The Impacts Of Cultural Differences On Cross-Cultural Negotiation Variables In Sino-US Business Negotiations

The last century witnessed rapid economic development around the world and wide economic cooperation between countries and regions. The development in telecommunication technology combined with the loosening of trade barriers and the removing of non-tariff barriers greatly facilitate the growing of international business.The business relationship between China and the United States is also at its best these years. This relationship is significant not only for the two peoples but also for the future of the whole world. China has already become one of the major trading partners of the United States. As a result, business negotiations between China and United States are increasing dramatically, and how to conduct win-win or successful negotiation gradually becomes a hot topic for both Chinese and American negotiators and scholars. But due to the huge cultural differences between China and the United States, members of these two cultures behave quite differently and may focus on different aspects of an agreement, which may bring unnecessary misunderstandings during the Sino-US business negotiation process. An appreciation of the other side's culture before entering into negotiations is beneficial for both sides to reach a desirable agreement.In this thesis, I am going to introduce the prevailing negotiation theories and the basic elements of negotiation in the first chapter. The second chapter will be dedicated to culture with the main definitions and characters of culture being introduced, followed with the exploration of the main origins of Chinese culture and the American culture. Understanding the main origins of culture may help businesspeople of both China and the United States to understand more about each other on the reasons why they behave differently, and help them to predict what will happen during negotiations. The third chapter will be case studies on ten international negotiation variables to illustrate how the cultural differences between China and the United States affect the business negotiations. The thesis will end up with a conclusion, with suggestions for Chinese negotiators.