ON CULTURAL FACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATION论国际商务谈判中的文化因素.doc

ON CULTURAL FACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONBY March, 2013Hubei Engineering UniversityAbstractThe economy of the world is developing rapidly. With the trend of economic globalization and integration, international negotiators have met the challenges of different cultures during the process of international business negotiation. Cultural factors have always been ignored in making global marketing strategies and decisions. Therefore, some negotiators always commit the mistakes of seeing foreign cultures through their own habitual lenses, which leads to many missteps that can cost the company business. This means that the successful operation of negotiation requires careful consideration of cultural differences. In order to overcome the cultural limits in international business negotiation, this article gives some theoretical analysis and research on the cultural factors, the reason of influences and the specific impact that the culture factors bring about. Furthermore, this article also furnishes some useful suggestions to negotiators involved in cross-culture business negotiation.Key words: cultural factors; international business negotiation; impact论国际商务谈判中的文化因素摘要当今世界，经济发展迅速。随着经济全球化和一体化的不断深入，国际商务谈判者也迎来了国际商务谈判中文化因素影响的挑战。在国际商务谈判策略和调整策略的谋划中，文化因素的影响往往被忽视。因此，国际商务谈判者在用本国的习惯视角来看待异国的文化时，往往就会犯错误。这就使得他们做一些错误的决策，进而对公司造成损失。这说明，成功的国际商务谈判要求我们对各国文化的差异有一个仔细的认识。为了克服国际商务谈判中文化的限制，本文对文化因素的影响，产生影响的原因，以及产生的具体影响给出一些理论上的分析研究。另外，本文也为参与国际商务谈判的谈判者提供有效的谈判建议。关键字：文化因素；国际商务谈判；影响Contents1.Introduction12.Business Negotiation12.1 Definition of International Business Negotiation12.2 Factors that Influence Business Negotiation22.2.1 Political Factors Affecting International Business Negotiation22.2.2 Legal Factors Affecting International Business Negotiation32.2.3 Cultural Factors Affecting International Business Negotiation33.Cultural Factors in International Business Negotiation43.1 Definition of Culture43.2 Cultural Factors in International Business Negotiation53.2.1 Value53.2.2Language Differences63.2.3 Different Thinking Modes73.3 The Analysis of the Reason for the Influence of the Cultural Factors73.3.1 The Influence of the Cultural Difference in International Business Negotiation73.3.2 The Influence of the Cultural Blend in International Negotiation84.Cultural Impact on Business Negotiation84.1 Positive Cultural Impact84.2 Negative Cultural Impact95.Some Suggestions on How to Deal With the Cultural Factors in International Business Negotiation105.1 Developing Intercultural Sensitivity105.2 Profiling the Negotiation Opponents115.3 Handing Conflicts125.4 Masterring Negotiation Skills for Different Countries125.4.1 United states125.4.2 Germany135.4.3 Japan155.4.4 Australia166.Conclusion17Bibliography18On Cultural Factors in International Business Negotiation1. IntroductionRapid economic development all over the world has caused business globalization, a trend which is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. As international business grows, the business negotiations among people from different countries and different cultures are becoming more and more frequent. As a consequence, great challenges are created for business representatives involved in cross-culture business negotiations, most of whom are unfamiliar with the cultures of different groups and nations. These representatives often commit the mistake of seeing foreign culture through their own habitual lenses, which leads to many missteps that can influence the company business severely. For instance, if one does not negotiate aggressively in some countries, he/she will be considered naive; however, being aggressive may be a sign of untrustworthiness in some other countries. People are inclined to feel uncomfortable negotiating with those from a different culture. These differences must be understood and deserve our great attention in international negotiation. Therefore, perceiving the different cultural environments across cultures and considering the differences carefully in all aspects of the business process are of great importance to the operation of international business negotiations.2. Business Negotiation2.1 Definition of International Business NegotiationAs we know, being a consumer in modern society, everybody negotiates all the time, at work, at home. We can say that since the beginning of times, or since the development of human language, there have been negotiations among humans. Negotiation as a significant social activity is a means of dealing with human relationships and resolving conflicts and has never disappeared. On the other hand, negotiation as a product of social competition has developed different meanings and content in conjunction with the evolution of society. In the world of today, there is a new word “Business Negotiation.” Though it is not strange to us, not all of us have a clear understanding of its real meaning.In brief, business negotiation is a process that in order to coordinate the relationship between businesses and meeting their needs, people try to find a final settlement of the dispute and reach an agreement and sign the contract through the consultation and the dialogue. There are three essential factors for business negotiation: participants of negotiation, subject of negotiation, and environment of negotiation. Participants of negotiation refer to people of both sides involved in the negotiation. It is usually a negotiating team or a group instead of a person. Subject of negotiation is the issue which needs to be discussed by both sides in the business negotiation, namely, the problems of mutual interest they seek to resolve. Environment of negotiation refers to the neutral conditions which are required in holding a business negotiation. Moreover, any business negotiation includes three stages: the preparatory stage, the conducting stage and the stage of signing contract. Perfect performances during the three stages and obtaining the greatest profit of business negotiation are of great significance for both the enterprise and the negotiators. For the enterprise, business negotiation is an important part of the companys core competence. In the fierce market competition, the success of business negotiation may directly or indirectly affect the survival of the enterprise.Compared with the enterprise, the business negotiation is challenging the business negotiators. During the business negotiation, negotiators attend on behalf of the enterprises involved, and their image represents the image of the enterprise. So the excellent negotiators may not only be successful in the completion of the negotiation, but also may win a good reputation for the enterprise. International Business negotiation can be understood as a process in which two or more parties belonging to different countries or cultures come together to discuss the common and conflicting business interest. International Business negotiation is more complex, because it encompasses unconscious forces of different norms that may operate to undermine effective communication. Thus, in an international business negotiation, in addition to the basic negotiation skills, it is important to understand the difference and etiquette, and to adapt the negotiation style accordingly.2.2 Factors that Influence Business Negotiation In the process of international business negotiation, since various kinds of factors will influence the consequences of business negotiations, a lot of factors are necessary for negotiators to pay attention to.Generally speaking, the main factors involved in environmental factor, legal factor and cultural factor. 