Negotiating Styles
Introduction
Diverse cultures have different ways and manner in which they conduct their negotiation process. However, these different cultural views can cause conflicts. It is vital for an individual to different views when getting into negotiation. Different people negotiate differently. Culture affects the manner in which an individual carry out the negotiation process with people from different countries, along with how the interpretation is of the process of negotiation is viewed. This paper will focus on the cultural negotiation style of German as well as Thailand
Cultural factors in Germany and in Thailand
Communication practices (German & Thailand)
A straightforward, as well as direct speech, is a communication practice that is commonly appreciated in Germany by the Germans (Katz, 2006). Germans have a polite way of communicating to others and have a tendency of thinking twice before speaking in order to avoid beating around the bush. Direct Communication practices in German is an important component in the understanding of business negotiations (Promsri, 2013). In the discussions regarding business or planning, direct and open criticism is directed at problem’s aspect or business at hand, and it is not considered as individual disapproval.
Thai people have a tendency of having an indirect communication style and always try to avoid giving flat-out refusals. In keeping the negotiation responsive, they always smile or nod (Katz, 2006).
Core cultural values (Germany & Thailand)
Thai culture has nine values that represent its culture. These core values are such as grateful relationship orientation, ego orientation, flexibility and adjustment orientation, education orientation, religion-physical orientation, interdependence, education and competence, achievement-task and fun and pleasure orientation (Sinkovics et al., 2016).
Germans tend to be sensible, respectful to one another, thrifty, and they respect the structure and law society. Families, punctuality, truthfulness and attitude towards the work are the core cultural value that Germans prioritize.
Social hierarchy (Germany/Thailand)
Germany has a low social hierarchy. The dimension of social hierarchy states the equality degree of individuals within the society. Hence, German’s low power distance score indicates people’s equity despite their position as well as the status (Katz, 2006). Germans do not value power that much. For instance, to be the boss in business, it does not indicate that one is more powerful than the others. It just simply means that one is in a position of planning and controlling the regularity within the company. The business community of Germany appreciates people who contribute to good work other than the position or status (Katz, 2006).
Thai people accept a hierarchical system of power. Initially in Thai history, Thai was said to be a popular market among Indian traders. There was discrimination in Thai before King Chulalongkorn’s period between Thai people and the Feudal system (Kainzbauer & Hunt, 2016). This discrimination divided Thai into four classes which included the highest class king, tenants-in-chief, knights as well as lowest class peasants. The division was based on the roles and responsibilities within the society (Katz, 2006). The lower class people had to give respect to the highest classes. Currently, in the Thai community, there is still an existence of a patron-client system. This means that those who hail from a well-up background were more welcome than those from the lower background. Business transactions are only done with reputed companies only. Additionally, individuals who came from a poor background had a hard time looking for jobs.
Business practices (Germany & Thailand)
The business culture of Thai possesses work etiquette features of other neighbouring countries in Southern East Asia. The business culture in Thailand has always been influenced to a lesser extent by Western culture since Thailand was never colonized. Besides, Thailand shares business culture with other neighbouring countries such as collectivism, strong hierarchy and courtesy. The concept of Sanuk has also contributed to shaping Thailand’s business culture (Kainzbauer & Hunt, 2016).
The business culture of German is marked by the organization, perfection as well as planning. The business culture is very formal, and it represents the value of the order of the Germans, privacy and punctuality. German does not require a personal relationship to carry out business and work. German follows the given business protocols in order to build and maintain business relationships. Germans are keen on observing punctuality to avoid delays. Additionally, Germans observe business dressing code very keenly.
Religion (German/ Thailand)
In cultural practices and individual attitudes of the Germans, religious has played a great role in shaping their life. Martin Luther managed to divide the church authorities and split Christianity into Protestants and Roman Catholicism (Richardson & Rammal, 2018). The religion believes that the Germans have not been distributed fairly in terms of landscapes, but it’s more relative to religion and region. In the current world, Germans have the rights to their differences in attitude towards religion. Germany government have no ownership of the church and has no business in manipulating the church and the religious beliefs of the people (Richardson & Rammal, 2018).
