TheCulturalconflictsinAmericanandChina中美文化冲突.docx

TheCulturalconflictsinAmericanandChina中美文化冲突.docx

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TheCulturalconflictsinAmericanandChina中美文化冲突

TheCulturalconflictsinAmericanandChina

&

ItsInfluenceonInterculturalBusinessNegotiation

杨范婷

Abstract:

Cultureisadistinguishingfeatureofanation.Usuallywedividecultureintoeasternandwesterncategories.Astherepresentativeofeasternandwesternculture,ChinaandAmericahavealotofincongruitiesintermsofculturalvalueswhichhavedeepinfluencesoninternationalbusinessnegotiation.Thisthesisaimstoanalyzethemainculturaldifferencesofthetargetcountriesusingfourculturaldimensionsonfiveprocessesofcross-culturalbusinessnegotiation.AfterageneralviewofthesetheoriesIsuggestsomenegotiatingstrategiesandtacticstosolveSino-USculturalconflictappearingonthenegotiatingtable.

摘要：

文化是一个民族的基本特征，通常我们把文化分为西方文化和东方文化。

作为中西文化的典范—中国和美国在文化价值观上有着千丝万缕的差别，而这种差异又对两国间的国际商务谈判有着深远的影响。

本文研究的目的是对这两个国家主要的文化价值观的差异作一个分析，运用四个文化元素对跨文化商务谈判的五个过程进行分析。

在对中美两国跨文化谈判的理论分析之后，作者提出相关的建议来合理得解决中美商务谈判的冲突。

Keywords:

culturaldifferenceconflictbusinessnegotiationcross-cultureSino-America

关键字：

文化差异冲突商务谈判跨文化中美

1Introduction

1.1Thecurrentsituationofinternationalbusiness

Moderntransportation,telecommunicationsandinternetmaketheworldasmallhighlyinterdependentandinteractionalvillage;globalizationbecomesahottopicintheworldeconomyrealm;themultinationalannexationandglobaleconomicinfiltrationacceleratethedevelopmentofjointventures,andinternationalcooperationareamongtheirmostprominentmanifestations.Alloftheserequirenegotiatorsdespitetheirgenders,regions,ethicsoragestosittogetheraroundthetableandachievethegoals.Withrespecttonegotiation,cultureplaysacrucialroleinacross-culturalnegotiation,whichhasasignificantimpactonbehaviorsofthenegotiators.

1.2ThestatusofChinaandAmericaininternationalbusiness

Americaisawell-knowngreatpowerininternationalbusiness,whoguidesthemodeoftheworldeconomy.Andhetakesthebiggestquotientofinternationaltrade.Heexperiencesthemostinterculturalbusinessnegotiationandhashisnegotiatingstylespreadingtoeverycorneroftheworld.Onthecontrary,Chinaisayoungcountryintermsofinternationalbusiness,whoappliesherreformandopening-uppolicyonlymorethantwentyyears.Nevertheless,duringthesetwodecadesshetookonnumerousdirectorindirectinvestmentsfromdevelopedcountriesthroughbusinessnegotiations.AndAmericaisChina’sbiggesttradingpartner,sodevelopinganappropriatewaytocopewiththeculturalconflictsbetweenthetwocountriesisinurgentneedandisabreakthroughofcross-culturalnegotiation.

1.3AgeneralviewofculturalconflictsappearinginSino-USnegotiation

Thebusinessnegotiationsbaseonincongruousculturalbackgroundsbringsobstaclesinnegotiatingprocesses.ThedominantcultureofAmericaincludesindividualism,egalitarianism,competition,masculinityanddirectcommunication.Crossly,China’sdominantcultureiscollectivism,face-maintenance,hierarchy,andindirectcommunication.Thesevariancesrepresentespeciallyprominentonthenegotiatingtable.Therefore,asaninternationalnegotiator,commandingnegotiatingtechniquesandtacticsisthefirstthing,andcomprehendingdifferentnegotiatingstylesinaccordancewithdifferentculturalbackgroundsbecomesaroyalroadtoachievethegoal.

2Culturalanalysis

2.1Culturalvaluesandnegotiationnorms

Everyonemusthavetheexperienceofvisitingarelativeorfriend,atthehost’shome,youmayfindsomehabitsandcustomsdifferentfromyourhome’evenyouareinthesamecountry,cityorevenvillage.“WheninRome,doastheRomansdo.”everyonefollowsthissaying.Thenwhatwill“Romans”doisthetopicIwillexplaininthefollowingpassages.

2.1.1Fourdimensionsofculturalattributes

Regardingcultureasatarget,numerousstudieshavebeendonetoclassifyculturalpatterns.BasedonKluckhohnandStrodtbeck’s（1960）research,culturescanbedividedaccordingtodifferentviewstowardsrelationshipofhumankindtonature,senseoftime,activityandsocialrelationships.Afterwards,HallandHall（1976）offerusanothermeansofexaminingculturalsimilaritiesanddifferences.Dependingonwhatpeoplepayattentiontoandwhattheyignore,Halldividedculturesintohigh-contextandlow-contextpatterns.In1980s,learnedfromthepriorscholarsandafterdoingalotofresearch,Hofstede（1980,1984）proposedthatculturalattributescanbecategorizedtofourdimensionswhichseemmorespecificanddetailedtostudyculturepatterns:

Individualism/Collectivism,PowerDistance,AvoidingUncertaintyandMasculinity/Femininity.Andeachattributeisbrieflydefinedasfollow:

Individualismversuscollectivism—theindividualismexpectspersonalfreedom,beingoneself,havingself-relianceorself-interest,self-directedorself-orientedwhilecollectivismacceptsresponsibilitytofamily,tribalgroupsornationalitiesandbeinggroup-directedandother-directed,havingaconcernforothers.Theindividualismadvocatescompetitivenessandthecollectivismvaluescooperation,etc（Hofstede1980,1984）.Theindividualism-Collectivismconstructisoneofthemajordimensionsofculturalvariation（Feng,1999）.

