International Business and Cross-cultural Communication

　　The increase in international business and in foreign investment has

　　created a need for executives with knowledge of foreign languages and

　　skills in cross-cultural communication. Americans, however, have not been

　　well trained in either area and, consequently, have not enjoyed the same

　　level of success in negotiation in an international arena as have their

　　foreign counterparts.

　　Negotiating is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose

　　of reaching an agreement. It involves persuasion and compromise, but in

　　order to participate in either one, the negotiators must understand the

　　ways in which people are persuaded and how compromise is reached within

　　the culture of the negotiation.

　　In many international business negotiations abroad, Americans are perceived

　　as wealthy and impersonal. It often appears to the foreign

　　negotiator that the American represents a large multi-million-dollar

　　corporation that can afford to pay the price without bargaining further.

　　The American negotiator's role becomes that of an impersonal purveyor of

　　information and cash.

　　In studies of American negotiators abroad, several traits have been

　　identified that may serve to confirm this stereotypical perception, while

　　undermining the negotiator's position. Two traits in particular that cause

　　cross-cultural misunderstanding are directness and impatience on the part

　　of the American negotiator. Furthermore, American negotiators

　　often insist on realizing short-term goals. Foreign negotiators, on the

　　other hand, may value the relationship established between negotiators and

　　may be willing to invest time in it for long-term benefits. In order to

　　solidify the relationship, they may opt for indirect interactions

　　without regard for the time

　　involved in getting to know the other negotiator.

　　Clearly, perceptions and differences in values affect the outcomes of

　　negotiations and the success of negotiators. For Americans to play a

　　more effective role in international business negotiations, they must put

　　forth more effort to improve cross-cultural understanding.