Negotiations In Cross-Cultural Management
Question
Task: Write an essay on negotiations in cross-culture management across various cultural boundaries within an organization.
Answer
Introduction
In the present situation, cross-cultural management has been one of the major aspects of business enterprises active in the international markets. Cultural diversity in the workplace plays a major role in ensuring the proper performance of the concerned organization in international markets. In order to maintain a smooth functioning of the company, the organizational cross-cultural management is observed to be undertaking negotiations. The negotiation activities are known to be a significant part of attaining success in the operations of the company across international borders (Lewicki, Barry and Saunders 2016). The essay aims to discuss the impact of negotiation in cross-cultural management across various cultural boundaries. The essay argues that negotiations across cultural borders play a huge role in determining the capabilities of a manager who has been serving the internationally active business concerns. The essay opens with a discussion on the concepts of negotiation. The essay thereafter sheds light on the benefits and the challenges of negotiating across cultural borders. The essay thereafter emphasizes on the ways in which a manager might succeed in negotiating cross-cultural borders. The essay concludes by highlighting the ways in which the study on negotiation might help future managers succeed in their job roles.
Negotiation
International businesses observe to be operational across various national borders and deals with a greater number of cultural identities. The cultural identity of a person has a profound influence on the thought processes, communication and the behaviour of an individual. The cultural activities also affect the negotiation and the transactions that are undertaken by individuals belonging to various cultural backgrounds (Vora, Jiraporn and Casper 2019). The cultural behaviours and the differences between the cultural values maintained within different nations affect the cross-cultural management and negotiation processes that are undertaken by business organisations that are operational in the given nations. The purpose of a negotiation activity is often seen to maintain different purposes across cultures. Thus it is implied that the negotiator belonging to wearing cultural backgrounds tend to give the need for the negotiation from different perspectives (Karacay et al. 2019). The goal of a negotiation in terms of business might point out to a signed contract among the involved parties in certain cultural viewpoints. However, some other cultures might view the negotiation goals to be the formation of a proper business relationship among the involved parties. Thus, the negotiating parties are advised to deal in the activities that are related to the cultural factors as are maintained within the given societies.
Negotiations as had been taking place among business organisations involve five different steps. This cross-cultural management process include the planning and preparation for the negotiation, defining the ground rules, maintaining a clarification as well as justification for the negotiation process, the steps for bargaining and solving the problems that might arise during the bargain and lastly the closure of the negotiation followed by the implementation of the negotiated outcomes (Adler and Graham 2017). Negotiations generally take place under certain conditions that might arise within the business activities in international markets. These situations refer to the conditions of conflict between the involved parties as well as those wherein the involved business entities maintain that negotiations would lead to better results rather than the dysfunctional situation of conflicts.
Benefits of negotiation in cross-cultural management
Negotiations in the present scenario are generally observed to have been taking place among the business organisations that have been operational in the international markets. These negotiations do not always take into consideration the political or territorial boundaries, negotiating parties also need to pay heed to the cultural aspects that are maintained within the given international markets (Cheng 2019). In order to maintain the business operations international markets, the multinational companies need to have a sound knowledge on the cultural aspects maintained by the residents of the global market scenario where they have been planning an expansion. Cultural factors that are maintained by individuals is considered to be a learned behaviour that is specific to people belonging to certain area (Neuliep and Johnson 2016). The cultural aspects and activities maintained within the social boundaries of a country might differ from the cultural factors as are maintained by the residents of some other nation. Thus, individuals who have been dealing in the negotiations in cross-cultural management are thus expected to maintain a sound knowledge on the cultural activities of the involved nations in case of international negotiations (Bitmis and McGuire 2019). The lack of a proper understanding of the cultural factors might also lead to a lack in the proper negotiations between the involved parties thereby affecting the business operations and relations that are existent among the parties involved in the negotiation process.
Cross-cultural negotiation is often observed to be a complex process that is undertaken by business organizations operational in the international markets. This is because the cross-cultural negotiation processes are highly affected by the cultural as well as the ethnic identity maintained by the involved business entities (Ogliastri and Quintanilla 2016). Experts like Chmielecki (2017), opine that people belonging to the similar cultural backgrounds tend to maintain a similarity in their thought processes as well as their reactions to certain instigations. However, in case of ethnically and culturally diverse individuals, there might be a dissimilarity in the thought processes and reactions to a certain stimulus that is provided in case of business negotiations.
What are the major challenges of negotiation in cross-cultural management?
The major challenges of negotiation in cross-cultural management faced by multinational companies in negotiating with other business organizations in the international market refer to the lack of understanding of the cultural activities and the ethnic factors involved in the business activities. The lack in the proper understanding of the cultural factors might affect the communication between the businesses entities involved in a negotiation process. Communication processes as are maintained within business organizations are influenced by the communication style followed within the given cultural setup (Ramirez Marin, Olekalns and Adair 2019). Certain nations of the world tend to value the direct communication processes while others are observed to rely on the various indirect communication methods America for example maintains a direct approach in case of communication while the Japanese tend to follow indirect communicational approaches (Osman?Gani and Tan 2002). There might arise situations wherein people following two opposing communication approaches need to negotiate on certain issues. This might lead to confrontations and misunderstandings among the negotiating parties that might hamper the business relations as well.
