文化差异对国际商务谈判的影响

论文总字数：38698字

摘 要

随着经济全球化的发展，国际贸易逐渐增多，国际商务谈判扮演着越来越重要的角色，而文化差异是影响国际商务谈判的最重要因素。本论文首先阐述了文化差异的定义，进而分析造成文化差异的原因。本论文从交流过程，思维模式，谈判风格，谈判结构和决策过程五个方面讨论文化差异对商务谈判的影响。最后，本论文在谈判的各个环节，包括谈判前的准备，谈判中的交流技巧和谈判策略，为谈判者提供一些实用的建议。

本论文的目的是通过比较中西方文化的差异，分析其对国际商务谈判的影响，从而促成谈判成功。

关键词：文化差异；商务谈判；影响

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………1
2. Literature Review………………….……………………………………….1
3. Cultural Difference……………………………………………………2

3.1 Definition of Cultural Difference…………………………………………...3

3.2 Causes of Cultural Difference…………………………………………....3

1. Impacts of Cultural Difference ………….………….……………….….....5

4.1 Communication Process…………………………………………………5

4.2 Thinking Pattern…………….…………………………………………........7

4.3 Negotiation Structure……………………………………………………...8

4.4 Negotiation Style………………………………………………………..9

4.5 Decision-Making Process………………………………………………..12

1. Recommendations for Negotiators………………………………….13

5.1 Preparation for Negotiation………………………………………………13

5.2 Communication Technique………………………………………...14

5.3 Negotiating Tactics……………………………………………………….15

6. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..16

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………...17

1. Introduction

The development of social modernization has greatly accelerated the process of economic globalization. Businessmen have more opportunities to expand business around the world, and thus made cultural difference a prominent issue. People from different counties are subtle affected by their own cultures. So they conduct business differently in many aspects, such as beliefs, values, behavior manners and so on. Under this circumstance, intercultural business negotiation is becoming a more and more essential link of the whole business activity. Negotiators may be very successful in the domestic business negotiation but could fail in the international negotiation due to a lack of mutual understanding of the cultures. Cultural difference may be one of the most essential factors contributing to the international business negotiation. In order to reach a satisfactory agreement, negotiators need not only to master some basic negotiation skills, but also to learn some cultural manners in case of some unnecessary misunderstanding.

Many scholars have recognized the importance of studying the impacts of cultural differences on international negotiation. They try to compare these cultural differences and give negotiators some advices in intercultural negotiations

This thesis mainly studies the influences of cultural difference on international business negotiation. In the beginning, it gives the definition of the cultural difference, and then analyzes the causes of the cultural difference. It continues to discuss the impacts of cultural difference on international business negotiation from five aspects. At last, the thesis provides some useful recommendations for negotiators.

2. Literature Review

Through research integrated theory with practice, American scholar Lewicki, president of Max M. Fisher College of Business, and Saunders, president of Queen’s University have written a book called International Business Negotiation (Lewicki amp; Saunders,2008) together. In this book, they develop an international perspective to analyze the negotiation approaches and strategies. This book is mainly divided into five parts, the basic elements of negotiation, the main process of negotiation, intercultural negotiation, differences solutions and the best practice of negotiation. It gives a conclusion of rational knowledge to some related problems of negotiation. It focuses on some knowledge about negotiation psychology and solutions to conflicts during negotiation. It is a complete independent learning tool for people who want to feel the art of negotiation. It has been selected as textbook for many business colleges around the world. However, they put more emphasis on theory than on practice. They do not provide any real models nor introduce many useful practice experiences to readers.

American professor Varner and Beamer  write a book called Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace (Varner amp; Beamer ,2010) addresses the issues of culture and communication within the context of international business. The text provides examples of how cultural values and practices impact business communication. The authors explore the relationships among the cultural environments and the structure of the business communication. They examine how international negotiators communicate, and concentrate on the underlying cultural reasons for behavior. This approach helps readers develop an ability to work successfully within an environment of cultural diversity both at home and abroad. This book is mainly about the communication across cultures but not mention the resolution of negotiation conflict. I think the preparation for the might happen conflicts should also be paid attention.

Chinese scholars like Wang Weibo and Che Lijuan, whose book called Intercultural Communication in Business (Wang Weibo amp; Che Lijuan ,2013), starting from the basic theory of intercultural communication. Then it elaborates the theory frame of intercultural communication and describes some business etiquette and negotiation skills in different counties from the surface to the spot. The book also selects some typical business culture cases for better understanding. It is an understandable book because it only describes some differences of intercultural business on surface instead of focusing on the influences caused by cultural differences.

3. Cultural Difference

3.1 Definition of Cultural Difference

To culture, scholars have never been able to agree on a simple definition. Many scholars have their own explanations. Professor Hofstede provided a cultural dimensions theory to differentiate cultures in five aspects: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism and Collectivism, Masculinity and Femininity, Long-term Orientation and Short-term Orientation (Hofstede, 1980).

