What are the most important considerations in selecting a negotiation team? Give examples.

Why is
time an important consideration in international business negotiations.

There are four steps that lead to more efficient and effective international business negotiations. The
first step is to select an appropriate negotiation team. Successful global business is dependent on a
skillful international negotiator. A good negotiator should be mature, flexible, empathetic, emotionally
stable, knowledgeable, optimistic, team player, good listener, influential, and have stamina. Probably
the single most important quality needed for a negotiator is listening. A good negotiator must also be
aware of cultural differences with whom they are negotiating. It is important to know the negotiating
differences between people involved like their language, values, non verbal behaviors, and decision
making process. For example, the American culture is based on independence and individualism.
Americans need to learn how be part of a team and use team assistance to be a successful negotiation
team. Another example, in regards to being a good listener, would be that someone on the negotiation
team needs to collect information by taking good notes during meetings. It is very important that they
listen carefully without speaking and interpret the needs of the people that they are negotiating with.

Generally, experienced negotiators say that there is never enough time to prepare for negotiations. Lots
of time is needed to assess the situation, assess the people you are negotiating with, gather facts, plan
an agenda, think about possible agreements and strategies, and assign the team their responsibilities.
Different cultures think differently on how their time is spent during negotiations. Some cultures like to
structure negotiation time tackling all the issues at once and other cultures like to split up the issues and
tackle them one at a time. Making sure that enough time is spent on each step of negotiations can vary
from country to country. Time is an important factor to make sure that all four steps: nontask
sounding, task related information exchange, persuasion, and concessions and agreements all receive an
appropriate amount of time dedicated to each step. Certain cultures are more sensitive to time, like
Americans, and if others involved in the negotiations don’t keep appropriate timing to the start, during,
and end of negotiations it may cause misunderstandings. Time is involved in all steps of international
business negotiations and is very important consideration during the planning, during the process of
negotiations, after the negotiations and related to cultural awareness.