涉外商务谈判成功的因素

1、International Business Negotiation:Paving the Way for a Successful Long-term Cooperation摘要：随着各国之间经济交往的日趋频繁，国际商务成为当今世界经济中越来越重要的活动，国际商务谈判是其中至关重要的一个环节。国际商务的特殊性对其谈判人员在知识、谈判技巧和策略等方面提出了更高的要求。本文主要仔细分析了国际商务谈判中的各个阶段和步骤，指出当中一些值得注意的问题并给予一些建议性的解决办法，同时也说明了国际商务谈判与良好的长期商业合作之间的关系。希望此文对一些国际商务谈判人员及对国际商务感兴趣者能起到一定意义上的启

2、发作用。关键词：国际商务谈判；长期合作；准备工作；策略Abstract: Nowadays with more frequent interactive economic activities between different countries, international business plays a more and more important role. International business negotiation critically influences the success of international business, so business negot

3、iators are supposed to have expertise in certain knowledge, techniques and strategies. This paper looks into the different stages and steps in international business negotiation, discusses some important problems in detail and comes out with suggestive solutions, and points out the close relationshi

4、p between business negotiation and long-term cooperation. It is hoped that this paper would be helpful to the international business negotiators as well as some people who are interested in international business. Key words: international business negotiation, long-term cooperation, preparation, str

5、ategies1. IntroductionNegotiation refers to a discussion aimed at reaching an agreement and the process of negotiating. International business means the commercial, industrial, or professional dealings which relates to or involves two or more nations. In this way, international business negotiation

6、refers to the discussion carried out by two or more parties from different countries to reach an agreement on business affairs. First, the main part of an international business negotiation is to set a correct goal, including the goals of two parties or more parties in the negotiation. Second, an in

7、ternational business negotiation should be conducted on the precondition of the general interest and the chief objective of a company, instead of being based on personal benefits. Therefore, a general goal has to be set before negotiation, and it will be followed by the corresponding negotiating str

8、ategies. Third, an international business negotiation is different from a domestic business negotiation. Some people say that international business negotiation should be called cross-cultural business negotiation, for it is closely associated with varied styles of cultures of different countries. A

9、s a result, the cultural elements should be paid great attention to in international business negotiation.A successful international business negotiation does not only mean to achieve a deal once, but to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with the other party or parties in business. Espe

10、cially in international businesses, with the increasingly fierce competition among rivals from different countries, a long-term cooperation means more to a company which is doing business with other foreign parties. How to carry out a negotiation so that it will lead to more businesses with foreign

11、customers in the future is the key point of a successful international business negotiation.This paper tries to find the ways of conducting a successful international business negotiation, including the effective planning and preparation before negotiation, the techniques and strategies in negotiati

12、on, as well as the affairs after negotiation to pave the way for a long-term cooperation. 2. Review of literatureThere are many books and articles on international business negotiation, and plenty of negotiating skills and strategies are given.Take some books for example. Breakthrough Business Negot

13、iation: A Toolbox for Managers, written by Michael Watkins(2002), a leading expert in negotiation at Harvard Business School, serves as a guide to negotiating in some business situations. This book presents principles that apply to negotiation situations and tools to achieve expected results. It dem

14、onstrates how to understand a situation, build connection, manage internal decision making, persuade others, organize a deal cycle, and create strategic alliances. Another popular book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton(1991) is cons

15、idered as a universal guide to the art of negotiating personal and professional disputes. It offers a concise strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict.In China, many authors also write on this subject. For instance, Xie Jinsha(1999) talked about the skills for

16、international business negotiating. Chen Xirong(2001) carried out an analysis on the pragmatic strategies which are employed in international business negotiation. Three aspects of the positive pragmatic negotiating strategies were discussed, including politeness and appropriateness, tact and humor,

17、 and implicit and vague expressions. Wu Xiaochuang(2003) pointed out the importance and variability of “time” in the process of international business negotiation and suggested the negotiators should pay attention to the close relationship between “time” and negotiation. Not a few papers were writte

18、n about the cultural factors or cultural differences. Zhou Juanmei(2003) analyzed in detail the different cultural factors which had a great influence on international business negotiation. It was pointed out that culture played an important role in influencing peoples negotiating methods, thinking,

19、 decision making and language usages in negotiation. It also put forward the suggestions on how to strengthen the consciousness of negotiation across cultures and perform well in international business negotiation.3. Features of international business negotiation In order to clearly state different