It is even harder to give an exact definition to cultural difference than culture. In a board sense, culture difference contains the differences of the material and spiritual civilization that the whole human society creates. For the purpose of studying cultural difference in international business negotiation, it refers to the differences of knowledge, beliefs, laws, morals, customs, and habits by individuals to generate social behavior.

From my point of view, cultural difference refers to the different business etiquette, standard of behavior, value towards time and space, negotiation style and all the approaches or strategies used in business negotiation.

3.2 Causes of Cultural Difference

Culture differences are embodied in all aspects of our material and mental life. Regional differences, political differences, and economic differences are the three main factors that cause the cultural differences.

3.2.1 Regional Differences

Regional differences refer to that people from different geographical environment develop different customs, habits and life styles. Most western countries are around the sea. Owing to the tradition of researching and exploring the nature and scarcely populated area, western countries have opening and innovative folkway. On the contrary, the relative closed geographical environment makes eastern people have introverted personality. They tend to chose quiet and stable life style. For example, Britain is well developed in seafaring and fischfang because it is an island country. So, British people often use the different forms of the word ‘fish’ to describe people. Such as ‘Big Fish’ means very rich people and ‘Cool Fish’ means people who are cheeky. While China is abound in bamboo, so Chinese people often use the word ‘bamboo’ to describe different conditions. Such as ‘have a bamboo in mind’ in English means ‘have a card up one’s sleeve’. These different uses of words are easily misunderstood because negotiators of international business negotiation live in different environment.

3.2.2 Political Differences

Political differences refer to the various policies in different nations that regulate the behavior of their citizens. People have different political standards under different political systems. For example, America is a capitalized country. The president is limited by the Constitution and the other two authorities strictly due to the separation of the three powers. Whereas, China is a centralized state which president has more power among the other authorities. Therefore, people from western countries pay more attention to individual development and rights. They pursue a policy of all men is equal. Eastern people prefer to team work and respect for seniority. Western people tend to stick to laws when they meet conflicts in negotiation. While eastern people focus on ethics rather than laws. They think that business ethics is the key factor in a business negotiation, so they put principles in the first place before laws. Due to two different attitudes towards politic, the negotiators from west and east often have different power of decision. American negotiators are on behalf of their company, so they have the complete power to make all the decision related to the negotiation. However, negotiators in Chinese company prefer centralization. They always have more negotiators to discuss and then the power of decision is centralized by a chief leader. Negotiators should follow their leaders, and they need to report every progress to supervisor leader.

3.2.3 Economic Differences

Economic difference refer to the differences in economic area. Due to the advantage of industry revolutions, western people have more rich life. They pay more attention to the quality of life, and they spend more money for enjoy. While most eastern countries are developing countries, people are more concerned with the food and clothing problems. In addition, people from western countries advocate heroism and they put personal interest in the first place. Eastern people think the interests of the collective lie before the interests of the individual. The most typical example is that an American old lady borrowed to buy a house when she was young. Then she finally paid off the credit just before she died. A Chinese old lady endued all kinds of hardships, and finally bought a house just before she died. These two different life styles completely reflect the two different attitudes towards economic. This cultural difference also has an influence in international negotiation. For example, Chinese negotiators tend to think for a very long time to make sure absolutely safe. They do not care about the time used in round of discussion in order to gain the relatively proper benefit. On contrary, American negotiators are adventurous for pursuing the maximum benefit. They tend to push the negotiation as soon as possible in order to facilitate more contracts. They often have the characteristics of the high return against high risk.

4. Impacts of Cultural Difference on International Business Negotiation

There are more challenges in a cross-cultural business negotiation than in a mono-cultural environment. These cultural differences would have a large impact on the process of the negotiation, even the final result. So we must give priority to understand these effects caused by cultural differences before entering international business dealings. The cultural differences have impacts on international business negotiation in five aspects: communication process, thinking pattern, negotiation style, negotiation structure, and decision-making process.

4.1 Communication Process

Communication process is very essential in the international business negotiation. Cultural differences may cause misunderstanding and communication barriers to both sides. Communication contains two parts, verbal communication and nonverbal communication.

4.1.1 Verbal Communication

Verbal communication means language communication mainly. The process of negotiation is the process of communication. In business negotiation, language plays an important role because it provides a direct way to communication with people from different cultural backgrounds. A nation"s language is closely related to its culture. Anthropologist Edward Hall have presented two terms of cultures: high context cultures and low context cultures (Edward Hall, 1976). To negotiators, it is vital to grasp the real meaning correctly or it may give rise to misunderstandings.

In the high-context culture, words are not so important as context. High-context communication tends to be more indirect, and it always has deeper meaning under the literal meaning. The communication in low-context culture is expected to be straightforward and concise. People try to use precise words and intend them to be taken literally. For example, Japan is a typical country of high-context culture, which means indirect expressions are major factors in communication. Japanese people seldom use “No”, even when they do not agree with the ideas of others. In contrast, America belongs to low-context culture. In this kind of context, most of its information is expressed in a direct way. In addition, a same word may have totally opposite meanings in two countries. So when negotiators from countries in these two different cultural contexts, misunderstandings will easily come out. In an international business negotiation, we should be aware of which context we are in and communicate with other party in an appropriate way.

