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NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES
A CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS

Presented by:
Hamid HOUSNI
Senior Professor - Researcher
National School of Business and Management
Tangier- Morocco
 NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES
A CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
 Preliminary notions
I 1. Definition of Negotiation.
2. Negotiation : innate or acquired
3. Negotiation : a choice or an obligation

External Negotiation Vs Internal Negotiation

II 1. Dominance of Self- negotiation
2. The mirror case (discussion)

Contents III
Factors influencing the process of negotiation
1. Social factors
2. Psychological factors
3. Cultural factors

Negotiation Strategies
IV A. Search for a model of B. The model C. The various application of
negociation strategies 1. Win-lose strategy this theory
1. The world of fish as a 2. Lose-win strategy 1. The Cultural application
source of inspiration 3. Win-win strategy 2. The social application
2. Why fish ? 3. The psychological
application
V Conclusions and recommendations

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 According to Investopedia :
- A Negotiation is a strategic discussion that
revolves an issue in a way that both
parties find acceptable.

I. Preliminary notions - In a negotiation, each party tries to

persuade the other to agree with his or
her point of view
1. Definition of Negotiation
- By negotiating all involved parties try to
avoid arguing but agree to reach some
form of compromise

This definition is loose enough to serve

our proposes in this presentation
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 2. NEGOTIATION :
IS IT INNATE OR ACQUIRED

3. NEGOTIATION :
IS IT A CHOICE OR AN OBLIGATION

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 II. External Negotiation Vs Internal Negotiation

1. Dominance of Self- negotiation in our daily life

2. The mirror case : A moment of truth

Looking at the mirror with different types of focus and orientations:

a. Behavioral focus

b. Temporal focus

c. Spatial focus

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 Looking at the mirror with different types of focus and orientations
a. Behavioral focus
Attention is oriented forwards
▪ The physical state (body: face, hair,
size…)
▪ Mental state (Mind: ideas,
reflections...)
▪ Emotional state (heart: feelings,
emotions, impressions, intuitions …
b. Temporal focus
The orientation is based on time
▪ Focus on the past
▪ Focus on the present
▪ Focus on the future
c. Spatial focus
The space you are oriented to:
▪ Focus on very local space
▪ Focus on a regional space
▪ Focus on a national space
▪ Focus on an international space
▪ Focus on a real space or a virtual space
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 What kind of lessons we can learn from this mirror metaphor ?
• Need to use the mirror in a
positive and useful way
• Use the mirror as a dynamic tool
with a critical eye, critical ear,
critical mind and critical heart.
• Use the mirror as a tool for self-
evaluation, self-control and self-
development
1 2
• Use the mirror not only in a receptive
3 4 and static way as a passive receiver,
but use it as well in a productive way
where you make combinations and
links between your past, present and
future and combinations between
your physical, mental and emotional
capacities.
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III. Factors influencing
a Age d Education
the process of
negotiation
b Gender e Occupation

A. Social factors
c Social status f Region

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B. Psychological factors
1 2

Motivation Attitude
❑ Positive
❑ Instrumental
❑ Neutral
❑ Integrative
❑ Negative

Examples:
a. Attitude of some Moroccans towards the French language and Culture.
b. Development of negative attitudes because of racial, ethnic, religious and regional variations.

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 Traditions, customs, habits Modes of behavior
1 Example: Greetings
4 Example: Consumer behavior in Marketing
 Kissing in Morocco
 Moroccan Sahara: Greeting time ▪ Buying a new product appearing in the market.
 Saoudi Arabia: Greeting with the nose
▪ Giving importance to the price.

C. Cultural factors 2 Perceptions

Example: Perception of reality / world
5 Modes of thinking
Example: Circular thinking Vs straight thinking.
Case of making a request and the fear of “losing face”
▪ Islamic culture Vs Western culture
Bidimensional Perception Tridimensional Perception
▪ Impact on educational system

Values Beliefs
3 We will see some examples when we get to
6 Beliefs can be either religious or superstitious
negotiation strategies Example: In Islam People’s destiny is in the hands of God

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 IV. Negotiation Strategies
A. Search for a Model of Negotiation strategies

1. The world of fish as a source of inspiration

2. Why fish?

For 2 main reasons :

a. Fish represent an extreme case of negotiation where there is a continuous fight and struggle
for survival, persistence and existence. Fish negotiate their life every minute and every
second. They need to be alert and highly cautions in their environment

b. It has been proved and documented that fish do not have a memory, or at least a very short
memory in the best cases, which does not exceed one minute.

