Today’s market economy can be described as liberal, global and free due to the constant changing dynamics of trade. Globalization here being the key word as it refers to the process by which different markets from different countries get involved in trade and become increasingly interdependent. With globalization comes cultural interactions as different people have different cultures and this raises the importance of understanding these cultural differences. Culture can be defined as the norms and traditions that distinguish a group of people from another and in a global market setting, managers cannot succeed without understanding it. It is for this reason that Hofstede came up with a model of cultural dimensions to describe the effects culture on the values of the people who practice it and how this influences their behavior (Piepenburg, 2011) . This essay will compare and contrast the cultural differences that might influence both American and Japanese negotiators and develop a culturally responsive negotiation strategy for American negotiators to deal with Japanese negotiators.
One of the dimensions proposed by Hofstede’s model that has an impact on these trade negotiations is the uncertainty avoidance which is described as a society’s dislike of uncertainty and in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance index, there is a strong preference for predictability in everything (Hopkins, 2009). In such cultures, people like adhering to rules strictly, follow a strict code of conduct and guidelines. A country like Japan scores high in this index while the USA scores lowly. In societies where there is a low degree of this index, it implies that that society tends to have lesser regulations as compared to their counterparts and accept various views which may be differing. In societies with high uncertainty avoidance, the managers usually tend to concentrate on well-defined operational aspects whereas, in low uncertainty avoidance cultures, managers prefer and enjoy strategic thinking and ‘reveling in the uncertainty of it all’ (Hopkins, 41).
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The second measure that can be used to explain cultural differences is the masculinity/femininity dimension index. This explains the differences in the need for a person to achieve success and the role played by males and female in making decisions (Hofstede, 1998). Masculinity is viewed as the struggle to achieve material success and heroism while femininity represents the preference for cooperation and wanting to care for the weak. Both these dimensions influence how people buy products and services. Masculinity is extremely high Japan and in such a society women respect men’s ideas and are less competitive than them. On the other hand, in a country like the United States where masculinity/femininity index is lower, competition between men and women is stiffer as each is provided with equal opportunities to transact and to do business freely. This, however, is quite a taboo in a society like japan.
Individualism and collectivism also influence how people from different cultures relate and in these negotiations between American and Japanese negotiators it plays a key role. In this index, people are divided into two groups where individualistic ones value personal interest more and their counterparts value other people's interests apart from their own. The USA scores highly in terms of being individualistic as people work to fulfill their own personal needs. In societies with low individualistic scores, communal cultures are fostered more as people work to achieve communal goals as seen in Japan.
To develop a culturally responsive negotiation strategy for American negotiators to deal with Japanese negotiator, three steps should be followed. Various scholars have come up cross-cultural business negotiation strategies, but have agreed on a three-phase model which uses, pre-negotiation, negotiation, and post-negotiation (Fang, 1999). Due to the differences in the American cultures and Japanese cultures, the first step is of great importance. In pre-negotiation, parties lay down plans on how to start the negotiation process. In this step, American negotiators should take measures to try and establish a rapport between them and the Japanese negotiators. They could try to get to know them more and understand them by gathering information about them. Also in this step, American negotiators can define the negotiating issues and seek governmental permits before embarking on the negotiation process itself.
The second step is the actual face to face negotiation itself and it is in this step that American negotiators engage in debate and try to persuade the Japanese to allow them to gain access for their oranges in the Japanese markets. Here they could raise issues which affect them both in order to reach a common ground. The third and final step is the post-negotiation phase and here a final agreement is reached on and a final contract is drafted to tie both parties to what they have agreed upon.
The globe will always be diverse even though globalization has been rapid throughout the years. Different peoples from different phases of the earth will always have different beliefs and stand for different opinions. As discussed above, several dimensions influence how people from different cultures relate to others even in the business point of view. It is therefore of great importance to understand them in order to reach a consensus for the benefit of everyone involved, like in this case the American negotiators to successfully negotiate with their Japanese counterparts.
References
Fang, T. (1999). Chinese business negotiating style (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE.
Hofstede, G., & Arrindell, W. (1998). Masculinity and femininity (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Hopkins, B. (2009). Cultural Differences and Improving Performance: how Values and Beliefs Influence Organizational Performance (1st ed.). Surrey: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Pg 41
Piepenburg, K. (2011). Critical analysis of Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions (1st ed.). München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
