Look for WTO structure, rules and China’s continued membership to be major international negotiating variables within the next six months.
By Andrew Hupert
– February 2, 2012
An American, a Dutchman and a Brit walk into an open-air third-world bus stop just before dawn. They each need transport to the town – approximately three miles away. The local minivan and tuk-tuk drivers have organized themselves into a mean little mafia, and they are gouging the international tourists as they disembark from overnight buses.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 31, 2012
Chinese negotiators like building relationships as part of the deal-making process, but they aren’t typically big fans of the type of even-split, 50-50 partnerships that Westerners favor. Traditional Chinese negotiators are more comfortable with a clear hierarchy.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 25, 2012
Foxconn is a B2B outsourcer and doesn’t need a consumer-friendly brand image, but Apple can’t continue using the reverse Nuremberg defense, “it’s not our fault – we are just giving orders”.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 23, 2012
American dealmakers pressure a counterparty by asking, “What have you done for me lately?” Chinese dealmakers say, “What can you do for me tomorrow?”
By Andrew Hupert
– January 20, 2012
If Chinese dealmakers are such long-term relationship builders, how come I just got dumped? Wham, Bam, Thank You American!
By Andrew Hupert
– January 18, 2012
The American way of negotiating is not the only way, and the Chinese person across from you is struggling just as hard as you are to successfully manage the yawning gap between your cultures.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 16, 2012
Competitive-type Chinese negotiators are happy to see you walk away with no deal, but they hate the idea of you falling into the clutches of another Chinese business.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 12, 2012
In negotiation, failure is always an option. If you know what you are doing in China, it can be a damned good one.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 10, 2012
The key to successful Chinese negotiation is to start out cordial but non-committal. As the Chinese say, it is best to have many girlfriends but no wife.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 5, 2012
Many westerners treat Chinese banquets as an awkward chore or an obstacle that must be overcome before business can start. To the Chinese side, this is the business and the negotiation has already started.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 3, 2012
While American businessmen view courts of law as an arena where warriors slay or get slain, Chinese tend to see them more as sandboxes where spoiled children throw unseemly tantrums.
By Andrew Hupert
– November 10, 2011
If you are an American or European doing business in China, then your Chinese counter-party is going to outgrow you long before you outgrow him.
By Andrew Hupert
– November 8, 2011
When negotiating in China, small conflict can actually strengthen your relationship – but the key is to keep mutual trust alive.
By Andrew Hupert
– November 1, 2011
The best way to deal with business conflict in China would seem to be avoiding it completely — but as usual things are not always as simple as they seem in China.
By Andrew Hupert
– October 27, 2011
Managing conflict in China is a tough, but if you leverage on the relationships you’ve built and observe a few simple rules you might come out of your disagreement with a stronger partnership than ever.
By Andrew Hupert
– October 23, 2011
While the USA’s slow-motion self destruction will be a catastrophe, those with interests in China can at least take solace from the fact that bond holders will fare the least-worst of anyone.
By Andrew Hupert
– July 25, 2011
Getting money into China has never been more straight-forward, but once a deal goes off the rails it is often a total loss. Far from making life easier for newcomers, the polarized nature of Chinese deal making has raised the stakes and made China more dangerous.
By Andrew Hupert
– June 15, 2011
For the Chinese side technology is the goal, time is the weapon.
Chinese negotiators often assess the success or failure of a deal by the technology and IP they acquire. They don’t really care how they get it.
By Andrew Hupert
– April 18, 2011
Chinese negotiators generally consider their BATNA to be fairly strong because they operate under the assumption that there is always counter-party. Many westerners, however, confuse ‘guanxi relationship’ with ‘lifelong monogamy’.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 25, 2011
Chinese negotiators are well schooled in tai-chi tactics – and are all too happy to allow brash, confident (and well-financed) western partners and buyers to dominate business relationships until they over-extend their resources and transfer technology, know-how, and best practices.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 17, 2011
The future of US-China commerce depends on counter-parties’ ability to manage chaos and change. The same reality will govern individual businesses and industries. When entrenched players begin to lose ground to competitors – or are weakened by environmental factors – the stage is set for disruption and hyper-competition. This is not a scenario that favors soft-landings – or steady recoveries.
By Andrew Hupert
– January 7, 2011
Chinese negotiators view guanxi from a family connection as a rare commodity that they are contributing to the venture – one that will benefit the entire organization and should be borne by all beneficiaciaries.
By Andrew Hupert
– October 1, 2010
When the literature talks about ‘cultural barriers’ between China and the West, be aware that the key differences are not “fork & knife vs. chop sticks” superficialities – they are deep-seated core beliefs like guanxi vs. due diligence.
By Andrew Hupert
– September 8, 2010
Part 1: Is guanxi a real thing? What is it? China Law Blog recently posted on the basics of how to do business in China , and raised the issue of ‘guanxi’ relationships. It is a controversial point among the international community in China. Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson of CLB are not believers – [...]
By Andrew Hupert
– August 31, 2010
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