French Negotiating Style

NEGOTIATION

MANAGEMENT

Mag. Birgit FISCHER-SITZWOHL - Summer Semester 2006

THE FRENCH NEGOTIATION STYLE

A COMPARISON WITH

THE HARVARD CONCEPT

Agathe ALMUEIS (0552549)

Delphine COMPARAT(0552550)

Aurélie Alexandra KYSELIC

Adrien WATINE (0552553)

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PLAN

INTRODUCTION....................................................................3 I. FRENCH NEGOTIATION STYLE.....................................3

1. The French Culture and Values .....................................................3 2. The typical French Negotiator.......................................................4 3. How culture influence 10 Negotiation Factors..............................6

III. AN APPROACH OF THE FRENCH NEGOTIATING STYLE THROUGHOUT THE HARVARD CONCEPT........7

1. Separating the people from the problem........................................8 2. Concentrate on interests not positions ...........................................9 3. Invent options for mutual gain ......................................................9 4. Insist on using objective criteria..................................................10

CONCLUSION......................................................................11 LITERATURE LIST..............................................................12

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INTRODUCTION The word "negotiation" is rooted in the Latin negotium, meaning "not leisure" (which

means that what is not leisure is business). In Old French, "negociacion" meant

"dealing with people." Both definitions, though archaic, are right on the mark because

the fact is that all dealings between people (whether social or business) constitute

negotiation. This means that everyone has to negotiate in its everyday life. In our

globalizing world, it is important to understand other cultures to take the most out of

our international relations.

Moreover, France is one of the pillars of the European Union and number one

worldwide in the tourism sector, therefore a meaningful partner on the global trade

scene. It seems very important that France’s business partners understand the way

the French negotiate to obtain more easily what they want, and in a friendlier way.

In our survey we’ll start with an overview of the French culture and the French

particular negotiating style that we’ll try to compare afterwards with the Harvard

Negotiation Style Concept to see what could be improved in our negotiating methods.

I. FRENCH NEGOTIATION STYLE

1. The French Culture and Values France is a modern and very diverse country, and one can only admit the deep

influence that France’s culture has had on western countries for the last hundred of

years, especially in art, literature and philosophy. The French are proud of their

history and their prominent culture is influenced by a mix of cultural and historical

differences.

One of the characteristics of the French culture is the centralisation. France has a

long and notable history of centralisation reflected in its geography, transportation

system, Government and business. France is organised pretty much around Paris. In

business, centralisation is reflected in the concentrated authority. It is especially true

in SMEs, where the personality of the manager/founder strongly influences the life of

the company, because he/she has difficulties decentralizing power.

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To be successful in business in France, it is necessary to understand the culture.

Culture has indeed an impact on the values, which in turn affect the attitude, which

eventually influences behaviours. Let’s see, through the model of Geert Hofstede

(1970’s), which are the French values regarding business. We use this model here to

make our analysis understandable, since it has become a well-known standard.

Power distance: France is getting more moderate. As Hofstede studied France for

his model, it was the only country scoring high on power distance. Nowadays, the

hierarchy is usually to be respected. Even though employees can bypass their

bosses, it is not often the case, and they often have to ask for their bosses assent

before taking a decision.

Individualism VS Collectivism: the French love uniqueness and freedom of opinion

both in society and in business. The individualism is therefore a very important

cultural characteristic.

Achievement VS Nurturing: the French place more interest in quality of life

(nurturing) than on their career (achievement). It’s obvious in the way they defend

their rights concerning their 5-week paid holidays and other social advantages and

benefits.

Uncertainty avoidance: the French pay a lot of attention to rules and regulations.

Moreover, the French don’t like ambiguity and they try to reduce them by establishing

formal rules in order to avoid ideas and behaviours they don’t desire.

Long term VS Short term orientation: France seems more short-term oriented: the

French look more in the past and try to keep their social system the way it is, even

though it will need reforms pretty soon. However, companies try to be more long-term

oriented, through commitment to sustainable development and other future-oriented

actions.

Now that we’ve seen what the French culture consists in concerning business, let’s

see thanks to this what the typical French negotiator looks like.

2. The typical French Negotiator

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According to our culture, and also to some comments made by other countries such

as the USA, Sweden and Finland, a French person while negotiating has the

following characteristics:

o Intellectual style: the French are very intellectual and have a high level of

culture. They also are very creative and political. The problem, as seen by

other countries, is that it makes them arrogant and they feel intellectually

superior to their negotiating partner.

o Nationalistic and self-centred: Frenchmen always try to find a solution for

France. Most of the time, they give the impression to be fighting for France

during a negotiation. This is because they are proud of their country, its history

and what it nowadays represents (see previous part on culture).

o Non-verbal communication: the body language is used a lot through the

gestures and the facial expressions while talking.

o Verbal communication: most people prefer speaking French, because they

don’t feel comfortable with English or have a feeling of inferiority when

speaking English with their counterpart. If there is a real language problem, it’s

good to let the Frenchman speak French and the counterpart speak English or

another language and have someone who understands the subject translate.

In addition, it is very important to start the negotiation by trying to know the

counterpart and not by getting to the business right away. It also is important

to keep in touch afterwards through e-mails, phone calls etc. Furthermore,

when a Frenchman says “yes”, you can usually trust it. But when he says “no”,

it often means that the negotiation should go on, and not stop right at that time.

o Formality: it appears in different aspects of one’s behaviour. First, the French

are formal in the way of talking: they don’t use the “tu”, the informal you, and

they usually expect the same behaviour in return. Moreover, it is important to

be correctly dressed while negotiating with Frenchmen. It is a sign of respect.

o Bargaining techniques: the French don’t bargain more than any other

western country and they like to discuss the price just because they like to

discuss every little detail while negotiating. Here we find the high uncertainty

avoidance developed in the previous part.

o Attitude to female negotiators: they don’t make any difference between men

and women. The person across the table is judged for what he/she represents

and not whether it’s a man or a woman.

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o Type of decision: the hierarchical organisation of French companies has a

high influence on decision-making. If the Frenchman is high in the hierarchy,

he will have a lot of independence to make decisions. However, a person

lower in the hierarchy will have to ask his superior for agreement on the

decision to take, and the superior will take the final decision. We see here the

problem of power centralisation in the hands of a few executives, and the

power distance.

o Personal relations: French people don’t like to talk a lot about private life, but

they like when the other person shows interest in the French culture, and why

not speak French! Business lunches are not as common as they used to be.

As we have seen, the French culture has a great influence on their negotiation

characteristics, especially because of national pride. We’ll describe now in which way

the French culture influences the ten negotiation factors of Salacuse.

3. How culture influence 10 Negotiation Factors According to a survey made by Salacuse in 1998 entitled “Ten ways that culture

affects negotiating style: some survey results”, there are ten negotiation factors that

can be influenced by one’s culture. We are here relating these factors to the French

culture to see what its influence is.

1. Negotiating goals: the contract seems to be more important than the relationship,

even though keeping in touch is a good thing after the negotiation.

2. Attitudes to the negotiating process: a win-win situation seems to be wanted by

French negotiators.

3. Personal styles: as we’ve seen on the previous part, the French are formal and

considers it as a sign of respect.

4. Styles of communication: indirect, because of the use of complex sentences

while speaking. That’s why the French feel uncomfortable speaking English, because

they can’t use as many language ellipses and images as they do in French. Moreover

they use the non-verbal communication a lot.

5. Time sensitivity: fairly low, because most of the French are always late.

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6. Emotionalism: neither high nor low, because the French don’t show their

emotions too obviously but don’t keep everything to themselves either.

7. Agreement form: the French prefer specific form of agreement because they like

to go over details while negotiating, so they’d rather have a detailed contract with all

the possibilities. The important part in the negotiation is the deal and not the

relationship.

