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Final Paper for the course

Cross-cultural communication
About :the Relation between Intercultural
communication and Negotiations
Presented to Professor Dr. Ana Cristina Petersen
By Abdelhamied Hany El-Rafie
MAIR student at Alliant International University
Mexico city campus

Abdelhamied ElRafie

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1917281

Introduction:
People interacting with people from other cultures often feel 'lost'. Lacking familiar
attitudes , beliefs, behaviors, procedures or structures that shape day-to-day interactions,
people in cross-cultural situations often get disoriented, make mistakes and spend time
and energy merely surviving rather than understanding and appreciating the differences
they encounter. They also often fail to negotiate the most favorable agreements possible
or to resolve serious conflicts due to cultural misunderstandings.
So the following paper will discuss the relation between Intercultural relations and the
International negotiations and the paper will be divided into the following parts :
1-Defining culture.
2- Defining negotiation.
3-: Preparing for intercultural negotiations and dispute resolution.
4- Characteristics effective intercultural negotiators.
5- What affects the outcome of intercultural negotiations?
6- The difference between the US and Chinese negotiation styles .
7- conclusion .

Defining culture:
Culture is defined in The Cambridge Advanced learners dictionary as the way of life
especially the general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people at a
particular time(1) Culture is then the result of experience, values, religion, beliefs,
attitudes, meanings, knowledge, social organizations, procedures, timing, roles, spatial

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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1917281

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relations, concepts of the universe and material objects and possessions acquired or
created by groups of people, in the course of generations, through individual and group
effort and interactions. Culture manifests itself in patterns of language, behavior and
activities and provides models and norms for acceptable day-to-day interactions and
styles of communication. Culture enables people to live together in a society within a
given geographic environment, at a given state of technical development and at a
particular moment in time When we think of culture we often think of the national
cultures reported in the international media. However, culture is much broader and
encompasses the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of diverse ethnic groups, clans, tribes,
regional subcultures or even neighborhoods. Culture also differentiates people by
religious or ideological persuasions, professions and educational backgrounds. Families
also have cultures, as do the two largest cultural groups in the world, men and women
. Companies, organizations and educational institutions also demonstrate unique
cultures. Culture as a growing dynamic thing consisting most significantly of shared
perceptions in the minds of its members. With all of these cultural variables, and
significant variations within cultures, as our World becomes a global village the need for
better understanding and communication among people from different cultures increases
.on this basis how can we develop any common understanding, or conclusions
about how a particular person or group from any one culture might behave in
negotiations or conflicts?(2)
Defining negotiations:
So what is negotiations it is defined in The Cambridge Advanced learners dictionary as
the process of discussing something with someone in order to reach an

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agreement with them or it is the process of discussions itself(1) or in other words it is
negotiation is the art and ability to use your nice power to convince by your
demand,persuade and motivate your partner to cooperate with you in order to reach an
agreement .
In the dictionary of diplomacy Negotiation is a discussion or talks between the
representatives of two or more states designed to produce an agreement on a point which
is either a shared concern or an issue between them .(2)
So negotiations are not limited to direct deal making over fixed values ,in all cultures
people negotiate to resolve disputes and to make decisions ,negotiators reach an
agreement resources these resources are distributed but the amount of resources for
distribution is not necessarily fixed . (6)
Preparing for intercultural negotiations and dispute resolution: this will need the
following:
.
1- . Understand that culture can make a difference and pay attention to it.
2. Develop an awareness of how cultural differences influence problem solving and
negotiation.
3- Establishing, building and maintaining relationships
4- Orientation toward cooperation, competition and conflict
5- Appropriate and effective communications

direct/indirect
explicit/implicit
emotional/non-emotional expression
one-at-a-time talk vs. overlapping talk
non-verbal communication

6- Problem-solving or negotiation processes

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role of relationships and trust

positional or interest-based bargaining styles
ways of performing negotiation stages

7- Preferred outcomes to problems or conflicts

orientation towards 'winning' or success

preferences
concerning
substantive,
procedural
psychological emphasis or components of outcomes
culturally acceptable or sanctioned norms about outcomes

8- Roles and functions of third parties

relationship to parties
procedures used
involvement in substance
partial/impartial

9- Management of time and timing

expectations concerning duration

timing of activities
timing allowed for agreement

10- Use and set-up of venue and space

indoors/outdoors
formal/informal
space set-up

11. Educate yourself about a new culture.

Characteristics effective intercultural negotiators:

Observant
Patient
Adaptable
Good listeners
Keep their promises
Negotiate in good faith
Realise culture influences everything

5 elements in intercultural negotiations:

Abdelhamied ElRafie

or

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Players and the situation

Decision-making styles
National character
Culture noise
Interpreters and translators

What affects the outcome of intercultural negotiations?

1.
2.
3.
4.

