商务谈判Case.doc

Case 3A Canadian team of two men representing Canwall, a wallpaper printing equipment manufacturer, went to a town north of Shanghai in the province of Jiangsu, China, to negotiate a sale to a new wallpaper production company. Charlie Burton, president of Canwall, traveled with his marketing director, Phil Raines. The company had never before sold its equipment outside Canada, and the two Canadians were delighted with the warm reception they enjoyed in China.This wasnt the first meeting between the Canadian company and the Chinese wallpaper factory. The manager of the Chinese company, Mr. Li, had been a member of a delegation to Canada. He had met with one of Canwalls senior salespersons and the director of manufacturing. Subsequently a trade representative from Canada had been in China representing Canwalls interests to the Chinese manager. After these meetings and numerous letters and faxes, Canwalls top people were now ready to negotiate the sale.The day they arrived they were met at the airport in Shanghai by Manager Li himself and transported in a chauffeur-driven car 90 miles to the town. Their accommodation was in a newly built hotel, and while it was not luxurious, it was certainly comfortable. A few hours after their arrival they were treated to a 12-course banquet given by their host, with several high-level municipal officials present. This red-carpet treatment made them feel optimistic about the sale.The next day they were taken to see the sights nearby: a large, new port for container ships and several factories that indicated the prosperity of the region. They were eager to begin discussing the sale, but after lunch they were given time to rest. In the late afternoon one of the managers English-speaking employees came by with the news that they would be taken to see a local dance companys performance that night.The third day they finally sat down to meetings. Progress seemed very sloweach side giving generalizations about itself that seemed unrelated to the sale. The Canadians used an interpreter supplied by the Chinese who was eager to please them, so the Canadians felt comfortable with her, but translation slowed down communication. After listening to various apparently unrelated points, the Canadians thought, “So what?”The Chinese also spent a lot of time talking about the Canadian trade agent who had been in their town earlier. Burton wasnt able to tell them much about that person, since he had never met him personally.When the Canadians at last were able to make the presentation they had prepared, they were surprised at the number of people who showed up. There were two of them, but there were 10 Chinese facing them across the table. Still, the Chinese frequently nodded and smiled, and said “yes”. Burton and Raines had prepared sales data and showed, effectively they thought, that within five years the factory could double its present production. At the end of the day, the jubilant Canadians returned to their hotel rooms confident they had sold the equipment.The next day they were asked to explain once again things they thought had been covered already to a Chinese team with four new faces in it. They were confused about who their negotiating counterparts really were. Their jubilation began to evaporate. They were asked to explain the technology in minute detail. Neither Burton nor Raines had been involved in the engineering of the high-tech component that was the heart of the equipment. After doing the best they could, they returned to the hotel exhausted.Their interpreter also seemed to be unfamiliar with technological terms, since she and the interpreter for the factory spent some time discussing them between themselves. Because the Canadian sides interpreter was a woman, the Canadians had to meet with her in the hotel lobby to discuss their plan for the next day. The two tired men would have preferred to sit in their room while they talked with her, rather than in the noisy lobby where they were the object of curiosity, but she requested they remain in a public place because as a woman she could not meet with them in their room.The next day the Canwall negotiators were asked again about the technological details of the equipment. This time one member of the first-day team pointed out discrepancies between what they had said and what the manufacturing director, an engineer, had told them in Canada. Burton and Raines were chagrined. The Chinese were reproachful about the discrepancies, as if the Canadians had been caught in a shameful act. At lunch the two Canadians quickly faxed Canada for specifications and explanations. The afternoon session was uncomfortable, although everyone was polite. Burton and Raines were a bit unsettled when a middle-aged woman suddenly burst into the negotiating room and whispered in the ear of one the key Chinese speakers, who immediately got up and left the room. The Canadians expected some explanation for the emergency but none ever came.The next day, because of the time difference, the Canadians received some of the documentation they needed by fax, and discussions resumed with the same questions being asked yet again. It all went very slowly. The Chinese appreciated the high quality of the Canadian product but worried they wouldnt be able to fix the equipment if it broke down. They suggesteddelicately, so as not to imply they expected breakdownsthat perhaps the Canadians could give them some help with maintenance training. The Canadians pointed out the expense and difficulty of keeping someone in their city for several weeks or months and expressed confidence that there wouldnt be any problems the manual didnt cover. The Chinese would be able to look after the equipment just fine.Finally the technical discussions gave way to the issue central to most negotiations in most countries: price. This proved to be the most difficult of all. The Chinese began by asking for a 20 percent price discount. The Canadians thought this was a simply outrageous negotiating ploy; they stuck to their price, which they knew to be fair, and offered a 3 percent discount on the printing cylinders.Although Burton and Raines had heard that negotiations took time in China, they had thought a week would be ample. Now time was running out and they were due in Beijing in two days. They already had learned that getting plane tickets wasnt easy, so they were anxious to be on the plane as previously arranged. The Canadians began to ask pointed questions about what the Chinese were unhappy with, and where they needed to go over issues again. During the last two sessions, the Canadians tried to get the Chinese to focus on the unresolved points, but the Chinese seemed reluctant to do so.A number of issues remained unresolved when the farewell banquet was held the following noon. The question of price seemed near solution, but not the method of payment. That was the final, apparently insurmountabl