Cross-cultural differences in nonverbal neqotiating behavior: jараnезе, Americans, and Brazilians

Behavior and definition	Number of times tactic was used in а half-hour bargaining session by:
Japanese	American	Brazilian
Silent period. The number of conversational gaps of 10 seconds or more рег 30 minutes.   Facial gazing. The number of minutes negotiators spend looking at their opponent's face per randomly selected 10-minute period.   Touching. Incidents of bargainers' touching one another реr half hour (not including hand shakes).   Conversational overlaps. The number of times (per 10 minutes) that both parties to the negotiation would talk at the samе time.	5.5   1.3 minutes     12.6	3.5   3.3 minutes     10.3	5.2 minutes   4.7   28.6

The Use of Dirty Tricks in Negotiating

Sometimes negotiators resort to tactics that are considered dirty tricks by the other side. However, remember that what one side believes is а dirty trick mау be totally acceptable in the other side's culture and practiced as а regular way to negotiate. The table below presents а brief list of dirty tricks and how to deal with each. For example, Brazilians are accustomed to introducing "phony facts" during the initial negotiation stage. As seen in the table, the way to deal with this is to not accept the data as accurate. Another example is ambiguous authority. Does the other party have the authority necessary to sign an agreement today? In many cases the Chinese and Japanese do not. They must report back to their superiors and await instructions. Any attempt by them to extract concessions in return for an immediate agreement could bе considered а dirty trick because they have nо authority to authorize anything. As shown in the table, other dirty tricks could be classified into psychological warfare and positional pressure. In dealing with these types of dirty tricks, it is important that the other side calmly discuss the ramifications of agreeing, making а counter оffеr, ignoring the offer, or waking out of the meeting. А good example is provided by U.S. and Soviet arms control negotiations. The Americans refused to negotiate away their Star Wаrs option even though the Soviets insisted that it be part of the negotiation package. The Russians felt this was-dirty trick negotiating. Eventually the Soviets agreed to go ahead without this condition. Although many experts believe that Star Wars is not an economically feasible nuclear deterrent and was not much to give up at the bargaining table, the United States showed how standing one' s ground can result in the other party finally acquiescing to what it considers а dirty trick.

The important thing to remember is that in international negotiations, people use a wide variety of tactics including dirty tricks, and the other side must be prepared to counter them or find a way of dealing with them. This will depend on the situation. Managers from different cultures will give different answers. Table provides some examples of the types of characteristics needed in effective negotiators. To the extent that international managers have these characteristics and can follow the types of guidelines provided in table, their success as negotiators should increase.

 

DIRTY TRICKS АND RESPONSES DURING INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS
Dirty trick	Example (Ех) and effective response (R)
Deliberate deception:
Phony facts	R: "Unless you have а good reason to trust someone, don' t."
Ambiguous authority	R: "Alright. We'll treat it as а joint draft to which neither side is committed," or, "Good, you take it to your boss and I’ll sleep on it. Then tomorrow either of us can suggest changes."
Dubious intentions	R: Call the cards and build in а compliance system. Less than Full disclosure is not the same as deception.
Psychological warfare:	Tactics designed to make you feel uncomfortable, so that you will Have а subconscious desire to end the negotiation as soon as possible
Stressful situation	Ех: Room too hot or too cold, no private place to talk, their turf, Too much touching, etc. R: Bring it up and change it.
Personal attacks	Ех: Opponent comments on your clothes, your appearance ("Were you up all night?"), your status (by interrupting with other business, making you wait), your intelligence (making you repeat things, not listening), refusing to make eye contact. R: Recognizing it usually nullifies it. Bringing it up usually ends it
Good guy/bad guy routine	Ех: "The price is $4000 (bad guy)." "No, $3800 (good guy)." R: "Why do you think $4000 is reasonable, what is your principle? " Followed by а warning: "if $4000, X will happen."
Positional pressure tactics:	Bargaining tactics designed to structure а situation so that only one side can effectively make concessions
Refusal to negotiate	R: Ask why they refuse to negotiate. Will they be seen as weak? Suggest alternatives: negotiate through third parties, negotiate in private, send letters, etc.
Extreme demands	Ex: Asking for $100,000 when it is only worth $25,000. R: Ask why it is а reasonable demand (price). Bring tactic to their attention.
Escalating demands	Ех: Making one concession and then adding new demands or reopening old demands. R: Call the tactic to their attention and then take а break while you consider which issues you are willing to continue to negotiate on.
Lock-in tactics	Ех: Committing to а course of action, usually publicly. Paradoxically, you strengthen your bargaining position as you weaken your control over the situation. R: Don' t take lock-in seriously. Resist lock-in on principle: "I understand you are publicly committed to Х, but my practice is never to yield to pressure."
Hardhearted partner	Ex: "I would agree, but my partner (i.е., boss) won' t." R: Get it in writing and/or negotiate directly with “hardhearted" partner.
Calculated delay	Ех: Waiting for the 11th hour. (Danger: If the 11th hour arrives, the other side may continue waiting.) R: Make delaying tactic explicit and negotiate about it. Also create objective deadlines (such as starting to negotiate with another firm).
Take it or leave it	R: Ignore it. Or explicitly recognize it, let them know what they have to lose if no agreement is reached, and look for а face-saving way for them to back off.
CULTURE-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED BY INTERNATIONAL MANAGERS FOR EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS
U.S. managers	Preparation and planning skill Thinking under pressure Judgment and intelligence Verbal expressiveness Product knowledge Ability to perceive and exploit power Integrity
Japanese managers	Dedication to job Ability to perceive and exploit power Win respect and confidence Integrity Listening skill Broad perspective Verbal expressiveness
Chinese managers (Taiwan)	Persistence and determination Win respect and confidence Preparation and planning skill Product knowledge Judgment and intelligence
Brazilian managers	Preparation and planning skill Thinking under pressure Judgment and intelligence Verbal expressiveness Product knowledge Ability to perceive and exploit power Competition

