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Contrastive Analysis On Intercultural Business Communication Between China And AmericaMG10004004 陈沉Abstract: Along with rapid economic development of China in 20th ,the world are paying more and more attention over China ,as a results ,more and more Chinese students go abroad to go on their study ,of course ,more and more foreign students come to our country to learn Chinese culture ,some major colleges and universities are also exchange their students with foreign universities. As there are so much differences between Chinese culture and American culture, one custom implies good things in our country maybe express bad meanings in America. This kind of things cause a great many distress for the both countrys students, the paper from this kind of aspects describe the differences on Intercultural Business Communication between China and America.Keywords: China ;America ;Culture Difference摘要：20实际随着中国经济的高速发展，世界对中国也越来越关注，越来越多的中国学生去外国留学，也越来越多的外国学生来中国留学，并且各大高校的交换生也越来越多 ，而不同国家的文化习俗差别如此之大，以至于同一个习俗在我国表示好的方面的内容，而在国外就认为是不礼貌的。由此给很多出国留学的学生造成了很大的困扰，本文从中西方商业文化交流差异方面论述了中国和美国的不同习俗。关键词：中国；美国；文化差异1. IntroductionCustoms are not only a culture but also knowledge. It plays an important role of communication in our daily life .To learn different cultures in daily life is benefit to establish the good relationship and it can also help us to learn America culture .As we all know, different countries has different forms ,Different cultural-background, individualism. collectivism ,nationalism and value factors may result in culture differences on politeness between Western countries and China which can be found in many aspects of daily communication, including greetings, parting, dinning, considerate- remarks, addressing, compliments, apologies, thanks, invitations and saying good-bye and so on .We should learn from their strengths and offset our own weakness.Each country has his/her own culture. Culture includes knowledge, faith, art, morality, law, custom, etiquette and it is a tool that individual in society takes over ability.(胡文仲，1999)Learning culture of different country is very important to communicate between countries, It is also helpful to study American English .With Chinas entering the WTO and the holding of the Olympic Games in 2008, the relationship between China and the Western country in politics ,economy and culture will become more and more close. (白远，2003)In order to get well along with other countries and respect each other .Firstly ,we should understand their culture. So in the following discussion, we will take China and America as the representation to look at some cultural differences in five aspects and then analyze the reasons.2.Literature Review2.1. Understanding Culture2.1.1 Culture Defined What is culture? It is important to clarify the basic concept Culture is multidimensional, complex and pervasive. It has been defined in a variety of ways ,and scholars have never been able to agree on defining this term. One of the earliest well-known definitions was given by the British anthropologist Edward Tylor in his book Primitive Culture ;culture is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law custom, and other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society. Since then hundreds of other definitions have been offered Adamson Hoebel defined culture as “the integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristics of the members of a society and which are not the result of biological inheritance.” Geert Hofstede, an expert on management and cross-cultural differences, in Cultural Consequences, defined culture in this way: the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another. Faure and Sjostedt defined that: Culture is a set of shared and enduring meanings, values, andbeliefs that characterize national ,ethnic and other groups and orient their behavior.Although there are many different definitions of culture, most of culture is hidden, like the part of the iceberg under water. It exists in the subconscious mind of people who therefore are not aware of the fact that their actions are governed by their own cultures or cultural rules. 2.1.2 Major Characteristics of CultureRegardless of how many definitions of culture have been examined ,there would have been a great deal of agreement concerning major characteristics of culture. Being aware of these features is quite helpful to better understand what culture is.( Quelch J.A, Parris P W,2006) The first thing is that culture is learned, and this is the most important characteristic of culture. and the second is that culture is passed on from generation to generation. Without the advantage of knowledge from those who lived before us, we would not have culture. For a culture to exist and endure, it must ensure that its crucial messages and elements are passed on .As Brilin said: If there are values considered central to a society that have existed for many years, there must be transmitted from one generation to another. The third thing is that Culture is based on symbols .and the fourth is Culture is subject to change. Culture is a dynamic system that does not exist in vacuum and therefore is subject to change with the development of human society. But the process of change is gradual and difficult, but the deep structure of a culture resists major alernationgs. The last thing is that Culature is ethnocentric. Summer defined ethnocentrism as :the technical name for the view of things in which ones own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Most scholars contend that this propensity to see things from our cultural viewpoint is very natural and unless carried to an extreme, can have positive effects.2.2 Cultural Dimensions More and more scholars commit themselves to cultural differences in the intercultural negotiation. They have devised cultural