Cultural Issues in Negotiations
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The world is changing politically, economically, technically, and collectively at a
previously unthinkable rate. Both new and skilled multinational firms are stumbling and
committing mistakes as they confront these recently emerging environmental forces.
What is desired now is a new way of viewing both the global and foreign operations of
multinational firms. To be as thriving as possible, these firms should be as culturally
attuned to the world and to every foreign society in which they seek to work as they are
to their own home society.
The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (1980) defines culture as "the
incorporated pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, action, and
artifacts and depends on man's competence for learning and transmitting knowledge to
succeeding generations" and "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material behavior
of a racial, religious, or social group." These definitions point to numerous important
aspects of culture. First, culture permeates all human behaviors and interactions. Second,
culture is shared by members of a group. And third, it is handed down to newcomers and
from one generation to the next. This description of culture is not aimed at organizations
but is very appropriate to them (AAhad M. Osman-Gani & Zidan, S.S. 2001, pp.452-
460).
As Globalization has evolved overall meaning of business. The set of market-
driven, financial and technical changes which, in the eighties, faced better-informed
consumers demanded the best and cheapest products accessible worldwide; producing
these goods requisite the assimilation of both resources and knowledge on a global scale;
at the same time, it became probable to transport information around the world at
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immensely reduced costs. as multinational organizations had leaned to pursue one of the
three basic strategies attaining economies of scale through the centralized management of
resources, having a strong (decentralized) national presence, and sharing universal a
central pool of skills and experience the predicament for the new 'transnational'
corporations was to unite these three, often conflicting, approaches into a single strategy:
“To participate effectively, a company had to develop global competitiveness,
international flexibility, and worldwide learning competence simultaneously”. (Freivalds,
J. 1995)
All these changes need a consummate degree of negotiations and individual
communication something which the usual structure of a multinational (the head office
hub surrounded by satellite subsidiaries) is not intended to accommodate. Control has to
give way to synchronization, and corporate culture becomes an issue of central
significance.
But, so as to understand how negotiation functions in an organization, we require
going beyond the framework. We also require understanding the points at which
management myths stop working or cease to be useful; we require to look for
discontinuities and uncertainties (Halcrow, A. 1999). To turn negotiation into a really
competitive weapon in practical business, we require to start being more conscious of the
negotiation we do with the party, client etc and see it for what it actually is visionary
myths, power struggles, group limits, discontinuities, auguries of changes to come or
vestiges of changes past. And, when we recognize more about the limitations of
negotiations, we will be better located to develop its potential.
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A company might and most do have the corresponding of dialects, but a common
native language has significant implications which supersede 'regional' differences such
as these. To appreciate such implications, we require looking first at the role which
negotiation and language particularly, plays in an organization.
At the most simple level, negotiation provides two functions gathering and
disseminating information. As, the eventual purpose of both functions is to precipitate
action: a head office might act in response to feedback from customers channeled via its
field sales force; workers on an assembly line might transform their working practices in
accordance with new guiding principle from the operations management. Such actions
are not limited to those formally sanctioned by the organization: information, and the
actions which consequence from its transmission, can be official or unofficial. Indeed,
every organization consists of subgroups who have diverse information needs and
channels, and whose reactions to the similar set of stimuli differ.
Many negotiations do not fit efficiently into the win/win category. Far too many
of the negotiations we have with clients, customers, contractors, suppliers and others are
so complicated that we cannot always establish what is a fair result for both sides. In such
negotiations, there is always the feeling that one side has won more than the other, but we
can never be sure who has won the most.
Most competitive negotiations are win/perceived win negotiations where both
sides come away from the table feeling that they have won something. This is central if
the two parties are to continue with a relationship. The essence of most competitive
negotiations is to gain as much as possible, and to support the other party to feel that he
has won. It may be, of course, that a straight trade is probable without any Machiavellian
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behavior, but it would be folly to presume that all negotiations involve open behavior and
complete trust.
Thus, it is also extremely necessary to know the language to carry on proper
negotiations. Language is not just the means by which people converse (that is, the
medium in which items of information are spoken); it is also the purveyor of meaning.
