The Differences of Seating Etiquette in Business Banquet between China and Britain

陸蓉蓉

Abstract：ThebusinessbetweenChinaandBritainisanimportantlinktopromotethestabilityofChinaandBritainandtheprosperityoftheworldeconomy. Andseatingetiquetteinbusinessbanquetisveryimportantduringthebusinessnegotiation.

Key words：Setting etiquette，business，banquet，culture，West

1.Introduction

Businessetiquetteisembodyingthecodetoconductrespectingmutuallyinbusinessaffairsactivity. Thecoreofbusinessetiquetteiskindofthebehaviorcriterion， whichusedtorestrainourdailyflexiblebusinessaffairsinallaroundfacts.

Seatingetiquetteisnotjustknowwhichseattochoose. Seatingetiquetteisalittlepartinthefieldofetiquette， butdifferentoccasionneedsdifferentseatingetiquette.

2.MeaningoftheResearching

Withthedevelopmentofthesociety， modernpeopleadvocatesimplicityandnaturalness. Somecomplextableseatsfadeawayovertime， andnewseatsrulesarealsogeneratedonsomeoccasions.WeshouldunderstandthedifferencesinseatingetiquettebetweenChinaandBritain， sothattheguestscanbereasonablyarrangedatthebanquetandthetocreateajoyfulcommunicationatmosphere.

3.FormationsandFunctionsonSeatingEtiquetteinBusinessBanquet

3.1.ChineseSeatingEtiquetteonFormations

3.1.1.SeatingArrangementPrinciple

DoingbusinessinChinawillalmostcertainlyinvolvesharingabusinessmealwithChinesehosts. WhileitmightbetemptingtothinkthateatingregularlyatyoursuburbanChinathinkshighlyonConfuciantraditions， soChineseseatingetiquetteinbusinessbanquetalsoobeytherulesthatrespectingforseniority. Superiorsandinferiors' seatingareobviousdifferent. ChineseseatingetiquettecontainsseatingarrangementprincipleswhichisonlyusedinChinaaboutapartofthem. ChinesehavetheirownconsiderationsthatBritishpeopleshouldpayattentionto.

3.1.2. ConsiderationsduringtheBusinessBanquetinChina

InChina， amealisagroupexperienceandyouwillnotorderyourownentrée. Thehostwillordernumerousdishesthataresharedamongeverybody. Group-stylebusinessdiningwillgiveyouachancetosampleeverythingandabanquet-styledinner， disheswillbeservedinsuccession. Oncethefoodisbroughttothetable， allowtheguestsofhonortoservethemselvesfirst.

3.2. BritishSeatingEtiquetteonFormations

Theplaceofhonoratthetableistotherightsideofthehostbecausemostpeopleareright-handed. Unlessprotocolisbeingobserved， otherguestsshouldnotbeseatedaccordingtotheirimportance. Beyondthesefewguidelines， guestsshouldbearrangedinthewaythatthehostfeelswillbemostcongenialforconversation.Inbusinessbanquet， seatingarrangementsaremadebythehost. Itisnevercorrectforgueststoshiftnamecardsortakeaseatatatableotherthanonetowhichtheyhavebeenassigned. Itisacompany'sprerogativetodecidehowtoseatitsguests.

3.3.FunctionsoftheSeatingEtiquetteinBusinessBanquet

3.3.1.ThePromotionofBusinessRelations

Theproperseatingetiquetteinbusinessbanquetcanreducemisunderstandings， treatbusinesspartnersproperlyandrespectdifferentculturalcustom， canincreasetheprobabilityofcooperationbetweenthetwoparties. Evenifyouhavealreadybecomethepartners， knowingtheseatingetiquettestillcanpromotethebusinessrelationsandcreatetheconditionsforthenextcooperation.

3.3.2.AnReflectionofaPerson'sCulturalAccomplishment

Understandingtheother'sculturecanreflectone'spersonalculturalaccomplishment. Sometimesitrepresentsthewholeofyou. Asaperson， ourpersonalculturalaccomplishmentisaveryimportantpartofus. Whenyoudobusinesswithforeigners， knowtheirculturaletiquetteandrespectitreflectsyourownculturalaccomplishment. Personoftenliketodobusinesswithhighpersonalculturalaccomplishmentperson. Withthis， youwillhavemoreopportunitiestodothebusinesssuccess.

4.Conclusion

Insocialinteraction， wemustimproveouretiquetteconsciousnessandetiquettetraining， grasptherulesofetiquette. Whendeterminingtheseatingorders， payattentiontothegeneralwaysandinteractwithothersproperly. Theseatarrangementhasbecomeanactiveandcharacteristicmediasymbol， whichnotonlyembodiesthegroupconsciousnessandculturalspirit， butalsoachievesthepurposeofemotionalcommunicationbetweenindividualandindividual， groupandgroup.

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