Intercultural Negotiation Components and Styles

Chapter 11

Intercultural Negotiation
Components

Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin

Topics
 Cross-cultural Negotiation Components
 Stereotypes that affect Intercultural
Negotiations
 Comparative Negotiation Styles
 Characteristics of Effective Negotiators
 Importance of Protocol in Intercultural
Negotiations
 Group vs. Individual Orientation
 Face-to-face Strategies
 Role of the Media
 Personal Constructs


Cross-Cultural Negotiation Components

 The players and situation
 Cultural noise
 National culture
 Power and authority
 Perception
 Interpreters and translators
 Gender
 Environment
 Relationship and substantive conflicts

The Players and the Situation
 Learn the background of the players
 Determine expectations of negotiators
 Determine negotiating style
 Determine role negotiators have played in the
past
 Provide an environment free of tension,
conducive to exchange of ideas, and problem
resolution


Cultural Noise
 Anything that distracts or interferes with
the message
 Low- or high- context
 Arguments emotional or logical
 Trust based on laws or friendship
 High or low risk takers
 View of time
 Authoritative or consensual decision-making
style
 Oral or written agreement

National Culture

 Patterns of personality
 Governance structure
 Integrate negotiators’ interests
 Other cultures include: professional, social
class, ethnic, regional, gender, and
organizational


Power and Authority

 Power is the ability to influence others
 Authority is the power to give commands
 Power has to be accepted to be meaningful
 Balanced authority – is shared decision-
making
 Authority advantage – one partner claims
superior resources or superior position


Perception

 Process used to ascribe meaning to the
environment
 Is culturally based
 Stimuli have both physical size and socio-
environmental meaning; our experiences
determine to what stimuli we are sensitive


Interpreters and Translators

 Language issues are key in negotiations
 Interpreters and translators slow down
negotiations
 Using interpreters and translators can
have both positive and negative impacts


Gender

Use of women as negotiators; viewed
as “window dressing” in some
countries – viewed as equals in
others.


Environment

 “Home court” advantage
 The room and furniture arrangement
 Seating arrangement


Relationship and Substantive Conflicts
 Relationship conflicts are issues of long-
term friendships or partnerships
 Substantive issues are use and control of
resources
 Cognitive dissonance - the psychological
conflict or anxiety that results from
inconsistencies between what one does
and what one believes


Stereotypes That Affect Intercultural
Negotiations

 How we view ourselves is probably not
how the other team views us.
 Find out how others view your culture,
gender, and organization.


Comparative Negotiation Styles

 A successful negotiator within a culture
may not be successful in another culture.
 A successful negotiator needs to be able
to ascertain where the opposition is
coming from.
 Successful negotiators need to be able to
adjust their behavior appropriately.


Characteristics of Effective Negotiators

 Effective negotiators are
 observant, patient, adaptable, and good
listeners
 mentally sharp
 think before they speak
 do their country homework
 praise what is praiseworthy and refrain from
criticizing the other side
 keep their promises and negotiate in good
faith


Importance of Protocol in Intercultural
Negotiations

 Three protocol types
 Tribal
 Collective
 Pluralist
 All cultures share the need for honesty, courage,
respect for human dignity, fairness, and love;
however, these have different meanings in
different cultures.
 Reality is not always the same in every culture.


Group vs. Individual Orientation
 Group orientation
 Your identity belongs to the group
 Decisions reached by consensus
 Contracts are flexible
 Individual orientation
 Your identity belongs to you
 Decisions can be made by individuals
 Contracts are inflexible


Face-to-Face Strategies

 Negotiating in person rather than through
the mail, fax, telephone, lawyers, or other
intermediaries
 Face-to-face negotiators’ behaviors
 Irritators
 Counterproposals
 Argument dilution
 Reviewing the negotiation


Role of the Media

 Media may support or tear down
 Media is a culture with cultural biases
 Tend to have a stereotypical view of
business
 See other cultures through the bias of the
U.S. perceptual grid
 Movies promote stereotypes


Personal Constructs
 An individual’s belief system and attitudes
 Can differ within a culture as well as between
cultures
 Expectations are based on learned life
experiences
 Adaptability is important to success
 Adages
 Birds of a feather flock together
 They’re in America; they should act like Americans
 When in Rome, do as the Romans do


Negotiations - The Four Cs
 Common Interest - each has something
the other wants
 Conflicting Interests - include payment,
distribution, profits, contractual
responsibilities, and quality
 Compromise - areas of disagreement
 Criteria - conditions under which the
negotiations take place


Mindsets

 Mindsets are controlled by language and
culture.
 Realize the other side is having mindset
difficulties in the negotiation also.
 People can alter their strategies based
upon their first-hand knowledge and
adaptability.


U.S. Negotiators
 Focused on completing the deal
 Profit oriented and direct
 Do not need personal relationships with
other negotiators
 Work during meals, golf, at any time
 Tend to be informal
 Individually oriented


Canada

 Two groups: the Anglophones and the
Francophones
 Well informed and analytical
 Sense of self-determination
 Trust is an important component
 Individually oriented
 Mixture of tribal and pluralistic


China
 The Chinese want a win-win strategy
 Harmony is important
 Neutral site is important
 Team members need to be matched on
both sides
 Relationship building is important
 Group oriented and prefer face-to-face
negotiations

England

 Objective, matter-of-fact about
negotiations
 Tend to understate their position
 Individualistic but company policy followed
without question
 Relationships not necessary
 Very deadline oriented


France
 Negotiators should have the correct social
and education background and authority
to make decisions
 A relationship will help negotiations
 Enjoy debates; are indirect
 Quality more important than speed
 Individualistic and prefer face-to-face
negotiations
 Mealtime is not a time to talk business

Germany

 Permanent and stringent contracts
 No-nonsense negotiators
 Relationships not necessary
 Individualistic and prefer face-to-face
negotiations


Japan

 The Japanese want a win-win situation
 Negotiation takes place away from the
negotiation table
 Relationships are important
 Group and consensus oriented
 Prefer face-to-face negotiations


Mexico
 Relationships and connections very
important
 Senior executives make the decisions
 Time is fluid
 Emotional arguments are considered to be
persuasive arguments
 Strategies are more win-win
 Neutral sites are preferred
 Leave room to bargain

The Netherlands

 Averse to chaos; very organized
 The Dutch are direct and pragmatic
 Decision is based on consensus
 Will tend to move fast and expect you to
also move fast


South Korea

 Rank/status very important
 Harmony is important
 Can be direct, express emotion, and use
aggression
 Need to be introduced and develop a
relationship
 South Korea is a collective culture


Taiwan

 Relationships need to be developed
 Seating protocol is important as is
matching team members
 Self-control and harmony are very
important
 Taiwanese are collectivistic


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