中美文化差异对商务谈判影响及对策

　 毕 毕

　业

　论

　文

　 题目：

　The Influence of Sino-American Cultural

　Differences on Business Negotiations and

　 Countermeasures

　中美文化差异对商务谈判的影响及对策

　学生姓名：

　XXX ：

　学号：

　XXXXXXXXX 专业班级：

　业 英语专业 2013 级 级 X 班 指导教师：

　XXX 企业导师：

　XXX 二级学院：

　外国语学院

　2017 年 年 05 月 月

　The Influence of Sino-American Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations and Countermeasures

　 A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Foreign Languages Guangdong Baiyun University By XXX

　In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

　May, 20XX Supervisor : XXX

　 版权信息：居中，字体为Times New Roman，字号为小四。注意：只需要红色字体的部分根据自己的个人情况进行替换！

　这里写论文作者的 姓名，汉语拼音，注意：先写姓，再写名，姓与名要分开。如：张 小 涵 ， 应 为 ：

　Zhang Xiaohan。

　这里写 论文指导老师的姓名，汉语拼音，注意：先写姓，再写名，姓与名要分开。如：刘大伟，应为：Liu Dawei。

　这里写 论文完成的年份，如2018。

　The Influence of Sino-American Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations and Countermeasures

　II

　 THE INFLUENCE OF SINO-AMERICAN CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ON BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS AND COUNTERMEASURES

　ABSTRACT

　 Cross-cultural business negotiation is cross-cultural business communication. It is a process of negotiation and communication between two or more assimilative backgrounds. In the process of negotiation, the two sides should coordinate and communicate in order to achieve unification. Therefore, in order to take the initiative and succeed in Sino-US cross-cultural business negotiations, we must understand the differences between China and the United States, reduce or avoid misunderstandings and friction in the process of cross-cultural business negotiations, and avoid the failure of cross-cultural business negotiations.

　Key words: Sino-American differences, cross-cultural business negotiations, Countermeasures

　The Influence of Sino-American Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations and Countermeasures

　III

　中美文化差异对商务谈判的影响及对策

　摘

　 要

　跨文化商务谈判就是跨文化商务沟通，它是两个或两个以上不同文化背景的谈判方进行交流和沟通的过程，在谈判过程中双方为了达到意见统一而进行协调、沟通。因此，为了在中美跨文化商务谈判中占据主动地位，取得成功，就必须了解中美两国之间的文化差异，从而减少或者避免在跨文化商务谈判过程中出现误解和摩擦，避免跨文化商务谈判的失败。

　关键词: 中美文化差异；跨文化商务谈判；应对策略

　The Influence of Sino-American Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations and Countermeasures

　IV

　 Contents

　1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Background ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Necessity of This Thesis ................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................................... 3 2. Overview of cultural differences in international negotiations ........................................ 4 2.1 The concept of cultural differences ................................................................................ 4 2.2 Characteristics of cultural differences ............................................................................ 4 3. The impact of cultural differences on business negotiations ............................................ 9 3.1 The impact of differences in thinking styles on negotiators ........................................... 9 3.2 The impact of cultural differences on the purpose, methods and outcomes of international business negotiations ........................................................................................... 11 3.3 Forms of ceremonial differences affecting business activities ........................................... 12 4. The countermeasures against the impact of cultural differences on international business negotiations .............................................................................................................. 14 4.1 Changing the way of thinking ...................................................................................... 14 4.2 Establishing cross-cultural negotiation awareness ....................................................... 15 4.3 Familiar with business negotiation etiquette ................................................................ 16 5. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 19 Reference ................................................................................................................................. 20

　The Influence of Sino-American Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations and Countermeasures

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　 1. Introduction

　1.1 Research Background With the acceleration of globalization and China"s accession to the WTO, international trade and foreign exchanges between China and other countries have become increasingly frequent, as well as diplomatic exchanges and business negotiations, which are mainly embodied in the political, economic and social exchanges of the country. Cross-cultural business negotiations play an increasingly important role. Cross-cultural business negotiation refers to the process of communication between two or more negotiators with different cultural backgrounds. In the process of negotiation, the two sides coordinate and communicate in order to achieve consensus. There are many factors affecting cross-cultural business negotiation, including national cultural characteristics, the habitual thinking patterns of each country, the way of communication between people, and the way of dealing with things, etc. In cross-cultural business negotiation, the two sides of the negotiator often have one or several differences. With the reform and opening up and the operation of the market economy, China"s market openness has been deepening, and exchanges with the outside world have gradually increased. However, cross-cultural business negotiation conflicts occur from time to time, which is due to the existence of cultural differences between China and the West. The existence of cultural differences makes cross-cultural business negotiation more difficult. Cross-cultural business negotiation between countries is becoming more and more important. Successful cross-cultural business negotiation can enable enterprises to better participate in economic competition and cooperation among international enterprises, and promote the vigorous development of domestic international trade. Cross-cultural business negotiation is a kind of negotiation behavior, in which negotiators have different cultures, different ways of thinking, different aesthetic ways, different values and time views. Nowadays, there are many studies on cross-cultural business negotiation, such as "The Differences in Cross-cultural Business Negotiation and Their

