Impact of Cultural Differences on the Negotiation Process between Americans and Japanese - Example

Impact of cultural differences on the negotiation process between Americans and Japanese The world is becoming flat, this are the famous words coined by Friedman (2007). By this freedman meant that as we progress in technological advancement in terms of travelling communication and also in opening up of economies, it is no longer a choice but a requirement that governments and business leaders realize that to succeed at the global level, they have to adopt a global mindset. This mindset includes the awareness that different people have different cultures that shape how they view things and respond to others as noted by Hofstede (1991). As such the culture shapes negotiating styles by different people[Wil03]. In this regard, this paper seeks to discuss the impact of cultural differences between the negotiating styles of Americans and Japanese and their impact on negotiations between the two countries. The American culture has been viewed as largely individualistic and rational while the Japanese and in extension the Asian cultures have been viewed as collectivist and emotional[Kum91]. This paper will therefore dwell on highlighting the characteristics of the two cultures and how they influence negotiations between the two and how negotiations between the two cultures can be improved for better outcomes. American culture The American culture tends to be centered on individualistic values where everybody considers himself/herself and others as autonomous, independent and reliant on oneself to be successful in whatever endeavor. It is important to note that American population is more of heterogeneous as compared to the population of other Japan and other countries[Kum91]. America according to Fells (2012) is a low context country where the message has to be coded explicitly as little meaning can be derived from the context. This reality can be attributed to the heterogeneity of the cultures which cerates confusion and thus the need to have explicit encoding of messages. As such the culture is portrayed as competitive when it comes to negotiation, energetic and aggressive in pursuit of goals and objectives[Haw91]. The American culture focuses much on success and failure and not much on the experience and learning process that maybe acquired for future development. It is all about the success today and not for tomorrow. This often means that the culture does not create harmonious coexistence between nature and humankind and other but rather causes conflict in many instances as individuals seek success[Kum91]. Americans have a high sense of equality and thus hierarchy doesn’t have a considerable impact on relationships between individuals in the work place and in the society too. The most important thing is to get things going irrespective of your social ranking[Ada10]. The American culture emphasizes the importance of time as a scarce resource. If things have to be achieved then there is little room for time wastage. If anything, time in America is referred to as money. Due to this, Americans focus on the present and the future short run period. Success or progress has to be achieved within the nearest future period[Ray12]. The Americans call it as it is without fearing to lose face. Criticisms, views and opinions are communicated directly in American culture. Assertiveness is an attribute to be envied in America in the sense that one has no fear to express their opinions without indirect connotations[Kum91]. Japanese culture In Japanese and most of the Asian cultures, the society is more important than an individual. As such individualistic tendencies are abhorred while collectivism is admired. The interests of the society rank high up above individual interests. This culture therefore tends to promote a different type of aggression where long term rather than short term benefits are pursued. It is normal for Japanese people to adopt cooperative approach in many projects rather than competitive approach[Wil03]. The Japanese culture is a high context society where people communicate more with the context rather than the actual words used. This is made possible by the homogeneity of the Japanese population in terms of culture, language and background. The culture also has high emphasis of being in harmony with the natural surroundings. In effect context is used very effectively in communicating in Japanese culture[Gol121]. Japanese and Asian cultures are non aggressive when it comes to confrontations; they prefer saving face by indirectly differing with opinions or when voicing personal views. It is common for Japanese to use long indirect speeches to communicate opinions as opposed to direct communication of opinions[Ray12]. According to Fells (2012) Japanese focus on long-term benefits to be accrued from any endeavor they participate in. this is probably caused by the desire to be in harmony with nature and also the high focus on societal wellbeing before individual’s. Hierarchies are important for this society where people ranked high up in the hierarchy are respected more. Equality is not so much a determinant of how things should be done but rather power and position in the society and any organizational setup. Time is of important essence but persistence and meticulous execution is preferred more than hurried actions. Japanese are not so much under pressure from deadlines but rather prefer building good