跨文化交际中的商务礼仪

本科生毕业论文论文（设计）题目：On Business Etiquette in Cross-Cultural Communications学院、系：外语学院、商务英语系专业 (方向)：商务英语年级、班：2012级（1）班学生姓名：丁聪指导教师：许菁2016 年 4 月18 日声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的毕业论文是本人在导师的指导下取得的成果。

对本论文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。

因本毕业论文引起的法律结果完全由本人承担。

本毕业论文成果归兰州财经大学所有。

特此声明毕业论文作者签名：2016年4月18日On Business Etiquette in Cross-culturalCommunicationABSTRACTSince the whole world is globalized and connected, cross-cultural communication has been becoming increasingly significant in today‟s international business. When doing international business, we will face people with different cultural backgrounds, languages, and ways of getting business done. Thus there are a variety of things we should pay attention to such as the languages including the non-vocal languages, gestures, and etiquette.First, this paper introduces some related concepts about etiquette like the definition, functions and features. Next, it shares some commonly-agreed etiquette in cross-cultural communications. Then,it compares the etiquette of eastern countries with western countries to find out the similarities and differences. Finally, it draws a conclusion based on the analysis given above.[Key Words] Business Etiquette; Cross-cultural Communication; Comparison摘要由于经济全球化的进程日益加快，各国之间联系日趋紧密，跨文化交际在如今的国际贸易中扮演着越来越重要的角色。

