A Study Case
A Canwall Case
Two Canadians representing Canwall, a manufacturer of wallpaper printing equipment, went to a town north of Shanghai in the province of Jiangsu, China, to negotiate a sale to a new wallpaper production company. Charlie Burton, the president of Canwall, was traveling with his Marketing Director, Phil Raines. The company had never before sold its equipment outside Canada, and the two Canadians were delighted with the warm reception they enjoyed in China. This wasn’t the first meeting between the Canadian company and the Chinese wallpaper factory. The manager of the Chinese company, Mr. Li, had been a member of a delegation to Canada. He had met with one of Canwall’s senior salespersons and the director of manufacturing. Subsequently a trade representative from Canada had been in China representing Canwall’s interests to Chinese manager. After those meetings and numerous letters and faxes, Canwall’s people were now ready to negotiate the sale. The day they arrived they were met at the airport in Shanghai by Manager Li himself, and transported in a chauffer-driven car 90 miles to the town. Their accommodation was in a newly built hotel. A few hours after their arrival they were treated to a 12-course banquet given by their host, with several high-level municipal officials present. This red-carpet treatment made them feel optimistic about the sale. The next day they were taken to see the sights nearby: a large port for container ships and several factories that indicated the prosperity of the region. They were eager to begin discussing the sale, but after lunch they were given time to rest. In the late afternoon one of the manager’s English-speaking employees came by with the news they would be taken to see a local dance company’s performance that night. The third day they finally sat down to meeting. Progress seemed very slow, with each side giving generalizations about itself that seemed to the Canadians to be unrelated to the sale. They
Two Canadians representing Canwall, a manufacturer of wallpaper printing equipment, went to a town north of Shanghai in the province of Jiangsu, China, to negotiate a sale to a new wallpaper production company. Charlie Burton, the president of Canwall, was traveling with his Marketing Director, Phil Raines. The company had never before sold its equipment outside Canada, and the two Canadians were delighted with the warm reception they enjoyed in China. This wasn’t the first meeting between the Canadian company and the Chinese wallpaper factory. The manager of the Chinese company, Mr. Li, had been a member of a delegation to Canada. He had met with one of Canwall’s senior salespersons and the director of manufacturing. Subsequently a trade representative from Canada had been in China representing Canwall’s interests to Chinese manager. After those meetings and numerous letters and faxes, Canwall’s people were now ready to negotiate the sale. The day they arrived they were met at the airport in Shanghai by Manager Li himself, and transported in a chauffer-driven car 90 miles to the town. Their accommodation was in a newly built hotel. A few hours after their arrival they were treated to a 12-course banquet given by their host, with several high-level municipal officials present. This red-carpet treatment made them feel optimistic about the sale. The next day they were taken to see the sights nearby: a large port for container ships and several factories that indicated the prosperity of the region. They were eager to begin discussing the sale, but after lunch they were given time to rest. In the late afternoon one of the manager’s English-speaking employees came by with the news they would be taken to see a local dance company’s performance that night. The third day they finally sat down to meeting. Progress seemed very slow, with each side giving generalizations about itself that seemed to the Canadians to be unrelated to the sale. They