Impacts of Cultural Differences on WestEastern Business Negotiation【商务英语专业毕业论文】.doc

Impacts of Cultural Differences on West-Eastern Business Negotiation一、 课题(论文)提纲0.引言1.文化和文化差异1.1文化的定义1.2 文化差异极其根源2.文化差异对东西方商务谈判的影响 2.1 不同的交谈风格 2.2 无目的性的谈判 2.3 决策机制3.总结二、内容摘要当今世界正处于一个全球经济一体化加速发展的时代。各国间的经济联系不断加强，商务活动日益频繁。经济上的相互依赖大大促进了各国公司的合作。合作的成功与否很大程度上取决于能否达成圆满的协议。要达成协议，双方必须进行协商、谈判。谈判是商业领域里非常频繁而重要的一项活动，是双方或多方为了达成互利的协议而就共同和冲突的利益进行讨论、磋商的一个过程。同时，他们也带来了不同的文化。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。要想取得有效的谈判，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。三、 参考文献1 Donald W. Hendon, Rebecca Angeles Hendon & Paul Herbig. Cross-cultural Business Negotiation M. London: Quorum Books. 1996.2 Guy Olivier Faure & Jeffrey Z. Rubin. Culture and Negotiation: The Resolution of Water Disputes M. UNESCO. 2001.3 Larry A. Samovar, Richard E .Porter & Lisa A. Stefani. Communication between Cultures (3rd Ed) M. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 2003.4 Lillian H. Chaney & Jeanette S. Martin. International Business Communication. M.New Jersey: Prentice Hall Career and Technology Englewood Cliffs. 1995.5 Raymond Cohen. Negotiating across Cultures International Communication in an Interdependent World M. Washington .D.C.: Institute of Peace Press 1997.6. 贾玉新. 跨文化交际M, 上海：上海外语教育出版社, 20027. 林大津，跨文化交际研究与英美人交往指南M，福建：福建人民出版社, 1996Impacts of Cultural Differences on West-Eastern Business Negotiation Abstract:Today, the world is fast developing in the age of rapid economic globalizing. Business contacts among nations are getting more and more close, and have brought more and more opportunities to commercial activities. The successful business corporation, to a great extent, depends on achieving the mutually beneficial agreement. To reach an agreement, two parties need to negotiate. Negotiation, a very common and important activity in the business world, can be understood as a process in which two or more parties come together to discuss common and conflicting interests in order to reach an agreement of mutual benefit. Meanwhile, they bring different cultures to the negotiating table. Culture forges values and religious belief that define ones thinking and behavior. Therefore, negotiators with different cultural backgrounds employ different negotiating strategies. 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.Key words: West-eastern culture; Cultural differences; Business negotiation; Impacts0. IntroductionModern society with its advanced technology has brought businessmen considerably closer and more opportunities for doing business with each other. People in Eastern countries watch the movies produced by the West; while the Western consumers wear clothes made in the Eastern countries. The enhanced globalization of economy necessitates an increase in transactions across borders. As a consequence, opportunities for international business negotiation are on the dramatic increase. International negotiation involves people from different countries who discuss common and conflicting interests for arriving at an agreement of mutual benefit.Negotiators from different countries conduct business in different ways, which are influenced by their given cultures. Culture forges peoples values, beliefs, and guides peoples behaviors. Thus, international negotiators tend to act according to their own values shaped by culture. Negotiators from different cultures prefer different approaches to negotiate. So, there is a closed link between negotiation and culture. Negotiating in domestic culture is easier because the two sides are relatively familiar with each others cultural background, but it is not the case for international negotiations. International negotiators bring along their own culture to the table. Different cultures will surely result in various negotiating styles, for culture has a great impact on business negotiations. When the two parties at the negotiating table pursue their own interests respectively, problems often crop up and the potential for misunderstanding each other is great. Discussions are frequently hindered because of different communication styles. Even though negotiators are technologically well prepared, it is not so easy to reach a satisfactory agreement between negotiators across cultures. Negotiations can be easily broken down due to a lack of mutual understanding of the cultures. Therefore, learning the opponents culture and having a good understanding of how cultural differences affect negotiation will be critically important if one wants to succeed in cross-cultural negotiations. It is my intent, in this thesis, to present an exploration on the relationship between culture and negotiation, and to provide specific examples on how cultural differences affect negotiation across borders. In addition, I will give some recommendations to the negotiators who need to deal with people from other cultures. In todays global environment, only those negotiators who fully understand the opponents culture and cultural effects on negotiation can be successful in international negotiations. 1. Culture and Cultural Differences1 .1 Definition 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 societys or a nations 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 peoples 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 a contract or deals with a potential trade partner. So, to have a good understanding of your business partners culture can help predict your business partners behavior and develop sound strategies for deal-making and negotiations.1 .2 Cultural Differences and Their RootsWith 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-known fact that people across nations and cultures behave 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, for the white flower, most Asians respond negatively because it is related to mourning death while American brides hold it in hands on the happy weddings. Considered very sacred crop in Japan, rice shouldnt be cooked with other food while this doesnt make sense to most westerners. 