8. Agreement building process: they prefer a top-down agreement, which means to

start agreeing in general principles and then go over the details.

9. Negotiating team organization: even though the French are fairly individualist

and seek often a solution “a la française”, they still want a negotiating team based on

consensus.

10. Risk taking: in this survey, French are said to be fairly high risk takers, probably

because of their creativity and also their feeling of intellectual superiority. But this is

not the feeling we have. The French always like to discuss every little detail during

the negotiation, which considerably reduces uncertainty and, of course, the intensity

of the risk taken. So we could say that French are risk takers but in an environment

they know fairly well.

These ten factors are really influenced by the French culture and should be taken

into consideration while negotiating, as well as the typical French negotiator portrait.

III. AN APPROACH OF THE FRENCH NEGOTIATING STYLE THROUGHOUT THE HARVARD CONCEPT In this particular section, we will try to compare the French Negotiating Style with the

principles of the “negotiating on the merits” developed by the Harvard Negotiation

Project. It is indeed of much interest to analyse whether or not the French Style

described below fits with those four principles, namely:

o Separating the people from the problem

o Focus on interests, not positions

o Invent options for mutual gain

o Insist on using objective criteria

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Such a comparison might thus help us to find out for each point if our French

negotiation style faces difficulties regarding this well-known theory, as well as if

French managers/leaders’ methods need to be challenged.

1. Separating the people from the problem It is definitely important to make a clear separation between people and issue during

a negotiation, to prevent emotions from creating difficulties. We can here compare

the French Negotiation Style with the four areas of concern in this process:

o Emotions: Even if they don’t show their emotions too obviously, French

negotiators tend to project their feeling onto the negotiation partner. They

often believe the negotiation is a war. Many observers claim that they seek to

impress, convinced of their own intellectual and cultural superiority. Therefore

it might happen that French people try to win this “battle” against the

negotiator, not treating people and issues separately enough.

o Perceptions: French people tend not to be able to perceive things in their

partner’s way. They are said to be quite self-centered so they believe their

own point of view is the right one. It is quite hard for them to develop empathy.

o Personality: The problem is more or less the same than with the emotional

factor. It seems to be quite hard for us to not to focus on the other’s

personality. French nevertheless begin to understand that they have to focus

on the topic at stake instead of the personality

o Communication: French people do not make any effort to speak their partner’s

language. They are not very good at languages (only a few of them can speak

something else than English) and prefer to speak French in international

negotiations. But most of time they would listen actively their negotiation

partner, which is definitely a good point.

As we can see French negotiators are maybe not the best ones to follow the 1st rule

of the Harvard Concept, mainly because of their self-centeredness. They should

sometimes listen to Keld Jensen and Iwar Unt that underline in their book that “If you

want to do better at negotiating, you have to start with yourself.”

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But one cannot but admit that they often manage to build a trust relationship during

negotiations, since they honour agreements and promises, always keeping their word.

They keep goals in mind at all time and justify their decisions.

2. Concentrate on interests not positions French managers usually concentrate on interests and not positions. As we pointed

before, they are really eager to clarify interests at the very beginning of the process

and also during the whole negotiation. In France, clear aims are indeed very often

defined prior to every negotiation. French negotiators set goals and won’t stop the

negotiation until these goals are reached. And after this, that is during the negotiation

process, we are used to get others to speak their mind, both using verbal and non-

verbal tools such as acknowledgment, eye-contact, nodding or clear and direct

questions.

It is yet interesting to notice that French also pay much attention on principles, which

can sometimes be a problem to concentrate on interests rather than positions. A very

good example of this being the fact that French decided in 2005 that on principle they

would not sign the Warsaw Democracy Summit's final declaration, because it was not

an accurate portrayal of the French definition of democracy. Although French

interests would not have been damaged by signing, principle was paramount.

To sum up, we may say that in general, focusing on interests is part of our

negotiation style. French managers like to work in a clearly defined frame and won’t

stop it until a decision is taken. That’s why they define negotiation aims as much as

possible when starting a negotiation and thus respect this second priority of the

Harvard Concept. This is a great chance in negotiating with us: no matter how long it

will take, a negotiation won’t stay “open” (an agreement will most of the time be

reached).

3. Invent options for mutual gain The French are generally well prepared to negotiate and extremely creative, meaning

full of plans and new ideas, which is a very positive quality for negotiators. They are

more argumentative than many of their counterparts, inventing options and solutions

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which can satisfy both partners. Thus the French view debate as a simulating part of

the negotiation, and consider that an effective negotiation should include logical

proposals, logical arguments, and logical counterproposals. The French may seek

proof that all points have been taken into consideration and so they may push points

to an extreme. New ideas, even these not on the agenda, may be discussed.

The French tend to be more risk-averse than Americans for instance, so more time

will be spent on assessing the pros and cons of each outcome. As a result, one may

feel that the French are talking in circles and not getting straight to the point.

Moreover, French negotiators are willing to listen to the ideas and interests of the

partners during the negotiations, so as to be able to stand back from the partners’

answers and then adapt to these new proposals by assenting or going even further.

Nevertheless, the French are often considered more aggressive and confrontational

than other European negotiators. In general, the French will take a slightly extreme

position and stick to it until the last moment, before relenting at the end to

demonstrate flexibility. As it is said before, French negotiators give a huge

importance to their interest and the interests of their companies, so they could often

lay the emphasis on pushing for that position until it is either accepted or is no longer

viable, and the effort made to ensure that France does not leave the bargaining table

without gaining something for its trouble.

As we can see, French managers and negotiators follow quite well the third principle

of the Harvard Concept but the arrogance and pretensions they often show during

the negotiations may ruin many possibilities of good relationships.

4. Insist on using objective criteria To reach a common “win-win” agreement, both sides have to adopt a positive attitude

towards each other and stay as objective as possible, in particular in the solutions

they propose.

Both sides have interests in the negotiation, that is why negotiators often use

standards that are commonly accepted to go further in the negotiation process. Thus,

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they understand the same things and are sure of using at least at first no subjective

criteria. Examples of these standards could be expert reports, market information, or

for instance the BATNA. And actually French negotiators usually agree on the fact

that the price is not a part of the negotiation but the result of it.

French negotiators usually stick to that strategy, using official data, and then dealing

with less objective questions such as the role played by some managers, to

eventually reach the final goal.

Important to notice is that patience is not considered as a virtue by the French,

because “the French do think quickly, decide quickly, and act quickly” according to

Hall&Hall, 1990. They can speak a lot, give many ideas and proposals, but if the

partners don’t really conciliatory for instance, the French could become aggressive

and pressing. In international negotiations, the French may be tempted to adopt

bargaining tactics that seek to maximize their influence, often frustrating their

interlocutors and sometimes resulting in unsuccessful negotiations even with friend.

And actually one study found the French to be very aggressive, using threats,

warnings and interruptions to achieve their goals, meaning that they may

nevertheless include subjectivity in their negotiation process.

Thanks to this we can say that the French managers and negotiators tend to use

objective criteria during the negotiation process but are often suggesting some more

subjective rules, and even sometimes pressing to impose them.

CONCLUSION The French negotiation style is not so far from the one of our European neighbours,

even if we have some national particularities. French businessmen are often

criticized concerning a few points but everyone admits they are fair and loyal, which

is certainly the most important asset to build truly and friendly relationships in the

long term. And we all know such relationships greatly facilitate successful

negotiations. Of course French businessmen could improve in different fields of the

negotiation process (being more open-minded …) but every country style has its pros

and cons. French people like negotiating and are not that bad at it, an example of

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this being the fact that during year 2005 France was the country hosting the most

numerous Mergers & Acquisitions operations.