dimensions that can be used to analyze negotiating styles found in particular cultures. There are several cultural dimensions ,the first cultural dimension is developed by Geert Adler.N.J. Individualism versus Collectivism The second was advanced by Edward Hall and looks at high-context versus low-context communication The third dimension is that Large versus Small power Distance, The fourth dimension is that Strong uncertainty Avoidance versus Weak Uncertainty. The fifth dimension is that Masculinity versus Femininity.3. Discussion3.1. Individualism versus CollectivismWhile there are many dimensions in which cultures differ, individualism collectivism are the mostly studied cultural values .It describes the relationship between the individual and the collectivity that prevails in a given society .The relationship between the individual and the collectivity in human society is not only a matter of ways of living together, it is also closely connected with social standards in the sense of value systems of major groups of the population .When regarding individualism and collectivism as social norms, Adler.N.J defines these as the two poles of a dimension of national culture:Individualism stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose. Everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family only .Collectivism stand for a society in which people from birth onward are integrated into strong cohesice in-groups, which throughout peoples lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.Individualistic cultures tend to foster development of autonomous, unique and separate individuals. The uniqueness of each individual is of paramount value. The individual is the focal point of all activities. Individualism -oriented cultures hold individual interest and goals as most important and focus on satisfying his or her own needs. The individual tends to do things to please himself or herself and to do what is enjoyable and not be dictated by some other authority.People from cultures rated as individualistic tend to have higher degrees of independence and self-respect. It is not unusual that needs, wishes, desires, and goals of individuals take precedence over group or collectivistic goals. They prefer to be self-sufficient and have social networks that are not as important as their immediate families.( Sivulka J,2009) In individualistic cultures, an “I” consciousness prevails: competition rather than cooperation is encouraged; people tend not to be emotionally dependent on organizations and institutions; and every individual has the right to his or her private property, thoughts, and opinions. These cultures stress individual initiative and achievement, and they value individual decision-making. Individual responsibility for making decisions is easy in individualistic cultures. A person has personal rights to make decisions and burdens the responsibility personally. On the contrary, those who have a collectivistic orientation tend to give more recognition to their group-based roles and their obligations to that group. (Bates D.G ,Frost E.L,1990)Collectivistic cultural values foster more conformity with groups and a greater degree of reliance on group work and organizational tasks. Collectivism is characterized by a rigid social framework that distinguishes between in-groups and out-groups. In-group relations are those of regular contacts, such as family relationships, friends, co-workers, schoolmates or people from the same locality. Out-group relations are temporary contacts such as clerks in service counters. People count on their in-group to look after them and they believe they own loyalty to the group. In collectivistic cultures like Chinese culture, emphasizing belonging to organizations and individuals trust group decisions, the individual is emotionally dependent on organizations and institutions. Decisions are usually made by the group consensus rather than individual decision-making. Sometimes individuals have to sacrifice their own interests to achieve what is good for the group. Harmony within group is valued in collectivistic cultures and members are more likely to engage in behaviors that ensure harmony and refrain from behaviors that threaten harmony.Such a difference usually reflects in the oriental and the western advertisements. For example, as Chinese have the tendency of following suit, the Chinese advertisements take advantage of such kind of psychology. Advertisements tend to focus on group behavior because Chinese consumers always believe the more people buy a product, the better quality it will have. We can find many examples in our daily life, which stress group behaviors such as good for all ages, the product is good for all, so it is indeed good, the customers all over the country satisfy and so on However, it is just e contrary with the Western advertisements because individualism is firmly established in western culture and in westerners mind. Words such as “independence/ independent ”,uniqueness/ unique, own, individual ,different /difference spread out products or services features that match with ones distinction. 3.2. high-context versus low-context communicationCultures have very different ways of communicating the same message. Hall offers us another effective means of examining cultural similarities and differences in communication. He categorizes cultures as being either high or low context, depending on the degree to which meaning comes from the settings or from the words being exchanged.(Hall,1976) In order to appreciate the link between context and communication, the word context used by Hall needs to be understood. Hall defines context as “the information that surrounds an event; it is inextricably bound up with the meaning of an event.” Hall defines high and low context in the following manner:A high-context (HC) communication or message is one in which most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicitly transmitted part of the message. A low-context (LC) communication is just the opposite; the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code.