商务英语论文Business Negotiation

How to make a Successful Business Negotiation
Group A Name: Number:
Abstract
Business negotiations, is coordinating the interests of relationship between the people and meet their own needs and to reach a consensus of an act and processes. Therefore, it must be rational thinking, to the interests of both sides involved to carry out systematic and detailed analysis. Language in business negotiations like Bridges, occupy an important position, it often determines the success or failure of the negotiations. In business negotiations except in the language must pay attention to the civilized terminology, a clear, sentence is smooth and fluent generous general skill. Requirements outside, still should master certain language expression of art. Language expression of art has its elegant, vivid and lively and infectious wait for a characteristic, in business negotiations has played an in important role. According to this law, rules and measures develop a negotiated solution is a business negotiation with the scientific –side. This must be taken seriously and to try to embody. Meanwhile, the business negotiation is a direct communication between people activities in such activities, the negotiators of the quality, ability, experience, mental state and so full of change factors and their spot to play on the negotiation process and results, but also has a great impact. This allows business negotiations have some unpredictable and difficult to grasp characteristics. The same elements of the negotiations, the same environment and conditions, different people to negotiate, the end result is often different. This fact shows that negotiations have been tricky. “Science”will enable the negotiators to do correctly, and the “skills”in order to enable the negotiators to do things better. Thus, in any business negotiations are inseparable from the use of negotiation skills. It is directly related to the economic and social benefits of the acquisition.
Key words: Business negotiation; Language art; introduction; culture
1.Introduction
1.1Brief Introduction to Business Negotiation
With the high development of the economy, people in the modern society may have a chance to go on a business, so the word “Business Negotiation” is not strange to us any more. But for its real meaning, not every one has a clear understanding.
In brief, business negotiation is a process that in order to coordinate the relationship between business and meet their needs, people try to find a final settlement of the dispute to reach an agreement and sign the contract through the consultation and the dialogue. There are three essential factors for business negotiation: participant of negotiation, subject of negotiation, environment of negotiation. Participant of negotiation refers to people of both sides involved in the negotiation. It is usually a negotiating team or a group instead of a person. Subject of negotiation is the issues which need to be discussed by both sides on the business negotiation, namely, the problems that both sides have the mutual interest and seek to resolve. Environment of negotiation refers to the objective conditions which are required in holding a business negotiation. What is more, any business negotiation includes three stages: the preparatory stage, the conducting stage and the stage of signing contract. Having perfect behaviour in three stages and winning the success of business negotiation are of great significance for both the enterprise and the negotiators.
For the enterprise, business negotiation is an important part of the company’s core competence. In the fierce market competition, the success of business negotiation may directly or indirectly affect the survival of the enterprise.
Compared with the enterprise, the business negotiation has more needs to the business negotiators. During the business negotiation, negotiators are usually on behalf of the enterprise to attend the negotiation, and their image represents the image of the enterprise. So the excellent negotiators not only can be successful in the completion of the negotiation, but also can win the reputation for the enterprise.
International business negotiation can be understood as a process in which two or more parties belong to different countries or different cultures come together to discuss common and conflicting business interest benefit. The international business negotiation is more complex, because it encompasses unconscious forces of different cultural norms that may operate to undermine effective communication. Thus, in an international business negotiation, in addition to the basic negotiation skills, it is
important to understand the cultural difference and etiquette, and to modify the negotiation style accordingly.
1.2 Brief Introduction of Business Etiquette
The etiquette, as one traditional moral excellence, has the historical inheritance and the eternal vitality. On the international business negotiation, there involves a lot of etiquette, but in fact it is the communication among the people, therefore we are used to call the business etiquette as an art of the communication among the commercial personnel.
International business etiquette is the arts or activities’ rules that meet different cultures in long term process of business negotiation or communication.
Business etiquette refers to the suitable etiquette standard used in the business. It is a process that showing the respects to the opposite party by the conventional procedure and method. The core of business etiquette is a code of conduct which has a certain restraint on our conduct of the business activities. Simply speaking, business etiquette is the universal demand to the businessmen of the personnel image and professional quality in the business.
