不同文化对商务谈判的影响_英语论文

不同文化对商务谈判的影响论文题目：Influences of Different Cultures onInternational Business NegotiationContentsAbstract(English)----------------------------------------1 Abstract(Chinese)----------------------------------------21.Introduction------------------------------------------32.Different cultures------------------------------------52.1 Definition of culture-----------------------------52.2 Cultural differences------------------------------63.International business negotiation--------------------73.1 General Introduction of Negotiation---------------73.2 Definition of international business negotiation---83.3 General process of negotiation---------------------94. Influences of different cultures on international businessnegotiation-------------------------------------------9 4.1 High-context and Low-context communication---------9 4.2 Individualism versus collectivism------------------11 4.3 Results versus relationships-----------------------124.4 Time orientation-----------------------------------145. Achieving effective negotiations不同文化对商务谈判的影响Through effective negotiation strategies---------------18 6. Conclusion--------------------------------------------23 Works Cited----------------------------------------------25AbstractWith the constant development of the economic globalization, business cooperation between companies is dramatically increased. Negotiators from different countries come together and discuss their common and conflicting interests: meanwhile, they bring different cultures to the negotiating table. Culture is one of the factors that have important impacts on international business negotiation. Culture forges values and religious belief that define one’s thinking and behavior. Therefore, negotiators with different cultural backgrounds employ different negotiating strategies. Cultural differences will certainly result in cultural factors. Thus, to negotiate effectively, negotiators should have a good understanding of culture and cultural differences. More importantly, they should know how negotiation is affected by culture. In doing so, negotiators can predict the process and adjust strategies in order to reach a satisfactory agreement. Therefore, the research on how culture influences negotiation is in the need of social developing, and is of practical significance.Key words: Influences, Different Cultures, International Business Negotiation.内容摘要随着经济全球化的不断发展，各公司之间的商业合作的机会急剧增加。

