国际商务谈判中的后现代主义思维

陈珊珊

【摘 要】20世紀末发展起来的后现代主义是当代西方最具影响力的哲学文化思潮，他的思想新颖独特，是一种与现代主义相对的一种新思想，主张一种“文化批评”的精神，他强调对现代主义的批判和创新，强调与过去的旧的传统的事物的不同，倡导创造性，批判性和多元化。后现代主义的“平等”概念和“多元”概念，与谈判中的“平等原则”和寻求“双赢”结局的思维过程不谋而合；甘长银教授（2007： 105）对后现代主义思维在商务谈判中的双赢式的谈判目标和创新型文化进行辩证的分析，并多次强调多元性，和谐和平等建设性的后现代主义思想，此篇论文主要列举后现代主义思维形态里的三种意识形态：多元化思维，创造性思维 和批判性思维，这三种思维可以有效的运用到国际商务谈判当中，尽可能的使谈判能够顺利进行并实现双赢的结局。

【关键词】后现代主义；思维；商务；谈判

I Introduction

1.1The Definition of International Business Negotiation

There are many definitions of what negotiation actually is， however， the creation of the negotiation must have its reason. In my perspective， the purpose of negotiation is to redistribute that potential. As for Business negotiation， it can be happened between two or more people， who intended to aim at compromise. From the Oxford dictionary （2004） it regards negotiation as “Formal discussion between people who are trying to reach an agreement.”

With the development of globalization， negotiation pushes forward the new level of the relationship between negotiations and globalization and it has become a new level of science. Negotiators should know more knowledge among economics， psychology， and sociology. In order to find the weakness of the opposite side negotiators， it is better for the negotiators to learn the application of psychology from microcosmic aspect. In my perspective， negotiation is an art， an art of communication skills that need the ability to persuade adversaries. During the negotiation， every moment is crucial and it is a complex process that requires extensive research in order to achieve the target.

There are many kinds of negotiation among insurance，term of payment，rent， investment and so on. In the detail of the negotiations progress， one have to do well prepare after decide of negotiations content. And do well prepare for the professional terms， the relative language. Only when negotiator chooses the correct negotiation language and analysis well of the data， can negotiator make negotiation going smoothly and make others understand. Meanwhile， it is important to pay attention to the logical of the language when put forward questions， answer questions or try to persuade the opponent. It is general acknowledge that during international business everything is negotiable， there are no situations where the seller and the buyer accept an agreement phrased as "Take it or leave it"， and they will do everything they can that will achieve the greatest benefit for them.

1.2The Definition of Post-modernism

According to Steven Best and Douglas Kellner（2001：6）， the terms “post” means the ending of something old and the creativity of something new， which is used for the sequence of separation from different periods of history， such as modernism and post modernism； nowadays， it has becomes the main current and wide range of applications.

Postmodernism appears after modernism. As for the relationship between modernism and post modernism someone thinks that it is like father and son， while others think that it is a kind of move forward and back between “modern” and “post”， or continuity between them.

What is postmodernism？ The thinking of postmodernism has turned out to be a sense of Anti-modernism， it is according to a famous Eco-philosopher—Gails definition of post-modernism：

Post-modernism should be understood as a tradition， and that tradition opposes to the traditional thinking of modernity which is dominant in status， and it tries to pursue a variety of assumptions of modern， on this basis， to develop a new relationship between people and people， people and the world. （Keller， C & Anne， D， 2002：32， cited in Dave Robinson， 2005：14-15.）

About the creation of postmodernism， it was created during World War II. At that time， it has shown many new high-tech weapons； meanwhile， it brought about the hugest disaster of human beings， thousands of people were suffering from war and they had to immigrate from south to north， east to west， having no place for refuge， having no food to eat. At this time， people began to think about some questions like this： what the real happiness is for human beings to seek for？ High-tech machines？ More power under control？ Is it needed for human to sacrifice for the science？ What is more， people began to realize that there were some problems for the science. Albert Einstein， who was the great physicist in the world， may not think that his invention of nuclear would be the most destructive weapon to human beings themselves. Therefore， people begin to think about the essence of their peaceful life， non-violence， non-war， non-racial prejudice… etc. What they need is just freedom， equality and respect.

