The impact of national culture on negotiating behaviors across borders

Recent declines in American competitiveness and the increasing globalization of American business underscore the importance of one's culturally-based negotiating ability in international business transactions. This paper examines the impact of cultural dimensions on negotiating effectiveness on three levels: the role of a single dimension of culture, the interactive effects between multiple dimensions of culture, and the degree of cultural compatibility between negotiating parties. Two existing models of negotiation are integrated, outlining the critical importance of culture in each stage of effective international business negotiations. The integrated model is then applied to the cultures of eleven nations. Propositions and suggestions for future research are provided.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Academy of International Business Conference. The authors wish to thank two anonymous AIB reviewers and session participants at the AIB meeting for their constructive comments concerning the paper.