Development Workshop: Differences between China and the United Kingdom - Essay Example

?Development Workshop Table of Contents Introduction 3 Differences between the Cultures of China and the United Kingdom 3 Role of Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiation between China and the UK 7 Various Challenges Faced by China and the UK during Business Negotiation 9 Conclusion & Recommendations 12 References 14 Introduction The conception of cross-cultural management depicts various studies regarding cross-cultural communal and business relations along with organisational behaviours within the countries and cultures. This particular aspect also delivers a complete assessment of existing guidelines for understanding similarities as well as the differences and the ways that they affect into the attitudes, activities and behaviours of the workplace (Browaeys & Price, 2010). It is obvious to the fact that every business functions be it national or international, necessitate communication. The business functions include decision making, exchanging various ideas, information and negotiating. All these business functions are based upon the capability of the managers or partners belonging to one culture to communicate successfully with the managers belonging to other cultures (Adler, 1991). Differences between the Cultures of China and the United Kingdom The business culture of the United Kingdom and China are recognised to be significantly diverse from one another which probably generates a crucial impression over the business negotiations that take place within the companies based in the UK and China in the global market. China has been one of the most favourite markets especially for the western companies because the western companies have transacted regular business negotiations with China. It has been observed that transacting business with China is very much difficult because the business negotiations in dealing with China are quite complex as well as time-consuming (Graham & Lam, 2003). The business negotiation culture in China is recognised to be different from other countries. In this regard, the culture of business in China is regarded as the most reserved business culture as compared with other nations. This is due to the fact that the business culture of China possesses a reserved culture which includes certain facets like light handshakes with the Chinese business associates, bowing along with the palms together and acknowledging the main higher official by using appropriate titles (Ghauri, n.d.). According to Fang (2006), the business negotiation culture that largely prevails in China is generally based upon the aspect of collectivism which stresses upon the inter-reliance along with the mutual obligations relating to long-term between the individuals and the business organisations. Fang (2006) also stated that the people belonging to China follows group or collective business values along with initiatives while operating their business functions. In this connection, Sarkar (2010) noted that particularly China has been rapidly evolving in the global marketplace of business negotiations with different countries. The country mainly executes their business functions on the basis of individualistic collectivism that greatly emphasises upon a small group rather than comprising the society. In order to acquire a detailed analysis of the business culture prevailing in China, certain dimensions need to be studied. The dimensions of the business culture in China include Chinese stratagems, the (People’s Republic of China) PRC condition and Confucianism. The PRC condition is also known as ‘guoqing’ in China which portrays numerous variables that include politics, financial planning, legal structure, technology, size, backwardness and Chinese bureaucracy (Ghauri, n.d.). In relation to the great size of China, it possesses huge population and adequate implementation of foreign technologies has brought major transformations in the Chinese business society. The Chinese bureaucracy is featured with red-tape and quick buying which signifies that the Chinese products adequately fit in the priority categories of the Chinese government (Ghauri, n.d.). The aspect of Confucianism is one of the China’s philosophical traditions which has made fundamental influence upon the thinking and behaviour of the Chinese people. Confucianism is regarded as a form of moral ethics and a universal human concern of China that emphasises upon the qualities for a person to be human and also developing the interpersonal relationships between the people (Ghauri, n.d.). The dimension of Chinese stratagems in business culture of China depicts various stratagems that act as a strategic force for the country in dealing with various business risk circumstances such as stock price, credit costs and high interest charges among others (Ghauri, n.d.). The United Kingdom i.e. UK is a country of ethnic as well as cultural diversity along with possessing multicultural society. In relation to business culture, Hofstede (n.d.) stated that initially while performing the business functions, the UK greatly follows certain gestures that include handshakes, eye contacts and showing less emotion while performing business deals. These particular attitudes eventually signify that the business culture of the UK is quite formal and reserved while conducting their business functions. Hofstede (n.d.) also observed that the people belonging to the UK are very much individualistic especially in their thoughts and largely use their inner judgements while making any sort of important business decisions. Moreover, Hofstede (n.d.) viewed that the UK people prefer to take least possible chances of risks while conducting their business practices due to the fact of possessing individualistic approach. According to Lewis (1990), UK is speedily developing into a leading trading centre of Europe with all of its various cultural qualities. The UK is an attractive base especially for negotiating overseas business which delivers superior quality of skills in the areas such as technology and research and development. In this connection, Lewis (1990) generally revealed the leadership style of the business leaders prevailing in the UK which plays a very significant part while conducting business. The leadership styles of the business leaders belonging to the UK are often viewed as very much casual in nature and generally follow a flatter hierarchical structure within their respective organisations. The country i.e. U.K. possesses a low rank in terms of Power Distance factor due to its hierarchical structure of leadership styles (Lewis, 1990). Apart from the above discussed business culture that prevails in the UK, the other important aspect i.e. individualism can also be considered while discussing the business culture of the UK. In the business cultural aspect of individualism, the