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