Alpha Gearing Case Report

664 Words3 Pages
1. Describe some common differences between Western and Eastern approaches to negotiating. Generally there is a huge difference between Western and Eastern culture. Same difference applies in the Western and Eastern negotiation approach. Western negotiation style tend to be very contract based, focused on many contracted paper works and signing procedures. Contract based negotiation may not fit in some of the Eastern countries like China. Chinese negotiators tend to have minimum paper works and more like to have mouth based contracts. In the Eastern countries, Western contract based negotiation can be viewed as a trust issue, or it may annoy the Eastern counterpart. But Western negotiators/companies sees contracted paperwork as an official way of doing business/negotiation, this way business can be seen as trustworthy. Sometimes these two differences may cause a conflict between Eastern and Western company negotiation. Another most common differences between Westerners and Easterners are direct communication and indirect communication. Westerners are very direct, like to go straight to the point, not like Easterners tend to circle around the point. These differences usually creates a problem when there is a discussion about issues during the negotiation. The reason of the Eastern party tend to circle around is they think that they would hurt the feeling or disappoint the counterparty. There is another common difference is building a relationship. In the case, Nelson had failed on building a strong relationship or Guanxi with San Yu’s higher officials. In the Western culture building a relationship comes after the negotiation or after signing the business contract. But in the Eastern culture building the relationship or Guanxi is the number one priority, it comes before the business negotiation. 2. What were some of the underlying dynamics that may have
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