PowerDistance—theextenttowhichlesspowerfulmembersoforganizationsandinstitutions（suchasthefamily）acceptandexpectpowertobedistributedunequally（Hofstede1980,1984）;relatedtothedegreeofcentralizationofauthorityandthedegreeofautocraticleadership;havingstatusconsciousnessorahierarchypresentandacceptedwithinasociety（GulbroandHerbig,1998）.Inaword,itmeansinthehighpowerdistancecountry,thosewhoholdpowerandthosewhoareaffectedbypoweraresignificantlyfarapart,andinthelowpowerdistancecountry,thosewhoholdpowerandthosewhoaffectedbypoweraresignificantlycloser.

UncertaintyAvoidance—itcanalsodividedintohighuncertaintyavoidancecultureandlowuncertaintyavoidanceculture.Peoplefromlowuncertaintyavoidanceculturetenttotakeriskandpeoplefromhighuncertaintyavoidanceculturetrytoavoidanyrisk.Somembersofhighuncertaintyavoidanceculturespendmuchtimeinlegislatingandplanning.Meanwhile,itmeanstheextenttowhichpeoplefeelthreatenedbyambiguoussituationsandhavecreatedbeliefsandinstitutionstotrytoavoidambiguity.“Thefutureiscalled‘perhaps’,whichistheonlypossiblethingtocallthefuture.”（Hofstede1980,1984）

MasculinityversusFemininity—Masculinityistheextenttowhichthedominantvalueinasocietyismaleorientedandassociatedwithsuchbehaviorsasambition,differentiatedsexroles,achievement,theacquisitionofmoney,andsignsofmanliness.Femininitystressescaringandnurturingbehaviors（Hofstede1980,1984）.Italsopromotessexualequalityandholdsthatpeopleandenvironmentareimportant.Genderrolesinfemininesocietiesaremorefluidthaninmasculinesocieties（Samovar,PorterandStefani）.

In1980s,throughextensivestatisticaldata,Hofstede（1980,1984）founduniquenessandculturaldifferencesinbehaviorwhencomparingcultures.AccordingtoHofstede’sproposition,Americacanbecategorizedtoindividualism,lowpowerdistance,lowuncertaintyavoidanceandfemininityculture.Chinaiscategorizedtocollectivism,highpowerdistance,highuncertaintyavoidanceandmasculinityculture.AnyofthefourHofstededimensionscouldhaveanimpacton:

themethodsusedinnegotiation,thenormativeexpectationsofeachparticipant,andtheirinterpretationofthebehaviorofothersduringeachstageofthenegotiationprocess（GulbroandHerbig,1998）.Anditcouldinfluencetheprocessandtheoutcomeofthenegotiationsaswell.

2.1.2Negotiationnorms

Negotiationisascienceandalsoanart.Anyactivityapersonemploystochangetherelationshipandtransferstheopiniontogainanendiscallednegotiation（Zhang,1997）.Itisrelatedtoaprocessofpersuasionbutnotforce（Acuff,1995）.Bythistoken,businessnegotiationistoachieveacommercialgoalexchangingmindandbringinprofit.Scienceinternationalbusinessnegotiationinvolvesinanotherelement—culture,thecounterpartisfromanotherculturalsetting,itismorecomplexthannegotiatewithanin-culturecounterpart.

Topursuethegoal,thenegotiatorsshouldapplyappropriatetacticsandtrytoreachthewin-winend.Itisacooperativeandpursuingmutual-profitprocess（Acuff,1995）.Toachieveawin-winnegotiation,firstweshouldtrytosatisfytheotherparty.Itmeansifyougivewhatyourrivalwantyouwillgainwhatyoudesirefor.Secondly,wemustemphasizeprofitnotposition（FitchandUry,1983）.

Negotiationisnotachessplay,bycontraryeitherpartyisawinnerinanegotiation.Thisactivityinvolvestwoparties,andinteractionsofmind.Thus,acquaintingyourselfwiththeotherpartyisespeciallyimportant.Sincenegotiationcannotbeachievedwithoutpersons,anddifferentpersonsrepresentdiversecultures（Xuan,2003）.Inevitably,culturalsettingsinfluenceanegotiationfromtheessentialaspect,andculturalconflictisthefirstobstacletointernationalbusinessnegotiation.

2.2Culturalconflictassumptions

Whentwonegotiatorsencounterforthefirsttime,theywilltreattheotherpartyundertheirownconceptionsandreligions.Theirbehaviorsareinaccordancewiththeirownculturalbasisandhaveanassumptiveimageoftheopponents;itwouldleadtovariousexpectationsoftheotherparty.

Inanycommunicationsettings,ofnecessity,weanticipatewhattheoppositepersonshoulddoandwhatheorsheshouldnot.Thisanticipationbasesonparticularculturalrulesandisaccordingtoendowedmeaningbyanindividual（Burgoon,1991,