Japanese-U.S. business negotiations : a cross-cultural study 0275920062

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JAPANESE - U.S. BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS A Cross-Cultural Study

Don R. McCreary

PRAEGER SPECIAL STUDIES • PRAEGER SCIENTIFIC N ew York

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W estport, C o n n e cticu t

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Lo nd on

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McCreary, Don R. Japanese —U.S. business negotiations. “Praeger special studies. Praeger scientific.” Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Negotiation in business —Japan. 2. Negotiation in business —United States. 3. Japan —Commerce — United States. 4. United States —Commerce—Japan. I. Title. HD58.6.M38 1986 658 86-554 ISBN 0-275-92006-2 (alk. paper)

Copyright © 1986 by Praeger Publishers All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-554 ISBN: 0-275-92006-2 First published in 1986 Praeger Publishers, 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10175 A division of Greenwood Press, Inc. Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

1

Preface Communicative Strategies In Japanese-U.S. Negotiations

Japanese and U.S. cross-cultural negotiating behavior is examined, described, and explained from a Soviet psycholinguistic perspective. Various behaviors, previously viewed as idiosyncratic, are set within a framework that regards language from a sociohistorical perspective. Japanese cultural phenomena underlying negotiation behaviors are manifestations of several psycholinguistic constructs found to be explanatory. They are control, including otherregulation and self-regulation, symmetrical and asymmetrical settings, and congruent and incongruent definitions of situation. Interviews were conducted with experienced negotiators for whom com­ municative strategies were successful or unsuccessful. This data was supple­ mented by a film that re-creates a Japanese-U.S. negotiation that failed and by a videotape of a domestic U.S. negotiation about an international business transaction. Transcripts are included. Negotiation strategies described and explained include phatic communi­ cation, ordering negotiable points, regurgitation, codeswitching, formal or colloquial language use, caucusing, haragei (intuitive communication), affir­ mation, negation, and closing. Communicative strategies in a Japanese-U.S. setting are determined by the relevant psycholinguistic construct in conjunction with its cultural mani­ festation in each society. When Japanese and Americans negotiate, these underlying constructs create conflict that can impede negotiations if mutual understanding is not achieved beforehand. Further progress toward this cross-cultural understanding is the objective of this book.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Robert J. Di Pietro, my mentor, for his helpful remarks toward the improvement of this book. Drs. William Frawley and James Lantolf added substantial comments on the theoretical perspective, for which I am grateful. Thanks are also due Dr. Louis Arena, a valuable source and a lead to additional sources of information in the business world. Within that world, numerous executives who kindly shared their time with me deserve appreciation from everyone concerned with improving the Japanese-U.S. dialogue. In particular, Robert Blanchfield sparked my interest in negotiation and helped me in innumerable ways. These executives should share in the credit for insights revealed herein. 1am solely responsible for any mistakes or misinterpretation of their views. 1 want to thank my mother, who typed the manuscript, and my father, who proofread it. Thanks to my wife, Kayko, 1have been able to complete this book. 1 owe her more than words can express.

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Contents

Preface ............................................................................................................ v Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... vi 1 2

Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Overview ........................................................................................... 4 A Soviet Psycholinguistic Perspective ................................................ 7 Sociocultural Derivation ................................................................ 7 External Social Forces as Determinants ....................................... 8 Social Dialogue as P rim a ry ............................................................ 9 Collective and Individual F unctions............................................. 10 Activity and Definition of S itu atio n ............................................. 11 C o n tro l............................................................................................ 12 Dynamic Continuous Access......................................................... 15 Inner Speech.................................................................................... 16 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 17

3

Relevance of Vygotsky’s Theories to Japanese S ociety.................... 18

4

Cross-Cultural Japanese-U.S. Negotiation ......................................... 24 Background Data ............................................... 24 Negotiation Stages ........................................................................... 25 Negotiation Markers ....................................................................... 27 First-stage Discourse Analysis: Role Establishment, Phatic Communication, and Amae ........................................................... 28 Second-stage Bargaining: Logical Ordering, Regurgitation, and Codeswitching ........................................................................... 34 Keigo and Kogo .............................................................................. 42 Caucusing ......................................................................................... 43

