Culture plays an essential role in conflict resolution. Cultures can be described as underground rivers that run through people’s relationships and lives to bestow them messages that shape their judgments, perceptions, ideas, and attributions (Shonk, 2020) . Although cultures are potent, many at times, they are generally unconscious, thus influencing conflict and attempts to resolve conflict as well as stakeholder negotiations in subtle ways. Cultural representations are more than food, dress, and language customs. Different cultural groups may share a nationality, race, or ethnicity, but they may also arise from cleaver ages of political and religious affiliation, socioeconomic class, language and sexual orientation, among others (Shonk, 2020) . The most important aspect of culture is that it is always changing, and they are symbolic of the dimensions of life. The symbolic dimension of culture is responsible for continually shaping meaning and enacting people’s identities (Shonk, 2020) . Cultural messages from individuals and groups provide information about what is essential or purposeful, as well as who they are in the world and their relation to others, thus shaping cultural identities.
Gomez and Tayler (2017) assert that the rise in globalization has led to the interaction of groups and teams from different cultures in the workplace; thus, disagreements and conflicts are inevitable. Conflict resolution methods in one country may be abhorrent in another. Thus, the differences in conflict resolution methods may disintegrate parties further rather than bringing them closer as signals may be misinterpreted, and the parties may also struggle to understand each other’s communication (Gomez & Taylor, 2017) . The most important aspect of culture is the degree to which individuals associate with the team rather than themselves at the individual level. Individualistic cultures in the case of the United States places a high value on authority in decision making, autonomy, and creativity, while collectivist cultures in the case of Mexico place the significance of the team above the individual; thus, its commitment and conformity are advocated for at the expense of self-interest (Gomez & Taylor, 2017) .
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Individuals from a collectivist culture prefer fellow group members addressing the discord rather than seeking guidance from a third-party (Gomez & Taylor, 2017) . In contrast, individualists may prefer an external mediator who is not allowed to make decisions for the disputants or a nonpartisan outsider whose affiliation to the team is remote such as the line manager (Gomez & Taylor, 2017) . In conflict resolution, people need to understand their own culture as well as their beliefs, prejudices, biases, and values, which is vital to being open to different ideas. The disputants should be able to learn each other’s expectations by having a general conversation on the nature of the conflict and the preferred method of handling conflict when it arises (Shonk, 2020) . Finally, the platinum rule must always be applied when dealing with conflicts, which promotes the notion that team members should be treated as they would rather than the way the opposing team likes to be treated (Shonk, 2020) .
In conclusion, cultural differences in conflict resolution and business negotiations can represent barriers to reaching out to an agreement. However, at the same time, these differences can act as opportunities for valuable agreements by capitalizing on different beliefs, values, and preferences. There is no an all-encompassing approach to business negotiations, and dispute resolution since culture is always the go-between. Therefore, it is important to develop cultural fluency as a core competency for individuals who want to function more effectively in situations and third-parties who internet in conflicts and business negotiations. Cultural fluency involves the recognition and acting respectfully from knowing that communication styles, to the ways of naming, and taming conflict, to the approaches in decision-making, identities and roles as they vary across cultures.
References
Gomez, C., & Taylor, K. (2017). Cultural differences in conflict resolution strategies. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management , 18 (1), 33-51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595817747638
Shonk, K. (2020). How to Resolve Cultural Conflict: Overcoming Cultural Barriers at the Negotiation Table . PON - Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Retrieved 11 June 2020, from https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/conflict-resolution/a-cross-cultural-negotiation-example-how-to-overcome-cultural-barriers/.
