WHAT DOES HOLISTIC THINKING MEAN IN CHINESE BUSINESS ?

        As Confucianism is the philosophical foundation of the social code of conduct shaping the Chinese culture, there are some other values originating from this ancient ideology deeply rooted in the Chinese society, like the holistic thinking, because the Chinese way of thinking is in terms of the whole, in a sense that the Chinese are willing to discuss all issues haphazardly and simultaneously, while westerners think sequentially, separating the different tasks of the negotiation one by one( J.K Sebenius, C.Qian, 2008). 

        Things are usually discussed in the order they are outlined in the contract. The Chinese have a preference for the quite well-known technique, where the buyer wants to discuss and decide on every clause separately since you can then negotiate a low price in every issue, which is something that MNCs try to avoid. They do not mind discussing item by item, but when it comes to deciding on the different issues, western companies prefer to do that in conjunction with the other issues in order to form a package deal. For example, foreigners will tell their Chinese counterpart that they are willing to give them X but then they want Y in return, hence they prefer a certain reciprocity. If you decide on each issue separately, it is easy to get into a situation where you feel forced to cave in on every issue. Consequently, it seems like western companies prefer also a holistic thinking in this type, not only the Chinese.

      Empirical data does not comply with the literature, which rather states the opposite. J. Sebanius and C.Qian (2008) declare that the Chinese think in terms of the whole and not sequentially. However, breaking up complex negotiations into a series of smaller issues is essentially avoided by many international companies as well, this is mainly due to the amount of concessions that one could give in this type of approach. In the end, while exerting cross-cultural negotiations, the holistic thinking is rather an advantageous typical Chinese cultural trait which seems to gain more influence within Western companies.