cross cultural conflict essay

• DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-4933-8.CH005
• Corpus ID: 158623838

Cross-Cultural Conflicts: Concept, Causes, and Elucidations

• Narendra Singh Chaudhary , Radha Yadav
• Published 2018
• Business, Sociology

One Citation

Language conflict, language and culture shock in the context of bilingual primary school students, 13 references, working with foreign managers : conflict management for effective leader relationships in china, conflict management style: accounting for cross-national differences, what is cross-cultural communication, facework competence in intercultural conflict: an updated face-negotiation theory, the impact of organisational culture on organisational learning and attitudes concerning change from an institutional perspective, cultural holes: beyond relationality in social networks and culture, ethics programs in global businesses: culture's role in managing ethics, the effect of learning organization culture on the relationship between interpersonal trust and organizational commitment, the costs of ambient cultural disharmony: indirect intercultural conflicts in social environment undermine creativity, ethics in countries with different cultural dimensions, related papers.

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Cross-Cultural Encounters and Conflicts

Bayard Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Emeritus

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Among the forces shaping today's international landscape, those of cultural differences and conflicts are perhaps the most prominent. This collection of chapters has been written in the belief that a study of past encounters and conflicts between the world's major cultures can shed light on their nature and importance. Ranging in scope from the great ancient civilizations to Shelley's passion for the Middle East, from the economics of the Ottoman empire to the pre-eminence of English as an international language, this collection reflects the many interests of its author, with an emphasis on the Middle East, whose cultural conflict with the West is of concern to us today.

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The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
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First, the class helped me understand the meaning of culture where it refers to a specific system of knowledge that is shared by a specific group of people which is considered as the tradition of that group of people. Some of the things that constitute the system of knowledge include; concepts of the universe, religion, experiences, roles of the members, values, meanings, and language (Fry 93). Due to these differences in ideas, values and behavior a conflict may take place. These disagreements are referred to as cultural conflict (Lansford 3). From the different and diverse cultures expressed by each student, I felt that cultural differences can be a cause of conflict.

The class also helped me understand the diversity between different cultures. All the cultures are equally important no matter how different they are from ours. However, some ideas and beliefs are shared across most cultures. If a conflict arises, a mediator is required to carry out the mediation process so as to bring harmony between the two parties. I felt that is not possible to make one cultural group conform to the ideological beliefs of the other party and thus the main importance of the dispute resolution is to create a middle ground for the different parties. Various disputes arising from people of different cultures can be solved if every person can respect and acknowledge diversity (Blank 58).

For example, I learned that in India and Saudi Arabia women adore and highly respect men. They have little or no freedom of making crucial decisions in society. Cultures in the European countries and America give almost equal respect to either gender. Women make decisions and can disagree with men. In a society where cultures interact there is a chance of conflicts taking place like the Indian and Arabic men expect such respect from women. To solve this dispute the mediator should try to understand both cultures and strike a middle ground to bring harmony and co-existence.

Lessons learned are most important for me

I learned that every individual has a responsibility to help avoid and solve disputes arising from the cultural conflict. I also learned that a good mediator should know his or her own culture (Berry 57). A good mediator should also expect other people to have different expectations and views. There is no specific solution to each conflict thus the mediator should value both parties’ ideas to formulate a conclusion.

I understood the importance of listening to other people’s experiences and views. By listening to the various experiences and practices of people from different parts of the World, I not only understood various cultures but also the reasons behind such practices. It also revealed the points of departure of different cultures. A good mediator strives to be unbiased and respect both parties at all times (Deutsch 4). Understanding other cultures make me appreciate all cultures and gain more knowledge about their practices. This enhanced my skills to be a good mediator whenever a cultural conflict arises.

In conclusion, I understood that conflict resolution is a major tool that can be used to bring harmony to the World. We should always use the differences between our ideas, cultures, and views not to discriminate against others who are different from us but to appreciate them and learn from them (Wallensteen 89).

Works Cited

Berry, Bonnie. Social Rage Emotion and Cultural Conflict . New York: Garland Pub., 1999. Print.