当我们进行国际贸易时，我们会遇到具有不同文化背景，说着不同语言，以及使用不同方式进行贸易往来的人们。

因此，在国际贸易中有许多我们需要注意的事项。

例如语言（包括非言语交际），手势以及礼仪。

本文首先介绍了一些和商务礼仪相关的概念，例如礼仪的定义，功能以及特点。

接着，它分享了在跨文化交际这个大背景下一些被普遍接受和认可的商务礼仪。

然后，它将东方国家和西方国家的商务礼仪进行了一个对比，从而找出它们之间的相同和不同之处。

最后，基于以上的分析，给出了一个结论。

[关键词] 商务礼仪跨文化交际对比Contents1 The Definition, Functions and Features of Business Etiquette (1)1.1 The Definition (1)1.2 The Functions (1)1.2.1 Improvement and Discipline for Mankind (1)1.2.2 Harmonization of Interpersonal Relationships (2)1.2.3 Regulation of Social Order (2)1.3 The Features (2)1.3.1 Internationalism and Commercialization (2)1.3.2 Inheritance (2)1.3.3 Intercommunity (3)1.3.4 Timeliness (3)2 The Etiquette in Cross-cultural Communications (3)2.1 The Etiquette in Business Communication (3)2.1.1 The Etiquette of Telephone or Cellphone (3)2.1.2 The Etiquette of the Internet Communication (4)2.1.3 The Etiquette of Business Letters (5)2.2 The Etiquette in Business Meeting (7)2.2.1 The Etiquette of Business Negotiation (7)2.2.2 The Etiquette of Business Exhibition (7)2.2.3 The Etiquette of Business Annual Meeting (8)2.3 The Etiquette in Business Dining (9)2.3.1 The Etiquette of Business Working Meals (9)2.3.2 The Etiquette of Business Banquet (9)3 The Comparison of Etiquette in Eastern and Westen Countries (10)3.1 Etiquette in Japan (10)3.1.1 Etiquette of Date (11)3.1.2 Etiquette of Negotiation (11)3.1.3 Etiquette of Entertainment (11)3.2 Etiquette in China (12)3.2.1 Etiquette of Date (12)3.2.2 Etiquette of Negotiation (12)3.2.3 Etiquette of Entertainment (12)3.3 Etiquette in America (12)3.3.1 Etiquette of Date (12)3.3.2 Etiquette of Negotiation (12)3.3.3 Etiquette of Entertainment (13)3.4 Etiquette in the UK (13)3.4.1 Etiquette of Date (13)3.4.2 Etiquette of Negotiation (13)3.4.3 Etiquette of Entertainment (14)4 Conclusion (14)References (16)On Business Etiquette in Cross-culturalCommunicationWith the increasing number of intercultural corporations and the internationalization of the economy, cross-cultural business communication continue to become more important. More and more governmental leaders, educators, and businessmen agree that internationalizing the studies of cross-cultural communications is important to maintain the competitive positions of their own countries. While recognizing the significant differences that exist across cultures, it‟s important to acknowledge the existence of individual differences within any given society. Just as it is naive to assume that all cultures are similar, it‟s equally fallacious to fall into a trap called “cultural stereotyping.” To quote Lao Tzu, the famous Chinese philosopher who is considered to be the spiritual leader of Taosim, “The one becomes many.” Although people in a given society may share certain common values and characteristics, there can be important differences in how these are applied and exhibited in specific situations. Since all international activity involves communication, businessmen need knowledge of cross-cultural communication to prepare them for upward mobility and promotion. When doing international business, we will face people with different cultural backgrounds, languages, and ways of getting business done. It is very important for us to pay attention to such as the languages including the non-vocal languages, gestures, and etiquette.1.The Definition, Function, Features of Business EtiquetteIn this part, some related concepts for business etiquette will be introduced. There is a need for us to understand the basic information concerning etiquette before making the research further.1.1 The DefinitionEtiquette refers to manners and behavior considered acceptable in social and business situations1. While the business etiquette is the etiquette which gradually formed in international business.1.2 The FunctionIn modern society, etiquette has been much emphasized by people of different social levels. It has penetrated into our day-to-day lives and played a great role yet.1.2.1 Improvement and Discipline for MankindEtiquette is a kind of norm including language norm, behavior norm that obeyed by us. One‟s self-refinement, self-cultivation, and level of morality are revealed by how well he or she uses etiquette.Since etiquette is gradually formed in social interactions and is widely accepted and obeyed, people living under the atmosphere will be restricted by that kind of etiquette. Therefore, people regard it as a kind of rule to discipline themselves. For example, people are supposed to shake hands, give a hug, or kiss cheeks when greeting others, both of those arethe symbols of a civilized society and an educated person.1.2.2 Harmonization for Interpersonal RelationshipsBecause the social status, backgrounds, personality, career of each people differ from each other, different outlooks can be seen when we contact with others.Nowadays, through various means, people make contacts, build friendships with others, adjust their lives and receive information. By taking advantage of etiquette, people are able to stay confident in social relationships, express their respects and friendly feelings to others, deepen their mutual understandings and trusts and promote the formation of good interpersonal relationships. Take the telephone manners as an example, if you call the other side for some requirements, will an unfriendly tone and informal words make you feel you still want to further your relations? On the contrary, you might just want to end your cooperation.1.2.3 Regulation for Social OrdersIn a harmonious society, people need to be regulated by some social orders and have to act under those rules and regulations. Etiquette has played a great role in restricting our motivations and attitudes, regulating our behaviors and balancing the interpersonal relationships. The steady movement of society, the