Organizational Culture, National Culture, and Negotiating Across

Organizational Culture, National Culture, And Negotiating Across Cultures

Culture refers to a collection of qualities which do not belong to individuals but a society consisting of individuals; these collected qualities are a unique and intricate blend of attributes which extend to a wide arena of social interactions, religious rites, celebratory procedures, rituals and other aspects of collective life (Garcha). Culture both dictates the desired behaviors for members, pivotal objectives and the ideal manner to assess things: "This implies that people of different cultures will have greater difficulty in interaction, understanding and ultimately in negotiation" (Garcha).

Since cultural differences are so profound and so immediate, they can impact nearly every aspect of negotiation. For instance, the way that various cultures view and behave towards time and all aspects related to time is very important. "Beyond obvious issues of punctuality and timekeeping, differences may occur in the value placed on the uses of time and the priorities given to past, present, or future orientations. The role of time in negotiations involves two key dimensions: differing perceptions and values of time, and the management of time. Both dimensions, the author suggests, need to be on the negotiation table" (MacDuff, 2006). Thus, being aware of issues that are likely to impede negotiations in any way is a wise idea, along with addressing those issues head on with clear and gentle communication. Developing a familiarity with how different cultures view communication is also wise. For instance, "…from a Western perspective: confrontational, focused on transactions or the resolution of disputes, evaluated in terms of integrative and distributive outcomes" (Brett, 2000). Such a style could easily butt heads with other forms of negotiation that are innate to other cultures, such as ones that are more personal.

A successful negotiation will depend on the effective intermingling of national and organizational cultures along with individual personalities. The national culture will be the one which is largely associated with the traits of that country. For instance in America these national traits would be things like hard work, profits/wealth, productivity, and other comparable values. American negotiators would have to be certain to educate themselves towards the goals and values of the other party and strategize beforehand as to how to best compromise and foreseeably reach a middle ground.

Thus, the skills and attributes that one needs to possess as a manager in order to negotiate successfully across cultures is an ability to educate oneself about other culture, an openness to learn, a flexibility towards compromise and an ability to communicate clearly.