商务谈判中的礼貌策略_英文_

Biography: Chen Jun- yan, undergraduate in 2005, School of Foreign Languages of NanHua University. * Instructor. 第 19 卷南华大学学报(自然科学版)Vol. 19 2005年 9 月Journal of Nanhua University( Science and Technology)Sep. 2005 Article ID: 1673- 0062(2005)0150- 07 Politeness Principle as a Strategy in Business Negotiation CHEN Jun -yang, HU Qi -hai * ( School of Foreign Languages,Nanhua University,Hengyang, Hunan 421001, China) Abstract: Business negotiation is a process inwhich at least two or more partieswith common and conflicting interests try to reach an agreement of mutual benefits. It is essentially a kind of verbal communication activity.Whether it will succeed depends largely on the use of language. Both parties involved will endeavor to win the most benefits while maintaining cooperation with each other.Therefore it is necessary to adopt the appropriate language strategies. Among them, politeness strategy is the most commonly used one that contributes to a successful business ne - gotiation. Politeness strategy can enhance the mutual trust and understanding among negotiators so asto increase the odds for negotiation success.This paper attempts to highlight the politeness theory and analyze its application in business negotiation. Key words: business negotiation; politeness principle; FTA; pragmatic strategy 商务谈判中的礼貌策略 陈君艳, 胡启海 * ( 南华大学 外国语学院, 湖南 衡阳 421001) 摘 要: 商务谈判, 是一种为了达成协议或寻求解决问题的方法, 也是在谈判人员之 间进行的交谈、 讨论、 阐述乃至质疑、 争辩的过程. 谈判的任何一方在与对方合作的同 时, 都力图赢得最大利益. 因此, 使用有效的谈判策略是必要的. 其中, 礼貌原则策略 在商务谈判中应用极为广泛的, 也是一种行之有效的方法. 礼貌语言策略能增加谈判 者之间的信任度, 提高谈判中的自觉性, 增加谈判成功的机会, 本文试从商务谈判的 例子中分析礼貌策略的合理运用, 及其恰当表达方式. 关键词: 商务谈判; 礼貌策略; 面子威胁论; 语用策略 中图分类号: F722 文献标识码: B 1 Introduction In business, it is mostly through negotiations that exporters and importers bridge the difference and reach a fair and mutually satisfactory deal (Liao Ying, 2004: 1) . Business negotiation plays a basic part in a trans - action, because the buyers and sellers need to negotiate with each other before signing a contract. Owing to the rapid development in trading, no matter in domestic or international trade, business negotiation is revealing its own characteristics. If a negotiator is only familiar with the knowledge in trade, he might not be able to get along well with transaction. However, if he knows and utilizes some pragmatic strategies, the business activ- i tieswill proceed smoothly and lead to what is expected. Politeness, which is a social phenomenon, touches upon every aspect of life. It is of great concern with so - ciologists, sociolinguistics, social anthropologists and so - cial psychologists. They probe into the contents of po - liteness:its principle, its function, and its means. Herein the author attemptsto look into it from the prag - matic angle. Generally speaking, politeness can be con - sidered as being considerate of others in order to achie - ve some social goals, such as maximizing the benefit to self and other, minimizing the face- threatening nature of a social act, etc. The ultimate goal of politeness is / the attainment of community0 ( Leech, 1983: 104) . Polite language not only establishes and maintains but also improves the social relationship with each other. Business negotiation is a complex human activity, which involves a dynamic interpersonal action in nego - tiating. As a rule, the negotiators have to make a dec- i sion about their respectively independent objectives. Cohen Herbert, a famous American negotiating expert, points out that a successful negotiation does not mean / winning by defeating the other party, but winning by getting what both parties want0. Both parties have to compete against each other, but simultaneously they have to cooperate with each other. In the course of bus - iness negotiations, the harmonious, friendly and cooper - ative atmosphere can keep the negotiation go on smoothly.Therefore, it is necessary for the negotiators to create a friendly and cooperative situation through some appropriate strategies and tactics. Tactics is generally / the component of the strategy or activities to the suc - cess of the strategy 0( Wall, 1985: 7) . Among them, politeness can work as the effective negotiation strate - gy,which is / the broad plan or technology used to ob - tain the outcomes desired from the negotiation and re - sultant agreement0( Wall, 1985: 7) It is no doubt that the negotiators should take ad - vantage of the effects of politeness and its verbal tac - tics. To start with, the author would like to highlight some of the main theories concerning about politeness and its verbal strategies before moving into the applica - tion of politeness principle in business negotiation. 2 Politeness Principle and Relevant Theories 2. 1 Politeness Principle ( PP) and its Maxims According to the Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, politeness is defined as the combination of interpersonal consideration and linguis - tic choices affecting the form and function of linguistic interactions ( Richard et al, 2000:352) . A central concept of politeness theory is/ face0, which is taken to be important to individuals in both a positive and nega - tive aspect. At the basic level, politeness is considered to be considerate for others.Hudson thinks/ we usually try to avoid exposing other people. s weakness, or raising heated controversy, unless we are sure that it will not affect the attitude of others towards us or we are indif - ferent to their opinion0 ( 1985: 115) . In other words, politeness is of importance in promoting inter- personal relationship to achieve both individual and group goals. In order to explain the mechanisms by which peo - ple interpret conversational implicature,Grice introduc - es the Cooperative Principle ( CP) and four conversat- i onal maxims, namely, the maxim of quantity, quality, re - lation, and manner. However, sometimes the speaker seems to deliberately violate some maxims of the CP to express their idea in a more indirect way. Based on the CP, Brown B. Max- i mize benefit to other. Generosity Maxim A. Minimize benefits to self; B.Maximize cost to self. Approbation Maxim A. Minimize dispraise of other; B.Maximize praise of other. 