20、steps in a successful international business negotiation in this paper, some distinctive features of international business negotiation have to be pointed out first, which will help us better understand the following parts. These six features are common to all international business negotiations and

21、 distinguish international business negotiations from domestic negotiations. The first feature is that in international negotiations the parties must deals with the laws, policies and political authorities of more than one nation. The second one is the presence of different currencies. The actual va

22、lue of the prices or payments set by contract may vary due to the fluctuation of the relative value of different currencies, and may result in unexpected losses or gains. The third feature common to international business negotiations is the participation of governmental authorities. Governments oft

23、en play a large role in foreign business. While private firms are usually concerned with profits, governments may be more concerned about social or political objectives. The fourth one is that the international businesses are much vulnerable to sudden changes in circumstances such as war, revolution

24、, changes in government and currency devaluation. The fifth feature unique to international business negotiation is that the parties of international business negotiations usually hold very different ideologies about investment, profit and individual rights. This will also pose a challenge to the ne

25、gotiators. Finally, cultural differences are an important factor in international negotiations. In addition to language differences, different cultures have differing values, perceptions and philosophies, so certain ideas may have very different meanings in different cultures.Due to the above six di

26、stinctive features of international business negotiation, negotiators on such occasions are required to have enough knowledge and social insight that would be necessary in negotiating. They have to be capable of analyzing unexpected events or risks in negotiation and be aware of ideological and cult

27、ural differences. They are to present their proposals or ideas in ways that are acceptable to the other party, or at least neutral to both parties ideologically and culturally. These requirements are closely connected with the process of a successful international business negotiation, which is to s

28、et up a long-term cooperation.4. Negotiation MethodologyThere are three different steps in international business negotiation - the pre-negotiation stage, negotiation itself, and the post-negotiation stage. All the matters referred below provide an overview of the different stages of international b

29、usiness negotiation as well as the matters that are worth noticing in order to realize the objective of negotiation.4.1 Pre-negotiation: Structuring a successful negotiation with action plans and effective preparationAn international business negotiation usually consists of the following steps: firs

30、t, set the subject for negotiating, in other words, the goals. Second, list the points and facts for negotiating. Third, fix the way, the time, the participants and the place of the negotiation. Fourth, set down and apply some negotiation techniques and strategies. Finally, get to the end of the neg

31、otiation. The first three steps are all included in the preparation stage, that is, to make action plans and effective preparation for a successful international business negotiation. In the following part, we will talk about some problems in this stage.Setting the goals for negotiation is the first

32、 step for every business negotiation, and it is one of the most important jobs in preparation. To set the goals for negotiation means to set an expected value and a certain expected level for what is going to be negotiated. As a general principle, every negotiation ought to be oriented by the realiz

33、ation of its goals, which lies finally in signing the contract by two parties. The goals of negotiation are often classified into three categories. That is, the goal that has to be realized, the goal that one hopes to achieve, and the goal that one is willing to reach. We can also put it in this way

34、, the goals of negotiation are elastic, and are made capable of adapting to any changes in negotiation. Otherwise, there would be no space left for turnabouts in negotiation, and it would be likely to fail when it came to certain divergence of two parties.The goals of an international business negot

35、iation should be based on the conditions of the companys production, capital, technology and equipment at present, as well as the state policies that are related to the business or the negotiation. For example, the assessment standard, the delivery date, prices and other requirements should be plann

36、ed before negotiation. Only in this way can an international business negotiation be carried out with clear goals. Only with clear and concrete goals can it draw the exertions of the participants together to work to a successful end. Therefore, the goals show the direction of the negotiation, servin

37、g as its starting point and, at the same time, its end. It is indispensable to a successful international business negotiation.It is also necessary for negotiators to getting to know the situations of the other party in the coming negotiation. In the preparation stage, the negotiators not only need

38、to make an analysis of its own conditions, but also have to get a comprehensive understanding of the other party, including its strength and weakness, the policies and regulations in its country, business customs and cultural backgrounds, as well as the situations of its negotiators, etc. We should

39、pay attention to the fact that some failures of the bilateral business cooperations or investments result from the lack of knowledge of the other party in negotiation.Business survey and data collection are very important ways of getting to know what is needed. In order to develop their business wor