Blank, Stephen. Conflict, Culture, and History Regional Dimensions . Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.: Air UP, 1993. Print.

Deutsch, Morton. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice . San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2000. Print.

Fry, Douglas P. Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution: Alternatives to Violence . Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997. Print.

Lansford, Tom. Conflict Resolution . Detroit: Greenhaven, 2008. Print.

Wallensteen, Peter. Understanding Conflict Resolution War, Peace, and the Global System . London: SAGE Publications, 2002. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2021, March 26). The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-class-on-cross-cultural-and-conflict/

"The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict." IvyPanda , 26 Mar. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/the-class-on-cross-cultural-and-conflict/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict'. 26 March.

IvyPanda . 2021. "The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict." March 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-class-on-cross-cultural-and-conflict/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict." March 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-class-on-cross-cultural-and-conflict/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Class on Cross Cultural and Conflict." March 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-class-on-cross-cultural-and-conflict/.

• A-Z Publications

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior

Volume 5, 2018, review article, cross-cultural interaction: what we know and what we need to know.

• Nancy J. Adler 1 , and Zeynep Aycan 2
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1G5; email: [email protected] 2 Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey 34460; email: [email protected]
• Vol. 5:307-333 (Volume publication date January 2018) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104528
• © Annual Reviews

Pervasive forms of worldwide communication now connect us instantly and constantly, and yet we all too often fail to understand each other. Rather than benefiting from our globally interconnected reality, the world continues to fall back on divisiveness, a widening schism exacerbated by some of the most pronounced divisions in history along lines of wealth, culture, religion, ideology, class, gender, and race. Cross-cultural dynamics are rife within multinational organizations and among people who regularly work with people from other cultures. This article reviews what we know from our scholarship on cross-cultural interaction among expatriates, negotiators, and teams that work in international contexts. Perhaps more important, this article outlines what we need to learn—and to unlearn—to be able to see diversity as an asset in helping individuals, organizations, and society to succeed rather than continuing to understand it primarily as a source of problems.

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Culture and Conflict

By Cate Malek

Based on a longer essay on  Culture and Conflict , written by Michelle LeBaron for the  Intractable Conflict Knowledge Base Project

Updated May 2013 by Heidi Burgess

Understanding each other may mean, "reorganizing [our] thinking...and few people are willing to risk such a radical move." -- Edward T. Hall

Definition:

Cultural messages, simply, are what everyone in a group knows that outsiders do not know. They are a series of lenses that shape our perceptions, interpretations, boundaries, and values.

Anyone involved in a cross-cultural conflict. This includes not only people from different countries, but also people from different gender, age, ethnic, religious, regional, even different professional groups. (One might speak of the engineering culture or the business culture, for example.)

Description:

Culture is an essential part of conflict and conflict resolution. Culture is a  powerful and often unconscious influence on our perceptions and our behavior.

How Cultures Work

Cultures are a shifting, dynamic set of starting points that orient us in particular ways. Everyone has multiple cultures that dictate what is considered "normal." When others do not meet our expectations, it is often a cue that their culture is different. We may mistake differences for evidence of bad faith or lack of common sense, without realizing that "common sense" is cultural. What is common sense to one group may be counterintuitive (or even stupid or evil)  to another.

Some implications of the cultural dimensions of conflict include the following:

• Cultural generalizations (beliefs, for instance,  that Americans are loud or that Italians are good lovers) are not the whole story. Even if they are sometimes true,  the cultural norms of a given group does not predict the behavior of an individual, who may not conform. There is no substitute for building relationships and getting to know people as individuals.
• Culture is constantly in flux and cultural groups adapt in unpredictable ways. Therefore, no comprehensive description can be formulated about a particular group.
• Culture is under the surface -- it is not easy to access these symbolic levels, since they are largely outside our awareness. Therefore, it is important to use many ways of learning about culture, especially indirect ways, i.e. stories, metaphors, and rituals.
• Culture becomes important depending on context. When a cultural identity is threatened, it's importance increases.

