Process Ambiguities in Sino-Danish Busi ness Negotiations

Abstract

The article analyses the role played by process ambiguities in Sino-Danish
busi ness negotiations. Process ambiguities refer to perceived expectational
inconsistency concerning (i) appropriate forms of behaviour; (ii) attributional
judgements; and (iii) structuring of the negotiation process. These ambiguities
stem from dif fer enc es in negotiation scripts across Chinese and Danish cultures.
The essential ar gu ment being advanced here is that it is the effective and/or
the ineffective management of process ambiguities that shapes the evolution
of the negotiating dynamic be tween Danish and Chinese business people. An
inductive model of Sino-Dan ish business negotiations is developed that is
based on 24 interviews conducted with Danish expatriate managers in China
and 4 interviews with Chinese working in Danish companies. Implications for
research and practice are discussed.