不同国家的谈判者在同一张谈判桌上就共同和冲突的利益进行协商。

同时，他们也带来了不同的文化。

文化是影响国际商务谈判的重要因素之一。

文化决定人的价值观、宗教信仰，从而影响人的思想和行为。

因此，不同文化背景的谈判者运用不同的方式、策略进行谈判。

文化的差异必然会引起文化冲突，谈判的成功与否大多可以用文化因素来解释。

因此，要想取得有效地谈判，谈判者不仅要了解对手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。

可见，这一课题的研究顺应时代的发展，具有积极的现实意义。

关键词：影响；不同文化；国际商务谈判。

1.IntroductionAs international negotiation increasingly involves cultural factors, the relationship between culture and negotiation has attracted more and more academic attention. Research on international negotiation concerning cultural variables has developed only several decades, and is still largely expected in the future .In 1976,scholars,like Deshler, Sato, Clapp carried out a research on the different outcomes of a series of the U.S-Japanese negotiations resulted from cultural differences. Then in 1980, it is Fisher who worked out the theory from practice. He argued, “The greater the cultural differences, the more likely barriers to communication and misunderstandings become.”(Hendon et al x) After that, some scholars in 1990s made further exploration on the of culture in international negotiations exclusively from the cross-cultural perspective. In this thesis, attention is focused on influences of different cultures on international business negotiations. And the Sino-American business negotiation cases are mainly selected. The negotiating styles of the United States and China, to a large extent, represent that of most negotiators from the world. Meanwhile, these twocultures are quite different, or even opposing. For example, Americans value individualism while Chinese emphasize collectivism. Americans negotiate a contract while the latter negotiate a relationship.Over two-thirds of U.S-Chinese negotiation efforts fail though both sides want to reach a successful business agreement. In fact, the member holds true for most cross-cultural meetings. Often barriers to a successful agreement are of a cultural nature rather than an economical or legal nature, besides, with China’s entry into WTO, China is becoming more and more important in today’s economic field. China is the country with a long history in which a very important religious belief Confucianism originated. It is typical representative of Oriental Culture.It is my intent, in this thesis, to present an exploration on the relationship between culture and negotiation across borders. In addition, I will give some recommendation to the negotiators who need to deal with people from other cultures. In today’s global environment, only those negotiators who fully understand the opponents’culture and cultural effects on negotiation can be successful in international negotiations.2.Different cultures2.1Definition of CultureAs we all know, culture is not a new but rather complex topic, which has been heatedly discussed in the past decades. There are more than 160 definitions given in the anthropology literature and the term culture has been defined in many ways. We can say that culture can include language, arts, morals, beliefs, custom and even everything in our life.In this thesis, culture is defined as “a set of learned and enduring values, beliefs, knowledge, standards, laws and behaviors shared by a group of members and determines how the member acts, feels and views oneself and others”. A society’s or a nation’s culture is passed on from generation to generation and people learn culture in everyday life by communicating with their family members and those around them. Culture directs people’s judgment and opinion, and the standards for what is right or wrong. And very often, the people of a certain culture tend to act according to values, beliefs, customs and standards provided by their culture, which will usually ,manifest itself in how an individual view space, time, responds to others, communicates, does business, negotiates acontract or deals with a potential trade partner. So, to have a good understanding of your business partner’s culture can help predict your business partner’s behavior and develop sound strategies for deal-making and negotiations.2.2Cultural DifferencesWith the globalization of economy, as well as the fast progressing of transportation and communication means, the way of doing business has been changed a lot and businessmen are given much more opportunities to touch various cultures than ever before. When transacting business in some foreign countries, Americans tend to employ what they consider professional behavior. Unfortunately, they are often given blank stares, pretended half-smiles. They are perceived as aggressive and insensitive to another culture, which is resulted from cultural difference. No country is completely self-sufficient and can develop itself without any connection to others. Many companies have their subsidiaries abroad and foreign products can be found in their home market. Today, many businessmen often find them working in a multi-cultural environment, dealing with a great number of differences ranging from communicating styles to social etiquette to values. It has been a well-know fact that people across nations and culturesbehave and believe differently. Members of different cultures look differently at the world around them. Some believe that the physical world is real. Others believe that it is just an illusion. Some believe everything around them is permanent while others say it is transient. Reality is not the same for all people. Nations and cultures differ in terms of how they perceive the specific object and phenomenon. For instance, age is highly respected in eastern countries especially in China and Japan, as it is a sign of great wisdom. Young people are taught to respect the old when they are children. On the contrary, American encourage and promote those who are qualified and competent regardless of age and the young don’t see the old in the same sense as Chinese and Japanese culture are characterized as collective.3.International Business Negotiation3.1 General Introduction of NegotiationNegotiation is a basic human activity that people do at some point everyday, to sort out differences with other people, or to get what they want. A housewife with a salesperson over the counter for the price of fruits, a girl with her parent for lifting the night curfew, a driver with a policeman for removing ticket over a traffic violation, a purchasing agent with