It shows that along with the development of modernism， society induces a series of problems， such as nuclear weapons， environmental pollution， national contradiction and national conflict. As time goes by， modernism is not enjoying popular support although modernism tries to reduce the inequalities of capitalist society.

The most attractive point of postmodernism is its opposition to the traditional ideology， a challenge to the old mode of thinking； it provided a new mode of thinking of our world.

Undoubtedly， the appearance of post-modernism seems to be a challenge and a kind of critique for modernism； on account of social regime， people had not seen their dreaming life as Utopia. Therefore， it brings about the post-modernism. Postmodernists advocated the coordination of life condition between human and nature with the unique view point of ecology about environmental protection which is against modernisms ideology of technology.

Nowadays， Postmodernisms ideology exerts great influences on art， literature， and architecture， aiming at creating the difference from modernism.

II.Post-modernisms Ideology

In the complicated negotiation activities， the difference in negotiation thinking is crucial to the result of the negotiation， depending on the expertise of the negotiators. The negotiator must brainstorm to think up with some new ideas on the spot. We all know that some negotiations are so important that skilled negotiators try to achieve a win-win ending. Thus， it is vital for negotiators to know how to make the situation under control.

With the development of the current global market， business negotiation has been a key part of business unit， whether small or big. The importance of business negotiation is to make sure that the company can and will continue to thrive， grow and become leaders in their field of business.

During the international business negotiation， while both parties in the debate are often hampered by unforeseen situation， it requires closer relations for negotiator with logic and rational thinking in order to succeed in the negotiation. A good debater should not only be quick thinking and logical， but also be proficiently trained in this area. Obviously， the precondition of a negotiator is to use correct strategy and modes of thinking to deal with his opponent. For a success in the negotiation， it is needed for a negotiator to practice， learn more knowledge about this field to find a correct and scientific mode of thinking in the international negotiation. As a mainstream of the time， the ideology of post-modernism is a new way of thinking that the negotiators need to take into consideration， to validly utilize the advantage of this ideology in order to lead a good progress in the international negotiation. Therefore， it is primary for both parties to seek for possible measures to gain the maximum profit of both parties. What is more， a win-win outcome in the international negotiation will be the most successful negotiation.

What is postmodernism？ What is the ideology of postmodernism？ Above all， the definition of post-modernism has explained that the “postmodern” in philosophy is a way of thinking. So， what kind of ideology is it？ My explanations are as follows.

2.1Pluralistic Thinking

Before World War II， the Western capitalism occupied the dominant position of the world， and after World War II， the situation of the world has become multi-political， multicultural and multi-ethic. Nowadays， the sense of pluralism is easy to be found out in the most representative counties such as United States and Canada， which consist of people all over the world with different religious beliefs， cultural backgrounds， colors of skin， languages， etc. Those people maybe immigrants from UK， European continent， Asia， or Africa. We are living in an era of globalization. What is more， as the development of global economic， there are more and more multinational companies which have play an important role in the worlds economic development. Multinational enterprises do business with other companies across the world. Therefore， it is important for a negotiator to learn other cultures in order to avoid the appearance of cultural insensitivity.

Wang Zhihe（2006：225） points out that on the basis of Dualism， post-modernism emphasizes on pluralistic and multi-perspective. With the help of multi-perspective viewpoints， people can avoid observing objects with single angle. Pos-modernism is playing an important role in the migration of the world. According to Feyerabends methodology of pluralism， when one observe objects， there are different points of view which should be allowed to use as multiple modes of thinking closer to the truth.