The other major challenge involved across cultures refers to the tenancy of some specific cultures to avoid the risks involved in businesses. The tendency of individuals to avoid risks might affect the business relations that they have in maintaining within the International markets. This might also affect the willingness of the other negotiator involved in divulging the required information, implement new approaches as well as tolerate the various uncertainties that could follow after undertaking a certain course of business actions (Gökmen 2019). The American individuals for example are generally risk takers in nature. However, the Japanese, on the other hand, tend to depict an averseness to the risks that might be involved in a business activity (Osman?Gani and Tan 2002). This might hamper the negotiation processes undertaken by companies that maintain contradictory values in terms of the risk taking as involved in business operations across international borders. This in turn might also affect the revenues that are earned by all the parties involved in the negotiation activities.
Importance of negotiation skills for crosses cultural manager
Negotiations in cross-cultural management are influenced by the cultural diversity in a very complex manner. The business organizations that have been operational in the international markets should maintain an increased emphasis on diversity in terms of cultural backgrounds. The development of knowledge regarding the cultural activities and ethnic identities would help the organization cross-cultural management to maintain a proper negotiation with the other involved business entities (Ahammad et al. 2016). This in turn would help the concerned manager to deal in the activities that help in improving the business operations of the concerned organization. The major factors that are involved in gaining a success in case of the negotiations refer to the understanding of the cultural identities that are maintained by the concerned individual or groups of individuals. The cultural identity of a person has a profound influence on the thought processes, communication and the behaviour of an individual (Sharma, Agarwal and Gupta 2017). The cultural activities also affect the negotiation and the transactions that are undertaken by individuals belonging to various cultural backgrounds. The cultural behaviours and the differences between the cultural values maintained within different nations affect the negotiation processes that are undertaken by business organisations that are operational in the given nations.
The implementation of the cross cultural processes tend to help in the maintenance of the various issues that are related to the business practices as are undertaken across the international borders. The involvement in the negotiation processes helps the concerned managers to understand the differences that exist in terms of the cultural activities as well as the negotiation and communication styles maintained across international borders (Adler and Aycan 2018). The participation in the processes enriches the knowledge base of the individual as well as helps the concerned business organization to maintain cordial relationships with their partners who have been established at several other global market locations. Business negotiations in terms of cross-cultural management also helps in improving the diversity as is maintained within the organization thereby helping the company gain a better competitive edge over the other similar companies operational in the international markets.
Reflection and future implication of negotiation in cross-cultural management
The study of the negotiation processes involved in the cross-cultural management has been helpful in gaining a better insight into the issues faced by the company in case of the international market operations. In order to maintain a smooth functioning of the company, the organizational cross-cultural management is observed to be undertaking negotiations. The negotiation activities are known to be a significant part of attaining success in the operations of the company across international borders (Herlache et al. 2018). The purpose of a negotiation activity is often seen to maintain different purposes across cultures. Thus it is implied that the negotiator belonging to wearing cultural backgrounds tend to give the need for the negotiation from different perspectives. The goal of a negotiation in terms of business might point out to a signed contract among the involved parties in certain cultural viewpoints. A proper negotiation includes several steps like the planning and preparation for the negotiation, defining the ground rules, maintaining a clarification as well as justification for the negotiation process, the steps for bargaining and solving the problems that might arise during the bargain and lastly the closure of the negotiation followed by the implementation of the negotiated outcomes. Negotiations generally take place under certain conditions that might arise within the business activities in international markets. The concerned managerial department should identify the situation in a proper manner thereby helping in maintaining the proper and effective business relations among the concerned organisations (Adler and Aycan 2018). The study would be helpful for initiating and maintaining proper negotiations that would help in the overall development of the given organisations. The discussions on the importance of negotiation would also help in understanding the importance of cross-cultural management within the workplaces.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be opined that negotiations across international borders are highly influenced by the cultural and ethnic identities maintained by individuals. The essay discussed the impact of negotiation in cross-cultural management across various cultural boundaries. The essay established that negotiations across cultural borders play a huge role in determining the capabilities of a manager who has been serving the internationally active business concerns. Negotiations generally take place under certain conditions like the conditions of conflict between the involved parties as well as those wherein the involved business entities maintain that negotiations would lead to better results rather than the dysfunctional situation of conflicts. The cross-cultural management negotiation processes are highly affected by the cultural as well as the ethnic identity maintained by the involved business entities. People belonging to the similar cultural backgrounds tend to maintain a similarity in their thought processes as well as their reactions to certain instigations. The cultural behaviours and the differences between the cultural values maintained within different nations affect the negotiation processes that are undertaken by business organisations that are operational in the given nations. The negotiation activities are thus helpful in attaining success pertaining to the operations of the company across international borders.
References
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