Negotiating Across Cultures

IC402Harris, P. R., Moran, R. T., Moran, S. V. (Eds.). (2004). Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for the twenty-first century (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier.

What’s Negotiation? “a process in which two or more entities

come together to discuss common and conflicting interest in order to reach an agreement of mutual benefit”

Globalization increases the chance of intercultural negotiation.

Negotiation: a skill or natural talent?

Five Considerations for Analyzing Cross-cultural Negotiation

Considerations forCross-Cultural

Negotiation

Nationalcharacter

Interpreters &

translators

Styles of DecisionMaking

The players&

the situation

Cross-culturalnoise

ASSUMPTIONS & NEGOTIATING “Projective Cognitive Similarity”: one

assumes that the other perceives, judges, thinks, and reasons the same way he or she does – or at least the way he or she thinks “know” others do.

Four problems in international business negotiation:1. Language2. Nonverbal behavior3. Values4. Thinking & decision making

Using Interpreters Brief the interpreter. Speak slowly and clearly. Avoid little-known words. Explain the idea two or three different ways. Do not interrupt, and allow for crosschecks. Avoid long sentences or double negatives. Try to be expressive with gestures. Use more than one interpreter for a long

negotiation. Don’t be concerned with length of translation. Be understanding if there is a mistake.

“The American Style”?American style of negotiating according to Graham and Herberger: “I can go alone.” “Just call me John.” “Pardon my French.” “Check with the home office.” “Get to the point.” “Lay your cards on the table.” “Don’t just sit there, speak up.” “One thing at a time.” “A deal is a deal.” “I am what I am.”

“The American Competency”?

Differences between ‘Skilled’ & ‘Average’ Negotiators

Longer Planning time? Exploration of more options? Long-term consideration? Fix targets? More counterproposals? Bigger number of reasons? Reviewing the negotiation?

Suggested Skills for Successful Negotiations.

Study your own culture’s negotiation script. Study the negotiation script of your

counterpart. Consider the relationship and circumstance. Predict the counterpart’s approach. Choose your strategy.

Synergistic Skills for Intercultural Business Communication Respect Tolerating ambiguity Relating to people Being nonjudgmental Personalizing one’s observations Empathy Persistence