One of the most important prerequisites of beneficial cooperation between two companies is negotiating at an early stage. If a company operates in the international environment, negotiating becomes more complicated due to the various cultural factors. Therefore those business people that participate in the negotiations should possess the practical skills of “business diplomacy” (Cateora & Graham, 2007, p.119). However, for the best outcomes the two parties should have similar values which will help to build a strong and beneficial relationship. Unfortunately, Cateora & Graham do not focus on the issue of values in their book International Marketing. Therefore this paper will address this issue.
Firstly, it is very doubtful the negotiators will cooperate successfully if they do not know each other well. People of some nationalities go straight to the negotiation process without letting the second party understand their motives and values. For example, American business people usually value objectivity and punctuality, but the person-related factors are not of great importance for them (Cateora & Graham, 2007, p.128). Such an approach may lead to the failure, because there are some cultures, for example in Asia, where the values are different. For that reason the parties should not hurry and should take some steps in order to improve the mutual understanding at an early stage.
Secondly, knowing the values of the second party is very helpful in combination with the excellent personal intercommunication skills. Therefore, it is worth preparing for the meetings with the foreign partners in order to learn what kind of values are important for doing business in the target country. A person should intentionally adjust his or her negotiating style to the values of the second party. In this case a person may gain respect and credibility from the foreign negotiators which will the basis for further cooperation. More importantly, by respecting each other two parties will tacitly agree to follow some ethical principles that will help them build a successful relationship.
Nevertheless, despite the fact there is a lot of available information about the cultural values and peculiarities of doing business in different countries, a person will probably learn the best in practice what kind of values are important for cooperation. The more remote the destination is, the more chances there will be that the values of two negotiation parties will be different. For example, one of the countries in which foreign business people easily get confused is China. It is not the language that makes negotiating and cooperation complicated. It is the values that the Chinese people have.
According to Tony Fang (2006), Chinese business people usually apply mixed negotiating strategies, because they are influenced by different religions and philosophies, in particular Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism (Fang, 2006, p.53). One of the most important values of Chinese culture is generous interpersonal relationship. At the same time, there is a Chinese proverb “The market place is the battlefield” which shows that Chinese people approach business activities from the win-lose perspective. In general, they are “strategists” and there are many ancient Chinese books that explain how to behave in order to overcome the enemy (Fang, 2006, p.53).
What can soften the attitude of Chinese business people is the trust between the two parties. It is of strategic importance to show respect for the Chinese culture and values and stay patient in many situations including negotiations. Social activities and people-oriented approach are vital – this is what the foreign business people should always remember if they intend to cooperate with Chinese people. Finally, remembering six basic values of Confucianism could also be useful. They are as follows: respect for age and hierarchy, avoidance of conflict and need for harmony, moral cultivation, interpersonal relationships, family orientation, and concept of face (Fang, 2006, p.53). The example of China is just one of the many, so it is always important to do some research of the cultural aspects and values before participating in the negotiations in another country.
References
Cateora, P., Graham, J. (2007). International Marketing. 13th Edition. The McGraw−Hill.
Print
Fang, T. (2006). Negotiation: the Chinese style. Journal of Business & Industrial
Marketing, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 50 – 60. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08858620610643175
