1. Managing across Cultures
MGMT 544:
Managing across Cultures
Professor Xiao-Ping Chen
University of Washington
Spring, 2005

2. Intercultural negotiation Agenda
Basic concepts in business negotiation
BATNA
Positions vs. interests
Bargaining zone
Distributive vs. integrative bargaining
Cross-cultural negotiation
Alpha-beta simulation
Summary

3. Basic concepts in business negotiation
BATNA
Positions vs. interests
Bargaining zone
Distributive vs. integrative bargaining

4. Simulation: the alpha-beta game

5. The Alpha-Beta Simulation
Alpha team preparation
(10 minutes)
Beta team preparation
Negotiation between alpha and beta
(20 minutes)

6. Alpha Beta
What did Betans do that frustrated the negotiation? What inferences did you draw from their behavior?
What about your negotiation style made you feel powerful?
What did Alphans do that frustrated the negotiation? What inferences did you draw from their behavior?
What about your negotiation style made you feel powerful?

7. Alpha-Beta
How did you get an agreement despite cultural barriers? Why did you fail to get an agreement?
What can you do when you are faced with an inter-cultural negotiation like this?

8. Principled negotiation
Separate the people from the problem
Focus on interests, not on positions
Insist on objective criteria, and never yield to pressure
Invent options for mutual gains
Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes

9. A synergistic approach
Preparation
cross-cultural training; define interests
Relationship building
separate the people from the problem
adjust to their style and pace
Information exchange
exchange task and participant related info.
clarify interests and customary approaches

10. A synergistic approach
Inventing options
mutual gain appropriate to both cultures
Choice of best option
insist on using criteria appropriate to both cultures
Agreement
translate and back-translate agreement
if necessary, renegotiate

11. Cross-cultural communication and negotiation
Cross-cultural differences in verbal negotiating behaviors
Cross-cultural differences in nonverbal negotiating behaviors
National styles of persuasion
Negotiation styles from a cross-cultural perspective

12. Cross-cultural differences in verbal negotiating behaviors
Average # of times tactic used in 30-min. sessions
Behavior Japan USA Brazil
Promise
Threat
Recommendation
Warning
Normative appeal
Commitment
Self-disclosure
Command
No’s
Profit level of first offers
Initial concessions

13. Cross-cultural differences in nonverbal negotiating behaviors
Behavior Japan USA Brazil
Silent Periods
(# of silent periods > 10 sec)
Conversational overlaps
(# per 10 minutes)
Facial gazing
(minutes of gazing/10 min.)
Touching
(not including handshaking,
Per 30 minutes)

14. National styles of persuasion
North America Arabs Russians
Primary negotiating Factual: appeals Affective: Axiomatic:
Style and process made to logic made to emotions made to ideals
Conflict: counterparts’ Objective facts Subjective feelings Asserted ideals
Arguments countered with…
Making concessions Small concessions Concessions made Few, if any,
made early to throughout as a concessions establish a Part of the process made
relationship

15. National styles of persuasion (cont.)
North America Arabs Russians
Response to concessions Usually Almost always Viewed as
reciprocate reciprocate weakness and almost never reciprocated
Relationship Short term Long term No continuing
Initial position Moderate Extreme Extreme
Deadline Very important Casual Ignored

16. Negotiation styles
Japanese North America Latin Americans
Emotional sensitivity Emotional sensitivity Emotional sensitivity
Highly valued not highly valued valued
Hiding emotions Dealing straightforwardly Emotionally passionate
Subtle power plays Litigation Great power plays
Conciliation not as much conciliation use of weakness
Loyalty to employer Lack of commitment to Loyalty to employer
Employer takes care employer; breaking ties (who is often family)
Of employees by either if necessary
Group decision making Team provides input to Decisions come down
By consensus a decision maker from one individual

17. Negotiation styles (cont.)
Japanese North America Latin Americans
Face-saving crucial; Decisions based on Face-saving crucial
Decisions often made to cost-benefit analysis; making to preserve honor,
Save someone from face-saving not generally dignity
Embarrassment
Decision makers openly Decision makers influenced Inclusion of special interests
Influenced by special by special interests, but of decision maker expected
Interests often not considered ethical and condoned
Not argumentative; Argumentative when right Argumentative when right
Quiet when right or wrong, but impersonal or wrong; passionate
Good of group is the Profit motive or good of What is good for group
Ultimate aim individual ultimate aim is good for the individual