Japanese business negotiation culture

I. Introduction of Business negotiation in Japan

With the globalization of the world economy, many Japanese companies
(even small size) have a lot of way to expand into the international market. Under
those conditions, more and more people could have an opportunity to face cross-
cultural with Japanese.
Also, the Japanese culture can be tricky to understand. The people have
particular ways of doing things. Therefore, it is essential to begin with
understanding the various factors related to cross-cultural business negotiations by
the Japanese
II. Non- task sounding:
- Not to disscuss business but to learn about the other, the aim of these talks is not
to discuss business but to learn about the other their background and interests, in
order to build trust and to know how to communicate during the following stages
of the negotiation. This stage is very important for Japanese’s they want to create
a good relationship before talking about business.
- Integrity, reliability, commitment and humility During this stage, this is a formal
ceremony for top – executives, they are making judgments about the integrity,
reliability, commitment and humility of their counterpart. For the middle-level
executives, Japanese usually suggest dinners, where business talks are not
mentioned; the Japanese is looking for integrity, sincerity and cooperative attitude
- Giving of gifts on first meeting. Gift-giving is an interesting custom in Japanese
business. Exchanging gifts usually occurs at the first meeting and symbolizes the
deep and strong business relationship to the Japanese. But they never open a gift
in front of the giver since the process of giving as the respect. They respect status
 and titles of their counterparts, so, it is the first step for them to read through a
business card to make themselves comfortable in business contexts.
- Meishi, the traditional exchange of business cards. In Japan, business starts with
the exchanging of business cards. In general, two businessmen stand up and both
offer business cards with their two hands. In doing so, they need to turn it for the
receivers to see the information of the card easily. The exchange of business cards
is a very important ritual because its reflects the Japanese’s face. They will take
several seconds to look closely at the name and the company, its address, and the
individual title, before beginning any conversation. By doing this, Japanese know
the importance of their counterpart.
- Need to be on time when making an appointment with Japanese’s. When you have
an appointment at 9.00 AM, your arrival time have to be 8.58 AM. It is very rude
to be too late at an meeting with Japanese.
- Japanese people have a habit of bringing laptops in meetings. It is really common
in Japan to take your laptop with you during a meeting. While they are listening
to your presentation, they can answer their mail or searching on the web. It is not
rude at all to answer your mail during the meeting because it is common in Japan.
- After the meeting the Japanese become totally different people. They start drinking
and do not talk about business at all. The next day they do not point to the
drinking night. They behave as if nothing happened last night.

III. Task related: Exchange of Information

- This is the most important step for Japanese negotiators
- Japan is a high - context culture, people communicate allusively and rely on
context (such as personal experiences, environmental factors) to convey
information implicitly. (Typically, the Japanese will signal their readiness for an
exchange of task related information, after tea or coffee has been served, by
remarks such as, “Can you tell me more about your company?" or "Tell me, what
has brought you to Japan?")
-Japanese negotiators infer meaning from what is not said, they will ask more
question but reveal less information (The Japanese ask "thousands" of questions;
but they give little feedback.)
1. Giving Information

-Japanese executives are too polite to indicate when they do not understand
because of language prolems, most local businesspersons, even younger ones, do
not speak and understand English well. So this is the most obvious problem when
providing information to Japanese.
-Japanese executives rarely say no directly but just giving signal: The Japanese
have sixteen ways to express “no” without saying an actual word “no”. This is
because the Japanese try to be polite and keep harmony in any situation.
-Japanese negotiators are reluctant to refuse a proposal clearly: For instance,
when they are using English in business meeting, they often use “yes”. However, it
does not mean the proposal offered in a negotiation is accepted. Their partner may
think they are agree but in fact they are not.
But in recent years, more Japanese are learning how to speak and disagree in
direct ways in international arena. So it may be possible for foreigners to see the
they are absolutely clear in their mean.
-The Japanese expect long explanations, because their questions are a part of
an information-gathering process (Several people on their side may ask for the
same information or explanation. To some degree this questioning may be a tactic
to make sure explanations hold up under close scrutiny.)
-Japanese expect to spend time in negotiating and tend to ask for more
initially: They may ask for more than appears initial.
 2. Getting Information

-The Japanese often to conceal their thinking: For example, if they ask a group
of Japanese executives what they think, the Japanese will often say, “Oh, it looks
fine", even they think that it is totally unacceptable.
- Beside that, they are very emotionally sensitive and usually hide their
emotions and their true mind: by not looking in the eyes and keeping poker face,
they believe that eye contact and movements, ordinarily a source of information
about the other person's feelings, don't communicate across cultural barriers.
-The Japanese prefer to work as groups rather than individually: They are
more group-oriented in decision-making, it mean that, when the Japanese make
decision or negotiating, should remember that opinion from the group members is
always necessary.
- Delays in decision: Because Japan is a society with a lot of procedures and rules,
so negotiators need to get approval from the management and that why the
Japanese takes longer to make a decision. However, the Japanese focus on group
goals rather than individual, and it causes less unexpected issues later because
everyone is in the same boat.
-From their point of view, a negative answer (although its honest) during the
negotiation may disrupt the harmony already established.
- The Japanese felt inappropriate to reject when using a formal
communication channel. (They would use an informal channel by calling the
other side out for dinner and reject them)

