An empirical study of business activities and negotiation styles between Taiwan and mainland China

Abstract

Due to political issues in the past 60 years, the differences between Mainland China and Taiwan are only not in geographic location, but also in physical and psychological factors. The purpose of the study was to discuss whether these cultural differences influence the business negotiating behavior between Mainland China and Taiwan. Research questionnaires were given out to businessmen in both Taiwan and Mainland China. The framework of this research was based on the dual concern model by Virginia Pearson, covering the tendencies of negotiations and categorizing respondents’ attitudes into five negotiation styles; accommodation, collaboration, avoidance, competition, and consultation. The results indicated that the accommodation, avoidance and competition styles are influenced by Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese cultural areas. The findings also indicated the existence of large cultural and negotiation differences between Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese businessmen. Key words: Negotiation styles, culture differences, dual concern model, Taiwanese merchant, Chinese merchant.