文化差异对中美商务谈判的影响.docx

文化差异对中美商务谈判的影响.docx

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文化差异对中美商务谈判的影响

TheInfluenceofCulturalDifferenceson

Sino-USBusinessNegotiations

Abstract:

AfterenteringintotheWorldTradeOrganization,Chinahasestablishedmanyeconomicrelationswithothernations,meanwhile,businesscontactsamongnationsgetincreasinglyclose,whichhasbroughtmoreandmoreopportunitiestodobusiness.US,serveasthebiggesteconomiccountry,isourmaintradepartner.However,thehugeculturaldifferencesbetweenthetwocountriesmaygiverisetopotentialculturalconflictsandunnecessarymisunderstandings.Thus,inordertonegotiateeffectively,negotiatorsshouldhaveagoodunderstandingofcultureandculturaldifferences.Moreimportantly,theyshouldknowhownegotiationisaffectedbyculture.Indoingso,negotiatorscanpredicttheprocessandadjuststrategiesinordertoreachasatisfactoryagreement.Thethesispresentsanin-depthanalysisoftheculturaldifferenceintheprocessofbusinessnegotiation.Itthenputforwardsometentativesuggestionsandstrategiesforsuccessfulnegotiations.

KeyWords:

culturaldifferences;Sino-USbusinessnegotiations;influence

文化差异对中美商务谈判的影响

摘要：

中国加入世界贸易组织以后，与世界的融合越来越密切，对外贸易往来也与日俱增.美国,作为世界上最大的经济实体,是我国最大的贸易伙伴。

两国之间经济与文化往来的日趋频繁使两国之间的商务谈判也随着增多。

然而，由于中美两国存在着巨大的文化差异，因而两国的谈判者之间很可能出现文化冲突，甚至是不必要的误解。

因此，要想取得有效的谈判，谈判者不仅要了解对方的文化及与己的文化差异，更重要的是应该了解文化因素如何影响谈判。

这样，有助于谈判者预见谈判的进程，及时调整谈判策略，最终达成圆满的协议。

本文通过研究中美两国存在的文化差异，进而分析了文化差异在商务谈判中的具体体现，提出了进行有效沟通的策略和技巧。

关键词：

文化差异；中美商务谈判；影响

CONTENTS

Introduction

Intoday’sworld,duetotheglobalboomofeconomy,internationalbusinesscontactsandactivitiesareincreasingrapidly.AstoChina,ithasbeenundergoingtremendouschangessinceitsenteringintoWTO.ChinaandtheUnitedStates,serveasthetwotypicalcountriesintheEastandtheWest.Thecultureofthetwocountriesistotallydifferentfromeachotherintermsofbeliefs,values,lifestylesandworldperspective.Thatresultedintheunsuccessfulandunfruitfulnegotiations,soweshouldtakeacloselookattheculturaldifferences.

ThepurposeofthisthesisistoidentifythedifferencesbetweenChinaandtheUnitedStatesintermsofculturalvalues,helpSino-U.S.negotiatorsreduceunnecessarymisunderstandingsandachieveasatisfactoryagreement.Anditwouldbehelpfulforthemembercountriesindealingwithcross-culturalnegotiationinamoreflexibleway.

1.CultureandBusinessNegotiations

1.1Culture

1.1.1WhatisCulture?

Asfarasweallknow,thedefinitionofcultureisnumerous,Culturecanbeviewedasconsistingofeverythingthatishumanmade（Herskovits1955）;collectiveprogrammingofthemindwhichdistinguishesmembersofonehumangroupfromanother（Hofstede1980）;asetofsharedandenduringmeanings,values,andbeliefsthatcharacterizenational,ethnic,orothergroupsandorienttheirbehavior（FaureandRubin2001）.Thus,wecansaythatculturecanincludelanguage,arts,morals,beliefs,customandeveneverythinginourlife.

1.1.2Thecharacteristicsofculture

Thecharacteristicsofcultureareasfollows:

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

1.2BusinessNegotiations.

1.2.1WhatisBusinessNegotiations?

Negotiationhasnotbeenastrangeconceptsinceantiquity.Inabroadsense,negotiationisabasichumanactivityandpeopletakeoniteverydaytomanagetherelationshipsbetweenchildrenandparents,ahusbandandwife,andavendorandpurchaser.Itoccursbecauseofthefollowingtworeasons:

（1）tocreatesomethingnewandrealizethefullpotentialbenefitsoftherelationship;

（2）toresolveaproblemordisputebetweenthetwoparties.

Theword“negotiation”isfrom“negotiar”usedbyRomans,meaning“tocarryonbusinessortotrade.”NegotiariderivesfromtheLatinrootwordsneg（not）andotium（easeorleisure）,meaning“notleisure.”（MoranandStripp1991）Obviously,theancientRomanbusinesspersonswouldnotregardnegotiationasleisureuntilthedealhadbeensettled.Negotiationandbusinessinvolvedhardwork.

Thereareagreatnumberofbooksrelatedtonegotiation.Althoughthereisnoagreedconceptualizationofnegotiation,twoelementsofnegotiationarewidelyaccepted:

Businessnegotiationreferstothenegotiationthattakesplacewithinbusinessfields,suchascommerce,economiccooperation,internationaltrade,etc.Naturally,businessnegotiationsoccurringindifferentfieldsanddifferentsettingshavedifferentcharacteristics.Forthesakeofconvenienceofconductingthisresearch,thispaperisnotdevotedtothediscrepanciesofnegotiationindifferentfields,butfocusesonthedifferencesofculturalvaluesreflectedbytheinterculturalcommunicationbehaviorinSino-U.S.businessnegotiation.