relations and legacies that will outlive the present humankind. It should however be noted that Japanese value time differently from Americans. In Japan everything can be achieved within the present and also in the future while Americans feel under pressure to achieve today[Kob11]. Impact of Japanese and American national cultures on negotiation The Japanese culture emphasizes on collective benefit as opposed to American culture which is tilted more towards individual interests. Assertiveness is therefore a common trait with American business leaders as opposed to Japanese businesses leaders. While Americans will most probably make a business decision on the spot without extensive consulting, Japanese decision makers will probably not make the decision on the spot but will rather take more time to come back with a decision[Kum91]. The Japanese decision making according to Nishiyama (2000) is more group oriented where each member avoids direct decision making but rather listen and make a decision collectively. The Japanese focus first on building relations for long-term commitment. Americans on the other hand focus on striking a one off deal and move on to the next agenda. This is contrary to Japanese perception where a deal is a chance to build relations and not a conclusive deal in its entirety. Due to this it is common for Americans to conclude that Japanese are hesitant to make decisions. But the reality is that Japanese try as much to save face and avoid conflict by first focusing on good relations as opposed to rational decision making where the past matters least as compared to the present. The use of the word no maybe avoided by Japanese as much as possible; they would rather use other words which don’t directly speak their position. The Americans on the other hand don’t focus on saving face but rather making rational decisions with little room for time wastage on lengthy decisions[Ray12]. There are four general stages of negotiations; non-task sounding, task-related exchange of information, persuasion, and agreement. The Japanese may dwell so much on the first two stages while the Americans find themselves focusing so much on the last two stages and almost disregarding the first two. This is a pointer to the cultures of the two societies where the first focuses on relationships and warm connections the other focuses on rational relations where benefits are measured not in the realm of relations but rather profitability. It is clear then that in this sense, the two cultures may impede negotiations between parties from these two cultures if at all both parties have insufficient background knowledge of each other’s cultural characteristics[Ada10]. The Americans will disclose all the material details of a negotiation while on the negotiation table expecting the other party to do the same. This is not often the case with Japanese negotiators while on the table; they disclose very little of the intricate details of a negotiation expecting to build trust and harmonious working with their counterparts to advance the course of the possible relation between them and the other party.; in effect, the Americans feel that the Japanese do not clarify details but rather leave them vague and open ended to abuse and contrary interpretation [Ada10]. This according to [Kum91]is caused by the different approach to negotiations where Americans prefer point to point negotiations leading to an ultimate decision while Japanese reach a decision first and then go into the details. These two approaches may cause misconception of either party’s decision as appertains to the subject of the negotiations leading to a stalemate. The two cultures also react differently to obstacles along the negotiation path. The Japanese are less concerned with deadlines pressure while the Americans will do anything to beat deadlines as they are more conscious of the short run period. The Japanese will refer more to their superiors incase of ambiguity while Americans mostly have devolved authority and will make decisions on time. Japanese feel threatened by aggressive tactics while Americans fail to understand non verbal behavior and lack of outright communication[Kum91]. These differences in culture have profound influence on negotiations between the Japanese and Americans and necessitate the need for members of both countries to learn a few outstanding things about each other’s culture to improve negotiations. Conclusion From the analysis of the Japanese and American culture in this paper, it is appropriate to state that culture as a people’s way of life that influences beliefs and actions, has a huge impact on negotiations between people from different cultures. The Japanese culture is more collectivists as opposed to American which is individualistic and aggressive. The differences most often hamper negotiation between business leaders from the two cultures resulting in misunderstandings. All the same, if people from the two cultures take time to understand the outstanding differences between their cultures, then it will be possible to successfully conclude negotiations with both parties satisfied by the outcome. References Wil03: , (Gudykunst, 2003), Kum91: , (Kumayama, 1991; Nishiyama, 2000), Kum91: , (Kumayama, 1991), Haw91: , (Hawrysh & Zaichkowsky, 1991), Ada10: , (Adachi, 2010), Ray12: , (Fells, 2012), Gol121: , (Goldman & Shapiro, 2012), Kob11: , (Kobayashi & Viswat, 2011), Ada10: , (Adachi, 2010), Kum91: , (Kumayama, 1991), Read More