Phase 3 Individual Project
International Business Communications
Professor Randi Plante
Colorado Technical University Online
Octavia Briggs
4 May 2014
What else should the U.S. Company (vendor) find out about each culture before it starts negotiating? The Chinese and South Koreans do not like to go into business meetings and get things done and over within a short period of time, they need to get to know you and develop a friendship first. Trust is a big issue with them. "While learning Chinese may not be practical, knowing a few key polite phrases can give a good impression to your potential partner." (Kifle) Yes, these countries are all Asian but they are still very different when it comes to negotiations. The "Middle man" needs to know about the opinions, methods, how information is distributed and at what speed negotiations are held. The position of the Chinese and Korean people is that of eventuality and concern in the way things are shared between people. Japan is on the more accommodating side. Asians view contracts as something that needs to be written up but can at any time be changed if they feel it was misinterpreted in any way. They do not feel that it is as imperative, so to speak as other countries do. A contract is the starting point to the business relationship. If the key elements and standard values are agreed upon the groundwork has been set in place to move forward onto more detailed affairs. It is believed that as time goes on the rapport will increase and strengthen, their initial contract will become more lax and this will simplify everything thus making their alliance more comfortable. Ascertaining the person who is in authority and will be making the deals with the Asian countries is very important. This needs to happen at the very start of the negotiations and it should not change. "Both parties need to contribute with ideas and suggestions in order to make the contract a useful platform for continued cooperation and communication. However, this flexibility should not exist at the expense of excluding essential terms. The western party should be ready to study new proposals from the Chinese party –that involve a change in the agreement-. These proposals could eventually become new business opportunities. They could make the contract work better." (Ubilla) When beginning negotiations the vender might want to forward some personal facts about themselves and some information about the company they work for, this will aid in the familiarization of both the company and yourself in advance of your arrival thus making the meeting a little more stress free. Know the culture as in values, beliefs etc. of the people you are negotiating with. The vender will need to set up the date, place and a time suitable for everyone. The steps are Preparing, collecting any and all information about the company you will be doing business with this is to include what will be asked for, who is going to be at the meeting and what authority people have. Relationship building, Everyone will meet somewhere that all have agreed upon beforehand the meeting will take place and at this time both sides of the team are able to get to know each other. It may be a dinner, meeting or another type of function. Since China, South Korea and Japan are a collective culture, they are going to need time to get to familiarize themselves and build a relationship with you so that there will be trust and respect also. Opening Talks, where does everyone stand on their issues? Both sides inform the other of their issues and then questions can be asked to get the information they need. Persuasion Discussions, since you have now determined what needs to be concentrated on you will set yourself on trying to persuade the others to accept your deal for what you need and maybe more and they in turn do the same thing. Be sure to not step on any toes when dealing with each country and their no doubt will be differences in their