151第 19卷 陈君艳等: 商务谈判中的礼貌策略 Modesty Maxim A. Minimize praise of self; B. Maximize dispraise of self. Agreement Maxim A. Minimize disagreement be - tween self and other; B. Maximize agreement between self and other. Sympathy Maxim A. Minimize antipathy between self and other; B. Maximize sympathy between self and other. Each maxim has two sides of a problem:the former is other- centered and the latter is self- cen - tered. The six maxims are often used in interpersonal communication. In the following parts in this paper,we. ll mainly adopt some of these maxims in our analysis of business negotiation. After Leech put forward the politeness principle, there has been great repercussions in the pragmatic field and the pragmatists have been writing articles about it, of which the face theory is getting the most at - tention. 2. 2 The Face Theory ThefacetheoryisdevelopedbyBrown Mr. Smith has no such right to decide; You see, it has become a tongue twist; there leaves no room for that all show the polemic and persuasive features of negotiation lan - guage. Under this circumstance, negotiators have to be tactful and flexible. Otherwise, they will lose their ad - vantages. Therefore, they should take some effective language strategies and tactics to realize the given goals. Below, the author will present how the politeness strategies are applied effectively in negotiation. 4 Application of Politeness Strategy in Business Negotiation 4. 1 The application of tact maxim In Leech. s Politeness Principle, tact maxim ind- i cates to minimize other. s cost and maximize other. s benefits. In business negotiation, negotiators need to set a general layout, that is to say, to make a proposal on how to develop the process, how to use the attained ma - terials and how to realize the given goal. The complexity and hardness of negotiation determine that tactful and flexible language is needed in this process, in other words, negotiators should do and say the right thing at the right time ( Oxford English Dictionary Second Ed- i tion, Vol. 17, P. 538) .The same language used in one situation may be polite, while in another it may not be so.Here is an example. An American business manager had to explain the cause of raising the price to three clients from different counties at the same time via email. To the Germany client, he presented the main points straightforward, while to the Lebanon one, he started with a detail explanation. However, to the one from Peru, he used a whole page to make a greeting, before coming to the central point. This example shows that it is necessary for the negotiators to consider the cultural and social background before negotiation. Moreover, the following ways need to be avoided: 1) The forceful tone. E. g. You would of course rather continue to do business with us because , such kind of utterance is unacceptable. If it is changed to hoping that you will continue to do business with us, then it will be much more acceptable. 2) The criticism tone.E. g.Your letter isnot clear at all; I can. t understand it. It will bemuch more polite to revise it as If I understand your letter correctly , 3) The tone of degrading others.E. g.All wise of - fice managers around the country order Gold Fish- the most efficient of all office typewriters. No one will be persuaded by such kind of way, for he has already been hurt. But if being put into such a way: Gold Fish is popular among the office managers, for its favorable qualities, why not have a try. Then this utterance is more acceptable. 4) The tone of over- humbleness. E. g. We are extremely and sincerely sorry for the error and ask that you accept our humble and sincere apology for the un - due inconvenience suffered by you. It seems more ac - ceptable to put it in this way: We are concerned about the inconvenience you have suffered, and apologize sin - cerely. Using language tactfully means to use it politely (He Ziran, 1998) .Negotiators should, according to cir - cumstances, adopt suitable language, neither being of - fensive nor over polite, and make sure the negotiation to continue in a harmonious atmosphere. 4. 2 Application of generosity maxim Generosity Maxim means to minimize self- bene - fits and to maximize self- cost. When applied in bus- i ness negotiation, it indicates that negotiators should adopt / other attitude0 rather than / self attitude0. Look at this dialogue. Mr.Qi: Mr.Kain, in honor of your second visit, I. d like to invite you to have / shuan yangrou0 at Dong Lai Shun Restaurant tomorrow evening. You know it is instant boiled mutton. Mr. Kain: Thank you. / Shuan yangrou0 of Dong Lai Shun isworld renowned but I will have headache at the thought of eating mutton. Mr.Qi: What. s the matter? Mr.Kain: The prospects of importing mutton from China are not so good, aswe are short foreign exchange this year. Mr. Qi: Egypt is a big market for the export of our beef and mutton. It would also be a great loss for us if you import nothing. We will have to work out a solu - tion. Mr. Kain: Yes. I. m here to solve the problem. 