 

Studying the words

1. to acquiesce – молча или неохотно соглашаться, не протестовать

to acquiesce in smth – согласиться на что-то

2. ambiguous (adj) – двусмысленный, нечеткий, неясный, допускающий двоякое толкование, сомнительный

ambiguous answer

ambiguous term

ambiguous statement – заявление, допускающее двоякое толкование.

3. an authority (n) – полномочие, право.

syn: The right to act in a specific way

Ex: Only the treasurer has authority to sign cheques – Только казначей имеет право подписывать чеки.

to authorize – санкционировать, разрешить, давать разрешение на

syn: to give approval

to authorize a payment

Ex: Has this visit been authorized?

4. to back off – отступить

5. to bring smth up – упомянуть (поднять вопрос)

syn: to mention or introduce the subject for attention

to bring the tactics to smb’s attention – зд. обратить внимание на используемую тактику.

6. to build in (v) – встраивать, создавать внутри, по ходу…

7. calculated delay – намеренное затягивание переговоров

8. compliance (n) – 1) согласие 2) уступчивость 3) соответствие

in compliance with your request – согласно вашей просьбе

in compliance with company regulations

9. dirty tricks – “грязные трюки”, нечестные, неприличные или неэтичные способы, методы, тактика (зд. ведения переговоров)

10. explicit (adj) – ясный, высказанный до конца

to make explicit – сделать ясным, обнаружить, разоблачить

syn: very clear and easy to understand

11. to exploit (v) – использовать в своих интересах

12. to the extent that – в той мере насколько, в зависимости от того, до какой степени, насколько…

13. to extract concession – зд. добиться уступки; вынудить собеседника пойти на уступки

14. face–saving way to… – приемлемый, достойный способ сохранить свою репутацию (не уронить достоинство)

15. a gaze (n) – внимательный, пристальный взгляд.

facial gazing – пристальный взгляд в лицо, глаза собеседника.

syn: a long steady look

Ex: She felt uncomfortable under his intense gaze.

16. a good guy – «хороший парень», «славный малый» - уступчивый партнер, с которым легко иметь дело.

a hardhearted partner – зд. жесткий, неуступчивый партнер

17. to have a good reason to do smth – имел веское основание сделать что-то

18. I’ll sleep on it (idiomatic) утро вечера мудренее, я подожду

19. integrity (n) – 1) честность 2) неподкупность

a man of integrity – честный, неподкупный человек

20. judgemen t (n) – зд. рассудительный, здравый смысл

to show good (sound) judgement – судить здраво

to disturb the judgement – сбить с толку, ввести в заблуждение

21. lock-in tactic – тактика следования жесткому курсу в ведении переговоров

to lock smth in – удерживать, придерживаться чего-либо.

syn: to gain smth and be certain to keep it

22. negotiate away – зд. продолжать переговоры

23. to nullify (v) – аннулировать, делать недействительным, преуменьшать

syn: to made smth less position or effective

24. to overlap (v) – 1) частично совпадать, заходить один на другой.

