Page 68 - The European Business Review

Negotiation

Honour Culture CULTURE INFLUENCES THE WAY THESE NEEDS
Honor culture societies are probably the most
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tify the precise prototype of honour culture. DOES NOT MEAN THE BASIC NEEDS OF
Self-worth has been seen as a combination of
an individual’s assessment of his or her value NEGOTIATORS ARE ABSENT.
in society and socially-conferred value. In other
words, it is important to have social approval of
individually determined self-worth. In honour undermine the importance of the individual
cultures, societies tend to be hierarchical but with whom they are dealing. Negotiations are
these hierarchies are not always stable and so VWURQJO\ LQÁXHQFHG E\ LQGLYLGXDO QHHGV DQG
they need to be established. For negotiation, LQVHFXULWLHV &XOWXUH LQÁXHQFHV WKH ZD\ WKHVH
this is a very important issue. In a negotiation needs are expressed and prioritised but this
in honour cultures, there is an increased possi- does not mean the basic needs of negotiators
bility of a confrontational approach. According are absent. After all, across the world, a smile
to Brett: is always sweet and tears are always salty.
“in honour cultures, trusting means putting
your self-worth in the hands of others. If you About the Authors
trust and your trust is reciprocated, then you Guido Stein is Academic Director
gain honour because your self-worth is rati- of the Executive MBA of Madrid,
ÀHG %XW WKHUH LV WKH KXJH ULVN DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK Professor at IESE Business School
trusting. If your trust is not reciprocated, there in the Department of Managing
is both a social loss of social face and also a People in Organizations and
personal loss of self-worth.” Director of Negotiation Unit. He is partner of
Hence negotiations in honour cultures at times Inicia Corporate (M&A and Corporate Finance).
rely more on the argumentative brilliance of Kandarp Mehta is a PhD from
negotiators and not only on their trustworthiness. IESE Business School, Barcelona.
He has been with the Entrepre-
Final Advice: Do Not Overlook the Individual neurship Department at IESE
Having gained an understanding of these three since October 2009. His research
cultural paradigms, we must also under- has focussed on creativity in organisations and
stand that culture is not a static and stable negotiations. He frequently works as consul-
construct. So many countries in the world tant with startups on issues related to
today have education systems that are highly Innovation and Creativity.
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Many young men and women relocate to
different parts of the world to pursue higher
education, develop their careers or simply to
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across the world there has been a great degree
of cultural exchange. The framework that
has been shown in this teaching note aims
to help us understand one another better.
Scholars of cross-cultural research have been
working very hard to separate cultural stereo-
types from cultural knowledge. This is why
we strongly advise all negotiators not only
to make an effort to understand the cultural
nuances of their counterparts but never to