asupplier for negotiation plays an important role in our daily life.What then is negotiation? A modern definition of negotiation is two or more parties with common and conflicting who enter into a process of interaction with the goal of reaching an agreement. Negotiation is a decision-making process that provides opportunities for the parties to exchange commitments or promises through which they will resolve their disagreements and reach a settlement. In belief, a negotiation is two or more parties striving to agree when their objectives do not coincide.3.2 Definition of International Business NegotiationNegotiation can be considered a special case of communication in which information is shared and common and complementary goals acceptable to both sides are searched. Parties at the negotiating table are highly interdependent. Their common interests are locked together. A buyer cannot survive without a seller. Namely, a win-win transaction is more related to negotiation of modern from different countries or regions negotiate in order to achieve a certain economic goal and to clear up the relations between each other’s rights and obligations.3.3General process of negotiationNegotiation process addresses how negotiation behavior changes over time as parties interact, In the international business negotiation studies, many scholars have defined the negotiation process model. On the basis of previous research, the negotiation process presented in this thesis is divided into five different stages: preparation before negotiation, non-task sounding, task-related exchange of information, persuasion, concession and agreement.4.Influences of Different Cultures on International BusinessNegotiation4.1High-context and Low-context communicationIn high-context cultures (Chinese). People prefer to communicate allusively rather than directly. Meaning is embedded in the message and must be inferred to be understood. Directness and blunt expressions are much disliked. Truth is not needed when a lie avoid unpleasantness.In low-context communication, people tend to speak directly and explicitly. Everything is needed to state and meaning is on the surface of the message. Information is explicit while indirectness is not welcomed.Difference between high-context and low-context communication styles can produce difficulty and misunderstanding when negotiators are from these two kinds of cultures. For example:George Hall, an American business in Beijing attending a trade fair was looking for all opportunity to do business in China. His first day was going well. On the second day he approached the company which he felt would be most responsive to his products. He introduced himself to the general manager, Mr. Li. Since he read that Chinese find getting down to business immediately is too abrupt and impossible, he began a casual conversation, eventually leading up to the topic of products and suggesting how Mr.Li’s company might benefit from using them. Grorge then suggested that he could arrange to get together with Mr.Li and provide more specifics and documentation on his products. Mr.Li responded in fairly good English,” That would be interesting,” Knowing that he had only a few days left in Beijing, George wanted to nail down a time “When can we meet ?” asked George. “ Ah, this week is very busy,” replied Mr. Li. “It sure is,” said George, “How about 10 o’clock ? Meet you here.”“Tomorrow at 10 o’clock?”asked Mr.Li. thoughtfully. “Right.”Said George.“I’ll see you then？‘Hmm.Yes, why don’t you come by tomorrow.” Was the reply. “OK.” Responded George, “It was nice meeting you.” The next day at 10 o’clock he approached Mr.Li’s company’s exhibit only to find that Mr.Li had some important business and was not able to meet with George. He called back later in the day and was told that Mr.Li was not available.4.2Individualism versus CollectivismIn individualistic culture, individuals are expected to take care of themselves and to value their needs over that of the collective-the group, community and duties are defined by laws. Society regards individual achievements and legal institution protects individual rights. Task is put before relationship.Individualistic culture, such as USA, is more self-centered and emphasize mostly on their individual goals. People from individual cultures prefer clarity in their communication and they tend to communicate efficient in a direct way. In business communication, they try to improve strengthen the connection with their counterparts not for establishing a long-term relationship but to gain more benefits.Collectivism emphasizes common interests, cooperation and interdependence. Relationships are based on mutual self-interests. Maintaining harmony within groups is obtained at all cost.Collectivist cultures in Asia like China, regard other companies with less collectivistic philosophy as cold and not sustainable. Collectivistic cultures have a great emphasis on groups and take the terms of “we”. In a company of collectivistic culture, harmony and loyalty is regarded important and thought to be maintained. Besides, confrontation is considered to be avoided. It is regarded as impolite to disagree with somebody in public in China. If you don’t agree with someone, you would choose a more personal atmosphere to do it for “saving his face”. Instead of saying “no”is not good for the harmony of a group. The relationships between employees and employers are based on trust and harmony. The wealth of the company and the group are more important than the individual one.4.3Results versus RelationshipsNegotiators from relationship-oriented culture place high value on friendly relationships and are not comfortable with a strong result-driven negotiation process. Business in Chinais not about doing business between organizations, but about doing business between people. You have business when you have established an interpersonal relationship. Chinese negotiators will naturally take a people –oriented approach toward negotiations; they do business with you, not with your company.Results, rather than relationships are paramount.American negotiators concern about the price, quality and guarantees of the producing each other and then are eager to get down to the issue under negotiation directly.Let’s look at a real story:An American team called Can wall, which is a wallpaper