Cross-Cultural Communications Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations: Term Paper

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Lastly, in chapter 9, Hendon, Hendon & Herbig (1999) focus on "what" or the contract, of cross-cultural negotiations. The authors claim the only purpose of cross-cultural negotiations is to product a "contract" or an agreement, which they define as an "exchange of conditional premises in which each party declares it will act in a certain way" only on the condition that the other parties involved agree to live up to their promises (p. 111). As with anything, cultural factors may influence how a contract is used and interpreted. The authors note for example, that in Korea, if one signs a contract in red ink, they can "expect the outcome to come to a bad end" (Hendon, Hendon & Herbig, p. 111).

The authors also proclaim there are two primary forms of contract that can result from cross-cultural negotiations. These include an explicit and detailed contract that outlines every contingency contained within a contractual arrangement; a second type of contract is one that is "implicit" in nature, one that is often based on "oral arrangements" or agreements that allows parties to address problems through personal relationships and greater trust or intimacy (Hendon, Hendon & Herbig, p. 111). It is important for business people to recognize the significance a contract holds when signed; for example, from an American or Western perspective, a contract may represent a binding agreement that summarizes the collaborative negotiations achieved with a second or third party. For others a contract may symbolize an opportunity to create more intimate, personal relationships with members of other countries and cultures. Among the Chinese as noted, a contract symbolizes the start of, rather than the…