This Week's NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES CultureQuiz©:
Match the Negotiation Strategy with the Country Where it Will Work Best!
I hope you enjoyed last week’s CultureQuiz© on business negotiations around the world. How’d you do? This week, I’ll continue the “negotiation” theme with a CultureQuiz© on negotiation STRATEGIES. There are lots of different ways to think about a negotiation: is it an opportunity to win at someone else’s expense (“win/lose”), or an opportunity to expand the pie for everyone (“win/win”)? Is it an opportunity to establish future rules of engagement, or just a way to get the best deal in a one-time transaction? Do we expect decisions and “action-steps” as the negotiation outcome, or is the negotiation outcome simply an exchange of questions and information? The list of different negotiation strategies goes on, and different cultures go into a negotiation therefore with different expectations about what the negotiation experience should be. That’s often the first hurdle to overcome when sitting down at the business negotiation table, for if you don’t know what your opposite team expects, it’s hard to find common ground…and get more of what you really want.
So to continue this negotiation theme, and in celebration this month of the anniversary of the publication of my first book, “Bargaining Across Borders” where I talk about how business negotiation styles differ around the world, below are five examples of different negotiation strategies, each with a choice of four countries. For each example, your job is to match the negotiation strategy with the country in which that strategy would be most likely to succeed. (All the correct answers for paid subscribers follow the quiz, so if you haven’t already subscribed to deanfosterglobal.substack.com, you can do so right here). Here you go…
Negotiation STRATEGY CultureQuiz© Questions:
Legal documents - like contracts - are just paper, secondary to what people and circumstances require. The real “cement” of an agreement is not the legal contract, but the personal trust and obligations that exist between the parties. Legal contracts in this country are the beginning, not the end, of a negotiation that continues for as long as the relationship exists.
a. The United Kingdom.
b. India.
c. China.
d. Ghana.
There is great comfort with change for change’s sake, and new ideas may be tried without connecting them to past precedent, tradition or historical context. If a new idea has appeal, decisions may be made quickly with “just enough” information required to support the decision.
a. Nigeria.
b. Belgium.
c. Canada.
d. Hungary.
Ambiguity, uncertainty, risk and danger are extremely uncomfortable and anxiety-provoking. New or unproven ideas are initially viewed skeptically. The negotiation is focused on minimizing risk, and significant time will be spent on examining all the details in full behind any assumptions.
a. Singapore.
b. Greece.
c. Egypt.
d. Chile.
There is a high-degree of information that is embedded in non-verbal behavior. Ideally, develop a trustworthy relationship with a single individual on site who can tell you what people “really” mean, and what is “really” going on, or develop multiple sources of information so that you can piece together the truth of any given situation based on the individual communications of many.
a. Denmark.
b. Estonia.
c. Korea.
d. Japan.
Meetings may be informal, problem-solving occasions; people communicate casually and efficiently, and do not stand on ceremony, even with individuals whom they are meeting for the first time.
a. Pakistan.
b. Zimbabwe.
c. Sweden.
d. Cuba.
Easy? Hard? So, how many Negotiation STRATEGY CultureQuiz© questions did you get right? Here are the correct answers below…and the reasons why!
Here are your correct CultureQuiz© ANSWERS:
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