US negotiators are more likely to use unethical tactics in business talks with Chinese than with other Americans, while Chinese are more likely to be unethical when dealing with people from their own country, according to research.
A study, by the Cambridge Judge Business School in collaboration with US and Chinese academics, looked at the propensity of Americans and Chinese to use “ethically questionable” negotiating strategies, such as lying, spying or trying to get their counterparty fired.
“American participants were significantly more likely to use ethically questionable negotiation tactics in intercultural negotiations with Chinese counterparts than in intra-cultural negotiations with American counterparts,” the study found.