International Negotiation

What this page covers

This unit page collects material on negotiating between companies and people from different countries. Nearly everything is a mind map, so the page suits students who like to see a topic laid out as branches. There is also one flowchart and one quiz.

The themes repeat across the maps. Culture comes first: how it is acquired, how it shapes behavior, and how negotiation styles differ between Europe, America and Asia. Then come the outside forces on a deal, such as political context and external stakeholders. Last are the practical topics: licensing agreements, agents, information technology and foreign law.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map Fundamentals of International Negotiation. It starts from culture and works toward how culture appears in groups and in people. Several other maps cover the same ground in different words, so you can compare them and see which one makes the ideas click.

1. Read the fundamentals maps to get the vocabulary of culture and negotiation.
2. Move to Culture and Negotiation and CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND NEGOTIATION for regional styles, communication difficulties and non-verbal expressions.
3. Look at the short regional maps on India, China and North America.
4. Finish with the maps on tactics for successful intercultural negotiation.

Going beyond culture

When you are ready for the wider setting, open the map on the environmental context of international business negotiation. It sets out forces that neither party controls. The maps on negotiating guidelines and tips and on negotiations and licensing show how those ideas apply to a technology licensing agreement. For a study angle on agents, try the map on culture and institutional difference.

Using maps and the quiz together

Read a map, then close it and try to rebuild its main branches from memory. After that, take Simulacro International negotation. The quiz is a single one, so treat it as a quick check rather than a full test. Any branch you could not recall is a good place to reread.

This unit sits in the strand The International Business Environment, within the subject International trade. Teachers can use the maps as ready-made starting points for a class discussion on cross-cultural deals.

Pick one map today, work through it, and then sketch your own version to see how much you retained.