Common Cultural Clashes And How They Undermine Negotiation
After a few days with Italian clients and Russian opponents, I’ve had time to reflect on how differently the two cultures communicate. Regional differences within countries and personality types can also influence whether we trust enough to disclose valuable information and how we express ourselves.
These are considerations which need to be taken into account when preparing for a successful negotiation.
What is culture?
In short, it’s the shared beliefs, meanings and values that are collectively held by a group. This can be characterised in terms of a country, a community, an ethnicity or even small groups of people such as a company. It’s about acceptable behaviour, attitudes and how we interpret this.
Italy vs. Russia
As I observed the Italians communicate with their Russian former contractual partners, there was a very clear difference in how they approached the negotiations. Southern Italians like to build social relationships with their contractual partners, usually in the form of lavish hospitality which usually revolves around food. They insist on paying and see it very much as a way to bond, especially with lawyers, experts and sometimes, opponents. It’s almost seen as a courtship ritual.
They like to discuss openly and express their emotions by telling you how they feel directly or by raising their voice, changing their tone and using body language in a way that conveys their frustration, anger, or on the flip side, happiness. It’s more acceptable to be expressive with emotions and that connection is important to them.
Contrast that with the Russian approach. The hierarchy was evident as was the level of distrust. They weren’t giving anything away and neither were they willing to consider creative options to enlarge the pie. They left the room on two occasions to talk privately about proposals we made and when they came back into the room, all we got was a head nod and a gesture to accept. Their lawyers would draft the settlement agreement. They weren’t willing to compromise, that was for sure, and so the idea of settlement had to be presented as a power battle that they would win because it was in their interests. That wasn’t easy when you have clients who want to win too.
I’m making no comment about which one is better, it’s just a cultural preference that negotiators need to be aware of prior to negotiations!
High Context and Low Context Cultures
J.M. Brett, in her book “Negotiating Globally”, refers to some cultures as high or low context.
Japan can be classified as high context because they do not communicate directly and are not likely to use the integrative approach because it relies on open discussion of interests and which solutions can satisfy all the parties.
Instead, the Japanese tend to prefer the distributive approach. Information disclosure is limited, usually to offers only. They do not ask directly for information but interpret it based on, for example, making a series of offers and seeing which are rejected. This type of competitive, win/lose negotiation is often preferred by cultures that have structured hierarchies.
The USA, on the other hand, would be a low context culture. American negotiators are more likely to openly communicate and rely on direct communication. They may also use distributive techniques in some stages of the negotiation but they like to build trust and can be creative in finding solutions to mutual problems.
Common Culture Clashes
- Communication is the most important aspect of negotiation. It’s essentially, what negotiation is! When negotiating with different cultures, you may come across different interpretations of words, different use of words and if the dialogue is being translated, nuances may be lost. Body language will most certainly differ as will rules about interruption, shouting and the meaning of certain gestures. In some Asian countries, for example, it’s rude to say the word “no”. Several phrases may be used instead which can, for a Western negotiator, be confusing.
- Time. Different cultures will allocate more or less time to negotiations. Some may wish to get the negotiations over and done with and move on whilst others show the opponents as much hospitality as possible. Punctuality is also interpreted differently by different cultures.
- The object of the negotiations may be interpreted differently. For the Spanish, the point of negotiations is to settle. For the Indians, it’s to rebuild broken relationships.
- Different processes. It’s important to understand how different cultures organise their hierarchy so that you know who is able to agree proposals and who ultimately makes the final decision
- Gift giving. Some cultures like to receive gifts or give gifts as a trust building exercise prior to negotiations. It may seem obvious, but some gifts are totally unacceptable. Giving a pig skin leather binder to a Muslim or Jewish counterparty would be disastrous!
- Although not a culture clash, be aware of laws that affect your negotiation. For example, in England you are not contractually bound to negotiate (except under certain circumstances) and in specific areas, you are under legal obligations to disclose certain types of information. If you do not or you lie about something which the other party relies on, you could be liable for any loss, as a result. Not all countries have these rules and in some jurisdictions, you may also be under more severe obligations to tell the truth and disclose information. I always advocate honest communication as it can seriously damage your professional reputation if you are found out to have lied. It can damage trust and destroy negotiations.
In my next blog post, I’ll be giving you some tips on how to prepare yourself for international negotiations and to minimise culture clashes. The truth is, you are never going to be an expert in somebody else’s culture unless you share it. However, there are steps you can take so that you avoid the most common pitfalls.
