How Various Cultural Differences May Affect the Success of Essay

How Various Cultural Differences May Affect the Success of International Business Negotiations - Essay Example In order to understand this aspect more closely, the meaning of the term negotiation has to be understood in an appropriate manner as applicable in international business. The origin of the word negotiation goes back to the Roman word ‘negotiari’, which implies continuing business (Hendon and Herbig, 1996, p.1). As a matter of fact, the word negotiation has a multi-layered structure wherein the common interests and conflicts of business organizations are to be managed for obtaining a favorable situation. How Does Culture affect Business Deals? Thus, an effective business can be compared with a fruit bearing tree and lack of communication suddenly leads to a situation in which this tree stops bearing fruits any longer. In short, communication is a significant part of successful business negotiations. The question that can be raised here is whether culture can be a possible impediment in the way of a successful business? A majority of people are sensitive about their belie fs, values, experiences and knowledge all of which constitute their culture. Therefore, there is a distinct flavor about the culture of different nations.(Silkenat, Aresty and Klosek, 2009, p.48) Arousal of Conflicts during Business Negotiations In fact, the following points establish clearly how conflicts may arise in business negotiations owing to cultural differences (Hendon and Herbig, 1996, p.2): The core of a disagreement primarily erupts due to differences in requirements. Thus, a business might fail to proceed as one of the negotiators may not prefer the opinion of the other side. The misfortune here is that there are no laws or rules for arriving at a consensus in business negotiations until one of the parties agree to change their opinion and break the barriers for better business prospects. Regardless of differences, both parties in a business avoid engaging in a direct business duel and instead prefer to keep quiet for future references. Broadly speaking, the world of bu siness is filled with ironies and the worst of enemies often unite for common benefits. The crux of the matter is that in a successful business negotiation, it is important for both parties to propel each other towards a conclusion. Since, the process involves skilful communications; cultural barriers emerge as an evil particularly when one party tries to establish supremacy over the other. Such challenges inhibit the business process to a great extent, raising its ugly head in the form of traditions and beliefs (Gannon, 2009, p.xiv ) Although, cultural hindrances seem tricky initially, they are nothing more than idiosyncrasies that are to be eliminated through proper and careful planning. In other words, a successful business must have the power to mow down the unconventional aspects of a nation that is more popularly referred to as the culture of the people residing in a country (Hendon and Herbig, 1996, p.4) Communication: The Fundamentals of Business Deals Communication is essen tially cultural whether expressions are verbal or non-verbal in nature. China is one of the most forwarding countries conducting extensive business internationally, which is largely due to the reforms and policies. China has vehemently proved that poor communication leads to diminishing efforts for converting a business into a successful deal and eventually weakens the status of a company in the market. It is no wonder that cross-cultural negotiation training enable a company to score over its competitor and