5

Haragei—A Communicative Strategy for Japanese and A m ericans.................................................................................. 45 vii

viii

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Contents

6

Tatemae vs. Honne and “Yes” vs. “No” .............................................. 59 Yes vs. Aizuchi .............................................................................. 60 No vs .lie ........................................................................................... 61

7

Closing a Negotiation ........................................................................... 67

8

Conclusion ............................................................................................. 72

Appendix 1

Transcript of a Japanese-U.S. Negotiation ..................... 77

Appendix II

Transcript of a Domestic U.S. N egotiation....................89

Bibliography Index

........................................................................................... 109

....................................................................................................... 117

About the Author

.................................................................................. 122

1 Introduction

With increased contact between Japanese and U.S. business representa­ tives, the^stark difference in communicative styles of the two groups has become evident an5 troublesome. Available information about these styles is largely anecdotal and far from complete. These anecdotes can occasionally lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding. Miscommunication at the bargaining table is characterized by a mutual lack of perception of developing problems of communication and a corresponding lack of understanding of the reasons a negotiation succeeds or fails. This investigation into negotiation style addresses several basic theoretical matters: What constitutes negotiation? How are negotiation markers realized by Japanese and Americans in Japanese-U.S. negotiations? How are negotia­ tions linguistically marked? Are any bicultural markers of negotiation uncoverable? Are the assumed markers shared or unshared in interactional role playing? How do negotiators perceive this? Which markers are shared between domestic Japanese negotiations and domestic U.S. negotiations? Which are not? From observations of Japanese-U.S. negotiations and their comparison with domestic U.S. negotiations, this book suggests what can be done by negotiation trainers or language teachers to avoid cross-cultural miscom­ munication. Negotiation with the Japanese is generally acknowledged to be an ' extremely time-consuming, frustrating, and often losing proposition for the U.S. business manager. Unknowns and difficulties involving style differences frequently result in negotiation impasse. Perceptions surrounding Japanese-U.S. negotiation efforts are often inaccurate, which can make the actual negotiating situation even more difficult. In the United States, “interest in trade matters is a direct function of the level at which your ox is being gored” (Lory 1983, p. 6c). With a $50 billion deficit in 1

2 / lapanese-U.S. Negotiations

Japan’s favor, U.S. business executives’ perception of the level at which their ox is being gored leads to comments on free trade and fairtrade (“we’re doing it—you’re not”) that only sour a potentially productive atmosphere. Front-page headlines such as “Japan’s Success Seen as ‘Conspiracy,’” followed by stories that assert, for example, “the remarkable Japanese quest to become ‘itchiban,’ or Number One, is supported at least in part by a conspiracy in which unethical and illegal practices are subtly, secretly used” (Cunniff 1983, p. 1) also have a negative impact on Japanese-U.S. negotiations. The impact largely focuses on the issue of trust. “Recent difficulties in the bilateral relationship reveal some dangerous signs that mutual trust, which is the most critical factor for maintenance of the relationship, may be eroding” (Ushiba 1982, p. 5). The erosion of trust, combined with the press’s exacerbation of it, multiplies negotiators’ difficulties in seeking cooperation rather than confrontation. The following comment from a former Japanese ambassador is revealing: Growing American impatience over various bilateral issues tends to strain the relationship__ A profound reconsideration is required as to the stance to be taken in negotiations__ For Japan, we must not remain always passive, ready to react but not to act__ For the U.S.......intense and visible pressure as a catalyst for Japanese policy change is increasingly becoming counterpro­ ductive. The method of confrontation (all or nothing) instead of consultation heightens the frustration of Japanese negotiations and, perhaps more impor­ tantly, creates a public climate of resentment that makes negotiations virtually impossible. The result is an estrangement, making close and quiet dialogue impossible (Ushiba 1982, p. 8).

The fundamental problems that allow inflammatory statements by the press and inaccurate comments by business and political leaders to go unchecked are twofold: linguistic failings and cultural misperceptions due to ethnocentrism. These misperceptions can lead to further complications by stereotyping the other side, thus producing added inaccuracy in communica­ tion. For Japan and the United States the problem of communicating accurate information has particularly difficult aspects__ There are few Americans who can communicate effectively in Japanese and too few Japanese who have an adequate command of English. Differences in the political and social structures of the two countries raise complex problems of interpretation. Furthermore, significantly large sectors of the public in the two countries have stereotyed views of the other that make the accurate evaluation of information received especially difficult__ A relationship in which commun­ ications are insufficient or, more importantly, inaccurate, constantly runs the danger of unnecessary conflict__ In the Japanese-American relationship... it

