A thorough, though sometimes overly detailed, exploration of how cultural values affect negotiations across national...
A look at business negotiations, with an emphasis on working in international and multicultural contexts.
In this debut business book, Rana takes a sociological perspective on cultural differences as he guides readers through developing a practical framework for effective cross-cultural negotiation. The book provides high-level overviews of the concepts behind generally accepted ideas of culture and negotiation, then moves into more specific information with its exploration of individual cultural traits and their applicability to negotiation tactics. The book is thoroughly researched and footnoted, and Rana draws widely on existing work in the field to develop the book’s approach to negotiation. As a result, the book is rather information-dense and requires more of the reader’s attention than many popular business books. Portions of the book, like a four-page list of definitions of culture drawn from more than a century of sociological and anthropological research, would benefit from more selective incorporation. Rana provides comprehensive information on the factors that influence negotiating styles in the world’s major cultural groups, with several established cultural heuristics described in detail. While useful, this approach is at times hampered by a tendency to generalize: “The main religions can be divided into three broad categories,” “Religion is interpreted in Africa as spirituality rather than doctrine,” etc. The book is more successful with its specific examples of successful cross-cultural negotiations, from the 1978 Camp David Accords to Chrysler’s partnerships with Daimler and Fiat, as well as with its practical tips for improving cultural competency and incorporating cultural awareness into negotiation tactics. The writing, with its frequent use of specialized terminology (etic and emic approaches, for instance) and acronyms (BATNA, DMU), adds to the sense that the book’s ideal reader is comfortable with academic prose. Nevertheless, the conclusions are more practical than theoretical and will likely be useful to business practitioners outside the academy.
A thorough, though sometimes overly detailed, exploration of how cultural values affect negotiations across national boundaries and how to use that understanding to advantage.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2014
ISBN: 978-1502909237
Page Count: 476
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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