people of the UK consider themselves most importantly as individuals rather than a part of a group. They take the decisions of their own as an individual without consulting much with others (Hofstede, n.d.). Moreover, the business culture in the UK is greatly specific-oriented. During business negotiations, the people of the UK directly focus upon the specific topic along with measurable intentions. In addition, the business culture in the UK depicts an achievement-oriented culture. In the UK, the status of the people is mainly judged on the basis of their accomplishments (Hofstede, n.d.). From the viewpoint of the communication procedure, the two factors of communication i.e. verbal and non-verbal generally prevail in the business culture of the UK. It has been noted by Hofstede (n.d.) that most of the messages in the UK are conversed through the action of body languages as non-verbal communication rather than verbal communication. With regard to verbal communication, the UK culture concentrates upon the subject matter of business negotiations only and avoids personal perspectives. The communication style of the UK is therefore very much straightforward (Hofstede, n.d.) Role of Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiation between China and the UK The notion of communication is commonly regarded as the interchange of views, facts, information and messages between an individual and an organisation. Every communication procedure comprises a receiver as well as a sender (Adler, 1991). In this connection it can be noted, the perception of cross-cultural communication generally occurs in a situation where an individual from one culture conveys a particular message to an individual belonging to another culture. The role and the importance of cross-cultural communication is immense and also possesses a significant prospect while negotiating with companies or partners operating in different countries or cultures (Adler, 1991). The function of cross-cultural communication especially in business negotiations has become more prevalent due to the fact that the businesses in this global competitive market has concentrated upon an integrated world market to meet its various needs. In order to attain a favourable position in the global competitive market, business organisations place significant importance upon the vital role of cross-cultural communications (Huang, 2010). By taking into concern the fact that culture differs from one to the other, the crucial cultural differences can affect the entry strategic levels of the organisations. The entry strategic levels include the target market choice and the formation of a marketing program among others (Huang, 2010). All these major decisions greatly depend upon the aspect of cross-cultural communication to a certain extent. Thus, it can be stated that the cross-cultural communication may possibly weaken a company to maintain its market position and to attain its objectives and subsequently might lead it to failure (Huang, 2010). The major issues of the business negotiation between China and the UK may affect upon the financial performances of the business organisations belonging to UK and China due to the variations of their business culture. Furthermore, while conducting business negotiations, there generally can raise a situation where there is lack of time provided in order to understand the real issues that occur while conducting business negotiations between the two countries. Due to the lack of cross-cultural communication, the business negotiation procedure could collapse between the two countries alongside generating various misunderstandings (Brennan & Wilson, n.d.). Moreover, if the distinctions between the national cultures that prevail in China and the UK are not appropriately understood along with cross-cultural communication aspects then it could lead to joint distrust in between both the nations and also may lead to conflict in their partnership agreements. In addition, the dissimilarities in the national cultures and in the cross-cultural communication between the two countries could also lead towards the termination of the ventures that are negotiated between them (Brennan & Wilson, n.d.). The cross-cultural communication can greatly affect in the various strategic decisions of China and the UK and ultimately can lead to conduct a superior as well as an enhanced business negotiation between them. There are various cross-cultural variables through which the business negotiations between China and the UK could get hampered to a certain extent. The different cross-cultural variables include individuality, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (Brennan & Wilson, n.d.). In terms of individuality and power distance, the UK is more individualistic as compared with China and the feature of power distance is much greater in China as compared to the UK. Moreover, the business partners of the UK mainly emphasise upon long-term orientation objectives and goals, whereas, the partners of China are much interested in short-term pay-offs (Brennan & Wilson, n.d.). Thus, it can be stated that there lies immense role and significance of cross-cultural communication between China and the UK for the purpose of negotiating business transactions between the two countries. Various Challenges Faced by China and the UK during Business Negotiation A noteworthy challenge that is greatly faced by China along with the UK during executing their business functions is regarding the issue of mutual understanding that largely occurs within the business organisations. It has been recognised that both the countries predominantly intend to cooperate with the other for the intention of resolving any sort of business risks and take major business related decisions individually. As a result, a greater lack in terms of mutual understanding can be anticipated in the business organisations belonging to China along with the UK and thus this emerges certain significant difficulties for both the countries by a considerable level (Anedo, 2012). The challenge of forming any venture can be faced by China and the UK while negotiating in business. In the joint venture process, both the countries work jointly to attain the common goal. However, the business firms or organisations of China and that of the UK often possess dissimilar priorities for founding the joint venture. In this connection, the major challenge that may be faced by both the countries is regarding the strategic decisions taken by the companies (Anedo, 2012). The other challenge that can be faced by the UK and China during business negotiation is regarding the business culture that is based upon individualistic approach. Hofstede (n.d.) stated that during the business negotiation especially with China, the partners of the UK generally take their own decisions without having any consultation with others and maintain