Culture’s role in negotiations is more important than ever, especially, in an era where there is intense competition among businesses, industries, and even countries for limited resources.
Today, it is an accepted fact that cultures can make or break a deal, as do other variables. Does the question then become what the real and quantifiable effects of cultures have on win-win deal-making! By understanding the implications of cultural differences during negotiations, businesses and policymakers can position their respective viewpoints plus as succinctly pointed out by Aman Garcha “able to better understand the negotiation process itself.”
Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory is a well-known framework for cross-cultural communications. The model continues to provide a framework for how a society’s culture impacts the values held by its members, and how those held values relate to the behaviors in the workplace.
Victor Kremenyuk defines culture as a “broad concept describing the basic things in human mentality and behavior such as language, tradition, ideology, approaches, and style.” For him, negotiation is simply a human activity connected with problem-solving…….. embodying a certain code of conduct that is oriented towards civilized ways of reaching a solution.”
Raymond Cohen, one of the leading thinkers on negotiations sees different cultures affecting how individuals behave during negotiations. He believes that a negotiator’s assumptions affect how individuals will behave in international negotiations and support Paul Kimmel’s supposition that a negotiator’s assumptions, may appear to be normal and realistic because they are familiar and unquestioned when negotiating domestically, thus making “to some extent, the negotiators, prisoners of their culture, and leading to a sense of naivety that people are pretty much the same everywhere.
Cultural Dynamics at Play
Cultural considerations influence the form and substance of negotiations. As stated in previous publications, negotiations are generally about a formal exchange to reach a common understanding. Certain nationalities including North Americans are famous for putting their cards on the table early and very direct in their approach.
The British are renowned for using understatement and sometimes humour during the negotiation process to get what they want. This strategy according to Christopher Cooper-Ind “sometimes does not go down well and leave their counterparts flummoxed.” To the French, the negotiation process as pointed out by Glen Fisher, “is more of a debating forum, with flexibility and accommodation simply for the sake of agreements.”
Japanese negotiation style also according to Glen Fisher is “through a patient consensus generating process. They tend to shy from ceremonial occasions because to disagree at a formal stage would be distasteful and embarrassing. Harmony is important to the Japanese, thus ensuring that social relations are smooth and with an overarching consensus.”
The Dutch according to Christopher Copper-Ind are known to over-debate during negotiations leading to over-analysis.
The Germans are notorious to be rigid on the negotiation agenda and very logic driven because they tend to spend a significant amount of time doing their homework.
The Arabs are initially more interested in the people on the other side and then later closing in on the deal on the table.
The Chinese tactics are firstly to glean as much information from the other side and then on the deal proposed. They have a habit of delaying the closing of a transaction.
To the Indian everything is negotiable! They also like to build relationships!
To Raymond Smith, Russian negotiating behaviour is highlighted by three dominant features: “A preoccupation with authority, avoidance of risk; and an imperative need to assert control.”
Jeswald Salacuse, Dean Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University describes “culture as consisting of the socially transmitted behaviour patterns, attitudes, norms, and values of a given community, whether a nation, an ethnic group or even an organization.” For him “understanding a foreign counterpart’s culture is a lot like peeling an onion, as you interpret behaviour to reveal attitudes, which reflect norms, which are founded on values. He provides some guidelines for coping with cultural differences during negotiations:
- Be aware of how others may perceive your culture.
- Show respect for cultural differences.
- Don’t forget to do your homework about the other side’s culture.
- Find ways to bridge the culture gap.
- Establish whether you negotiating for a contract or a relationship
- Be aware of emotionalism.
- Direct or indirect communication
- Adapt style and approach
- Be sensitive to time.
- Carefully put together the team for the negotiations
To Professor Selacuse “the Germans are always punctual, whilst Latin Americans are habitually late. Japanese negotiate slowly, and Americans are quick to make a deal……… Japanese and other Asians, whose goal is to create a relationship rather than simply sign a contract, need to invest time in the negotiating process so that the parties can get to know one another well and determine whether they wish to embark on a long-term relationship.”
