The Chinese are generally thought to be good negotiators. As China opens itself to Western business, despite Tiananmen Square, Westerners must learn to cope with their negotiating style. What can Western negotiators learn from the different styles of their Chinese counterparts? What behaviours contribute to the success of the Chinese negotiators? What is the role of 'face'? Despite some obvious differences, this paper suggests that there may be much more in common with Western styles than is often thought.

Negotiation: Lessons from behind the Bamboo Curtain

During the 1950s and 1960s the excessive demand for labour in industrialised Western Europe produced an acceptance of any available manpower in industry. As a consequence, in areas that experienced immigration, a large proportion of the indigenous workforce was either dispersed or had job aspirations raised and now evidences a relutance to undertake low level work. Consequently the migrants were and still are recruited for repetitive and menial work, as well as work involving anti‐social hours. As a consequence of the job level restrictions there was cultural clustering in particular areas of the shop floor which led to communication problems. The following example is typical of those problems management was having to meet.

M.J. Fitzgerald

Papers

Assessing Spoken English on the Shop Floor.