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(Institute of Intercultural Communication, School of Foreign Languages, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan City, Hunan Province 4 1 1207)
Abstract: With China's entry into WTO, various levels and types of cross-cultural negotiations have become increasingly frequent. A correct understanding of cultural differences and cultural conflicts between China and the West is the premise of cross-cultural negotiation. This paper attempts to explore some characteristics and countermeasures of foreign-related business negotiations from the perspective of cultural conflicts between China and the West.
[Keywords:] cultural conflict negotiation countermeasures
With the development of society and the progress of civilization, the fate of all mankind is more closely linked. Times provide a broader world for negotiations, which are characterized by application, artistry and scientificity. With China's accession to the WTO, international trade and foreign exchanges will become increasingly frequent, and various types and levels of foreign trade, foreign trade and diplomatic negotiations will increasingly show their important position in social, political and economic life. This paper attempts to study the internal laws of China's international business negotiations from the perspective of cultural conflicts between China and the West, and seek the methods and strategies of China's foreign-related business negotiations after China's entry into WTO, so as to serve the construction of China's socialist market economy.
First, modern western negotiation theory and its social and cultural background
In western developed countries, more and more people directly or indirectly step into the field of negotiation, and business negotiators in Britain and the United States alone account for more than 5% of the population. Negotiation has been paid more and more attention in modern western management education. Universities, enterprises and scientific research institutions in developed countries and regions such as the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as well as some developing countries, regard negotiation as an important course to train talents in modern politics, economy, management, diplomacy, politics, law and education, and some countries have also established national negotiation societies. The principles and methods of negotiation theory, which emerged under the fierce competition in the West and specific social conditions, are becoming more and more perfect and systematic, and increasingly show the guiding role in negotiation practice.
The representative theories mainly include Neil Lunberg's "Negotiation Needs Theory". He systematically put forward his own theory in How to Read a Person Like a Book and The Art of Negotiation. John Winkler's masterpiece of "bargaining power theory" is Bargaining for the Result. Fisher, Yuri, Lei Fa and others jointly put forward "principled negotiation"; Carlos' Negotiation Game, from the perspective of Americans, mainly studies the use of strategies in negotiation; And so on, among which "principle negotiation method" is known as "the master of western negotiation theory". The main content of the principle negotiation method consists of four parts: first, it always emphasizes that people and problems must be dealt with separately when touching substantive issues; Second, it is advocated that the focus of negotiations should be interests, not positions, so we must always grasp the interests of all parties in the negotiations and try our best to overcome the dispute over positions; Third, before deciding how to implement the plan, we should first imagine all possible options. Negotiators should arrange a specific period of time to conceive various possible solutions, creatively try to avoid or weaken conflicts in the interests of all parties, and provide opportunities for other negotiators to actively put forward some constructive suggestions to solve problems; Fourth, adhere to objective standards, and negotiators should introduce objective standards with scientific advantages as much as possible. Objective standards are authoritative and not easy to be criticized. Using objective standards instead of subjective judgment to solve problems will make communication smoother. Through the introduction and application of objective standards, an agreement can be reached step by step, which is conducive to improving negotiation efficiency and reducing unnecessary disputes. Looking at the research and practice of western negotiation, we not only study the inherent law of negotiation itself, but also pay special attention to the influence of different social systems, cultural concepts and traditional habits on negotiation activities, and put forward a series of negotiation strategies especially for eastern culture. This is worthy of our serious study and attention.
Second, the influence of cultural differences and cultural conflicts between China and the West on negotiation activities.
The advantages of foreign-related business negotiation first come from the understanding of the opponent, and on this basis, we can give play to our own strengths and restrict the strengths of the opponent. In addition to the personal temperament and psychological factors of negotiators, the negotiation habits formed under the influence of different cultural concepts and national systems and the negotiation styles embodied by these habits will have a far-reaching impact on the success or failure of negotiation activities and even the communication methods and relations between countries. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly understand the differences and conflicts between eastern and western cultures.
