| Westerners and Chinese have created different ways of negotiating and doing business. Those differences create miscommunications that can have destructive results. Almost 66% of cross-cultural negotiations fail because of the cultural barriers and miscommunication (Gulbro and herbig, 1996).;The main problem is that there is a lack of knowledge about the differences between the way westerners and Chinese architects and construction people do business. That lack of knowledge creates the low success rate we are witnessing.;The goal of this paper was to reveal the actual negotiation activities that occur during negotiations process.;A review of the literature on, cultural effects, negotiation with Chinese, and negotiation in the construction industry indicated that there is a wide understanding of the importance culture has on negotiations, but there wasn't any work done on understanding negotiations in the Chinese architectural and construction industry. I mapped the papers from those academic areas and revealed the area where I was able to add new knowledge. Then I format my research question. "Focusing on the negotiation phase, from a cultural perspective, what are the actual activities that go on during the negotiation between Chinese and western architectural and construction companies?";I focused on a target group of business people who work in China and are taking an active role in negotiations. I interviewed the business people and analyzed their answers. By using that information I was able to describe what actually goes on in negotiations between westerners and Chinese architects and construction people. My conclusions were that there are three main factors necessary to success: establishment of good long-term relationships, knowing the different tactics, and a flexible business model.;This study did the groundwork for further in-depth research on that topic. |
