文化全球化背景下中美商务沟通中的跨文化冲突分析--毕业论文.docx

毕业论文

An Analysis of the Cross-cultural Conflicts in Sino-American Business Communication under the Background of Cultural Globalization
文化全球化背景下中美商务沟通中的跨文化冲突分析

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2017 年 月 日

第 V 页

Acknowledgements
The thesis is completed although a lot to be desired. While the completion the thesis cannot be separated from the great help of a lot of people. I would like to extend my warmest gratitude and genuine appreciation to those who give me support and assistance directly and indirectly during the process of making the research.
First and foremost, I would like to address my special thanks to my erudite and amiable supervisor, associate professor Zhang. He provides me valuable advice and suggestions about thesis as well as many life truth. His righteous scholarship and upright life attitude influenced me deeply.
Besides, I want to show my gratitude to all the teachers in the Foreign Language College. Their earnest teachings not only gave me a lot of knowledge but also helped me to set up correct outlook on life.
Thirdly, I would like to express my gratefulness to my dearest classmates such as Dong Fuhong and Wang Huifang. They always gave me advice friendly and encouraged me heartily during the time I completing the thesis.
Last but not least, I want to give my thanks to my patents. Their earnest support and patiently care is the wealth of my whole life.

An Analysis of the Cross-cultural Conflicts in Sino-America Business Communication

Abstract
With the development of globalization, the communication among countries is more and more frequent. A variety of joint ventures and foreign-funded enterprises emerges in China, which facilitate the diversification of Chinese economic forms as well as the prosperity of Chinese economy. After entering 21th century, business communication between China and America increase rapidly. Both China and America attach great importance on the bilateral trade relations. Cultural differences between China and the America is the biggest obstacle to the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, which is reflected in all aspects, including values, beliefs, ways of thinking, communication, etc. It is supposed to be solved in the background of Cultural globalization. Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. This paper is supposed to analyze the different cultures between China and America under the background of cultural globalization, finding out the existing conflicts in the business communication, including the conflicts in daily communication and business negotiation, language styles and context as well as different working groups and identities. The cause for the cultural conflicts are also to be discussed from the cultural personality, development and interests. Through the discussion of cultural conflicts, the solutions are to be raised so that improve the efficiency of the business communication between China and America.

Key words: Inter-cultural conflicts, Sino-America business communication, Cultural globalization
文化全球化背景下中美商务沟通中的跨文化冲突分析
摘 要
随着全球化的发展， 国与国之间的交往日益频繁。大量的中外合资、外资企业在中国如雨后春笋般出现，促进了国内经济形式的多样化和中国经济的繁荣。进入21世纪后，中美之间的商务交流骤增，两国对双边贸易关系都极为看重。而文化的不同则成为两国双边贸易关系发展的最大障碍，这种障碍反映在方方面面，如价值观、信仰、思维方式等方面的不同。而这种不同可以在文化全球化的背景下得以解决。文化全球化是指世界范围内传播思想、意义、价值观等，以扩大和强化社会关系，文化的循环使得个体能够跨越国家和区域的边界来扩展社会关系，对中美商务交流的发展具有重大意义，同时也有利于世界文化的融合以及国与国之间冲突和障碍的消除。本文在文化全球化的背景下，分析中美两国不同的文化，包括日常交流和商务谈判、语言风格和语境、工作团体与身份认同等方面的不同。本文也将从文化性格、发展与利益等方面讨论中美文化差异的根源。通过以上分析，文章会提出解决中美商务交流中跨文化冲突的办法，以提高中美商务沟通效率和质量。

关键词：跨文化冲突，中美商务沟通，文化全球化

Contents

Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………..I
Abstract in English…………………...………………………………………………………II
Abstract in Chinese ………………………………………… …………………………….. IV
1 Introduction ………………………………………..……………………………………..1
2 Literature Review ……...........………………………………….………...……….……...3
2.1 Inter-cultural Communication ………………….…………….………………...…....3
2.2 Definition and Features of Culture…………………………………..……………….4
2.3 Features of Inter-cultural Conflicts in Business Communication under the Background of Cultural Globalization…………………………………..………………..............................5
2.4 Previous Studies at Home and Abroad………………………………….....…………6
3 Inter-cultural Conflicts in Business Communication between China and America under the Background of Cultural Globalization………………………………….............7
3.1 Inter-cultural Conflicts in Business Communication Occasions.................................7
3.1.1 Daily Communication…………………………………..………...……..........7
3.1.2 Business Negotiations…………………………………..…………...…..........8
3.2 Inter-cultural Conflicts in Business Communication Objects......................................9
3.2.1 Different Working Groups…………………………………..……...………...9
3.2.2 Different Identities…………………………………..………………............10
3.3 Inter-cultural Conflicts in Business Communication Language Uses.......................11
3.3.1 Language Styles…………………………………..……………....................11
3.3.2 Language Contexts……………………............……………..………………12
3.4 Case Analysis…………………………………..………………...............................12
4 Analysis of the Causes of the Cross Cultural Conflicts in Sino American Business Communication…………………………………..……………….........................................14
4.1 Differences in Cultural Personality………………………...………..……..17
4.2 Different Levels of Cultural Development………………..……………….18
4.3 The Interests have changed under the Globalization...................................18
5 Analysis of the Countermeasures for Solving Cross Cultural Conflicts in Sino American Business Communication…………………………………..………………........18
5.1 Enhance the sensitivity of cross-cultural ideas.............................................20
5.2 Strengthen communication and establish a global cultural view..................21
5.3 Seek common ground and strengthen cross-cultural awareness...................22
6 Conclusion……………………………………...…………………………….….……….23
Notes …………………………………...………………………………………...….…….…25
Bibliography…………………………………...………………………………...…..………26