2. Cultural impacts on business negotiations
2.1 The Definition of Culture
For the purposes of the study of international management, culture is acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior. Culture is the coherent, learned, shared view of a group of people about life’s concerns that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about what things are appreciate and dictates behavior.
Hofstede, a scholar in cultural object, dean believes that culture includes four levels, the most exterior layer of known Symbols, such as clothing, language, buildings, etc., the human eye can easily see. The second layer is the Heroes, in a cultural force, it is largely representative of the hero where the culture of the national character. The third layer is Rituals; etiquette is to treat each culture unique representation of man and nature, such as the Chinese culture, the main location where the meal is very particular about the arrangements. The deepest layer refers to the Values, which is the culture in the most profound, the most difficult part to understand. Cultural differences in every aspect of culture, cross-cultural communication is also required on every aspect of culture.
2.2 Impact of Symbols on business negotiations (mainly focus on the impact of different languages).
To begin with, the impact of Symbols is manifested on the language communicating process of negotiation. The differences are obvious, though the language behaviors negotiators used are provided with higher fitness. People on earth use more than 3000 languages. Because few of us can be good command of more than one language, problems of communication are bound to occur in international business communication. One reason for such differences is that languages are based on the concepts, experiences, and views and so on. Proper use of the language is a sensitive cultural issue. Americans tend to exchange task-related information in business relatively frank and direct, with clear statements of needs and preferences. Generally, they openly express their disagreements and resort to aggressive persuasive tactics such as threats and warnings. And the French are verbally and non-verbally expressive. They love to argue, often engaging in spirited debate during business meetings. Asians, on the other hand, tend to be far more reticent or implicit and sometimes go to great lengths to save face or not to offend. Saving face and achieving harmony are more important factors in business dealings for the Japanese than achieving higher sales and profits.
What’s more, the impact of cultural differences on negotiation also represented on non-verbal communication. Non-verbal signals differ by culture, and the differences can affect communication. For example, people from Americans who visit certain Asian countries are likely to view the fast, short steps taken by the inhabitants as peculiar or subservience or weakness. Similarly, Americans see standing up as the appropriate thing to do on certain occasions, whereas people from other cultures do not. Apart from that, as for our Chinese, an up-and-down movement of the head means yes and a side-to-side movement of the head means no. These movements may mean nothing at all or something quite different to people from other cultures. Some cultures, like our China’s, do not like touching, while people from other cultures that like touching will give you greetings ranging from full embraces and kisses to nose rubbing. If you can understand others from different cultures based on your counterpart’s standards, you can seize the opportunity to access the cultural style of others.
2.3 Impact of Heroes on business negotiations（mainly focus on the nation characters）.
Here I take two examples respectively from the Americans and Japanese.
Americans make decisions based upon the bottom line and on cold, hard facts. They do not play favorites. Economics and performance count, not people. Business is
business. When faced with a complex negotiation task, Americans tend to divide the large task into a series of smaller task. Issues such as prices, packing and delivery may be settled one at a time. For them, progress in the negotiation is measured by how many issues have been settled. While in Japan, decision-making is quite different. Many Japanese companies still make decisions by consensus. This is a time-consuming process, another reason to bring patience to the negotiating table. So, quick answers to any question or problem are almost impossible. Besides, foreign businessmen negotiating with a Japanese company should avoid showing any kind of favoritism toward one individual or depending on a single individual. This will alienate the other managers.
From the two examples we can draw a conclusion: overlooking cultural differences may lead to the failure of negotiation.
2.4 Impact of Values on business negotiations
Values are the standards by which a culture actions and their consequences, they affect perceptions and can have a strong emotional impact upon people.
In 1992, a delegation, consist of Chinese business negotiation representatives and other 12 experts in different fields, purchased about 30 million chemical equipment and technology from America. The Americans sent everyone in the delegation a souvenir after the first round of negotiation. The souvenir had a delicate package. However, when opening the gifts, they were shocked. There was a green golf cap in everyone’s box. The original meaning o f the Americans was to play golf after the agreement. They have no idea of what a green cap means to Chinese. The agreement was not reached, not because of their misbehavior but of their lacking in Chinese culture.