Culture and Conflict: Connections

For any conflict that touches us where we're vulnerable, where we make meaning or influence our identities, there is always a cultural component. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, is not just about land - it's also about identity. Conflicts between teenagers and parents are shaped by generational culture and conflicts between spouses are influenced by gender culture. Cultures shared by dominant groups often seem to be "normal" -- "the way things are done" to the dominant group, but are less obvious to other minority groups.  We only notice the effect of cultures that are different from our own.

Culture and Conflict: How to Respond

Cultural fluency is key for disentangling cultural conflicts. It includes awareness of:

• Communication,
• Approaches to meaning making,
• Ways of managing conflict

Communication

Communication determines how we relate with others. Context, personality, culture and mood all influence communication, as does our relationship with others. Do they understand what we are trying to say? Are they listening? Are we listening? Do their responses show that they understand? Is the mood positive? Is there trust between us? Are there divergent goals or fundamentally different ways of seeing the world? Are they assuming things about us or what we say that are different from what we intend to be or say?

Even with good will, miscommunication often occurs.  In conflict it is much more likely to occur, and it creates a dangerous reinforcing loop:  conflict distorts and blocks good communication, then poor communication aggravates the conflict. Misunderstandings can come from different assumptions about "normal" and "good behavior, different conceptions of time, space and personal responsibility. Nonverbal communication is also important, and can vary widely between cultures. We tend to look for nonverbal cues when verbal messages are unclear. But gestures, posture, silence, spacial relations, emotional expression, touch, and physical appearance can mean different things to different cultures. While some elements of nonverbal communication are consistent across cultures,  (for example, research has shown that pleasure, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and surprise are expressed similarly around the world). which emotions are acceptable to display, and by whom is not consistent. For instance, it may be acceptable in the United States for women to show fear, but not anger, and for men to display anger, but not fear.

Identity and Meaning

We are meaning-making creatures.  Humans tell stories that preserve our sense of self and give us purpose. Identity and meaning are part of every human life. If we make fundamentally different meaning of the world, then all of our attempts to improve communication  will fail because we cannot address deeper differences that fuel conflicts. When worldviews are not acknowledged, stronger parties in conflict may advertently or inadvertently impose their worldviews on others.

The imposition of another worldview can entirely destroy a way of life. Consider your response to someone with an idea that seems "outrageous." Those who challenge the dominant worldview are often dismissed with a joke or puzzled head shaking, and are rarely invited to explain their views. If the majority suspended their disbelief and inquired further, they might find some important nuggets in the "far-out" suggestion. As people become aware of the existence of different worldviews, the other side's "outrageous" ideas become sensible when seen from their point of view. By looking at the stories, rituals, myths, and metaphors used by a group, we can learn about group members' identities and meanings. Shared meanings may arise as people create new stories, design new rituals, and find inclusive metaphors.  

Managing Conflict

Ways of managing conflict also vary across cultures. For those accustomed to subdued, calm discussion, an emotional exchange among family members may seem threatening. However, the family may see their exchange as a normal airing of differing views. Is an event a skirmish, a provocation, an escalation, or a mere trifle? The answer depends on the perspective. In multicultural contexts, parties' expectations of how conflict should be addressed may vary, further escalating an existing situation. As with communication, different understandings of time, space, nonverbal cues, equality, gender, etc. can strongly influence negotiation. Everything from when to take breaks during a meeting, to how much eye contact to use can vary according to culture. So too will be the topics and pace of discussions and concessions, what to acknowledge to whom and when, and how to go about identifying or crafting a solution.

One common cultural difference is between what is commonly called "high-context" and "low-context" cultures. These terms refer to the degree to which speakers use nonverbal cues to convey their messages. High-context cultures communicate with messages that assume a lot--they depend on an understanding of the context of the message in order for the message's meaning to be understood. Low-context cultures spell everything out in the message itself. They stand alone more easily, without depending on a knowledge of the context. A high-context message of disagreement might be expressed to a spouse by the words chosen or the way they are spoken, even if no disagreement is explicitly voiced.