It also is very interesting to compare the way we negotiate with the famous Harvard

Concept. It helps to show us how we can improve during the whole process, from the

definition of aims to their achievement. Other models can besides be great assets to

do so. Like K. Jensen pointed “you should view the negotiation from a

multidimensional perspective, and not let yourself be fooled by simplistic and one-

dimensional explanatory models, in which one’s behaviour is always right, and others

always wrong.” But theory is not all. You can learn tips and tricks to negotiate

throughout it but the best way to improve is certainly (as we saw during the seminar)

to practice and stay open to any kind of advice your business partners can give you,

whatever their nationality.

LITERATURE LIST Jensen K. & Unt I (2002), „Negotiating Partnerships, Increase profits and reduce

risks“, London, 2002.

Brett JM & Adair WL, “Negotiating Behavior When Cultures Collide: The United

States and Japan.” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol 86(3), 2001.

Dr Wilen T, “International Business: A Basic Guide for Women”, 2001.

Salacuse, “Ten ways that culture affects negotiating style”: some survey results,

survey, 1998.

“Top management styles in Europe: Implications for business and cross-national

teams”, Myers, Kakabadse, MacMahon, Spoony, European Business Journal, 1995.

“Cultural advice, anonymous, Going global career guides”, France 2004.

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NEGOTIATION MANAGEMENT

Business culture and negotiating in Slovenia and

its comparison with Harvard Negotiation Style

Summer Term 2005/2006 Written by: Tina Logar (0552669)

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1. Introduction Much of business involves interactions between firms, such as negotiations with suppliers, dealings with customer, and collaborative activities such as joint ventures and strategic alliances. When these interactions take place across national lines, they may be greatly affected by the cultural behaviour of the participants. Successful outcomes may depend on the abilities of individuals to communicate effectively with each other. Aim of this paper is to analyse the specific negotiation practices in the Slovenian business environment and the cultural characteristics, according to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and how the Harvard negotiation principles can be applied in order to improve the negotiation process.

2. Slovenian history Throughout its history Slovenia has always been a part of larger countries or even great empires. The country saw many changes in its economic system – from the mainly agricultural period of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the slightly more industrialised Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the socialist state-centered industrialisation of the former SFR Yugoslavia, to today’s independent Slovenia, directed towards development and a market economy. Now is Slovenia among the most successful of the countries in transition from socialism to a market economy. It boasts a stable growth in GDP and is viewed as a safe country, ranked among the countries with the lowest degree of risk. Since its independence, Slovenia has privatised its economy, stabilised inflation and wage growth, halted rising unemployment, relaxed the flow of capital and modernised its taxation system. On 1 May, Slovenia became a member of the European Union. In the economic sphere, Slovenia’s level of development is quickly catching up with that of the EU. Its major trade partners are Germany, Italy, Croatia, Austria and France.

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3. Slovenian cultural profile Some of the most influential research about national culture has been conducted by Geert Hofstede. He identified systematic differences among countries. He distilled four basic dimensions of work-related values, which he termed Individualism/Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity/Femininity. Countries could be classified along these four dimensions to produce a profile of their work-related values. Hofstede (1980) collected the data from three countries (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia) in Yugoslavia. He represented them all together as a one country (Yugoslavia). In 2001 Hofstede analysed the data once again and divided them into three separated, independed countries. For this paper I will also use a research made by Jazbec (2005). She collected the data of 563 experts from the business field, working for Slovenian companies. This newest research is more representative and it shows a more reliable cultural profile of people working in a Slovenian companies. Individualism/Collectivism Individualism describes a tendency of people to see themselves as individuals rather than as a member of a group. In individualistic cultures, members tend to be concerned with personal achievement, with individual rights, and with the independence. In collectivistic cultures, people tend to see themselves first and foremost as part of a group, and may be more concerned about the welfare of the group than about individual welfare. They may value harmony and equality above personal achievement, and may be more concerned about an obligation and duty to other members of the group than about individual rights.

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Slovenian Cultural Profile by Hofstede and Jazbec

Source: Hofstede (2001), Jazbec (2005) In the graph above we can notice a high contradiction between Collectivism/Individualism dimension, presented in these two researches (Hofstede, Jazbec). According to Hofstede research, Slovenia is more a collectivistic country (index 27). But the latest research is presenting totally different results. In research made by Jazbec was determined that the Slovenians endeavors to act individually (108). The issue of such enormous difference could be in the actual change in the Slovenian cultural profile or in the sample used for the research. The more detailed researches made by three professors (Prašnikar, Pahor, Zagoršek, 2005) from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana show, that the important national characteristic, connected with the collectivism in Slovenia, is the perception of the family. Collectivistic characterized cultures reinforce extended families and collectives where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. According to these researches we can say that the trend of the Individualism will continue to grow. Power Distance Power distance captures the degree to which members accept an uneven distribution of power. In high power distance cultures, a wide gap is perceived to exist among people at different levels of the hierarchy. Subordinates accept their inferior positions, and are careful to show proper respect and deference to their bosses. Managers, in turn, may issue directives rather than seek broad participation in decision making. In low power distance countries, managers may be less concerned with status and more inclined to allow participation, and their employees may be less deferential and more willing to speak out. Here we can also notice the differences in the results of the researches. According to Hofstede research, Slovenia is a country with a high power distance (index 71). On

28 71

88

20

33

71

108

19

27

Masculinity

High Uncertainty Avoidance

High Power Distance

Individualism

Femininity

Low Uncertainty Avoidance

Low Power Distance

Collectivism

0 50 100

Jazbec (2005)Hofstede (1980; 2001)

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contrary, based on the Jazbec research, it is a country with equally distributed power. Majority of the managers still think that their subordinates are afraid to share their disagreement with the higher organizational levels opinion. Here I can point out the approach that can be used according to the Harvard negotiation principles to overcome the power distance. One of these basic principals is Separating the people from the problem. We all enter the negotiation process as people with our individual mix of emotions. Therefore, our negotiations are not only based on objective needs (e.g. business demands and interests) but also on our desire to being respected and having been successful. In order to keep negotiations at the objective level, it is important to distinguish between persons and issues and treat them accordingly. Every negotiation is based on the interest of both sides. The managers should concentrate on the problem, which has to be solved. They can deal with their emotional discomfort, caused by the inequality in their hierarchy standing, by facing the problem. In order to improve the team work and the process of inventing options, managers could use the method of “brainstorming”. If the group is formed with the absence of the manager, the subordinates feel free to share their position. Since Slovenia is still hierarchical organized country, the decision-making power is held at the top of the company. Most decisions require several layers of approval and sometimes no one wants to accept responsibility for making the final decision. So it may take several meetings to accomplish a simple task. Harvard negotiation principle – Concentrate on interests not positions can be used in this situation to overcome mentioned problems. According to Slovenian values presented in the several researches we can say that the managers want to have lower hierarchy structure and that Slovenia is slowly becoming the country with the Low Power Distance dimension. Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty Avoidance describes the extent to which people seek to avoid, or feel threatened by, ambiguous or risky situations. Individuals in cultures characterized by high uncertainty avoidance may be risk averse in trying new ways of doing things, in starting new companies, in changing jobs, or in welcoming outsiders. They may tend to emphasize continuity and stability rather than innovation and change. In cultures of low uncertainty avoidance, members may more readily embrace change, may show more initiative, and may be more accepting of different views and new ideas. Both researches (Hofstede, Jazbec) determined that the Slovenians expressed the need for formality, predictability and clear rules. In Slovenia, the desire for avoidance or minimizing the uncertainty is typical. The expression of this dimension in the business is characterized with clear hierarchy structure with strictly defined responsibilities and negative attitude to changes. It is the matter of culture that from the childhood on we are more oriented toward obedience and diligence.

