Improving Negotiation Outcomes Between American And Chinese Partners: A Framework For Practice

Abstract

Cross-cultural negotiations between the United States and China at government level, business level as well as individual level are important for both countries. However, current empirical findings about the cross-cultural negotiations outcomes indicate that they tend to be inferior to those obtained in intra-cultural negotiations due to various barriers, which include differences of language, ethical systems, and a range of cultural traits from risk-propensity to individualism. For Americans bargaining with persons from collectivist cultures such as China can be especially difficult, compounded by group dynamics such as in-group favoritism, inter-group attributions, as well as, histories of conflict and suspicion of foreigners. Attaining to effective positive-sum bargaining requires, among other factors, a perception of one’s counterpart as ethical, a predictable process of information disclosure and the building of trust. These are especially important in cross-cultural negotiations involving Chinese partners. In this paper we review the barriers to effective cross-cultural bargaining between Americans and Chinese partners and provide a framework for improved outcomes, with a special focus on factors such as group dynamics, information disclosure and Confucian ethical framing. The framework could be useful tool for improving bargaining practices between government officials and business managers between the countries.