By kekepana.com / blog
Attitudes determine negotiating outcomes.
In most Western societies, we believe in the “rule of law” and it is the actual language of a contract that prevails. That is why we spend so much time negotiating the details of an agreement. It’s why we bring lawyers into negotiating sessions and have grown dependent on them. Don’t assume that your foreign negotiating partners feel the same way. Many cultures are governed by the “rule of relationship”. The actual language of an agreement or a contract is less important than the quality of the relationship. I find that Chinese are more likely to live up to the “spirit” of an agreement than they are to the specific language – and that the Japanese are more likely to follow the language than the spirit. That’s fine as long as you know which attitude to expect and can cope with it. I used to joke that the French were the toughest negotiators because they couldn’t be relied on to live up to either the letter or the spirit. That’s too rough, but I was up against a French negotiator when I resorted to the laborious “back translations” mentioned in yesterday’s post. Just recognize that the sanctity with which we hold contracts in the United States does not necessarily exist in other societies. That’s not good or bad, it just is.
