Importance of Understanding Culture during Negotiations - Coursework Example

Importance of Understanding Culture during Negotiations Conflict at workplace is a result of dispute between individual and group. The main cause behind the occurrence of disputes at workplace is the difference due to the existence of opposite needs and demands of individuals. Moreover, the differences in values, beliefs among employees may also result into conflict among them. Diversity in workplace sometimes leads to conflict and behaviouraial differences. Organisational conflict has a negative impact on the overall output of employees. Conflict between the members of organization may develop a feeling of frustration that further affects personal as well as professional live of the concerned individuals. Therefore, the existence of conflict among the members is more likely to affect the health of individuals along with organisation to a considerable extent. Conflict among employees within an organisation leads to deterioration of performance and reduces the focus of employees from the objective of the organisation (Huan and Yazdanifard 141-155). When the individuals are facing more conflict within the organization without any proper resolution, they are expected to leave the job. As a result of which, the organization has to recruit new members that in turn increases the overall cost of the company. The conflict at work place due to cultural diversity may cause violence among employees and further develops legal issues within the premises and affects the growth of organization. Apart from all the negative impact of conflict, some organizations may view it as an opportunity to develop new ways to solve various internals issues (Huan and Yazdanifard 141-155). Conflict between the employees of organisation assists to analyse the problems from different perspective and is likely to motivate for finding new ideas. Therefore, it is crucial for every organisation to maintain a proper conflict management system in order to solve various disputes between the members through proper negotiation. Conflict resolution can be defined as the process in which both the parties involved determine a mutual solution to the problem by negotiating with each other. For the effective implementation of conflict resolution, it is essential for both the parties to have a proper knowledge and understanding in order to successfully deal with the main issue of dispute. Culture plays an important role for the success of negotiation between the parties of conflict. Culture is an important factor that influences the way an individual perceives, communicates as well as behaves with others in an organisation. Cultural differences between employees of organisation are more likely to create a barrier that has a negative impact on the negotiation process. This difference in culture makes it difficult for the negotiators to solve the dispute despite sufficient experience and skills. The parties to negotiation may possess different cultures as a result of which they may view the objective of negotiation differently (Wani 104-111). Some parties may consider negotiation as a way to built strong relations among themselves, while the other party may believe it to be a business deal. For example, the main aim of the American negotiators is to solve the dispute in the first phase of conflict resolution. On the other hand, the people of Asia are more interested in developing relation, which is the core of improving good business among organizations. Therefore, it is essential to understand culture to distinguish the negotiation goal as perceived by the dispute parties. The difference in culture influences the negotiating attitude of the parties. The negotiation process involves two attitudes in which one party wins over the other or there is a mutual agreement amid the parties for greater effectiveness in the process. For the successful negotiation, it is essential to understand the type of attitude possessed by the negotiator. Culture may either have a positive or negative impact on the personal style of the negotiators as; it is the way of interaction with other individuals and many more. The personal style possessed by the individuals can be either formal or informal. An individual with informal feature is likely to develop strong bonding with other people easily as they are friendlier in dealing with other as compared to the persons with formal nature (Wani 104-111). Moreover, the way of communication is also diverse among different cultures that influence the conflict resolution process considerably. The way of communication followed by the negotiators can be either direct or indirect. Apart from this, the use of facial expressions and other gestures while interacting makes the communication process more complicated. The method of communication is necessary for understanding the requirements of the parties and for successful implementation of the conflict resolution process. Direct method of communication is likely to have a positive impact on the negotiation process, as the parties to conflict are able to respond to the queries easily. On the other hand, during negotiation if a formal communication is maintained then the effectiveness of the process declines but if informal communication is drawn then the outcome is tend to be positive. Moreover, cultural knowledge helps in influencing a better negotiation process (Wani 104-111). The difference in culture creates problems for the negotiators of the conflict resolution to determine whether the proposal has been rejected or accepted by parties. The personality of an individual plays a crucial role in conflict resolution. The negotiating behaviour of individuals influences the overall decision on conflict resolution process. Individual’s way of displaying emotions affect the decision in negotiating table and it becomes difficult for the parties to reach to a mutual solution. The cultural differences among the negotiators also affect the pattern of written agreement. The party to contract with the objective of developing relation is more likely to prefer a written agreement with general elements of the negotiation, while the other party may prefer details. The unequal bargaining powers of the parties to negotiation also results differences in agreement. A proper conflict resolution requires better understanding