Paper Example on International Negotiations: Complex and Flexible Dialogue for Growth

Introduction

Negotiations are a very crucial to organisations today as they ensure that an organisation will be able to experience growth that will enable its survival in the unseen future. International negotiation can be defined as a dialogue that is power-based and might solve or not solve the disputes between two or more parties. International negotiations are complex and often requires the negotiator to be flexible to be able to deal with challenges that are special, in addition to the unknown. Challenges such as cross-cultural communication might cause severe damage to negotiation deals and therefore, a negotiator ought to be on the lookout for such challenges, and know the way of dealing with them to make sure they have a positive impact on the negotiation deals carried out (Shonk, 2019). In the light of these challenges, it is evident the role that cross culture plays in international negotiations is paramount and this paper aims at critically scrutinizing the role of cross culture in international organisations.

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Cross-culture and International Negotiations

As the name suggests, international negotiations involve negotiators from a couple of nations. Various nations have varied cultural beliefs, and this might be a barrier or an advantage to both the parties involved in a negotiation agreement. For instance, cross-cultural communication has been very crucial in international negotiations. Communication can be a barrier for international organizations and a negotiator ought to learn the language and culture of their counter negotiators for effective results to be obtained from the agreement. For example, a simulation study carried out by some researchers involving Americans and Chinese negotiators had stunning results (Gonzalez, 2009). In the first scenario, the negotiation results from people of different cultures were poor than negotiation efforts of people from the same cultures. This can be attributed to the communication barrier often established between people of different geographical locations.

On the other hand, excellent negotiation results were obtained by the few negotiators that were flexible in communication. The excellent results can be attributed to the capitalization of the cultural differences between the two negotiators which saw the reaching of creative agreements which is an advantage compared to the results obtained by negotiators from the same culture. Therefore, it's evident that cross culture enables the improvement of the quality of negations efforts and the results of the negotiations.

Cross culture is crucial to international organizations due to the added advantage of BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) it offers (Spangler, 2012). International negotiations involve numerous negotiation activities between different negotiators. As a result, a negotiator can be able to choose from the best deal available that would be cheap and be beneficial to the organization they are representing. For instance, if there is some inventory offered to an organization at half a million dollars and another one offered at four hundred million dollars the Best Alternative to the negotiated agreement will be the four hundred million dollars, since its slightly cheaper, and still beneficial to the organization activities. Negotiators should take advantage of the numerous negotiation deals that international negotiation offers and choose the best deal that would be beneficial to their organization. This involves identification of the BATNA that would be of great importance to the organization.

Different cultures among nations can be classified into two. Firstly, there is the individualistic culture, which is one where people act independently, and the collectivistic cultures, where people are in joint forces to ensure that they work with integration to improve on the general results. Individualistic and Collectivistic cultures play major roles during international negotiations. For instance, research carried out by Realo and Gelfand proved that negotiations in collectivistic cultures are more profound and successful than negotiations engaged in the individualistic type of cultures (Gonzalez, 2009). Cultures also have specific effects on the cognition of a negotiator. Culture is very crucial in affecting the information processing and decision making of a negotiator in a negotiation process. As a result, this has varying effects on the outcomes of the negotiation process. A negotiator from a collectivistic type of culture is more accountable and hence, a good negotiator, who would improve the performance of a negotiation activity.

The halo effect is a cognitive bias that is usually very significant in international negotiations. There is so much stereotyping in the negotiation field today (Spangler, 2012). The Westerners are for instance respected for their ability to pull through their negotiation activities even in the presence of diversified communities. This is because they are believed to practice the collectivistic type of culture back at their home, which renders their negotiation efforts free from fixed-pie errors, an error usually observed in individualistic culture negotiators. Therefore, cognitive bias plays a significant role in international negotiations, and as seen, the cognitive bias of a negotiator is influenced by the type of culture that the negotiator comes from.

Challenges faced by International Negotiations and Solutions

As it is vividly evident from the latter section of the essay, cross culture presents numerous challenges that the negotiator needs to deal with to ensure that international negotiations are beneficial to both the parties involved. An example of such a challenge is communication. A negotiator should learn the negotiation ethics and language of their business parts before interacting in a negotiation deal (Shonk, 2019). The Westerners have been known for their lack of negotiation ethics due to their impatience and lack of comprehension of the languages of their fellow negotiators. Communication usually leads to trust development which is a factor necessary in ensuring that a negotiation process would be made successful and benefit the involved parties.

The Microsoft-Nokia deal is a negotiation effort that proves the communication problem experienced in cross-cultural influenced international negotiations. The Microsoft Organisation merged with Nokia to ensure that its mobiles and smartphones have a place at the global market (Smith, 2018). However, the merging of these two organizations failed to consider the impacts this negotiation would have, especially on the integration of their employees, who were from different cultural backgrounds. However, the merger was very profitable to both the organizations, but it should be learned that negotiations need to focus on the potential impacts of their negotiations which could jeopardize the success of any joint venture. Therefore, communication skills among other skills are crucial in ensuring that international negotiations are pulled through successfully.

Planning and analyzing skills are the other vital skill set that would ensure cross-culturally influenced international negotiations are successful. A negotiator who exercises planning is very key in the abolishment of conflicts that might have arisen in any negotiation effort between them and other negotiators from different communities. This is paramount as it ensures that a positive relationship is built between the two negotiators, a factor relevant in making the international negotiations a success. A planner should take the time to scrutinize and understand a negotiation fully before entering into it and violating the terms of the negotiation (Andrews, 2019). This skill is most crucial in international negotiations, and negotiators need to learn of its importance. Analyzing skills are also as much vital in ensuring that challenges facing international negotiations are abolished and terminated altogether. An analyst would look for translators to ensure that they fully understand what it means in engaging in a negotiation agreement with a negotiator of another culture. As a result of this, the outcomes of the negotiation would be successful and would lead to positive outcomes

Conclusion

International negotiations are very crucial today as they determine the level of success some organizations would achieve. However, culture plays a major role in ensuring the quantity of success that is obtained from these type of negotiations. Cross culture is important to international negotiations as they improve the quality of agreement and type of deal that can be reached by any two negotiators of varying cultures. Also, the cognitive ability of a negotiator is influenced by the culture from which the negotiator comes from, meaning that culture plays a very crucial role in international negotiations. However, despite the advantages that culture has on these type of negotiations, communication barriers have been the major problem. People of diverse communities find it difficult in communicating. In light of this, a translator can be obtained who would ensure the smooth running of the negotiating activities. The skills of planning and analyzing are also relented in ensuring that the type of negotiation involved in by a negotiator is beneficial to the organization they are representing.

References

Andrews, G. (2019, April). How to Overcome Cultural Barriers in Communication - Cultural Approximations of Time and the Impact on Negotiations. Retrieved from Havard Law School: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/telling-time-in-different-cultures/

Gonzalez, J. A. (2009). The Role of Affect in Cross-Cultural Negotiations. Journal of International Business Studies, 749-772.

Shonk, K. (2019, March). Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiations. Retrieved from Havard Law School: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/cross-cultural-communication-business-negotiations/

Smith, T. (2018, September). Top 10 International Business Negotiation Case Studies. Retrieved from Havard Law School: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/top-negotiation-case-studies-in-international-negotiations-from-business-and-global-politics/

Spangler, B. (2012, July). Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). Retrieved from Beyond Intractability: https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/batna