International negotiation and diplomacy

Résumé du document

Nowadays the phenomenon of globalization is in our everyday life. International relations between countries or international decisions concerning politics and business are the result of international negotiation. Negotiation is the pursuit of an understanding that is focused on material interests and is of quantifiable issues between two or more individuals in a limited time. The goal of the negotiation is to gain an advantage at the end of the negotiation. Reaching an agreement implies the confrontation of different interests; each part is intended to make compromise.

In the international context the objects of the negotiation are multiple and they reveal certain specificities about:
-Value differences
-Linguistic differences
-Geographic differences
-Temporal differences
-Legal differences
-The choice of the strategy

These specificities bring several stakes that we should take into account in the process of the negotiation:
-The importance of the culture
-Mastering the different techniques and theories of international negotiation

I would like to ask this question: Is the international negotiation is a matter of culture? Indeed a good international negotiator has to know and understand the culture of the other board of negotiators thanks to the different cultural theories and be able to master the different techniques of negotiation in order to be the most persuasive and in order to build a reliable relationship.

Extraits

[...] International negotiation and diplomacy Introduction Nowadays the phenomenon of globalization is in our everyday life. International relations between countries or international decisions concerning politics and business are the result of international negotiation. Negotiation is the pursuit of an understanding that is focused on material interests and is of quantifiable issues between two or more individuals in a limited time. The goal of the negotiation is to gain an advantage at the end of the negotiation. Reaching an agreement implies the confrontation of different interests; each part is intended to make compromise. [...]

[...] Indeed the culture is fundamental in the negotiation and shapes the negotiation process. Culture determines the way of thinking, the way of how the different actors will try to understand the other's culture, the way of analyzing a situation, the way of finding solution. In fact the culture is present everywhere, it exists under different shape as national culture, religious culture, ethnic culture, family culture, culture of a company. A good negotiator has to be able to interact with the different kinds of culture. [...]

[...] Hall's (1980) silent language Hofstede, Geert (March 1993). [...]

[...] The conception of time is different following the culture of the country. Some plans for long term perspectives as Brazilian people and some have short term vision of things, and they try to segment the process of the negotiation. As Edward T. Hall's (1980) “silent language”, there are two tendencies a monochromic vision of time and a polychromic vision of time. Monochromic people do one thing at time and are focused on it, they follow plans. On the contrary polychromic people mix business and close relationships, they do many things at once. [...]

[...] They provide to you the key to realize a successful negotiation. They permit to understand the cultural background of individuals and they permit to anticipate the behavior of the other part. Hostede's Theory Based on a study of IBM 1967-73 and studies in Asia in 1980s Hosteste identified 5 points called Hofstede's 5 dimensions (1994). Those points according the author are the cause of cultural differences in the business practices between countries Power distance: the extent to which members of a society are prepared to accept a hierarchical or unequal power structure. [...]