Read the text. INTERCULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS[22]

INTERCULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS[22]

According to Linda Beamer and Iris Varner, cultural differences cannot be simply differences in style and language. Otherwise it would be claimed that negotiating skills are value free and are the same around the world, like the rules of chess for opening moves, middle game, and endgame. The interaction produces a communication situation that is the product of both cultures and of the personalities of both teams. Negotiation, like all communication, is dynamic and not static.

No intercultural negotiator can assume the same values on both sides. All negotiators bring their packages of strategies to the negotiating table, but the strategies are different because their cultures have different priorities. Culture tells them what is important and what they can block out because it doesn’t fit their shape of reality; culture enables them to assign meaning to the other side’s communication and to guess at the other’s motives. So to negotiate effectively, intercultural negotiators not only need special communication skills; they also need to understand their own and the other team’s culture. They need to be able to switch from behavior when with their own culture to the behavior that will be most appropriate for another culture.

PHYSICAL CONTEXT OF THE NEGOTIATION

Linda Beamer and Iris make emphasis on the fact that where the negotiation takes place the physical context for the communication has an impact on the outcomes. The authors provide an

example: if the negotiation takes place by telephone or fax, the nonverbal messages have a diminished impact compared with face-to-face negotiation. Indeed, most negotiation involves meetings between parties. The host team for the negotiations has an advantage because the environment is in their control. The guest team doesn’t have the same degree of control.