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 B. The model

1. The shark strategy 2. The Carpe strategy 3. The dolphin strategy

Major characteristics Major features Major features
The shark is characterized as being: Carpe is calm, pacific, peaceful, defensive, Dolphin is peaceful, fast, not dangerous,
offensive, aggressive, dangerous, fast, trouble-avoider, temperate, sober, slow, playful, non-aggressive, trouble-avoider,
mercyless, cunning, greedy, killer, daring, sociable, etc… sociable, cooperative, collaborative,
trouble-maker, egocentric, selfish, generous and sharing.
unsociable etc… This has given rise to the second
negotiation strategy which is the This has give, rise to the 3rd
This has given rise to the first
Lose-win strategy. negotiation strategy which the
negotiation strategy which is win-lose
strategy.
famous win-win strategy.
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 ⚫ Case of war.

⚫ Business: blind competitivity.

4. Lose-lose strategy
⚫ Social relationships : case of a

deteriorating friendship.

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 C. Applications of this theoretical model
1. Cultural application
Cultures have been classified as those having

Shark-like orientation Carp-like orientation

Example: Anglo-Saxon cultures Arab culture, Asian culture and Latin American cultures

1. Individualism
Believe in the individual as the most important
element of society
Foster self-reliance, self-autonomy, self-
achievement and self-control
vs - Collectivism
Believe in the supremacy of the group as the
backbone of society.
Example: First name and family name.
Foster dependability, uniformity, similarity,
regularity and normalization

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 2 . Focus on leadership - Focus on followership

 From early childhood, the child is taught and encouraged to take initiatives. Examples:
 Initiative taking
  It is appreciated in the Moroccan culture to follow the path of your
Sense of autonomy & Responsibility
parents

‫حرفة بوك ال يغلبوك‬
Sense of risk taking

Sense of decision- taking
 Myself is a good example. Choice of a career.
 vs
Sense of adventure
  Reduplication of existing models is appreciated and change
Sense of creativity is not welcome.

Sense of innovation Result: Moroccan government is facing a problem in pushing young
 people to develop their own business (entrepreneurship)
Sense of uniqueness

 These cultures promote difference, distinction and  These cultures promote stability resistance to change and
diversity keeping the status-quo
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3. Focus on the professional - Focus on the relational

Example : American doing business with a Moroccan

 Business first and relations are secondary  Vital need to build up relations which can be the basis for

vs business development.

 Notion of “sharing salt or food” as a pact of trust and

betrayal avoidance.

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4. Less Concern for ethics and morality - More concern for ethics and morality.

 This is a capitalistic world and what matters is business vs  Business is mixed with social bonds and religion
success (profit)
‫من غشنا فليس منا‬
Who cheats on us is not ours

5. Short- term orientation

- Long-term orientation business with Chinese
Example: Americans doing business with chinese
 Decision is in the hand of the individual.
vs  Decision is collective
 It can take as much time as it requires.
 “Time is money” and a pressure to conclude the business
Example: Toyota
as fast as possible.

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 6. Communication (face to face)
A. Directness Indirectness
According to Katz Lothar in his book :
“Negociating International Business” Example : requesting as a face threatening act
The Negociator’s Guide to 50 countries Around the world.
“Communication can be very direct in the Netherlands.
vs  Case of borrowing money.
The Dutch value straight forwardness and honesty much
more highly than tact and diplomacy”
 Moroccans care a lot about “saving face”
 The concept of “Saving face” is not important in the
country

B. Eye Contact
 For Dutch people and according to katz Lothar:  For Moroccans, eye contact is rare and tends to be
“Eye contact should be frequent almost to the avoided. It is not appreciated and may be considered as
vs
point of staring as this conveys sincerity and helps a sign of impoliteness and lack of trust and respect.
build trust.”
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 Young age
At this age we are more shark-like.
We are selfish and egocentric. We think we are the center of the world. We are fast
and energetic. We are rebellious, we want to impose ourselves on our social
environment, we resist to social and cultural norms and customs. We want to change
everything. We tend to break the rules and regulations and show a certain amount of
aggressivity towards the older generation.

a Middle age
We move more toward the Dolphin state. We are more stable and have
2. Social application b
experiences in life. We are married and have children, so we feel more
responsible and we become more careful, cooperative & collaborative and
adaptable thanks to a more gained maturity.
We know we need to share our life with others and we are ready to accept
It is related to the our life cycle. reality as it is. No struggle for change. We seek more stability and peaces and try
c to ensure a balanced life.

Old age
We tend to be more like a carpe. We are more pacific, peaceful and we do our best to
avoid troubles, or create them. We prefer the shadow life, minimize interference in
other people’s business. We do not care about ourselves a lot, yet we direct all or
care towards our family circle.

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 3. Psychological application

For psychologists, the 3 strategies coexist within each one of us.

They are part of our psychological make up, but with varying degrees of emphasis and dominance.
- The same person can be like a shark, a dolphin or a carpe depending on contextual and situational
parameters
- However, each one of us will have a dominant strategy which characterizes his overall character and
personality
 Consider the case of:
- Serial killers
- Mongolians

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