,andbeliefsthatcharacterizenational,ethnic,orothergroupsandorienttheirbehavior（FaureandRubin2001）.Thus,wecansaythatculturecanincludelanguage,arts,morals,beliefs,customandeveneverythinginourlife.Culturesprovidepeoplewithwaysofthinking,waysofseeing,hearing,andinterpretingtheworld.

1.1.2Thecharacteristicsofculture

Thecharacteristicsofcultureareasfollows:

1）Cultureislearned.2）Cultureistransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration.3）Cultureisbasedonsymbols.4）Cultureissubjecttochange.5）Cultureisintegrated.6）Cultureisethnocentric.7）Cultureisadaptive（SamovarandPorterandStefani1998）.

1.2BusinessNegotiations

1.2.1WhatisBusinessNegotiations?

Businessnegotiationreferstothenegotiationthattakesplacewithinbusinessfields,suchascommerce,economiccooperation,internationaltrade,etc.It’sconferringprocessinwhichtheparticipantsofbusinessactivitiescommunicate,discuss,andtheirviews,settledifferencesandfinallyreachaacceptablysatisfyingagreementinordertocloseadealorachieveaproposedfinancialgoal.1）

1.2.2GeneralProcessofNegotiations

Businessnegotiationistheprocesswherebyinterestedpartiesresolvedisputes,agreeuponcoursesofaction,bargainforindividualorcollectiveadvantage,andattempttocraftoutcomes,whichservetheirmutualbusinessinterests.Itisusuallyregardedasaformofalternativedisputeresolution.

Chapter2AnalysisofCulturalDifferenceBetweenChinaAndAmerica

Asisknowntoall,theeastcountriesandwestcountrieshaveproduceddifferentculturesonthedifferentcontinents.Amongthedifferentcultures,valueviews,negotiatingstyleandthinkingmodelappearmoreobvious.

ChinaisatypicalEasterncountry,whileAmericaisatypicalWesternone.Thereisnodoubtabouttheirbigculturaldifferences.Inviewofbusinessnegotiations,manyresearchershavefoundsomecorevaluesconcerningbusinessculturesofChinaandtheUnitedStates.

2.1Individualismvs.Collectivism

“Individualism-collectivismisthemajordimensionofculturalvariabilityusedtoexplaincross-culturaldifferencesandsimilaritiesincommunicationacrosscultures”[1].

Individualisticculturesemphasizepersonalrightsandresponsibilities,privacy,voicingone’sownopinion,freedomandself-expression.Collectivisticculturesemphasizecommunity,collaboration,sharinginterests,cooperationandinterdependence.harmony,traditionandpublicgood.

Chinesecultureiscollectivism-oriented,theirrelationshipsarebasedonmutualself-interests.Theytendtomaintainharmonywithingroupsatallcost,thesocietyrewardsindividualasamemberofagroupratherthananindividual.ThisisquitedifferentfromAmericans,wheninbusinessnegotiation,Chinesepeoplealwayschoosemutualself-benefits,seektoadvancetheinterestsofthegroupandgrouprewards.

However,individualismishighlyprizedintheUnitedStates.InAmericanculture,individualachievement,sovereigntyandfreedomarethevirtuesmostglorifiedandcanonized.Theyholdthateverypersonishisownmasterandthatnopersonshouldbesacrificedforanotherone.Intermsofbusinessnegotiation,Americansarerealisticandpragmaticinnegotiation,Americannegotiatorsemphasizeefficiencyandshort-terminterests.“Adealisadeal”and“Bangfortheduck”iswidelyacceptedbythem,andtheytendtobeself-motivatedandtheirbusinessrelationshipsarebasedonself-interest.Theytendtopaymuchattentiontothetaskratherthanrelationshipbuilding.

1.2InductiveThoughtvs.DeductiveThought

“Thinkingpatternsrefertoformsofreasoningandapproachestoproblemsolution.Thinkingpatternsdifferfromculturetoculture,alogical,reasonableargumentinoneculturemaybeconsideredasillogicalandundemonstrativeinanotherculture”[2].

Deductivethoughtisobservingandconsideringeverythingintheworldasawhole,payingattentiontotheoverallfunction,complexrelationshipandoperationprocessbutnotcareabouttheinternalstructureofsomething.Chinesepeople’sthinkingpatternsbelongtothisorientation.Theyalwaysemphasizethedetailsmustcomeaftergeneralprinciples.Therefore,attheverybeginningofabusinessnegotiation,Chinesenegotiatorswouldliketodiscussthegeneralruleswhichbothpartiesshouldobeyandmutualinterests.

However,Americancultureistowardsinductivethought.theyfocusonanalyzingcomplicatedthingsintoseveralsimpleelementsandthenstudyonebyone.Soatthestartofanegotiation,theyattachimportancetospecificaspects.WhichisquitedifferentfromChinesepeople,Theywouldliketreatcontractjustasasetofclauseswithlegallybindingthatshouldbecomply,thatistosay,onlyrealspecificissuescanmakenegotiationgosmoothly.

2.3Low-contextvs.High-context

high-contextculturesarethoseinwhichpeoplehaveextensiveinformationnetworksamongfamily,friends,colleagues,andclientsandareinvolvedinclosepersonalrelationships.Whilelow-contextculturesarethoseinwhichmembersknowexplicitlywhattodotodealwiththepresentmattersandthepeopleemphasizeonthecontentabovecontext.

Chineseareinthehigh-contextculture,whileAmericanpeopleareinthelowcontextculture.Chineseprefertocommunicateindirectly.Meaningsareinvolvedinthecontextofmessageandmustbeinferredtobeunderstood.Thereisalsoalargeemphasisonnonverbalclues,suchasfacialexpression,movements,speedoftheinteractionandothersubtleformsofnonverbalcommunication.Andtheywillpaymuchattentiontoh