Hello, everyone! Welcome to today’s lecture. In this unit, we’re going to talk about cultural variations in negotiation styles. As we can see, nowadays, globalization has become a key factor in international politics, economy and culture. If a global company wants to be successful in today’s more and more severe competitions, it’s essential to know how to communicate effectively with its international counterparts. Unfortunately, in conducting international business, there are still many people who do not have enough intercultural communication skills,which will definitely hinder them from facing the challenges and cultural differences successfully. So now let’s deal with the cultural variations in terms of conducting business, selecting negotiators and decision-making.

Each culture has its own ways in conducting business, so negotiation skills which work well in one culture may not work at all in another. There are many cultural differences in doing business, and we will study them in various cultures from the following three main aspects: negotiation atmosphere, people’sattitudes toward the details of the agreement and communication styles.

As two major nations in Asia, China and Japan have many similarities in culture. For example, both Chinese and Japanese approach negotiations with an anticipation toward building a continuing, lasting collaborative relationship. This will explain why Chinese and Japanese see socializing as a necessary part in the negotiation process. The goal is to develop not only a relationship founded on mutual respect and trust, but also an association that will smooth the way for the project at hand and hold the possibility of future collaborations. Such a relationship is a good reflection of the importance of guanxi in China, and guanxi has even become a word that can be found in an English dictionary!

As for the details of the agreement, both Chinese and Japanese believe that the agreed general principle between the negotiators is more important than the specific details. They rely primarily on general, brief written agreements because they believe that much of the detail is comprehended implicitly. Another reason which could explain why Chinese and Japanese are less detail-oriented might be that they assume a friendly relationship has been established through socializing before the formal negotiation. They view contracts as a dynamic agreement among friends subject to adjustment as conditions change.

Harmony is essential and vital in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. So, the Chinese do not wish to openly confront conflict and avoid any proposal-counter-proposal style of negotiating. Similarly, the Japanese also desire smoothness in all their transactions, so they may appear to be easily persuadable and passive. 

As a superpower, America tends to have a culture which is quite different from Eastern ones. In the negotiation process, American negotiators might employ aggressive approaches since they assume the economic gain the most important.  The American norm is to do business in an efficient manner so they have no interest in establishing long-term relationships and come straight to the point as quickly as possible. 

Different from their Asian counterparts, Americans identify more specific issues and much more detail-oriented. They attach considerable emphasis to a highly detailed, legally binding contract that clearly specifies requirements for each side. Moreover, Americans seem to view contracts as static, so any proposed change requires renegotiation. 

Americans tend to convey friendliness, confidence and positiveness in their communication. However, driven by the value of individualism instead of collectivism, Americans tend to have more interest in logical argument than in the people they are dealing with. Thus, they may use threats, warnings and pushiness in negotiation process. 

Located in Western Europe, France is one of the world’s oldest countries. We tend to hold the stereotype that French are romantic, enthusiastic and open. But in negotiation, French are more likely to distrust their counterparts at the beginning, and they suppose themselves as more experienced negotiators. The importance of tradition is evident in French business protocol, which adheres to persistent formality in the negotiation stages. Like the Americans, the French value written agreements or contracts as well and agreements usually take a long time to reach. They want to be comfortable that all risks have been identified and managed or mitigated, it might appear that they are making things more complicated than necessary. 

Negotiators from France tend to assume that French will be spoken in the sessions. They are said to be the most difficult of Europeans due to their frequent use of “no” communication. According to some scholars, the French welcome debate and respect dissent. They have a confrontational and competitive communication style so a search for well-reasoned arguments is usually involved in negotiation. 

In the Middle East, although various Arab countries may have different customs and economic forces, it seems that they share many things in common in the aspect of conducting business. Arabs are courteous and go to great lengths to be hospitable. They are eager to place trust, which is why relationship building is an essential component of business in the Middle East. In Middle Eastern culture, trust must be earned through repeated social interactions. While reaching an agreement, Middle Eastern negotiators would prefer agreements bound by an oral understanding as they believe the written agreement is secondary. The handshake is nearly better than a written contract in sealing a deal. Arabs are much more competitive than the Westerners in negotiations. It is essential to understand the culture in the Middle East when negotiating because Arabs are more likely to approach the negotiation as competition and an opportunity to establish and protect honor.   

All in all, keep in mind that there are different norms to do business in different cultures. Be sensitive to each culture and religion so as not to offend and guarantee the negotiation go smoothly and successfully.