Know Before Negotiating:”Collective” or “Individual”Approach?

Have you ever felt frustrated when negotiating with someone from another country?  Cultural differences really rear their heads during negotiations across cultures.  

One American businessman angrily said after his lengthy–but inconclusive– negotiations with a senior Japanese businessman,  “He had the authority to make a decision.  So why didn’t he just decide?” 

As a culture, Japanese generally value group harmony and collective decision-making.  A senior executive–even one with the authority to make a decision unilaterally–may want to build consensus within his team before announcing his decision. For this reason, Japanese culture is called “collectivist”.

 In contrast, American “individualist” culture prizes each person’s independent thought. Senior executives often don’t build consensus with their subordinates before making decisions. Americans feel that each individual is entitled to his/her own opinion.  So, team members–even junior ones–speak up and express a dissenting view.

The result?  Unless the parties understand each other’s cultural outlook, the Japanese may see the Americans as impatient and disrespectful of authority, while the Americans think that the Japanese are indecisive and dragging their heels. In other words, there’s culture clash at the negotiating table. 

So, when negotiating with Japanese, be patient and be sure to treat them–and your own team–with respect. 

 And that’s just one tip for negotiating with the Japanese. There are lots of other subtle nuances, so read web articles, like this one article from All Business, about negotiating with the Japanese, or  books like Frank Acuff’s How to Negotiate Anything with Anyone Anywhere Around the World.

Global Negotiating Tip: no matter where you go, know before you negotiate.