Negotiating

First, let's next investigate the "business manners" associated with Japanese-style negotiations. How would you greet and welcome a Japanese negotiating party, based on your observations of living in Japan? Consider this video for advice on meeting a Japanese counterparty for the first time. 

What other rituals might you expect before, during (and even after) negotiation sessions with a Japanese counterparty and why you do you think they matter to the Japanese? Would you expect them in every negotiation experience you might conduct in Japan?  

Second, we will assist the client prepare a checklist of the "do's and don't's" of negotiating in Japan. What Japanese cultural values do you you think might impact on your proposed negotiation strategy? How might these differ from where your client typically does business? 

What cultural mishaps can you identify in the video to the right? How would you brief your client on how to conduct a negotiation based on your analysis of this video?  

Although culture is evident in cross-border negotiations, what are the risks of preparing your client for its negotiation exclusively on the basis of Japanese cultural attitudes? What other factors might be relevant to conducting a successful negotiation in Japan? 

According to Salacuse (Jeswald W Salacuse, The Global Negotiator: Making, Managing, and Mending Deals Around the World in the Twenty-First Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 1st ed, 2003), there are three negotiating styles:

• negotiation as compromise (positional bargaining)

• negotiation as domination (combative bargaining; and

• negotiation as joint problem-solving (interest-based, integrative or principled negotiation). 

Which model do you think would be most effective for your client? Why?

What type of negotiating style might you (or your client) be accustomed to? To what extent might their cultural background or professional occupation influence their approach to negotiation?  

According to the influential book Getting to Yes (Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (Penguin, 2nd ed., rev. ed, 1987), the keys to achieving a successful negotiated outcome are to: 

• Separate people from the problem

• Focus on interests, not positions

• Generate many possibilities before deciding what to do

• Insist that the result is based on some objective standard 

Conduct a negotiation either on behalf of your client or JSportAI. Please see the confidential instructions (the professor will provide you with the password to access the file). 

Spend a few minutes with your team preparing a negotiation strategy based on these instructions.