World Café

Global Negotiation and the Power of Understanding 

Today I’m preparing for an around the world trip.  My travels begin in the US and stop first in Shanghai to work with executives from New Zealand.  Then it’s next to Munich for a few days on my way to Saudi Arabia to collaborate with officials at a development bank before coming back home to the US. 

In preparation for my adventure, I am reminded how similar and different we are as citizens of the globe.  While my colleagues abroad and I do not often consider our interactions and discussions as “formal negotiations”, the truth is that much of the communication we have or projects we design must satisfy not only our joint goals, but also our diverse cultural values.

In order for my job as an educator to be successful, effective, and meaningful, I need to take some time (which I have very little of right now!) to reflect on how not only my needs can be met, but also how I can help meet the needs of those I will work with in the next couple weeks.  I have found that the best way to prepare for a mutual gains negotiation is to review the best practices of cross-cultural negotiation. 

Here are the basic tips from both academic research and global executives who practice this every day in our graduate negotiation classes at Thunderbird. 

1.  Appreciate the Impact of Culture

National or organizational culture is complex and often difficult to understand and manage.  Tangible elements as language, food, dress, religion, and customs can be studied quite easily.  However, it is also important to appreciate the intangible beliefs and assumptions which are largely invisible.  Remember to pay attention to the emotional roots of behavior.  For example, where direct and assertive communication may be expected, reinforced and rewarded in the US, it may not be expected or rewarded in China. 

2.   Prepare for Cultural Competence  

Cultural competence is the ability to reduce the risks and maximize the opportunities inherent in cultural differences and similarities.  This also includes how performance is rewarded and how success is determined.  In diverse global organizations and interdependent marketplace, this ability is increasingly important.  A competency in cultural awareness enables more effective responsiveness, speed and adaptability in multicultural situations.  An understanding of this creates the power to fuel innovation, growth, speed, high performance and adaptability. 

3. Analyze Cultural Gaps

The full impact and importance of a new culture only becomes evident when we experience a cultural gap.  This often is thought of as a clash of different behaviors, such as extending our hand when the other person bows.  But these are really just behavioral expressions of a cultural gap.  Most gaps are not easily detectable, more prevalent, and can create distrust.  For example, for someone who expects fixed time as a value, they will have very negative emotional reactions when their client or partner habitually arrives late or does not keep a reliable time schedule.  The ability to analyze in a nonjudgmental way about national or organizational cultures becomes a must.  The cognitive skill to understand where fluid time is expected vs. fixed time increases the ability to manage stress and frustration.  This power of understanding is a resource necessary for potential difficult situations.    

4. Practice Cultural Due Diligence

Cultural due diligence is a form of risk assessment that determines the cultural backgrounds and preferences of colleagues, counterparts, and clients.  It is also an evaluation of potential cultural gaps and the impact this can have on the ability to achieve our own objectives. Cultural due diligence also includes developing a strategy to minimize negative effects of actual cultural gaps.   Cultural due diligence is best exercised by understanding the history, background and experiences that have shaped the perspective, outlook and value system of the individuals or groups with whom we are going to interact and communicate with.  The cultural orientation of a social group represents the values which are favored, expected or desired by the members in that organization or national group.  If a project team you are about to lead has an orientation toward informality, for example, that group would tend to be less comfortable with formal protocol and rituals.  Your strategy would be to lead more effectively by engaging them by dispensing with ceremony and protocol.  This level of understanding provides the power necessary to be an effective global leader.

5. Practice Style Switching

Style switching is adapting to a different cultural context, situation or expectation through changing behavior.  Mastery of this skill requires a clear sense of our own cultural identity and our general and specific flexibility and practice at many styles.  Individuals are capable of style switching along a broad behavioral range.  However, the energy associated with style switching needs to be enhanced and the emotional attachments to cultural values requires reflection and understanding.  In order to be effective and satisfied with style switching behaviors, we need a clear understanding of our own core values which are tied to our sense of self.  This requires a willingness to be flexible where it does not threaten our sense of self.  Style switching is most required when we are emotionally least prepared for it, often when we are tired or at impasse in a negotiation.   

Building adaptive, flexible behaviors and skills is possible and requires mastery of our own personal cultural awareness through reflection and introspection, as well as the willingness to stretch experiment our comfort zone of behaviors.  Through this power of understanding global negotiations can meet mutual needs and lead to more enjoyment and satisfaction with the results.

Today marks the graduation day for 10 Afghan men who have been traveling the US with funding from the American Councils for International Education.  I, along with several Thunderbird colleagues, recently spent time with them on campus.

 After the broadcasters spent 10 days in Washington DC touring radio stations, meeting with NPR, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Voice of America and other site visits, they traveled to Thunderbird for last week’s sessions.  After a trip to the Grand Canyon and further work at ASU’s Cronkite School, tonight we  wish them farewell for their journey back home to influence Afghanistan’s new opportunities in the 21^st century. 