t Psychology 21 (Fall): 3-17. Ueda, Keiko. 1974. “Sixteen Ways to Avoid Saying ‘No’ in Japan.” In Intercultural Encounters with Japan, edited by John C. Condon and Mitsuko Saito, pp. 185-92. Tokyo: Simul Press. Ushiba, Nobuhiko. 1982. “Erosion of Trust.’’Presented at the sixth Japan-U.S. forum, Tokyo, December 1. VanZandt, Howard F. 1970. “How to Negotiate in Japan.” Harvard Business Review 48 (November-December): 45-56. Vogel, Ezra F. 1979 .Japan as Number One: Lessonsfo r America. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L.S. 1962. Thought and Language. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Wertsch, James V. 1979a. “The Regulation of Human Action and the Given-New Organization of Private Speech.” In The Development o f Self-Regulation through Private Speech, edited by Gail Zivin, pp. 79-98. New York: Wiley. -. 1979b. “From Social Interaction to Higher Psychological Processes: A Clari­ fication and Application of Vygotsky’s Theory.” Human Development 22: 1-22. — . 1980a. “Semiotic Mechanisms in Joint Cognitive Activity.” Paper presented at the U.S.-USSR conference on the Theory of Activity, Moscow, March. ----- . 1980b. “The Significance of Dialogue in Vygotsky’s Account of Social, Ego­ centric, and Inner Speech.” Contemporary Educational Psychology 5 (April): 150-62.

Bibliography /

115

Wertsch, James V., Norris Minick, and Flavio J. Arns. 1984. “The Creation of Context in Joint Problem Solving.” In Everyday Cognition: Its Development in Social Context, edited by B. Rogoff and J. Lave, pp. 151-71. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Wilder, Billy, and I.A.L. Diamond. 1960. The Apartment (screenplay). Directed and produced by Billy Wilder. United Artists. Williams, Gerald R. 1978. “A Negotiation of a Business Transaction.” Videotape. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. ----- . 1982. “Discussion Guide and Materials to Accompany the Brigham Young University Negotiation Videotape.” Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. -------- . 1983. Legal Negotiation and Settlement. St. Paul: West. Wolf, Marvin. 1983. The Japanese Conspiracy. New York: Empire. Yalch, Richard F. 1979. “Closing Sales: Compliance Gaining Strategies for Personal Selling. ” I n Sales Management: New Developmentsfrom Behavioral and Decision Model Research, edited by R.P. Bagozzi, pp. 187-201. Cambridge, Mass.: Mar­ keting Science Institute. Zimmerman, Mark. 1985. Dealing with the Japanese. London: George Allen & Unwin. Zingg, Robert M. 1940. “Feral Man and Extreme Cases of Isolation.” American Journal o f Psychology 53(October): 487-517. Zivin, Gail, ed. 1979. The Development o f Self-Regulation through Private Speech. New York: Wiley.

Index

aizuchi, 60, 61, 74 amae: definition, 4-5, 73 and disagreement, 60 and regurgitation, 38 in negotiation, 31-34 and parant-child, 32 apologies, 63;

cognitive development, 7 Piagetian, 7 collective functions, 10 and activity, 10 and impatience, 41 colloquial language, 19, 42 American examples, 69 Japanese examples, 42-43 communication problems, 4 communicative strategies: affirmation, 5, 47 American preliminaries, 34 codeswitching, 40, 43 complaints, 36 (Japanese reaction to, 37) complaint as other-regulation, 37 and deception, 29 defense, 26 denial, 5, 22 easy problems first, 35 first name basis, 29 haragei, 46 interruption, 40 Japanese counter to impatience, 41 mutual, 34 Nixon-Sato, 54-55 with numbers, 65 others, 5, 27 overlap, 40 regurgitation, 38 sarcasm, 42

bargaining 34-38, 56; and bargaining chips, 51 and colloquial language, 43 Barnlund, D., 53 B C IU ,14 background, 24-25 Berne, E., 32, 37 bluffing, 49, 54, 55, 56, 73 body language, 52, 53 caucusing, 43-44, 74 negotiation example, 44 Vygotskyan, 44 Chomsky, N., 7 closing, 26, 67-71 American example, 68-69 by concession, 26-27 Japanese example, 70-71 by phatic communication, 26 use of questions in, 68-69 codeswitching, 40, 74 Japanese response to, 40, 41 and law of inverse returns, 41-42 and phatic communication, 41 117

