CROSS-CULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS

The Impact of Communication on Cross-Cultural Negotiations

Abstract

Cross cultural negotiation is one of many specialized areas within the wider field of cross cultural communications. By taking cross cultural negotiation training, negotiators and sales personnel give themselves an advantage over competitors. It is very important to know the commonest basic components of our counterpart's culture. It is a sign of respect and a way to build trust and credibility as well as an advantage that can help us to choose the right strategies and tactics during the negotiation.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Background1

Conflict Management2

Intergroup Relations4

Conclusion5

Operationalizations of Culture5

Multicultural Enactment6

The Impact of Communication on Cross-Cultural Negotiations

Background

A cross-cultural approach to negotiations is the study of similarities and differences in processes and communication at work across different cultures and of the dynamics of cross-cultural interfaces in multicultural domestic and international contexts. In this literature, culture is often defined as a shared meaning system, which implies that members of the same culture share common meanings and are likely to interpret and evaluate situational events and management practices in similar ways. In contrast, members of different cultures who do not share a common way of interpreting and evaluating situational events are more likely to respond in different ways. Hence, a cross-cultural approach to negotiations includes issues such as how culture is related to individual organizational phenomena, such as motives, cognitions and emotions; interpersonal phenomena such as teams and leadership; and organizational-level phenomena such as organizational structure. Beyond just the differences between a Chinese manager and an American manager, this approach stresses the importance of understanding the deep-rooted perspectives, orientations, and assumptions that individuals maintain about communication based on their cultural lens.

In cross-cultural negotiations research, the focus has often been on national cultures; however, it is important to note that a nation is not the only meaningful group that can be and has been studied. Within any given nation, there may exist multiple subcultures, and the national culture may not be completely shared. As of the writing of this article, national groups are still useful units of analysis because they are well defined for many real-life applications; however, the nation-state is a relatively new concept in world history, and there is a possibility that it will cease to function as a key feature denoting culture in the future. Regional cultures, religious cultures, ethnic cultures, organizational cultures, and discipline-based cultures are also valid sources of cultural differences and similarities in meaning systems.

Conflict Management

Recent research on conflict management strategies indicates that there are no universal resolutions to conflict. In fact, attempts to remedy conflict may be culturally inappropriate, yield unfavorable results, and even increases the propensity toward future conflict. Tinsley and Pillutla (1998) found that culture filters information and guides members toward a model for conflict resolution. In their 3-country sample, U.S. business managers preferred integrating mutual interests while resolving conflicts, Germans preferred utilizing existing regulations for conflict resolution, and Japanese deferred to those with higher status. In a second study, Tinsley (2001) again found that a sample of German, Japanese, and American employees ...