Impacts of Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations.docx

Impacts of Cultural Differences on Business Negotiations.docx

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ImpactsofCulturalDifferencesonBusinessNegotiations

ImpactsofCulturalDifferencesonBusinessNegotiations

Ⅰ.Introduction

Thebusinessnegotiationsunderdifferentbusinessculturalconditionscometomulti-culturalnegotiations.Withtheeconomicglobalizationandthefrequentbusinesscontacts,culturaldifferencesseemtobeveryimportant,otherwisetheycouldcauseunnecessarymisunderstanding,evenaffecttheresultofthebusinessnegotiations.Thismeansitisveryimportanttoknowthedifferentcultureindifferentcountriesandthewaystoavoidthecultureconflictsintheinternationalbusinessnegotiations.Thearticlecommencesfromthedefinitionofthecultureintheareaofbusiness.Thenfromthethreeaspectsofcommunicationprocess,negotiationstyles,itexplainstheinfluenceofculturaldifferencesoninternationalbusinessnegotiations,andatthesametimeitanalyzeshowtodealwiththeproblemsofthebusinessculturaldifferencescorrectlyinnegotiationprocess.Suchastandpointisemphasized:

Inthebusinessnegotiationsbetweendifferentcountries,negotiatorsshouldaccepttheotherparty'sculture,andtrytomakehimbeaccepted;thenmakeacorrectevaluationwiththehelpofvalidcommunicationanddiscovertheirrealbenefitsbetweenthem.Besides,weshouldknowclearlyandtrytoaccepttheculturaldifferencesaspossibleaswecan.Itisveryimportantforthesuccessofculturenegotiations.

Ⅱ.DifferentBusinessCultures

Differentcountries,differentraceshavedifferentculturewhichaffecteachaspectofsociety.Sointheareaofbusinessletusfirstlygivedifferentculturedefinitiontheirfeathuresasthefollowingsix.

A.Task-centeredvsPeople-centered

Peoplewhoarepurelytask-orientedareconcernedentirelywithachievingabusinessgoal.Theyarenotatallconcernedabouttheeffectwhichtheirdeterminationwillhaveonthepeoplewithwhomtheycomeintocontact.Theywillpursuetheirbusinessobjectivesrelentlessly;theywillgotothelimitsofmorality;asnegotiators,theywillbeverytough,veryfighting,veryawareoftacticalploysandanxioustomakemaximumuseofthem.

Americanbusinesscultureisaveryexampleoftask-centered.Peopledon’twanttowastetimewiththesocialniceties;theywanttogetdowntobusiness.Anotherwayofclassifyingthistypeofapproachistosaythatitisveryspecific.Peoplewhoadoptthisapproachtendtofocushardonspecificissues—thisshouldmeanthattimeissavedandobjectivesreachedmosteffectively.However,thereisalwaysadangerthatpersonalissuescanbeignored.Thesepersonalissuesmaybetheoneswhichmakeorbreakthedeal!

People-orientedmanagers,ontheotherhand,arehighlyconcernedaboutthewell-beingofthosewhoworkforthem,oralongsidethemorabovethem.Thiscanleadtoanalmosttotalneglectofthebusinessgoals.

Inthisrespect,theygivetimetosomesmalltalkbeforethemeetingstartsbecausetheybelievethiswillimprovecommunicationandlaythebasisforpossiblefuturerelationships.Anotherwayoflookingatthisistocallitdiffuse.Adiffuseapproachtobusinesswillplacegreatimportanceonalltheeventswhichsurroundtheactualdiscussiononthedeal,forexample,lunchtogether,socialconversationonthewaytotheairport,orachancetomeetyourpartner’sfamil.

Thereareintermediatepointsbetweentotaltask-orientationandtotalpeople-orientation.Itsplitsthiscentralareaintothreeparts.

low-orientationbothtotaskandtopeople

Butofcoursesuchlowachieverswouldhardlybeexpectedtoreachthestatusofnegotiators.medium-orientationbothtotaskandtopeople

Thiscentergroupischaracterizedbythecontinualsearchforcompromise.

high-orientationbothtotaskandtopeople

Thisstyleischaracterizedbytremendousopenness,trustinformsofrelationship,greatforethought,soundcreativedecisions.

Fromthethreeparts,werecognizealsothreestylesofnegotiatorswearelikelytomeetinpractice:

thefighter,thecollaborator,thecompromiser.

Howshouldthesethreedistinctivestylesofnegotiationinfluencethewayweconductournegotiations?

First,wemustrecognizethatthedifferentpatternsofbehavioraredeeplyingrainedinthepeoplewearelikelytomeet.Theywilltendnaturallytofollowtheirsetwaysofdoingthings.Theywillnoteasilyadapttoourapproach.

Thereforeifwewanttoadoptanapproachdifferentfromtheirs.Wemustbecomethemoreskillednegotiators,moreskilledindoingitourwaythantheyareindoingittheirway.

Second,wemusttakeaccountoftheotherparty’sstyleinourpreparations.Themostdifficultsituationiswhenwewanttonegotiatetoouradvantagebutweanticipateskilledfightersandfearbeingbeaten.Thenwemustprepareourdefensesincludingbidsandtactics.

