Negotiating With China: Exploratory Study Of Relationship-Building

Although some have stressed the importance of relationshipbuilding in business negotiations in East Asia and in other parts of the world, there exists a lack of empirical evidence describing the nature of relationship-building through negotiations or the contributions of relationship-building to negotiation outcomes. This article addresses relationship-building throughout the process of negotiations within a Chinese context. Interviews conducted in two East Asian countries provided empirical evidence that relationship-building during each phase of negotiations enhances negotiations outcomes in East Asia. Direction is provided for preliminary formulation of a model of Chinese negotiations.