154南华大学学报(自然科学版) 2005 年 9月 Shall we be able to do a barter trade? Mr. Qi:Yes, certainly. But what commodity do you have to exchange for our beef and mutton? Mr. Kain: What about cotton? China imports huge quantities of button form Egypt every year. It is possible for us to sell cotton as payment for your beef and mut - ton? ( From 秦川5外贸英语会话6) In this dialogue, both parties consider their mutual benefits and start a successful negotiation. / Other att- i tude0 in negotiations maybe more helpful than / self at - titude0. Here are some sentences, 1) We are rushing the documents to you by Air Express. C. f. We are sending the documents to you by Air Express. Though just with a word changed in the first sentence, the speaker seemsto consider more about the listener. 2) You can choose from a very good selection of winter clothes at the China. s Autumn Export Commod- i ties Fair. C. f. We have a very good selection of winter clothes at the China-s Autumn Export Commodities Fair. Even though the second sentence is also an ac - ceptable expression, however, you can choose in the former one is more polite and agreeable. In short, / Other attitude0 shows respect to listen - ers and helps to make the negotiation go smoothly. 4. 3 Application of euphemistic expressions In the New Edition of the Oxford Concise Dictio - nary ( 1976) , euphemism is defined as the substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one. Euphemism may serve for fear of taboos or for some political disguise, but the prominent purpose is for fear of hurting other people. s feelings. According to the politeness principle, when the cost to the hearer happens, the speaker should express indirectly and mildly. Also, euphemism accords with Brown& Levin - son. s face theory. When there is a face- threatening act to the hearer. s negative face, the speaker should take a negative politeness strategy. Thus, euphemism is a kind of polite speech act from the pragmatic angle. In businessnegotiation, there are many times when euphemism should be used, for sometimes negotiators are restricted by particular time, place, and atmo - sphere, can not say directly then and there.The propose of using euphemism is to try to let the hearer catch the implied meaning.The author should try to divide these particular situations into the following categories and explain how euphemism is applied: 1) In negative sense. I agree with most of what you said, which ind- i cates that there are something in what you said that I couldn. t agree with. I. m afraid we have conflicting views on the mat- ter, which indicatesthat the speaker may make a refusal I would if I could, which shows that the speaker may not do it. 2) For criticism and question That you should have put forward this move much earlier is actually a sense of criticize, meaning that you should not change the program so late. Your design appearsvery familiar to me, and there seems no difference compared with Mr. Smith. s.This is a euphemistical way to say that your design might be a copy of Mr. Smith. s. 3) When the speaker encounters some tough questions and wants to avoid answering. E. g. ( 1) A: How you make a decision? B: Well, can I give you an answer later? The speaker here tries to express that he needs more time to consider. ( 2) I. ll convey your proposal to my boss to see what he says. This shows the proposal may not be ap - proved. In sum, euphemism can relieve the tension of the negotiating climate and break the deadlock when a ne - gotiator voices his different opinions, or get the negotia - tion stuck. Euphemism does not mean weakness in the tone of voice and attitude. Euphemistic expression not only shows the speakers. politeness, but also their vir - tues of personality,which can serve communication bet- ter. No matter how euphemistic the words are, the meanings should not be too elusive, for euphemism is not to distance people farther, but draw people nearer. As a matter of fact, it is an effective negotiating means for both sides. 5 Conclusion In international business negotiations, negotiators should follow the trade rules and meanwhile maintain their own benefits. They need to persuade their oppo - 155第 19卷 陈君艳等: 商务谈判中的礼貌策略 nents so as to make the negotiation succeed. Business negotiation is basically the verbal communication, and sometimes it is a play of languages. Negotiators should know better about the language strategies. This paper analyses the language features of business negotiation form pragmatic perspective so as to summarize the strat - egies,which will be of practical in negotiation. The pragmatist Leech proposes the politeness prin - ciple, which consists of tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. Among them, tact maxim can help the negotiators to avoid being offensive or over polite and generosity maxim would help to show the respect to other negotiators. Except for these two maxims, euphe - mistic expressions works when different opinions and direct criticism readily come out in negotiating. Vague - ness can skillfully soften up the aggressive of the voice and leave some leeway for speaker, besides fathoming the opponent. s real intention. All we do in this paper is investigating