Negotiating China is a must-read for anyone hoping to negotiate with Chinese. Unlike many “how to” books about doing business in China, this book provides an accurate portrayal of Chinese behaviors and their cultural foundations. Blackman’s explanations, examples, and case studies are invaluable lessons and offer insightful lessons for readers with all levels of experience and familiarity with China. Moreover, they build upon and evoke reevaluation of many topics from within our course.
Negotiating China contains three parts: “The Chinese background,” “Chinese-western negotiations,” and “Effective and ineffective negotiations.” The book’s first part, “The Chinese background,” provided an overview of why Chinese have certain negotiating patterns. For example, Chinese culture contains a strong sense of in-group/ out-group relationships, and they are only required to deal ethically with those with they have guanxi, or relationships. Businessmen who focus on achieving their goals and not focusing on relationship development face a much higher probability of being cheated than those who have an extant working relationship. Exacerbating this issue are the role of haggling within Chinese culture, China’s emphasis on “face,” and China’s present stage of development.
The book’s second part, “Chinese-western negotiations,” applies these principles to negotiating. For example, Chinese culture is hierarchical, collectivistic, and stresses power distance; and Chinese society is bureaucratic and role-centered. The resulting effect is that Chinese will bring large groups of people to negotiations, allow few concessions to save face with superiors, focus on details, and leverage time against Western negotiators who seek a quick deal. In addition to these behaviors, Chinese view contracts as an ongoing process. Even agreed upon details within negotiations could change afterwards. When preparing to negotiate with Chinese, western negotiators must conduct due diligence concerning capabilities of a company, Chinese regulations, past contracts if they exist, and hidden costs. They must also be prepared to counter a number of tactics, such as employ a large number of tactics, such as using false authority, psychological pressure, left-field issues, using competitors, changing negotiators and locations, changing levels and specialists, standing on fixed positions. While looping can be a useful tool as a vehicle for clarification, Chinese take a strong distributive approach to negotiations.
The book’s third part, “Effective and ineffective negotiations,” contains a series of case studies that evidence the principles from the first two parts. For instance, Chapter Six, “A bridge between east and west: the overseas Chinese,” discusses how and why Chinese with extensive experience overseas are invaluable tools for navigating negotiations and dealing with Chinese managers. First, they speak the language and, thus, can communicate directly with Chinese. This ability also enables them to avoid misinterpretations created by inexperienced and/or undereducated interpreters, and establish relationships much faster. Furthermore, they understand the culture well as well as the expectations of both parties and, thus, can become a cultural bridge between the Chinese and western companies. As Blackman repeatedly emphasizes throughout the book, companies need to understand the motivations of the Chinese company. Oftentimes, achieving this goal is indirect and requires a person with real knowledge of China to be effective.
Blackman’s practical approach to this book is excellent. It ensures readability and gives the reader numerous anecdotes concerning how to be effective. This strength is enhanced by her usage of numerous case studies in the third part of the book to illustrate how these principles manifest in real negotiations. Together, these elements facilitate readability, thus making this book accessible to even those with a novice level of China familiarity.
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