Pluralistic thinking is a way to broaden peoples views for resolving the problem， or to give an overall answer. In line with Zhou Xiaoju（2010：55）s definition， pluralistic thinking comes from different aspects， different points of view， connecting with multi-perspective thinking ， revealing the essence of things and the answer of problems. In the points of Gilles Louis Réné Deleuze （a French postmodern philosopher）， pluralism means things have sense， and many things can be seen as examples of a variety of things， so as to promote a multi-perspective way of thinking （David Ray Griffin， 2005：6）.

In the area of philosophy， Nietzsche （Best， S. &Kellner， 2001：6）， is a key person for the development of post-modernism， and he had set the foundation stone of the postmodernism. Nietzsches philosophy used assumptions with multi-perspective views to solve problems： a kind of perspective is a pair of eyes， a mode to regard problems. The more perspectives he has， the more things he may find， especially the one who has better understanding of specific phenomenon in details.

2.2Creative Thinking

Looking forward to the future， it is believed that some post-modernism ideology that exhibits great independence will surly disappear， but some of them full of vitality thought will have no doubt to become classic. As a “different vision” and “different idea”， it inspires people to think， to invent and to create. The product of “creation” has been typically defined in one or two ways as something historically new. The most obvious feature of post-modern is its emphasis on the break with the modern， wanting to create something unprecedented. What counts as “new” may refer to the individual creator.

The creation of post-modernism is not merely arbitrary， but to follow the order， and to follow the disorder， which is to say that this kind of creation is not the imagination that is far away from reality， but to follow the law of social development.

That creativity not only brings natural order， but also social order. The post-modernists expound that the creativity is the human “nature”； it is useful for negotiators to own creative thinking， when it is found that the old way of thinking is hard to solve issues， resulting in having to try to figure out other ways to solve problems. What is more， it will cause deadlock if a negotiator lacks creative thinking. Thus， in order to reach an agreement， it requires negotiators to use creative thinking to find out the cooperative possibility of both parties.

2.3Critical Thinking

Logical thinking has become popular in peoples life because it has been widely used in the developmental history of high-tech machines as well as in the area of science such as mathematics， architecture， chemistry， etc.

With the development of modern society， we regard science as a good vehicle that leads our life towards high-tech machine. However， postmodernists find that people are more likely to think over and solve problems with rational modes of thinking， and reject to critical thinking. Additionally， year by year peoples life has been with more machines over around， and they also lose something when they gain something and it happens to the balance between environment and science； at this time， human beings are more and more concerned with science and ignore the disappearance of our original life environment. Under such circumstances， it gives birth to post-modernism， for people are unsatisfied with modernization， which is to say that post-modernists are born with the modernists who focus on science and technology excessively and go against the sustainable development of society. All in all， the main reason of post-modernisms existence is to neglect and criticize the modernism. Zhang Shiying （2007： 43-48） mentions that the characteristics of postmodernism are critical and surpass the traditional culture.

Rene Descartes is a famous philosopher， whos famous for thought of skepticism as “I think， therefore I am” together with “To doubt everything”. Therefore， based on the logical aspect， distinguishes between postmodernism and Rene Descartes critical thinking is that： postmodernist analyses the phenomenon of reality， predicting the adverse effect on human beings future.

III.Post-modernisms Ideology in International Business Negotiation

3.1The Application of Pluralistic Thinking in International Business Negotiation

During the international negotiation the atmosphere is full of conflicts. The discussions and atmosphere surrounding international business negotiation can be diversified. Thus， although we have got prepared for the business negotiation， there will be some situations we can not predict and sometimes we can not realize the ending we have achieved. Anyway， it is not a proper way to implement items by force.

According to Professor Gun Changyin（2007： 105）， Postmodernists thinking maintains different principles and dialogue rules. Therefore， postmodernism in international business negotiation should follow pluralistic thinking modes and dialectical logic.

