Intercultural Negotiations

Intercultural Negotiations

“Intercultural negotiation involves discussions of common and conflicting interests between persons of different cultural backgrounds who work to reach an agreement of mutual benefit.”(Chaney & Martin, 2011). How companies handle their other business associates will determine how successful the company is internationally. As we take a peek into these countries we see that they are highly populated and have an impressive percentage of literacy. The U.S. does lots of other types of business with these Asian countries, so let’s examine a bit of their background. South Korea whose capital is Seoul has 97.7% literacy and is taught English language in school; a population of 48,754,657; and a GDP of $10.09 trillion purchasing power. Japan whose capital is Tokyo has a population of 126,475,664; 99% literacy; a GDP of $4.31 trillion purchasing power parity. And China, whose capital is Beijing, has a population of 1,336,718,015; 92.2% literacy of which a large percent officially speak Mandarin and a number of other dialects; and a GDP of $10.09 trillion purchasing power. (CIA, 2011). These countries really have potential for international business. But their English limitations makes it difficult for intercultural negotiations with us. Westerners do need that middleman who will nevertheless be led by us, and not we being led by the middleman during negotiations.

On our $30 million business venture with South Korea, China, and Japan as suppliers, it was recommended that we use the win-win approach during our business negotiations. We were also alerted to the importance of knowing the Asian negotiator’s background, and that a middleman is necessary. Before we proceed to do business, we will research the culture of each of these Asian countries; find out how they are different; and know their policy on contracts. We will also plan our negotiating strategies using the necessary steps; use the win-win model to negotiate; and note applicable trade...