All of us engage in both high-context and low-context communication. There are times we "say what we mean, and mean what we say." This is low-context communication. At other times, we may infer but not speak. This is high-context communication.

As people communicate, they move between high and low context. It is important to understand whether nonverbal or verbal cues are the most prominent. Without this understanding, those who tend to use high-context starting points may be looking for shades of meaning that are not present, and those who prefer low-context communication may miss important nuances of meaning.

Individualism and communitarianism is a second dimension important to culture and conflict resolution. In communitarian settings, group members are rewarded for allegiance to group values and cooperation. Individualist patterns involve ideas of the self as self-directed and autonomous. Children raised in this milieu are rewarded for initiative, personal achievement, and leadership. They may be just as close to their families as a child raised in a communitarian setting, but they may feel more free to make independent choices. Duty, honor, and deference to authority are less prominent for those with individualist starting points than communitarian ones.

Applications:

People need to be aware of cultural differences whenever they interact with people from other cultures. It becomes especially important when these people are involved in a conflict, where misunderstandings become more likely and potentially more costly. But cultural awareness and fluency is important in everyday interactions as well, in order to avoid conflict, and to get the most out of a cross-cultural relationship.

Links to Related Articles:

Identity (Inter-Group) Conflicts Face

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3 Situations Where Cross-Cultural Communication Breaks Down

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The strength of cross-cultural teams is their diversity of experience, perspective, and insight. But to capture those riches, colleagues must commit to open communication; they must dare to share. Unfortunately, this is rarely easy. In the 25 years we’ve spent researching global work groups, we’ve found that challenges typically arise in three areas.

• Ginka Toegel is a professor of organizational behavior and leadership at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Why cross-cultural communication is important—and how to practice it effectively

Many bachelor’s degree programs require students to complete a few courses in a foreign language; learning another language can be a vital skill in many careers as well as a way to gain broader perspective on culture and global connections. But language instruction often requires an immersive and intensive classroom schedule that isn’t well-suited to part-time study or the flexible online platform offered by Penn LPS Online’s Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) degree.

“When we were thinking about what the new Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences would look like, we thought that the residential language program didn’t work as well to address the needs of a very diverse student body which might not even be located here in Philadelphia,” recalls Dr. Christina Frei, Academic Director of the Penn Language Center . “We needed to figure out a way to still have a discussion about language in the degree. I proposed that we offer a course that focuses on the role that language plays in intercultural communication.”

The resulting course is one of the foundational requirements of the BAAS degree. The purpose of ICOM 100: Intercultural Communication is to develop effective communication skills and cultural understanding globally as well as within diverse communities.  While the Intercultural Communication course does not replace the intensive language instruction necessary to speak and read in another language, it does develop the intercultural perspective, which is vital to learning a new language and engaging meaningfully with people across language and cultural differences. “Language is embedded and highly connected to culture. One cannot understand language outside of cultural or vice versa,” says Frei. “I designed the course to pique students' interest in the power of language and the complexities of language and culture.”

What is intercultural communication?

Intercultural communication has become a key concept in language instruction, but only recently. “In the last 20 years—and particularly in the last 10 years—we really understand more about the role that language plays in identity,” says Frei. In her many roles at Penn, Frei ensures that language and cultural studies meet the standards of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which has started to center identity and culture. At the Penn Language Center, which houses language instruction that falls outside of established foreign language departments such as the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures (for which Frei is the Undergraduate Chair), Frei oversees course offerings and learning opportunities in languages spoken in Africa and South Asia as well as American Sign Language and even language instruction for professional use (such as Spanish for health professionals and Chinese for business). Frei is also the Executive Director of Language Instruction for the School of Arts and Sciences, and in that capacity, she oversees language education across Penn to ensure professional standards are met and a cohesive pedagogical approach is achieved. “Over the last 10 years, the best practices have changed, and ACTFL really has begun to look towards intercultural communication,” says Frei.