Through the power of understanding methods of negotiation and multitrack diplomacy, these courageous leaders create a new vibrant media landscape in Afghanistan.  These pioneer broadcasters provide a critical link to their local communities, and strengthen Afghanistan’s society with news, information, entertainment, and public service announcements.

Join me in wishing them well on their new partnership with us to create sustainable prosperity worldwide.

When searching for quick access to negotiation advice, click on: http://www.negotiationinstitute.com/.  This is a great resource where you can engage and seek negotiation advice including information about ExpertNegotiator planning tools, a LinkedIn Forum with more than 500 members and 30 negotiation professors, Harvard’s Program on Negotiation LinkedIn Forum, many YouTube clips, and access to a bank of useful negotiation websites and news articles.  We will see you there!

When I was in India recently, Reema Kaur from the Times of India interviewed me for her column Beyond Borders. Ms. Kaur has a speciality in the world of business education and can be reached at edutimes@timesgroup.com.

Ms. Kaur was especially interested in the way that professors at Thunderbird delve deepy into the emotional and social factors of negotiation. We spoke at length how the field of negotiation, for example, is increasingly assessing the limits of strategic thinking alone. The implementation of a strong negotiation plan ultimately depends on effective dynamics of human interaction and cultural knowledge.

Ms. Kaur was especially intrigued about the social intelligence elements covered in our negotiation classes. In particular, we spoke about the findings in neuroscience and in cultural anthropology. A good negotiation plan is only as good as the behaviors that can facilitate working trust and willingness to share quality information.

As you plan for an upcoming negotiation, one best practice to remember is to think about your own value judgments about time, for example. Do you value counterparts who are fixed time and value deadlines? Or do you focus primarily on the relationship and allowing time to be very fluid is important to you?

For more information on assessing your cultural orientations, visit: www.culturalnavigator.com.

Saturday I was invited to speak about cultural and social intelligence and its impact on negotiation theory and practice. It was a great virtual classroom experience to have several Tbird alum and current students participating with me in Boston or by live streaming video. I participated with Michael Wheeler, Professor at Harvard Business School, Dan Shapiro, at Harvard Law School, and Joshua Freedman, COO of Six Seconds a global EQ Certification training organization. Our moderator was Ted Johnson, Professor of the Coexistence and Conflict program at Brandeis University.

The field of negotiation is addressing the limits of strategic negotiation frameworks, especially in the multicultural realm. Our discussion explored the emotional and social factors which drive cultural preferences which are fundamental to negotiation planning and results. In addition to our morning panel discussion about social and emotional intelligence, the afternoon session focused on the science around spiritual capital and intelligence and its impact on negotiation.

It was invigorating to share the discussion with the 360 Harvard area students and panelists. There was significant interest in the ways which cultural orientations tools and findings in neuroscience can be integrated with current negotiation strategic models of planning. Social intelligence and capacities require a deeper understanding of not only others’ cultural preferences and values, but more importantly, our own.

A negotiator is ‘smarter’ when there is awareness, knowledge and practice of social skills in order to style switch, for example. Subconscious values and judgments about time (fixed vs. fluid), action (being vs. doing) or communication (direct vs. indirect) tend to derail even the most sophisticated strategic plan.

The conference event confirmed that an integrated model of negotiation is now more defined and practiced by negotiators around the world. For a more detailed exploration at negotiation mastery and performance visit the 48 Law Series here in the World Café and look for Seize the Sky: 9 Secrets of Negotiation Power and the Cross- cultural version of the ExpertNegotiator strategic software, available Fall 2011.

I was invited a few weeks ago to a Global Symposium hosted by Snell & Wilmer, along with Lex Mundi, a global affiliation of 160 law firms in 100 countries, and the Association of Corporate Counsel – Arizona Chapter.  This two-day symposium addressed the needs of in-house counsel involved with international operations. Dr. Cabrera also presented at the conference. His speech detailed the importance of understanding economic trends for thought leaders in emerging markets.

The symposium, which was held at Snell & Wilmer’s Phoenix office, featured topics including global economic trends, the foreclosure crisis, lawyers making a difference on a global basis, and doing business internationally. The event featured leading lawyers from around the world from 16 countries.

I participated in the event on “Unspoken Rules” which featured international lawyer panelists who spoke briefly about some of the invisible cultural preferences which impact legal and business issues in the global arena.  We had a lively, educational and fun panel discussion from lawyers from France, Russia, Japan, Brazil, Ireland, Barbados and Germany.  This was especially interesting for me because of the relevance and practical aspects of the classroom work we do to explore negotiation behavior which is driven by forces under the “iceberg” of our awareness.

These panelists offered insights for those planning to do business in their region of the world about how to style switch and understand:  how fixed time and direct communication is valued in Germany; fluid time is expected in Barbados; why knowing the meaning of one’s family name in Russia and Japan is appreciated; why “being” rather than “doing” is represented in the need to make time for social dinners in Brazil and France; and knowing how to ‘win’ in a pub brawl in Ireland!

