A Cheatsheet For Negotiation in Different Cultures

A Cheat Cheet for NEGOTIATION IN DIFFERENT CULTURES THE 6 TYPES OF UNIVERSAL NEGOTIATION The principles of negotiation are the same around the world, and they always have been. These 6 stages of negotiation have been proven to exist in every culture - but their order and implantation change from place to place and person to person: BARTERING "Let's swap!" "How about 3?" BIDDING OR HAGGLING HARD okay? "No way!" BARGAINING "Agreed!" WIN-WIN "You have to give up something too!" CONCESSION TRADING RELATIONSHIP "We love that!" BUILDING THE 5 STEPS TO UNDERSTANDING CULTURE The culture of a people is everything that one must learn in order to behave in ways recognisable, predictable and understandable to those people The way we do things around here Culture is... PERCEPTIVE The same gesture can be perceived in different ways. Thumbs-Up Great in UK/North America but is the equivalent to giving the middle finger in Greece/Sardinia. Tapping Your Temple Often means I've got a good memory' in UK/North America but can mean 'You're insane' in Russia. Nodding Your Head Means 'Yes' in Western Europe/North America but means 'No' in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Armenia. COLLECTIVE We might talk about 'British' tendencies, but this can be broken down further into 'Northern', 'London', 'West Country'. Each of these has completely different attitudes to things like Public Displays of Affection, or even to politeness in conversation. LEARNED RELATIVE We all have different attitudes based on our own experiences. Different types of handshake may cause people to react in different ways. How we look at different cultures differs depending on our own culture. An American's view of French people is different to a Japanese person's. FLUID Culture is constantly evolving. Living in a given country doesn't mean you'll subscribe to the same values - especially if territories have been divided. The same person can have European values, British values and Welsh values, but they might live in Texas and be used to American negotiation style. THE 3 TYPES OF CULTURAL NEGOTIATORS According to Richard D Lewis, author of 'When Cultures Collide' there are three basic types of cultural orientation: The negotiator is much more flexible and will change plans readily to adapt to changing circumstances Personal relationships can greatly affect decision making They are talkative, gregarious, extrovert, emotional, flexible and impatient MULTI- ACTIVE LATIN AMERICA SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA ITALY/SPAIN RUSSIA FRANCE MIDDLE EAST TURKEY INDIA BELGIUM INDONESIA/PHILLIPINES KOREA CHINA VIETNAM TYPE AUSTRALIA/DENMARK NETHERLANDS/NORWAY CULTURALLY USA The individual tends to be more important than the greater group The needs of the individual are a lower priority than the needs of the COLLECTIVELY BEHAVIOURALLY RE- LINEAR- ACTIVE group ACTIVE The negotiator tends to be highly organised and task-oriented. They are driven by logical choices GERMANY UK SWEDEN FINLAND CANADA JAPAN Introverted, patient, silent, respectful of others, accommodating and cautious HONG KONG SINGAPORE They are procedural, unemotional, private, introverted, quiet and undemonstrative The negotiator is a listener, not an initiator. They prefer to observe circumstances quietly, and sometimes at length, before committing to a Course of action Most common clashes occur between Linear-Actives and Multi-Actives as Reactives tend to respond and adapt to the particular style they encounter rather than seek to impose their own cultural style. THE 6 SLIDING SCALES OF PRIORITIES IN DIFFERENT CULTURES According to Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner in their book, "Riding The Waves of Culture" Different cultures tend to fall at different points on these spectrums which could cause clashes. 1 PRINCIPLE VS PRAGMATISM How we approach rules and contracts Principle: Time, logic and contracts are a big concern in negotiation. Pragmatism: Relationship and trust are important. They are flexible with time and structure. 2 INDIVIDUAL VS COMMUNITY How we approach collaboration and independence Individual: Quick-decisions, committed decisions, high selfinterest, talks from the 'I' perspective. Community: Negotiate in teams, consult with bosses, evaluate from organisational benefit, talk from the 'we' perspective. 