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Masculinity/Femininity Hofstede used the term “Masculinity” to represent a cultural preference for achievement, assertiveness, and material success, and “Femininity” to describe a greater importance placed on maintaining relationship, on caring for members, and on a high quality of life. In so called masculine countries, work-related values tend to favour achievement and competition. In so-called feminine countries, firms provide more extensive services for the well-being of members, and emphasize overall welfare rather than bottom-line performance. The researches made by Hofstede and Jazbec present almost identical results. According to these researches, Slovenia is a country that is closer to femininity characterized cultures (index 19 and 20), which prefer values like mutual aid and interdependence, compassion and emotional openness. The business behaviour is characterized with the creation of strong relationship and collaboration. When negotiating the Slovenian managers tend to invent options for mutual gain. They believe that when the both sides are satisfied the relationship is getting stronger. Both sides are usually discussing the options together-how should they be implemented, what risk they carry and what the benefits for the both sides are. During negotiations they usually tend to hide their emotions, in addition there is a strong strive not to appear weak. Restraint feelings are creating problems by causing stress and inconvenience, which can hinder the negotiation process. This problem can be solved by expressing their feelings and separating the people from the problem. If they try to deal with their emotions directly the both sides could overcome the problem together. Slovenia has a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders. Females are treated equally to males in all aspects of the society. According to GLOBE research (Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, 2004) we are positioned on the 4. place between all of 62 societies. But unfortunately we are positioned relatively low based on Humanity dimension also according to this GLOBE research of societies.

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4. Conclusion

Slovenia, as a country in a transition from socialism to market economy, has faced

several changes in peoples values, habits, principles, business etiquette...

That is why the researches made by Hofstede (1980, 2001) and Jazbec (2005),

analysed in the paper, differ so much. One of the reasons is also the change in the

random sample used for analysing several different societies.

In sum, these researches have made a major contribution to our thinking of culture

and management, but should not be taken as the final word on the subject.

Despite that we can point out some of the main characteristic of Slovenian cultural

profile and business etiquette:

- Fast change from collectivistic to individualistic country.

- Hierarchy and accepting the uneven distribution of power.

- Highly expressed need for formality, predictability and clear rules.

- Low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders.

- Low based on Humanity dimension.

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5. Sources

- Coverdale (2002), Negotiation and Cooperation, Deutschland: Coverdale

Team Management

- House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., & Gupta, V. (Eds.).

(2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62

Societies.

- Zagoršek, H. (2005). Kulturni profil Slovenije ter implikacije za poslovanje

podjetij.

- Vida, I. (2006). Intercultural Business Comunications, Lecture

- http://www.geert-hofstede.com/

- http://www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/in-brief/arts-culture/

Negotiation Management Paper- Negotiation style in the Netherlands – Marjolein Boogers 0552554 Introduction In this paper I will take a look at the negotiation style of the Dutch people. I write this paper following a course in negotiation management. Starting this paper my knowledge of the Dutch negotiation style is very little. Thinking about the subject gives me a couple of thoughts on the Dutch style such as coming down to business directly and a very direct way of communicating. This paper offers an opportunity to develop more awareness of the style of negotiation in my own culture. I will start with stereotypes, then I will analyse the Dutch culture and negotiation style. Finally I will make a comparison with the Harvard principles. Stereotypes Stereotypes are simplifications and generalisations of the world. Many of them are partly true. A few common stereotypes of Dutch people would be the following: Cloggies, tulip-eaters, coffeeshop-addicts, abortionists, tolerant, liberal and stingy. Most of all the Dutch are labelled as liberal because of their government policies which are seen as controversial by a lot of people. Examples of these kinds of laws are the legalisation of marihuana and the freedom of abortion and euthanasia. As a country we get a critics as well as compliments for the way we deal with these kinds of problems in society. The Dutch are also seen as very tolerant to other people and different cultures. In my opinion this is one of the stereotypes we like to life up to and we would label ourselves tolerant but it’s only partly true. Behind this facade of tolerance their is a lot of intolerance hidden, for example towards foreign people living in our country. On the other hand the stereotype of the Dutch on wooden shoes in fields of tulips and windmills exist. Although this stereotype is more pleasant than the first one it’s not closer to the true nature of the Dutch people. In governmental issues the Dutch have a history of consensus. People are always trying to a find a solution that brings the goals and wishes of the different people as close together as possible. I think this element of our culture can be found in back in out negotiation style. An other major stereotype of the Dutch is their stinginess. We are very concerned about the price of goods and don’t like to spend anymore money than strictly necessary. This old stereotype can be traced back to the period of great wealth due to our good trade position in the golden century. The Dutch have a history of trade which of course is accompanied by negotiation. I think that this stereotype is again partly true and that this element can be traced back to the negotiation style used. Hofstede Geert Hofstede is an expert in the field of national cultures, organizational cultures and interactions between cultures. I will use his framework to analyse the Dutch national and organizational culture. Hofstede identified five different dimensions of national influences. Power distance, the degree to which differences in power levels exist. Higher scores characterize countries with high rates of political violence while lower scores are associated with countries which aim for equal rights. The score of the Netherlands on these dimensions is 38 1 which is a low score. This means that the differences in power levels are relatively low and their is an aim for equal positions and rights.

1 Scores are based on a 0 -120 scale.

Individualism vs. Collectivism, the degree to which people are integrated into groups. Individualists have loose ties with other individualist. People are looking after themselves and close family. Collectivism is characterized by societies in which people are integrated in strong, cohesive groups. The Netherlands scores very high on this dimension (80) and is in this study of 63 countries. This means that the Dutch are very individualistic orientated. Masculinity vs. Femininity, concerns the value placed on traditional male or female values. Masculine values are competitiveness, assertiveness, ambitions and the accumulations of material possessions and wealth. Feminine values are concerned with relationships and quality of life. The Netherlands scores very low on this dimension (14) and holds a very low position. This means the Dutch attach more value to the more female values as quality of life and relationships. Uncertainty avoidance, the degree to which a society tries to minimize uncertainty. Cultures that score high tend to attach a lot of value to rules and lasting relationships. With a score of 53 the Netherlands are positioned low compared to most countries. This means that the Netherlands are positioned between uncertainty avoidance with rules and laws and on they other hand are not afraid of taking some risks. Long vs. short terms orientation, describes the orientations of time and the concerns with long term planning and short term orientations. Some characteristics of the opposing sides are: persistence, thrift and having sense of shame (long term orientations) and personal steadiness and stability, protecting your face, respect of tradition (short term orientations). A score of 44 is relatively low meaning the Netherlands is more short term orientated. The Dutch Culture General I this part of the paper I will describe the Dutch culture and society using some key concepts. In the Dutch culture family plays a great role and is seen as the foundations of the social structure, families tend to be small and relatively few woman work fulltime outside the house. The Dutch are disciplined, conservative and pay attention to details. Appearances are important to them and they place high value on cleanliness and neatness. The Dutch are very private people and dislike displays of wealth as they run counter to their egalitarian beliefs. The do not draw attention to their accomplishments of their material possessions and do not value accoutrement of success. As said the Dutch hold strong egalitarian beliefs and they a highly tolerant of individual differences. This egalitarian view is carried out over the raising of children, social programs and the workplace. Every person is allowed to give his opinion and in most cases this opinion is valued. Moreover the boss will, although he/she is the final decision maker, ask for input from the workers and strive for consensus. Respect is of high value to the Dutch. When involved with outsiders the Dutch tend to be reserved and formal. They do not like to display their possessions neither emotions. As already said the Dutch are private people and they don’t like to be asked personal questions. In many cases they will refuse to answer. More important business and personal life are strictly separated. Business Because the Dutch have a long history of international trade they are familiar with doing business with foreigners. They attach a lot of value to clarifying the benefits that you could offer to their business and how you would benefit of this relationship. Also in business the Dutch tend to be reserved and formal and they do not appreciate touching and showing emotions. The Dutch value their space and it’s advisable to keep some distance. An other important point is that the Dutch are very direct in their communication. They like people to say what they mean. People coming from less direct cultures, for example Asian cultures, can experience their communication as rude. As said before the Dutch value the