systematic situations of social orders and the harmonization of interpersonal relationships all rely on the commonly accepted regulations.1.3 The FeaturesBased on the definition and functions of etiquette, we can see etiquette is in everywhere in every time. Of course, different countries have different etiquette, however, with the development of business, there will be more and more commonly-agreed etiquette shared worldwide.1.3.1 Internationalism and CommercializationInternational business etiquette is the regulations or rules gradually formed in international activities which include business negotiation, business meeting and so on. They can be seen between different countries in some economic areas and the aim of those activities is based on the economic benefits of each country, each enterprise or company. Take writing a business letter as an example, the Americans prefer to use month, day, year as their sequence of date while the British uses day, month, year. When writing a international business letter, we shall take that difference into considerations. Since the purpose of listing business etiquette is to help businessmen conduct business better, thus business etiquette does have something to do with commercialization.1.3.2 InheritanceEtiquette is the gradual accumulation of social civilization. With the developing of our society, those manners and rituals will be inherited by generation and generation and will be perfected and enriched. Based on the etiquette in ancient and modern times, the international business etiquette nowadays is discarding the dross and selecting the essential in business activities. It‟s still developing and will leave the best or the quintessence for the future society. Like Chinese people, most of our etiquette today is inherited from our parents or grandparentssuch as eating after the elder, teachers should be respected like our parents or giving a hand to those people who need help. And undoubtedly, those merits, as we can call them, will be left to our children in the near future.1.3.3 IntercommunityInternational business etiquette is the manner or ceremony that is commonly accepted by businessmen from different countries. Although each nation, each area and each country has its own special etiquette and the way they are expressed differs from each other, some international business etiquette in commercial activities are universal. No matter where you come from, no matter which nation you belong to or the religion you believe in, there must be some common manners or regulations that should be followed. For example, respecting the elder and the guests should be treated well by the host are the common etiquette for nearly all countries in the world though their concrete ways may differ from each other.1.3.4 TimelinessWith the development of society, international business etiquette has developed a lot. On the one hand, with the emerging e-commerce, new features and new problems have risen which require new contents to be added into the etiquette to catch up with those changes. On the other hand, because of the fast growth of globalization and the reinforcement of the economic connection between each country, each area, and each nation, the manners or ceremonies have mixed with or penetrated into each other. It is so natural that more and more new meanings will be added into the former one. For instance, before the Internet or computer comes into existence, there is no rules in regulating people doing business via Internet, however, nowadays, not only do we have a series of rules but a new noun concerning the etiquette in doing business through the Internet, which is netiquette. Maybe in the future, we will have more nouns like netiquette indicating doing business through some new means. 2.The Etiquette in Cross-cultural CommunicationWhen you conduct business abroad or in the US with someone of another culture, knowledge of certain rules of business and social etiquette is important. Thus, the following parts are the specific explanations for business etiquette from some aspects.2.1 The Etiquette in Business CommunicationIn business world, one of the most important step is about contacting the other parties. Since many businesses are conducted between different countries, it won‟t be that easy as contact the internal business partners. So there are something you should pay attention to. 2.1.1 The Etiquette of Telephone or Cell PhoneFirst of all, you need to have a blueprint of what you want to say in your mind. Before making a phone call, you need to get fully prepared which means you need to get the name and the telephone number of the other side in advance. The call must follow a main idea and need to be limited into three minutes. Try to be brief and concise as much as possible. Therefore, in order to save time and leave a good impression for the opposite side, businessmen usually make a draft or outline of their calls firstly.Secondly, choosing the right time. If you call for business, you‟d better do it on working time and avoid to call them when it‟s close to get off work or dining since your partner maybe too hurry to give you a good answer. If there is a need to call them at their home, the dining or sleeping time should be avoided. The best time to call is 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning and 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon.If you call someone who is overseas, you‟d better take the jet lag into account. Try to avoid making a phone call during the rush hour or at the break after lunch. Moreover, you …d better not call your business partner in their holiday.Thirdly, when the phone is connected, you need to inform the other side of your name, your work place and your position firstly. For example, “Hello, this