printing equipment manufacturer, went to Jiangsu to negotiate a sale with a new Chinese wallpaper production company. In the first two days when the representatives from the American company arrived in China, they were showed around some places for relaxation by representatives from the Chinese company. In the third day, the negotiation meetings began. But actually, the Chinese company spent a lot of time talking about some issues unrelated to the sale. The American representatives didn’t know why the Chinese company talked about so many things unrelated to business.This case is an example of communication failure. The Chinese company preferred to spend much time on establishing of relationship, whereas the American company tended to discuss the sale issues at the beginning of a negotiation. The Chinese were relationship oriented, while the Americans were result oriented. In the negotiation, the Chinese company tended to establish a good relationship at the cost of time. The American company tended to establish a good relationship at the cost of time, The American company tended to achieve the goal of a task despite rather than spent a long time establishing relationship.4.4Time OrientationMany in the West, especially Americans are driven by the clock. They live by schedules and deadlines and thrive on being punctual for meeting and efficient in doing business. American negotiators are known for their speed and strive for getting through the content of the negotiation as efficiently as possible. Americans usually arrive five minutes earlier for a business negotiation and begin their business at the appointed time. They always seem to be in a hurry and under pressure for results. Due to the deadlines set by their leader, American negotiators tend to give away more than it should be just inorder to finish the task on time and move on to the next item. So, it is easy for them perceptions in nature.In the Asian countries, like China, people have different view on time from that of the United States. Time is not money but a weapon. To many Asian negotiators, how much time is required to closed a task is not as important as the job itself. Producing an agreement in a short time may be one of the least concerns in negotiation, the Chinese generally believe that enough time should be invested into building warm relationship before really staring the issue under negotiation. They view time as endless and they are long-time oriented. They are patient and do not run for the deadlines. So, Chinese negotiators seldom make concession until the last minute of negotiation. Very often, it takes more time to closed a negotiation in Asian countries than that is done in the west. There is an example:The sales manager of WCG, an American high-technology service company was in China to present new process-control software to an electronics company in Tianjin and conveys some particulars of the “new product options” to his potential customer. Introductions were made. The talk began with the usual “How do you like Tianjin?”questions. They also talkedabout the flight from the U.S. After about five minutes of this chatting, the American quite conspicuously looked at his watch, and then asked the Chinese manager of the Tianjin Company what he knew about the company’s new service. “A little,”answered the Chinese. The American quickly took out a brochure from his briefcase, opened it on the desk in front of client, and began his sales pitch. Armed with charts and figures, the American tried to illustrate how the introduction of WCG’s process-control software would reduce the maintenance budget of the Chinese company6. After several minutes of this introduction, the Chinese jumped back in,” Yes, that should make us more efficient and competitive…and competition is important here in China…in fact, have you been following the Women World Cup football matches recently? That one between the Chinese team and the American team was really a bitter battle…”Therefore, they talked for a few minutes on the World Cup, why football was popular in the U.S., and how the Chinese team could be improved. Then the American tried to change the subject back to WCG’s soft ware. The first signal was a long look at his watch, then the interruption, “maybe we can get back to the new software we have developed”. The Chinese did get back to the software for a few minutes, but then he wentfrom the advantages of advanced process-control technology to the current state of China’s electronics industry to the changes the open-door policy has brought about in China’s economic life. The American never got to the second page of his brochure. What he just did not understand is that the Chinese was not interested in talking business with someone he did not know pretty well. He did not realize how rude his American “let’-get-down-to-business”attitude could appear to Chinese.Discussion:American tend to do one issue at a time and value time(Time is money) and they do not like to about other things that are not relative to negotiating topics.Nevertheless, Chinese view time as a holistic element and often talk about other issues that are not relevant to negotiating topics in order to establish the atmosphere of rapport. Therefore, American negotiator feels puzzled by his Chinese counterpart who is talking about the Women World Cup and attempts to turn the casual topics back to the normal negotiating topics. That’s the concrete differences of time-utilizing styles of Sino-US business negotiators.5.Achieving Effective Negotiations through EffectiveNegotiation StrategiesIn the previous parts, we have observed those problems that may appear when people from different cultures come to meet at the negotiating table. Now, attention is shift to a discussion of some behaviors that may avoid those problems or bridge the gap between understandings of negotiators with cultural backgrounds, and reach an effective negotiation. These under strategies would start you on the path to success in international business negotiations.