Onur SAKA 7/17/2011 Negotiating in Japan

The island nation in East Asia has the worlds third largest economy by nominal GDP and by purchasing power parity. Japan is also the fourth largest exporter and the fourth largest importer of the world. All these rankings show that a significant amount of international business transactions and numerous negotiations are held in, account for or done with Japan and Japanese business people. Cultural differences may become game-changing pitfalls in negotiations; a prudent negotiator must assess the differences and develop a strategy which is harmonious with thedissimilar business environments. Negotiators should be able to read the counterparts actions and find the meanings underneath. Language, education, history, social stratification, religion, values, the variables of culture affects the business environment and so the negotiations. For instance,some of the Japan businesses such as Canon, Toyota and Honda are worldfamous globally managed MNEs which are assumed to have globalstandardized business culture, but on the other hand, for the majority of Japanese the underlying cultural values still predominate. And those cultural values can be so different than we used to know. A high level of collectivism is dominant in Japanese culture which is very unfamiliar for the American individualist business people. Japanese value peace, harmony, mutual confidence, faith and honor in both their private lives and businesses. These main features of Japanese culture appear as caution, sensitivity, indirectness, patience, trust, face-saving, loyalty, dependency and consensus building in business environment. The indirectness and sensitivity, the silence and avoidance of the Japanese can easily frustrate individualistic, outspoken, direct and precipitous American
Table 1.Hofstede s Value Dimensions

businesspeople. When looking this unique culture of Japan from the Hofstedes value dimensions, the Japanese have high scores in masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation as opposed to the U.S. And also, as a group-oriented and collectivist community their individualism rate is very low. Table 1, shows these rates and compares them to the U.S. The contrast is obvious. The collectivism and sensitivity of the people leads them to think and act according to the others opinions; in the shame cultures other peoples judgment of a person is the main motivation. This leads to silence and indirectness and with the emotional sensitivity, besides, to be accepted, trusted and succeed in this implicit culture etiquette is very important; the negotiator must be prepared with an early research to act properly in business and social environments. Open expression and conflict are discouraged. Japanese business people are very formal. Patience, understanding, respect and details are very important. Before, going for a negotiation, here are some tips: Bow and show respect in greetings, do not slouch and chew gum in meetings, listen carefully and do not interrupt. Moments of silence are normal; they are the signs that your ideas are being assessed and respected. Exchange business cards and give attention to theirs, do not stash away it to a pocket. Give attention to every detail. Remember, understanding each other and respect are the keys to success.

Resources:

1. http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture1=95&culture2=50#compare 2. International Management Managing Across Borders and Cultures, Helen DERESKY, 7th Edition, PEARSON