opinions of other people and ideas and thoughts are discussed very openly. The Dutch attach a lot of value to your word, making a claim which you cannot make true will mark you as unreliable. It’s important to be honest. Business meeting etiquettes The Dutch value punctuality, unlike some other cultures being on time is taken extremely serious. By coming late people will think you will always be late and unable to make deadlines. Cancelling a meeting is not a problem but make sure that this is done in time. Cancelling last minute can seriously damage the relationship. Because of the Dutch way of being very direct in their communication they spend very little time on pleasantries in negotiations and meetings. Furthermore because of their need of privacy they will keep meetings rather formal. During the meeting maintaining direct eye contact while speaking is seen as a way of showing respect. The Dutch culture and negotiation From this brief description of the Dutch culture and the Dutch people we can derive some elements important to negotiation. First of all the egalitarian belief is important. The Dutch value equalness, respect and consensus. We can also see this in the score on power distance in the framework of Hofstede. The low score on power distance means that we strive for a low distance in power levels. For negotiation this would mean that the Dutch are likely to be interested in the opinion, interests and argument of their negotiation partner. Moreover their will be a strive for consensus. Goal in the negotiation will be to arrive at a solution that satisfies both partners. Showing respect for each other is also seen as very important as the Dutch like to be treated with respect as they will treat their partner with respect. Another important aspect of the Dutch culture is their need for privacy. The Dutch don’t like to be asked personal questions and they prefer to keep business and personal life separated. Overall they tend to be reserved and formal when meeting strangers. For negotiations this means that it’s not wishful to ask a Dutch negotiation partner for example how his wife is doing. In some cultures it would be seen as very impolite or even rude not to address personal questions to your negotiation partner. This stressed they need for knowledge of the culture of your negotiation partner. Because the Dutch like to keep meetings formal and direct in negotiation the will come down to business quickly. And due to their direct way of communicating they will not engage in small talk or they will keep this to a minimum. As talked about the Dutch don’t like to show their emotions. Because of this it’s important to come up with rational arguments instead of emotional ones. Also important in negotiation is the fact that the Dutch pay a lot of attention to details. They will take their time to asses your proposal and they want to understand the agreement. As said they are very interested in the benefits to both partners. Using background information’s, statistics and facts will help to make everything clear and will be valued. Furthermore, we talked about the consensus orientation of the Dutch. Because of this need for consensus the Dutch will tend to take into account all the people that might be affected by the decision. This process of making an analysis of the consequences for all the stakeholders of a decision can slow down the negotiation process. It’s advisable not to put pressure on the process because the Dutch will not appreciate such behaviour. It also important to know that a decision is a decision in the Netherlands. It can take some time to come to a decision but once the decision is made it will not be change. Moreover, contracts are taken very seriously.

The Harvard principles I will give a brief description of the Harvard principles in order to be able to analyse the use of these principles in the Dutch negotiation style. The Harvard concept exists of four basic principles: - Separating the people from the problem. We all enter the negotiation process as people and people always have certain emotions. These emotions can influence the process tremendously and can cause problems in the negotiation. It’s very important to distinguish between people (emotions) and issues (objective needs). There are four different areas of concern in this process: emotions, perceptions, personality and communication. - Concentrate on interest not positions. It’s important to clarify the interests of both parties since people act according to these interests. Learning about the interests of your negotiation partner can help in solving the problem. - Invent options for mutual gains. When the interests are discovered this offers possibilities to find solutions that will be capable of satisfying the interests of both sides to the greatest extend. This creative process can increase the possibilities of reaching a final agreement. - Insist on using objective criteria. Negotiations can turn into debates, which is not a good development for the negotiations. One of the reasons this can happen is because of both sides using different standards. To solve this problem it can be useful to discuss the different criteria and develop a shared set of criteria. These criteria can help to reach results which are satisfactory for both parties in the negotiation process. Managing the relationship between the parties is of great importance in this framework. The Dutch negotiation style and the Harvard principles After describing the Dutch culture and the Dutch negotiation style I will now analyse to what degree the Harvard principles are used in the Netherlands. The first principle stated that in a negotiation one should try to separate people from the problem. This principle is very well represented in the Dutch style of negotiation. The Dutch don’t like to show their emotions and in business showing emotions is not common and not appreciated. On the other hand the Dutch tend to be open to opinions and be respectful. If emotions are so high that the are affecting the negotiation it’s possible to address them. Moreover the Dutch are very direct in their communication. They dislike small talk and like to come to the issue, the problem as quickly as possible. This also helps to separate people from business. The second principle states to focus on interests, not positions. I think this principle is also well represented in the Dutch negotiation style because of the Dutch concern with the benefits to both parties. They want to know what their benefits will be and they want to see they benefits to the other party. Revealing these benefits means also revealing the interests. Again also the direct communication influences this process. The Dutch like people to say what they want and what they mean. The Dutch also value relationships, this is supported by their low score on masculine on the Hofstede research. For the development of these relationships is of great importance to acknowledge the various interests involved in a negotiation. Correlating with the third principle, invent options for mutual gains, is their orientation towards consensus. It’s important to the Dutch to strive for solutions that benefit everybody involved. This means to the Dutch are likely to be open to developing new solutions. This will enhance the chances of coming to final agreements. The fourth principle, insist on using objective criteria, I’m not sure to what degree this principle is held by the Dutch. Based on the comments I made on the first three principles I think the Dutch will tend to do this to a certain degree. Because they strive for consensus they don’t want to give the other partner the feeling the gave in a lot

Conclusion Starting this paper my knowledge of the Dutch negotiation style was very little. Especially with business negotiations I have a little experience. Moreover you tend to take certain things for granted in your own culture. Getting into my own culture and the way of negotiating confirmed some of the thoughts I had on this topic but it also offered new insights. Putting everything together the most important things to know when entering into negotiation with a Dutch person are in my opinion the following: Privacy, the Dutch very much value their privacy and they dislike people trying to enter their personal space. Business is business and is kept separated from personal life. Direct communication, I think this element of the Dutch culture is very important because it can cause communication problems in cross-cultural communications. For example to Asian people this direct way of communicating can seem blunt but for the Dutch is just the way they communicate. Consensus orientation, the Dutch are consensus orientated and are very willing to come to a solution that offers the most satisfaction to all parties. Negotiating with a Dutch person can be seen as working together to find a good solution. This offers a good basis for long term relationships and it should be used. Tolerance and respect, Dutch people are tolerant to foreigners and they have a history of international trade. They do want to be treated and respected in the same way and this is highly valued. Punctuality, the value attached to punctuality should not be underestimated. Although it might be very common and accepted in other cultures, for example the Spanish culture, being late will give you a bad image. As a concluding remark I would like to emphasis that although national culture plays a great role the negotiation style of people, it is a generalisation. We should be aware of these cultural differences when entering an international negotiation but we have to keep in mind that every person will differ in their personal negotiation style. Resources http://www.nrc.nl/W2/Lab/Profiel/Netherlands/stereotypes.html http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/long-term-orientation/ http://feweb.uvt.nl/center/hofstede/index.htm http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/ http://www.wikipedia.com Negotiation and Cooperation, Coverdale, Reading material for the course negotiation management

Negotiating with Germans In comparison to the Harvard Negotiation Style

Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien

Wien, 30.05.2006

Derichs Rebecca, RM

H0552665

Negotiation Management 2201

Birgit Sitzwohl

Final writing assignment

Introduction

The topic of this paper is how one negotiates in Germany and how it differs, if, to the Harvard

Negotiation Style. And to be able to talk about Germany’s negotiation style, it would be

helpful to take into consideration Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, which tackle the

“problem” of intercultural differences.