3 SPECIFIC VS DIFFUSE How we separate work from personal life Specific: Speak directly and bluntly (can be perceived as aggressive), transparent with their aims, separate business and social spheres, approach every situation differently. Diffuse: Speak circuitously (can be perceived as evasive), may have a non-stated agenda, view business and personal as overlapping, avoid conflict to protect relationship, evaluate situations as part of the wider context. 4 ACHIEVEMENT VS. ESTEEM How we approach status in negotiations Achievement-Oriented: Specialists in their jobs, varying in age/gender/class/ethnicity, respect expertise and track record, competence is valued of seniority, should include a senior figure when negotiating with esteem-oriented counterparts. Esteem-Oriented: Senior people in the company, respect seniority, should include a functionally competent figure when negotiating with achievement-oriented counterparts, resent having their functional competence exposed. 5 INNER-DIRECTION VS. OUTER-DIRECTION How we adapt to changing circumstances Inner-Directed: Narrow objectives, accept and embrace conflict, stick to their convictions, resilient to changing their position and avoidant of changing circumstances. Outer-Directed: May have multiple objectives, view conflict as disruptive, adapt easily to changing circumstances. 6 SEQUENTIAL TIME VS. CYCLICAL TIME How we approach time constraints Sequential: Prefer to negotiate one issue at a time, base negotiations on a schedule, unwilling to deviate from set plan. Cyclical: Prefer to negotiate multiple issues simultaneously, no strict agenda, will adjust schedules to suit priorities and circumstances. By Country PRINCIPLE INDIVIDUAL SPECIFIC ACHIEVEMENT INNER DIRECTION SEQUENTIAL Czech republic Russia Sweden Netherlands Norway USA Brazil USA Sweden United Kingdom USA Netherlands Germany Czech republic France Nigeria Japan India Indonesia China Norway USA USA UK Nigeria Norway UK UK Netherlands Nigeria Germnay India France Rissua France France Russia Germnay USA Brazil Netherlands Thailand Indonesia UK Sweden UK Netherlands Indonesia Germnay Nigeria China Malaysia Brazil Brazil Poland Japan India Germany Japan France Netherlands China Austria Indonesia Venezuela Nigeria China Japan Austria Indonesia Poland Spain Czech republic Egypt Nigeria Germany India Japan Czech Republic Egypt Russia Sweden South Korea Czech republic Chnia Israel Hong Kong France Russia India Venezuela Japan China Venezuela PRAGMATISM COMMUNITY PRINCIPLE PRINCIPLE OUTER DIRECTION PRINCIPLE THE 9WAYS TO TO BALANCE NEGOTIATION POWER Negotiation requires a lot of give and take. At different times, the power may shift in your favour or in the counterparties favour, but you can implement one of these strategies to move towards a resolution. PROTECT Make an emphasis on protecting your interests by refusing to be swayed by arguments from the counterparty. IMPOSE It may be beneficial to impose our cultural norms on the other party (for example, asking for a contract) EXPLOIT When we have bargaining power, it may be beneficial to use the counterparty's cultural norms against them (forcing them to concede to 'save face' for example). MODIFY We may have to alter our thinking, expectations and behaviour to suit the other party and the situation. RESPECT We may choose to express overt respect and acknowledgement of foreign culture to ingratiate ourselves with the counterparty. CHALLENGE You can (politely) call into question our opponents cultural paradigms (for example asking why they are so concerned with time-constraints). EXPLAIN ometimes you may be required to explain certain cultural paradigms that might constrain the negotiation. EXCHANGE Acknowledging and accepting the cultural differences from both parties can be a good way to move towards resolution. INTEGRATE When the counterparty holds more power, it may benefit you to adapt to their cultural negotiation style. Each of these is also dependent on the trust afforded each party, the complexity of the negotiation and how much the parties depend on each other. This table will come in handy Balance of Power Your favour Exploit Challenge Explain Equal Impose Respect Exchange Their Favour Protect Modify Integrate Levels of Trust, Complexity, Interdependance Low High G The Gap Partnership © www.thegappartnership.com