As regards emotionalism, the Japanese and Asians tend to hide their feelings during negotiations whilst the Latin Americans and Spanish can be very emotional. According to Professor Selacuse, the Germans and English on the other hand are seen as least emotional. “In terms of negotiation styles, the Americans prefer the singular approach with a leader doing all the talking whilst Asians prefer the group approach,” Professor Selacuse affirmed.
Tony Rossiter rightly points out that, although quite tricky, it is critically important that the negotiating parties respect each other’s value system and beliefs to ensure a win-win outcome. He further provides examples of cultural issues that may vary from country to country. They include:-
- Language
- Greeting conventions
- Use of first names
- Body language
- Attitude to personal space
- Religious attitudes
- Attitude to alcohol and smoking
- Sense of humour
- Eating conventions
- Attitude to time
- Giving and receiving presents
- How women are regarded
- Attitude to health and safety
Other examples of the need to respect culture were highlighted in a purposive study, subtitled “director level perceptivities on aspects of negotiations,” which drew on a sample of approximately 64 international organizations, including Fortune 1000, FSTE 250, and JSE 100 companies, as well as state-owned enterprises and government departments.
The focused research involved various CEOs, CFOs, COOs, directors, and officers from engineering, marketing, logistics, supply chain management, project management, procurement, and related industries. Examining an array of issues relating to negotiations, bargaining, agreements, and contracts, the focused study established that 74percent of the respondents believed that respect for each other’s culture can impact the outcome of the negotiation process.
All respondents summarily expressed some notable qualitative views on:
- Seating arrangements during negotiations
- Diversity of the negotiation team (women, race, etc)
- Dress code
- Body language during negotiations
- The presence of an interpreter during the negotiations
- Eye to eye contact; and
- Interruptions from the team on the other side.
To the respondents, these were some of the causes for most tensions, discomfort, and disagreements during negotiations. Recognizing the importance of culture was highlighted by Nadia Gonalez’s research as paramount in negotiations. Just as understanding the personality of the person(s) at the negotiating table was important, “understanding their cultural background to her “allows negotiating partners to meet one another on an even playing field,” she posited.
What African negotiators need to ask themselves is whether, during the preparation phase, there is enough time spent on researching the cultural backgrounds of the members of the team on the other side?
To sum up, firstly, different cultures have different cultural beliefs on how people should communicate and interact during negotiations. Secondly, cultures will not change during negotiations. However “anticipating, recognizing and facilitating the differences” as affirmed by Patrick Collins will help with a potential win-win outcome to the process. Thirdly, a nationality may help to appreciate cultural differences. However, these days, it can be misleading in an increasingly borderless world. Fourthly, each culture as pointed out by Erin Meyer in “Getting to Si, ja, OUI, Hai, and Da” has its own communications norms. To this end, a negotiation team has to “figure out how to express disagreement, recognize emotional expressiveness; learn how the other culture builds trust, etc…”
Verbal and body language are also major challenges when it comes to negotiations. For example, nodding in certain cultures does not mean agreeing to an outcome. As such, it is best to assume that there is no agreement until expressively stated or in writing from the other party to the negotiations.
To conclude, cultural differences can influence the way people behave and interact during negotiations. To this end, it is important as rightly pointed out by Tony Rossiter to “recognize and respect cultural differences …plus familiarise oneself with the habits, attitudes, of the people on the other side. In addition, there is the need to tread very carefully as individual and national stereotypes can sometimes be misleading”
>>>the writer is an international chartered director and Africa’s first-ever appointed Professor Extraordinaire for Industrialisation and Supply Chain Governance. He is the CEO of PanAvest International and the founding non-executive chairman of MY-future YOUR-Future and OUR-Future (“MYO”) and the highly popular daily Nyansa Kasa series. He is currently the non-executive chairman of the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF). Professor Boateng was previously the non-executive chairman of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA). For more information on Nyansakasa visit www.myoglobal.org.
