Saikat Gochhait
The impact of international business in domestic markets compels us to ask a question: "How can we survive in this global playing field, and what can we do to run our businesses more effectively?" Nowadays, businesses of all sizes search for suppliers and customers on a global level. International competition, foreign clients and suppliers may become bit cautious, but they may also create huge opportunities in developing our business. The increasingly global business environment requires managers to approach the negotiation process from the global business person's point of view. This approach may not be relevant in domestic negotiations. Some of the components of a cross cultural negotiation process are more complex and difficult, but will surely help in overcoming barriers and failures in the international business arena.
When doing business internationally, we need to consider (Salacuse, 1991):
- The negotiating environment
- Cultural and sub-cultural differences
- Ideological differences
- Foreign bureaucracy
- Foreign laws and governments
- Financial insecurity due to international monetary factors
- Political instability and economic changes
If we consider the fact that negotiating with our fellow citizen is not an easy task due to many individual differences, it would be reasonable to suggest that negotiating with foreigners may be even more difficult. The way we perceive and create our own reality may be completely different to our counterpart's way of thinking, behaving and feeling. Unfortunately, knowledge of any foreign language is not enough to face and solve the problem. Language is a cluster of codes used in communication which, if not shared effectively, can act as a barrier to establish credibility and trust. We need more effective tools, and the most important is knowledge of all factors that can influence the proceedings. Nations tend to have a national character that influences the type of goals and process the society pursues in negotiations. This is why specifying and understanding cultural differences is vital in order to perform successfully in inter-cultural communication (Schuster-Copeland 1996, 33). As we better understand that our partners may see things differently, we will be less likely to make negative assumptions and more likely to make progress when negotiating. “When crossing Cultures, it is essentials that the source of the Communication think of the product in terms of the culture to which the communication will be directed rather than the home cultureâ€.(Cateora and Keavency, 1987)
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