International Negotiation between the UK and Saudi Arabia - Case Study Example

International Negotiation between UK and Saudi Arabia Student’s Name Code & Course Professor’s Name University City Date General view of international negotiation Introduction Negotiation is the ability of two or more parties to hold a dialogue with an aim of reaching a consensus. Negotiation may arise to resolve any existing conflict to uphold peace or simply to benefit the interests of both parties on a certain agreement (Cavusgil, S. et al., 2014). International negotiations in general involve the dialogue that may exist between two or more countries with an aim of achieving a given objective probably in terms of business beneficial or politically. Most international negotiation in the world occurs with an aim of improving the economy of the given countries (Charney & Martin 2013). This can be through increasing their relationships by making equal terms of trade between them for common economic gain. Negotiation between the countries can be between individuals of the two countries, the organizations from both countries, and the government to government negotiation in securing their business progress (Pruitt, D 2013). The process of negotiation especially in business involves bargaining (Susskind & Ali 2014). It is important for each party involved in the negotiation to gain something for the agreements to hold, the parties may have different bargaining abilities that is, they may be gentle bargainers, bargainers with hard stand, and those who hold their principles in the negotiation process. As the name suggest, gentle bargainers always chose to maintain good relationship with their fellow parties through using gentle approach to negotiation unlike the hard bargainers who always think of victory and therefore end applying pressure towards the negotiation process, their relationship with other partners is poor (Moran & Abramson 2014). The principled negotiators on the other hand focus on the problem to be solved rather than considering the material gain for the parties; they always see the problem to be the main cause of the negotiation process thus should be solved before satisfying individual interests. Styles of negotiation In the process of negotiation, various styles come up considering the parties behavior (Rubin & Brown 2013). Different parties come into negotiation with each having their own interest to be achieved; this gives rise to the styles of negotiation that exists (Beamish, P 2013). Among them are the accommodators, that is the individuals who always remain focus to the reason for negotiation and like helping other people to solve their problems, also we have the avoiding group, those who don’t like partnering with others to solve a problem that is they don’t like helping other people (Casmir, F.L., 2013). Another style that come up is the collaborators who are always free to partner with others for mutual benefits, this kind of people feel happy to solve problems which look so difficult through the negotiation process, and lastly are the individuals who always want to win, they get involved in negotiation with an aim of being the best and gaining more than others, this individuals like competition and thus the negotiation process may not be of mutual benefit to both parties (Kopelman, S 2014). Negotiation between Vodafone in UK and Saudi Arabia government representatives Big companies have a tendency of widening their markets internally and externally. Vodafone is the second largest telecommunication company situated in Britain with its headquarters in London. The company operates its business in about 26 countries worldwide and has partnered with other corporate in provision of its services in over 150 countries (Singh, N 2014). The company has continued to expand its operations and partnerships across the world and the more recent move is on the Middle East and Asian side which it is aiming to control the telecommunication market. Vodafone has for a long time partnered with other corporations in Saudi Arabia to provide its services to the people and is now pursuing to start its own branch operations in the country with an aim of improving sales from Saudi Arabia. This has led to the arrangement of negotiation between the Vodafone company representatives from Britain and the Saudi government representative to dialogue and possibly reach an agreement for the company to set up its operations in the country. As seen in the discussion, the negotiation that exists between the two countries is international and is involving company and the government representative (Dunning, J. 2013). The aim of the dialogue is beneficial to both parties and thus the agreement has to be reached on how the parties will benefit from the cause of the negotiation that is by Vodafone establishing operation in Saudi Arabia. The challenge in this negotiation is the culture as the parties involved come from different countries with totally different culture and religion practices and also different social life (Hilmersson & Jansson 2012). The culture that exist in the two countries include the relationship between individuals especially the way they relate internally and externally towards business partnering, the communication that exist in the countries, that is the official language of communication, how agreements are arrived at and how they are signed, the approach that people have during the first meeting in terms of negotiating, and how business negotiations are handled by individuals in the country (Killing, P 2012). The language of communication in Saudi Arabia is Arabic unlike UK which