黄河科技学院毕业论文 第 24 页

An Analysis of Cross-cultural Conflicts in Sino-America Business Communication under the Background of Cultural Globalization

1 Introduction
With the development of globalization, business communication among countries is more and more frequent. Cooperation and competition is the main stream in the business communication, which determines the important position of countries’ interaction and communication. China and America are two great powers in the world. There are many connections not only in politics but also in economy. In 1980s, China put forward the policy of reform and opening up, the business relationships with countries in the world are closer, especially with America. After entering WTO, Business communication between China and America became more frequent. It can be seen that the business communication between China and America is an important part for Chinese foreign trade. The conflicts always pose challenge and instability to business communication between China and American. Hence it is urgent to solve the inter-cultural conflicts in order to advance the business communication.
This paper is divided into four parts: the first part is introduction, which introduces the cultural globalization, the business communication between China and America and the significance of the study. The second part is literature review, expounding the definition of culture, inter-cultural communication and the previous study at home and abroad. The third part is the body of the research, including the inter-cultural conflicts in the Sino-America business communication, the cause of the conflicts and the solutions to the inter-cultural conflicts between China and America. The inter-cultural conflicts in Sino-America business communication are mainly discussed from different occasions, objects and language use. The causes of the inter-cultural conflicts are analyzed from the cultural personality, cultural development and interests. The countermeasures to the inter-cultural conflicts are mainly three points: Enhance the sensibility of cultural ideas, establish a global cultural view, seek common ground and strengthen cross-culture awareness. The fourth part is the conclusion of the whole research.

2 Cultural Globalization and Cross-Cultural Communication
2.1 Inter-cultural Communication
Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication [1]. It is used to describe the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication is sometimes used synonymously with cross-cultural communication. Many people in intercultural business communication argue that culture determines how individuals encode messages, what medium they choose for transmitting them, and the way messages are interpreted [2].
With regard to intercultural communication proper, it studies situations where people from different cultural backgrounds interact. Aside from language, intercultural communication focuses on social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different cultures, languages and customs of people from other countries. Intercultural communication is also referred to as the base for international businesses.
The inter-cultural communication discussed here is the business communication between China and America. Because of the different cultural backgrounds, Chinese and American businessmen are supposed to performance in different ways [3]. And the differences will affect the business behavior and style, which will restrict the business activity process. Therefore, the business communication between China and America is not only the economic contacts, but also the cultural collision and communication. Thus, it is of great importance to acquire the knowledge of inter-cultural communication in order to make the business activity carry out smoothly.
2.2 Definition and Features of Culture
Culture can be defined in numerous ways. In the words of anthropologist Tylor, it is “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society [4].” Alternatively, in a contemporary variant, “Culture is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common[5]”. The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time.”
As a defining aspect of what it means to be human, culture is a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through social learning in human societies [6]. The word is used in a general sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols and to act imaginatively and creatively. It is also used to denote the complex networks of practices and accumulated knowledge and ideas that is transmitted through social interaction and exist in specific human groups. The concept of material culture covers the physical expressions of culture, such as technology, architecture and art. Whereas the immaterial culture such as mythology, philosophy, literature and science make up the intangible cultural heritage of a society [7].
Different cultures acquire different features. As for the business culture, in China, there is authority structure in business world. Although reform and political democratization process have changed the situation in-depth, the trend is corrected gradually, the culture of a nation is the result of long time disposition. Therefore, there is still large gap in business power. Due to many historical reasons, China’s enterprises are characterized by starting late and small scale. The obvious characteristic in commercial activities is local entrepreneurial culture in China. While there is totally different business cultural in America, American enterprises emphasize on individual value, pay attention to the cultivation of staff and respect for customers [8]. They are inclined to distribute the leadership to company staff and adhere to the company’s values and philosophy. The differences in business cultures between China and America will surely result in the differences in business behavior.
2.3 Features of Inter-cultural Conflicts in Business Communication under the background of Cultural Globalization
Since China and America owns different culture, during the process of business communication, there are inter-cultural conflicts. And there are certain features of the inter-cultural conflicts.
First, the inter-cultural conflicts are originated from the immaterial culture, such as the value, philosophy, and the function system and so on. And since it is on the mental level, the conflicts are not easy to be solved.
Second, some inter-cultural conflicts in business communication come from the different beliefs and expectations. It reflects the mental and material requirements of the both sides, which render the formation of bilateral thinking mode.
Third, the inter-cultural conflicts not always exert negative effect on the business activities. Since it is benefit to the awareness of the differences of culture.
Fourth, the inter-cultural conflicts are uncontrollable. Differences in culture sometimes are unpredictable, which determine the uncontrollability of the inter-cultural conflicts [9].
2.4 Precious Studies at Home and Abroad
With the development of the business communication between China and America, the inter-cultural difference reveals and there are inter-cultural conflicts every now and then. In terms of the Sino-America business communication, many scholars and researchers made researches about the field.
Ronald Applbaum (2006) holds that the solutions to the inter-cultural conflicts in business communication should not only grasp the knowledge of the other culture but also should stand on the other pos