Abstract
It is always a challenge to deal with ethical dilemmas in negotiations and it is even more difficult when the other party is from a different culture. Understanding the differences between what is ethically appropriate and what is not in an international context has thus become important for a better understanding of different negotiation practices across the globe. This study explores the likelihood of Chinese negotiators’ using unethical strategies in negotiations by examining Chinese managerial employees’ perceived appropriateness of five categories of ethically questionable strategies. The results show that, in comparison with their counterparts from the USA, Chinese managers are more likely to consider it appropriate to use ethically questionable negotiation strategies in all five categories except the traditional bargaining strategies. In addition, contrary to the West where women tend to maintain higher ethical standards, no gender difference is found in China in the perceived appropriateness of using these strategies in all but one category. Implications for negotiation practitioners and international managers that often participate in international negotiations with the Chinese are then discussed, along with potential future research directions.
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This study was partially supported by a Standard Research Grant of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC#410-2009-0271) and a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant #71072087).
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Ma, Z., Liang, D. & Chen, H. Negotiating with the Chinese: Are They More Likely to Use Unethical Strategies?. Group Decis Negot 22, 641–655 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-012-9285-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-012-9285-7