Negotiations and cross cultural considerations
Negotiations
“Negotiation” steams from the Roman word negotiari meaning “to carry on business”. It was true for ancient Romans as it is for businesspersons of today that negotiations and business involves hard work. (Hendon, Hendon & Herbig 1996)
Negotiations are a frequent part of international business. Parties involved in a negotiation face different problems in reaching a successful outcome. When parties have different cultural backgrounds the faced problems becomes even more complex.
Negotiation is a process to manage relationships. It is a basic human activity that exists between husband and wife, children and parents, employers and employees, buyers and sellers and between business associates. In business relationships the stakes are often high and therefore it is necessary to plan an prepare the negotiation more carefully. (Ghauri 2003) When business parties negotiate the purpose is to influence the process so they can get a better deal rather than to accept or reject what the other party is offering. Negotiations are treated as an important part of developing business in any market. The estimated time spent in negotiations is 50 per cent of the total working time. (Fraser & Zarkanda-Fraser 2002)
Business negotiations differ from other negotiations. In business negotiations it is considered the most challenging communication tasks (Woo & Prud’homme 1999) and are more and more considered a crucial part of the managerial process, which is highly relevant to the implementation of business strategy (Ghauri 2003) Successful negotiations require understanding of each party’s culture and may also require adaptation of the negotiating strategy so it is consistent with the other party’s culture. (Hollensen 2001) Negotiations is important, especially in business to business markets where companies build long term relationships. Establish, maintain and foster relationships are of prime importance for the market transaction to take place (Ghauri 2003). Due
“Negotiation” steams from the Roman word negotiari meaning “to carry on business”. It was true for ancient Romans as it is for businesspersons of today that negotiations and business involves hard work. (Hendon, Hendon & Herbig 1996)
Negotiations are a frequent part of international business. Parties involved in a negotiation face different problems in reaching a successful outcome. When parties have different cultural backgrounds the faced problems becomes even more complex.
Negotiation is a process to manage relationships. It is a basic human activity that exists between husband and wife, children and parents, employers and employees, buyers and sellers and between business associates. In business relationships the stakes are often high and therefore it is necessary to plan an prepare the negotiation more carefully. (Ghauri 2003) When business parties negotiate the purpose is to influence the process so they can get a better deal rather than to accept or reject what the other party is offering. Negotiations are treated as an important part of developing business in any market. The estimated time spent in negotiations is 50 per cent of the total working time. (Fraser & Zarkanda-Fraser 2002)
Business negotiations differ from other negotiations. In business negotiations it is considered the most challenging communication tasks (Woo & Prud’homme 1999) and are more and more considered a crucial part of the managerial process, which is highly relevant to the implementation of business strategy (Ghauri 2003) Successful negotiations require understanding of each party’s culture and may also require adaptation of the negotiating strategy so it is consistent with the other party’s culture. (Hollensen 2001) Negotiations is important, especially in business to business markets where companies build long term relationships. Establish, maintain and foster relationships are of prime importance for the market transaction to take place (Ghauri 2003). Due