is Mr. Wang, general manager of Wal-Mart.” In addition, you need to ask whether it‟s suitable for he or she to talk through the phone right now. If the one you look for isn‟t answering the phone, sentences like “could you please ask Mr.Lee to answer the phone” or “could you please take a message for me to Mr.Lee” should be adopted. Or you can call him or her later.Fourthly, at the end of the conversation, you need to say “thank you, good bye” or if you are on the other side, you‟d better ask “Is there anything else?” If the connection of phone is disturbed by some kind of reason, you need to dial again and some explanations are needed. Once you‟ve dialed the wrong number, apologizing immediately.2.1.2 The Etiquette of the Internet CommunicationSometimes the cyberspace etiquette refers to netiquette(network etiquette). E-mail is a kind of mail sent to the other side through the Internet. It is convenient, time-saving, cost-saving, environmentally friendly, capacious. The etiquette of sending an e-mail is as follows:Firstly, every mail should adhere to a theme. Since whether we will read the e-mail or not mostly depends on the headline of an e-mail, the words we use must have something to do with the content of our mails. On the one hand, by doing this, the receiver can clearly understand, it helps him or her to measure whether it‟s an emergency that should be handled immediately. It also helps them to classify all the e-mails they has received which will be convenient to be found later on. On the other hand, because of the fear of virus, if an e-mail doesn‟t have a theme, it might be mistakenly regarded as virus hacking the receiver‟s computer which would result in the deletion of the e-mail before they are read.Thus, before sending an e-mail, we need to use anti-virus programs to scan our e-mails. Make sure the mails we are sending are totally safe. When we receive some anonymous e-mails, we‟d better scan them firstly.Thirdly, use proper words. Try to avoid some spelling and grammar mistakes as much as possible. Don‟t type all the words in capital form which would cause trouble in reading.Abbreviations s hould be avoided. For instance, some like to replace “you” with “u” and “see” with “c”. However, when you send an e-mail to your business partner like that, it would be a little informal. Since every detail may lead to a failure, we‟d better avoid that.Like the etiquette in business telephone or cell phone manners, we also need to be brief and concise. Punctuation marks like “!!!!!!” should also be avoided.Lastly, we should inform the other side of our coming mails in advance. Since sometimes, the problem of the Internet may result in the failure of sending e-mails, the approaching of e-mails of great importance should be known to the other side in advance. When you‟ve sent an e-mail, you can call others to confirm they‟ve received your mail and to reply as soon as possible.If you‟ve received an important e-mail, you have to reply it as soon as possible. Tell theother side that you‟ve received theirs.2.1.3 The Etiquette of Business LettersBefore writing a business letter, you are supposed to make a draft, which contains the purpose, the facts and the solutions. Then, you can take the design, layout, format, style into consideration.In order to leave a good impression for your client, many companies have adopted the uniform envelop, papers and have set a standard in arranging the contents.What if there is no standard? Then you have to give some thoughts about the design. The color of the envelop had better be white, gray or cream. The receiver‟s name, title, address and the postcode should be written at the middle of the envelop. The name, logo or the seal of your company should be placed at the lower left corner. The stamp should be stuck at the upper right corner. As for long business letters, you‟d better choose A4 paper. If it‟s a short or a personal thanks letter, you‟d better choose A5 paper with a smaller envelop. The letter had better be printed when it is aimed at solving clients‟ complaints. As for personal letters, you‟d better write it by your own hands which can better express your feelings.Then, it‟s about the arrangement of format. It includes letter head, reference and date, inside name and address, attention line, salutation, subject line, body, complimentary close, signature, enclosure, carbon copy notation and postscript.Letter head. It should include the name, address, telephone number, fax number, web site or e-mail address of the writer‟s company. Letter head is supposed to be placed at the upper right corner of the paper.Reference and date. Normally, both parties will give a reference to their letters. It should include the number of a file, the code of the department or the first letter of the people who typed that letter. For example: the reference of our party: JBD/WM (Your ref: JBD/WM); the reference of your party: WDW/LP (Our ref: WDW/LP). Those references should be typed under the letter head. In a business letter, the abbreviation of month should be avoided, we‟d better replace Dec. with December. And the suffix like -th, -nd, -rd after ordinal numbers can be left out. We can use May 5 to represent May 5th. Since the British are used to the sequence of day, month and year, when you write to a British business partner, you‟d better address the date like that. While the Americans prefer the sequence of month, day, year that‟s what you should pay attention to.Inside name and address. About two to three lines beneath the date on the left side lies the inside name and address. And they also include the receiver‟s name, title and address. If the sender wants some appointed person or department to get the letter, then attention line should be added and it should be added