What are your experiences? Please let me know about what you learnt from different cultures and how they negotiate!
Great post 🙂
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Thanks !
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Very interesting and important topic. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you for reading 🙂
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Wow! I’ve always known that different cultures have different norms and such, but I never really thought about how much culture plays a role in communication. Great post!
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It often plays out in communication and how we interpret words and behaviour. It’s fascinating!
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Great article, it is good to understand how different cultures communicate and the difference.
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Thank you . Glad you enjoyed it!
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This is a very important topic because it’s true for cultures all around the world.
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Thanks! Certainly is !
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Very interesting post. Having an open mind and get to know our counterpart’s culture is crucial in business and life.
Thank you for sharing!
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I totally agree . It certainly helps ! Thanks for your comment
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It is great how different people with different cultures and beliefs can still go along well with good communication.
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Yes, it’s definitely about open acceptance of our differences.
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This was a very important and informative post! As different as we seem to be we are more similar than different! Thank you for speaking out!
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I absolutely agree 🙂 Thank you !
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I recently attend a seminar about culture, inclusion, and diversity. It’s very important to have an open mind and appreciate other cultures.
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I couldn’t agree more. Diversity and inclusion is an interest of mine and I have written about how different genders communicate . You might also be interested in my articles about diversity and inclusion policies and how they go wrong .
How Men Resolve Conflict and How it Differs to Women https://the-conflictexpert.com/2019/06/13/how-men-resolve-conflict-and-why-it-differs-to-the-female-approach/
The Obstacles Women Negotiators Face
https://the-conflictexpert.com/2019/06/11/the-main-obstacles-women-negotiators-face-and-how-to-overcome-them/
Diversity and Inclusion – are we getting it right?
https://the-conflictexpert.com/2019/04/23/diversity-and-inclusion-are-we-getting-it-right/
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Count me with the Italians, I see that I’m very similar. Great read!
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Good ! That’s my background so I know and understand it well 🙂 Thanks for reading !
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Is look you have ability to analyze of conflict between Italy Vs Rusia especially about emotions that you have been described in this article and that is so amazing too. I am wait article such things like this.
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Thank you 🙂 I love learning about different culture too, it’s fascinating .
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Being Indian I have faced cultural clashes when I went to the UK and right now in the US. We need to respect and learn the culture of the place as long as we are living there 🙂
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I can only imagine the difficulties you faced. It’s not easy! I agree that we need to respect other cultures and I think it is acceptable to say when somebody isn’t respecting yours . Politely, of course! Thank you for your comment!
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There is a culture clash from time to time at work because there is Japanese working along with people from the US, New Zealand, England, and etc. We use our difference to find a common alliance in our issues and work.
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It often shows up in the workplace and it’s great that you resolve it with your differences! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Great post! There really are so many differences in cultures and how we communicate, something to keep in mind for sure!
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Thanks for your comment, yes , so many differences but hopefully we can communicate openly and honestly to accept them!
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These are interesting cultural differences when it comes to communication. I guess I never really thought about it.
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Definitely good for thought . Thanks for commenting !
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Loved reading this post. There are so many cultures in the world and with their own nuances. This is good to have information.
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Thank you ! I find it so interesting .
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Thanks for this article! Cultural differences really do matter, especially when you’re overseas. For example, as a culture, my fellow countrymen are very friendly but admittedly quite loud. When my boyfriend and I went to Taiwan, we ate in a restaurant that had a lot of people with different nationalities in it. We’re not the same nationality either but I’m mixed so it doesn’t seem obvious. And there were others with the same nationality as me (seemed to be an entire family) who were laughing and talking and banging their metal utensils as though they owned the entire place. They were definitely the loudest in the entire restaurant! I was feeling secondhand shame as other people glanced at them with disapproving looks. Back in our country, it wouldn’t have mattered as much, but overseas, it was definitely mortifying.
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I remember a similar experience in Thailand. Our Thai taxi driver couldn’t say to us that he was unable to drive to a certain part of town and instead, drove around the block several times for 15 minutes. When we realised, my Spanish companion was very angry and aggressively and loudly told the taxi driver what he thought ! The taxi driver kept on smiling and this made him even more angry ! It’s an interesting difference in communication and behaviour that can make people really angry! Thanks for your amazing comment!
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