IV. Persuasion
In Japan, does not exist a clear separation between exchange of information
and persuasion. Because they have spent a lot of time on the "information
exchange" phase, so they do not focus on the persuasive stage.
 But they do this stage with the intentions, what they have arranged and try to
convince the partners to support their ideas, they do not have an expected strategy,
do not consider or choose the new options and without any concessional strategy.
When negotiating with the Japanese, in each specific situation, we can use
the following tactics:
1. Question:
The most important consideration is to use questions as a persuasion tactic.
Japanese ask a lot of question because in their decision-making process, everyone
must be persuaded. Asking a lot can also be a device to maintain a sense of control,
of having the upper hand, or to conceal a lack of knowledge.
Questions will be key information, the power of persuasion plans so the Japanese
love to use questions as a tactic, they will use it against you.
2. Silence:
During negotiations, Japanese often use avoidance strategies like the use of silence
(because silence is golden) or use wait and see. They are the professional at the use
of silence and likely to use it frequently. They use also numerous of non-verbal
expressions.
If unsatisfied with the Japanese reponse, try silence. Let them think about your
proposal and give them an opportunity to change their mind.
3. Self- disclosures:
Re-explain your company’s situation, needs and preferences. But keep in mind that
the Japanese are very detail-oriented. If you make overrated claims in an effort to
impress the other side, they will likely research your claims before responding.
4. Positive influence tactics:
Use positive influence tactics For example:
+ Promise: “if you can deliver the device before 1/6 we will order it immediately
+ Advice: " Once owned, you should keep the company name, existing customers
will stay with the company"
+ Benefits: “Negotiations are progressing well, a number of contract and
partnership is opening…
+ Set a realistic standard: "Your discount is suitable with the latest information
on prices in the market and will help you determine the optimal profit margin of
the trade"
5. Change subject
If other tactics does not efficient, let’s change the subject or call a breaktime and
put the informal communication into. Continuing to ask questions and offer
explanations for new information that could not be mentioned at the negotiation
table.

6. Aggressive influence tactics:

- Japanese negotiators avoid aggressive tactics because these can affect face. But
sometime on rare occasions, they may use aggressive tactics, but it should not be
difficult to motivate them to move on.
- When Japanese are threatened or attacked by others, they see it immediately as
unfair. They see themselves as weak, defenseless, and victimized. So, foreign
negotiators may avoid using aggressive tactics with Japanese. Just should be used
only when the company negotiating with Japan is clearly in the stronger position
(e.g. large-scale, more famous, more powerful,...) and they must be carried out
only via the informal channel or in the most indirect manner possible.
There is another reason that we should not use aggressive tatics to
negotiation with the Japanese is that the Japanese have a fairly goodwill way of
negotiating, they aim for long-term cooperation so they not only think for their
own interests but also care about the interests of the other party, putting common
interests first for mutual benefit.

7. Recess and delays:

- Give the Japanese time to consider new information and time to reach a
consensus. They almost never make concessions immediately following persuasive
appeals, because the entire group must consult and agree. This takes time.
- The Japanese often try to put you under time pressure in order to obtain
concessions. Therefore, throughout the negotiation, remain calm, keep patient, and
persistent. Delays will be unavoidable, making patience extremely important if you
want to get agreement with Japanese.

8. Shokai-sha:
The next persuasive tactic that can be used with Japanese clients is asking the
shokai-sha to arbitrate differences by calling the Japanese clients and serving as a
go-between.
Though shokai-sha often successfully settles otherwise irreconcilable differences,
serious consideration should be given to making concessions before calling in
shokai-sha, because third-party arbitration ordinarily will work only once.

9. Top-down approach

As a last resort, bring together top executives of the two companies to see if that
will stimulate more cooperation using a top-down approach.

Such a tactic is, however, fraught with danger, particularly if negative influence
tactics have been used in the past. A refusal at this stage means the business is
finished.

=> To conclude our discussion of persuasive tactics, we can see:

- The Japanese style of persuasion is so different and apparently.
- It is certain that the Japanese creating a trusted and relationship with their
counterparts is a pre-requirement before negotiations. They are looking to establish
a long-term business relationship of mutual benefit.
- They are not in a hurry, because they are concerned about cooperation in
the long run. Japanese are very well prepared, negotiate within a team and don’t
want to disturb the harmony between partners.
- Threats and the like do not fit into their understanding of how such a
relationship should work.
- They are also have traditional method such as business cards and gift
exchanging.
- Especially, indirectness of communication is evident in Japanese
negotiation styles. So, it may encounter conflicts or misassumptions when
barganing. This is the reason why we need to researching their cultural behaviors,
attitudes to make negotiation in effective ways.
=> We recommend, moreover, that you adopt a Japanese approach to persuasion
when bargaining with Japanese clients and business partners. This approach may
take longer, but, in the end both companies will take benefit by using it.

V. Concessions and Agreement

The final stage of business negotiations involves concession making, building
agreement.
- For the Japanese, the economic issues are the context, not the content of the talks.
This thing will happen when the relationship has been established, then the first
“agreement” are settled quickly.
- The way the Japanese communicate agreement: An contract exists only if both
parties have done this by clearly all terms and conditions they agree with. But an
agreement in Japanese culture may be verbal. For example, the Japanese will
conduct million dollar transactions just based on oral agreements.
- For Japanese, agreements may be accepted by nods or slight bows rather than
handshakes or respond with “yes”.