A study on the influence of the differences in values between China and the United States on the current situation of business negotiations at home and abroad

with the increasingly close economic and trade relations between China and the United States, business activities between enterprises are becoming more frequent, and the importance of business negotiations is becoming increasingly apparent. Because the cultural differences between China and the United States have a profound impact on the business negotiations between the two sides, China negotiators must understand the cultural differences between China and the United States and improve their negotiating ability if they want to succeed in the business negotiations between China and the United States.

1. Cultural differences between China and the United States

Culture mainly includes four aspects: verbal and nonverbal behaviors, customs, ways of thinking and values, which have a great influence on cross-cultural business negotiations between China and the United States.

1. Differences between verbal and nonverbal behaviors. China has been paying attention to etiquette since ancient times, and most of his words reflect modesty and respect for others. When people in China hear compliments, they usually express modesty with modest words. China people must use appellation in conversation to show their respect for each other. Americans pay attention to equality, and in the United States, the younger generation can call their elders and bosses by their first names. Americans will thank others for their praise and accept it.

There are great differences in nonverbal behaviors, as can be seen from the following two examples: (1) staring. People in China express their curiosity or surprise, while Americans think it is impolite and embarrassing. (2) Reach out to the called person, palms up, and swing back and forth with your forefinger. China people are disgusted with this, and Americans use this as a sign to ask others to come over.

2. Differences in customs and habits. Customs and habits mainly include some social activities. China people care about their face in their daily life and work, and are very concerned about their image in others' minds, fearing being laughed at, discussed and misunderstood. Americans are more practical and don't care too much about other people's opinions. Americans don't ask each other about their age, income, marriage, etc. when interacting with others. They think it infringes on others' privacy. In China, they are often asked about these contents. Americans like to express their views directly, while China people express their meaning in a euphemistic way. Once Americans are asked something, they must generally give a clear answer. China people advocate that "silence is golden". In the United States, it is common for elders to clap their shoulders and kiss each other when they meet their juniors, but it is rare to see such a scene in China. Americans are very punctual, while people in China can often understand why they are late. The differences between China and the United States in many living habits are still very obvious.

3. Different ways of thinking. The difference between Chinese and American thinking is mainly reflected in the opposition between overall thinking and individual thinking. China culture focuses on holistic thinking, which is to observe and think about everything in the world from a holistic point of view. The analysis of problems always starts from the totality of things, focusing on the overall function, complex relationship and operation process of the whole things, rather than the internal structure of things. Americans focus on the individual way of thinking, which decomposes complex things into simple elements and studies them one by one.

4. Differences in values. The difference between Chinese and American values is mainly reflected in the opposition between collectivism and individualism. The core value of China people is collectivism, which holds that harmonious interpersonal relationship is the foundation of society. Therefore, China people value harmony and attach great importance to the interests or values of a specific group. The core of American cultural values is individualism, that is, the philosophy of life based on the individual. Its main content is to believe in personal value, attach great importance to personal freedom, and emphasize personal self-control, self-control and self-development.

second, the impact of cultural differences between China and the United States on business negotiations

the cultural differences between China and the United States affect the normal development of business activities between people of the two countries. Cultural differences seriously affect the communication between Chinese and American business negotiators, interrupt the negotiation agenda, and make the negotiations deadlocked or even fail.

1. There is a risk of misunderstanding between both parties in business negotiation. The most important tool for communication between Chinese and American business negotiators is language, in addition to non-verbal communication. However, due to the linguistic and non-linguistic cultural differences between the two countries, there are obstacles in communication between the two sides.

For example, the word "goat" has no special meaning in Chinese, while goat means "goat" in English. Then "goat alarm clock" becomes "goat alarm clock". For China people, staring at people shows disrespect; In the United States, staring directly into the speaker's eyes is a sign of respect. Such a different understanding will make both sides of the negotiation mistakenly think that the other side does not respect themselves.

There are still many linguistic and non-linguistic cultural differences between China and the United States, which create misunderstandings and obstacles for the communication between Chinese and American negotiators.

2. There is a risk that the business negotiation agenda cannot be unified. Because of the different ways of thinking between China and the United States, China negotiators tend to adopt horizontal negotiation, that is, to spread out the issues involved in the negotiation horizontally, that is, to discuss several issues at the same time, make progress at the same time, and then move forward at the same time until all issues are settled; Americans

tend to adopt vertical negotiation, that is, after clarifying the issues involved in the negotiation, we will talk about the clauses one by one. If this clause is not completely solved, we will not talk about the second one.