Policy (concept, negotiators, role, protocol, significance)

Interaction (language, persuasive ,time)
Deliberation (trust risk-taking ,internal decision-making systems)
Outcome (form of agreement)

Basic cultural orientation centers around the following items:

Beliefs, values, attitudes, behavior and norms (ethnocentrism) When there is a conflict
in intercultural communication In intercultural conflicts the following can be of
influence:
1. Thinking patterns
2. Language barriers

1. Thinking patterns

Universalistic
Nominalistic or hypothetical
Intuitional or organismic
dialectal

Universalistic:
Dominated by the principle of identity of thinking and being.
Hierarchical system of rigid concepts
Can be directly proved by human mind
We can find this in the French, Mediterranean and Latin American cultures.
Nominalistic/hypothetical:
Puts emphasis on induction and empiricism. Thinking is dominated by hypothetical
concepts.
Knowledge based on our sense perceptions and freely formed conceptions

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We can find this in the Anglo-Saxon countries.

Intuitional/organismic
Its a Mixture of universalistic and nominalistic. It denies the existence of innate ideas
but assumes that, with the assistance of the insight of the human mind, we are able to
attribute knowledge to the general truth.Intuition and unity of the whole
We can find this in Germany, Slavic Central European countries.
Dialectical :
Denies the principle of the existence of innate ideas. It assumes the mind can fully
understand the universe and discover the general truth. Where explanations follow the
evolutionary process of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. We can find this in the Sub
Sahara Africa
3 Major barriers in intercultural communication
1. Verbal communication styles
2. Variant meanings
3. Indirect verbal language
Verbal communication styles
1. Direct: verbal messages used to show our intentions in the process of
conversations.
2. Indirect: used to conceal or camouflage our true intentions.(4)
The difference between the US and Chinese negotiation styles :
1- Interpersonal orientation :
In the US the deal is seen as the objective of any negotiation while for the Chinese a
negotiation is just part of the process of forming a life long relationship .
2- Power orientation :
It is usually clear where the power lies in a US negotiating team ,the hierarchy is
usually clear with subordinates and experts accompanying the boss making it clear in

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the deference they show even if the language used between them is informal.
For the Chinese side particularly if there are a large number of people in the
delegation ,so for the Chinese the consensus building process is undergone .
3- Negotiation strategies :
There are two main approaches used in the Us towards negotiations the win/lose
approach or the win /win approach the former approach involves taking up an initial
position and then making concessions if necessary to reach a compromise agreement
, the later approach involves both sides focusing in mutual interests rather than
predetermined positions achieving joint profits.
The Chinese will probably find it difficult to take such linear approach ,for them
negotiation is just one of many encounters whereby the principl is to build a business
partnership for the long term .
4- Time frame:
For the Chinese therefore a negotiation is not a one off event but a step along the path
but for the Americans time is of the essence(3)
Conclusion :
To conclude this final paper I can say that we negotiate on daily basis either formally
or informally and talking about culture doesnt mean the country culture or the
regional culture but we can add to that the sub regional cultures meaning that within
the one country there are sub regional cultures in which the people with in these sub
regions negotiate but I will go further the negotiation is not just between countries it
is also between businessmen ,old people, young people, males, females so
negotiation is a process that happens on daily life on cultural basis in which it needs a

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high quality cultural communication in order to reach an agreement this agreement
could be a deal or a treaty or long/short/medium range relation and it requires lots of
behavioral techniques . That is because ideological ,political and legal differences
provide both a challenge and opportunity (7)
If we apply the last paragraph on the International negotiations each country depends
on the following factors:
1- The real foreign policy of that country .
2- The vision in which that country would like to be looked at .

3- The system of beliefs and interests of that country .

4- The target of the country of negotiations.

5- The techniques to achieve these targets.

So I can finally say that International negotiations are either a cross cultural
communication or the clash between cultures and the way in between these to extremes
is what we can simply call a win /win situation .

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References
1- Cambridge advanced learner,s dictionary ,Cambridge University Press
2- Berridge ,Geoff , Adictionary of Diplomacy ,Houndmills Basingstake,
Hamshire . Newyork Palgrave Macmillan ,2003.
3- Understanding Cross cultural Management,Marie Joelle Browaeys and
Roger Price,
4- Intercultural communication in negotiations ,Marianne Van Vlierden.
5- Mapping Cultures-Strategies For Effective Intercultural Negotiations,
Christopher Moore & Peter Woodrow ,www.mediate.com
6- Negotiating Globally: How to Negotiate Deals, Resolve Disputes, and
Make
Decisions
Across
Cultural
Boundaries
Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series by Brett, Jeanne M.
Publication: San Francisco, Calif. Jossey Bass, 2001.
7- Harvard Business Review On Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Harvard Business Review Paperback Series Publication: Boston Harvard
Business School Press, 2000.

Abdelhamied ElRafie