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　Adjustment Measures" (Yao Fengyun, Zhao Yatan, 2010), and "Cultural Differences and Language Strategies in Cross-cultural Business Negotiation" (Liu Guilan, 2006). These papers expound the main points of cross-cultural business negotiation from different perspectives, including the following two main points: First, negotiation. The cultural backgrounds of the two sides are different. In cross-cultural business negotiations, the negotiating parties often come from different cultural backgrounds. Different cultural backgrounds will have different impacts on the negotiation, especially in Southeast Asian countries and European and American countries. Second, in cross-cultural business negotiations, both sides should use the same language. Since intercultural business negotiations are conducted between two or more countries, there may be more than two languages. It is obviously not possible for the two sides to communicate in different languages. To make the negotiations go on smoothly, the two sides must use the same language. At present, English has gradually become the official language of the world. Therefore, when conducting cross-cultural business negotiations, a lot of preparations should be made. Every nation has its own cultural characteristics. We should thoroughly understand the cultural characteristics of each other"s negotiators, avoid misunderstandings that may occur during the negotiations, properly deal with cultural barriers in the negotiation process, and minimize the problems caused by cultural differences, so as to promote the success of cross-cultural business negotiations.

　1.2 Necessity of This Thesis I study the impact of Sino-US cultural differences on cross-cultural business negotiations through a variety of research methods, and map the Sino-US cultural differences from practical cases, and point out that in cross-cultural business negotiations, Sino-US cultural differences have a great impact on cross-cultural business negotiations. Negotiators who want to take the initiative in cross-cultural business negotiations and gain negotiation advantages need to start from the following points: First, on the basis of building a sufficient understanding of the negotiating parties, the negotiators should strive to understand each other"s negotiators from different ways and aspects, and find out the strengths and weaknesses of each other. The so-called "knowing one another and knowing the other will not perish in a hundred battles", on the premise of understanding the opponents. Analyse your opponents and

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　make use of your strengths to avoid your weaknesses. Secondly, successful negotiations need to include many factors, including negotiators"personal qualities, negotiators" negotiation psychology, negotiators"consistent negotiation habits and style, and international status and relations between countries. Most of the above factors are formed under the influence of different national systems and cultural concepts. Therefore, a correct understanding of the cultural differences and conflicts between China and the United States has become the top priority in cross-cultural business negotiations. Understanding the differences in language, values and aesthetic moods also contributes to the success of cross-cultural business negotiations. The difference of negotiation style is also reflected in cross-cultural business negotiation. Understanding the negotiation style of the opponent can make the negotiator understand the way the opponent handles the negotiation matters, anticipate and respond quickly to the opponent"s negotiation reaction. This can avoid unnecessary friction in the negotiation, and enable cross-cultural business negotiation activities to have a good communication atmosphere. In order to grasp the absolute initiative during the negotiation and make the negotiation go smoothly.

　1.3 Structure of the Thesis This article is divided into four parts, the first part is the introduction. The second part introduces the cultural differences between China and the United States, and illustrates them with practical cases. The third part uses practical cases to illustrate the impact of Sino-US cultural differences on cross-cultural business negotiations. The fourth part is to propose the measures to be taken in cross-cultural business negotiations in view of the cultural differences between China and the United States. The fifth part is the summary of the full text.

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　 2. Overview of cultural differences in international negotiations

　2.1 The concept of cultural differences Hofstedt defined culture as a "common psychological process" of people in the same environment. Therefore, culture is not an individual characteristic, but a common psychological process shared by many people with the same social experience and education. Different groups, different countries or regions have different common psychological procedures because they have always been educated differently, have different societies and work, and thus have different ways of thinking. Cultural differences refer to the differences caused by the differences and similarities of different regions and the unique cultural similarities and differences of people in different regions. Hofstein believes that culture is the common psychological process of people in an environment, not an individual characteristic, but a common psychological process shared by many people with the same education and life experience. This procedure varies among different groups, regions or countries. This cultural difference can be divided into five dimensions: power DIstance, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, InDiVidualism versus Collectivism, MASculinity versus femininity, Long-Term Orientation versus Short-term Orientation.

