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Case 4: A Negotiation Between Chinese and Namibian Organisations in Namibia

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Managing Chinese-African Business Interactions

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in African Leadership ((PSAL))

Abstract

Negotiation between Chinese and Namibian organisations reflects the cultural differences between the two countries, particularly in terms of high-context culture and face theory. In Chinese culture, context plays an important role in interpreting meaning, while the Chinese concept of face needs to be fully understood to avoid the breakdown of intercultural business communication. In this chapter, a Chinese manager feels threatened by a Namibian manager who unintentionally causes the Chinese manager to significantly lose face. Reasons for the misunderstandings are studied from the perspective of each culture. Finally, suggestions for short-term and long-term solutions for both sides are proposed to enable the communication and transactions between the two countries to go smoothly in the future.

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Correspondence to Haiyan Zhang .

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Zhang, H., Ni, C., Wang, L. (2019). Case 4: A Negotiation Between Chinese and Namibian Organisations in Namibia. In: Mayer, CH., Louw, L., Boness, C.M. (eds) Managing Chinese-African Business Interactions. Palgrave Studies in African Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25185-7_7

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