Intercultural skills when negotiating

Executives devoted to business deals with people from different countries must have some sort of special sensitivity to deal with those rules implicit in the process.

For instance, there is a ritual in Japan related to the exchange of visiting cards. They must be held in both hands, regarded carefully for a while, and place them in a special card holder, otherwise it may seen the person who has given the card to you is not appreciated.

When getting acquainted with a new culture, if we are not aware of the rules in that country, we may commit a mistake in terms of protocol which may lead native citizens to consider our behaviour in a negative way.

The basic rules determining what is correct and proper may also raise insurmountable barriers between workmates with different cultural backgrounds.

It is essential to teach these concepts of culture and traditions of a country during language courses, so as to avoid mistakes that may harm the negotiation.