Summary of Comparisons of the Negotiation Practices, and Behaviour of the

In summary, this research finds Chinese employees working at the Western MNC adopt different negotiation styles, practices, and behaviour compared to traditional Chinese negotiators in some aspects of negotiation; while still keeping some traditional negotiation practices. Table 40 below shows detailed summaries of comparisons. It can be said from the research results that Chinese employees working for the Western MNC have moved toward Western negotiation styles, so, many of the negotiation practices and behaviour of traditional Chinese business people are not apparent among the target Chinese employees. Thus, Westerners might find them easier to deal with when negotiating. At the same time, traditional Chinese culture, and the Chinese business and social environment still influence the target Chinese employees. Hence, in many fields, they still engage in negotiation styles, practices, and behaviour similar to traditional Chinese negotiators. However, the degree to which they accept or adopt such negotiation styles and practices might not be as great as traditional Chinese negotiators.

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Moreover, this research confirms the co-existence of Western and Chinese beliefs and values among the Chinese employees working at the Western MNC, and this fully supports the findings of Tung et al. (2008).

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Table 40 - Comparisons between the Participants' Negotiation Styles, Practices and Behaviour and Traditional Chinese Negotiators on the 12 Elements of Negotiation

Factors The Chinese employees working for a Western MNC in this study Factor 1 - Guanxi Building Building guanxi at the beginning of the

negotiation is important.

Building guanxi at the beginning of the negotiation is important (Faure, 1999; Herbig

& Martin, 1998; Zhu et al., 2007).

Similar

Factor 2 - Influence of Guanxi Employees' company interest is more important than guanxi.

Guanxi is more important than employees'

company interest (Rivers, 2009). Different

Factor 3 - Indirect

Communication Style Still adopt an indirect communication style.

Adopt an indirect communication style (Blackman, 2000; Collins & Block, 2007;

Graham & Lam, 2003; Hall, 1976; Pye, 1982; Sheer & Chen, 2003; Woo &

Prud'homme, 1999).

Similar

Factor 4 - Importance of Face Face is important in negotiations.

Face is important in negotiations (Björkstén

& Hägglund, 2010; Buttery & Leung, 1998;

Collins & Block, 2007; Faure, 1999; Ghauri

& Fang, 2001; Graham & Lam, 2003; Pye, 1982; Woo & Prud'homme, 1999; Zhu et al., 2007).

Similar

Factor 5 - Importance of Guanxi

in Negotiation Guanxi is important in negotiations.

Guanxi is important in negotiations (as pointed out by almost all of the scholars in the literature reviewed in this research).

Similar

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Factors The Chinese employees working for a Western MNC in this study negotiator in detail (Faure, 1999; Ghauri &

Fang, 2001; Herbig & Martin, 1998; Stark et al., 2005; Zhu et al., 2007).

Similar

Factor 7 - Negotiation Tactics Neutral position to using various negotiation tactics.

Neutral position on the importance of Chinese business etiquette and customs in negotiations.

Chinese business etiquette and customs are important and essential in negotiations (Collins & Block, 2007; Faure, 1999; Pye, 1982; Woo & Prud'homme, 1999).

Different

Factor 9 - Importance of Relative Status

Neutral position on the importance of negotiator's relative status.

Negotiators relative status is important in negotiations, mismatching of the relative status of the two negotiating parties will cause negotiation failure (Buttery & Leung, 1998; Graham & Lam, 2003; Woo &

Prud'homme, 1999).

Different

Factor 10 - Importance of Contract Rules

Neutral position on the importance of contract rules.

Making changes to a signed contract is fully accepted (Collins & Block, 2007; Faure, 1999; Ghauri & Fang, 2001; Miles, 2003;

Pye, 1982).

Different

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Factors The Chinese employees working for a Western MNC in this study

Traditional Chinese negotiators defined in literature

Comparison between the two groups

Factor 11 - Negotiation Goals Building a long-term business relationship.

Building a long-term business relationship (Buttery & Leung, 1998; Collins & Block, 2007; Faure, 1999; Graham & Lam, 2003;

McGregor, 2005; Tung, 1982, 1989).

Similar

Factor 12 - Time Sensitivity Neutral position on time sensitivity in negotiations.

Not sensitive to time in negotiations (Collins

& Block, 2007; Faure, 1998, 1999; Leung &

Yeung, 1995; Miles, 2003; Pye, 1982; Woo

& Prud'homme, 1999).

Different

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Overall, this research does not find enormous differences between the target Chinese employees and traditional Chinese negotiators. This could be due to the following reasons. Firstly, as the participants have relatively little work experience at the Western company, it is not expected that all of their negotiation styles, practices, and behaviour will have changed completely. Secondly, although they are working at the Western MNC, they are still working and living in Chinese society, thus, the social context of China, and its business practices and behaviour still have a strong influence on them.

That is why this research finds guanxi still plays an important role. Thirdly, as suggested by Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov (2010), people's core values change slowly, the effect of traditional Chinese cultural values such as Confucian ideology on the participants has hardly changed. This could be why participants are found to still hold onto the long-term view in negotiation, and value the concept of face in negotiations.

However, it is interesting to find that the participants have different beliefs toward the importance of relative status in negotiation as compared to traditional Chinese negotiators, as this element is also a core value of Confucianism. The possible explanation is that the participants are quite young; and it can be speculated that young Chinese people pay less attention to relative status issues. Overall, Hypothesis 1 is not supported.

Although the target Chinese adopt more westernised styles, practices, and behaviour compared to the traditional Chinese in terms of relative status, contract implementation, and time sensitivity in negotiations, their beliefs regarding these aspects of negotiation are still different to Westerners'. Considering the findings discussed above, this research supports Tung et al.'s (2008) findings that, despite the influence of exposure to Western culture and values, there are still some persistent differences in negotiation between Westerners and the Chinese nowadays, which are; the importance of guanxi, face, relative status, and attitude towards time.

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7.6 Comparison of Rankings of Various Aspects of Negotiation between the