Horizontal negotiation and vertical negotiation are two completely different negotiation methods. If both sides insist on arranging the negotiation agenda in their own way, the negotiation cannot be carried out.

3. There is a risk of bringing business negotiations to a deadlock. In order to maintain good interpersonal relationships, Chinese negotiators prefer to solve problems in a non-confrontational and indirect way. Even if you don't agree with each other's opinions, you rarely directly refuse or refute them, but state your own opinions in twists and turns. American negotiators try their best to clarify their own views, with direct language expression and clear distinction between right and wrong, showing strong aggression and argumentative. This straightforward expression of American negotiators will hurt the self-esteem of China people, because the other side will lose face. China negotiators' euphemistic expression will make Americans uncomfortable, because he can't really understand China's attitude.

these differences will make the negotiation process difficult and even lead to a deadlock.

4. There is a risk that the business negotiation will eventually break down. China businessmen pay attention to friendship, so they can generally change the terms of the contract in an accommodating way. Americans pay attention to interests, and once they sign a contract, they attach great importance to the legality of the contract. If the contract cannot be fulfilled, then the compensation and liquidated damages shall be paid in strict accordance with the breach clause of the contract, and there is no room for further negotiation. These two different attitudes towards the contract will bring difficulties to the performance after signing, and may make the negotiation results go up in smoke.

China people are hospitable, and they will take good care of the visiting American negotiators and treat them warmly. American negotiators will find this kind of hospitality too extravagant and wasteful. Americans, on the other hand, treat guests equally and will not give preferential treatment to them. This kind of hospitality can easily make Chinese negotiators think that the US is unfriendly. Such a different understanding will make it difficult for both sides to trust each other and may directly lead to fruitless negotiations.

Third, the countermeasures of China business negotiators

1. Expert team combination strategy. American negotiating teams are generally composed of experts, who have very rich professional knowledge background, and the US attaches great importance to the legality of contracts. Therefore, the Chinese negotiating team must arrange experts or consultants in negotiation, technology, finance and translation, especially legal experts. In this way, all aspects arising in the negotiation process can be handled freely, and no mistakes can be guaranteed in the signing of the contract.

2. create an atmosphere strategy. China negotiators can create an equal and harmonious negotiation atmosphere by respecting American cultural habits. If American negotiators like to talk about specific terms directly, Chinese negotiators can adjust their thinking from the other side's habits and start negotiations from specific terms. This will make the United States feel that China respects them, and then they will respect some of China's negotiating behaviors that are different from theirs. In this way, the atmosphere of negotiation will become harmonious and friendly.

3. Silence and listening strategies. In view of the characteristics of American negotiators' full preparation and professionalism, Chinese negotiators should carefully collect market information, opponent information and legal information before the negotiation, and can use the silent strategy in the negotiation process to obtain more information from the other side through listening and thinking.

4. Pragmatic language strategies. Chinese negotiators should adopt a direct and resolute pragmatic language strategy when negotiating with the US. In negotiation, be as direct as possible, argue calmly and avoid using ambiguous answers such as "maybe" and "maybe". The tone should be firm and polite, and you should clearly tell each other your attitude and opinions.

5. Multi-scheme strategy. In view of the self-confidence and practical interests of American negotiators, China can adopt multi-scheme strategy to make conditional concessions when the negotiations are deadlocked. Multi-scheme strategy is to determine a variety of asking price schemes acceptable to both parties before the negotiation, and bring them up for discussion when the negotiation encounters deadlock, which can provide new ideas for the negotiation to solve the problem.

6. procrastination strategy. According to the characteristics that Americans pay attention to efficiency in negotiation, Chinese negotiators can use delaying tactics to gain the initiative. The delaying strategy is to turn passivity into initiative by delaying the negotiation time, forcing the other party to make concessions on the negotiation asking price. This will also make the American negotiators feel oppressed and sign the contract as soon as possible.

7. Flexible commitment strategy. Because American businessmen have strong legal consciousness and strictly perform their contracts, Chinese negotiators use flexible commitment strategy to protect their reasonable demands. The flexible commitment strategy is to emphasize that the contract content should be moderately flexible, and to write all the foreseeable situations and their respective responsibilities and obligations in the future contract period into the contract. In this way, you will not be sued for compensation because of changes in circumstances and changes in contracts.

8. Simple etiquette strategy. Because of American pragmatic negotiation concept, Chinese negotiators can use simple etiquette strategy. It is to use simple and practical etiquette in the process of communication to achieve the purpose of friendliness and respect. Use honorifics in language but don't be too modest; Gentle in behavior; In clothing, men wear suits and ties, and women wear suits and skirts; Simple and casual in reception.