Thus, we can see that values play an important role in business negotiations. Before negotiations, a negotiator should study the basic convictions that the people have regarding what is right and wrong, good and bad, important and unimportant.
2.5 Impact of Rituals on business negotiations
Religions vary from country to country, district to district and folk to folk.
In a celebration held during a negotiation in Qatar, the superintendent of a multinational corporation brings brandy to show his willingness of cooperation. As a result, he was driven off by the counterpart, wh
o was a Moslem. It later made the company unwelcome in whole Qatar. Why? The reason is that drinking liquors is forbidden in Muslim doctrine.
It should be realized that negotiators with different culture backgrounds have
different needs, motivation and beliefs. It is suggested to understand, accept, and respect the other party’s culture.
3. Asked Art
Negotiations of the inquiry is figuring out each other's true needs, grasp each other's psychological status, express your opinion and solve problems through negotiations the important means. In daily life, ask is very artistic. For example, there are a cleric asked his father: "I in praying, may I smoke?" The request was flatly rejected. In another clergyman said: "I am in the smoking can pray?" Smoking request permission. Why, in the same conditions, an approved, another rejected? Reason is the question of artistic quality. Granted the reason is "in smoking when resting still remember the prayer, do not forget to worship god"; Have not been granted the reason is "pray heart not single-minded, using smoking to refreshing, for god not benchi ungodly". Actually, this is the question of art, which this aspect can ask, what can't ask, how to ask, what time ask, this in the negotiations are very important. So to achieve effective to ask questions, be about to master the art of questioning and skill.
3.1 Clear the content of questions
Ask people should make clear above all to ask yourself what it is. If you wish to each other clearly answer your question, then you also will specific clear. Question normally only a word, therefore, must terms accurately and succinct, lest make people obscure, cause unnecessary misunderstandings. Question wording is also important because questions easily to make each other fallen intopredicament, cause each other's anxiety and worry. Therefore, in the wording on must discreet, cannot have stabbed each other, embarrassment each other's performance. Even if you are negotiations of decision-making characters, key person, also do not show their special status, show aggressive momentum, otherwise, the question will have the opposite effect.
3.2 Mode choice questions
Choose briefquestioning way is very important, ask different perspectives, cause each other's reaction is different also, was the answer is different also. In the negotiation process, the other party may because of your questioning and feel pressure and restlessness. This is mainly due to the questioner problem is not clear, or give the other side with oppressive feeling, threat feeling. This is the question of strategic does not have the right. Meanwhile, in question, be careful not to mingled with a vague hint, avoid to put forward questions itself make you into an unfavourable condition.
For example: some stores room management, coffee or milk just start waiter will always ask customer: "sir, coffee?" Or is: "sir, drink milk?" Its sales flatly. Later, the
boss asks waiter for a change, "sir, ask method drink coffee or milk?" Results the sales ~. Because, the first kind ask method, easy get negative answers, and the latter is to choose the type, in most circumstances, customers can choose a kind of.
3.3 Note that the timing of questioning
The questions of the timing is very important also. If you need to objective declarative speech for beginning, while you are using questions type's speech, is not appropriate. Grasp the opportunity is performance for questions, appear a conversation problem, should stay another's full expression again after asking questions. Early late questions will interrupt train of thought, but is not polite, also influence each other answer problem of interest. Master question time, still can control of conversation direction. If you want to be interrupted me from the topic, go back to the original topic, so, you can use ask, if you want others to be noticed you mention the topic, also can use ask, and through continuous questions, take each other guide to you wish conclusion.
3.4 Consider the characteristics of the object questioning
The other question is concise, frank upright, Each other picky, goodness, questions will wrangle subtle; Each other shy, questions will be implicative; Each other questions will be tactful; impatience, Each other serious, ask questions to seriously, Each other and lively, can be witty questions.
References: 李昆益《商务谈判技巧》2007/10/1
张煜《商务谈判》2008/1。