Amy English
Instructional Design Specialist
Baker Communications, Inc.
The rookie on the American negotiating team was nervously awaiting the first meeting with their counterparts from China. One of the more seasoned negotiators leaned over and said quietly, “Don’t worry! We won’t get anything done today.” “What do you mean?” asked the confused rookie. “They like to drag it out,” explained the veteran. “Nothing will get decided until later in the week. Oh, and one other thing,” he told the rookie, glancing at his watch. “Whenever they say “yes,” they probably mean “no.””
The negotiating team from China was also preparing to begin the meeting. “Remember that they will not be very polite,” one team member reminded his younger colleague, “and they may get angry easily. Americans are always very impatient.” The team leader agreed. “The last time we met with Americans, they wanted to finish everything so fast, they left before the negotiations were over!”
A Global Economy
As the business world becomes more and more globally integrated, we find ourselves living and working in new environments and interacting with people from cultures that are foreign to our own. Ours is an increasingly global economy, where international deals, partnerships, and negotiations are more common than ever.
Negotiating with partners from other cultures can be a tricky process, especially when cultural differences lead to varying attitudes about business practices. Wherever we may be from, approaching international negotiations in the same way that we would in our own country can lead to serious missteps.
East vs. West
Many of us are now negotiating and interacting with partners from all over the world. Corporations from the U.S. and Europe are partnering with businesses in China, Japan, and India. Eastern investors are becoming more involved in Western businesses and real estate.
When West and East meet, many differences quickly become apparent – and it’s not just the language and the cuisine. The cultural attitudes of other nations may be difficult to fathom at first, because they can vary dramatically to the cultural norms of our own countries.
It’s important to realize that just because another society tends to see and do things differently from our own does not mean that our way is “right” and theirs is “wrong.” Allowances must be made for what is really, in most cases, nothing more than a matter of opinion and a habitual pattern of thinking. Ignoring those underlying differences, though, is likely to result in confusion at best, and mutual offense at worst. If we want to foster and maintain our partnerships overseas, we must make an effort to understand the cultures we are interacting with.
Let’s look at a few major factors that we should consider and study when conducting cross-cultural negotiations between East and West.
Communication Styles
Language is less of a cross-cultural barrier than it once was. While knowing multiple tongues can be helpful, right now most of us can get along fine if we know English. Due to the current economic dominance of the United States, English has become the global language of business. This may, of course, be subject to change in the future, as other world powers rise to positions of economic dominance.
“Remember that they will not be very polite.”
Differences in basic communication styles are often a bigger problem than language barriers. People from most Western cultures rely heavily on verbal communication, explaining and discussing everything – setting detailed agendas, applying warning labels, giving specific instructions, and making direct requests. Eastern cultures tend to rely more strongly on a shared understanding of what is appropriate behavior at any given time. These culturally implicit rules of etiquette and behavior are internalized, so natives of the culture feel no need to discuss or explain them.
We can see how this leads to confusion when different cultures meet. It can be helpful for the “outsider” in an unfamiliar environment to get guidance from a local, or assistance from a colleague who has some understanding of both cultures (and some connections with both parties). A cultural interpreter can prevent much confusion between negotiating partners.
Even non-verbal communication, such as hand signals, headshakes, and other gestures, can vary from one culture to another. Such signals can also cause confusion, discomfort, or miscommunication during cross-cultural negotiation proceedings. It’s important that we study the body language of the local culture before traveling, to fully understand what is being communicated through gestures – as well as what we should refrain from doing to avoid causing offense.
Time Perception
Strange as it may sound, different societies place different values on time. In a business environment, it is important to take into account cultural norms and prevailing attitudes about time. The relative value ascribed to time determines whether there’s a need for punctuality or hard timetables, how likely it is that we’ll be kept waiting, and how much time is deemed appropriate to spend on a given activity.
“We won’t get anything done today.”
In many Western cultures, people place a monetary value on time. Punctuality is highly valued, and task-oriented “work” time is separated from social time. There is a strong time focus, and an emphasis on getting things accomplished quickly and efficiently. Time is seen as linear, and Westerners dislike wasting it. Business activities are driven by time pressure and tight schedules. Negotiations are broken down into separate issues, and items are often discussed and resolved one by one.
“Americans are always very impatient.”
This attitude differs from that in many Eastern societies, where social time and business time are more integrated, and several things are often done at once. Schedules are more fluid, and accomplishing goals or making decisions tends to take much longer. These cultures have a more holistic, even cyclical, view of time, and a strong value placed on interpersonal relationships, even in a business context. In this environment, a slower-paced negotiation and delayed decision-making is to be expected, and items may be discussed concurrently, repeatedly, or in no particular order.
Another factor in time orientation, aside from time value, is whether the society tends to look to the past for guidance – which results in a culture that venerates elders, respects tradition, and is resistant to change – or toward the future for inspiration, producing a risk-taking culture that values youth over age, the new over the old.
This type of cultural time orientation has a powerful impact on the goals and attitudes of its people. Many Eastern cultures are past-oriented. Largely conservative, past-oriented societies like to invest in existing structures, take guidance from previous experience, and uphold tradition. Attempts to deviate from that which is known and proven are often viewed with distrust. In future-oriented cultures like the U.S., people plan for the long term, projecting scenarios and creating contingencies. They hold the vestiges of the past in less regard, celebrating creativity and innovation.
Past-oriented societies place high value on the old and the traditional; future-oriented cultures favor the new and innovative. In a negotiation, parties with differing time orientations can find that their goals and values run counter to one another.
Groups and Individuals
Western cultures, especially that of the United States, are often highly individualistic. People from these cultures set and pursue personal goals, and are praised or rewarded for achievement on an individual basis. Far from being universal, this cultural trait is rarely in evidence in Eastern societies. In much of the East, the goals and needs of the group are held to be more important than individuals. Recognition for achievement or criticism for failure goes to the whole group, and individuals are expected to demonstrate their loyalty and solidarity with the collective.
Societies with this collectivist bent also tend to place a very high value on relationships. Building friendly relationships with business partners is a standard part of the work process, often favored over accomplishing any particular outcome. To them, this relationship-building is what the negotiation process is really all about – very different from the goal-focused, outcome-driven approach of the West.
“Whenever they say “yes,” they probably mean “no.”
Conflict and confrontation is frowned upon in a collectivist society, so natives of these cultures may go to great lengths to avoid disagreeing with anything. The Western preference, in contrast, is usually for frank and direct discussion of problems and disagreements. This difference in approach can lead to great difficulty, and sometimes to mutual offense. A sensitivity to the dictates of culture and a measure of patience can be extremely helpful.
When East Meets West
When preparing for an international or cross-cultural negotiation, it is critical to research the cultural and business practices of the people we will be working with. The more we know about how they conduct business, the less likely we are to cause (or take) unintentional offense, and the more likely we are to reach an agreement. Our efforts to meet the other party’s expectations will be appreciated, and our relationships with international partners will be stronger for it.
Baker Communications offers leading edge Negotiations Training solutions that will help you address the goals and achieve the solutions addressed in this article. For more information about how your organization can achieve immediate and lasting behavior change that leads to bigger wins during negotiations in any setting, click here.