In the following I will first explain Hofstede’s theory in short, then present and comment on

Germany’s scores in this study. This is going to be followed by some general rules for

negotiation with Germans. Afterwards I will dig into the Harvard negotiation principles

(HNPs) and in the end compare it to negotiation in Germany.

Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension

" Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a

nuisance at best and often a disaster." Prof. Geert Hofstede, Emeritus Professor, Maastricht

University. (http://www.geert-hofstede.com/)

As we, as students that went abroad for at least one semester, probably already recognized:

people from different cultures vary a lot. So of course this is also valid for the business world

and with that for negotiations between people with different cultural backgrounds. We cannot

just go to a different country and try to negotiate with our opponent as we are used to back

home. It is necessary to take into consideration cultural differences.

Enter: Geert Hofstede's research. Dr. Geert Hofstede (

picture on the right) conducted a study that was trying

to find answers to the question of how culture can

influence values in the workplace. For this study he

gathered data from over 100,000 individuals that came

from fourty different countries. This data collection and

analyse took place between 1967 and 1973.

The results of the analyse, and later additions, gave

Hofstede the information for his now so famous model, http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theor

which looks at follows: it distinguishes between four primary dimensions to differentiate

cultures, which were followed by a fifth dimension after an other analysis. The purpose of this

research is as followed: people should be given the possibility to get to know more about

people that are living in other cultures. This could then lead to the fact that interaction

between them can be easier as well as more effective. In the following I will try to explain in

short what those 5 dimensions mean:

o Power Distance Index (PDI): the degree of (in-)equality between people from one

country. High score: there are inequalities of power and wealth. “These societies are

more likely to follow a caste system that does not allow significant upward mobility of

its citizens.” (http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/hofstede.htm) The opposite is true for

a low ranking.

o Individualism (IDV): do people in a country place importance on the individual or

collective achievement? High: individuality and individual rights are of greater

importance within the society. “Individuals in these societies may tend to form a larger

number of looser relationships.” (http://www.geert-hofstede.com/) Low: Here the

collective achievement is desired: families are important; and concerning businness, it

is common that one person is responsible not only for his own actions but also for the

actions of their collegues.

o Masculinity (MAS): Does a society still have the old picture of the man being the

one working for the family, having control and of course the power? High: there is

rather a lot gender differentiation in the country, man are believed to be the head of the

family and have the say, they control women. Low: Man and females are treated

equally, so both have the same rights and power.

o Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI): This point deals with how people in a certain

country handle unstructured situationss, what is their level of tolerance for uncertainty

and ambiguity. High: low tolerance. “The country is rather rule-oriented and institutes

laws, rules, regulations, and controls to be able to reduce the amount of uncertainty.”

(http://www.geert-hofstede.com/) Low: people in a country with a low score for UAI

do not worry that much about uncertainty, they can handle different opinions and have

the heart to take on risk. In addition they don’t adhere to rules and regulations as much

as people in a country with a relatively high score.

o Long-Term Orientation (LTO): “long-term devotion to traditional, forward

thinking values” (http://www.geert-hofstede.com/). High: People in this country like

to stick to traditions and pursue long-term goals, they always look in the future. Low:

the focus here is on short-term achievements and change is welcomed.

Germany’s Scores

Power Distance 35

Individualism 67

Uncertainty Avoidance 65

Masculinity 66

Long-term Orientation 31

Having a look at Germany’s scores, one can see that they, or we, put great importance on

individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance. On the opposite, power distance

and long-term orientation have only low scores. This shows that Germans believe people

should be treated as equals. In addition to that Germans are able to change and adapt rapidly.

For negotiating this could mean: Considering the low score of power distance one could say

that Germans will accept the other person as an equal person and not try to be the leader of the

negotiation. The high score of uncertainty avoidance could indicate that Germans like to be

very clear about what they want, how they wanna say it and how the negotiation is structured.

The like to be very organized and on time. The relatively high score for Masculinity indicates

that it is still common that men are the ones caring for the rest of the family, they are the ones

working. So for negotiations this implies that you will more often meet on men than women.

Concerning the Individualism score, it could imply that Germans “are more sensitive to their

own public “face””. (http://www.executiveplanet.com/business-etiquette/Germany.html)

They really care about their reputation.

Negotiating in Germany – Other General Remarks:

Before the negotiation Germans will inform and prepare themselves properly, which they also

expect from their negotiation partners. Unlike many other european countries, Germans will

not spend the whole first meeting on chatting and getting to know the other person, they will

take some time to get to know important things about the other person, but wanna get to the

core of the negotiation quite soon. They have their set agenda, which they do not like to

exceed too much or often. Additionally, Germans are private people that don’t like to talk to

much about their personal “business”/life if possible. It is not that they do not like to talk or

get to know the other person at all, it will just take its time, Germans have to defrost as we

would say in Germany!

When talking to Germans, you should keep in mind to call them with their acadamic title if

known to you, like: “Dr. Derichs”. These you will always find on their contact cards. In

difference to people from for example the USA, Germans and European people in general

write their first name in front of their last name, so: “Rebecca Derichs” instead of “Derichs,

Rebecca”.

During the negotiation, Germans will not hesitate to ask questions to clarfify what hasn’t been

fully understood, because they want to prevent complications from the early beginning to

keep the negotiation as efficient as possible. Furthermore, they will openly address

shortcomings of your products , arguments, ... if they see them and have no problem with

saying “no” if that is what they think. But if you flip the coin and criticise Germans, they

might react quite sensitive, since it is not easy for them to deal with criticism.

In addition to that they like to base their arguments on facts, figures, numbers, ... and use a lot

of examples to make their point most clear to their opponent. This also leads to the conclusion

that Germans tend to try to keep feelings and relationships out of the discussion.

Germans also tend to adhere to things that proved to work good in the past, which means that

they are not as flexible or spontaneous as some other countries. “The bigger and older the

institution, the more slow-moving internal management will tend to be (...) why change

something that has proven itself through time?” (http://www.executiveplanet.com/business-

etiquette/Germany.html )

The 4 Harvard Negotiation Principles (HNPs)

o Separate the people from the problem

o Focus on interests, not positions (“The purpose of a negotiation is to realize your

interests, not to defend your position.”)


o Insist on using “objective” criteria (“Measure the result of your negotiation against

mutually agreed objective criteria.”)

(Arbeitsbuch)

Comparison HNPs with Negotation Style in Germany

o Separate the people from the problem:

As I explained earlier, Germans try to separate the people from the problem through

clarifying the goal of the negotiation in the beginning and not getting too personal. In

addition to that, Germans like to hold on to what has proven to be good in the past, which

goes in line, with trying to pursue long-term commitment, talked about in the HNPs.

o Focus on interests, not positions

This point also fits to the German negotiation style, since Germans like to express what

they want right in the beginning, as well as clarify their goals. The say directly what they

think, so their interests should be quite obvious in a negotation.


Germans like to be perfectly prepared before entering a negotiation, which includes

having worked out alternatives, to be able to react on everything the other person might

suggest.

o Insist on using “objective” criteria

When there are people from two different countries, they of course have different ways to

approach a negotiation. To achieve a common ground for the discussion, they should talk

about criteria before they start negoatioting. I think this will work out well with Germans,

since they like to have a well structured negotiation and be sure about what will follow

next. The only problem could be, that they worked out the structure of the negotiation

before and don’t like to deviate from their way to do it. But I think, you can talk about

everything and find a solution that is best for both.