40、ldwide, many multi-national corporations establish large information institutions around the world, and send information every day back to the headquarters for policy and decision making.The quality of negotiators and the distribution of work are important factors in preparation as well. Some people

41、 say that international business negotiation is in fact a competition of strength between two parties in a certain sense. The result of a negotiation depends a great deal on the quality of the negotiators in their knowledge and psychology. Because international business negotiation involves many ele

42、ments and is very complicated, the negotiators are supposed to have a good mastery of the professional knowledge, such as international trade, international finance, international marketing and international commercial law, and some knowledge in other fields, like management, economics, finance, psy

43、chology and foreign languages. Their keen insight and quick wit will help the negotiators a lot when negotiating, and make them confident in success. Besides, the international business negotiators have to be determined, adventurous and self-confident. There are many unexpected problems occurring in

44、 business negotiations, and most of the time, the negotiators will be challenged and frustrated by the counterparts from the other party while negotiating. Therefore, only the knowledgeable people who are responsible and ready to take all kinds of risks are qualified for good negotiators. The work s

45、hould be distributed in a reasonable way among the negotiators, so as to achieve the best results. Sometimes some international business negotiations involve large amounts of capital or asset, or they take quite a long time, or they have extensive influence over many others. As a result, someone has

46、 to be elected as the chief negotiator, and some negotiation parties have to be composed by specialized teams which will perform different functions while negotiating. These specialized teams are made up by various professionals who are experts and are very familiar with their businesses. They work

47、together and complement each others functions, thus easily resolving many different kinds of problems. The pressure of the chief negotiator will be relieved in this way, and the efficiency of business negotiations will also be improved.4.2 In negotiation: techniques and strategies to achieve a succe

48、ssful business negotiationAfter preparation, it is time to set down and apply some techniques and strategies for negotiation. International business negotiation is special in that the two parties from different countries will have to take the international economic laws and their differing economic

49、systems, social and cultural backgrounds and many other factors into consideration when they are negotiating. Besides, the international transfer of asset is closely connected with such problems as international trade, international finance, international insurance and international transportation.

50、Therefore, in order to achieve a successful international business negotiation, the negotiators have to learn and apply some techniques and strategies.First, attentive listening and observing is very important in negotiation. Many inexperienced negotiators think their task is to talk about themselve

51、s and contradict the other party when negotiating, and do not listen to the other party patiently while someone is speaking. Some of them do not pay any attention to what the other party talks about, and as a result, they miss much useful information. They hold mistakenly the view that the best nego

52、tiators always win the initiative of negotiation by talking much. 邹建华. 国际商务谈判业务与技巧. 广州：中山大学出版社, 1990.In fact, the successful negotiators usually spend over 50% of their time in listening, according to a survey.The chief task for a negotiator is to collect necessary information in negotiation. He or

53、she has to listen carefully to what their counterparts from the other party say, and frequently ask them questions to make sure he or she understands what they say. By listening, the negotiators get to know the real demand of the other party, and while listening, they are on the way to find solution

54、s to problems. Some people point out that in international business negotiation, talking is a task, while listening is an ability. Whether a negotiator is good at listening or not will have a great effect on his or her success or failure. Observing is as important as listening in international busin

55、ess negotiation. The negotiators are supposed to observe carefully at the manners and attitudes of their counterparts. Sometimes they have to change some of their previous plans or decisions when they find that there are some alteration in the expressions or manners of the other party, so as to lead

56、 the negotiation to continue and come to an expected end. Many small incidents may happen in negotiation, and close observation can help avoid the adverse effects of these incidents. It is also an important ability for the negotiators to observe in international business negotiation.Second, effectiv

57、e use of verbal and non-verbal language is a useful tool for negotiating. To establish a friendly relationship with the other party is one of the most important steps of negotiation, which will create a favorable atmosphere for the whole discussion. The negotiation may begin with some topics that bo

58、th parties are interested in, for instance, the clubs they join and the exercises they do. This gives a good beginning for the negotiation and leads it to go on in an easy and polite atmosphere, and furthermore, to build up trust and confidence in each other. It is helpful to use verbal language in

59、a correct way in international business negotiation. From the answers of the other party, we can also gain important information for business. The negotiators may use some words or phrases with neutral meanings, for example, “oh”, “ah”, “yes” and “I see”, to show that they are interested in what their counterparts are talking about and that they want them to continue. Reiteration can also be used in international business negotiation to gain more information or show intere