Chinese Negotiating Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles [Hardcover]

Lucian W. Pye (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0899307248 | ISBN-13: 978-0899307244 | Publication Date: February 28, 1992

How precisely do the Chinese negotiate contracts and other agreements? Do they follow conventions similar to those of European negotiators? To the Japanese? Is there a pattern or style to their negotiations? These are the types of issues examined and resolved in Pye's guide. The volume is based on extensive interviews with Americans and Japanese who have had considerable first-hand experience negotiating with the Chinese, and an effort has been made to highlight the areas in which there has been the greatest amount of confusion and misunderstanding for American business people. Pye examines each step in the traditionally long negotiating process, from the first contacts to the responses after agreements have been reached. With an emphasis on cultural considerations and troubleshooting techniques, Pye gives solid, practical advice for business firms and individual negotiators. While the emphasis is on practical business negotiations, anyone concerned with Chinese culture will find much to ponder in this book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

LUCIAN W. PYE, one of the nation's leading authorities on the politics of Asian countries, is Ford Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and former President of the American Political Science Association.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Quorum Books (February 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899307248
• ISBN-13: 978-0899307244
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the Chinese Mind, November 3, 2006

By 

Kai-Feng "mysticfire" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chinese Negotiating Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles (Hardcover)

I first read this book 20 years ago when a consultant in Taiwan. After reading it, I felt I had been given the absolute script for how my clients were thinking. I was already successful with them, but this book was tremendously empowering. Even in non-adversarial negotiations, even in life with my Chinese in-laws, the principles gathered and explained by Pye are apropos and valuable.

Pye's own training in psychology well equips him for interpreting human behavior (check out his book on Mao), and his knowledge of modern China and its behavior is invaluable. In this book he lists specific characterics and behaviors common in Chinese negotiations: the way they use information, the way they try to manipulate counterparts, the way they analyze and leverage, the way they manage concessions. And his book is not based on theoretical analysis alone, it is based on interviews and meetings with dozens of business people with actual experience. He smoothly blends and synthesizes a vast budy of experience into this book.

Who would benefit from this book?

- Anyone doing business in China or with the Chinese
- Anyone working together with Chinese professionally
- Anyone teaching Chinese people
- Anyone married to a Chinese
- Anyone going to China for more than a couple of weeks
- Anyone dealing with China in political areas

By the way, Pye's other writings and books dealing with China are equally valuable. In late 2003, the Harvard Business Review featured an article on negotiating with the Chinese that was excellent. It never mentioned Pye, but said very little that he had not articulated many years before.

Read this and be enlightened. I have more than 20 years of business experience in Asia, speak Chinese, and count this as one of the most helpful books I have read on this culture.

3.0 out of 5 stars Consider Saving Your $100..., June 20, 2008

By 

Joshua Campbell "knowchinabusiness.com" (Shanghai, China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chinese Negotiating Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles (Hardcover)

Chinese Negotiating Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles had been referenced in several other excellent books I read while researching for an ebook I co-authored, Know China Business: The Insider's Guide to Doing Business Successfully in China. Lucian Pye's book was identified as a classic, based on significant research that would illuminate many aspects of Chinese culture; a must-read numerous Western businesspeople had relied upon for decades.

I must admit, since it was published ages ago but still commanded a US$100 price tag, I was greatly intrigued. When the slim 100-pager with its simple white cover arrived, I reassured myself that other extremely useful books on China such as The New Silk Road: Secrets of Business Success in China Today had also not been voluminous. However, I must say that overall Lucian Pye's book really did not live up to the hype. It is worth reading as a "classic" book that many high level executives of multinational companies (MNCs) relied upon for numerous years to understand the psychology of Chinese businesspeople. However, there are a great number of more insightful reads out there on doing business with Chinese people. Primarily I would list the aforementioned The New Silk Road as a "must read," as well as China Street Smart: What you MUST Know to be Effective and Profitable in China. The only aspect of Lucian Pye's book that was truly original was the Japanese perspective on how to effectively do business with Chinese people, which was an eye-opener and did contain some nuggets of wisdom.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So many words, so few pointers, January 29, 2007

By 

Marina "Hill" (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chinese Negotiating Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles (Hardcover)

The points of this essay could be conveyed in six concise pages but are buried in page after page of pompous prose. There are some insights -- but the reader has to plow through too many diplomatically (vaguely) worded paragraphs to find them.