Conclusion

To conclude, it has to be said that it is always good to prepare well before a negotiation

with people from another country. For this it can always be of help to consider Geert

Hofstede’s research, since it gives you insight in the character from people all over the

world, which is important for negotiations. Of course this cannot be applied to all people

in a society, but for me it is a good tool to start your preparation with. And preparation is

what is especially important before talking to Germans. They will be well prepared and

expect this also from you. If people aren’t prepared this shows right from the beginning on

and can create a tensed atmosphere. So if both parties are well prepared you achieve a

common ground to start off a good negotiation and the rest will follow...

References

o http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory81a

o http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/hofstede.htm

o http://www.executiveplanet.com/business-etiquette/Germany.html

o http://www.geert-hofstede.com/

Negotiation strategy in The Czech Republic

Negotiation strategy in the Czech Republic

Eva Kopřivová

Tomáš Hájek

Antonín Koukolík

Negotiation Management (2201)

Instructor : Birgit Fischer-Sitzwohl

WU-Wien


In the study published in 1990, American Professor C.A.Nelson advised the

companies how to negotiate with then Czechoslovak partners. He recommended to keep the

time arranged for the business meeting, to avoid debates about politics and to bring the

conversation round to the topics concerning sports. He suggested to exchange small presents,

but not to exaggerate it in order not to embarrass the partners. Such instructions tend to be too

much simplified though.

Much more realistic was the approach of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce,

published in 1997 advising the Austrian businessmen how to deal with the Czech side

. "The Czech Republic is the state with high technical and scientific potential. The

Czechs are mostly non-believers (highest level of believers is in the Southern Moravia and in

the Southern Bohemia). It is necessary to bear in mind that after 40 years of the reign of the

communist party the whole social system is absolutely changed and it will take a lot of time

until the country adjusts to the new structures. Particularly branches lacking experience with

market economy structures are lagging behind Western Europe. Mother language is Czech.

Czech, German and English are usual languages used during business negotiations. The

crucial advantage for direct investments are both stable political scene and rather low wage

level. In addition, there is quite a high education level as well as employee motivation.

However not everything is running smoothly all the time. It happens, that partners do not

fulfil deliveries, are not able to pay or cancel orders. Working moral and quality standards do

not correspond fully to our expectations. Giving presents is sometimes tricky especially

according to relatively low wage rate. There is almost no difference between Austria and the

Czech Republic as for politeness, accuracy and equal rights of men and women. "

We will try to focus on some aspects of the Czech nature which we regard as crucial

for the analyse of the negotiation style of our country. This paper is based on literature as well

as our personal experience and feelings.


Czech cultural standards:

"Relationship orientation"

This typical czech standard describes the fact that the Czechs prefer relationship aspect

to material one during mutual communication. This means that negotiators perceive persons

and their interactions usually stronger than material side of negotiation.

Smooth communication, positive atmosphere, mutual sympathies and understanding,

wide range of conversational topics including personal interests and problems as well as

informal communicational style are not only necessary introduction into a lot of business

negotiations, but also important social value which may help achieve goals. Warm-up phase

means for the czech side obvious and essential introduction into the negotiation procedure

which can not be taken as waste of time. It is not possible to neglect emotions although in

comparison with many cultures (e.g. Roman) the Czechs are quite restraint and do not show

emotions dramatically. However, compared to german culture the Czechs are very explosive.

People are searching for personal relationships, are appreciating mutual understanding,

but they are easily vulnerable. Therefore the Czechs struggle for creating as pleasant

atmosphere as possible as this is a very important value for both sides. Once are the good

relationship built, they tend to keep and take care of them.

"Underestimating of structures - tendency to improvisation"

The Czechs are sceptical against structures and they like to get round of them by

improvisation. They regard flexibility and resourcefulness as their typical qualities. Not only

are they proud of them but they are also appreciating them on the partners' side. They are

convinced that successful negotiation full of inventive and meaningful options is based on

such procedure. Whereas some nations prefer to set a strict plan for negotiation procedure as

it helps to manage time and material stuff, the Czechs consider it as personal limitation. They

feel that the plan organizes persons not the procedure. That is why they often tend to

disregard it, take it easy, moreover they sometimes ignore it. Rules and regulations are often

regarded as stupid and meaningless. Who follows them is considered to be a fool who is not


able to use his or her own brain as the intelligence consists in the way to get round them.

Structures set from outside are typically refused.

The Czechs are able to use improvisation during the negotiation procedure, moreover

they feel it as strengthening of self-confidence and expression of freedom and sovereignty.

Suspicion and doubts are typical against everything which is not entrenched in their minds

and is seemed to be new. First of all they would probably examine such a new situation,

change it slightly and then decide if it is acceptable or not. "We don't want to be ripped off",

they explain. They regard themselves as to be in a weaker position towards strangers and

therefore have to be very careful. Czech negotiators need to believe that the decisions they

make are free and without any interference. At the same time they want to show their dignity

and intelligence.

Negative perception of structures comprises following:

• Resourcefulness to be free

• Creativity and improvisation

• Lower quality requirements

• Indifference towards sticking to them

Improvisation is for the Czechs a symbol of the highest professional skills. This is

demonstrated by the ability to manage infavourable, complex, unstructured and unpredictable

situations. Improvisation is considered to be the most efficient competitive advantage in

comparison with other european cultures especially the German one. This cultural standard

appears mostly in unclear and uncertain situations which may lead up to a conflict. However

improvisation is not to be taken equally to desire to change or something like dynamism as

the Czechs are on the whole rather conservative people.

Desirable goal is to be achieved by many ways and every problem has its solution.

The only thing needed is to find and carry out this solution. Sometimes it is necessary to

change the given goal a bit or find some alternative so far unknown method in order to

achieve the goal. These are the most frequent comments so typical for the Czechs.

"Unless it works how it should maybe it will work in some another way."

"It seems not to work, but we will try it."


In the Czech Republic is the term "quality" often interpreted as the ability to perform

quite well. When the goal is satisfactorily achieved and the result of the negotiation is to be

applied the task was successfully fulfilled. Completely perfect solution is regarded as

unnecessary protraction hampering decision-making process. The Czech culture is

characterized by the ability to learn and adapt to new circumstances quickly. The Czechs are

able to learn from their mistakes quite immediately if they consider them as individually

useful.

To take everything easy is sometimes a source of conflict with another nations

especially the Germans as they regard it as indifference whereas for the Czechs it means not

making mountains out of the molehills.

With respect to improvisation it is useful to mention the feature of Josef Švejk. The

main protagonist of the world famous novel written by Jaroslav Hašek represents such

attitudes towards problems and their solutions which are taken as typical czech. Searching for

alternatives, manifested obedience, strong efforts to avoid direct conflict, sarcasm, black

humour even in the most serious cases, that is typical for the czech character.

"Simultaneousness"

Simultaneousness means that the Czechs are doing a lot of business at the same time,

in any case they focus on the only one. They like doing that whereas they are changing

priorities during negotiation according to their subjective importance and believe to use their

improvisational skills appropriately. They do not want to miss any chance and keep their eyes

open. They are not very goal-seeking unless there is a pressure. They prefer to deal with a lot

of ideas more than being under pressure as for expected results and terms.

"Human-oriented control"

This principle means that the Czechs tend to offend against general rules in order to

keep moral obligations and mutual relationships. It contradicts rules-oriented control which is

typical for e.g. Germany. That means that the German way of thinking is strongly rules-

oriented which stems from the fact that rules and agreements must be kept irrespective of

situations and persons.