1.2.2GeneralProcessofNegotiations

Businessnegotiationistheprocesswherebyinterestedpartiesresolvedisputes,agreeuponcoursesofaction,bargainforindividualorcollectiveadvantage,andattempttocraftoutcomes,whichservetheirmutualbusinessinterests.Itisusuallyregardedasaformofalternativedisputeresolution.Intheinternationalbusinessnegotiationstudies,manyscholarshavedefinedthenegotiationprocessmodel,suchaspre-negotiation,negotiation,post-negotiation.（Ghauri1996）

2.CoreValuesofChineseCulture

2.1HighContext

“Highcontextreferstosocietiesorgroupswherepeoplehavecloseconnectionsoveralongperiodoftime”（Beer1995）.Inthecultureofhighcontext,peoplepaymuchattentiontohowtokeepalong-termrelationshipwithotherones.Mostfamiliesinournationareprobablythecaseswithahighcontextculture.

Peopleinhigh-contextculturesprefertocommunicateindirectly.Meaningisembeddedinthecontextofthemessageandmustbeinferredtobeunderstood.Ingeneral,high-contextculturesarethoseinwhichpeoplehaveextensiveinformationnetworksamongfamily,friends,colleagues,andclientsandareinvolvedinclosepersonalrelationships.

2.2Collectivism

Collectivismholdsthatthegroup--thenation,thecommunity,theproletariat,therace,etc.--istheprimaryunitofrealityandtheultimatestandardofvalue（Stata1992）.Itdoesn’tdenytheindividualreality.Buteventually,collectivismconsidersthateachoneinagrouphashisidentityrelativetothegroup.PeopleareseentodealprimarilywithotherpeoplebyCollectivists;realityisdealtwiththroughtheintermediaryofthegroup;andthegroup,nottheindividual,iswhatconfrontsreality.Collectivismholdsthatthebenefitofindividualissubordinatetothatofgroup.Ontheotherhand,italsoholdsthatachievementisaproductofsociety.Inthispointofview,oneindividualisatemporaryspokesmanfortheprogressofthepotential,collectiveprocess.

Collectivismemphasizescommoninterests,cooperationandinterdependence.Thedutytoone’sfamily,company,societyisparamount.Relationshipsarebasedonmutualself-interests.MaintainingharmonywithingroupsisobtainedatallcostSocietyrewardsindividualasamemberofagroupratherthananindividual.Lawsupportscollectiveinterestsaboveindividualrights.

Collectivisticnegotiatorsemphasizerelationshipratherthantask.Theydobusinesswithyoubutnotyourcompany.Long-terminterestsarethemostimportant.Facemustbepreservedatallcosts.Collectivisticnegotiatorsareveryuncomfortablewiththeopenconflictandtrytoavoidit.Duetothegroup-orientedculture,collectivisticnegotiatorsmakedecisionsbyaconsensusmethodratherthanindividualdecision-making.“Thenailthatsticksoutwillbepoundeddown”,sotheyarereluctanttotakerisk,forrisk-takingismuchdiscouragedandresponsibilityistakenbythegroup.Alltheactionsanddecisionstakenduringnegotiationshouldbeagreedthroughthewholegroup.

3.CoreValuesofUSculture

3.1LowContext

“Lowcontextreferstosocietieswherepeopletendtohavemanyconnectionsbutofshorterdurationorforsomespecificreason”（Beer1995）.Inthesocietieswiththisculture,membersknowexplicitlywhattodotodealwiththepresentmatters.

3.2Individualism

Inindividualisticculture,individualsareexpectedtotakecareofthemselvesandtovaluetheirneedsoverthatofthecollective—thegroup,communityandsocietyrightsanddutiesaredefinedbylaws.Societyregardsindividualachievementsandlegalinstitutionsprotectindividualrights.Taskisputbeforerelationship.

Individualismholdsthateverypersonishisownmasterandthatnopersonshouldbesacrificedforanotherone.Anditalsoholdsthattheindividualistheunitofachievement.Withoutdenyingthatonepersoncanbuildontheachievementsofothers,individualismholdsthatindividualachievementisveryimportantforitisanindividualcreation.

Individualisticnegotiatorstendtopaymuchattentiontothetaskratherthanrelationshipbuilding.Theyemphasizeshort-terminterests.“Adealisadeal”.Sometimestheyeventhinkthatpersonalrelationshipcancomplicateordamagethenegotiation.Individualisticnegotiatorsusuallyhavepersonalrightstomakedecisions.Theyoftentakerisksandburdenresponsibilitypersonally.

4.TheInfluenceofCulturalDifferenceonSino-USNegotiations

4.1ThememberofNegotiationTeam

Thememberofnegotiationteamconsiderablydependontheparties’culturalbackground.（Berger1996）Duetothecollectivecultureandpreferenceforteamwork,Chineseteamsareusuallylarge,includingexpertsinrelevantfields.Tasksaredividedamongteammemberswhotakerespectiveresponsibilitiesduringnegotiation.Besides,negotiatorsdonothavetheauthoritytomakedecisionsindepe