GLOBAL BUSSINES NEGOTIATIONS

GLOBAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS

Currently live in a world where the negotiations are part of our life and you should know all possible strategies for survival in the business world.

International business deals not only cross borders, they also cross cultures. Culture profoundly influences how people think, communicate, and behave. It also affects the kinds of transactions they make and the way they negotiate them. Differences in culture between business executives for example, between a Chinese public sector plant manager in Shanghai and a Canadian division head of a family company in Toronto can create barriers that impede or completely stymie the negotiating process.

The great diversity of the world’s cultures makes it impossible for any negotiator, no matter how skilled and experienced, to understand fully all the cultures that may be encountered. How then should an executive prepare to cope with culture in making deals in Singapore this week and Seoul the next?

Negotiators from different cultures may tend to view the purpose of a negotiation differently. For deal makers from some cultures, the goal of a business negotiation, first and foremost, is a signed contract between the parties. Other cultures tend to consider that the goal of a negotiation is not a signed contract but rather the creation of a relationship between the two sides.

Negotiating attitude: win-lose or win-win?

Because of differences in culture, personality, or both, business persons appear to approach deal making with one of two basic attitudes: that a negotiation is either a process in which both can gain (win-win) or a struggle in which, of necessity, one side wins and the other side loses (win-lose). Win-win negotiators see deal making as a collaborative, problem-solving process; win-lose negotiators view it as confrontational. As you enter negotiations, it is important to know which type of negotiator is sitting across the table from you. Here too, my survey revealed significant differences among cultures. For example, whereas 100 percent of the Japanese respondents claimed that they approached negotiations as a win-win process, only 33% of the Spanish executives took that view.

With the globalization of business, growing numbers of companies are removing barriers to develop exports that accelerate benefit growth. In this global business environment, cross cultural negotiation becomes a key link. Because what is negotiated and how it is negotiated are both based on cultural values and beliefs.

First, we should learn the other side’s culture. You can easily find a way to build trust so that it can help choose the right strategies during the negotiation. Behavior at the negotiation table is a product of culture and values. In general, the better you understand the values producing the behavior, the better you will be able to know how to adapt your own behavior in response. Take the other side’s culture into account when preparing to negotiate.

Second, we should find ways to bridge the culture gap. Big diversity makes for huge disagreement. For example, when it comes to time, western societies are very 'clock conscious'. Time is money and punctuality is crucial. This is also the case in countries such as Japan or China where being late would be taken as an insult. However, in South America, southern Europe and the Middle East, being on time for a meeting does not carry the same sense of urgency. That’s why we need to find ways to bridge the culture gap. During the negotiation, apart from adopting the other side’s culture to adjust to the situation and environment, we can also try to persuade the other side to use elements of our own culture. We can try to find some common cultures and let them guide the negotiation.

Finally, we should employ different negotiating styles when facing different cultural systems. Attitude, beliefs, customs, laws, values and traditions are imbedded in the culture that affects the negotiation and its communication style. Culture is something we learn as we grow in our environment. Based on a nation’s culture, geography, history and political system, we can use different styles to cope with problems.

If you're in business, you're a negotiator. You have no choice. Business doesn't happen unless two or more people enter into a transaction.

This can be as simple as buying inventory or as complicated as a merger of two public companies.

Without transactions, business doesn't happen, and every transaction involves a certain amount of negotiation.

When you're in business, negotiating the best possible deals is a high, if not the highest, priority. As a business owner, you can't know enough about negotiating.

In every negotiation, someone is in a stronger position and someone is in a weaker position. Where are you? In any negotiation, the side that needs the deal more is the side that gives up the most -- precisely because they need the deal and can't afford to have the other side walk away from the table.

Passion is your drive, ambition and the love of what you do and who you serve. It provides you with a very special view of the world that others often don’t see. For example, Steve Jobs had the vision of a phone with one button on the front. Jeff Bezos of Amazon had a vision for a store

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