Cultural Differences In Negotiation

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National culture is generally believed to have influence on national negotiating style. The differences between the Chinese and American negotiating styles are one of the most important factors responsible for the failures of U.S business with China. According to our analysis, there are mainly three differences between U.S and Chinese culture reflected in the process of business negotiation. 1. Differences in Focus As the Americans are considered as task-oriented, who tend to look upon negotiation as a series of point to “settle”. Their language in negotiations is explicit and sometimes even offensive. They aim at clarifying and resolving problems, but their frankness and personal execution often offend their more reserved and face-conscious Chinese counterparts. On the other hand, the Chinese, like negotiators from other Asian cultures, often behave in a vague and indirect manner, maintaining “face” and avoiding embarrassment. 2, Differences in Form Form means protocol: the rules of etiquette and manners for doing something. Chinese culture is hierarchical, the size of their team is usually large, containing experts, decision makers, and other relevant people, the opening discussion will be very formally conducted, none of this has any real relevance to the issue being negotiated, but this form is important. The American culture, by comparison, uses informal address. The Americans are not hierarchical, and they observe little protocol in negotiation situations. As to the form of agreement, the Americans prefer explicit, written agreement, while the Chinese expect long-term cooperation, so they lay stress on relationships but not the contract. For them, the agreement is a beginning of further cooperation while the Americans view it as the end of negotiation. 3, Differences in Non-verbal Behaviors It is obvious that verbal language has a lot of limitations and

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