4.1.2 Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is another important communication in international business negotiations. It involves all the gestures, eye contact and other kinds of body language. This kind of communication is affected more seriously by cultural differences, but it is also easily ignored by negotiators.

In the face-to-face negotiation, most of the information is actually transmitted through nonverbal means. Take Chinese and Brazil negotiators for example, Chinese businessmen seldom have long-time eye contact when they talk to others and they tend to adopt silence as a euphemistic and polite way to express approval or disapproval. While Brazil negotiators are unwilling to be quiet and they prefer frequently eye contact. Take hand movement for example, in America, when they call someone to come here, they put the hand toward someone with the center of the palm upward, shaking the index finger back and front. The common gesture in America makes Chinese negotiators feel provoked. In China, we put the hand toward someone with the fingers downward waving several times to call people to come. While this is the way that American people to call their dogs to come. The way Chinese people use to call someone with respect makes American people feel uncomfortable and with no respect. So, in international business negotiation, if negotiators fail to take non-verbal information seriously, misunderstandings and conflicts of negotiations will come out. It may also make negotiators feel uncomfortable and embarrassed which will further affect the whole progress of the negotiation or even cause the breakdown.

4.2 Thinking Pattern

Thinking patterns refers to forms of approaches for solving problems. Patterns are processes learned from birth, they are culturally determined (Widdowson, 2000)．This part focuses on two sets of thinking patterns, deductive thinking and inductive thinking, intuitive thinking and analyzing thinking.

4.2.1 Deductive Thinking and Inductive Thinking

Thought patterns is vary from culture to culture．People in different countries possess different thinking approaches. Deductive thinking refers to a thinking pattern that lays particular emphasis on entirety, while inductive thinking on part.

For example, Chinese people prefer deductive thinking. They view things from whole to part but not care about the details of the things. On the contrary, American people belong to inductive thinking. It is a kind of thinking pattern that view things from part to whole, and analyze things into several elements.

Therefore, at the beginning of a negotiation, Chinese negotiators are used to analyzing the negotiation in general first, and then thinking over details. People call this “round thinking mode” (Jia Yuxin, 1997). American negotiators tend to divide the complicated task into a series of smaller issues, and then think about the whole situation. For them, progress in the negotiation is measured by how many issues have been settled. It is called “linear thinking mode”(Jia Yuxin, 1997). The different thinking pattern may cause the trouble of opening the negotiation at the beginning. Then it may raise the risk of not reaching the consensus of the negotiation.

4.2.2 Intuitive Thinking and Analyzing Thinking

Intuitive thinking contains three principles: the change, contradiction and neutralization theory. The world is always changing, and there is no eternal right and wrong. Analyzing thinking refers to cause-and-effect thinking．Confucianism is the backbone of Chinese culture. It promotes moderation which means leaving out the things people might not agree upon and providing a stable solution for the consensus only. Influenced by Confucianism, most Chinese negotiators encourage intuitive thinking, so that they like to stick to established principles but let the details to be carried out in a flexible way. Unlike Chinese negotiators, American people are influenced by free-market capitalism. So most American negotiators prefer to drawing a straight line from cause to effect, with an arrowhead at the results end．They think that a proposition cannot be both right and wrong at the same time. When Chinese and American negotiators meet the same conflict in business negotiation, Chinese negotiators tend to choose compromise way to meet the need of both parties, while American negotiators would figure out which party should take the responsibility, and then solve the problem according to the contract. Due to two different thinking patterns, negotiators from different countries may have troubles in close negotiation period because they have different attitudes towards benefits.

4.3 Negotiation Structure

Due to different thinking patterns caused by cultural differences, the negotiation structure also wary from east to west. Westerners tend to choose longitudinal negotiation while eastern negotiators prefer horizontal negotiation. For example, American negotiators belong to longitudinal negotiation structure because of their analytic thinking pattern. They usually pay more attention to details and they get straight to the point at the beginning. They establish timetables and deadlines to make sure each clause done one by one in time. If one issue is not done, they will delay discussing the next one.

On contrary, Chinese negotiators usually take horizontal negotiation because they have intuitional thinking pattern. They prefer having a common principle before discussing the details. It means that they insist both parties should abide by some basic principles in order to guarantee the negotiation go smoothly. At the beginning, they usually provide all the issues involved in the negotiation at one time. And then all the issues may be discussed, put forward at the same time without an apparent order. They will not stop any of the issues until all of them have been done successfully. Negotiators may also skip the issues disorderly and even come back to points which have already been settled. Longitudinal negotiation and horizontal negotiation are widely different negotiation structures. Negotiation may come to a deadlock if both sides insist arrange the negotiation agendas on their own way.

4.4 Negotiation Style

Cultural difference also has an impact on business negotiation style in several aspects: time value, face perception, individualism and collectivism, legal consciousness and interpersonal relations.

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