(A) the embodiment of cultural conflicts between China and the West in the negotiations
Different cultural characteristics are often concentrated in the national character of a country. The so-called national character refers to the common characteristics of a country and a nation that are different from other nations on the basis of common cultural concepts, value judgments and behavior patterns. The formation of national character is based on its unique cultural foundation. Due to the differences in cultural traditions and concepts between China and the West, the views on issues in the negotiation process are often prone to opposition or misunderstanding. A prominent phenomenon in China's national character is that he attaches great importance to face "or" decency ". At the negotiating table, if we have to choose between "dignity" and "interests", China people often choose "dignity"; Westerners, on the other hand, value interests and will not hesitate to choose "interests" between "dignity" and "face". It is so important for China people to win glory for themselves, so that some western negotiators warn in their works that we must pay attention to using this national character of China when negotiating with China. Obviously, only by correctly understanding and properly grasping the ethnic differences between China and the West can we effectively correct our own shortcomings, strengthen our own advantages, use each other's shortcomings and disintegrate each other's advantages.
In the field of international negotiation, the cultural differences between China and the West are mainly reflected in the following two aspects:
The first is to understand the thinking differences of objective things. As one of the four ancient civilizations, China is proud of its long history and culture, which makes the people of China rich in strong national feelings, heroic spirit and strong patriotism, which has played a positive role in the progress and development of the nation. However, due to its long history and well-known culture, it is often easy to produce an "arrogant prejudice" and form a "face", which makes itself bear a heavy burden and even stand still. This "face" mentality even permeates almost all fields. Bill Scott, a British negotiator, made a special analysis of this in his book On Negotiation. He said: "China people attach great importance to face. If you want to force China people to make concessions in negotiations, you must be careful not to let them lose face in concessions. Similarly, if we retreat from our original tough stance, we don't have to stick to it in front of them, which is extremely important for us. The final agreement must be an agreement that our colleagues think has saved his' face' or added glory to him. "
There is also a very interesting phenomenon, that is, although some people in China want to "save face", they are absolutely not allowed to say that they have "saved face" for them in public, otherwise they will feel uncomfortable. Lucius W Pai, an American, pointed out in his book "Negotiation Style": "You can gain a lot by helping China people gain face." At any time, losing face may cause losses. It seems that Westerners have a thorough understanding of our concept of "face". Whether you can overcome your own prejudice in the negotiation field and even in all fields is an important issue whether you can catch up with the advanced world level and become a world power again. Although the national characters of western countries are also very different, they do have certain commonalities. Take Americans here as an example. I'm afraid the national character of Americans is the most typical in the West. The national characteristics of Americans are closely related to their economic achievements and historical traditions. They advocate struggle and independent action, with exposed personality, self-confidence and passion. These characteristics of Americans can be seen everywhere in social life. In participating in international affairs, they are very good at using various means to cooperate with diplomatic negotiations, so as to gain benefits. Because Americans have this characteristic, they are extremely indifferent to superficial and ceremonial things, but they are very sensitive to substantive issues and have a good impression on straightforward negotiators. Compared with the negotiation style of China people, these are quite different.
The second is the difference between ethical and legal concepts. There are great differences between China and the West in regulating people's behavior and handling disputes. This difference is mainly manifested in the following two aspects:
1, China cultural habits avoid legal considerations and focus on ethical considerations; On the other hand, most westerners are more concerned about legal issues. In China, the concept of "ethics first" has always occupied an important position in people's minds. Once a dispute occurs, the first thing that comes to mind is how to win the support of the surrounding public opinion and advocate "getting more help from the Tao, not seeking the Tao", which is considered by Chinese people to have extremely special connotation and significance. Therefore, China people are not used to many problems that should be solved by law, but are used to playing the role of moral norms through "organization" and public opinion. Westerners, on the other hand, usually handle disputes by legal means, rather than relying on the role of conscience and morality. Many individuals and companies in the west have hired legal advisers and lawyers, who will come forward to handle disputes. Some disputes that China people think must be solved through complex interpersonal networks may not be the case in the eyes of westerners.