is English though it is different from the American English. Nevertheless business individuals in Saudi Arabia speak English which can make it easy for the UK Vodafone agents to be able to understand them, the problem is that the Saudi people do not have a clear English language which at one point they not be able to agree in language with the UK people who are fluent and eloquent in English. Just like in Saudi Arabia, physical body language in the UK is restricted and it is not in good interest to make physical contact with one another especially at their first encounter (Brynen, R et al 2012). The relationship that exists among the people in business in the two countries is of trust, business people in the two countries always seek to build a strong lasting relationship when they enter into partnership with others (Chon & Yu 2012). Though in Saudi Arabia, the business people do not trust everyone in the company in case of company to company partnership. Vodafone Company has the opportunity to get a chance of establishing its operations in Saudi Arabia due to the trust that the Saudi Arabia people hold for the western people. The agents have to ensure they maintain a good cordial relationship and try to create a good impression to the government agent to be able to access and gain the royal family which is the key benefit of doing business in Saudi Arabia. For negotiation to be successful, both parties have to be comfortable with the meeting time and place (Lasserre, P 2012). Negotiation in Saudi Arabia can be between individuals or group of individuals representing organization, the group is most preferable means of negotiating as it shows seriousness in negotiation. In our case Vodafone from UK has its team of representative who should meet with a team of Saudi government representative in negotiating for establishment of the company operation branch in Saudi land. The meeting between the two has to be agreed on in two weeks time which is appropriate for both parties, in introduction the Vodafone agents should share their business cards with their counterparts and be patient as the Saudi people takes time to trust people in order for proper negotiation to start. The agents should be prepared to present their bid at the right time and the presentation should brief and clear for easy understanding of the objectives of the negotiation (Martin & Chaney 2012). There should be appropriate time allocated for inquiries to clear the air against any doubts whatsoever about the deal being negotiated (Abdi & Aulakh 2012). Approaches used in negotiation Negotiation as it has been seen is a two way approach that involves two parties (Craver, C 2012). Negotiation therefore follows different approaches, the best approach that is used depends on the culture and the way of life of the parties involved in negotiation especially for the international negotiation. Negotiation for the two countries is seen as a joint way of solving a problem; this makes it easy for the negotiating parties to reach a consensus (Lesser & Tambe 2012). In a bigger picture, the Saudi people view negotiation to be competitive activity; they therefore apply competitive approach in their negotiation. In competitive approach one party feels more superior to the other and therefore wants to win everything concerning the negotiation (Bargiela, F et al 2013). This is one the hurdles that the agents are to face in their negotiation. The best approach to be used therefore is the integrative one, here the parties will be able to feel both to have achieved what they wanted to achieve in the dialogue (Thisen & Walker 2013). Also called the win-win approach, it is the best method towards international negotiation especially in dialogues involving organizations from different countries due to their cultural differences as in the case of Saudi Arabia and UK Company Vodafone. The agents need to be patient as the negotiation in Saudi Arabia are expected to be slow and much detailed to reach its conclusion, there is need for the parties to remain focused to the objectives rather than individual gain for this negotiation to be successful. Conclusion Negotiation may seem to be an easy thing from the layman perspective but it requires serious attention for it to be successful (Peterson, M et al 2012). It is important in the case of Vodafone Company sending its agents to Saudi Arabia to consider the culture difference and make good use of it where there are similarities (Hooker, J 2012). The ability to get the best outcome from any negotiation depends on the approach used. As it is seen in this negotiation, the best approach will be integrative considering the parties culture of business expectations (Tadmor, C et al 2012). This will ensure a proper consensus is arrived at in good time for the company to be able to expand its business operations in Saudi Arabia. References Cavusgil, S.T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J.R., Rammal, H.G. and Rose, E.L., 2014. International business. Pearson Australia. Chaney, L. and Martin, J., 2013. Intercultural business communication. Pearson Higher Ed. Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R. and Moran, S.V., 2014. Managing cultural differences. Routledge. Susskind, L.E. and Ali, S.H., 2014. Environmental diplomacy: negotiating more effective global agreements. Oxford University Press. Beamish, P., 2013. Multinational Joint Ventures in Developing Countries (RLE International Business). Routledge. Casmir, F.L., 2013. Ethics in intercultural and international communication. Routledge. Dunning, J.H., 2013. 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