The Importance of Communication in Intercultural Negotiations part/1
We will present in this article content aimed at effective communication between cultures, and care that we must take in verbal and non-verbal language.
Communication in negotiation is nothing more nor less than the means by which negotiators can achieve their goals, build their relationships and resolve conflicts. Most executives understand that this is the most important tool they can have for successful negotiations. It becomes even more challenging when we include participants from different cultures and nationalities. Therefore, we will present in this article content aimed at effective communication between cultures, and care that we must take in verbal and non-verbal language.
We chose a very recurring question to exemplify the importance of knowledge of cultural diversity when closing an international agreement:
“Before accepting my new job, I had 10 years of successful experience with suppliers all over my country. But the company I just joined fetches materials and components from almost everywhere but here. How to negotiate with these foreign suppliers?”
However, when dealing with foreign suppliers you will encounter a variety of obstacles, such as laws, ideologies and governments with which you are not familiar, and which are normally never addressed in a negotiation with suppliers in your country. One particular obstacle that often complicates negotiations is cultural differences between the parties involved.
This is because culture consists of socially transmitted behavior patterns, attitudes, norms and values of a society, or of a nation, an ethnic group or even an organization.
Therefore, understanding the culture of foreign collaborators is a lot like peeling an onion. You will discover layers that are intrinsically related. When interpreting a behavior, attitudes are revealed, which in turn are reflected in norms, where values are then found. And it is precisely these cultural differences that can complicate negotiations and relationships in many ways.
For example, if in response to one of your proposals, one of your Japanese suppliers says, “This is hard,” you might mistakenly assume that the doors to any future conversations might be closed. In fact, your supplier, coming from another culture that tends to avoid confrontation, may be giving you a simple “no”.
Cultural barriers also make it difficult to understand each other’s behaviors.
While many Americans may interpret hiring relatives as a form of dubious nepotism, Lebanese employees may consider this practice necessary to ensure reliability, loyalty, and employees who stay for longer periods of time.
Intercultural Negotiations
In the globalized economy we live in you can trade from anywhere in the world, so it is crucial that you understand what is considered normal, polite and acceptable in a particular individual’s environment. Even a very experienced executive can lose a contract because of an important but extremely subtle issue of cultural differences between the parties involved. You can be very successful in your area of negotiation, have courses, graduate degrees, years of experience in your area, but if you are not aware of the cultural differences that can be indispensable in the agreement you are closing with foreign companies, you run a high risk of losing your contract for a simple misinterpretation of a gesture or behavior, which is vital so that there is no offense or faux pas on your part towards the other party involved.
Shaking someone’s hand when you meet a business partner on the first date is what the costume says, right? Offer a coffee, talk about the weather or the latest news. And then when everything has been discussed, you should then adjust the arrangements and send the contract for signature covering all the details, right? Although you are already used to these procedures in meetings negotiations in your culture, outside of it you can offend, delay procedures and lose the deal you worked so hard to close. Cultural diversity can apply from the way you refer to someone in the group, the way you speak, your gestures, to the way an agreement is made and confirmed. In other words, it’s critical that you do some research on the culture of the person you’re dealing with before you even establish first contact.
In the next post we will cover other topics, such as:
- “Tips for Understanding Important Signals in Intercultural Negotiations”
- “Prepare for different ways of dealing with disagreements.”
- “Practices of Understanding Disagreements and Building Trust.”
- “Ask open-ended questions.”