　2.2 Characteristics of cultural differences So, how should cultural differences between different countries be expressed? From the analysis of the survey data, Hofstein draws the following characteristics to describe the cultural differences: (1) Power distance Power distance refers to the degree of centralization of power and the degree of authoritarian leadership in an organization, and to what extent can a society accept the inequality of power distribution in an organization, which can be understood as the social distance between employees and managers in an enterprise. Whether a culture has a large

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　power distance or a small power distance will inevitably be reflected in the values of members of different powers in the society. Therefore, by studying the values of social members, we can determine the degree of acceptance of power gap in a society. For example, the United States is a country with relatively small power distances. American employees tend not to accept the concept of management privileges. The subordinates usually think that their superiors are "people like me". So in the United States, employees and managers are more equal and harmonious, and employees are better at learning, improving and transcending themselves to realize their personal values. Relatively speaking, China is a country with large power distance, where status symbols are very important. The privileges of superiors are taken for granted. This privilege greatly contributes to the implementation of subordinate powers by superiors. These characteristics are obviously not conducive to the creation of harmonious relationship between employees and managers and the continuous learning and progress of employees in enterprises. Therefore, in order to adopt the two humanistic policies of "building a harmonious relationship between employees and managers" and "providing employees with learning opportunities in their work so that they can make continuous progress", it is necessary for managers to consciously reduce the distance between internal powers in practice in order to achieve better management objectives. (2) Uncertainty Avoidance Index In any society, people will feel threatened by uncertain, ambiguous and uncertain situations and always try to prevent them. There are many ways to prevent it, such as providing greater job stability, establishing more formal regulations, not allowing deviant ideas and behaviors, pursuing absolutely real things, striving to acquire specialized knowledge and so on. Different nationalities, countries or regions have different urgency to prevent uncertainty. Relatively speaking, in societies with low degree of uncertainty avoidance, people generally have a sense of security, tend to relax their attitude towards life and encourage risk-taking. In the society with high degree of uncertainty avoidance, people generally have a high sense of urgency and enterprising spirit, so it is easy to form a kind of inner impulse to work hard. For example, Japan is a society with high degree of uncertainty avoidance. Therefore, in

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　Japan, the management form of "total quality management" with extensive participation of employees has achieved great success, and the "lifelong employment system" has also been well implemented. On the contrary, the United States is a society with low degree of uncertainty avoidance. The same humanistic policy may not work in American enterprises. For example, the implementation of good "total quality management" in Japan has little effect in the United States. Similar to Japan, China belongs to a society with high degree of uncertainty avoidance. Therefore, the humanistic policy of employee participation in management and increasing occupational stability in China should be appropriate and effective. In addition, in a society with low degree of uncertainty avoidance, it is easier for people to accept the inherent uncertainty in life, to accept more opinions, to execute more thoroughly the authorization from superiors to subordinates, and employees tend to manage and work independently. In societies with high degree of uncertainty avoidance, superiors tend to exercise strict control and clear instructions to their subordinates. (3) Individualism versus collectivism "Individualism" refers to a loose social organizational structure in which each person attaches importance to his own value and needs and relies on his own efforts for his own benefit. Collectivism refers to a closely integrated social organization, in which people are often distinguished by "within the group" and "outside the group". They expect to be cared for by "within the group" personnel, but also in return for maintaining absolute loyalty to the group. The United States is a society advocating individualism, emphasizing individual freedom and personal achievement. Therefore, it is an effective humanistic incentive policy to carry out individual competition among employees and reward individual performance. China and Japan are both collectivist societies. Employees have an emotional dependence on the organization. It should be easy to build a harmonious relationship between employees and managers. (4) Masculinity Versus Femininity Male and female degrees are the dominant values in society. For the male society, the dominant position is masculinity, such as self-confidence and arbitrariness, aggressiveness, persistence and calmness in the demand for money, while for the female society, the opposite is true. Interestingly, the higher a society"s evaluation of masculinity, the greater the difference