Havingpreparedinthisway,wewillhaveahighdegreeofreadinesstoputforwardourbids,andsubsequentlytodefendthemandtousethetacticswehavethoughtabout.Morepositively,ifweanticipatemeetingskilledfightersbuthaveconfidenceinourownskills,ifwearenotafraidofbeingbeaten,thenourpreparationandconductofthenegotiationwillnotneedtobebasedonpreparingourdefenses.Ourpreparationsnowcanberestrictedtoobtainingacleardefinitionofpurposeandaims,withoutyetgoinghardonouropeningbids.

B.PioneervsBureaucrat

The“pioneer”isthestrongindividual.Heisprominentinhisownorganization.Thesortofmanisgoodatseizinganopportunity,spottingamarket,makingaprofit.Hetendstobeverydominating,goodatimprovising,intuitiveinhisthinking,charismaticinhispersonality.

Anegotiatorofthistypewillbepushful,forceful,readytotakedecisionsandtocometoagreements.Hewillbedistinguishableparticularlyinthewayinwhichheactsasateamleader:

focalpointoftheteam,theonewhospeaksfortheteamonallissues,theonewhouseshisteammemberstoobtaininformationforhimselfwhichhethentransmitstootherparty.

Suchateamleader,thoughusuallybubbleswithenergy,isevenabletohandleonlythecontentofanegotiation.Hecannotatthesametimehaveconsciousconcernfortheproceduresofthemeeting.

Bureaucracyisthepatternmostoftenfoundinlargeorganizations.Thestyleofworkingissystematized.Therearebooksofrules,standardizations,planning,numerous,lotsofchecking,double-checkingandcross-checking.Theorganizationisgovernedwithaclearhierarchy.Itiscompartmentalizedandco-ordinatedbythesystem,therules,theproceduresandtheobjectives.

Advantagewithinabureaucraticorganizationcomestothepeoplewhoaremostcompetentatplayingthegameaccordingtotherules.Thismeansthattheirnegotiatorsmaybeexpectedtohavebothobjectivesandstylesofworkingwhicharebureaucraticnegotiatortofitintothebudgetaryprovisionsthanthetotalsumofmoneyinvolved.Forstylizedbureaucrats,precisestatementsaretobeagreedateachstep.Eleganceandconformityaremaintainedastheygoalongthenegotiatingprocess.

Inanticipationofmeetingwithbureaucraticnegotiators,theotherpartydoeswelltoselectateamwhichhasboththepersonalityandexperiencetohandlethismannerofoperating.Theteamwillreadilyacceptthesystemofapproachwehaveadvocatedtonegotiations;forexample,theywillfollowtheproceduraldisciplineofagreeingpurpose,planandpace,theirbehaviorwillbeimpeccable.Buttheattitudeoflookingtogetherforjointadvantagedoesnotcomeeasilytothesystems-minded.Theyseetwosidestorepresentedbythenegotiatingparties,notonegroupofpartiesworkingtowardsagreement.Bureaucraticorganizationsthustendtohavedistinctiveobjectivesandtonegotiateinthepattern“toouradvantage”.

C.Relationship-focusedvsDeal-focusedCultures

Deal-focusedpeoplearefundamentallytask-orientedwhilerelationship-focusedfolksaremorepeople-oriented.

Conflictsarisewhendeal-focusedexportmarketerstrytodobusinesswithprospectsfromrelationship-focusedmarkets.Manyrelationship-focusedpeoplefinddeal-focusedtypespushy,aggressiveandoffensivelyblunt.Inreturn,deal-focusedtypesoftenconsidertheirrelationship-focusedcounterpartsdilatoryManyrelationshipvagueandinscrutable.

Thevastmajorityoftheworld’smarketsarerelationship-oriented;theArabworldandmostofAfrica,LatinAmericaandtheAsia/Pacificregionwherebusinesspeoplegetthingsdonethroughintricatenetworksofpersonalcontacts.Theyprefertodealwithfriendsandpersonsorgroupswhoarewellknowntothemandcanbetrusted.Theyareuncomfortabledoingbusinesswithstrangers,especiallystrangerswhoalsohappentobeforeigners.Likewise,relationship-orientedfirmstypicallywanttoknowtheirprospectivebusinesspartnersverywellbeforetalkingbusinesswiththem.

Incontrast,thedeal-focusedapproachiscommoninonlyasmallpartoftheworld.Stronglydeal-focusedculturesarefoundinnorthernEurope,NorthAmerica,AustraliaandNewZealand,wherepeoplearerelativelyopentodoingbusinesswithstrangers.

Moderatelydeal-focusedculturedcouldbefoundinGreatBritain,SouthAfrica,LatinEurope,CentralandEasternEurope,Chile,southernBrazil,northernMexico,andSingapore.

This“GreatDivide”betweentheworld’sculturesaffectsthewayofbusinessconductedfromthebeginningtotheendofanycommercialrelationship.Forstarters,thewaythefirstapproachismadetopotentialbuyersorpartnersdependsuponwhethertheyareindeal-focusedorrelationship-focusedcultures.

Indeal-focusedcultures,peoplearerelativelyopentodealingwithstrangers.Themarketercanmakeinitialcontactwiththeprospecti