The main characteristic of postmodernism is pluralism and it shows the post-modernists respect and accept of the “differences”. Hence， it advocates that people shall respect each other no matter where he comes from and what language he speaks； this thinking is similar with the Chinese Confucianism advocating for social harmony and humanism.

We are living in a world of pluralism， such as multi-culture and multi-nation international companies， mixing with people from all over the world. Surely， if one wants to work in such companies， he has to accept each others race， nationality and religion； in my perspective， cultural barriers should no longer become barriers with post-modernisms ideology.

While people look on the same thing， there can be different viewpoints. There is a story about the pluralistic mode of thinking. Once， there were two market investigators going to Africa to investigate the leather shoes market. When they saw the situation of local market， one said： “Everyone here does not wear shoes， so there has no market； while the other said： “Everyone here needs shoes， the market potential is huge”.

The U.K scholars， George Holmes and Stan Glaser pointed out that during the negotiation it was possible to achieve win-win outcome， because both parties have their own principal items to take into consideration. But， those items were invisible， which was the bottom that one side didnt want his opponent to know， thus， it required negotiation. （Bai Yuan， 2002：51）

Obviously， during the negotiation， to give the opponent some profit in some conditions is very important； the win-win outcome can be realized by this method. In the conversation， two sides dissent deeply on the companys core， which is fruitless to continue the negotiation. There are many improper modes of asking and answering or they tend towards the wrong way of treating others equally. Both sides should calm down and think what the essential problem needs to be solved and from new perspective seek for their own profit and requirement； meanwhile， from opposite parties perspective， one realizes the opponents profit and requirements. Thus， it brings about the new understanding and development of both parties.

It is important to learn how to see things with pluralistic thinking and to make a decision without being affected by the factors of characteristic and psychology. A negotiator must avoid sweeping and see the trees without seeing the forest， seeing things in the others position， pretending to be them， and thinking about how to solve this problem if that is you， in order to stay calm and to judge things correctly.

3.2The Application of Creative Thinking in International Business Negotiation

According to the changeable negotiation situation， a negotiator should create a flexible strategy in order to break the fixed mode of thinking.

Negotiator can move to another topic while their opponents suggestion is only beneficial to them. For example， when opponents complain that the price of goods is higher than expected， at this moment， negotiators can focus on the quality and outstand the their quality of the products， and compare with other products， which may make opponents have nothing to say.

To build up a win-win solution for the best interests of both parties， there is one way of knowing what opponents are thinking. Consequently， negotiator can ask an exploratory question， like： “What makes you believe that our company can make agreement with your company？” Then， they will give the information about what they need， what they want most. To know the essential problem and then find out a proper way to fulfill both side in order to hammer out an agreement. Generally， negotiator can strive for quoted first if do well prepare and know opponent well； On the other hand， if opponent is professional in this field， we can choose to quoted later， try to gain some information from opponents quotation and change our strategy. Lionel Giles & Robert L Cantrell （2003：6） give a well expression why knowing the enemy well is important：

If you know the enemy and know yourself， you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy， for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself， you will succumb in every battle.

Possessing creative thinking， negotiators can make their suggestions jump from one article to another， such as： “I really appreciate if you agree with my point about article A， and in return， I can compromise my proposal in article B. Negotiators can look upon problems in all-around ways， in my point， good negotiators should explore kinds of solution that save tA kind of situation exists， that opponents may not notice some of the article which can be changed or negotiated. In such case， negotiators can give opponents a creative suggestion or a proposal that is worth intensive study， which is able to make negotiators occupy the leading position of negotiation. Sometimes， even though we can not agree with some opponents suggestions， but we can mention the opponents about what details they have neglect and stress on the aspect of how to make both parties mutual benefit. If both parties can not make agreement on some problems， it is better to put these problems aside and change to anther topic. Such as when both parties can not make an agreement on the term of price indeed， negotiators can give a suggestive suggestion as “we can make this problems for further consideration， can we discuss the term of payment and deliver term first. Ultimately， negotiation will continue as the old saying goes “Every cloud has a silver lining”.