(Hall,1976)In the high-context cultures like Chinese culture, people are very homogeneous with regard to experiences, information networks and the like. Therefore, meaning is not necessarily contained. People in these cultures rely on the context, either the actual physical environment of communication or an internalized social context or both, to convey a large part or even the entire messages meaning. They interpret and create messages in reference to shared information. (Brislin,R.W,1993)This information includes values in the culture, which links members of the culture group and influence how they refer to their contexts. In contrary to this, people in low-context cultures like American culture are less homogeneous. This lack of a large amount of common experiences makes them need detailed background information when they interact with each other. The listeners know very little and must be told practically everything. The verbal message contains most of the information and very little is embedded in the context. So in these cultures, the environment is less important and non-verbal behaviors are often ignored. Mode of communication in high-context cultures is often indirect and implicit whereas mode of communication in low-context cultures tends to be direct and explicit.High-context cultures are aware of their surroundings and their environment and do not rely on verbal communication as their main information channel. However, low-context cultures are more prone to making very explicit statements and have little capability with non-verbal forms of expression. People in these cultures expect messages to be detailed and definite. If there are not enough data, they will ask very blunt questions. But high-context people are apt to become impatient and irritated when low-context people insist on giving them information they do not need. Differences in this communication dimension can even alter how conflict is perceived and responded to. As Beamer, Linda and Varner have observed, the communication differences between high-context and low-context cultures are also apparent in the manner in which each approaches conflict.( Beamer, Linda and Varner,2003) High-context cultures tend to be less open and value indirect conflict. On the contrary, low-context cultures usually do the opposite and value direct conflict. This will be discussed in great detail in the fourth part.3.3 Large versus Small power DistanceAnother cultural dimension is power distance. According to Adler.N.J, power distances defined as “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally”.( Adler.N.J,1997) It measures the level of acceptance by a society of the unequal distribution of power in institutions. Although all cultures have tendencies for both high and low power relationships, one orientation seems to dominate. High-power distance characterizes a hierarchical culture in which people are comfortable with an unequal distribution of power and do not try to bring about a more equal distribution. People in high-power-distance countries such as China believe that power and authority are facts of life. Both consciously and unconsciously, these cultures teach their members that people are not equal in this world. Social hierarchy is prevalent. Those at the top have more power and privileges than those at the bottom of hierarchy. A greater centralization of power is found in the workplace. (Mueller B,2003)Employees acknowledge the bosss authority simply by respecting the individuals formal position in the hierarchy and they seldom bypass the chain of command. Employees manage their work just according to what their manager orders. Position and rank are highly emphasized in the organizations. In contrast, low-power-distance countries such as America hold that inequality in society should be minimized. People in these cultures accept equality as a given. They believe that they are close to power and should have access to power. If one is to divide any resource, it should be allocated equally. To people in the low-power-distance countries, they value independence rather than conformity and regard hierarchies as convenient arrangements. In the workplace, mangers see themselves as practical and they admit a need for support. Subordinates dislike close supervision, prefer a participative superior and dare to disagree with their superior. They just consider superiors to the same kind of people as they are and superiors perceive their subordinates the same way. People in power, no matter they are supervisors or government officials, often interact with their subordinates and try to look less powerful then they really are.3.4 Strong uncertainty Avoidance versus Weak Uncertainty. AvoidanceIn this part, we will discuss it not so simplify, as it is said that ,Strong Uncertainty Avoidance is uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, tolerant with deviance. For Example: Greece, Belgium. Portugal, Japan, Chile, Israel, Span. Weak Uncertainty Avoidance is that practice counts more than principles, deviance is more easily tolerated. For example Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Mylaysia, Uncertainty avoidance deals with a societys tolerance for ambiguity people will endure and how much risk they like to take. It indicates to what extent a culture paograms its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. As we all know that China is Strong Uncertainty Avoidance, and America is Weak Uncertainty Avoidance.In Amercian countries ,some one like strong uncertainty avoidance ,and these people like to do something that is really new and none of the people had don