greater hierarchical business structure within their respective organisations. In this regard, the procedure of decision making saves more time but at times creates significant delay in its implementation. This particular outlook of individualism is one of the major challenges, which is faced by China and the UK during business negotiations (Hofstede, n.d.). The business negotiation process between China and the UK also faces the other crucial challenge which is regarding focussing upon specific business procedural functions. The culture of the UK has been recognised to be very much definite and during negotiations the business partners desire to get straight to the point and focus upon measurable objectives. The main challenge which is faced while making business transactions with China is due to the fact that the culture of China focuses upon the outlook of personal preferences instead of emphasising upon the outlook of specificity (Hofstede, n.d.). Moreover, the business officials or leaders of UK are more success oriented than China and the Chinese negotiators tend to show low emotion during executing business functions. These significant factors are a few of the vital challenges that are faced by China and the UK while negotiating businesses between them (Hofstede, n.d.). Thus, it can be stated that the various challenges that are faced by China and the UK during business negotiations are owing to the cultural variations between the two countries. Hence, the diverse challenges that are faced by the two countries during business negotiations ultimately can hamper towards forming business relationships. Conclusion & Recommendations The notion of culture is considered as a major element of global business negotiations. If the cultural dimensions are not understood properly then it would hamper or break the global business transaction. The various cultural orientations that affect business negotiations include the negotiating objective, personal styles of the negotiators, negotiating attitude, effective communications and time sensitivity. Moreover, the other cultural orientations include emotionalism, agreement forms, team organisation, risk taking and agreement forming (Huang, 2010). There lie certain useful recommendations through which the challenges that are faced by China and the UK during business negotiations could be minimised to a certain extent. Both the countries would have to emphasise upon the understanding of the cultural variables along with cross-cultural communication process (Huang, 2010). From the cultural orientation point of view, both the countries should possess a primary objective of negotiations irrespective of diverse cultural variables. The primary objective that can be followed to make proper business negotiation is to sign a contract after having good understanding of both the cultures of China and the UK that would lead to formation of long-term relationship between the two countries (Huang, 2010). The negotiating attitude of both the countries should be based upon win-win attitude in order to perform business negotiations successfully. The personal style of the negotiators must be informal based that would help to establish a friendly relationship (Huang, 2010). The communications between the two countries have to be positively direct rather than based upon indirect and complex methods such as the execution of body language, speech and facial expressions. The direct style feature could convey a message of honesty as well as trustworthiness in the business negotiation agreements. In order to make effective business negotiation agreements, there lies a need to show high emotions which in turn may lead to a successful business negotiation without any difficulty (Huang, 2010). Therefore, these are certain useful recommendations through which the various challenges can be minimised during business negotiations between China and the UK. If the above discussed recommendations are followed then it would be beneficial for both the countries to perform effective business negotiation agreements. From the discussion and findings, it can be concluded that it is very much important for the countries such as China and the UK to possess deeper understanding regarding the various cultural orientations as well as cross-cultural communication procedure for performing successful global business negotiations. The deeper understanding regarding the process of cross-cultural communication along with cultural variables would enable the negotiators of both China and the UK to attain a critical view of the negotiation behaviours in order to make further negotiations with more ease. Moreover, it will also help the negotiating countries to develop their business relationships with potential business partners. Thus, it can be stated that both the aspects of cross-cultural communication procedure and the cultural orientations act as significant facets in global business negotiations. References Adler, N. J., 1991. Cross-Cultural Communication. Communicating Across Cultural Barriers. [Online] Available at: http://www.radford.edu/~kvharring/docs/HRMDocs/5comm.pdf [Accessed March 23, 2012]. Anedo, O., 2012. China - Africa Culture Differences In Business Relations. African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 92-96. Browaeys, M. J. & Price, R., 2010. Understanding Cross-Cultural Management. Pearson Education India. Brennan, R. & Wilson, J., No Date. Introduction. Understanding the Importance of Guanxi in UK-Chinese Joint Venture Relationships. [Online] Available at: http://www.impgroup.org/uploads/papers/6790.pdf [Accessed March 23, 2012]. Fang, T., 2006. Negotiation: The Chinese Style. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp.50-60. Graham, J. L. & Lam, N. M., 2003. The Roots of Chinese Culture. The Chinese Negotiation. [Online] Available at: http://www.globalnegotiationbook.com/John-Graham-research/negotiation-v1.pdf [Accessed March 23, 2012]. Ghauri, P. N., No Date. Dimensions of Chinese Business Culture. The Chinese Business Negotiation Process: A Socio-Cultural Analysis. [Online] Available at: http://som.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/reports/1995-1999/themeB/1999/99B15/99b15.pdf [Accessed March 23, 2012]. Hofstede, G., No Date. What About the UK? National Culture. [Online] Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/unit [Accessed April 27, 2012]. Huang, L., 2010. Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiations. International Journal of Economics and Finance, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.196-199. Lewis, R. D., 1990. Cross Culture The Lewis Model. Richard Lewis Communications. [Online] Available at: http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/ciber/ice/Cross%20Culture%20The%20Lewis%20Model.pdf [Accessed April 27, 2012]. Sarkar, A. N., 2010. 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