Part Two
Dr. Dennis Leclerc continued his two-part morning program on international negotiation strategies by detailing nuances of interpersonal contacts. (Part one of can be found here.)
Cultural and Psychological Aspects
Three things are important to negotiators: results, efficiency and relationships. Every successful negotiation involves:
- The resolving of tangibles (the price or the terms of agreement)
- The resolution of intangibles (the underlying psychological motivations), for example, your brand’s impact on the party’s portfolio of brands carried, or your client’s self-image.
Leclerc invited participants to converse with their neighbors about important cross-cultural lessons learned from past negotiations. One participant offered the example of interviewing for a new job: non-U.S. born individuals struggle with how to write resumes for American employers, who stress action-oriented descriptions that highlight personal achievements. Job seekers from Asian cultures are oriented to team activities and find direct questions unsettling. Another participant described complexities with bilingual contracts and translating terms when U.S. English not the first language for bargaining partners.
Leclerc noted that four dimensions of preparation are tested all the time: intellectual, emotional, ethical and physical. Especially with long-distance travel, plan in time to rest so that you enter negotiations refreshed and with a clear head. Include someone on your team who knows the local language; this person will be able to sense non-verbal communication cues.
Communication Nuances in International Negotiations
Cross-cultural negotiations can require you to become a cultural wizard. A negotiator must consider the process as an iceberg: the tip of iceberg = observable behaviors. Below the water line are cognitive factors such as beliefs and principles, and deep underwater are the emotions and underlying values.
Upon engaging in a negotiation, first identify the structure of the organization represented by the people sitting across from you at the negotiating table. Do they come from a hierarchy or a structure based on equality? Hierarchical organizations rely on a differentiated power structure and decisions will be made by the top leader. Department managers with little authority will have to convince their company leadership of negotiating positions and carry the leader’s message. In an egalitarian power structure, there will be minimal social stratification and more participants will be involved and bear responsibilities.
Interaction Styles
Speak in the language of the listener. Listen in the language of the speaker. Be aware about how you ask questions when you negotiate. Note differences in the response of your partners, who may be motivated by different cultural standards and personal styles. The basic framework considers two modes of interaction:
- Indirect: Much non-verbal coding; reactions reserved; stress conflict avoidance and saving “face”
- Direct: Verbalize details, reactions on the surface, say what you mean and mean what you say.
Changing a communication style can trigger chaos in team project. Most negotiations begin with indirect methods.
Thinking Styles
In addition to the cultural differences that impact negotiations, negotiators must be aware of individual thinking styles and how information is presented. Each person has a thinking style in the way we filter and process information and how we respond. At the very basic level, how information is presented visually—color, font and number of lines per page, number of pages—might make a difference in how your readers will absorb the material. Presenters must keep their messages short and impactful, as listeners will remember the beginning and end. The following thinking styles will impact the management of the negotiation process and how team members interact and built trust with partners.
- Deductive: Reasoning based on theory and logic.
- Inductive: Reasoning based on experiences and experimentation
- Linear: Straight-forward analysis focusing on points rather than in-depth analysis of the whole
- Systemic: Focus on the big picture
Mapping Negotiation Stakeholders
Leclerc assigned an exercise on how to map stakeholder terrain (capability, intention and relationships/feelings) to decide on where to target negotiation efforts. Negotiators should identify their partners on quadrants that position actors on spectrums of power vs. interest. Strategies for how to keep participants informed and managed vary widely depending on the characteristics of the group.
Leclerc closed his presentation by explaining an institutional capability checklist grid outlined vertically by columns headed: Steps in the Negotiating Process, Situational View, Institutional View, Examples of Tools and Procedures matched against horizontal considerations for Determining Objectives, Preparing for the Negotiations, Conducting and then Reviewing the Negotiations.
A native of Normandy, France, Dr. Leclerc completed a maitrise in cultural geography from L’Universite de Haute Normandie in Rouen, France, his master’s degree in international tourism at Arizona State University and his Ph.D. in cross-cultural communication from the Hugh Downs School of Communication at Arizona State University. He received his certifications for the Global Mindset Inventory from Thunderbird and the COM/COI from the Training Management Corporation. He has been voted the most valuable professor by the Thunderbird Executive MBA students and has been voted most outstanding faculty member.
He was co-program evaluator for a National Science Foundation (NSF) three-year grant examining the cultural adaptation of U.S. scientists working in scientific laboratories abroad. This research project was instrumental in guiding NSF to redesign program components to include cross-cultural training for their international assignments.
Contact Details:
Denis Leclerc
denis.leclerc@thunderbird.edu
#globalculture
(001) 480 518 2323