This highlights that no matter how strategic negotiators are on the legal and business level, the human dimensions of valued cultural preferences in the end tend to either make or break a good deal.

We are excited to inform you that Prof. Walch from Thunderbird has been invited to speak at The Negotiation & Leadership Conference 2011 by Harvard Negotiators & Institute for Negotiation Leadership & Diplomacy in Boston, MA on April 16th.

Students interested in registering for the conference can sign up here http://negotiationleadership.org/?page_id=17.
Thunderbirds can take advantage of live-streamed interactive show option here http://negotiationleadership.org/?page_id=21.

Please find attached the conference poster.
2011_Harv_Negotiation_Poster

Mediator Kevin Osterman will speak 2:30 p.m. today on “Effective Use of Negotiation and Mediation in Business.” The public seminar, hosted by the Thunderbird Global Negotiations Club, will be in the Yount Distance Learning Center on campus in Glendale, Arizona. For more information, contact Thunderbird Professor Karen Walch, Ph.D., at 602-978-7713 or karen.walch@thunderbird.edu.

Corrupt Venezuelan officials who ask Rum Santa Teresa Chairman and CEO Alberto Vollmer for bribes get something much different than cash or liquor under the table. The leader of the 200-year-old family distillery offers free enrollment instead to courses on anti-corruption, transparency and human rights.

“At first they laugh,” Vollmer said Nov. 16, 2010, at Thunderbird School of Global Management. “But the second or third time you do it, they might go to the course.”

Vollmer said corporate leaders who fret about doing business in corrupt environments sometimes scoff when they hear his solution to bribery. But his approach has proved effective in a culture of bribery, corruption, government land grabs and violence.

“Lots of these officials have mothers who tell them, ‘This is the right way to live, and this is the wrong way,’” Vollmer said. “At first you might find resistance, but in the long run they listen.”

The strategy: Vollmer said business leaders dealing with corrupt officials need to look at bribe requests as an opportunity for negotiation. “What they are proposing is a negotiation,” Vollmer said. “Try to turn the situation into having them accept something legitimate.” Vollmer said many people will do the honorable thing when shown a reasonable alternative. “We try to get the person to think about how he can become a better person, and how we can help him become a better person,” Vollmer said. “We try to sit them down and think about other ways we can satisfy their personal needs. Often this involves education.”

The philosophy: Invest in honesty. Vollmer said business leaders who maintain their values will suffer financially at first. But little by little they will gain respect. The key is to be patient, stay strong and take a long-term view. “At first you will see it as a cost,” he said. “But it is actually an investment. The return you will have is enormous. In the long run you will be respected by the authorities because they know you are not going to fall into that trap.”

The result: Officials who attend Vollmer’s free courses never ask for bribes again because they understand the values governing Rum Santa Teresa. “This guy becomes your protector,” Vollmer said. “When other officials say they will target your company, he says, ‘No, don’t mess with them because they will make you study.’”

Alberto Vollmer interacts with some dangerous individuals as chairman and CEO of Rum Santa Teresa, a 200-year-old family business that exports premium rum to more than 30 countries from Venezuela. After local gang members assaulted a Rum Santa Teresa security officer in 2003, Vollmer launched a criminal reform program called Project Alcatraz. Gang members accepted into the program work for free for three months in exchange for job training and therapy. Most participants welcome the chance to turn their lives around. But some cling to their criminal ways. One participant, a large man diagnosed as a psychopath, committed robbery and attempted homicide after being accepted into Project Alcatraz. Vollmer had no choice but to expel the man from the program. “This guy didn’t know how to talk,” Vollmer said Nov. 16, 2010, during a guest lecture at Thunderbird School of Global Management. “He didn’t know how to smile. He was very primitive, very violent and very strong.” Instead of returning to the streets, however, the man begged for readmission. “Every morning he would reappear at the door,” Vollmer said. Many dismissed the man as a lost cause, but Vollmer decided to reach out to him one more time through negotiation.

The strategy: Vollmer wondered if maybe the man would understand a beating. But Vollmer knew from experience that violence only leads to more violence. So he tried the opposite approach. He brought the man into a room and had him ask his victim for forgiveness.

The philosophy: Get beyond the mask. “Separate the problem from the person,” Vollmer said. “Be hard on the problem but soft on the person. … Human beings have infinite potential. What we tend to do is put people into slots, and we think they cannot get out of those slots. In Project Alcatraz, we try to go deeper and see beyond the mask of that individual. What really makes him tick? What is his soft spot? Everybody has a soft spot, and once you discover that you can start influencing this person.”

The result: The simple act of confession and apology cut through the mask of the man labeled a psychopath. “It was amazing what happened,” Vollmer said. “The victim not only forgave the man, but he gave him a job. This guy never committed a crime again.” Project Alcatraz has experienced two homicides in seven years of operation, and the assailants were handed over to the police and put in jail. But Vollmer said most participants leave the violence behind. “The percentage of repeat offenders is small,” Vollmer said.