two to three line space beneath the inside address. If there is an attention line in the previous letter, then the receiver should also add an attention line when he replies.Salutation. There must be a salutation in every business letter. However, how the receiver should be saluted depends on your relationships with him or her. If you write to someone who you‟re familiar with, you can salute him or her with their first name like Dear Harry or Dear Mary. If not, you shall salute them with their last name such as Dear Mr. Smith. If you write to someone you don‟t know at all, you can salute him or her like Dear Sir or Dear Madam. Salutation is usually typed two line space beneath the inside name and address or the attention line.Subject line. In common sense, there is only one thing covered by each letter. If so, thesubject line should be put at the center, two line space beneath the salutation. If not, subtitle should be added for each thing.Body. As the most important part in a letter, the body should be concise, grammatically correct and the key part should be emphasized. One topic for one paragraph and the length of each paragraph should be about the same. If both parties have made contacts before, they should be mentioned in the first paragraph while the writer‟s plans, wishes and expectations should be placed in the last paragraph.Complimentary close. It should be used with salutation together and put one line space beneath the body. Different salutations should match different complimentary closes. For example, when you use “Dear Mr. James” as your salutation, “Yours sincerely” is supposed to be your complimentary close. So “Dear Sir/Madam” match “Yours faithfully”; “Gentlemen” match “Truly Yours”.Signature. The writer‟s company should be printed about a line space beneath the complimentary close, indicating that it‟s a letter from your company. Then it comes the signature. It‟d better be written by b lack pen.Enclosure(Encl). If there is an enclosure, you are supposed to clearly state the content and the number of it such as Encl. Price ListCarbon copy notation(C.C.). If there is a copy of this letter sending to someone else or another company, C.C. should be typed at the left side beneath signature and the company you send should be typed. For instance, C.C. The Osaka ChamberPostscript(P.S.). If you have omitted something or you want to remind the receiver‟s of something significant, you can put postscripts two line space beneath carbon copy notation. However, it‟d better be avoided since it may leave a bad impression for others.Next, it comes to the format of a business letter. Actually, there are three basic ways of setting out business letters: the block format, the modified block format, the semi-block format.The block format is also known as the full block format, and it is the most common format nowadays. In this format everything , from the date to the signature, is ranged on the left-hand margin. There is no indenting; new paragraphs are identified by leaving a line space. It is popular because it is quicker. No time-consuming layout is required-everything starts at one margin.In a modified block format, your address, date(the date can actually go on either the left or the right side), closing, signature, and printed name are all intended to the right half of the page(how far you indent is up to you as long as the heading and the closing are lined up, and use your own discretion and make sure it looks presentable).In the semi-block format, your address, date(the date can actually go on either the left or the right side), closing, signature, and printed name are all intended to the right half of the page(how far you indent is up to you as long as the heading and the closing are lined up, and use your own discretion and make sure it looks presentable). Also the first line of each paragraph is indented. The indentation of the first line of each paragraph is the only difference between the semi- block and the modified block formats.Which business letter format should you use? It will depend on whether you are composi ng a letter on your own or on behalf of your employer. If you‟re looking for the easiest letter format to use, the block format is the one for you. All the components that make up the business letter are positioned flush with the left margin and you don‟t need to stop to think about entering or indenting any portion of the letter. Some people prefer one of the othercommonly-used business letter styles. No style is right or wrong, and the style you choose will depend on your personal preferences, since all of the above formats are appropriate for business use. Sometimes the company you work for expects employees to use a specific format. If you have a style template available, it will be easy to position of your letter at the appropriate points without question.2.2 The Etiquette in Business MeetingGenerally,business meeting includes business negotiation, business exhibition and business annual meeting. The etiquette in business meeting varies from different countries, even a detail may result in the failure of business, you‟d better take care of some unnotice d details. 