Unidad

Third Teaching
1 / Escenario
Unit /2Sixth Learning environment
Lectura Fundamental
Essential reading

The managing
Etapas de un plan
rolede
of comunicación
a negociator 
estratégica

Content

1 Strategic management

2 Economic sectors in Colombia

3 Economic subsectors in Colombia

4 The negotiation process

5 Skills of a successful negotiator

6 Doing businesses

Keywords: strategic management, international negotiator, negotiation process, negotiator’s characteristics.

1. Strategic management
By now, you must have heard the term strategic management in previous studies. Almost all
managers deal with this concept at least once in their daily life. But what is strategic management?
According to May (2011) is a systematic analysis of internal and external factors to achieve better
alignment in a company. In addition to this definition, it needs strategic leaders who are capable of
reaching the company’s goals. This leader has to have a vision of the future and the ability to persuade
his team to work towards the company’s objective, he also needs to have special skills, such as the
capacity to innovate, not only products, but also business processes.

One of the most famous and groundbreaking examples of process innovation is Henry Ford’s
invention of the world’s first moving assembly line. This process changes not only simplified vehicle
assembly but shortened the time necessary to produce a single vehicle from 12 hours to 90 minutes.

To improve...
A process is the combination of facilities, skills, and technologies used
to produce, deliver, and support a product or provide a service. Within
these broad categories there are countless ways to improve a process
(Bear, 2017).

2. Economic sectors in Colombia

Colombia’s economy is based mainly on agriculture and mining activities. There are other sectors
that are gaining importance due to the globalization process of the country. One of these sectors is
the manufacturing industry. Colombia’s Ministry of Economy classified the most important sectors
through the Productive Transformation Program (PTP). This program bets on the growth of
world-class sectors that can compete in international markets.

According to the Ministry of Commerce of Colombia (Ministerio de Comercio, 2009) the

*world-class sectors are the following:

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 Cosmetis and cleanliness

Fuit and it’s derivate Pharmaceutical

Chocolat and it’s derivate Textile and clothing

Fuit and it’s derivate

1 2 Basic chemestry

Petrochemical and plastic

World-Class
sectors

4 3 Construction
IT and BPO Services
Transport

Figure 1. World-Class sectors

Source: designed by the author

3. Economic subsectors in Colombia

The 12 economic sectors determined by the Ministry of Commerce have subsectors as well. These
subsectors have to be identified in order to choose the best logistic process. An example of a
subsector is the aqua subsector, that includes shrimp and fish farming, especially tilapia and trout.

Another subsectors are: the beef industry and the milk industry (yogurts, cheeses, and milk); palm
and oils; editorial and graphic industry; electric energy; leather and footwear. All these subsectors are
part of the manufacturing industry and the main objective of the program is to promote add-valued
products from this sectors or subsectors that can compete in international markets.

4. The negotiation process

¿Did you know ...?

In India it is forbidden to offer leather gifts because cows are sacred in that country?

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After identifying the economic sector and subsector of the products, the next step is to get prepared
for the negotiation process. For this, it is very important to be aware of the differences you will find in
negotiating with the German, Latin American or Asian people.

The first thing you have to know is what is a negotiation process. According to (Gifford, 1989) is the
process in which two or more parties organize to achieve a common decision.

Suppose you are planning to assist to a business meeting at Colombia Moda this year. You are having
meetings with buyers from the United States, China, and the United Arab Emirates. How can you get
prepared? First, remember each country has a different culture and different beliefs that you have
to take into account in order to follow the correct protocol. Harvard developed a negotiation model
that has been used for decades since its creation in 1978. The Harvard negotiation model consists of
a win-win strategy to guarantee a long-lasting relationship between buyer and seller. The basic idea of
this model is to focus on the common interests of both parties and distance people from problems.

At the end you can have a checklist of measurable indicators that can help you evaluate if the
negotiation was successful or not. These indicators include:

Number of meetings

Number of new contacts

Number of new orders

Re purchase index

Figure 2. Negotiation indicators

Source: designed by the author

The following is an example on how to put in practice these indicators. You are a Colombian exporter
who is going to assist to a business meeting organized by Procolombia. You have planned to have
10 appointments with possible clients from countries like Mexico, France, USA. To determine a
successful meeting, you should use the indexes as follow:

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 1. Number of programmed meetings/number of assisted meetings

2. Number of programmed meetings/number of new contacts

3. Number of new orders/number of total orders

4. Total sales/ total repurchases

The ideal scenario is that every index must be over 70%.

