An Analysis of Intercultural Negotiations between the East and West
Cohen South
N8884102
Jan Gruenhagen
1632 words
Executive Summary:
This report provides an analysis and evaluation of an intercultural negotiation between USA’s Brown Casual Shoes and China’s Chung Sun Manufacturing, provides a literature review of a prominent theory from the field and suggests recommendation to improve the process of intercultural communication between these two countries and companies.
As the Case Study was identified as subpar negotiation, all issues from the Case Study were allocated into Intercultural, Verbal and Nonverbal.
Following this, Hofstede’s Cultural Model was introduced
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As per Chinese culture, the foreigner should always leave first when a meeting is finished (UONI, 2011). Mr Browns misunderstanding of this could have caused discomfort for the Chinese.
Mr Brown’s perception that the initial meetings with the Chinese would have resulted in a negotiation early was a fundamental misunderstanding – as he failed to realise that the Chinese often forge relationships with individuals before partaking in business (Goodman, 2013).
2 Intercultural Verbal Communication Issue
Although Mr Brown and his team participated in lots of small talk with Mr Deng, further small talk could be encouraged to avoid causing offence and giving the impression that the negotiators only care about time – and not forging a lasting relationship (UONI, 2011).
An additional verbal error made by Mr. Brown was his failure to hire a interpreter. In China, this is often viewed as a sign of disrespect for their culture (Fang & Faure, 2010). This lack of an interpreter and an overall lack of comprehension of English could have been the reason for the large amount of questions rather than the impression formulated by Mr. Brown that they were not serious about the business (World Business Culture, 2013). Furthermore, the fact that Mr Brown and his team didn’t make the effort to learn any Chinese at all for the negotiation might give off the impression that they are ethnocentric about their culture (Goodman, 2013).
3 Intercultural Nonverbal Verbal
Explain and describe what parts of the interaction employed effective listening and speaking in the negotiation.
At this point, with the mediator leading the way, both parties tried to go to the balcony. They stopped discussing conflicts in their perspectives and started talking about their business ideas and growth opportunities. Brown especially discussed the possibilities of the service idea Rapid sought to implement. She saw areas for growth within their niche market as well as an opportunity to expand into other printing markets. She also realized that because Scott was a much larger company, there were lessons to be shared by Scott that could inform Rapid’s growth. Brown suggested that Scott and his company become more involved in Rapid. This could mean investing in Rapid (which would give Brown much
1. Review text pages 137–139 in Chapter 4. These pages cover step 9 in the planning process, assessing the social context of negotiation.
In China, they don’t believe time is a barrier and don’t put much into deadlines like the Americans. Chinese see the relationship building as their driver of time, rather then getting tasks accomplished in a short period of time. The Chinese people generally believe that a considerable amount of time should be invested in establishing a general climate of understanding, trust, and willingness to help, in matters quite apart from the specific business issues brought to the table. Producing a satisfactory agreement in as short a time as possible may be one of their least concerns. Therefore, the non-task sounding stage of negotiation often witnesses much time spending in establishing rapport and getting to know their partners. The Americans grew frustrated with this approach at the start of the negotiation as well as when Mr. Brickley
The legal system is another issue to be considered when doing business in China because it is still viewed as being in a developing stage. Contracts, for example, are highly influenced by this difference. In the Chinese culture, contracts describe how relationships will be developed whereas in the United States, the contract is a binding agreement that spells out the specific terms, conditions and expectations from each party involved. As Company X pursues the possibility of expanding business to China, it must understand that the Chinese business culture does not place as much emphasis on the binding force of a written contract.
The following examines the nation of China and its trade relations with the world, particularly the United States. The focus is primarily on China’s culture and how it impacts business dealings with other countries. Areas examined include: Religion, Management Philosophy, and Business Etiquette. Also discussed is China’s growing status as a world super power and how that has impacted the global business landscape. Likewise, various trading partners are examined and the effects of doing business with China, specifically for the United States. Points of concern for the United States are things such as the
This process has more significance in most countries except the Unites States. The approach in the U.S. is to get down to business straight away without wasting too much time on people. This is in stark contrast to the process in China where the focus is on building “Guanxi”, that is, the intricate and omnipresent network of personal relations. The U.S. approach can be a huge problem when doing business with China. The American efficiency interferes with the patient development of a mutually trusting relationship – the very basis of an Asian business agreement. This is what happened in the case study. Mr. Smith had done his research and was aware about the Chinese business methodology, but he did not think it was important to implement it. He was well advised by Mr. Tang. Mr. Tang, even though pointed out the significant features of the “American” and the “Chinese” way of doing business, did not stress enough to make Mr. Smith understand its significance. Mr. Tang also jeopardized his relationship with Mrs. Ming whom he had known for many years by not disclosing that the supplier was not a direct supplier.