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　in values between men and women. The United States is a country with strong male degree. Major decisions in enterprises are usually made by senior managers. Employees often change jobs frequently and lack a sense of identity with enterprises. Therefore, employees usually do not actively participate in management. China is a feminine society, which pays attention to harmony, morality and ethics, and advocates the spirit of actively joining the WTO. As we mentioned above, it is feasible to let employees actively participate in the management of humanistic policies. Through the analysis of the above four-dimensional survey data of culture, Hofstein confirmed that there are great differences between different cultures of different nationalities, and this difference is rooted in people"s minds, and it is difficult to be easily changed. Cultural differences arise from the historical traditions of different countries and different social development processes, which are manifested in all aspects of social culture. From the values of Huo"s cultural dimensions, it can be concluded that the cultural differences between the East and the West are very obvious, even in the mainland of China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, which are the same Oriental cultural circles. As in China and Japan, both cultures are guided by collectivism, but the two kinds of collectivism are quite different. In addition, in addition to ethnic and regional cultural differences, there are undeniable differences in the style of "corporate culture" of investment partners. It can be said that the greater the cultural gap within the company, the greater the possibility and intensity of cultural conflict and confusion. Of course, there are not only four indicators of cultural differences. But even if we only consider these four indicators of cultural differences, and think that each indicator has only two cases, according to the arrangement and combination of analysis, there may be 68 different types of national culture. Hofstein"s research methods are compatible with the diversity of corporate culture types. (5) Long VS Short Term Orientation The fifth dimension is drawn from a study of students from 23 countries around the world. This study uses a questionnaire designed by Chinese scholars, which can be said to focus on virtue rather than truth. The values of long-term orientation emphasize economy and firmness; the values of short-term orientation respect tradition, fulfill social responsibility and

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　love face. The positive and negative value orientation of this dimension can be found in Confucius"doctrine. He is the most influential Chinese philosopher who lived in 500 BC. However, this dimension also applies to countries without Confucian tradition.

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　 3. The impact of cultural differences on business negotiations

　3.1 The impact of differences in thinking styles on negotiators People of different cultural backgrounds also have different ways of thinking. When negotiating, the Chinese people will do something to activate the atmosphere of negotiation. Detailed issues will be discussed only when the final decision is made, focusing on the direction of negotiation. When the final decision is needed, it is also discussed and discussed by all of us. In the beginning, Americans will go deep into the subject, talk about details and find solutions. In making final decisions, the main negotiators have the final decision-making power. When making a decision, Chinese people spend a long time because they have to listen to everyone"s opinions and need to negotiate. When making a decision, Americans will take a short time to decide when they think clearly. Case study: A company engaged in wallpaper printing business in Jiangsu Province purchased equipment from Kenwood Company of the United States, but Jiangsu Company did not conduct overseas transactions. When the representative of Jiangsu Company arrived in the United States, the president of Kenwo Company failed to meet him at the airport because of his vacation. When KFC representatives came to China, Jiangsu managers personally welcomed them and arranged a grand welcome party for a group of Americans after accommodation, with many city leaders participating. The next day, KFC representatives were eager to start negotiations on details, but the Jiangsu company arranged for them to visit nearby scenic spots. On the third day, the negotiations finally started, but Jiangsu company representatives spent a lot of time talking about the company"s history, culture and other basic issues, and these issues have nothing to do with the negotiations. The representative of Kentucky Company in the United States can"t stand to interrupt the representative of Jiangsu Company. Introduce, pointed out sharply that he introduced the content of Kentucky Ware Company has long been aware of, otherwise will not cooperate with their company. There is no need to waste any more time. Case analysis: This case mainly reflects some situations

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　before the negotiation and belongs to the stage of negotiation preparation. Chinese inclination To establish a long-term cooperative relationship, so there will be some exchanges before the negotiations. And Americans from individualism have a strong sense of purpose, don"t like to beat around the bush, and don"t think it"s necessary to waste time on irrelevant things. Of course, the Jiangsu company did its best to entertain the representatives of Kenvol Company, which made them feel the enthusiasm of the Chinese people. However, they do not think that this is related to the negotiations, because the cultural differences between China and the United States lead to the gunpowder taste on the negotiating table. The differences in thinking between Chinese and Americans can also be seen in the details of some business contacts. For example, there are some differences between Chinese business letters and English business letters. Including the differences in writing formats, the first paragraph of a Chinese letter needs two blanks, and the signature is in the lower right corner of the letter. Formal English face language is written at the top of each paragraph, with a blank line between the paragraphs and the signature in the lower left corner of the letter. From the form of address writing, Chinese addresses are written from large areas to small areas, mostly in the order of country, city, block, door number. For example, 113 Minglun Street, Longting District, Kaifeng City, Henan Province, China. English addresses are written from small areas to large areas in the form of door numbers, blocks, cities and countries. For example, 113, Minglun Street, Longting District, Kaifeng, China. Chinese people speak in a roundabout way, while Americans speak more directly, which can also be reflected in business letters. For example: Chinese businessmen write letters, the first paragraph is often a traditional greeting; the second paragraph is a thank-you to the other company; the third paragraph mainly describes the basic situation of their company; the fourth paragraph describes the real intention. It is often difficult for Americans to understand or adapt to the English letters or business negotiations in the Chinese text mode. In letters, Americans often tell their personal purposes directly at the beginning, and often use real dynamic verbs. Chinese culture emphasizes the harmony of social relations and the doctrine of the mean. Most of them use non-dynamic verbs which do not have strong emotional color. They seldom use or even use dynamic verbs when talking about unpleasant topics. A slightly vague language will decrease. Less harm to other people"s feelings can make the discourse