2.2.1 The Etiquette of Business NegotiationFirstly, it‟s about how to greet guests. As the host of the negotiation, you should arrive at the meeting place in advance to welcome the guests. The place you should meet them can be at the gate of the building or the meeting room. You‟re supposed to shake hands with every representative of the other side and with some introductions, welcoming them to come inside and to sit down firstly. The host cannot sit down firstly must be kept in mind. If there is still a long time before the guests‟ coming, you can sit down and wait for them but as soon as they arrive, you should stand up immediately to greet them.Secondly, it‟s about the arrangement of the seat. Long table or oval table is both acceptable. The guests and the hosts should sit on the different side of the table. In order to show some respects, if the table is put horizontally, seats that face the main door should be the guests‟. If the table is put vertically, then seats that are on the righ t side of the main gate should be the guests‟. The main negotiators of both sides should sit at the middle of the table and the others need to be arranged from right to left with their positions from high to low. And people of high position need to sit closely to the main negotiator while people of low position need to sit far from the main negotiator. As for the interpreters, they should be arranged at the right of the main negotiators. When it comes to multi-negotiation, a circular table would be better, since the concept of respecting the guests would no longer exist.Thirdly, much attention should be paid to the guests. The key to be a successor in negotiations is not only to be voluble, but also a better listener. Careful listening can help you better understand the requirements, aims, attitudes, positions, opinions and intention of the other side. We should find out their problems rather than just keep talking and leave no chances for them which might result in the collapse of a negotiation. A win-win negotiation is what we expected. Besides, we need to calm ourselves down and use the polite words. Whether you will succeed or not is somehow determined by the adoption of language tactics and the way they are expressed.At last, there are one more detail. Dress formally. Keep the TPO Principle(time, place and occasion)in mind. Black suit and leather shoes, white shirt and the single color or the diagonal stripe tie would be best for men. As for women, business dress plus light makeup would be recommended.2.2.2 The Etiquette of Business ExhibitionThe Business Exhibition is the propaganda for promoting commodities, techniques or a patent. The most famous business exhibition in China is the Canton Trade Fair.As the host of a business exhibition, people need to wear a name tag on their chests toshow their departments, positions and names. The set date, position and the charge of fees cannot be changed randomly. They should provide comfortable services to those companies who attend this convention.As for people of the companies that attend this exhibition, they should wear the same uniforms with name tags on their chests. They need to prepare some little gifts such as a sample of the products for the visitors which can attract their attention and some basic materials of their products, company, after-sale services and price tags. The materials can be classified into two different types. One is of low cost like the flyer which can be directly delivered to the visitors. While the other is of high cost, they‟d better be mailed to the target audiences after the exhibition.People need to acquire specific knowledge or skills concerning their products. They should be patient in answering questions and what they say should be practical and realistic. They a lso need to highlight the distinguishing features of their products. What‟s more, they should be polite. Once visitors have come to them, they should reply with warmly welcome. Demonstration of the products would be better if it‟s necessary. And when they leave, you should look after them and thanks them for coming. If a company attends some well-known business exhibitions held overseas, a CEO or a manager pay you a visit can be commonly seen. Therefore, except some salesperson and technical personnel, some managers and interpreters had better come along. Your people are not allowed to hang around or remain seated when visitors come around.2.2.3 The Etiquette of Business Annual MeetingsIn common sense, annual meeting is the biggest party of a company to summarize, celebrate the past year and to regulate, envisage the next year. There are several things should be kept in mind.Firstly, sign in. In order to know how many people have attended the meeting, normally, people are asked to sign in. There should be someone taking charge of that work and the organizers should be informed of the number of attendees at any time.Secondly, how to dress. According to the TPO Principle, men are required to wear suit or a swallow-tailed coat. Women are required to wear evening dresses. Before attending the meeting, you‟d better take a shower firstly. Some light perfume would be preferred for both men and women. Pungent food like garlic and shallot should be avoided. Don‟t eat too much, since hiccup at the meeting would make you and others both embarrassed. Punctuality is important or you can show up a few minutes early, since being late or leaving early would be disrespect for the organizers.Thirdly, notes-taking. Normally, there are two ways to take notes. The first is taking notes by hand. The second is recording by videotapes. When taking notes by hand, the topic of the meeting, attendees, time, place, contents of speeches, discussed issues, votes are required to be complete, accurate and clear. And when someone is delivering a speech, you‟d better sit tight and listen to it carefully. Speaking loudly or moving around frequently would be disrespectful.Lastly, invite someone to dance. Men are supposed to invite women to dance actively and to dance with different women. Man dance with man is forbidden in a party, so does woman. When a man asks a woman to dance, he is required to walk towards her and nod his head as an invitation. After the invitation is accepted, he should let the lady walk in front of him and accompany her to enter the dance floor. If a woman refuses a man‟s invitation, there。