Culture is the behavioral characteristics and values recognized by everyone through the mutual transmission of social relations, which includes knowledge, belief, art, morality, law, customs and so on. The concept of culture is extensive and complex, which actually includes all aspects of people's lives and involves people's spiritual and material needs. Because in international business negotiations, negotiators come from different countries, and there are great differences in language, beliefs, living habits, values, codes of conduct, moral standards and even negotiation psychology, which are all important factors affecting negotiations. In international business negotiations, if we don't understand these differences correctly, we may have unnecessary misunderstandings in the negotiations, which is impolite to others and may lose many opportunities for successful negotiations. If you want to live up to your mission and win in business negotiations, you must understand the influence of culture on all aspects of negotiations.
1 the influence of cultural differences on business negotiation thinking
1. 1 Definition of negotiation
People in different cultures have different understandings of the basic definition of negotiation. For example, for Americans, negotiation is a process of reaching a deal through rigid quotation and counter-offer. Japanese believe that negotiation is a process of exchanging information and developing business relations.
1.2 The negotiation objective is a contract or relationship.
In some cultures, business people are interested in short-term contracts, such as Americans. For them, the contract is the goal. In other countries, people pay more attention to establishing long-term cooperative relations, and Japan is such a typical example. For them, signing a contract is not the goal of negotiation, but the key point is to establish a lasting partnership between the two sides. Therefore, business people should make sure whether their negotiation goals are consistent with each other before negotiation. When the goals are different, it is difficult to reach an agreement.
1.3 selecting negotiators
The criteria for choosing negotiators vary from culture to culture. It usually includes: the understanding, qualifications, family relations, gender, level, experience and social status of the negotiators. When choosing negotiators, different cultures choose different weights. For example, in the Middle East, more consideration should be given to age, family relationship, gender and social status; In the United States, the understanding, experience and social status of the negotiation theme are more important.
1.4 decision-making power includes leadership will or team opinions.
In some cultures, the head of the negotiation team has the right to make commitments; In other cultures, team opinion is the only way to reach agreement. The latter type of organization needs more time to reach an agreement, and the other side should also prepare psychologically and time for it.
1.5 Team to individual
Give full play to the role of the group. After determining the business partner or trading partner and completing the preparatory work for business negotiation, the two parties enter the actual negotiation. At the negotiating table, the two sides need to exchange views in addition to writing documents. Usually, Japanese business negotiators are always very cautious. In their view, it is unwise for negotiators to put forward their own views without the prior consent of other members of the negotiating team, and the consistency within the team is above all else, which reflects the Japanese team spirit of pursuing harmony and unity. Therefore, when consulting Japanese partners, there is absolutely no need to pay attention to personal opinions. You should treat each individual as a whole. Even if the exchange of views with negotiators is successful, it will still be of no help if other negotiators remain silent.
The essence of 1.6 protocol
Due to different cultures, businessmen from different countries have different understandings of the agreement. Americans emphasize the logic, regularity and legitimacy of contracts; Orientals emphasize relying on family or government relations. China culture is used to avoiding legal considerations and paying attention to ethical considerations; On the other hand, most westerners are more concerned about legal issues. In the event of a dispute, China people's first thought is how to win the support of the surrounding public opinion. Therefore, many problems that should be solved by law, China people are used to playing the role of moral norms through "organization" and public opinion. Westerners, on the other hand, usually handle disputes by legal means, rather than relying on the role of conscience and morality. Many individuals and companies in the west hire legal advisers and lawyers, who will come forward to deal with disputes. Some disputes that China people think must be solved through complex interpersonal networks may not be the case in the eyes of westerners.
Different signing styles are very important for the final conclusion of the contract Although the talks may have gained a lot of knowledge, the final effect of the negotiations can only be achieved by drafting an official text. Generally, Japanese companies tend to have short contract formats and like to reach negotiation agreements with simple words. The signing of such agreements and contracts is based on mutual trust and understanding.
1.7 The form of the contract covers generalizations or details.
Different cultures often influence the form of contracts. North Americans generally like detailed contracts that contain all possible things; Japanese companies tend to have short contract formats and like to reach negotiation agreements with simple words. The signing of such agreements and contracts is based on mutual trust and understanding.
2 cultural differences on the form of foreign-related business negotiations
Understanding the opponent's culture can help business people communicate more harmoniously and make more effective negotiation plans. But culture is a very broad concept, there are many different cultures, and no one has the skills and experience to communicate effectively with all cultures. In foreign-related negotiations, there are some common cultural characteristics that need to be understood:
2. 1 etiquette
Americans are informal. In business contacts, Americans like to call each other by their first names; Europeans pay more attention to appellation. When dealing with the Japanese, it is standard etiquette to exchange business cards when meeting for the first time. Cautious and polite.
