Table of Contents

Introduction

Cultural differences highly impact negotiations within the international business context. An individual negotiating internationally needs appropriate skills in intercultural communication and cultural knowledge about the country. This is because culture affects the pace of the business, the decision-making process, business protocol, employee and project management, and risk-taking (Ghauri, Ott and Rammal, 2020). This research proposal is based on the influence of cultural differences in international business negotiations. It shall identify the cultural factors that affect international business negotiations and the problems that arise due to cultural differences.

Research Aim and Objectives

Aim

This research aims to identify the influence of cultural differences that are experienced in international business negotiations. It also aims to evaluate the cultural issues that affect business decisions and negotiations.

Objectives

To identify how different cultural factors and dimensions affect business negotiations in an international context.
To assess different kinds of problems that arise due to cultural differences in international business negotiations.
To evaluate the methods that can help in overcoming cultural barriers in international negotiations.

Limitations of the Study

The research is completely based on secondary data due to which it is unable to provide all the answers and lacks accuracy. The research has only inspected the general effects of cultural differences on international business negotiations and it does not include country-specific elements.

Literature Review

Business negotiations play an important role in discussing business problems and identifying effective solutions so that they can reach a successful outcome. A business that operates in international countries has to develop negotiations frequently so that it can manage international business operations and functions effectively. However, in international business negotiations, the involved parties may face some cultural differences including language barriers, different cultures, beliefs, values, laws, and practices. Sometimes, these cultures create problems and affect the outcomes of the negotiations (Ghauri, Ott and Rammal, 2020).

According to Gonzalez, (2021), there are different cultural factors and dimensions within different countries such as uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity or femininity, and individualism or collectivism that affect the negotiation styles of people from different countries. Among these, power distance is a dimension according to which every country has a different hierarchical scale based on which people in a society relate to each other. A country with a high power distance culture gives huge priority to the person of authority while a country with a low power distance culture gives equal treatment to each person present in the negotiation. Similarly, people from an individualism culture give great importance to the achievement of personal goals while people from a collectivism culture emphasise achieving the common goal of the group (Shao et al., 2020).

According to Shao et al., (2020), uncertainty avoidance is another cultural dimension that refers to the level to which a person is comfortable with uncertain situations. People with low uncertainty avoidance indicate that they practice inclusivity and are ready to take risks while a high uncertainty index shows that people heavily rely on rules and practice to avoid unstructured situations. Like the above dimensions, masculinity is a culture that focuses on toughness and material success while femininity culture focuses on care and quality of life. Thus, each country has different cultural dimensions based on which the business negotiations are influenced. Supportive dimensions help in achieving the desired outcomes from the negotiations (Caputo, Ayoko, Amoo and Menke, 2019).

Research Methodology

The research methodology of this study is based on a secondary research method in which the data is collected from secondary and rested sources that are analysed and filtered previously. This research method has efficiently helped the researcher to collect the most updated and appropriate data from authentic sources. The main aim of selecting this research method is to achieve a wider understanding of the subject. While conducting secondary research, the researcher combined and compared the data to avoid duplication and errors (Kalu, Unachukwu and Ibiam, 2019).

The researcher has utilised a qualitative research approach which provided an opportunity to focus on collecting conceptual data effectively. This research approach can effectively help the researcher to identify how cultural differences impact international business negotiations and how cultural difference problems can be eliminated to increase the quality of international business negotiations (Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2020).

Conclusion

From the research proposal, it is concluded that the study of intercultural communication in international business negotiations can help businesses to know the importance of understanding the culture and negotiation style of the foreign country. Thus, business professionals need to develop effective negotiation skills and cultural knowledge about the country so that they can overcome the problems and barriers that affect communication outcomes.

Reference List

Caputo, A., Ayoko, O.B., Amoo, N. and Menke, C. (2019) The relationship between cultural values, cultural intelligence and negotiation styles. Journal of Business Research, 99, pp.23-36.

Ghauri, P.N., Ott, U.F. and Rammal, H.G. (2020) International business negotiations: theory and practice. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Gonzalez, N.L. (2021) The impact of culture on business negotiations.

Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A. (2020) Qualitative research methods. Sage.

Kalu, A.O.U., Unachukwu, L.C. and Ibiam, O. (2019) Accessing secondary data: A literature review.

Shao, F., Frederick, D.J., Haggard, D.L., Haggard, K.S. and Pace, G.R. (2020) Industrial actions and Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Business Management Dynamics, 9(7), p.1.