Negotiating into China: the impact of individual perception on Chinese negotiation styles

Purpose – As one of the most important emerging markets, China presents the greatest challenge to companies that are planning to enter its market. The purpose of this study is to examine a critical process required for any successful market entry – negotiation – and explore the impact of individual perception on negotiation process within Chinese culture. Design/methodology/approach – Specifically, the paper explores how negotiators' perception of the negotiation structure and the alternatives to the negotiated agreement would affect negotiation behaviors and outcomes in a Chinese context. Findings – The results showed that the perception of an integrative potential for the negotiation situation predicted more integrative behaviors and the perception of better alternatives predicted more competitive behaviors during a negotiation simulation. Originality/value – Implications are discussed on how to negotiate into China.