Description

The main objective of this report is to discuss the role of Gender and Culture as collective force which influences negotiation process and behavior. When looking at the most of the scholarly work around the concept of negotiation, many scholars have studied the individual influence of gender and culture on the negotiation process, rather than identifying it’s collective force which is interdependent on each other (Nordbo, 2010). Today, with the competitiveness of the business world, the importance of negotiations have increased like never before. With the globalization and growth of the international trade, the intensity of the cross-cultural negotiations has rapidly grown stressing the importance of identifying the small cultural differences when choosing the negotiation style and behavior (Kray, 2007). Negotiation in the simplest form can be defined as the interaction and communication between two or more parties who try to resolve incompatible and contradicting views, ideas and goals (Inglehart, 2000). There are number of theories and models which have been put forward within the subject of negotiation and these concepts are evolving on a daily basis adding more useful insights to the negotiation theory. The term culture can be defined in numerous ways, but within the context of the negotiation theory, culture is often identified as an identified set of people who share same beliefs, norms, values and ways of doing things (Bowles and Flynn, 2010). Hence, when striking deals, negotiators should better understand the cultural context before deciding their negotiation styles and concessions. The following sections of the write-up will duly refer to those findings helping to identify the collective role of gender and culture within the domain of negotiation.