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In this age of the global economy, cross‐cultural negotiation is becoming an increasingly important part of the management and marketing process for nearly every firm. Compares the cross‐cultural negotiation behaviour and differences in the perceived processes between those firms which consider themselves North American‐focused and those firms which report a worldwide or international outlook. Proposes several hypotheses, reports significant differences between the two groups and provides analysis.

Global companies increasingly rely on the effectiveness of business negotiations for their survival and growth. As an important business function for creating and maintaining successful relationships, international business negotiations during the last decade (1990‐2000) have attracted considerable attention among researchers. Although these research efforts have shed light on several aspects of international business negotiations, there has been neither a comprehensive assessment of the knowledge gained, nor a systematic analysis of the issues that this research appears to have left unexplored. It is the purpose of this study to provide a thorough review of the publications on international business negotiations generated in the last decade, identify trends, assess where the discipline currently is and where it might be going.

Environmental determinants of International Business Negotiations: A Strategic Planning Model Negotiation is a skill which can be learned. Most American and Western executives do not, however, devote sufficient time or effort to learn the art of negotiation or to understand the cultural differences among nations. The accelerating interdependency among global societies and the growing role of U.S. and Western countries in international trade, especially with Third World governments, strongly necessitate learning, experience, and training in this important task. True understanding of environmental determinants, styles, and tactics of international business negotiations is a must, if one is to achieve desirable outcomes. The old attitude of bargaining overseas and the John Wayne approach will not work anymore. “Go native” and “adaptibility” will be the key words for successful international business negotiations in the future.

In this article, I address connections between processes at the micro (e.g., negotiation) and macro or contextual levels of analysis. The discussion situates process analysis in the broader settings in which the interactions take place. The first major section shows how various contextual factors may influence micro‐level processes. These factors include events, structures or institutions, and cultures. In the second major section, I consider the ways that small‐group processes may influence the macro‐level context. Societal (organizational, international) changes may result from such processes as those that occur in problem‐solving workshops, educational exchanges, and formal negotiations, including the objectives sought and strategies used, the tone and content of rhetoric displayed, and the formats and procedures devised. The article concludes with a way to conceptualize the linkages between processes and structures at the different levels.

This paper develops the argument for analyzing negotiations from an institutional perspective. A major theme of the argument being advanced in this paper is that the institutional perspective provides a more comprehensive understanding of the negotiation process in its entirety. The negotiation process can be broken down into three distinct components, namely (a) the pre‐negotiation phase; (b) the negotiating phase; and (c) the post negotiation evaluation. Each of these phases is critically influenced by a specific component or components of the institutional environment. Scott's distinction between the regulative, the normative, and the cognitive dimension of the institutional environment is drawn upon to illustrate the usefulness of this perspective. The framework is applied to assess the similarities and differences between Indian and Chinese institutional environments and their implications for negotiating processes in the countries discussed. Choosing India and China to illustrate the utility of this framework is justified by the fact that India and China are both in the process of transforming their economies, and although confronted with similar challenges, they have dealt with them in very different ways. This comparison is thus useful, not only for illustrating the value of the institutional perspective, but also for understanding the dynamics of the negotiation process in these countries.

Reports on the development and the validation of a measurement scale of International Business Negotiators (IBNs), derived from the literature and confirmed byself‐perceptions of Chinese business negotiators. Following a qualitative approach, the authors analyzed literature based on prior works in international business negotiations, cross‐cultural management, international business executives, and Sino‐Western business negotiations, to derive themes and items for developing an IBNs measurement scale. The key‐informant method was used to survey Chinese business negotiators (N₁=92, N₂ =478) for operationalizing the IBNs scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as structural equation modeling analysis, were carried out to examine and to validate factor structures, internal consistency, unidimensionality and the construct validity of the IBNs. The results justify a ten‐factor IBNs scale with significant psychometric properties.

Treating negotiations as a technique which can be learned and adapted to international business, this article takes a problem solving approach and endeavors to provide some guidelines for successful negotiating. It addresses the different stages of the negotiation process and provides a strategic planning model for negotiations.

Previous research on international negotiations has primarily examined cross‐cultural differences in behavioral styles. Supplementing this prior research, we focused on outcome in negotiations. The study examined relationships between culture and outcome in contract negotiations, and analyzed how negotiation behavior mediates between culture and outcome. Sixty Mexican and Norwegian subjects participated in a negotiation simulation with potentially integrative outcomes. The study included 12 Mexican dyads, 12 Norwegian dyads, and 6 cross‐cultural dyads. Two aspects of outcome: joint benefit and distribution of benefit between negotiators, and two aspects of process: progression of offers and verbal communication, were examined Results indicated an effect of culture on integrative results, but not on distribution of benefit. Process differences found were related to the progression of offers over time, and not to verbal communication. Managerial implications are discussed and directions for future research indicated.

This project focuses specifically on how intercultural negotiating differences are evidenced communicatively. Evidence suggests that negotiators deal differently with internationals than domestics. Therefore, it is important to move beyond within‐culture comparisons as a basis for predicting intercultural negotiation processes. This paper tests empirically the endurance of culturally‐associated negotiation styles in inter‐cultural negotiations between Americans and Taiwanese. Results suggest that culture does exert some global effects in face‐to‐face encounters with cultural outsiders. Other aspects of negotiation are managed locally, so that predicted cultural differences do not emerge in interaction.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the important factors that negotiators and policy-makers need to take into account while putting their strategies to negotiate global climate change regimes.

This paper is based on qualitative research using the deductive approach. Integrating the theoretical and empirical material in the analysis is used to enhance the readers’ value and interest in the paper.

Without deep understanding of why some international negotiations related to climate change have previously failed, it is difficult to successfully negotiate them in the future. Flexibility and openness during negotiations and to consider the views and concerns of all global actors in finding optimum solutions and cooperation are among the many essential factors that bring the world leaders into a compromise agreement and a global climate change regime. Knowledge management including taking into account the discussed factors may help the negotiators and public to be more prepared to understand the obstacles that may complicate negotiating the international climate change regimes.

This paper is not intended for those who have years of experience in climate change negotiations nor for those seeking deep theoretical knowledge about this topic.

This paper has practical implications as it combines the theories of international relations with practical evidences from previous Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This paper is an essential read to students and young scientists, as well as to young policy-makers within the environmental politics.

The paper deals with a very important and current issue and little has been published on the process of preparation for negotiating climate change negotiation. It covers some critical issues and determining factors in such negotiations.