(1) Cultivate Cultural Awareness and sensitivity. To avoid being ethnocentric and making cultural assumptions, a negotiator needs, first of all, to have a reflection upon his own cultural system. He needs to be aware of his own values, beliefs and social norms and how these influence his way of thinking and his behavior. He also needs to be culture sensitive and always bear in mind that a foreign negotiator is different from his own people, not only in physical features, motivations, beliefs arid values. A wise negotiator will demonstrate interest in, knowledge of, respect for, and appreciation of the other side’s culture.He understands that being different does not denote being superior or inferior. There is no need trying to fully adapt to the others side’s culture. And casting judgment on the other party’s cultural system should be avoided. Values are hardly discussible. It is almost impossible to convince someone else that his values are wrong. It is essential that negotiators share the culture and values of the country they represent, because otherwise they will not be trusted by their own side. Business etiquette and taboos are not mentioned in this thesis, as they belong to the superficial part of a cultural system, i.e., the part can be learned by outsiders, easily or with some effort. However , this by no means implies that they are not important. Many business blunders result from ignorance of the social norms and taboos of other cultures.(2) Do enough homework. Negotiators need to get well prepared both technically as well as cultural. Key information must be collected before entering negotiations. As it is mentioned before, “knowledge is power.”Before entering negotiations. As it is mentioned before, “knowledge is power.” Before entering negotiations, learn sufficiently about the culture of one’s negotiations partners, their customs, norms,values and practice. Collect information about their team composition, their personal background, their decision-making process, their expectations and constraints, their competitors, etc. Good preparation will greatly facilitate the atmosphere, smooth the negotiation process and bargaining power.(3) Language is an important link across cultures. The fact that linguistic symbols are nearly all arbitrary-that is, they are conventions by which certain sounds are attached to certain objects and events-emphasizes the social aspects of language. In this sense, language is apart of culture. Needless to say, it is of much advantage to know the language of the other side. Even if one does not use it in the negotiation, it offers extra time to think and prepare for one’s response when someone else is doing the interpretation. Ever since China opened it’s door to the outside world, more and more Chinese people have been able to command good English. However, competent interpreters are still rare, as the work of interpreters is simply being “a dictionary”. Words may have different meanings. For example, the word “sanction”has both the meaning of “ratify” and “forbid”. The verb “table”means “to postpone”in American English while inBritish English it means “propose”. Also, concepts and perceptions differ across cultures. For instance, as mentioned before, words like “aggressive”or “ambitious”have a positive meaning in English but their counterparts in Chinese have negative connotation. The Chinese phrase “Yu Hou Chun Sun” (bamboo shoots after rain) makes no sense for a Westerner since bamboo is a Chinese indigenous plant. If it is translated as “mushrooms after the rain”, the Westerner will immediately get the idea. Moreover, there is always a part of the language which cannot be translated. For example, the concept of “Yin Yang”in Taoism has no counterpart in English and has to be explained in detail. Culture-specific meaning is conveyed by language as it reflects the culture. The interpreter may be skilled in linguistics but he still may not fully understand the culture and the particular nuances and implied meaning involved. So it is recommendable to explain each major point in several different ways and ask questions whenever ambiguity occurs so as to avoid misunderstanding.(4) Pay more attention to non-verbal communications. Peoplein all cultures use nonverbal gestures to communicate. Some of these gestures are conscious, some are unconscious.Whennegotiating parties do not speak the same language and share the same value system value system, non-verbal communication becomes more important. Negotiators should be aware of the significance of non-verbal communications and be careful about their own body language and the meaning attached to the other party’s gestures, tone of voice, silences and facial expressions. Visual aids like photographs, diagrams, drawings, catalogs, books and samples of products often worth more than words in a cross-cultural context. Try to use them to facilitate communication.(5) Avoid being “over-hospitable”. As it is discussedearlier, the Chinese negotiate a relationship. Scheduled social activities such as dinners, concerts, tours, receptions or sports events provide opportunities to show their sincere welcome to the foreign “guests”and to learn about these people as individuals, their interests, their thinking, their values, their habits, etc. Westerners, however, are very time conscious and always feel frustrated by the length of negotiation. They may perceive their Chinese associates to be stalling the negotiation with all the social activities. They may view these social activitiesirrelevant and time wasting. So Chinese negotiators, when dealing with people from the West, should attention to the frequency and duration of social activities. Too much eating and drinking or too much sight-seeing may cause negative feelings, which is against the original intention of the Chinese negotiators.In light of the increasing incidence of the global economic cooperation between country and country, the need to identify strategies which can maximize the probability of positive outcomes in a negotiation situation is indeed great.6. ConclusionNegotiation will never be an easy social communication activity, needless to say international business negotiation, which involves people from different cultures. Different culture shapes different way to perceive the world, to define what is right or wrong, and to conduct business. Culture is a very important factor that has impacts on international negotiation. Cultural differences may cause a great number of problems when negotiating across borders as we have observed in earlier discussions, especially when the United States and Chinese, the typical examples of the western culture and。