Relationality in Business Negotiations: Evidence from China

Abstract

Studies on business negotiations have long held an arelational perspective on inherently interdependent and relational phenomena. Focusing on inter-firm business negotiations in a typical high relational social context (i.e., China), this research unraveled the complex mechanism underlying negotiation interactions by analyzing the role of relational elements embedded in negotiators’ communication process. The findings revealed positive impacts of relational orientation on both affective and instrumental relational commitment, the negative impact of instrumental relational commitment on information exchange quality, and the mediating role of information exchange quality between affective relational commitment and both dimensions of relational capital. This study supports the saliency of relationality in daily business negotiations. Keywords: Negotiation, Relationality, Guanxi, Relational Orientation, Relational Commitment, Relational Capital To cite this document: Junjun Cheng, Yimin Huang, and Yong Su, "Relationality in Business Negotiations: Evidence from China", Contemporary Management Research, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 497-524, 2016. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/cmr.16024