Negotiation Styles Differences Between American and Japanese Cultures

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Americans, on the other hand, tend to spend the most time in the persuasion stage, as the main goal of the negotiation is to convince the other party towards an agreement. They usually try to reduce formalities to a minimum and to reach agreement in the shortest time possible. [13] This tendency may arise from the reality that the United States is a business-oriented industrial society, which values pragmatism and productivity. Additionally, the facts that it is a relatively young country with little interest in history and it supports unilateralism can breed impatience. However, some negotiations involving the U.S can last much longer than expected when there is neither media nor political interest from the country. [4]

‘Communication is key’

There are different aspects of communication that make a culture unique and sometimes difficult to understand. In negotiation, needless to say, the importance of understanding what the other party means by expressing themselves is mandatory to be able to reach an agreement.

Whereas some cultures go straight to business when in a negotiation, other need a certain depth of relationship, in other words, a context surrounding the discussion. Renowned anthropologist Edward T. Hall first introduced the notion of high- and low-context cultures in 1976. [1] Although these archetypes are based on stereotypes the general differences between high- and low-context cultures can be expressed through this model. Americans are considered a low-context culture because nearly all information shared is explicit, to-the-point. Whereas the Japanese, where most information is implicit, are branded a high-context culture. [1] It is easy to see how simple discussion topics can be misunderstood by the other party due to a totally different approach of communication. The emphasis on the ‘I’ and the self-concern while negotiating is a particular notion of the low-context cultures. High-context cultures, which are also quite hierarchically segmented in opposition to western-cultures, will more englobe their team members or business associated when talking by using mainly the ‘we’ form. Another important trait of high-context cultures is the general concern for the wellbeing of others. [2] Japanese people, due to societal norms (incl. strong hierarchical separation) and a surge for harmony, will always try to maintain harmony and not ‘hurt’ or in any other way disappoint the opposite party.[4 Adachi, de joanna] The japanese negotiators therefore avoid saying no all together. Indeed Graham and Sano [3] have recorded a list of sixteen ways the japanese people and particularly the negotiators avoid saying ‘no’. Rather unexpected ways for ‘westerners’ include asking a counter questions, delaying the answer (e.g. ‘we will write you a letter’) and finally simply ignoring the question or answering to another question entirely. An american negotiator discussing an agreement with japanese should be in constant attention of these behaviours and try to understand what the answer really means.

Next to speech the interpretation of silence is also a key difference between japanese and american negotiation proceedings. Silence is seen as a display of positive emotions like serenity and trustworthiness by the japanese. In negotiation and business meetings silence is oftentimes used to show satisfaction in high-context cultures. In contradiction the american negotiator perceives silence as an expression of negative emotions like regret, criticism and confusion.[2]

Conclusion

The differences of negotiation techniques and general behaviours as speaker between japanese and american are vast. existe diff enorme entre culture concernant nego, pour avoir résultat optimal il faut que les deux parties puissent avoir une connaissance culturelle mutuelle.

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References

[1] Managing Across Cultures. Schneider, C., & Barsoux J.-L. (1997).

[2] Negotiating: The Top Ten Ways that Culture Can Affect Your Negotiation. Salacuse, J. W. (2004, September/October).

[3] How to Negotiate in Japan. Zandt, H. F. (1970). Harvard Business Review.

[4] U.S. Negotiating Behavior. Quinney, N. (2002). United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

[5] Business Negotiations between the American and the Japanese. Adachi, Y. (2010).

[6] Japanese/American Cross Cultural Business Negotiations. Kumayama, A. (1991).

[7] The Hidden Challenge of Cross-border Negotiations. Sebenius, J. K. (2002, March). Harvard Business Review,

[8] The Japanese Negotiator. Robert M. (1988, March).

[9] Differences in Business Negotiations between Different Cultures. Dr. Lieh-Ching Chang, A. P. (2006).

[10] Inter-and intracultural negotiation: U.S. and Japanese negotiators. Brett, J. M., & Okumura, T. (1998).

[11] Smart Bargaining Doing Business with the Japanese. Graham, J. L., Sano, Y. (1984).

[12] Case Studies in Japanese Negotiating Behavior. Blaker, M., & Giarra, P., & Vogel E.

[13] The Global Negotiator: Making, Managing, and Mending Deals Around the World in the Twenty-First Century. Macmillan, P. (2003).

Yoram’s communication sources

[1] Hall, E. T. (1976) Beyond Culture.

[2] Jandt, F. E. & Pederson, P. B. (1996) Constructive conflict management: asia-pacific cases

[3] Graham, J. L. & Sano, Y. (1989) Smart bargaining: doing business with the Japanese