To understand what intercultural communication is, it helps to understand culture as something active and pervasive. “Culture is a verb,” says Frei, citing one of the assigned texts from her course: Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction by Ingrid Piller. “You’re doing culture all the time,” explains Frei. “In order to become aware of what culture actually is, you have to really develop a critical eye to look at your perceptions and your surroundings.” Doing culture can include ways of speaking and acting but also thoughts and beliefs you’re not even aware of—although you’re most likely to become aware of how you “do culture” when you interact with someone who “does culture” differently. Intercultural communication encompasses a vast array of verbal and nonverbal interactions that may take place on such occasions: learning a new language or visiting another country are common examples but joining a new workplace or participating in a community organization with members of diverse backgrounds can also engage intercultural communication skills.

“If you want to do culture interculturally, you cannot do it by exclusion,” adds Frei. “Inclusivity, to me, is the new word for being truly multicultural, to really be open-minded and understanding about the differences that human beings have in their lives, their languages, and in their beliefs and cultural practices.”

The importance of intercultural communication

Intercultural communication plays a pivotal role in our increasingly globalized world, where people from various cultural backgrounds interact regularly. It is of paramount importance as it facilitates understanding and collaboration among individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, helping to break down the walls of stereotypes and assumptions that can hinder effective communication. In a world where cultural diversity is the norm, effective intercultural communication fosters empathy, reduces misunderstandings arising from differing cultural norms, and promotes tolerance. By embracing the nuances of different cultures, we bridge divides and harness the rich tapestry of perspectives, ideas, and talents that diverse populations bring to the table. It is a cornerstone for successful diplomacy, international business, and peaceful coexistence. Intercultural communication promotes unity in diversity, enhancing our collective capacity to address global challenges and build a more inclusive and harmonious global community.

How do you develop intercultural understanding in the classroom?

To provide a broad range of opportunities for students to analyze examples of “doing culture,” the Intercultural Communication course incorporates an array of readings, videos, and websites to explore different ways of expressing and interpreting culture through language. There are recorded interviews with scholars and activists who have compelling perspectives on how to “do culture” as a member of a minority population: a Lakota historian who protested the construction of a pipeline in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, an applied linguist involved in a social impact project with a Bangladeshi community in Philadelphia, and the director of the American Sign Language program at Penn who shares insight about language and culture within the deaf community. In addition to the Intercultural Communication textbook and assorted reading assignments, the students read The Enigma of Arrival , V.S. Naipaul’s autobiographical novel about his journey from the island of Trinidad to the countryside of England. “It’s a fabulous book that I hope the students enjoy reading,” says Frei. “It’s one person’s story about coming to a new place and doing culture from the outside, so to speak. There is a lot of self-observation and self-reflectivity about how, as he is doing culture, he begins to understand himself and the place differently.”

Students analyze and reflect on these cultural artifacts in class discussions and written assignments. “The workshops that I usually offer here at Penn and the courses I teach have a communicative approach with a lot of reflection, so that's part of the Intercultural Communication course as well,” says Frei. “We do tons of personal reflection because it’s important to know what your own prejudices are, what your own value system is, what your own sense-making is, and what your own analysis is, and what your own observations are.” In particular, students are asked to step back and observe how they communicate with others, from workplace and religious communities to interactions with friends and family to brief encounters at the supermarket. “It's almost like an anthropological journal, if you wish,” says Frei. ”It builds a particular kind of sensitivity to observe without judgment what you’re thinking and how you react, which helps you to be inclusive, to have empathy, and to understand the people you engage with.”

Though the course is asynchronous, Frei says, discussion boards and reflective practices bring students into the discussion and require them to communicate clearly and thoughtfully with one another. “Perhaps that’s the beauty of an online course,” says Frei. “You really do need to listen or read and pay attention to what your peers are saying. I think they really will gain an understanding of what intercultural communication means to each of them.”

“The students are actually creating the knowledge of the course,” she adds. “I'm giving them a tool kit, but what they actually do with it is up to them—and that’s very exciting.”

