How to Resolve Cultural Conflict: Overcoming Cultural Barriers at the Negotiation Table
After losing an important deal in India, a business negotiator learned that her counterpart felt as if she had been rushing through the talks. The business negotiator thought she was being efficient with their time. Their cultures have different views on how to conduct negotiations, and in this case, the barrier prevented a successful outcome. In this useful cross-cultural conflict negotiation example, we explore what this negotiator could have done differently to improve her negotiation skills.
Research shows that deal making across cultures tends to lead to worse outcomes compared with negotiations conducted within the same culture. The reason is primarily that cultures are characterized by different behaviors, communication styles, and norms. As a result, when negotiating across cultures, we bring different perspectives to the bargaining table, which in turn may result in potential misunderstandings. Misunderstandings can lead to a lower likelihood of exploring and discovering integrative, or value-creating, solutions. Let's talk about the main causes of cross-cultural negotiation failure.
Cultural conflict in negotiations tends to occur for two main reasons. First, it's fairly common when confronting cultural differences for people to rely on stereotypes. Stereotypes are often pejorative (for example, Italians always run late), and they can lead to distorted expectations about your counterpart's behavior as well as potentially costly misinterpretations. You should never assume cultural stereotypes going into a negotiation. The second common reason for cross-cultural misunderstandings is that we tend to interpret others' behaviors, values, and beliefs through the lens of our own culture.
As this business negotiator has observed, cultural differences can represent barriers to reaching an agreement in negotiation. But remember that differences also can be opportunities to create valuable agreements.
QUESTIONS [CLO2:C4]
1. Explain how do emotions change negotiation strategy? C21, 10 marks
2. Determine negotiating skills can bargainers use involving emotions at the negotiation table? (C4, 15 marks)