2.2.1 Political Factors Affecting International Business Negotiation Environment factors influencing international business negotiation. Usually political environment changes have important influences on the negotiation contents, progress and even the complementation of agreement. In international trade, a good negotiator must conduct a more thorough analysis of the country's political situation on both sides, international status, the government relations between both countries, the level of both countries to enterprise's management and the political stability, to ensure that negotiations can go smoothly.2.2.2 Legal Factors Affecting International Business Negotiation Negotiated agreements usually in the form of the contract need to be further confirmed, and contract only conforms to the category of law to be protected by law. Due to business negotiation involving the laws of different countries and regions, the negotiators must understand basic legal system of both nations before the negotiations, the judicial effect on the contract, whether the judicature is independent and whether the whole execution is acted with transparency, the efficiency of the justice department since they start to deal with the case and the necessary procedures required to perform other countries legal decisions. To make sure the contract is safe and effective, it is important to avoid the unnecessary complications because of the restraint of the state laws governing each party.2.2.3 Cultural Factors Affecting International Business NegotiationThere are various kinds of factors that occur in the process of different business negotiations, but the cultural influences on international business negotiation are the most direct and the most widely felt. A negotiator's goals must be to recognize the differences between Chinese and Western culture and its influence on business negotiation, to discover the real reason for misunderstanding or conflict with each other, to find effective channels of communication, and ultimately to grasp negotiations direction and progress. All cultures share certain features, but it is the degree to which those factors are manifested within a culture that make up cultural differences. Those cultural factors that negotiators may meet include protocol, communication styles, decision making styles, power distance, uncertainty avoidance factor, high and low context cultures, masculinity, time orientation, individualism and collectivism, etc. Here it is necessary to take some factors to explain briefly to everyone for better understanding. Power distance refers to the distribution of power and the extent to which those with less power accept unequal distribution. In a high power distance culture the relationship between bosses and subordinates is one of dependence. In a low power distance society the relationship between bosses and subordinates is one of interdependence. 、Australia and the United States are examples of low context cultures while Asian countries such as China and Korea are low context cultures. People in high distance countries tend to believe that power and authority are facts of life. These cultures teach their members that people are not equal in this world and that everybody has a rightful place. Leaders are therefore expected to resolve disputes as well as make all the difficult decisions. Subordinates will simply comply with their leader rather than challenge him or her or try to arrive at their own solutions in dealing with conflict. They seldom challenge their leaders power. In contrast, in lower power distance countries there is a preference for consultation and subordinates will quite readily approach and contradict their bosses. The parties will openly work towards resolving any dispute by stating their own points of view. If they cannot come to a satisfactory conclusion, they may choose to involve a mediator. Leaders actually encourage independent thoughts and contributions to problem solving and expect to be challenged within reasonable limits. The bottom line is that when negotiating within a low power distance cultural context one must give attention to the negotiating team as a whole. Subordinates may be given equally large roles as the leader. Conversely, in negotiations with a high context culture it is crucial to identify the proper channels to go through. Negotiating with subordinates will be ineffective. Another aspect of culture is uncertainty avoidance which measures a cultures comfort with ambiguous situations. Cultures with high uncertainty avoidance create structure in the form of strict laws and explicitly stated rules. There is less tolerance of ideas, lifestyle choices, or behavior outside social norms. Negotiating in this context, one must take time to understand the expectations and protocols of the other team and to build confidence in newer ideas. Low uncertainty avoidance cultures are conversely more flexible and allow a wider variety of behaviors and ideas to flourish. Successful negotiations require being open minded to multiple approaches and more rapid shifts in ideas. 3. Cultural Factors in International Business Negotiation3.1 Definition of CultureCulture is one of the components of society. It is a set of ideas, values or behaviors of a certain group in specific area or region. It is necessary to learn that culture is not one-sided, or separate from human life. It embraces the material world and the mental world, and these two worlds make up one particular culture, the way people think and behave, their set of values and beliefs. The knowledge of culture is the knowledge of every picture of people's lives. Scholars have never been able to agree on the definition of culture. One of the earliest well-known definitions was given by the British anthropologist Edward Tylor in his book Primitive Culture: culture is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society. In the book Language and Culture, culture is defined as: Membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and a common system of standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating, and acting, the discourse community itself, the system of standards itself. It is also defined as a "learned, shared, compelling, interrelated set of symbols whose meaning provides a set of orientations or members of a society." Culture generally refers to the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, morals, customs, habits and capabilities acquired by individuals who interact in a specific area of society.3.2 Cultural Factors in International Business NegotiationIn international business negotiation, there exist many significant cultural factors. These factors may have a considerable impact on the success of negotiations.3.2.1 ValueValues are collective ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and desirable or undesirable in a particular culture. These "ideas" are normative which t