2. The egalitarian tendency of China people is based on the concept of social hierarchy, which is bred by thousands of years of feudal culture and plays a special role in all fields of social life. Among them, the idea of "official standard" is very prominent, which makes some people worship officials, despise systems and laws, and are used to relying on the "backstage" of officials to conduct transactions. Bai, an American scholar, wrote with emotion in the book: "Many American businessmen and businessmen we met told us that they learned that among China people, the possibility of reaching an agreement or the entry into force of an agreement can be determined only by verbal agreement, nodding or shaking hands." These differences are listed only to show that cultural differences between China and the West have a profound and complex impact on communication and negotiation. In this regard, we must have a profound and sober understanding.
Third, our countermeasures.
Judging from the cultural differences between China and the West, we can never assume that "the moon in foreign countries is rounder than that in China". Objectively speaking, Chinese and western cultures have their own advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of our study of cultural differences and conflicts between China and the West is to know ourselves and ourselves, so that our foreign-related negotiations can truly achieve advantages and avoid disadvantages, foster strengths and avoid weaknesses. The author believes that from the above understanding, we should pay special attention to the following issues in foreign-related negotiations.
(1) Let's talk about principles or details first. According to the cultural characteristics of China, in the negotiation, people generally pay attention to "principles first, details later"; On the contrary, the west pays more attention to "talking about details first and avoiding talking about principles". This difference often leads to difficulties in communication between China and the West. China people like to reach an agreement on the general principles of bilateral relations before dealing with the troublesome details, and arrange specific issues for future negotiations. In most cases, this mentality will put us in a more favorable position in future negotiations. Westerners don't adapt to the negotiations in China, and as a result, the outcome of the negotiations is often more favorable to China. Westerners usually think that details are the essence of problems, so they prefer to consider details, while the discussion of principled issues seems lax. Many facts show that the principle of speaking first will inevitably restrict the detailed discussion later. For example, in a series of major foreign-related negotiations, such as the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the return of Hong Kong and Macao, our government has always stood firm. Quot Taiwan Province Province is an inseparable part of People's Republic of China (PRC) ",and based on this principle, the tone of detailed negotiation was established in advance, which became the framework to control the scope of negotiation, thus winning the advantage of detailed negotiation. It is the successful application of this negotiation strategy by our government that has made the above-mentioned diplomatic negotiations a complete success and won universal praise and good reputation from the international community.
(2) whether to attach importance to the collective or the individual. It should be said that both China and the West attach importance to both the collective and the individual in the negotiation process. But relatively speaking, Westerners emphasize collective power and individual responsibility, that is, "separation of powers". China people, on the other hand, emphasize collective responsibility and individual power, that is, "centralization". This difference leads to two phenomena in negotiation occasions: Westerners appear as one or two people on the surface, but there is often an efficient and flexible think tank or decision-making body behind them, giving negotiators corresponding authority, and the think tank team helps them deal with complex problems in negotiation; On China's side, everyone is talking, and one person makes the final decision. It is conceivable that if the decider is an expert, that's fine, but like? Quot Whether the decider is an amateur or not, the risks and results of the negotiation are hard to predict. Therefore, in the negotiation, we should scientifically and properly handle the relationship between the collective and the individual, "centralization" and "decentralization", so as to always be in a more active position in the negotiation with westerners.
In short, due to the cultural differences between China and the West, their negotiation styles at the negotiating table show great differences. Sometimes the difficulties at the negotiating table are even caused by different negotiating styles. Therefore, understanding the differences between Chinese and western negotiation styles will help us to find constructive communication channels, discover the real reasons leading to misunderstanding or opposition, and effectively use some advantages of our negotiation style, overcome some weaknesses, actively control the negotiation process, and grasp the direction and progress of negotiations, which should be paid attention to by Chinese negotiators.
[References]
[1] (English) Bill Scott's Trade Negotiation Skills, published by China Foreign Trade Press, p. 164.
[2] (US) White "Negotiation Style" Page 4/kloc-0 published by China Friendship Publishing House.
[3] Bell, David and Howard Laifa "Marginal Value and Intrinsic Risk Aversion" Harvard University Press
[4] Blake, Michael' Japanese International Negotiation Style' Columbia University Press
[5] Fisher, Poggel and William's Guide to Negotiating in Principle, Harvard Law School.
[6] Zhang Heqing with "Negotiation" Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press
[7] Zhang Qiang's Introduction to Negotiation, Sichuan University Press.
[8] Tang Degen's Intercultural Communication, Central South University Press.