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M: I’m talking to Janet Holmes who has spent many years negotiating for several well-known national and multinational companies. Hello, Janet.
W: Hello.
M: Now Janet, you’ve experienced and observed the negotiation strategies used by people from different countries and speakers of different languages. So, before we come on to the differences, could I ask you to comment first of all on what such encounters have in common?
W: OK, well, I’m just going to focus on the situations where people speak English in international business situations.
M: I see. Now not everyone speaks English to the same degree of proficiency. So maybe that affects the situation?
W: Yes, perhaps. But that’s not always so significant. Well, because, I mean, negotiations between business partners from different countries normally mean that we have negotiations between individuals who belong to distinct cultural traditions.
M: Oh, I see.
W: Well, every individual has a different way of performing various tasks in everyday life.
M: Yes, but, but isn’t it the case that in a business negotiation they must come together and work together, to a certain extent? I mean, doesn’t that level out the style of... the style of differences somewhat?
W: Oh, I’m not so sure. I mean, there are people in the so-called Western World who say that in the course of the past 30 or 40 years that a lot of things have changed a great deal globally. And that as a consequence national differences have diminished or have got fewer, giving way to some sort of international Americanized style.
M: Yeah, I’ve heard that. Now some people say that this Americanized style has acted as a model for local patterns.
W: Maybe it has, maybe it hasn’t. Because, on the one hand, there does appear to be a fairly unified, even uniform style of doing business, with certain basic principles and preferences—you know, like "time is money", that sort of thing. But at the same time it’s very important to remember that we all retain aspects of our national characteristics—but it is actually behavior that we’re talking about here. We shouldn’t be too quick to generalize that to national characteristics and stereotypes. It doesn’t help much.
M: Yeah, you mentioned Americanized style. What is particular about the American style of business bargaining or negotiating?
W: Well, I’ve noticed that, for example, when Americans negotiate with people from Brazil, the American negotiators make their points in a direct self-explanatory way.
M: I see.
W: While the Brazilians make their points in a more indirect way.
M: How?
W: Let me give you an example. Brazilian importers look the people they’re talking to straight in the eyes a lot. They spend time on what for some people seems to be background information. They seem to be more indirect.
M: Then, what about the American negotiators?
W: An American style of negotiating, on the other hand, is far more like that of point-making: first point, second point, third point, and so on. Now of course, this isn’t the only way in which one can negotiate. And there’s absolutely no reason why this should be considered the best way to negotiate.
M: Right. Americans seem to have a different style, say, even from the British, don’t they?
W: Exactly. Which just shows how careful you must be about generalizing. I mean, how else can you explain how American negotiators are seen as informal and sometimes much too open? For in British eyes Americans are direct, even blunt.
M: Is that so?
W: Yeah, and at the same time, for the British too, German negotiators can appear direct and uncompromising in negotiations. And yet if you experience Germans and Americans negotiating together it’s often the Americans who are being too blunt for the German negotiators.
M: Fascinating. So people from different European countries use a different style, don’t they?
W: Eh... That’s right.
M: OK... so... what about the Japanese then? I mean, is their style different from Americans and Europeans?
W: Oh well, yes, of course. Many Europeans note the extreme politeness of their Japanese counterparts. The way they avoid giving the slightest offence, you know. They’re also very reserved towards people they don’t know well. At the first meetings, American colleagues have difficulties in finding the right approach sometimes. But then, when you meet the Japanese negotiators again, this initial impression tends to disappear. But it is perhaps true to say that your average Japanese business person does choose his, or, more rarely, her words very carefully.
M: So can we say whatever nationalities you’re dealing with, you need to remember that different nationalities negotiate in different ways.
W: Well, it’s perhaps more helpful to bear in mind that different people behave and negotiate in different ways— and you shouldn’t assume that everyone will behave in the same way that you do.
M: Right. This is definitely a very useful tip for our businessmen who often negotiate with their overseas partners. OK, Janet, thank you very much for talking with us.
W: Pleasure.