To the list, respectfully:
I have to suggest that there is a danger in presuming a stereotypical or monolithic face of a Chinese negotiator. Quite to the contrary of many contemporary assumptions that paint certain groups with a broad-brush, I can tell you that this often leads to mistakes.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I was at a function at the World Trade Center of New Orleans, welcoming what was supposed to be a "distinguished" Chinese agent from a large consortium seeking to open a business in the region. This Chinese person received his PhD from somewhere in the US; as I was (and am) an IB person from one of the universities in the region, the hosts sort of shoved me forward to greet this person. We exchanged the usual and customary greetings, classic for China, with both he and I functioning very formally. He had very choppy English with a strong accent. My instinct told me that something was wrong with this picture. I broke formality, and asked him, "Hey man, tell me about your doctorate." He suddenly went into PERFECT English and told me that he owned vacation property in Mississippi, what beer he liked, etc. I stood there and smiled; he turned pale. He then went back to his chopped Chinese, resumed acting formally, and went to meet other people. I reported this back to the hosts of the meeting.
I share this with you, because this situation is a two edged sword. You must get to know just who is your negotiator to every extent possible. A "Chinese" (and you can freely substitute Vietnamese, French, German, etc.) negotiator may try to gain a psychological advantage over you by expecting you to act in a certain diplomatic or politically-correct manner, all the while knowing that you have certain boundaries that you might not cross.
I share this experience, because I urge a different or extraordinary approach, in that negotiators must try to discover if the party across the table is real or if they are playing you according to how you have boxed yourself in.
All the best,
John Lambert
________________________________________________________________
John T. Lambert, Jr., DBA
Assistant Professor of International Business
--- On Sat, 2/13/10, Romie Littrell <littrellaom@YAHOO.CO.NZ> wrote:
From: Romie Littrell <littrellaom@YAHOO.CO.NZ>
Subject: Re: Negotiation with chinese agents
To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Date: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 11:42 AM
Alfredo, here's a draft of a paper that may help.
Regards,
Romie
Romie F. Littrell, BA, MBA,PhD, FIAIR, An fánaí fiáin
AUT Business School N.Z., romie.littrell@aut.ac.nz
http://www.romielittrellpubs.homestead.com/
http://www.crossculturalcentre.homestead.com/
Facilitator, Leadership & Management in Sub-Sahara Africa Conferences
Contents copyright Romie F. Littrell
--- On Sat, 13/2/10, Alfredo Behrens <ab@ALFREDOBEHRENS.COM> wrote:
From: Alfredo Behrens <ab@ALFREDOBEHRENS.COM>
Subject: Re: Negotiation with chinese agents
To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Date: Saturday, 13 February, 2010, 9:09
Thanks Romie,
as it happens, this MBA student is a Brazilian national of Chinese ancestry and negotiates with Chinese business people. What we are after is a way to help this gentleman to sistematize his business experience with what is out there in terms of role playing games.
Besides your own generous comment I wish to thank, so far, the keen guidance received from Maureen Lewis <mml2@duke.edu>
Klaus Meyer <km261@management.bath.ac.uk>
Tunga Kiyak <academician@kiyak.net>
Jacob Eisenberg <Jacob.Eisenberg@ucd.ie>
All the best,
Alfredo
_______________________ Alfredo Behrens www.alfredobehrens.comApetizer for next book: http://bit.ly/5FYRAYWile E. Coyote and the Road Runner make it to Harvard Business! http://bit.ly/vtv5DMy book by Stanford University Press is now available! http://bit.ly/4Zx0TlSome of my views at CLAS, Vanderbilt University, April 2009, Part I: http://bit.ly/88Oot7Part 2: http://bit.ly/4QuHpfTwitter: http://twitter.com/0800AlfredoLecturing at FIA http://www.fia.com.br/internationalmba/On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 5:22 PM, Romie Littrell <littrellaom@yahoo.co.nz> wrote: Why don't you find a Chinese agent willing to work with your class, or at least a Brazilian who has negotiated with Chinese to play roles?
Unless your MBA students are experienced international businesspeople you may not get useful results, or the outcomes may be misleading.
Romie F. Littrell, BA, MBA,PhD, FIAIR, An fánaí fiáin
AUT Business School N.Z., romie.littrell@aut.ac.nz
http://www.romielittrellpubs.homestead.com/
http://www.crossculturalcentre.homestead.com/
Facilitator, Leadership & Management in Sub-Sahara Africa Conferences
Contents copyright Romie F. Littrell
--- On Thu, 11/2/10, Alfredo Behrens <ab@ALFREDOBEHRENS.COM> wrote:
From: Alfredo Behrens <ab@ALFREDOBEHRENS.COM>
Subject: Negotiation with chinese agents
Date: Thursday, 11 February, 2010, 7:57Colleagues,
I am supervising an MBA student's first attempt at crafting a negotiation case between Brazilians and Chinese. Rather than a case he will be writing something akin to a Role Playing Game with about five charchters.
I have suggested he focus on mining, on account of Brazil´s important role on the matter and because the longer term interests involved. There are interesting cases already on BHP Bilington as well as on Rio Tinto.
However, what is out there in terms or Role Playing Games, or the likes, that this student could build on to define characters and give consistency to his work?
Best,
_______________________ Alfredo Behrens www.alfredobehrens.comApetizer for next book: http://bit.ly/5FYRAYWile E. Coyote and the Road Runner make it to Harvard Business! http://bit.ly/vtv5DMy book by Stanford University Press is now available! http://bit.ly/4Zx0TlSome of my views at CLAS, Vanderbilt University, April 2009, Part I: http://bit.ly/88Oot7 Part 2: http://bit.ly/4QuHpfTwitter: http://twitter.com/0800AlfredoLecturing at FIA http://www.fia.com.br/internationalmba/
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