Sebenius James K
Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.
Harv Bus Rev. 2002 Mar;80(3):76-85, 133.
Cultural differences can influence business negotiations in unexpected ways, as many a hapless deal maker has learned. But the differences extend well beyond surface behaviors, such as proper table manners and the exchange of business cards--and even beyond deeper cultural characteristics, such as attitudes about relationships and deadlines. Indeed, there's another, equally treacherous aspect to cross-border negotiation: the ways that people from different regions come to agreement, or the processes involved in negotiations. Decision-making and governance processes can vary widely from culture to culture, not only in terms of legal technicalities but also in terms of the behaviors and core beliefs that drive them. Numerous promising deals have failed because people ignored or underestimated the powerful differences in process across cultures. In this article, James Sebenius offers ways in which negotiators can prepare for such cultural differences. A useful approach, he says, is to map out the decision-making process--including who's involved, what formal and informal roles people play, and how a resolution is actually reached. With that knowledge, you can design a strategy that anticipates obstacles before they arise. Governance and decision-making processes can take devilishly unexpected forms as you cross borders. But by designing your strategy and tactics so that you're reaching all the right people, you increase your chances of striking a sustainable deal. Those negotiations that might otherwise have failed because people ignored or underestimated powerful disparities in process will, in the end, yield a meaningful yes.
文化差异会以意想不到的方式影响商务谈判，许多倒霉的交易撮合者都有过这样的教训。但这种差异远不止于表面行为，比如得体的餐桌礼仪和交换名片——甚至也不止于更深层次的文化特征，比如对人际关系和期限的态度。事实上，跨境谈判还有另一个同样棘手的方面：来自不同地区的人们达成协议的方式，或者谈判所涉及的过程。决策和治理过程在不同文化之间可能有很大差异，不仅在法律细节方面，而且在推动这些过程的行为和核心信念方面。许多有希望的交易都失败了，因为人们忽视或低估了跨文化过程中的巨大差异。在本文中，詹姆斯·塞贝纽斯提供了谈判者应对此类文化差异的方法。他说，一个有用的方法是梳理出决策过程——包括涉及哪些人、人们扮演什么正式和非正式角色，以及实际上是如何达成决议的。有了这些知识，你就可以设计出一种策略，在障碍出现之前就预见到它们。当你跨越国界时，治理和决策过程可能会呈现出极其意想不到的形式。但通过设计你的策略和战术，确保与所有相关人员沟通到位，你达成可持续交易的机会就会增加。那些原本可能因为人们忽视或低估了过程中的巨大差异而失败的谈判，最终将会达成一个有意义的肯定结果。
