Compare different negotiation styles between Chinese and American

Contents

The definition of negotiation styles Negotiation American style Negotiation Chinese style About the comparison (conclusion)

The definition of negotiation styles

Negotiation style is about the attitude with which you approach your negotiations Your beliefs, personality, skills, agenda, even sex, are all factors that will influence the negotiation style you choose to use. And you may choose to use different negotiation styles to serve your different needs in different situations. There are three major styles in negotiations: collaborative (win-win), competitive (win-lose), and a combination of both.

Negotiation American style

There was a tendency to jump into issues head on. Whenever there is a certain political transition, there may be an end to political negotiations The us negotiators are answerable to other indirect parties and must therefore exercise caution in their actions. However ,this also means that there is greater accountability amongst them. Americans strongly believe in sticking to the truth .they don’t have respect for the process of achieving their goals. Instead,most of them focus on the end.

Negotiation Chinese style

Six dimensions

political behavior Legal behavior Technical behavior Commercial behavior Social behavior Strategic behavior

political behavior

The Chinese government is the real negotiator, customer, and ultimate decision maker; Chinese companies must follow the government’s plan and policies to do business. Business in China, whether Chinese or foreign, is under the control of the Chinese government; Chinese business is governed by the “political book”. Chinese patterners are protected under the “umbrella” of Chinese bureaucracy

Legal behavior

The Chinese view contracting as an intial intention and an onging problem-solving framework rather than a one-off nicely wrapped legal package. The Chinese awareness of law is normally blunt, and its legal system is young. Chinese lawyers seldom participate in faceto-face meetings, although recently they have begun to increasingly appear The Chinese tend to insist that arbitration, if any, is to be held in china.

Technical behavior

The Chinese want to cooperate with large, technologically strong companies. The Chinese want to buy the most advanced and research-anddevelopment-oriented technology, apart from price, technology is other major issue in Chinese business negotiation.

The basic Chinese attitude toward foreign technology transfer to China is to exchange the Chinese market for foreign technology.

Strategic behavior“ji” or “Chinese stratagems” exists in the mentality of Chinese negotiation.

The Chinese may employ negotiating tactics deliberately or inadvertently.Chinese business negotiating tactics empirically evident in the

supplementary materials I gave to you. But here I must mind you that we Chinese people are clever, friendly but we have our own moral standard or behavioral code which guided us what we can do and what we cannot do.

Commercial behavior

The Chinese tend to choose large and financially strong foreign companies with which to cooperate. The Chinese are extremely price sensitive; Chinese business negotiation is essentially a negotiation about price and technology.

Social behavior

There is a pre-negotiation phase in the Chinese business negotiation process in which the Chinese try to establish trust and confidence in the other party through information gathering, personal contacts and other social activities. The Chinese attach great importance to sincerity and reputation on the part of foreign side.

Conclusion

When comparing the six dimensions of Chinese business negotiating style with the American theory of business negotiation, you may find that there are stark contrasts in the political, legal and strategic dimensions of Chinese business negotiating behaviors. Most remarkable is the strong political feature in Chinese business negotiation. The decisive influence of the Chinese government and Chinese bureaucracy on the behavior of Chinese negotiators constitutes a major difference between Chinese and American business negotiating styles.

Thank you for listening !