Velvet hand — iron fist

Interkulturell erfahrene Gesprächspartner wissen: So freundlich und locker sich amerikanische Geschäftsleute in Verhandlungen geben, so hart können sie in der Sache sein. Robert Gibson sprach mit einem Spezialisten auf diesem Gebiet.

Thomas Krauss

When talking about intercultural differences, we are always faced with the problem of how far we can make useful generalizations. Do you think that there is a distinct US negotiating style?

I think negotiating is a bit like playing a musical instrument. There is a certain set of skills that go along with doing it well, and the better you learn those skills, the better you are going to be as a negotiator. Having said that, there are basic cultural attitudes and values that result in a "typically American" approach. For me, "typical" does not mean stereotyping but rather generalizing: "what most of the people do most of the time, not what all of the people do all of the time", to use Nancy Adler's words. Cultural generalizations provide an orientation, a frame of reference. Normally we are faced with a spectrum of culturally acceptable behaviours for a specific situation. These types of acceptable behaviour differ among cultures - perhaps there is overlap, perhaps not. Cultural generalizations do not relieve us of the responsibility to examine where our partner has positioned himself as an individual within the band of acceptable behaviours in his own culture.