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　space bigger. Americans have long pursued individualism and freedom of speech, and are accustomed to using dynamic verbs to express their ideas directly. For example, when Americans describe wanting to drink water, they say, "I want to drink water." In the same situation, most Chinese say, "I"m thirsty."

　3.2 The impact of cultural differences on the purpose, methods and outcomes of international business negotiations Western society, having experienced bourgeois revolution, has a deep sense of equality and freedom. In business activities, countries represented by Britain and the United States, especially the concept of egalitarian values, Westerners like to use specific ways, specific data to introduce specific situations. The Americans who pay attention to practical interests mostly make objective quotations when they trade, and regard the buyer and the seller as equal relations in the relationship of sale and purchase. However, due to the influence of hierarchical concept for a long time, the Eastern people are not as good as the Westerners in terms of equality in business activities. For example, the Japanese are good at making big cakes, but they don"t know how to divide them fairly. In Japanese business, customers are respected as God, and sellers tend to obey the buyer"s wishes and needs, which shows that profits are more biased towards the buyer. Chinese businessmen often adopt the "win-win" strategy, when it comes to economic interests, they pay more attention to their own interests and ignore each other"s interests. The market economy system of western developed countries has been relatively mature, and most of the negotiators are based on the "win-win" strategy. In negotiation, different cultures also bring different negotiation methods. Generally speaking, the negotiation methods are divided into vertical negotiation method and horizontal negotiation method. Longitudinal negotiation method is a commonly used negotiation method in the West, which lists all the negotiation issues one by one, and then discusses each issue step by step. Horizontal negotiation method is to discuss all kinds of issues at the same time, and finally reach agreement at the same time. In international business negotiations, Americans tend to adopt the vertical negotiation method, which is the impact of their country"s international status on negotiators. This spirit often makes negotiators

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　psychologically dwarfed. In the eastern countries, such as Japan, they are more accustomed to adopting the horizontal negotiation method, synthesizing various aspects of the problem, drawing a rough outline first, then determining the details, and finally reaching an agreement. The two opposite negotiation methods are the differences of negotiation methods influenced by cultural differences. Countries adopting vertical negotiation methods tend to take the initiative in negotiation, put forward their own demands on their own initiative, and have a strong desire to win. Countries adopting horizontal negotiation methods tend to be in a passive defensive position and do not take the initiative to persuade their negotiators in negotiation. It is the difference of personality caused by different cultures. Cultural differences have the most lethal impact on the outcome of negotiations, which can be divided into direct and indirect effects. The direct impact is usually a serious misunderstanding and conflict in the negotiation process. Negotiators think that the other party"s expression is offensive and rude, and even directly think that the other party is shameless and guilty. Therefore, they suspend the negotiation directly and cause irreparable losses. The indirect impact of cultural differences on the outcome of negotiations runs through the whole negotiation process. Negotiations proceed slowly, the two sides can not understand each other"s intentions, and the negotiation is inefficient. Eventually, both sides exhaust their patience, lose confidence in the future of negotiations and give up negotiations.

　3.3 Forms of ceremonial differences affecting business activities (1) Greeting Differences The first thing in business meeting negotiation is to say hello. If you don"t understand each other"s address habits, problems will arise in the first meeting. Chinese culture pays attention to "difference between upper and lower" and "orderly growth and childhood". It is customary to address other people according to their occupation, rank and seniority. It should fully reflect each other"s position, position and relationship with each other. The western concept of equality is relatively strong, the rules of address are simple, in addition to certain specific persons, generally rarely use titles to address others, in very formal business occasions, Westerners call Mr. men, Miss or Ms. Generally speaking, they are called by their first names to show kindness and equality. If you honor a Western acquaintance as "Mrs"

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　according to the Chinese custom, you will be mistaken for trying to distance yourself from others. (2) Differences in Time Concepts Punctuality is one of the important etiquettes in business contacts. However, there are differences in the understanding of punctuality between China and the West, and in the allocation and utilization of time. In China, people usually think that it is polite to go to an appointment earlier. However, in...