Summary and conclusion
This paper has developed a theoretical framework based on intercultural alliances
which extends Spencer-Oatey’s (2000) rapport management. The further
division of moves into IM-R versus IR-T and RM-C versus RM-UC, and strategies
into PS and UC-S, offers insight for understanding how alliances are
built in complex cross-cultural negotiations involving different types of positioning
and conflict. The findings drawn from a comparative study of two initial
business meetings between Chinese and NZ firms have confirmed the validity
of this framework.
The study shows that appropriate moves and strategies were used in Meeting
1, while Meeting 2 failed to use them appropriately. For example, Meeting 1 is
characterized by use of attending skills, giving face to each other, and seeking
consensus, which establishes common ground between the two parties in the
first stage. Whereas Meeting 2 did not complete the first stage successfully,
confronted with threat to public face, which apparently led to communication
breakdown. Both meetings suggest the importance of using politeness strateMoves
and strategies in initial business negotiation meetings 121
gies and the potential danger of using uncooperative strategies. The failure of
Meeting 2 also highlights the challenges of dealing with contextual factors:
when negotiating with larger groups the public face is even more paramount.
In addition, both meetings also demonstrate that jokes are not an easy strategy
to use since they involve public face and can cause misinterpretations across
cultures. The findings also highlight that the relationship between intercultural
alliances, moves, strategies, and effective negotiations walks a tightrope between
transactional and relational needs of both parties, while ineffective negotiators
tend to impose their own positioning and disregard the others’ needs
and wants.
On the basis of the above findings, the following conclusions can be drawn.
Firstly, it is essential to develop intercultural alliances. An emphasis on this
aspect will help negotiators to focus on building relational empathy and, more
importantly, on working on how to incorporate both relational and transactional
goals. Secondly, communicating empathy (PS3) and asserting common
ground (PS5) are important strategies for both parties in the first stage to
facilitate
a smooth move to the second stage. Further, it is important to give
face and stress common ground, especially at critical moments such as dealing
with jokes or sensitive questions about the bottom-line price. Last but not
least, it is essential to promptly address differential positioning before the situation
snowballs into conflict, as shown in Meeting 2. Managing conflict seems
to be essential for Stage 2, and the different approaches (e.g., focusing on
alliances
or on own positioning) to managing conflict can lead to different
outcomes.
This study has implications for future research on cross-cultural negotiations.
More research is needed to explore intercultural alliances building in
various conflict-related situations. More strategies also need to be explored at
the discourse level since this research is based on a limited comparison of two
negotiation meetings. Furthermore, more negotiation databases across cultures
should be established to test some of the findings of this study and to further
substantiate and investigate the relationship between micro-level discourse
and macro issues of promoting intercultural alliances.