3.3The Application of Critical Thinking in International Business Negotiation

What kind of thinking can be called critical thinking？ On the basis of Richard Paul and Linda Elder（Paul， R. & Elder， L， 2006：450-451， cited in Liu Yanping， 2010）， the definition of “critical thinking” is： use of appropriate standards to evaluate things， in order to judge the value of things and then make reasonable judgments. It will be helpful for negotiators to make used of critical thinking in the negotiation.

It is well known that thinking is used to solve problems and it is also a good tool for brain training. As for critical thinking， it is a great mode of thinking to know and explore a correct way to solve problems with self-asking like “why” and to think the negative aspects with asking questions like “what if the opposite negotiators information is wrong， what if he lies to me？” Therefore， critical thinking is a good mode of thinking that avoids missing problems and avoid following others perspective blinding. When we are thinking of problems with one perspective， resolution is inaccurate and it is hence limited if we solve problems with critical thinking and negative attitude； what is more， in my point， nothing is absolutely right and absolutely wrong， there must be something we can find to disprove an argument. We shall utilize well our brain and search for better answer.

According to Luo Nan（2004：146）， Communication is an important part in negotiation； effective and successful communication progress needs both parties to provide logical and diversified value and to treat their opponents as a mirror so as to self-criticize and self-reflect.

Critical thinking is use for evaluate the information， in order to accept or refuse the information. There are many skill of critical thinking， such as distinguish which is the fact and which is negotiators self perspective， find the mistake around the progress of ratiocination ， and to judge how trustiness of evidences. Generally， this kind of self-criticize can use for doubt about the data such as numbers， location， time， with question as “why”， “how”， “when”.

IV The Impacts of Postmodernisms Ideology in International Business Negotiation

4.1To Avoid Deadlock in the International Business Negotiation

That deadlock between negotiators can be caused by culture， religions and different social values. Therefore， such different backgrounds can lead to misunderstandings in negotiations， which also can reinforce prejudices. Negotiator with postmodernists pluralistic thinking which is “seek common ground while reserving differences”， this kind of thoughts that accept the “difference” （accept the different appearance， accept the different idea） will surely lead to a well beginning of the negotiation， and this measure will make opponent a good impression. Negotiators can explore possible solutions to reduce misleads， otherwise the prejudices will affect negotiations atmosphere， and will not have a well beginning， let alone a successful outcome.

Deadlock is a difficult situation confronted with both parties of business. Both parties can find out an effective mode of achieving common interest， we can try to see things from the different aspects and figure out other modes in order to solve problems which cause deadlock during the negotiation. With the help of postmodernism ideology， success becomes possible and fails in negotiation can be avoided.

For constructive post-modernism， it shows that the most obvious feature of it is to advocate listening to others， learn from others and respect others. Good negotiators need to focus on the negotiation without awareness of this external factor， to accept and absorb all the different ideas.

4.2To Maintain Long-term Partnership

In our daily life， communication actions as negotiators relationships can only be found by the sellers and buyers in the retail outlets. However， in the field of global business， negotiation is not mere bargaining； it can be a crucial effect to the development of both parties long-term partnership， as the proverb goes： “Wellbegun is half done.” In order to have a good beginning of the negotiation， when treating the problems， a better way is to treat both parties relationships as lone-term relationships， and hold on the position of both sides benefit.However， in the international business negotiation， not all negotiations can be done smoothly for some situations could happen unpredicted， and sometimes the situation would be out of control. But it is needed for both of parties to realize the importance of the negotiation. Therefore， they have to control their temper and sit down back to the table peacefully. Not deal， but friends should be the principle in business. In fact， Sometimes the quality of the deal becomes second to that relationship. Besides， considering the long –term relationship， negotiation is a strategy that seeks to move both parties away from polarizing and usually entrenches positions into the realm of interests. It asks how both parties can get their interests satisfied while keeping their relationship strong. In my point， successful negotiation is neither a party that needs to feel cheated， manipulated.