2) перехватить реплику собеседника, закончить начатую им мысль, одновременно с ним.

Ex: If two ideas overlap, they are similar in some ways, but not in others

conversational overlaps – совпадение реплик (высказываемых вслух идей, мнений) собеседников

25. to perceive (v) – понимать, осознавать, чувствовать

to perceive one’s power – осознавать степень своих полномочий

26. phony – ложный, фальшивый, недостоверный

I gave the police a phony address.

27. positional pressure – позиционное давление; давление на участников переговоров по ряду обсуждаемых позиций

28. private (adj) – зд. 1) закрытый, не являющийся доступным для всех (неофициальный)

private meeting – закрытое заседание, неофициальная встреча.

private view – закрытый просмотр

2) тайный, секретный, конфиденциальный, не подлежащий огласке

private information – сведения, не подлежащие огласке

in private - в узком кругу, конфиденциально

29. psychological warfare – психологическая война, приемы ведения психологической войны.

30. ramifications (n) – 1) варианты 2) последствия, результат (часто непредвиденный)

syn: options, additional results of an event or action that were not clearly known about when a decision was first made.

Ex: All the political ramifications of that Treaty will become evident only in a few month

31. random (adj) – сделанный наугад, произвольный, случайный

at random – произвольно, случайно.

Ex: Winning lottery numbers are chosen at random

a random survey

32. regular (adj) – обычный. зд. – общепринятый, приемлемый, постоянно используемый;

находящийся в соответствии с этикетом, с установленным порядком или принятой

формой

Ex: Those without regular visas were refused entry

regular expression – надлежащее выражение

33. to resort to (v) – обращаться к чему-либо (в качестве последнего средства достижения желаемого), прибегнуть к.

Ex: They had to resort to court action

34. to stand one’s grounds – отстаивать свои позиции, стоять на своем

syn: refuse to change your opinion even though people disagree with you.

antonym: to lose, to give one’s ground – отступать, сдавать позиции

35. Take it or leave it (idiomatic) – Не хотите как хотите (навязывание своей тактики, отказ от переговоров в случае несогласия противоположной стороны)

36. turf (n) – чья-то сфера деятельности, «конек», собственная территория

someone’s turf is the area that they control or that they know well

37. to yield to (v) – уступать, поддаваться

38. to walk out – бастовать.

a walking out – забастовки.

walk out the meeting - прекратить переговоры, покинуть стол переговоров

Comprehension check.

Practice I

Answer the following quotations:

1. What is meant by non-verbal behaviors? What are the most typical examples of non-verbal behaviors?

2. In what way are non-verbal behaviors used as negotiation tactics?

3. In which way do non-verbal behaviors typical for the Japanese differ from those of the Brazilians?

4. Why can the so-called dirty tricks be practiced as a regular way to negotiate by your counterparts?

5. What is meant by ambiguous authority?

6. Why could an attempt to extract concession in return for an immediate agreement be considered a dirty trick with the Chinese or Japanese?

7. What are some examples of dirty tricks using deliberate deception? Explain how negotiators should deal with them.

8. Into what groups could dirty tricks different from deliberate deception be classified?

9. What is important in dealing with psychological warfare and positional pressure? What example of psychological warfare can you name?

10. How could personal attacks be nullified?

11. Cite some examples of positional pressure and explain how negotiators should deal with them.

12. What are the suggested effective responses to:

a) introducing phony facts,

b) creating stressful situations,

c) dealing with a hard-hearted partner.

13. Would US business negotiators find that their Japanese counterparts were using the same negotiating tactics as they were or different ones?

Practice 2

Complete the following sentences on basis of the information given in the text..

1. Personal attracts mean that the opponent …

2. In dealing with psychological warfare and positional pressure it is important that the other side …

3. The way to deal with refusal to negotiate is …

4. Escalating demands means that …

5. The right way to counter calculated delay is …

6. If the other side stands to “Take it or leave it” tactics you should …

 

Practice 3

Make up short dialogues:

Describe to your partner what difficulties you had to encounter in the course of negotiations (speak about some “dirty tricks” you had to face). Explain to him how you responded and managed to improve (or failed to improve) the situation.

