Negotiations And Business Strategy - Essay Example

This will require the negotiator to prepare effectively before engaging into any negotiation (Van Heerden & Barter, 2008). During the preparation, the negotiator should learn the goals and objectives of the company for use in the negotiation. Preparation will also equip the negotiator with useful skills and tactics that are required during the negotiation. Negotiations are not competitions although they appear to be. An effective negotiator should utilize the negotiation meeting to discover the values, beliefs, and interests of their partners.

This will help them improve their negotiation strategies and prepare for future negotiation meetings. A good negotiator should be proactive. This requires the negotiator to raise issues of contention, rather than supporting or criticizing their partner’s views. Been proactive enables the negotiator to develop opportunities and additional value for themselves and their organizations. A good negotiator should be in a position to separate personal issues from negotiating issues. This is of particular importance since most failed negotiation result from mixing personal and business issues.

Separating personal issues from negotiating issues enables the negotiator to overcome potential barriers that might affect the agreement (Van Heerden & Barter, 2008). . Lastly, a good negotiator should have the capacity to close a deal. Closing a deal is the most significant aspect of negotiation. Your company is about to take a team into Beijing China to negotiate a 3-year supply contract. What should you know about advantages and disadvantages of negotiating terms of a contract in China? Cross-cultural negotiations require thorough groundwork on cultural disparities.

In particular, when dealing with the Chinese community cross-cultural understanding becomes essential. It is a well-known fact that most negotiations fail not because of a common ground but because of ignorance and lack of cross-cultural understanding. Unlike Westerners, the Chinese consider themselves superior in many ways and therefore an effective negotiator should be concerned about cultural difference (Marin, Ruiz, & Rubio, 2009). Negotiating with the Chinese is advantageous and it enhances development of negotiation skills.

Firstly, the Chinese are confident and they are not quick to sign contracts as westerners do. The team will acquire this essential negotiation skill. The second advantage of negotiating contracts in China is the two-phase negotiation process. In China negotiation are conducted through a technical and a commercial phase. The technical phase contains most of the terms of the contract and it usually comes before the commercial phase (Marin, Ruiz, & Rubio, 2009). The Chinese consider a contract to be a commercial document rather than a legal document.

This is of particular importance since most negotiation fail to distinguish between commercial and legal aspects of negotiations. Lastly, the Chinese community has a centralized leadership system. This applies to most of their