We live in a pluralistic world， everything can be done together with people from all over the world， and we know that post-modernisms theory is to respect the pluralistic， in the international business negotiation Kitty O. Locker （2002：45） point out that：

Everything we do in good business communication attempts to build good will we should mind our language that is bias-free. Bias free language is language that does not discriminate against people on the basis of sex， physical condition， race， age or any other category.

4.3To Realize ‘Win-Win and ‘Mutual Benefit

Gerard I. Nierenberg， an American lawyer and author， in his book named The Art of Negotiating， gives the most representative definition of negotiation： people exchange their ideas with the purpose of changing their relationship. Nierenberg attempts to achieve “win -win” upshot； the success of negotiation shall be satisfied the need of both parties with both trying to find enough pie for everyone， like every party as a winner. He points out that negotiators need to convince adversaries to make the result like no one need to be a loser. It needs the negotiator to provide insights and techniques to resolve the crucial situations of being get nowhere. （Sun Ping， 2007：3）

The win-win strategies promoting the cooperation have been widely used in the world to decrease the confrontation and enhance the mutual benefit. There are three modes to achieve win-win strategy： ① Make sure self-benefit and self-requirement. ②Seek for the opponents benefit and requirement. ③Advance constructive proposal to settlement negotiation disputes.

In order to reach the win-win outcome and reach the mutual benefit， it is needed for both sides to find out an effectually strategy. Following story is a vivid expression about how to make things become more effective with working together while both parties all want to be the winner. Once upon a time， there are two sisters who both want the orange， but there is only one orange. Actually， the elder wants it to make orange juice and the younger wants the peel of the orange， but neither of them have ever consider just to obtain a part of the orange， and both of them want the whole orange. Therefore this problem becomes the win – lose problem.

Gan Changyin（2007：105-108） emphasizes that postmodernism advocates the harmony and mutual benefit. Thus， with postmodernism ideology， it is needed for both parties to treat each other equal first； it means negotiator should neglect the outer factor which leads to disadvantageous influence such as age， sexual distinction， and different color of skin. Thus， without the disadvantageous influence may bring out a well beginning in the negotiation.

V.Conclusion

Not the same with body-language that can be seen in appearance， the mode of thinking can merely be seen from inner space. This body language can affect the negotiation in some aspects. However， most importantly， in order to achieve success， it depends on what sort of mode of thinking one will use in the negotiation.

During the negotiation， the situation will push forward negotiators to a brain storm. Every kind of thoughts will pass through the negotiators brain which leads to the result that negotiators have to make a quick decision and find modes to reply their opponents. Negotiation is a good mode of brain training. And with more training the negotiator will better handle the complicate negotiate situation better.

No matter what kind of international situation is， good negotiators with lots of experience and good logical thinking will finally succeed. A good negotiator ought to have his mode of thinking that never shows out in appearance. This thesis analyzes this kind of skill. There are not merely three modes of thinking of post-modernisms ideology， because the three modes of thinking are more outstanding and can be used in international business negotiation.

These three modes of thinking， “pluralistic thinking”， “creative thinking” and “critical thinking” are merely a little part in the field of post-modernism. For the aspect of these three modes of thinking， I have given three examples for each other， which have shown that post-modernisms ideology can be used in international business negotiations. This theory may be hard used in practice in a short time. This postmodernisms “pluralistic thinking”， “creative thinking” and “critical thinking” are well organized by negotiators in the international business negotiation； it will be badly helpful for the success of the negotiation.

However， international business negotiation is not just inclusive of the thinking science； but composed of more knowledge in various areas. More learning and practicing is essential to become a good negotiator.

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