If you plan to start business relationships with another country, either exporting or importing, or simply with a company from another country that is based in yours, it is vital that you first make sure you know the fundamental factors that support or hinder this business process.
The impact of culture on negotiations
Cultural differences affect the results in more than 50% of all international negotiation projects, since the people who carry out these negotiation processes are permanently affected by their values, beliefs, norms and customs, which they have acquired since their childhood and are reflected in their decisions and actions.
Doing business with China is different from doing it with the United States, Mexico or Japan. It is important to understand that each country has its own culture.
For example, when doing business with the United States, it must be taken into account that they prioritize results; With Japan, it must be borne in mind that they give importance to tradition and processes.
Understanding and acting accordingly, taking into account the cultural factors of each country or region, as well as its political and religious systems, its cultural, ethnic and family values, its culture of work and negotiation, provide more elements and possibilities for successfully complete a negotiation.
Not knowing these aspects of each culture will hinder the process of communication and exchange of information to achieve agreements, elements of the negotiations
The cultural dimensions of Hosfstede
Knowing the “Cultural dimensions of Hofstede”, allows understanding vital factors when planning and developing a negotiation with a culture different from your own.
Gerard Hofstede, a social psychologist, professor of anthropology and Dutch writer in the area of relations between national cultures and within organizations, carried out a study in which he analyzed the cultural factors that influence work organization and negotiation methodologies. international specific to each region.
Based on his research, he showed that there are "cultural groupings at the regional and national levels that affect the behavior of societies and organizations, and that they are very persistent over time."
Likewise, it established the “Hosfstede 5 Cultural Dimensions Model” to identify the cultural patterns of each group:
- Distance to power: Refers to the degree of difference in which the members of a society “accept inequality” and expect the existence of hierarchical levels of power. Individualism - collectivism: There are societies in which the self predominates, individualism, the care and maintenance of oneself, and others in which the collective good predominates. Masculinity- Femininity: This indicator shows the role of gender. Evasion of uncertainty: There are cultures that are more willing to risk or security, as well as the willingness to accept or avoid uncertainty. Long-term-short-term orientation: Foreseeing, planning and planning, or focusing on the past, respect for tradition, are also important facts that characterize a culture.
To be successful in your international venture, it is important that you study and understand all of these factors, and in this way determine what is the best strategy to develop.
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