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, Americans encourage and promote those who are qualified and competent regardless of age and the young dont see the old in the same sense as Chinese and Japanese do. American culture is founded to be individualistic, whereas Chinese culture and Japanese culture are characterized as collective.In the paragraphs above, we have talked something about culture differences, but it is far from enough to only know which hand used to accept a gift or how much time you should spend in the beginning stage of a business negotiation. To better understand the complex matter “culture”, more important, we should know the sources of cultural variation, or the deep roots we called. Why cultures differ in perceiving the world? Why do some cultures worship individualism while other cultures value collectiveness? Why do members of some cultures emphasize direct verbal communication, whereas others prefer indirectness and even silence? Why some respect old age while other encourage youth? To solve these questions, we need to explore the roots of western culture represented by the United States and eastern culture typically founded in Japan and China. What motivate these cultural differences? There are several points to be explained in the perspective of religion, philosophy, and history.For the religion, Christianity should come first as it is a dominant religion of about a billion people around the whole world. “In United States, it is estimated that 86%percent of the population is Christian.” The American concept of the core value “individualism” can be linked with Christianity. Whereas, for eastern culture, Confucianism is a fundamental philosophic thought that has shaped not only Chinese culture but also East Asian thought pattern for 2,500 years. According to Confucian, a gentleman must keep his word and be sincere to his friends. So, in Chinese culture, trust is preeminently valued. Chinese do business only with those they trust. Family is the root of Chinese society, a Chinese belongs to the family rather than himself. This is why Chinese culture is considered typically as collective or group orientation. Individualism has negative meanings. A basic tenet of Confucianism is harmony. It stresses maintaining harmony in all relationships by controlling emotion, avoiding conflict and competition, saving face, and so forth. All these have shaped the core values in Chinese culture, and Japan is the nation influenced by Confucianism deeply.The exploration of the cultural roots cannot be completed if not involving history. The influence of history on shaping peoples thought and behavior is evident. Historical events and giants of the United States teach young generation that everything is possible if you work hard. Benjamin Franklin offered a good example. In addition, American history is full of wars. Through several great wars, the nation was founded ultimately, which doubtlessly forged the competitive awareness of Americans. And those frontiers heroic behavior is another source of the importance of individualism. Compared to America, China and Japan both are conservative and isolated countries. Formerly, agriculture depended on small families and peasants lived on the land. They had to know how to work and live together. Thus, cooperative efforts over centuries contribute a lot to the collectiveness and group orientation.At the moment the part of culture is concluded, here again, I want to stress that culture is significant in international business interaction. The study of culture is indispensable to the study of cultural impacts on negotiation .We should know not only what culture is, but also the cultural differences and their roots.2. Impacts of Cultural Differences on West-Eastern Business Negotiations2.1 Different Communication Style The sources of difficulties in international negotiations are diverse, but a most common one is due to the problems of communication. Discussions between two negotiators tend to be more difficult and complex when they involve persons with different cultures. American culture relies on direct, explicit communication, while Japanese culture prefers indirect, implicit style. The way people communicate, including verbal and non-verbal language directly affects business negotiations across cultures. A well-known study of this phenomenon is the concept of low-context and high-context communication postulated by the anthropologist Edward Hall:A high-context (HC) communication or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. A low-context (LC) communication is just the opposite; i.e., the mass of the message is vested in the explicit code.In high-context cultures (Japanese, 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 can avoid unpleasantness. High-context speakers are more prone to understand non-verbal implications than those in low-context Japanese and Chinese believe in what words fail to convey can be told through gesture, body movement, and even silence. Japanese and Chinese are highly uncomfortable with direct conflict. They talk around it, or give indirect hints that they disagree. They hardly say “no” directly. Japanese and Chinese negotiators tend to communicate with less eye contact, fewer negative expressions, and more period of silence. All these propensities are associated with the requirements of maintaining face and group harmony. The low-context communication, exemplified by the United States, reserves quite a different role for language. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”, the popular saying explains that in the United States, people are encouraged to “speak up” and make sure their views are heard. 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. “Straight-from