Data is simply information while it has meaning, and data without meaning cannot
impetuous action. Language therefore provides a means by which we understand the
relative implication of any information and decide how we will respond. Within an
organization, the role of language is consequently analogous to other and more well-
known aspects of cultural behavior such as myths, practices and stories. They all offer a
context from which we can conjecture meaning; they therefore mainly determine how we
interpret information, and this in turn determines how we act. Take for instance the
manager who comes in and strangely closes his or her office door. How people interpret
this will depend on, amongst other factors, the representation of a closed door in that
particular environment (problems? privacy?) and myths ('Smith did that just after being
fired'). Just as with myths and stories, individuals in an organization (or organizations as
a whole) might seek to persuade the way in which both conversion processes take place
by managing the meaning of the language used: the greater the vagueness of the
language, the less convenient or conventional the resulting action (Korn, L. B. 1990, May
22).
Starting with the similar basis of meaning which sharing a common language
gives is obviously fundamental to this process, though the success with which this can be
attained also depends on many other factors. Anthropologists and philosophers have
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argued that a national language characterized a 'contract' within society which underpins
its common culture.
Though, some countries are reluctant to have contact with other cultures due to
cultural and religious conflicts. It is the lack of understanding that is at the root of all
exclusiveness or prejudice, distrust or hatred (Allan, G. 1993).
There are many examples of countries that are unenthusiastic to have contact with
other cultures. For instance, relationship between Israel and Islamic countries, Pakistan
and India etc
The disparity between the diverse cultures in the world today on reflection is seen
to be one of language or appearance more than anything else. The entire of mankind
forms a single species; and external diversities of feature and color, stature and
deportment, behavior and customs notwithstanding, man ubiquitously is but man, a
certain human quality supplying the relation of unity in the middle of all diversity.
Humanity is one, and human culture as the appearance of an aspiration, an Endeavour
and an attainment, is also one.
The countries that are unwilling to contact with other cultures are losing
permutations and combinations of the same or similar basic elements of human culture.
Basically, the physical urge for getting and begetting, for living and spreading, is
everywhere present, as also is the aspiration for a state of permanent happiness for "all
this, and heaven too". This desire, which is roughly as forceful as the physical urge, is
shared by the entire of mankind and has raised men above the level of the simply animal.
Religion, with its Janus-face of fear and hope, attempts to untangle the mystery of life
and being. These attempts, leading to science and philosophy and nurturing of the
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emotions (opening up the limitless joys of art and mysticism), are general to mankind in
all ages and climes, and they spring all over from the pursuit of what the sages of India
regarded as the only end for which man is actually striving cessation of suffering and
achievement of an definitive and abiding happiness. And in this common striving, there
has never been any segregation of a particular people or group of men from other peoples
or groups, whenever contact between them either direct or indirect was made probable
(Lane, H. W., DiStephano, J. J., & Maznevski, M. L. 1997).
The mainsprings of human culture are thus the same, they are common; and
assured ideals, values, attitudes or behaviors, whether good or bad from absolute or
relative points of view, have constantly been found to be transmissible. These ideals,
values, attitudes or behaviors form patterns comparable to languages. All provide to meet
the minimum needs of man, but those which state most adequately and most skillfully the
aspirations, the endeavors and the achievements of man naturally have a predominant
place in the affairs of men. Certain patterns of culture thus stand out pre-eminent; and,
becoming feeders and sustainers of weaker or less complete ones, they attain an
international and comprehensive status (Beck, U. and Beck-Gernsheim, E. 1995).
This play of action and communication in the cultural sphere is going on for ever.
The opposing forces of centrifuge and centripetence are also constantly operating and
strife with infrequent violent modification of one pattern by another, or harmony
deliberately or instinctively brought about is also in evidence (Allan, G. 1998).
With the hope of one world, one mankind and one happiness for all inspiring our
men of learning and wisdom to find a path that can be followed by all, this contemplative
readiness for a single world culture was never greater than now. We leave aside, of
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course, men of narrow viewpoint whose intransigent support of one particular prototype
is merely an unconscious expression of a blind selfishness which has its roots in both
ignorance and a yearning for domination. The time is certainly ripe, and the stage is set,
for a correct understanding of the diverse patterns of culture and for exploring the
methods for their harmonizing, taking our stand on the essentials and not on the
accidentals, on the agreements and not on the divergences. While this is achieved, and
mankind everywhere is trained to recognize the fundamental agreement based on the
The richest sources of negotiations frequently lie within an organization, but
among those people hardly ever asked to put in to its strategy, such as people on the
customer front line, new recruits, and many more. Who these people are specifically
varies from organization to organization and is a function of the way in which an
individual organization manages language. Thus, to recognize ways in which you can
incorporate a new language into your own organization’s strategy, you first require
understanding how language is managed across your organization as a whole.