Tips for effective cross-cultural communication

To succeed in the course, Frei emphasizes that students need to pace themselves and schedule themselves plenty of time to think, reflect, and feel as they go through the coursework. “These are not just assignments where you can just check a box and you're done. These are thinking pieces,” says Frei. “Students need to really make sure to put some time aside because they have to think in order to do the work. They need to allow themselves to be open-minded about themselves and perhaps, in their own thinking, surprise themselves.”

Time management gives students the space needed to develop their practice of reflection, which is an important skill for communication in any context. For Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences students, Frei notes, reflection is built-in throughout the entire degree, culminating in the ePortfolio degree requirement . “It makes complete sense,” she says. “The ePortfolio is not just a curated collection of your best work. It’s a curated collection that you thought about and where you reflected on your benchmarks, your rubrics, your qualifiers for your best work.” Likewise, reflection is a vital step in thinking about culture and language.

But to Frei, reflection is deeply entwined with the concept of self-care. “Ask yourself: How can I be healthy emotionally, intellectually, physically? How does that all come into the mix?” says Frei. In her German classes, Frei will often ask students to complete a self-assessment of their reading practices: where do they typically sit, how focused do they usually feel, what kinds of emotions to do they experience and when. By being attuned to those details, says Frei, a student can make choices that will help them both enjoy and absorb more in their reading. Likewise, when it comes to language and culture, “self-care is key,” she says. “Self-reflection and understanding your own practices, your own cultural beliefs, your own cultural practices and perspectives will help you to sensitize you.”

“This is a course that shares knowledge through books and instructional design. You’ll gain insights into minority discourses and you’ll learn about communication and language. Those skills are transferable to other courses,” says Frei. “But it’s also a place where you can get to know yourself a little bit more. I think that could be really helpful.”

For more information about this unique online degree and its requirements, visit the Penn LPS Online feature “What is a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree? ”

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Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiations

When managing cross-cultural communication in business negotiations, avoid the common tendency to give too much weight to cultural stereotypes..

By Katie Shonk — on June 27th, 2024 / International Negotiation

When preparing for cross-cultural communication in business negotiations, we often think long and hard about how our counterpart’s culture might affect what he says and does at the bargaining table.

That’s completely understandable, research suggests. The effectiveness of your communications with a negotiation counterpart may have a stronger impact on your results in cross-cultural negotiations than in same-culture negotiations, according to research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology by Leigh Anne Liu of Georgia State University, Chei Hwee Chua of the University of South Carolina, and Günter K. Stahl of the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

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In their study of cross-cultural communication in business negotiations , the researchers looked at the quality of communication that American and Chinese individuals experienced during a negotiation simulation. Overall, the results showed that pairs of negotiators from different cultures had lower-quality communications and, consequently, reached worse outcomes than pairs from the same culture.

Interestingly, the relatively small number of cross-cultural pairs who overcame such communication difficulties actually achieved better outcomes than negotiators from the same culture. Why? With communication barriers out of the way, these cross-cultural pairs capitalized on their differences to reach more creative agreements, thus gaining an edge over same-culture negotiators.

The results suggest that there are great benefits to be gained from cross-cultural negotiations in international business , but it is important to manage cultural barriers to communication .

Weighing Cultural Differences

If you’re like most people, you wisely understand that cultural differences are likely to be a factor in negotiations. Books, films, television shows, and personal experience help to shape intercultural negotiating schemas, or templates that provide a quick, easy way of reading a foreign counterpart. Ideally, our intercultural negotiation schemas help us avoid blunders when negotiating with a foreign counterpart and also help us understand behavior that might otherwise be puzzling.

Though intercultural negotiating schemas can be useful, negotiators often give too much weight to them, according to research in Negotiation and Conflict Management Research by professors Wendi L. Adair of the University of Waterloo, Canada; Masako S. Taylor of Osaka Gakuin University in Japan; and Catherine H. Tinsley of Georgetown University.

The research team surveyed American professionals who had conducted business negotiations with Japanese counterparts, as well as Japanese professionals who had experience negotiating with Americans. The negotiators were asked to reflect on how they prepared for talks with people from their own culture and how they prepared for talks with people from the other culture (Japanese or American), as well as how such negotiations unfolded.

