Chinese Conflict Management Styles and Negotiation
Cultural Perspectives
CCM
International Journal of
2007 Vol 7(1): 101–119
Cross Cultural Management
Chinese Conflict Management Styles and Negotiation Behaviours
An Empirical Test
Zhenzhong Ma
University of Windsor, Canada
ABSTRACT
China has been one of the most important markets for western firms, but negotiating with the Chinese is quite a challenging task. Researchers have been investigating the distinctness in Chinese negotiation and conflict management styles, but have yet to provide solid evidence for it. An attempt is made in this study to illustrate how Chinese people approach conflicts, and thus how this affects their negotiation behaviours during business negotiation, which provides an empirical test of Chinese conflict management styles and their impact on negotiation outcomes. Results show that compromising and avoiding are the most preferred methods of conflict management in China, while accommodating and competing lead to more satisfaction during business negotiation. Managerial implications and future studies are then discussed.
KEY WORDS • avoiding • Chinese culture • compromising • conflict management styles • negotiation behaviours
Conflict management has developed into a major field of organizational behaviour (Kozan, 1997). This trend underlines the greater acceptance of conflict as an organizational phenomenon and the concerns over its management. The growing complexities of work relationships and the rise of new organizational forms place unprecedented pressure on managers to become more effective in conflict management. Scholars and practitioners have been attempting to identify the
mechanism that can improve conflict management skills. Researchers have also witnessed an increased interest in management in a cross cultural context (see Adler and Graham, 1989), yet the existing literature on cross cultural research is not as rich in conflict management as in other fields (Kiggundu et al., 1983; Kozan, 1997). A
CCM
International Journal of
2007 Vol 7(1): 101–119
Cross Cultural Management
Chinese Conflict Management Styles and Negotiation Behaviours
An Empirical Test
Zhenzhong Ma
University of Windsor, Canada
ABSTRACT
China has been one of the most important markets for western firms, but negotiating with the Chinese is quite a challenging task. Researchers have been investigating the distinctness in Chinese negotiation and conflict management styles, but have yet to provide solid evidence for it. An attempt is made in this study to illustrate how Chinese people approach conflicts, and thus how this affects their negotiation behaviours during business negotiation, which provides an empirical test of Chinese conflict management styles and their impact on negotiation outcomes. Results show that compromising and avoiding are the most preferred methods of conflict management in China, while accommodating and competing lead to more satisfaction during business negotiation. Managerial implications and future studies are then discussed.
KEY WORDS • avoiding • Chinese culture • compromising • conflict management styles • negotiation behaviours
Conflict management has developed into a major field of organizational behaviour (Kozan, 1997). This trend underlines the greater acceptance of conflict as an organizational phenomenon and the concerns over its management. The growing complexities of work relationships and the rise of new organizational forms place unprecedented pressure on managers to become more effective in conflict management. Scholars and practitioners have been attempting to identify the
mechanism that can improve conflict management skills. Researchers have also witnessed an increased interest in management in a cross cultural context (see Adler and Graham, 1989), yet the existing literature on cross cultural research is not as rich in conflict management as in other fields (Kiggundu et al., 1983; Kozan, 1997). A
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(1988) ‘Assessing the ThomasKilmann Conflict Model Survey’, Management Communication Quarterly 1(3): 321–49. Yik, M.M. and Bond, M.H. (1993) ‘Exploring the Dimensions of Chinese Person Perception with Indigenous and Imported Constructs: Creating a Culturally Balanced Scale’, International Journal of Psychology 28(1): 75–95. ZHENZHONG MA is in the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4. [email: maz@uwindsor.ca] Ma: Chinese Conflict Management Styles and Negotiation Behaviours 119 Résumé Styles de gestion des conflits et comportements de négociation en Chine: un test empirique (Chi Zhenzhong Ma) Si la Chine est devenue l’un des marchés les plus importants pour les entreprises occidentales, négocier avec les Chinois reste une entreprise relativement difficile. Des chercheurs se sont penchés sur les spécificités de la négociation et des styles de gestion des conflits en Chine, mais il restait à en apporter la preuve tangible. Cette étude tente d’illustrer la façon dont les Chinois abordent les conflits et donc influent sur leurs comportements en situation de négociation dans un contexte commercial, ce au moyen d’un test empirique sur les styles de gestion des conflits et leur impact sur les résultats des négociations. Les résultats montrent que le compromis et le fait d’éviter les conflits sont les méthodes préférées par les Chinois dans la gestion des conflits, tandis que la conciliation et la mise en concurrence mènent à davantage de satisfaction au cours des négociations commerciales. Sont ensuite abordées les implications managerielles et les études futures. Chi Zhenzhong Ma Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.