The Czechs emphasise particular situation and specific personal relationships and

subsequently comfortable feeling which results from it. Friendship is binding and the Czechs


prefer it to abstract rules. The basic motive for human-oriented control which the Czechs are

applying is the same as in the previous cultural standard "Underestimating of structures" -

keeping own sovereignty.

"Diffusion"

Cultures are divided into specific and diffused. This stands for level of restraint during

negotiation with the others. It is important to recognize if we get to know each other in certain

"specific" spheres of life and get in touch only with particular aspects of personalities or if we

keep in touch with our partners fully including entire character so called in a "diffused" way.

The former means that the individual spheres of life and personal aspects are relatively solid

and separate, the latter that they are on the contrary highly porous.

The Czechs show obvious signs of diffusion. In their interactions we can observe

diffusion of the personal aspects "sensitivity - rationality" as well as diffusion of particular

spheres of their lives "working life - privacy", "role in society - personality" and "formal -

informal structures" - in all social positions.

Lack of transparency is considered to be one of the fitting characteristics of the Czech

negotiators. Even after long-lasting personal contexts and mutual cooperation partners do not

know about the Czechs' way of thinking and do not know what to expect from them. Cultural

standard of diffusion seems to be one of the key reason.

"Strong communicational context"

This term stands for different proportion of that what is expressed explicitely, verbally

and unambiguously related to the whole message or information. If the proportion of verbally

unstated information is high then we speak about strong communicational context and vice

versa. The outstanding feature of Czech negotiators is the strong communicational context.

They apply such a communicational style which includes:

a) a lot of indirect information;

b) is more implicit, which means that it is necessary to understand additional nonverbal

signals needed to be precisely interpreted, extracted out of the context, however they are

important for understanding the whole message.


That is why the Czechs are convinced to negotiate more diplomatically as they do not need to

convey everything they want or need.

According to nonverbal communication there is a lot of aspects which are worth

taking notice of. Body language, face-play, emotions, eloquent silence, eye-contact but also

timing of the negotiation, different social status or common friends express much without

words.

Czech verbal communication includes a lot of hints, allusions, ambiguity, links to a

broader context, remote causes and possible consequences. At the same time the facts are

expressed in great details with a lot of words in which it is easy to get lost. The Czechs are

proud of their communicational style and the communication which is led entirely in a direct,

brief and material way is considered to be less sophisticated.

The czech negotiation strategy results from strong communicational context. It is

based on careful, indirect, step-by-step revealing of interests. Counterpart's reaction is

assessed gradually, the Czechs prefer rather defensive tactics. Czech negotiators wait on

partners' mistake, they try to stagger them, refer to strong and weak points and leave the

negotiation outstanding as long as possible. Direct conflict or confrontation with the czech

side is seldom. That is because it is regarded as communicational disturbance and failure of

cooperation.

"Avoiding conflicts"

The Czechs claim that they do not like or even are not able to use hard style of

negotiation and try to avoid it as much as possible. Facing pressure seems to be very difficult

for the czech side. If it is not possible to leave the topic and find an alternative way,

disappointment and ensuing resignation prevail. However they still hope in changing minds of

the counterpart, which is highly improbable. The Czechs do not enter such conflicts which are

lost in advance and comply with temporary loss or they simply leave the battlefield. Whereas

the czech interpretation of such situation would be: "the wiser one steps aside", the polish

would definitely regard such position as cowardice. Whenever it is possible the Czechs try to

avoid conflict rather than to run into it.

What happens when the conflict is inevitable?

They fear to call the situation "conflict". The Czechs do not take into account that

there is a conflict as long as possible. Contextual signals are used frequently, explicit

conversation leading to the gist of the problem is tried to be extended and when it comes to it


the conflict tends to be simplified as the initial tiny problem can become more serious. If the

pressure is unbearable and the open conflict is inevitable there is a danger of "explosion".

Explosion can happen "in silence". Respective person leaves the negotiation suddenly and

without any explanation. On the other hand sometimes explosion can be very loud and can

lead to the end of the relationship.

Next phase of conflict depends on the characters of each negotiator. Either is the

tension calmed down and everything is forgiven, or the negotiators lose their temper and the

cooperation is over.

One of the most obvious effect which can complicate mutual communication and

cooperation is a low level of social skills in term of dealing with negative information. During

mutual communication can every negative information play decisive role in potential

disturbing of positive social climate, personal relationships, even future cooperation.

Therefore it is necessary to minimize the amount of negative information as well as its factual

and sensitive strength.

Whole range of disagreements, problems or conflicts can be solved in an informal

way. Coffee break, restaurants or just informal conversation can make our hard job easier and

more pleasant.

"Unsteady self-confidence"

So far as the self-confidence of the Czechs is concerned, they succumb to big

disparities. On one hand they are extremely modest and underestimate themselves

deliberately, on the other hand they tend to overestimate themselves and exaggarate. That

means that some Czechs have too much self-confidence and some of them hardly any, but

adequate one is scarce.

The Czechs feel that they are not able to stand the competition, that they are too weak,

with lack of power. It is accompanied by embarrassing feelings and concerns which may even

decrease the current low self-confidence. This plays decisive role in a cautious

communication. Communicational scheme usually starts with a lot of excuses for petty

shortcomings and concerns not to tell something which may demonstrate own overestimating.

The czech side regards such an introduction as politeness expecting the same from the

counterpart. They think that the partner would disagree with intentedly a bit exaggerated

excuses. However it happens rarely and the Czechs unknowingly and unnecessarily grade


down own negotiation position. The thing is that the counterpart hardly ever softens such

excuses.

Another extreme situation is excessive self-confidence. Usually it is not convincing

and makes stupid impression as the style is sometimes only blindly copied from foreign

handbooks.

The problem is the fact that the above mentioned extremes can be seen just at one

person.

Of course, we can list some other weak points in the Czech nature :

• Envy

• Lack of ability and willingness to appreciate the others who are able to earn more

money by their own effort

• Lack of national pride with respect to the history, personalities, art, however

overestimating of the sport performances

• Ability to adapt to negative situations, come to terms with them

• Depreciation of the significance of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship

• Unnecessary searching for someone who could be taken as an example, however

arrogant manners, where we are "world champions"

To the group of the middle and east European countries belong Czech Republic,

Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia and other former members of the Soviet Union as well as

countries in the southeastern Europe e.g. Romania, Bulgaria and the countries of the former

Yugoslavia.

The partners and especially those, who had recent business experience within these

countries, regard the negotiations in these counties as quite difficult, the entrepreneurial

environment as variable, but offering a lot of new opportunities. The main cultural factors

influencing the negotiations are apart from the above mentioned:

• group orientation (explained as the result of the former political system),

• preference of the team negotiating,

• relatively large sense for time and punctuality,


• limited competence and unwillingness to accept personal responsibility,

• uncertainty in the division of roles and decision process,

• considerable bureaucracy and corruption practices

We can say that business ethics in Central Europe (if we ignore partial differences) is

not much diverse from the ethics of the western European countries). However the countries

differ in the ethnic composition, religion and its importance in the society, traditions,

mentality and the habits not just between each other but also inside of each of them, between

particular ethnical and religious groups. Better readiness, punctuality, faster progress and

direct style of negotiation can be expected rather in the central European and Baltic countries,

lower sense for time, more important introductory phase and ornate speech style mainly in the

southern Europe. As the negotiation language can be used one of the world languages,

negotiating in the local language is for sure an advantage.


Literature : Interkulturní komunikace v řízení a podnikání, Ivan Nový, Sylvia Schroll-Machl a

kol., Management Press, Praha, 2003

Spolupráce přes hranice kultur, Ivan Nový & Sylvia Schroll-Machl, Management

Press, 2005

Negotiation and Cooperation, Coverdale, 2002

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