Cross-culture negotiation take-home exam article review

Question 1

Etic and emic play a significant role in the negotiation process. For this case, French culture is selected. As such, in terms of emic, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and individualism are common in the French culture. These are things that an individual focusing on conducting a negotiation in this culture has to embrace and use them throughout the negotiation process. In contrast, the power distance, uncertainty, individualism and masculinity are very low in South Korea. An emic factor for the South Korea is the low individualism of an index of 18. Therefore, an individual from South Korea has to know that French culture is individualistic and based the negotiation structure on individualistic rather than collectivism structure.
The higher power distance in French culture is based on the hierarchical nature of this society. The hierarchy emerges from individuals who have taken BAC exams and continued with their higher education. Therefore, recognition of the hierarchy of the individuals one is negotiating with in the French culture is very essential. Such recognition would enhance attainment of an effective negotiation process, which has the ability of attaining the desired results. Further, French culture is based on the facts that the other party in the negotiation process may give up very easily. As such, one has to focus on endurance in the whole negotiation and countering the French concessions.
“ la confiance du president”, power and competence are other factors, which may impact the negotiation process with the French culture. These have to be addressed effectively in order to ensure that positive results are obtained from the negotiation. The negotiator has to depict elements of being competent in the process and having some form of authority. This way, the parties from the French culture will accept the negotiator and participate effectively in the whole negotiation process. Moreover, communication may induce a challenge for the South Korean negotiator. This should be avoided by learning about the communication aspect of the French culture.
It would also be great for one to focus on using “ vidage de sac” effectively. This is one of the tactics, which is used to relieve tension in the culture of the French. As such, an individual who uses this tactic will be able to relieve the tension that may develop during the negotiation process. It is anticipated that tension has to develop during the negotiation process since the parties involved in the negotiation express different opinions, which tend to counter what each party believes and trusts. In addition, negotiating in this culture may be challenging. This is because the French have a distributive negotiation, which is based on the facts that it is only the elites who have the power and ability to make various decisions and they have to emerge as the winners from a negotiation. This indicates that there is a need of preparing for the negotiation effectively by having factual points, which the elite will comprehend and give in to. However, the French culture does not prepare for the negotiations. This could be tremendous during the whole process and at the end. This calls for identification of measures that one may use to counter such challenges due to lack of preparation from the other party.

Question 2

Sun-tzu quotation “ Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with the enemy” (IV, 183), has influenced the negotiation structure of the Chinese. This is because the Chinese do not believe in any superpower or mighty nations, which are unconquerable. Instead, Chinese believe that in case that their territory is harmed they deserve to have an apology from the nation that causes the harm. The “ Spy Plane” incident evidenced this when the United States had to engage in the negotiation where the Chinese demanded for an apology. The seriousness of the matter was evidenced when politics could not influence the negotiation and the choice of words during the negotiation mattered very much to the Chinese.
Lao-tzu’s Tao quotation on “ The more you know, The less you understand” influences the Chinese negotiation process. This was clearly illustrated in the negotiation of the “ Spy Plane” incident where the choice of words mattered a lot to the Chinese, but to the U. S negotiators it did not have any impact. Moreover, facial expression was very critical to Chinese than to the U. S negotiators.

Question 4

Identities and values are some of the challenges, which are experienced in the process of modern negotiations. This is because individuals or parties involved in the negotiation process tend to have interests that have to be accomplished during the negotiation. As such, alienation, distrust and judgmental issues develop among the parties involved in the negotiation process. This complicates the entire process such that it becomes complex to arrive at a subtle conclusion. On the same note, such issues may lead to the creation of permanent enmity among the parties involved, which may be based on anger and hurt feelings that are associated with disrespect of personal interests.
The problem of having identities and values at stake can be solved by ensuring that all the people involved in the negotiation process do not express their personal interests. Instead, these individuals should focus on attainment of a common solution to the existing problem rather than creating tension among themselves. The negotiators should also try to explore the various alternatives to the problems and issues, which may be raised by the other party members. This would enhance attainment of a common understanding on the prevailing issue.
Further, the values and interests should be taken into consideration in a separate way. This would ensure that they are treated separately in an effective manner. On the same note, there is a need for the negotiators to focus on creating a dialogue that is based on better relationship among the parties. Such a strategy would aid in easing the tension, which would develop in either of the parties. In addition, the values should be addressed effectively while assessing any form of conflict that may develop during the negotiation. That way, it would be easy to formulate strategies, which will ensure that the conflict does not developed, but the issues of the negotiation process are handled effectively.