Archive for April, 2009

Global Chameleon, by Vincent Daniels

I am often asked whether negotiating is an art or a science. The answer is a simple “yes.” Negotiating is the art and science of achieving a mutual agreement among two or more parties. Seems very simple. But, as with many things that seem simple, the truth is that negotiating is complex. In a series of articles, we will explore the many artful, skillful and theoretical aspects of negotiating. We will add another complication by relating the negotiating process to a global perspective.
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Salam. While I was visiting Dubai with the Executive MBA group, I was invited to speak on the weekly radio show on Dubai EYE (103.8 FM) at www.arnonline.com. Yara Obeidat is the host on the weekly radio show regarding cross-cultural issues in Dubai. Yara is originally from Jordan and hosts an engaging talk show every Friday evening. I had the chance to speak with Yara and her other guest, Dr. Raymond Hamden, who is a psychologist specializing in cross-cultural psychology with a clinical practice in Dubai. It was a fascinating two hours speaking with Yara and Dr. Hamden about culture shock, cultural adapatiation and the globalization impact on doing business in Dubai. Stay tuned for more radio show updates!

Bridging Cultural Barriers, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente

Because of the importance of social class, rank and precise behavioral forms in pre-modern Korea, all Koreans became incredibly sensitive about the behavior of others as well as their own actions because there were so many ways they could get into trouble. Doing something that made someone else “lose face” or yourself losing face was not a trivial thing. It could be, and often was, disastrous — and it is still something that cannot be taken lightly.
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Want to learn how to negotiate with a global mindset? Take your pick next week between Thunderbird workshops in Dubai or Moscow. Thunderbird Professor Karen S. Walch, Ph.D., will speak 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, at the Dubai World Trade Center in the United Arab Emirates. Her World Café colleague, Thunderbird Professor Denis Leclerc, Ph.D., will speak 6:30 p.m. the next day at the Marriott Tverskaya Hotel in Moscow. Cocktails and dinner will follow both interactive sessions.
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Karl Pisec ’94 grew up in Vienna with two global entrepreneurs for parents who reared him to take over the family business. His parents launched Pisec Group, an international trade company, in the aftermath of World War II, when the Iron Curtain was new. Vienna, which is just minutes from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, has long served as a melting pot of cultures and a portal between East and West. As a child, Pisec accompanied his father on business trips to the former Soviet Union and learned at a young age the important role that language and culture play in cross-border negotiation. Pisec took over the family business in 1995 and has grown revenue more than tenfold since then. Today his company does business in Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Asia Pacific region. Main fields of activity involve steel products and other metals, synthetic rubber, sawing mills, lumber and pulp. Pisec shared his philosophy on cross-cultural negotiation with Thunderbird’s World Café on March 31, 2009. The video below shows highlights of that conversation. Watch other World Café Videos.