AUTHOR
Nguyen, Minh; Persson, Maja

DATE
2000-01-21

DEPARTMENT
Business Administration and Social Sciences / Industrial Marketing

SUMMARY
Today’s business environment is complex, very competitive, and global. In order to remain competitive, organisations are increasingly engaging in international business ventures. As international business relations grow, so does the frequency of business negotiations among people from different countries. One of the most popular cultures to discuss when talking about international negotiations is Japan. Most Westerners that have negotiated with the Japanese will readily acknowledge that the experience is unique. The purpose of this research is to investigate how Japanese managers in Japanese subsidiaries handle negotiations in Sweden.

To achieve this, five case studies were performed. In order to obtain the necessary information, interviews were conducted with Japanese managers from the companies HEAT TECH Induction AB, Panasonic Svenska AB, NEC Scandinavia AB, Anritsu Devices AB, and Kintetsu World Express Inc. Our study shows that the Japanese managers in Sweden handle negotiations more in accordance with the Process of International Business Negotiation, than with the Japanese Negotiation Process. The study also shows that the Japanese managers use a majority of the communication variables described as international, but also occasionally follow the Japanese manner of communicating. When it comes to tactics, the Japanese managers use promise and information exchange tactics such as commitment, self-disclosure, and questions as tactical tools when negotiating.

ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--00/036--SE / NR 2000:036