Thai has a strong relationship with Buddhism. Before the establishment of schools in Thai, the students use to have their studies in temples and their teachers being monks and Phra. The student in Thai also learned about Buddha teachings, which were commonly known as Thamma. Local events were also conducted in Wat or temples. However, in the current Thai society, people within Thai society mark Buddhism as essential when it comes to the refreshment of the soul. Buddhism has also played a great role in the creation of cultural value such as Kreng Jai, Samruam and Hen Jai.
Differences and similarities in negotiation style
Social hierarchy (power distance)- this specifies the degree that people agree on inequality in the distribution of power among people as well as the organization. Thailand values social hierarchy. This means that its citizens agree on an unequal distribution of power within an organization. German people do not support power distance compared to Thailand. This simply means that German does not admit to unequal power
. In the process of negotiation, senior members who are respected by young members in the society are entrusted with decision making (Promsri, 2013).
Religion– Thailand believes in Buddhism, and its citizens attend learnings regarding Buddhism. Thai people attend temples for players and religious activities (Richardson & Rammal, 2018). However, Germans are Christians who are divided into Presbyterians and Roman Catholic. Both countries have religion and not pagans.
Communication practices– this indicated how different cultures communicate. German upholds a direct and straight forward culture of communication, while Thai people tend to communicate indirectly and always try to avoid giving flat-out refusals (Katz, 2006). In keeping the negotiation responsive, Thai people always smile or nod, while German people apply body contacts such as handshaking. However, both countries have adopted a culture of applying etiquette during communication since it is one of the components in the understanding of the business negotiations. Both Thais and Germans have a similar way of greetings. Even if the style might vary, they both greet people with a lot of respect.
Core cultural value– individualism is one of the differences between Thai and German cultural values (Katz, 2006). A large number of people living in Thailand are low in individualism, while Germans have high individualism. Thai’s believes in working as a company or a group and do not like doing things individually, while Germans believe they can work individually without involving groups. Most Westerners are highly influenced by individualism, and they believe they can do alone since they are independent. For instance, Thai cannot eat alone, but Germans can eat alone comfortably. Punctuality is another difference that distinguishes Thai culture to German culture. Thai’s do not care more about time and punctuality since they think it is fine being late and out of time, while Germans believe in punctuality. Germans avoid being late since it is seen as an act of irresponsibility. Lateness in Business meetings in German culture is termed as being rude and lack of respect.
Business practices (Germany & Thailand) – in German, written contracts are taken as serious matters and tend to be lengthy, while Thais written contracts are normally kept high, apprehending the primary aspects, conditions, terms as well as agreement (Katz, 2006). Thai believes that strong agreements lie in the commitments of partnership rather than the documentation written. Both countries uphold etiquette in conducting their businesses. In Thai, offering gifts is common, while in German, gift-giving is very rare. In Thailand, the government-based contracts are not long-term while in German signing contract depends on agreed terms when bidding.
Dimensions and theories
Culture involves behaviours as well as the values transmitted via the experiences shared to people within the society. The four dimensions of national value systems are power distance, cultural values, business practises and communication practices (Katz, 2006). Additionally, negotiation theory is a theory applied when different countries involve their culture in their discussions (Rugman, 2013).
In conclusion, the cultures of different countries influence their practices. Both German and Thai have different cultural practices and negotiation styles. However, in both countries, their international negotiator is highly concerned with the relationship in terms of current and future business.
References
Kainzbauer, A., & Hunt, B. (2016). Meeting the challenges of teaching in a different cultural environment–evidence from graduate management schools in Thailand. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(sup1), 56-68.
Katz, L. (2006). Negotiating international business: Negotiator’s reference guide to 50 countries around the world. Createspace Independent Pub.
Promsri, C. (2013). A comparison of Thailand and Germany in negotiation styles. In Conference of the International Journal of Arts & Sciences (Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 35-45).
Richardson, C., & Rammal, H. G. (2018). Religious belief and international business negotiations: Does faith influence negotiator behaviour?. International Business Review, 27(2), 401-409.
Rugman, A. (Ed.). (2013). New Theories of the Multinational Enterprise (RLE International Business). Routledge.
Sinkovics, R. R., Richter, N. F., Ringle, C. M., & Schlaegel, C. (2016). A critical look at the use of SEM in international business research. International Marketing Review.