Abstract Cross-cultural business negotiation, in the wake of the growth of        international business trade, is a realistic demand here and now. Combining the basic characteristics of negotiations with cross-cultural communication theories, this thesis discusses about cultural features of Chinese and American business negotiations from several aspects. Based on a classic case, the author approaches comparative study on their cultural differences in the Sino-US business negotiations. To promote the smoothness of bilateral negotiations and further Sino-US trade communication, it offers Chinese and American negotiators specific suggestions, and tips which are applicable to both parties will be put forward to facilitate cross-cultural business negotiations.

Keywords: cross-cultural communication; Sino-US business negotiations; cultural differences59173

摘要伴随着国际贸易日益频繁，跨文化的商务谈判是当今社会的一个现实需要。本文将结合谈判的基本特性，运用跨文化理论，从多个方面来分析中国谈判者和美国谈判者在商务谈判中表现出来的文化特点，并结合经典案例对中美间的跨文化谈判中的文化差异进行具体的对比分析。为了促进双方谈判的顺利进行以及促进中美贸易的交流，最后分别给中国谈判者和美国谈判者提供针对性的建议，以及提出适用于双方共通性的建议。

毕业论文关键词：跨文化沟通；中美商务谈判；文化差异

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 Culture and Communication 2

2.2 Cross-cultural Communication and Business Negotiations 4

3. Cultural Differences in Sino-US Cross-cultural Business Negotiations 6

3.1 Theoretical Foundations about Sino-US Cross-cultural Business Negotiations 6

3.2 Features of Chinese Business Negotiations 8

3.3 Characteristics of American Business Negotiations 9

3.4 A Case Study on Cultural Differences among Sino-US Negotiators 11

4. Effective Strategies to Promote Sino-US Cross-cultural Business Negotiations 12

4.1 For Chinese Negotiators 12

4.2 For American Negotiators 13

4.3 For Both Sides 14

5. Conclusion 16

Works Cited 17

1. Introduction

As a conspicuous trait of current globalized economy, cross-cultural business negotiation becomes momentous in the international cooperation which goes ahead like a raging fire with the evolving trend of economic globalization. The challenges of business negotiations between both sides, such as perse political backgrounds, ethnic differences, or foreign language, are well known to us. Nevertheless, in terms of cross-cultural aspect in business negotiations, cultural differences, as trade across borders gains more and more significance, have undoubtedly been playing a crucial role in reducing the possibilities and risks of misunderstandings. For negotiators who are prepared for gaining long-range synergy, and not for short-term transactions, they are supposed to be familiar with their counterparts’ culture in addition to their own. Thus it is of great necessity for them to develop the skills to transfer from behaviors they usually pertain to in their own culture to the behavior that will be decent for another culture even though there may exist some similarities among varieties of cultures.