II. Language work

Practice 4

Find in the text English equivalents for the following word combinations:

Иметь отношение к тому, что люди думают, а не говорят; произвольно выбранный; склонны использовать преднамеренные паузы в ходе переговоров; рассчитывать (полагаться) на совпадение реплик собеседников; широко использовал невербальную тактику; абсолютно приемлемый; представить краткий список; иметь привычку пользоваться слухами, недостоверной информацией; отчитаться перед начальством; не считать информацию абсолютно верной; вынудить пойти на уступки в обмен на; быть абсолютно приемлемым в культуре противоположной стороны; сомнительные полномочия; обсудить возможные последствия; покинуть стол переговоров; реально возможный (достижимый) с точки зрения экономики; отстаивать свою позицию; средства ядерного сдерживания; с большой неохотой согласиться с тем что; использовать большое разнообразие тактик; быть готовым выступить с контрпредложением; следовать общим указаниям; преднамеренный обман и сомнительные полномочия; иметь основание доверять; не совсем полное самораскрытие; отказываться смотреть собеседнику в глаза; сомнительные намерения; иметь подсознательное желание; поднять вопрос о чем-либо, привлечь внимание к; предъявить уже упоминавшиеся требования; тактика следования жесткому курсу в переговорах; вести переговоры непосредственно с неуступчивым партнером; разоблачить тактику затягивания переговоров; обозначить реальные конечные сроки.

 

Practice 5.

Match the words (1-8) with their definitions in the bubbles (a-j)

1. Happening or chosen without any definite plan or system

2. To do something that that you do not want to do, in order to try to achieve something

3. False or not real, and intended to deceive someone

4. To maintain one’s position, claim, argument, etc despite opposition or pressure

5. To leave a meeting suddenly before the end, especially as a protest.

6. To oppose, to try to prevent yourself from being forced to do smth

7. To be forced to agree to do smth;; to allow someone else to have power or control over smth

8. Committing to a course of action, usually publicly

9. To agree to do what someone wants or let them do what they want, without arguing or complaining, ever though you don’t like it

10. The way to do smth avoiding losing the respect of other people.

 

 

Practice 6.

Think of suitable words for the following definitions:

1. Tactics designed to make you feel uncomfortable, so that you will have a subconscious desire to end the negotiation as soon as possible.

2. They are sometimes called “the silent language”.

3. The power or right to make important decision and control people.

4. The use of smth bad or unpleasant as means of achievement smth, often because no other cource of action is possible.

5. To leave a meeting suddenly before the end, especially as a protest.

6. Making once concession and then adding new demands or reopening new demands.

7. Bargaining tactics designed to structure a situation so that only one side can effectively make concessions.

Practice 7.

Translate from English into Russian

1. The police may have to resort to force.

2. Despite being exposed to positional pressure he firmly stood his grounds..

3. They have acquiesced in his resignation.

4. Recent wage increases have been nullified by inflation.

5. The government yielded to demands to decrease the level of taxes.

6. The company and its creditors rejected the ambiguous terms of the possible transaction.

7. All the political ramifications of the treaty will become evident only in a few months.

8. It was the team’s first success of the season on the turf.

9. The refinery is operating safely and in compliance with clear air standards.

10. My boss was grateful that I had brought the tactic to the attention of the other party during the phase of preliminary negotiations.

11. The representative of the company has been quite explicit about their intentions.

12. He accused the government of dirty tricks against the Republicans.

 

Practice 8.

Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. В соответствии с правилами, участники переговоров имеют право покинуть стол переговоров в том случае, если противоположная сторона прибегла к преднамеренному обману.

2. Если ваши партнеры используют тактику следования жесткому курсу, предупредите их, что вы никогда не идете на уступки под давлением силы.

3. В ходе переговоров обсуждались возможные последствия внесения контрпредложений в договор.

4. Я бы не советовал тебе прибегать к использованию непроверенных фактов.

5. Основные идеи этих двух публикаций частично совпадают, хотя были изложены (state) представителями различных школ.

6. Компания собирается провести опрос более 1000 потребителей, произвольно выбранных компьютером.

7. Члены Совета директоров продолжали стоять на своем, несмотря на то, что многие акционеры считали возможным изменить тактику компании.

8. Неофициальная встреча проходила на территории заказчика.

9. Джейсону пришлось отступить и молча согласиться не использовать свои полномочия.

10. Для японских менеджеров характерно проявление рассудительности, целостности и умение пользоваться своими полномочиями.

11. В случае отказа продолжать переговоры предложите вашим партнерам альтернативные варианты: конфиденциальную встречу или переговоры через посредников.

 

 

Supplementary Materials

 

 

 

Section 1.