Global Negotiation (Chapter 8)

This chapter examined various aspects of a growing field of negotiation that explores the complexities of negotiating across borders. We began the chapter with a discussion of the American negotiating style, from both American and non-American perspectives. While there is a great deal of consistency in perceptions of the American negotiating style, it is important to remember that there is also a lot of variability within cultures.
The chapter concluded with a discussion of how to manage cultural differences when negotiating across borders. Weiss presents eight different culturally responsive strategies that negotiators can use with a negotiator from a different culture. Some of these strategies may be used individually, whereas others are used jointly with the other negotiator. Weiss indicates that one critical aspect of choosing the correct strategy for a given negotiation is the degree of familiarity (low, moderate, or high) that a negotiator has with the other culture. However, even those with high familiarity with another culture are faced with a daunting task if they want to modify their strategy completely when they deal with the other culture.

Finding and Using Negotiation Leverage (Chapter 6 - Summary)

By leverage, we mean the process of gaining or using various sources of power in order to obtain and use temporary advantage over the other negotiating party. We began by exploring three sources of power: information and expertise, control over resources, and the location within an organizational structure (which leads to either formal authority or informal power based on where one is located relatively to flows of information or resources).
We then turned to examine a very large number of influence (leverage) tools that one could use in negotiation. These tools were considered in two broad categories: influence that occurs through the central route to persuasion, and influence that occurs through the peripheral route to persuasion.
In the last major section of the chapter, we considered how the receiver – the target of influence – either can shape and direct what the sender is communicating, or can intellectually resist the persuasive effects of the message. Effective negotiators are skilled not only at crafting persuasive messages, but also at playing the role of skilled “consumers” of the messages that others direct their way.