We all know that businesses work differently depending on the social and cultural backgrounds of corporations. It is the same thing for negotiation. Negotiation styles differ a lot depending in the country you are at. As a professionnal negotiator, I am used to negotiating in a French culture, which I know would be very different if I were to negotiate with Japanese people for example.
Nevertheless, even while negotiating with US companies, you may not have the same issues during the negotiation than when you are negotiating with a French cultural company.
I really like this video that explains well the difference in how the relationships are based between negotiators depending on their cultural background.
Indeed, the approach to emotions and confrontation vary a lot depending on the culture. People will not react the same depending on their paradigm.
The Harvard Business Review gives you clear tips on how to adapt to the negotiator culture in order to make your negotiation a success:
- Adapt the way you express disagreement.
- Know when to bottle it up or let it all out
- Learn how the other culture build its trust
- Avoid yes or no questions: Yes and/or no may not have the same meaning depending on the culture: Sometime the no is not absolute, but the other person is demanding a new proposal. So don't say no to avoid this missunderstanding
- Be careful about putting it in writing
I like the end of the article: "Finally, don’t forget the universal rules: When you are negotiating a deal, you need to persuade and react, to convince and finesse, pushing your points while working carefully toward an agreement."
