Thick Description: A thick Description of a Negotiation from within your own culture - Essay Example

Chinese Culture Negotiation Often people get into negotiations where they are expected to come to a common point of understanding. A number of factors, one of them being the racial background influence effective negotiations. In this article, I will focus on a case involving three Chinese, two American, and one African that were engaged in a negotiation. The six individuals want to form a joint investment group, but before that, they need to have the terms of engagement. There appears to be contention on various issues that seems to be motivated by the dominance of the Chinese in the group.

While the African is much undecided on his position, the Americans wanted to move pretty fast, the Chinese on the other hand wants to tread cautiously. The negotiations took place at Seniors café, California where the parties to the negotiations had planned to meet together for lunch. The Chinese cultural orientation was clearly evident throughout the negotiations. The negotiations began upon the arrival of all the six participants. One of the Americans, Peter pointed out the reason why he had called them to engage in the discussion.

His fellow American, Craig, supported him. The African, Omulamuzi was quick to point out that it was a pretty idea for them to have a joint investment. Xhou began talking after some silence, he pointed out the team could serve even better its purpose if the entire they knew about each other more. Thus aroused Craig who mentioned that they have been in college together and there was no need of having more time to waste in such things as familiarizing with each other. Omulamuzi rose to support the Xhou’s proposition by pointing out that they ought to know each other better.

Swiftly, Zhu diverted the topic of discussion and began asking Peter about his new residence. The topic diverts to personal conversations where Xhou engages Omulamuzi while the other Chinese, Yunxia is in an extensive discussion with Craig. They then re-embark into a common discussion but the negotiations conclude with an agreement to have regular meetings. According to the Chinese culture, relationships are more important than deals. Negotiating with Chinese individuals can be a daunting task.

The Chinese culture advocates more of developing trust before engaging in any activity. While the trust is being built, the collective interest of all the involved parties should always be at the center of the discussion. This is the reason why Xhou, Yunxia and Zhu diverted the attention of the rest to focus on personal issues that can help them stand as a group. Guanxi, which can be translated to mean personal relationship, is a very important component of the Chinese culture. I perceive this cultural orientation as a good thing.

It helps us relate with people in a better way so that our engagements are not based on the current need but also for posterity. In another way it helps us to be cautious of people who are not for us but are focused to fulfilling their interests. People are able to easily learn from each other and in essence, it promotes community. Apart from being personally responsible for others, there is a personal However, it is difficult to develop the relationship fully especially when rapid deals needs to be made.

In conclusion, the Chinese culture is very influential in how people interact especially when engaging in negotiations. Trust based on relationships is a key factor that helps people to link with the Chinese culture. These principles are entrenched in the people and I believe they are beneficial to them as well as the people they relate to.