商務談判英語:The Influence of Culture on Negotiation: Managerial Perspectives(2)

Risk Propensity

Cultures vary in the extent to which they are willing to take risks. Some cultures tend to produce bureaucratic, conservative decision makers who want a great deal of information before making decisions. Other cultures produce negotiators who are more entrepreneurial and who are willing to act and take risks when they have incomplete information (e.g., “nothing ventured, nothing gained”), According to Foster, Americans fall on the risk-taking end of the continuum, as do some Asian cultures, while some European cultures are quite conservative (e.g., Greece). The orientation of a culture toward risk will have a large effect on what is negotiated and the content of the negotiated outcome. Negotiators in risk-oriented cultures will be more willing to move early on a deal and will generally take more chances. Those in risk-avoiding cultures are more likely to seek further information and take a wait-and-see stance.

Groups versus Individuals

Cultures differ according to whether they emphasize the individual or the group. The United States is very much an individual-oriented culture, where being independent and assertive is valued and praised. Group-oriented cultures, in contrast, favor the superiority of the group and see individual needs as second to the group’s needs. Group-oriented cultures value fitting in and reward loyal team players; those who dare to be different are socially ostracized – a large price to pay in a group-oriented society. This cultural difference can have a variety of effects on negotiation. Americans are more likely to have one individual who is responsible for the final decision, whereas group-oriented cultures like the Japanese are more likely to have a group responsible for the decision. Decision making in group-oriented cultures involves consensus and may take considerably more time than American negotiators are used to. In addition, because so many people can be involved in the negotiations in group-oriented cultures, and because their participation may be sequential rather than simultaneous, American negotiators may be faced with a series of discussions over the same issues and materials with many different people. In a negotiation in China, one of the authors of this book met with more than six different people on successive days, going over the same ground with different negotiators and interpreters, until the negotiation was concluded.

Nature of Agreements

Culture also has an important effect both on concluding agreements and on what form the negotiated agreement takes. In the United States, agreements are typically based on logic (e.g., the low-cost producer gets the deal), are often formalized, and are enforced through the legal system if such standards are not honored. In other cultures, however, obtaining the deal may be based on who you are (e.g., your family or political connections) rather than on what you can do. In addition, agreements do not mean the same thing in all cultures. Foster notes that the Chinese frequently use memorandums of agreement to formalize a relationship and to signal the start of negotiations (mutual favors and compromise). Frequently, however, Americans will interpret the same memorandum of agreement as the completion of the negotiations that is enforceable in a court of law. Again, cultural differences in how to close an agreement and what exactly that agreement means can lead to confusion and misunderstandings.

Emotionalism

Culture appears to influence the extent to which negotiators display emotions. These emotions may be used as tactics, or they may be a natural response to positive and negative circumstances during the negotiation. While personality likely also plays a role in the expression of emotions, there also appears to be considerable cross-cultural differences, and the rules that govern general emotional displays in a culture are likely to be present during negotiation.

In summary, a great deal of practical advice has been written about the importance of culture in international negotiations. Although the word culture has been used to mean several different things, it is clearly a critical aspect of international negotiation that can have a broad influence on many aspects of the process and outcome of international negotiation. We now turn to examining research perspectives on how culture influences negotiation.