【正文】 cialized information on their special fields. Their information concentrates on business practices, legislative or regulatory requirements, and political stability, as well as trade and financial data. Going directly to these service anizations for what you need is often sufficient and moneysaving. Directories and newsletters. A large number of industry directories are available on local, national, and international levels. The directories primarily serve to identify firms and to provide very general background information, such as the name of the chief executive officer, the level of capitalization of the firm, the location, the address and telephone number, and some description of the firm’s products. nline service. One swift way to get at needed information and analysis in the sea of information is to make use of online service. With electronic information services, search results can be obtained within minutes. 3. Local laws and regulations When going international, a negotiator is exposed to an environment. Many of the assumptions on which people conduct their activities may not hold true internationally. They have learnt that doing business in different countries and with different people is not at all an easy task. A qualified negotiator must have a good understanding of his counterpart’s country’s economic as well as political situations as the whole. In addition, he must understand pertinent/relevant issues in order to avoid violating local laws. The following illustrations give a glimpse of the setback in international business activities due to lack of such knowledge. ? Case A Chinese engineering pany in Gabon dismissed quite a number of local workers after it had pleted the framework of a construction, which gave rise to a strike lasting for 40 days. The pany had to hold a tough negotiation with the local workers, who demanded a large sum of subsidies in line with the labor law of the country. Only by this time was the pany aware of their ignorance of the local law and heavy losses thus happened. The pany was informed that, according to Gabon’s labor law, a casual laborer automatically turns into a permanent laborer if he keeps the job for a week without being fired. As a permanent laborer, he is entitled to family subsidies (enough for two wives and three kids), transportation fee and unemployment subsidies. The result of the negotiation was obvious the pany had to pay a large sum of subsidies which were not included in the budget. ? 4. Information on financial credit Financial credit means information on the three C’s: character, capacity and capitalthe of the counterpart, his to repay, and the soundness of his_____ position. Some Chinese panies do not take investigation on their trade partners’ financial position seriously and thus induce great losses to their panies. ? Case A pany in Suzhou hoped to tab into the market of South Africa. Out of consideration of cautiousness, they sent a mission to the country for field survey. The meeting with the general manager was arranged in a welllighted and carefully furnished room in a superb office mansion. The mission was received at the gate of the elevator and immediately led to the meeting room by a smiling lady. The general manger, having an expensive cigar between his fingers and wearing confident expression in his face, introduced his pany and his way of management in a detailed and enthusiastic manner. The introduction and the whole atmosphere convinced the mission of their partner’s financial strength and so as soon as they returned back to China, they sent the first batch of goods worth more than $1 million to their “rich” partner, but they did not receive anything in return. Only some time later did they find out what they saw in the room was a carefully arranged “trap”: The fatty general manager was an invited local actor and the receptionist lady was the real manager, and the well furnished and decorated meeting room was leased for this special purpose. ? 5. Market survey Market research is always an indispensable part of work. Marketing research should begin with consumers’ consumption , desires and needs, their present demand and demand, preference to what kind of products and loyalty to which . Other information and data include: Preliminary screening of various markets such as locality of markets,________ from warehouses to markets and connection between individual markets。 Sales information: prices, sales volume in the and sales target in future。 Competition: quantity of same or identical products, spending on sales promotion, market peration ratio which measures the pany’s share of the market sales, of products, designing, packing and___________ service。 Mode of distribution: distribution work, sales channels, and retail’s condition and storehouses. STAFFING NEGOTIATION TEAMS組建談判小組 Negotiation team members may be as as one single person when it is one to one type of negotiation。 a situation where the issues involved are of nature or just routine business deal. However, frequently plex negotiations will require a careful consideration of choice of members. Generally speaking, a negotiation team consists of a team leader or_____ negotiator and an if it is a bilateral negotiation. Other key members of the team include: Professionals and representing their special fields, such as production, sales promotion, technology, financial accounting, engineering, law and other areas concerned with a specific negotiation. ? 1. Team leaders A qualified chief negotiator should be both in the areas related with negotiati