Guidelines for effective intercultural business negotiations
| Pages | 199-203 |
| Date | 14 October 2019 |
| Published date | 14 October 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2019-0050 |
| Author | Jean-Claude Usunier |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Guidelines for effective intercultural
business negotiations
Jean-Claude Usunier
Abstract
Purpose –For managers and senior executives who find themselves negotiating with international
partners who differ in terms of culture, communication style, time orientation, as well as personal and
professionalbackgrounds, understandingthe complex range of factors that impact interculturalbusiness
negotiations(ICBN) for short –is a fundamentally importantskill.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper is based on an organised review of literature on culture
and business negotiations in Usunier (2019), systematically examining the interface of culture with
dispositional (e.g. negotiator’s gender) and situational variable (e.g. type of contract, one-shot versus
repeateddeals).
Findings –Empathy is not all, culture overlaps and interacts with other key negotiation variables. The
paper derivesa set of guidelines for effective ICBN.
Originality/value –Many approaches to ICBN emphasise culture as a stand-alone variable. The
approach helps to avoid naı
¨
ve behaviour and proposesa framework for linking cultural aspects to other
major situationaland dispositional variablesin the ICBN process.
Keywords Culture, Negotiation, Relationship, Deal, Communication, Trust, Time orientation, Gender
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Negotiations play a critical part in the world of business, especially when it comes to
international deals. Negotiation is not only about “doing” –legal and business matters but
also hard facts and contractual arrangements. It is also based on “being” –the quality of
human and social relations. Then, it is often these “soft facts” that are the most important in
an intercultural context. So, it is vital to assess the balance that needs tobe struck between
relationship-building and deal-making. Do we just want a signed contract or are we looking
to build long-term links? In general, this meansavoiding being overly deal-oriented.
In these scenarios, HR and senior management have an important role to play in helping
their negotiation teams to secure the very best deal available. As a starting point, it is
important to be aware that there is a wide range of different types of contracts. Your
executives can then be given the most appropriate support for that particular type of
negotiation, and any trainingand development tailored to their individual requirements.
In my new book, intercultural business negotiations (ICBN) there is a chapter devoted to the
many different types of internationalbusiness contracts. As an example, international sales/
export contracts are often (butnot always) short-term, one-shot deals, whereas international
joint venture negotiations are more future relationship-oriented, with an emphasis on co-
operation and building a good workingrelationship.
Next, it is important to understand just how complex ICBN can be. Effective ICBN requires
far more than just cultural intelligence and trying to avoid obvious misunderstandings. Then
for anyone helping to support those involved in these types of negotiations, one of the most
Jean-Claude Usunier is
based at the Faculty of
Business and Economics
(HEC), University of
Lausanne, Lausanne,
Switzerland.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-06-2019-0050 VOL. 18 NO. 5 2019, pp. 199-203, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 199
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