In negotiation process we think of an organization, the model we tend to have in
our minds is one in which those at the top talk, as those at the bottom do. Flatter
organizations and the empowerment of those who work in them can mean that the sharing
of talking and doing has changed, but I think most of us would still have difficulties in
finding a company where this division has totally disappeared, particularly when it is
applied to internal processes such as developing a strategy (Nurden, R. 1997).
Taking the words from the bottom of your organization, rather than from the top,
reverses this state: it means that the doers start talking. The effect is less suspicion about
language (from the doers) and a diverse way of using language (for the talkers): both
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ways, it moves the goalposts in terms of what the strategy sounds like, making it more
likely that the organization as a whole will listen more efficiently.
Many management scholars have focused on the thought of adapting national
culture in international business. It is usually defined as a series of basic assumptions that
an organization has developed in learning to handle with its external environment and its
internal functioning. These assumptions have been found to be effectual and valid and are
therefore communicated to new employees. Adapting foreign culture makes every
international organization unique and bonds members of an organization together. The
culture in the organization verifies what behaviors and ideas are acceptable and
appropriate.
Culture is the yardstick used to assess many behaviors and ideas, and it provides a
foundation for the development of goals and strategies. For instance, an organization
where one of the basic postulations is that people perform best under minimal control and
supervision and need independence to excel would consider heavy-handed management
techniques used by one of their new deplorable managers. Furthermore, such an
organization would be more expected to select a training program for developing
participative management skills more than one focusing on processes for developing
power.
A case in point is the much-publicized W. L. Gore and Associates, with
headquarters in Newark, Delaware, that makes wire and cable, medical products, Gore-
tex fibers and fabrics, and industrial filter bags. One of the distinctive characteristics of
the firm is its casualness and the absence of hierarchy and status symbols. Employees and
managers do not have prescribed titles, and creative problem solving is extremely
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encouraged. As a result, the use of status symbols that would designate a hierarchy is
considered highly inappropriate. This instance demonstrates how a basic cultural
assumption concerning factors that leads to effectiveness is used to find out which
behaviors are acceptable (Jimmieson, Nerina L., Katherine M. White, and Megan Peach,
2004, C1).
Culture and business structure and strategy are inseparable, since structure is one
of the major manifestations of culture. The culture is one of the factors that determine the
relationship between employees and managers. As with the other elements, however, the
culture may also be the result of structure. For example, in a highly centralized
organization, the implementation of participative management and employee
empowerment will be impossible without a change in the structure. Thus, the two
elements are totally intertwined (Skinner, Denise 1. 2004, 5).
Both company culture and national culture recount to a persons’ effectual
behavior (Fisher, Glen 1990, 98).
Working in national culture means working in a different cultural environment.
As one national culture might interpret eye contact, smiling, happy, individual space,
touching, punctuality, and arousing responses in a certain way, another culture might
infer a totally opposite meaning from the similar behavior (Moran, Robert T. and Stripp,
William G., 1991). The deepest level of a culture is the least visible part, its value system.
It becomes apparent indirectly, while working with foreigners.
Basically, national culture inspires every feature of social behavior and
manipulates communication style, personality, character, inspiration, knowledge and
cognition. There is a widespread body of work on cultural differences in communication
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styles in the linguistics and cultural anthropology literature (Reine, P.P.V. &
Trompenaars, F, 2000, 237-243).
Devoid of knowledge of the dissimilarities in national culture and mentality,
without knowing how your colleague thinks, believe and proceed, or which
communications and conflict-solving patterns these pertain, you run the risk of
misunderstanding your business partners, and thus of jeopardizing your achievement both
abroad as well as in locally-based inter cultural teams (Fisher, Glen 1990).
It is simply through the cultural, personal and communication understanding of
the responsible persons that international assignments and company start-ups abroad can
be prohibited from becoming failures.
Cultures give people with ways of judgment, ways of considering, investigation,
and interpreting the world. Thus the similar words can mean dissimilar things to people
from different cultures, even when they talk the same language. When the languages are
dissimilar, and translation has to be used to communicate, the prospective for
misunderstandings increase (Fisher, Glen 1990).
"Communication is effectual when the person interpreting the message attaches a
meaning to the message comparable to what was intended by the person transmitting it."
(Fisher, Glen 1990).
The national culture in an international organization endures gradual change as
the organization adapts to diverse environmental and internal events. This gradual change
is incremental and rarely entails significant deviation from established patterns. Effecting
massive organizational change is therefore very strenuous. Changing the culture of an
organization is as hard as changing an individual's personality. Moreover, strong cultures
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will be more defiant to change than weak ones (Tony Proctor, and Ioanna Doukakis.,
2003, 268).
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