5. Skills of a successful negotiator

Have you ever asked yourself what makes a negotiator successful? Are there any special skills they
are born with? These questions have to be well-answered in order to choose the correct team.
Flexibility, empathy, self-control, and creativity are some of the skills a successful negotiator must
have according to (Bustamante, 2014). Additional to those, a successful negotiator must be honest
at every moment, be humble, keep calm and persevere in reaching his objective.

Honesty

Patience Creativity

Empathy Humility

Figure 3. Skills of a successful negotiator

Source: designed by the author

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Moreover, Bustamante (2014) explains that in Colombia successful negotiators must follow
these guidelines:

1. Have the will to negotiate.

2. Prepare yourself.

3. Establish goals.

4. Listen to your counterpart.

5. Get in other’s shoes.

6. Build trust.

7. Do not bargain.

8. Think about building a long-term relationship.

9. Be creative.

10. Control your emotions.

6. Doing businesses
The preparation process of the negotiation includes learning small tips about the culture of different
countries and their way of negotiating. Next are some recommendations on how to do business
with important countries like Germany, the Arab United Emirates, the United States of America,
China, and Latin American countries, in four principal aspects: greeting, gift offering, time in decision
making, and exchanging business cards.

6.1. Greeting

The greeting is the first step in a negotiation and can be as successful or as unsuccessful as you
decide. In Asian countries, for example, the greeting must be done with a short bow, but in Germany
or United States the greeting is done with a strong handshake. In the Arab countries handshakes are
soft but long, at least 10 seconds. French people, for instance, practice the cheek-to-cheek kissing,
and in Latin American countries they usually shake hands or even hug.

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 6.2. Gift offering

In some countries offering gifts is part of their culture, but in others it can be seen as an offense. In
the United States, for example, the gifts offered should be very modest and it’s suggested that their
cost doesn’t exceed USD 25.

In Germany, on the contrary, this is a non-existent practice, while in Latin American countries the
gifts are very usual during a business meeting, and they even open them right at the moment they
receive the gifts.

In Asian countries, like China, is part of their culture to refuse the gifts because in that way they don’t
appear to be eager. But in countries like the Arab United Emirates the culture of receiving gifts is
well- seen and, in fact, the gifts have to be very expensive.

To improve...
Gifts you should not offer according to the country.
• France: perfume or wine.

• China: wall clock, is considered bad luck.

• Arab countries: liquors, for religious reasons.

• Latin America: knives or scissors, it would seem like you want to cut the
relationship (Churruca & García-Lomas, 2002).

6.3. Time in decision making

In this aspect is very important to be aware that Arab countries consider God as the owner and
controller of time, so they normally don’t hurry up in decision making, since they wait until God guides
them. On the contrary, countries like the United States and Germany consider time as a valuable and
limited resource, so they will normally make fast business decisions. Latin American countries are very
informal in their decision process, they are normally fast. Finally, Chinese people are fast in making
decisions but you will have to build a relationship based on trust, before they decide to listen to
your offer.

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 6.4. Exchanging business cards

The practice of exchanging business cards is the most common is business meetings. Remember
the business cards should include all the information needed to contact you or your company (logo,
address, position, telephone number). Usually business cards are exchanged at the end of the
meeting, but, in some cases, you can exchange them at the beginning (Churruca & García-Lomas,
2002).

To improve...
¡Don’t forget that the business cards should be written in English or in the
language of the country you are doing business with!

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References
Bustamante, C. (22 February 2014). Los 13 secretos del negociador exitoso. Portafolio. Retrieved from
http://www.portafolio.co/negocios/empresas/13-secretos-negociador-exitoso-56672.

Llamazares García-Lomas O. & Nieto Churruca, A. (2002). Negociación Internacional: Estrategias

y Casos Madrid, Spain: Pirámide.

Gifford, D. G. (1989). Legal Negotiation: Theory and applications. Maryland, USA: University of
Maryland.

May, R. (2011). Business Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/

strategic-management.html.

Ministerio de Comercio (2009). Programa de Transformación productiva. Retrieved from

https://www.ptp.com.co/portal/default.aspx.

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 TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Module: Logistics and International Marketing

Third Teaching Unit: Product’s brand and
packaging management
Sixth Learning environment: The negotiator as
strategic manager

Author: Sandra Chicas Sierra

Advisor: Juan Felipe Marciales Mejía

Graphic Designer: Cristian Navarro
Assistant: Ginna Quiroga

This material belongs to the Politécnico Grancolombiano.

Total or partial reproduction is prohibited.

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