Cultural conflict in business negotiation?

Although there are many factors that cause the differences in negotiation styles between the two countries, cultural differences are the most important

Cultural conflict in business negotiation?

Although there are many factors that cause the differences in negotiation styles between the two countries, cultural differences are the most important factor. So what are there? I sorted it out below for your reference.

* * * A * * * Differences between verbal and nonverbal behaviors

There is a close relationship between the language used by a nation and its culture. The language of a country is a key factor in its culture. Language expresses the ideological characteristics of culture; For a particular culture, what is important and what is not important can be judged by whether it appears in the language of that culture. The vocabulary of a language only reflects the concept of its source culture. Although China promoted the popularization of English a long time ago, and "Chinese fever" rose in the United States in recent years, due to the different cultural backgrounds of the two countries, sometimes many jokes will be made in the negotiations. For example, the word "goat" has no special meaning in Chinese, while goal means "goat" in English. If you translate the word "goat alarm clock" directly, you can imagine the attitude of the other party. Another tiger is the king of beasts in the eyes of China people. For example, Humen has no children, which is in the way. In English, tigers are replaced by lions. For example, the translation of "lion in the way" is more appropriate than "tiger in the way" and conforms to the habits and traditions of British and American people.

Nonverbal behavior can be defined as any kind of purposeful or purposeless behavior that transcends language and is considered meaningful by the recipient. In business negotiations between China and the United States, nonverbal behaviors are widely used, including expressions, eyes, gestures, body movements, posture, clothes, space, contact and time concepts. Negotiators send or receive a lot of information that is more important than verbal information in a non-verbal and more implicit way, and all such signals or signals are always carried out unconsciously. Therefore, when negotiators send different nonverbal signals, negotiators with different cultural backgrounds can easily misunderstand these signals and are unaware of their mistakes. For example, in negotiations, China people often express silence or approval, or their views on a certain issue, or disagree with a certain clause to show politeness and respect, which is naturally difficult for Americans who hold negative views on silence, who regard silence as rejection. Obviously, if you don't have a keen awareness of cross-cultural communication, you will be confused and even misunderstood.

* * * Two * * differences in negotiation style

The so-called negotiation style mainly refers to the characteristics of negotiators' manners, ways of doing things and habits and hobbies in the negotiation process. Due to different cultural backgrounds, negotiators from different countries and regions have different negotiation styles. There are also differences in negotiation styles between China and the United States. Americans believe that persuasion is the core and key to negotiation. They tend to end the first two stages quickly. After the meeting, the two sides exchanged a few pleasantries and talked about the weather, family, sports and other topics, but they only skimmed the surface, then cut to the chase and made clear their needs and interests, so as to be concise, clear and fast, with little unnecessary nonsense. They answer short questions and are impatient with more detailed answers. People in China spend a lot of time introducing and understanding each other. When negotiating at home, they are not in a hurry to negotiate, but patiently understand and get familiar with each other and try their best to establish a long-term and solid trust relationship.

There are few long pauses in American negotiations; There is often a long silence in the negotiations in China. Persuasive tactics such as silence and procrastination can make Americans make concessions. In their view, concession is a way to promote things to develop faster. In the United States, looking at the watch can push things forward, but in China, it is considered impatient, incomprehensible, impolite and low-level.

* * * Three * * Values Differences

In different cultures, values will vary greatly. In America, their communication style pays more attention to the present, self and practical action. Individuals can make decisions on behalf of the company. The negotiators sent by the US usually have enough power, which means they can make decisions directly on the negotiation issues. They expect the representatives of China to have similar power. But in China, the decision-making mechanism is often not like this. China usually has more negotiators than the United States, and their administrative level is more complicated than that of the United States. Even those who really have the decision-making power are not members of the negotiating team. During the negotiation process, the negotiating team usually reports the negotiation results of each stage to the superior, and the superior leader needs a period of time to examine and approve, or agree or put forward new suggestions, and then convey these opinions to the negotiating team members. This decision-making mechanism has extended the negotiation time, which the US often does not understand. Their view of time is linear, and everything is arranged in this straight line in order. However, China people's concept of time is reciprocal. China will comprehensively analyze and measure the importance of the problem in a wide range with a long-term vision and a systematic approach, and hopes to fully understand all aspects involved in the problem. Usually, it pays more attention to the promotion of cooperation, and there is no very strict limit on the length of time to complete the negotiations. Usually, it is unwilling to divide the whole negotiation into separate issues for discussion. It is normal for China to discuss several issues at the same time. ?