Questions Exploring Cultures Approach to Negotiation

From Peacebuilding

Contents 1 Note 2 Purpose 3 Time 4 Participants 5 Materials 6 Process 7 Note 8 Handout – Questions for Exploring Cultures’ Approach to Negotiation 9 Source

Note

This activity works better when the group is composed of individuals belonging to (at least two) different cultures. When this is not the case you can facilitate the activity with reference to another culture that the group knows well.

Purpose

• To explore other cultures’ approach to negotiation;
• To challenge people’s assumptions about how people from another culture negotiate.

Time

At least 90 minutes.

Participants

At least eight individuals divided in two working groups. The activity works better with a larger group.

Materials

• Copies of the handout (see below);
• Flip chart papers;
• Markers.

Process

I) Divide the plenary in groups of 4-7 individuals that are culturally homogenous – i.e. keep together individuals that identify themselves as belonging to the same culture.

Note that you don’t need to adopt a narrow understanding of “culture”. Culture is a broader concept that “national group” or “ethnicity”. It can be referred to clans, tribes, regional subcultures and even neighbourhoods. Also religious or ideological persuasions, professions and educational background differentiate people.

Example: You are facilitating your workshop in Italy. Your group is composed of 20 men, all Italians, middle age, same profession. Though, you notice that 6 of them are from Naples, 7 are from Milan and 7 are from Trieste. You decide to divide the plenary in three groups, according to their city of origin. Throughout the workshop you will discover that there are BROAD cultural differences between these groups.

II) Explain that you are going to distribute a handout with a list of questions that focus on exploring another culture’s approach to negotiation. The groups’ task is to focus on another cultural group that is present in the workshop, answer the questions referring to them and get ready to illustrate and discuss their answers with the plenary.

III) Distribute the handout, let the groups start working and assign sufficient time for the task.

IV) After group work invite one group to present their answers to the rest of the plenary. During the presentation, engage the cultural group whom the presentation refers to and invite them to challenge it. Boost discussion.

V) Repeat the process at the IV) step with the other groups.

Note

If you work with a group that is culturally homogenous, you can ask them to focus on another culture that they think they know enough. Alternatively, you can ask them to focus on themselves when answering the questions – i.e. assess how their culture affects the way they negotiate.

Handout – Questions for Exploring Cultures’ Approach to Negotiation

Think at their culture. Are there cultural dimensions that would be relevant if you are to negotiate with (one of) them? Could you identify and articulate these?

Explore the following dimensions:

1. Individualism, collectivism

• How much emphasis do the members of the group put on the individual, or on the group or community?

• To what extent do they value individual autonomy, initiative, creativity and authority in decision making?

• To what extent do they value group cohesion, harmony and decision making that involves either consultation with group members before deciding, or consideration of the well being of the group over that of the individual?

• If you are to imagine a spectrum that has individualism and collectivism at its extremes, where would you place their group?

2. Situations, issues or problems that must be addressed

• How do they define the social situations they face?

• How do they define the problems they encounter?

• How do they define the issues or topics that are important to discuss (or not discuss)?

• How do they define the issues at stake in your negotiation?

3. Needs or interests they wish to have met in the outcome of problem solving

• What are the interests of the other party?

• What interests are more important and what less according to their culture?

• What do they consider to be an adequate satisfaction of their interests based on their culture?

4. Sources of power and influence

• What are the preferred forms of power and influence according to their culture?

• What are the options available when a party has more or less power than the other according to their culture?

• How do they define a subordinate or superior position? And what does that imply in negotiation?

5. Establishing, building and maintaining relationships

• How do they establish relationship?

• And how has my relationship with the other party been established?

• How shall my relationship with the other party be interpreted according to their culture?

• What makes a strong relationship for them?

• What can harm or strengthen a relationship for them?

6. Orientation toward cooperation, competition and conflict

• To what extent do they accept overt confrontation?

• What are common patterns of behaviour according to their culture in situations that imply potential cooperation or competition between people?

• What in their culture favours cooperation or competition between people?

• What can I do – that is culturally appropriate - that makes it easier for the other party cooperate with me?

7. Appropriate and effective communications

• To what extent does their culture favour a direct or indirect way of communication?

• Do they talk explicitly or do they let you understand implicitly what they think?

• To what extent do they let emotions come out during negotiation?

• Do they prefer talk one at a time or let negotiators overlap one another?

• What importance has non-verbal communication for them?

8. Problem-solving or negotiation processes

• What is the importance of relationship in negotiation for them?

• How important is trust between negotiators for them?

• Do they tend more to positional or interest-based negotiation styles?

• How do they perform negotiation, what are the stages of the process?

9. Preferred outcomes to problems or conflicts

• What is winning or success in negotiation for their culture?

• What emphasis do they attribute to substantive, procedural or psychological components of outcomes?

• What are culturally acceptable or sanctioned outcomes according to norms of their culture?

10. Roles and functions of third parties

• What roles may third parties have in interactions between people according to their culture?

• How do they define partiality or impartiality of a third party?

• What procedures may third parties use according to their culture?

• What involvement in substance do third parties have for them?

11. Management of time and timing

• What are the expectations concerning duration of the interaction in their culture?

• How is the timing of the activities in negotiation?

• How much time is allowed or appropriate for reaching agreement?

12. Use and set-up of venue and space

• Do they prefer indoors or outdoors?

• Do they tend to approach negotiation and relationship with the other party formal or informally?

• How do they like to set up the space? How do they sit at the table?

Source

The questions have been developed based on the contents in Moore, C., Woodrow, P., “Mapping Cultures-Strategies for Effective Intercultural Negotiations”, in Track Two (Vol. 8 no. 1 April 1998).