Interestingly, the partici­pants typically adjusted their negotiating style too far toward the other side’s culture. Specifically, they expected a counterpart to negotiate as she would at home, not understanding that the counterpart would attempt to adjust her strategy to the foreign context as well. As a result, both sides tried too hard to adapt to their stereotypical ideas about the other side’s negotiating style . Ironically, this type of cultural sensitivity often led to culture clashes.

Research the Individual as Well as the Culture

When preparing for cross-cultural communication in business negotiations, how much emphasis should you place on culture? You don’t want to offend your counterpart with insensitive behavior, but focusing too much on culture can backfire.

  Conduct background research on your counterpart’s culture, but spend even more time getting to know her as an individual, including her profession, work experience, education, areas of expertise, personality, and negotiating experience. And because your counterpart also needs to treat you as an individual rather than a stereotype, build in time for small talk before getting down to business.

The Benefits of Stress Reduction

In his research on cross-cultural communication in business negotiations, Columbia University professor Michael W. Morris has found that negotiators are more likely to behave according to cultural stereotypes when facing extreme demands on their attention.

In one study, participants were asked to judge an employee whose behavior had led to a negative result. When facing time pressure, American participants were more likely than Hong Kong participants to blame the individual rather than the situation for the problem—an American negotiating bias.

Emotional stress , deadlines, and accountability to others from your own culture can cause you to act in lockstep with cultural expectations rather than carefully analyzing the situation, according to Morris. Given the importance of international business communication , do what you can to reduce stress at the bargaining table, whether by taking breaks, extending deadlines, or asking a third party to help you resolve any differ­ences that arise.

What lessons have you learned from your own experiences with cross-cultural communication in business negotiations?

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• How Mediation Can Help Resolve Pro Sports Disputes
• The Mediation Process and Dispute Resolution
• What Makes a Good Mediator?
• AI Mediation: Using AI to Help Mediate Disputes
• Mediation Training: What Can You Expect?
• Chatbot Negotiations: What Can AI Do for You?
• Persuasion Tactics in Negotiation: Playing Defense
• Types of Negotiation for Business Professionals
• Dear Negotiation Coach: Making a Deal When You Have Anxiety
• Aggressive Negotiation Tactics: Threats at the Bargaining Table
• 10 Negotiation Training Skills Every Organization Needs
• 3-D Negotiation Strategy
• Use a Negotiation Preparation Worksheet for Continuous Improvement
• The Importance of a Relationship in Negotiation
• Collaborative Negotiation Examples: Tenants and Landlords
• How to Counter a Job Offer: Avoid Common Mistakes
• Renegotiate Salary to Your Advantage
• Are Salary Negotiation Skills Different for Men and Women?
• How to Ask for a Salary Increase
• How to Negotiate Salary: 3 Winning Strategies
• Teaching the Fundamentals: The Best Introductory Negotiation Role Play Simulations
• Teaching with Multi-Round Simulations: Balancing Internal and External Negotiations
• New Great Negotiator Case and Video: Christiana Figueres, former UNFCCC Executive Secretary
• Check Out the International Investor-State Arbitration Video Course
• Negotiating Identity and Values-Based Disputes
• Labor Negotiation Strategies
• Streaming Toward Win-Win Negotiation: Spotify Upgrades Its Negotiating Strategy
• How to Use Tradeoffs to Create Value in Your Negotiations
• For NFL Players, a Win-Win Negotiation Contract Only in Retrospect?
• 5 Win-Win Negotiation Strategies

PON Publications

• Negotiation Data Repository (NDR)
• New Frontiers, New Roleplays: Next Generation Teaching and Training
• Negotiating Transboundary Water Agreements
• Learning from Practice to Teach for Practice—Reflections From a Novel Training Series for International Climate Negotiators
• Insights From PON’s Great Negotiators and the American Secretaries of State Program
• Gender and Privilege in Negotiation

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