Question 1

In the context of international business negotiations, individual personalities and backgrounds have no bearing at the negotiation table.

Accepted Answer

Individual personalities and backgrounds and a variety of situational factors also heavily influence behavior at the negotiation table-and it is the manager's responsibility to consider these factors.

Question 2

In the context of international business negotiations, the style of Israeli negotiators is the most aggressive of all cultures.

Accepted Answer

The style of the French negotiators is perhaps the most aggressive of all the groups. In particular, they use the highest percentage of threats and warnings.

Question 3

The behavior of the businesspeople in Taiwan is quite different from that in China and Japan, but similar to that in Korea.

Accepted Answer

The behavior of the businesspeople in Taiwan is quite different from that in China and Japan but similar to that in Korea.

Question 4

In the context of international business negotiations, Guanxi, or personal connections is key for negotiators working in Western countries.

Accepted Answer

Guanxi, the Chinese word for personal connections, is key for negotiators working in China. Long-term reciprocity is the basis of commercial interactions there, and Western concepts like objectivity almost always take a back seat.

Question 5

In the context of international business negotiations, verbal tactics used during negotiations differ vastly across diverse cultures.

Accepted Answer

In a study, the verbal behaviors of negotiators in 15 of the 21 cultures (six negotiators in each of the 15 groups) were videotaped. Overall, however, the verbal tactics used were surprisingly similar across the diverse cultures.

Question 6

Four values-objectivity, competitiveness, equality, and punctuality-that are held strongly by most Americans seem to frequently cause misunderstandings in international business negotiations.

Accepted Answer

Four values-objectivity, competitiveness, equality, and punctuality-that are held strongly and deeply by most Americans seem to frequently cause misunderstandings and bad feelings in international business negotiations.

Question 7

French business negotiators use the lowest percentage of self-disclosure yet, they also use, by far, the highest percentages of promises and recommendations.

Accepted Answer

The behaviors of the Israeli negotiators are distinctive in three respects. They use the lowest percentage of self-disclosures, apparently holding their cards relatively closely. Yet they also use, by far, the highest percentages of promises and recommendations. They are also at the end of the scale for the percentage of normative appeals at 5 percent, with the most frequent references being to competitors' offers.

Question 8

In the context of international business negotiations, age and experience are known to affect the negotiation behaviors of individuals.

Accepted Answer

Age and experience can make important differences in terms of negotiation behaviors. For example, an older Chinese executive with no experience dealing with foreigners is likely to behave quite differently from her young assistant with undergraduate and MBA degrees from American universities.

Question 9

Japan is an exceptional place because on almost every dimension of negotiation style considered, the Japanese are on or near the end of the scale.

Accepted Answer

Japan is an exceptional place: On almost every dimension of negotiation style considered, the Japanese are on or near the end of the scale. Sometimes Americans are on the other end. But actually, most of the time Americans are somewhere in the middle.

Question 10

In the context of international business negotiations, generalizations about the negotiation style of a region such as Asia are very often correct.

Accepted Answer

Looking broadly across the several cultures, it can be observed that regional generalizations very often are not correct.

Question 11

The egalitarian values of American society dictate that American sellers give complete deference to the needs and wishes of the buyers.

Accepted Answer

By nature, Americans have little understanding of the Japanese practice of giving complete deference to the needs and wishes of buyers. That is not the way things work in America. American sellers tend to treat American buyers more as equals, and the egalitarian values of American society support this behavior.

Question 12

Cultural differences cause four kinds of problems in international business negotiations, at the levels of leadership, motivation, resources, and technical skills.

Accepted Answer

Cultural differences cause four kinds of problems in international business negotiations, at the levels of language, nonverbal behaviors, values, thinking and decision-making processes.

Question 13

The Japanese business negotiation style comprises an infrequent use of no and you, and facial gazing, as well as more frequent silent periods.

Accepted Answer

The Japanese style of interaction is among the least aggressive (or most polite). Particularly indicative of their polite conversational style is their infrequent use of no and you and facial gazing, as well as more frequent silent periods.

Question 14

In the context of international business negotiations, Americans are near the bottom of the languages skills list.

Accepted Answer

Americans are clearly near the bottom of the languages skills list, though Australians assert that Australians are even worse.

Question 15

In the context of international business negotiations, collectivistic, high-context cultures do not consider personalities and substance as separate issues.

Accepted Answer

Every negotiator has two kinds of interests: in the substance and in the relationship. This advice is probably worthwhile in the United States or perhaps in Germany, but in most places in the world, such advice is nonsense. In most places in the world, particularly in collectivistic, high-context cultures, personalities and substance are not separate issues and cannot be made so.

Question 16

In the context of international business negotiations, the variation across cultures is greater when comparing linguistic aspects of language than when the verbal content of negotiations is considered.

Accepted Answer

Variation across cultures is greater when comparing linguistic aspects of language and nonverbal behaviors than when the verbal content of negotiations is considered.

Question 17

In the context of international business negotiations, disagreements among foreign team members, in the form of side conversations, are often followed by concessions to the other negotiating party.

Accepted Answer

The usual purpose of side conversations is to straighten out a translation problem or the side conversation can regard a disagreement among the foreign team members. Both circumstances should be seen as positive signs by Americans-that is, getting translations straight enhances the efficiency of the interactions, and concessions often follow internal disagreements.

Question 18

Cultural differences in nonverbal behaviors are almost always hidden below our awareness.

Accepted Answer

Cultural differences in nonverbal behaviors are almost always hidden below our awareness. That is to say, in a face-to-face negotiation, participants nonverbally-and more subtly-give off and take in a great deal of information. Some experts argue that this information is more important than verbal information. Almost all this signaling goes on below our levels of consciousness.

Question 19

International business negotiations are conducted keeping national stereotypes in mind.

Accepted Answer

Negotiations are not conducted between national stereotypes; negotiations are conducted between people, and cultural factors often make huge differences.

Question 20

The British, German, and American businesspeople are found to fall in the middle of most scale for dimensions of negotiating behaviors.

Accepted Answer

Like the Germans and the British, the Americans fall in the middle of most continua. The French, Brazilians, and the Spanish tend to be the most aggressive in terms of negotiation behavior, while most Asian groups tend to be on the other end of the scale for their polite, non-intrusive style of negotiations.

Quiz 19: Negotiating With International Customers, Partners, and Regulators