Culture Element Makes a Nation Distinct How Essay

Culture Element Makes a Nation Distinct

How cultural differences affect an international negotiation

Gesteland (2002 p. 33) cites that understanding how culture is powerful in the outcomes and negotiation process is the first step in any international negotiations. Cultural differences shape the behaviours and perceptions of various parties in negotiation especially in the preparation stage. A company pursuing an international joint venture requires identifying an international company for negotiations. Managers who are quite knowledgeable about the role of culture in international negotiations will choose a target company with much effort and care. Negotiating with a company featuring a similar cultural background is easy. Moreover, it needs less time to establish rapport. This minimizes any chances of encountering misunderstanding. Negotiating with a business with a different cultural background requires managers to exercise absolute preparation thus making them hesitant to initiate the first move. Thus, in international negotiations, cultural differences are likely to have adverse impacts on the negotiation frameworks. Therefore, this must be carefully researched and planned for prior to commencing any negotiations.

The relative importance of national culture, organisational culture, and individual personalities

Writers such as Hendon, Hendon & Herbig (2006 p. 71) discovered that the results of any negotiations is based on a complex relationship between individual personalities, organizational culture and national culture of actors involved in the negotiation process.Negotiators must understand the cross-cultural framework of the definition of national culture and the impact on negotiation. It is difficult to access the national culture. This is because, in the course of negotiations, local or international companies do not show their distinctive characteristics. On the other hand, it is possible to predict an organizational culture because it is fixed on the market position, work ethics and philosophy of the company. The flow of international negotiations is shaped by organizational culture. Negotiators must understand the organizational cultures of companies involved because it helps them identify a common ground thus predict possible alternatives and conflicts through the negotiation. Individual personalities of negotiators can be foreseen and studied in advance from previous negotiation patterns and records of involved parties. Such a tri-pillar association between individual characteristics, national and organizational culture is linked to the complex nature of an international negotiation.

Required skills and attributes that a manager needs to negotiate

Managers involved in….....