Negotiation Defined: - Two or more parties, who have common and conflicting interests, interact with one another for the purpose of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.
Effective Negotiations ( Achieving the intended result)
- Involves the more subtle art of persuasion, where all parties feel as though they have benefited
- Assess each situation, choose appropriate strategy
- Do homework, ask relevant questions and time requests.
Attributes of Skilled Negotiator
- Intelligent - having good understanding/quick to comprehend
- Well Prepared - suitably prepared in advance
- Flexible - adaptable
- Patient - annoyance with calmness/without complaining or losing self-control or refusing to be provoked or angered
- Problem Solver - the process of working through details of a problem to reach a solution. An individual seeking to solve a problem will have to identify the most important elements that influence the answer and then work through a series of operations to determine a logical solution.
- International Competency - "An appreciation of other cultures and the ability to interact with people from foreign lands. It is the ability to become familiar with an environment, not causing a rift while experiencing something new, and reflection upon the experience at its completion."
Nature of Cross Cultural Negotiations
- Cultural Differences
- Different and sometimes conflicting legal structures
- Influence or interference of bureaucracies
- Unpredictable Geo-politics.
Difficulties when operating abroad
- New Environment
- Jet Lag - a disruption of circadian rhythms, associated with high-speed travel by jet airplane to distant time zones.
- No control over setting in which discussion takes place
- Separated from support staff
- Under pressure to conclude and give result
Effective Strategies for International Negotiation
- Concentrate on Long term relationships and not long term contracts
- Focus on Interests behind the positions
- Avoid the over-reliance on Cultural Generalization
- Be sensitive to timing
- Remain flexible
- Prepare carefully
- Learn to listen, not just speak.
