Cultural Negotiations in Asia - Dissertation Example

Identity forms a part of every culture and usually includes gender, nationality, vocation, race, and ethnicity. There are two aspects of identity. The first aspect of identity is psychological in that it is informed by a subjective perspective in terms of how the individual sees his or her place within a social order.  The second aspect of identity is social and relates to how referential others or cultures dictate the identity of a specific group.  As groups or individuals attempt to establish and portray their identities their identities engage cultural negotiations (Kim, 2008).

Cultural negotiations involve Cultural Dimension Interest (CDI). CDI components are the cultural preferences and values prescribing how an individual approaches life, how the individual should act, and how the individual prefers to be treated (Barkai, 2008).In both business and social interactions, individuals often make the mistake of judging the preferences and behavior of other cultures by referencing one’s own culture.  This can lead to miscommunication, frustration, and conflict which can significantly contribute to failed social relations and/or failed business deals (Barkai, 2008).

  In order to remove the obstacles to cross-cultural social and business relationships, cultural negotiations, particularly, understanding CDI is necessary (Barkai, 2008).  In this regard, cultural negotiations are not about belonging to a culture, rather, it is about moving within a culture and transforming in ways that are consistent with cultural norms (Straw, 2005).Negotiating among diverse cultures is not a new phenomenon and can be traced back to ancient times where Herodotus observed in 400BC how strange it was for traders from Egypt to be conducting business with traders from Greece (Imai and Gelfand, 2010).

  Eventually, trade between diverse cultures grew to such an extent that intercultural business relations took place between the Romans and the Asians.  The current state of globalization has drawn attention to the significance of effective negotiations between diverse cultures for ensuring securing sales agreements, acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, licensing arrangements, and so on (Imai and Gelfand, 2010). The globalized market place has transformed that way businesses view competition.