2.2 Language and non-language
Our language in communication includes verbal and nonverbal communication. Most international business negotiations are conducted in English, and the mother tongue of both parties is often not English, which increases the difficulty of communication. In this case, we should try our best to use simple, clear and definite English, and don't use polysemous words, puns, slang and idioms that are easy to cause misunderstanding. A serious common fault in cross-cultural communication is "judging others by oneself", that is, subjectively thinking that the other party will understand our words according to our wishes and habits, or that what we understand from the other party's words is exactly what the other party wants to express.
The most typical example is the use and understanding of "yes" and "no". The Japanese say "yes" is "yes" of "I heard", not "yes" of "I agree with you". Actually, the meaning of the word "yes" is very rich. In addition to the above two, there are "Yes" in "I understand this problem" and "Yes" in "I will consider it". The expression of "no" is also very complicated. The values of some cultures are against confrontation, so people generally don't say "no" directly, but use some vague words to express their refusal. For example, Brazilians use "different things" instead of "impossible". If inexperienced negotiators take it literally, they will waste time and delay the negotiation process. So we must try our best to understand each other's culture, values and customs. Only in this way can we transmit and receive information correctly.
Most languages in the world can't be translated word for word, and there are more differences in body language and metaphor between different languages. As we all know, the correct Chinese meaning of "rain cats and dogs" in English is not "getting off the dog and getting off the cat", but "pouring rain".
An important aspect of nonverbal communication is body language. Some body language is harmless in one culture, but in another culture, the same body language may be insulting. For example, don't touch the Malaysian head, because Malays think that's where the gas field is; Touching one side of the nose in front of Italians shows distrust; Don't stare at the Japanese for a long time, but when talking to the French, you need to concentrate on looking directly at each other.
2.3 concept of time
The significance and importance of time also vary from culture to culture. In eastern culture, time always flows, so negotiations are often delayed; However, westerners pay attention to the concept of time, and they regard time as money. Therefore, during the negotiation, they don't like to delay the negotiation, interrupt the negotiation and leave early. They tend to start negotiations on time and reach a final agreement step by step according to the schedule.
Japanese enterprises have a unique understanding of the concept of negotiation time, and they seem to regard the time for meeting and talking to seek knowledge as an infinite resource. Therefore, when discussing a question, I always like to think for a long time, especially when answering the other person's questions or requirements. I seem to have an amazing endurance, even being in silent thinking for a long time. However, they have a strong sense of time to participate in negotiations and join clubs. They like to arrive early and wait, but they hate being even a minute late.
Arabs do not pay much attention to the concept of time, negotiations will be interrupted or delayed at will, and the decision-making process is long. But this delay may also indicate that they are not satisfied with each other's suggestions.
2.4 Negotiation attitude
Basically, people have two negotiating attitudes: win-win and win-win. It is quite easy to reach an agreement if both sides of the negotiation regard the negotiation as a win-win situation. However, when one side regards the negotiation as a win-win situation, and the weak side thinks that the other side's victory is based on its own losses, it is difficult to reach an agreement.
2.5 personal style
Personal negotiation style can be formal or casual. Here, style refers to the way negotiators speak, dress characteristics and address people. North Americans like informal styles and call them by their first names when they meet for the first time. On the other hand, Germans hold a formal attitude in the negotiations and are commensurate with their titles. When people of different styles meet, it is wise to take care of yourself.
2.6 Communication can be direct or indirect.
Germans like to communicate directly, so they want the other side to answer their own questions directly. The expression of indirect language is embodied in Japanese conversation. In the formal talks between the two sides, the conversation style of Japanese business representatives is generally implicit, that is, the language in the conversation contains less clear information, and they use more eyes, gestures or facial expressions and vague hints, but these nonverbal communication can show their true intentions. Similarly, they are sensitive to other people's nonverbal ways. Therefore, the other party can fully understand the true meaning of a statement only by associating with the context related to the statement and combining with the nonverbal communication mode at that time.
3 Conclusion
Cross-cultural negotiation is more challenging than negotiation in a single cultural environment. Cross-cultural negotiation is a kind of negotiation that belongs to different cultural thinking, emotion and behavior patterns. In the process of negotiation, the communication between people is reflected in speech, nonverbal, situation, context and other aspects. The whole communication process can help negotiators overcome language barriers and understand. Therefore, in cross-cultural negotiation, besides basic negotiation skills, it is also important to understand cultural differences and determine corresponding negotiation skills. The advantages of foreign-related business negotiation first come from the understanding of the opponent, and on this basis, we can give play to our own strengths and restrict the strengths of the opponent. In addition to the personal temperament and psychological factors of negotiators, the negotiation habits formed under the influence of different cultural concepts and national systems and the negotiation styles embodied by these habits will have a far-reaching impact on the success or failure of negotiation activities and even the communication methods and relations between countries. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly understand the differences and conflicts between eastern and western cultures.