of the power or authority as well as decision-making skills of the concerned parties (Wani 104-111). Apart from the competency skills possessed by the individuals, culture is another factor that affects the way the parties organizes themselves to negotiate. Some cultures give more emphasis to team organization, where the leader takes the decision. Culture affects the risk taking ability of the parties to conflict resolution. The negotiators culture is likely to affect the willingness to take risk, because of which the parties may adopt new strategies that is likely to affect the decision of conflict resolution (Salacuse 1). Moreover, cultural differences and diversity in workplace affects people and the working culture creating conflicts. Source: (Salacuse 1) The negotiation process that occurs in the in the socio cultural environment is likely to be more influenced by the way a negotiator behaves and interact with the parties involved in conflict resolution. In case when the parties involved in conflict are from different cultural background with diverse set of values and beliefs then the negotiation is said to be cross-cultural. The cultural differences affects the communication process as well as it becomes difficult for the negotiators to predict the behaviour of the concerned parties. Therefore, it is essential for both the parties to understand the cultural differences to reduce the barriers and solve the conflict. The parties with individualistic feature focuses more on individual identity rather than group and this affects the cross -cultural negotiation process. A person with individualistic feature mainly focuses on self-interest and is less concerned about the negotiation process. On the other hand, the individuals with collective feature are more likely to coordinate with both the parties and focus on main objective (Mayer and Louw 3-8). Hierarchical culture emphasizes on the status of an individual that in turn determines the power as well as authority in society. On the other hand, egalitarian culture is based on equality among the individuals. As a result of which the parties to conflict are less dependent on superiors and are likely to take decisions themselves. However, the amount of conflict is less in case of hierarchical culture because the individuals are less interested in disputes involving higher authorities. Information’s is the most vital factor for any conflict resolution process as it is the way the parties are able to analyse the main issue of differences. Indirect culture is mainly linked with sharing information between the parties and direct culture involves asking question to the parties openly (Mayer and Louw 3-8). Conflict between employees takes place due to the differences in personalities that affects the progress of an individual due to the action of others. Dispute between employees of the organisation affect the environment of workplace and reduces the performance that in turn influences the profitability. In order to solve the conflict, it is essentials for managing authority of the organization to solve and satisfy both the parties. The conflict resolution process initially requires both the parties to sit together and to examine the main concerned issue. It is essential that both the parties analyse the issue individually and equal opportunities must be provided to put forward opinion. Negotiation process requires sufficient interaction among the parties to get a clear understanding of individual reaction (Kazimoto 16-25). This open interaction among the members helps the resolution authority to determine mutual solution to the problem. After the identification of main issue, it is essential to determine the underlying cause to conflict. It is the responsibility of the head authority to resolve each issue in the conflict to avoid further differences due to cultural barriers. A conflict can be resolved by manager of the organization, as manager acts as an intermediary between the conflicting parties or may require involvement of higher-level authority. On the other hand, the existence cultural differences with respect to values and beliefs create difficulties in conflict resolution. However, if the cultures are understood then it leads to the development of a proper organisation with strong work culture (Kazimoto 16-25). Development of effective resolution skill is necessary for expansion of sustainable business. Moreover, unsolved conflict between the members of organizations is likely to reduce productivity of the employees, development of barriers among members as well as reduced creativity. On the other hand, in order to retain employees of the organization, it is essential for the leaders to have the ability to effectively communicate with others. Person involved in conflict resolution must possess emotional awareness that assists to recognize self as well as others. It also helps the parties involved in conflict to effectively interact and resolve the dispute. Furthermore, it facilitates a proper understanding of other party to remain motivated until the conflict issue is solved completely. A conflict resolution system should be designed in such a manner that despite the differences in culture, the concerned parties get equal opportunity to share their opinions to develop a mutual solution. Apart from this, it is the responsibility of higher authority of the organizations to provide training to the employees of the organization, to develop good relations among themselves and reduce conflict (Kazimoto 16-25). Works Cited Huan, Lim Jin and Rashad Yazdanifard. “The Difference of Conflict Management Styles and Conflict Resolution in Workplace”. Business & Entrepreneurship Journal 1:1 (2012): 141-155. Print. Kazimoto, Paluku. “Analysis of conflict management and leadership for organizational change “.International Journal of Research In Social Sciences 3:1 (2013): 16-25.Print. Mayer, Claude-Helene and Lynette Louw. “Managing cross-cultural conflict in organizations”. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 12:1(2012): 3-8. Print. Salacuse, Jeswald W. “Negotiating: The top ten ways that culture can affect your negotiation”. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation 2004: 1.Print. Wani, Hilal Ahmad. “Understanding Conflict Resolution”. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 1:2 (2011): 104-111. Print. Read More