North America’s culture certainly affect international business activities, the same happen among all countries and continents in the world. Culture and tradition have a particular role in person’s critical thinking, communication barriers and behavior. In the business environment negotiation is an important skill in where all parties needs to be pleased, at the end you have to give for you to be able to receive, either is entering into a contract or building a
On the other hand, Chinese worker are centered on relationship. Chinese focus on relationship with others and live in the world of trust. Chinese trust people around them in their work place. Often, Chinese did not require signing contract in every agreement unlike American where all agreement must be in contract. By trusting others credibility, it helps create a friendly working environment and promotes intimate relationship among the workers. However, their main weakness is their business culture, where they are quiet and reserved which will reduce their credibility when dealing with American. They weakness also made them a weak immediate decision maker. As for interpersonal problem, Chinese are very concern about the good relationship, and hold it as their top priorities. Chinese would not do any agreement or trade that could harm their relationship with others. Lastly, Chinese are very polite and indirect. They try as hard to prevent the relationship from
In this negotiation, we learned that it is important to research your opponent, to understand their culture, not only of their country or backgrounds, but also their company culture. When we are able to understand our opponent’s way of thinking about business and doing business we can then understand how to approach a negotiation situation with them. In this exercise, we learned that it is difficult for us to adjust when it involves breaking or acting in a way opposite of what we are accustomed to. We also learned that although my classmates live in the same country as we do, their upbringings may have similarities to their origin country and will therefore help them to communicate and adjust to that country’s norms and standards. We were surprised how we were able to stay in character although it was hard and it was surprising how people responded when they were unaware of your intentions and strategies. If we had to do this exercise again, what we can do is do more research on our opponents so that we would have an idea of what to expect in the negotiation table.
Chinese workers believe that close personal relationships are imperative to effective communication. American companies don’t share the same views and some organizations have even related this to workplace fraternization, which can result in disciplinary action. Since we don’t believe that these relationships are necessary, or even appropriate, we don’t form them and this could affect a bi-national workplace and possibly even carry over to business dealings outside of the company. The Chinese believe that, when conducting business with other people, a relationship must first be formed to gain the trust of business partners.
Another value that is very important in Chinese culture is trust. Trust lies at the heart of successful long-term intercultural business relationships. Therefore, Oldtown employee must be prepared in gaining the Chinese Manager in China trust to deal with business. In China, the cross-cultural business relationships, trust plays an indispensable role since partners from different cultures don’t always have the same values or assumptions about how business works. When trust is developed, partners can navigate difficult issues over time by fostering a candid exchange of ideas, issues and agendas. Developing trust can significantly reduce what Westerners often complain of in their dealings with Chinese counterparts: unpredictable behavior and a lack of transparency. As a Chinese executive at Google put it, “In China, your success depends on how well a person trusts you.”
Communication styles in negotiation are probably one of the most important skills or characteristics one will develop over a lifetime. From the point a human being begins to develop cognitive skills, the process of learning and understanding situations become more apparent. One will learn from a very young age the dynamics and characteristics of communication and its role in negotiation. To better understand the communication process, one must be able to recognize how they communicate, whether it is on an assertive, aggressive, passive, or passive-aggressive level of communication. The manner in which one conveys his/her message is critical, and the many methods in which they do it is
Interests: A population of 1.3 billion along with a growing economy makes Chinese market extremely important for Google to enter
There are two sides to the problem, the Chinese and the American, and Ray is the only one who can see both of them. The reasons for these two points of view are the socio-cultural differences that exist among countries. Culture is what defines a country and it can be composed of the language, values, religion, models of conducts, and beliefs, among others. There are many cultural differences between China and the U.S. China has a strong sense of hierarchy and respect towards figures of authority. For example, the vice president of a company might decline to participate in a very lucrative opportunity if it meant going over the president and his boss. This is a behavior that many Americans would find difficult to understand because their priority would be to make money. Another example is the role women play in business world. Even though the number of professional Chinese women has grown, men still think they are inferior, which is why when they see a woman succeeds in a position usually occupied by men; she earns great respect (Fang, 2008). This is actually something that other countries looking to enter Chinese market can use to their advantage. These and the many other cultural differences that exist between China and the U.S. explain why they see the problem in a very different way. Based on these differences, if Rocky River decides to pull out of the venture, it will be very difficult for the Chinese to trust the