Universidad del Rosario

International business management.

Lisa Manuela Arévalo, Paula Andrea Cubillos,
Angela Marcela Rozo.

Modern negotiations during the crisis

Following the articles: In Global Negotiations, It's All About Trust and How to Negotiate -
Virtually, we can conclude that the way we are negotiating is transforming and adapting to
new societal needs, including the current pandemic. Most of the interactions of companies,
families, businesses and relationships, takes place in the new everyday: virtuality, and
although it is a matter of time and practicality, as it has saved us a lot of time and money, it
has taken us away from the social interaction necessary to build a character such as boss and /
or employee relation. However, when direct daily relationships existed on a daily basis, the
technological transformation had already created a work environment based on digital
devices, taking full advantage of their adaptability and ease. Although there are many
benefits and disadvantages, such as the vague relationship between boss and employee, their
satisfaction also decreases with virtual negotiations, because people do not feel confident,
speaking for example to a computer screen. Relationships become colder, more distant and
impersonal, and therefore, organizational objectives decrease in performance and therefore
many of the long-term goals created by companies are not achieved.

In addition, we inhibit ourselves from giving our opinions in a more practical and friendly
way, since it may happen that taking advantage of the fact that we are behind a screen, we
express our opinions, judging and without any type of approach, since no one will be able to
judge us face to face, or very introverted people will not have the ability to develop their
social skills and share innovative ideas that may be important in a business model, but by
staying in the comfort zone without any incentive, and maybe face to face this type of people
were more encouraged to show their ideas. In this last point, it is also true that many can
misinterpret a message in a negative or even a very positive way, when in reality it is not,
because we cannot see their expressions at the moment. The etiquette, the good manners, or
the beauty of a good greeting, is lost in an email, and we never know what kind of people we
are dealing with, losing all kinds of connection with reality. Now, not everything is bad,
because a virtual negotiation, well planned, can be a total and beneficial success for
everyone, so it must be clear what will be done, with whom it will be done and how long a
virtual meeting will last, so as not to deviate of the subject and also all are prepared mentally
and physically.
And something that all of us, as students, employees, teachers and bosses, have lived, the
fearful ones: private messages published in public screens, by mistake, this can be so serious
that the perspective on you can radically change or simply end in laughter from the group, but
these private messages always have to be taken with the utmost discretion and understanding
in what kind of space we are expressing our darkest feelings. On the other hand, taking
advantage of the fact that we have all our electronic devices at hand, we can fall into not
concentrating on anything, and do everything at the same time, losing all kinds of
productivity or concentration. For this reason, many times a meeting with a camera makes us
demand of ourselves to get ready, bathe, dress appropriately for the occasion, without video,
many people do not even manage to wake up well. The success of these meetings is not how
long they are, it lies in how concise, entertaining and fruitful they are, also breaking the ice
with conversations on different topics does not hurt either, as it creates stronger personal
connections. Clearly there is no type of virtuality that is capable of replacing the experience
and liveliness of a face-to-face negotiation, where we are able to feel the energy and
personality of a person, and many of our most special characteristics are not hidden behind a
screen. However, if we want to preserve our health, we must strive to achieve long-term
adaptability of this system.

Now, the key lies in trust and adaptability to the behavior that we must have within other
cultures, since not falling into ridicule or lack of respect for other cultures is also important in
virtuality. As the article mentions, there are three levels that describe relationships based on
trust: trust is likely, which is the first level where there is that first contact with other people,
where we are able to meet the personality and the most optimal way to get trust, by
understanding if their behavior, is predictable or not, and find similarities between all, which
can be through a round of questions and answers with the intention of having an initial base
of trust and knowing the limit of them. Now, the second level is possible, when that trust
seems to be possible although not completely, where it is about focusing on the issue and not
on the development of the people, while looking ahead to the long-term objectives and the
way to achieved them, where the use of a mediator can also be key to having a common
vision. Finally, level three, or not possible, focuses on offering and showing certain problems
at the same time, while thinking holistically about the interests and behaviors of others, in a
way that helps us to be more empathic with others, to be able to establish certain social norms
that are capable of regulating a negotiation, even there is no trust. In each of the three levels
raised, there is a risk of falling into too much trust, so always before executing any strategy,
we must evaluate our counterpart to understand their culture, their personal norms and their
own objectives within a negotiation , and thus have a broader and clearer vision of what we
have and what we want.

International negotiation is key for today’s society, and it’s of great importance because it
precisely promotes factors of economic growth, local and foreign investments, generates
more work, expands technological innovation, encourages cultural exchange and among
many more. That is why, it is essential to realize that despite the circumstances, companies
have to keep moving forward and that they have to try not to become stagnant because of
something that they hadn’t implemented before. Therefore, returning to the current situation
that we are all going through, virtual expeditions, virtual exchanges, virtual jobs, virtual
companies and any possible virtual negotiation have been created. In fact, it was something
that at some point had to happen and on a certain way progress, because globalization is
generating technological development every day that is changing the entire panorama of the
world.

As the reading says, perspective or image is mixed around the efficiency of creating value
through virtual negotiations, as mentioned above, there’re advantages and disadvantages.
Complementing everything then, first if we divide by sex, according to studies, women are
less cooperative in virtual environments than when they are in front of the other person, while
men continue using the same tactic. Based on this, we can see the importance of research
that, thanks to it, strategies can be implemented to improve negotiation or any virtual
environment. The reading talks about the possibilities for improvement in terms of; assign
clear roles to the team, and that the virtual calls are not more than 4 people, since it can be
inconvenient. Specify and practice offline chat methods and avoid making mistakes like those
mentioned above, in short, it’s a virtue that can bring great benefits. The video should be the
first option over another type of virtual communication and finally, that each teleconference
could preferably be short.

On the other hand, if any of us is the leader of virtual negotiations, we must take these bases
into account; connect with the public from the beginning, this is important since it generates a
broader interaction with others, and even being empathetic from the beginning can generate
better economics results. We must make clear the purpose of the meeting and the time
available that we have, since irregularities can bring less benefits. Finally, it’s clear that all or
most people prefer face to face negotiations but having to conduct them virtually it’s
important to remember that we must trust more on the content of success than on self-
criticism.

Concluding a bit of what has been argued, it’s necessary to say that the tools and strategies
are always very useful to make virtual negotiation more efficient and helps companies
achieve success in times of crisis, taking advantage of the resources that are being given to
them. These readings were of great importance to realize that not everything ends with a
pandemic, we are in a century in which connectivity is essential to move forward, and
although it is not something that physical companies have ever thought to go through, many
have had to commitment of having to involve telework and virtual negotiation to generate
value.