118 / Japanese-U.S. Negotiations

sho ga nai, 22 silence, 50 (see also strategy) consensus building, 64, 65-66, 67 concession, 52 conspiracy, 2 continuous access, 15-16 when Japanese meet foreigners, 21 as a negotiation description, 16 contract: American view of, 39-40 Japanese view of, 38 international business, 24 written, 32 control, 4, 12, 15, 27, 72 and parent-child, 32 Cullison, A., 62, 64 Cunniff, J., 2 Curtis, G., 3 definition of situation, 4, 11, 73 and agreement, 40 and American self-regulation, 14 and closing, 70 and codeswitching, 42 and failure, 38 and haragei, 45 incongruent, 59 Japanese giving and receiving, 22 and phatic communication, 29 and yes, 73, 59, 60 DeMente, B., 19, 20, 31, 33, 59, 65, 71 dependency, 4 Di Pietro, R„ 28, 34, 42, 57 discourse, 5 Doi, T., 31 empathy, 46 ethnocentrism: American examples, 23, 71 in Japan, 3 in U.S., 3, euphemism, 47, 48, 50, 52, 54, 55, 62 expectations: of Americans, 27 of Japanese, 29 external social forces, 8, 12 favor, 52 granting a favor, 52, 74 incurring a favor, 52

Fenton, J., 68, 69 first name basis, 29, 33, 70 formal language, 19, 42, 71 Frawley, W„ 10, 13, 14, 14, 15, 15, 16, 17 Fromkin, V., 8 Goffman, E., 11, 28 Greenwald, J., 54, 72 gut feelings, 50, 57 haragei, 4, 73 American, 5 American haragei example, 50-51, 54, 55 as brinkmanship, 54 cool h„ 47, 48-49 definition, 5, 46, 54 and definition of situation, 45 hot h., 47, 52, 54, 54, 55 Japanese h. example, 47, 48, 48-49 method of, 45 names for, 5 and negotiation cutoff, 55 and Nixon, 54-55, 74 and other-control, 5 response to, 47 rules, 57-58 situational nature, 47 harmony, 26, 73, 73 and amae, 37 and disagreement, 60 and haragei, 48, 52, 55 and uchi, 34 honne, 5, 49, 50, 61 and example, 60 and no, 64, 66 and tatemae, 59-60 Ikuta, S., 43 impatience, 2, 5, 41, 53, 54, 67-68, 71 information gathering, 67-68 inner speech, 16 definition, 16 as muttering, 22 as private speech, 22 interdependence of companies, 31 interpreter, 16 and colloquial language, 43

Index /

119

in film, 24 and idioms, 70 and numbers, 70 and other-control, 16 ishin-denshin, 45, 57 intersubjectivity, 8 and continuous access, 15 definition, 8 and social dialog, 10 intuition, 51, 74

metamessage, 46, 47, 50 metatalk, 52, 73 Miller, R., 21, 41, 42 mind reading, 55, 57 misperception, 57 misunderstanding: and haragei, 48 Mitsubishi, 22, 45, 45, 49 Miyamoto, M., 6 Mizutani, O., 9, 60, 65

Japanese: confidence, 67 proverb, 52 publisher, 65 reaction to foreigners, 22 self-assessment, 53 smile, 20 Japanese society, 18 and haragei, 50, 57 hierarchy, 18, 71, 72 homogeneity, 45, 52, 57, 72, 74 as a mixing culture, 68 and no, 61-62

Nakane, C., 18, 32 name suffixes, 18 negation, 61—66 negotiation: and amae, 21 American framework, 25, 35-36 American lawyers, 25, 62 Americans as self-regulators, 14 breakdown and self-regulation, 30, 66, 71 definition, 28 determiners of success, 16, 34 in electronics, 51 favorable, 51 final stage, 26 history of, 25-26, 31 impasse, 1, 71, 72 implementation, 26, 39 initial stage, 33 Japanese framework, 25-26 markers of, 27-28 movie projector, 24-25, 73 pragmatic constructs, 4 problems, 2, 4, II publishing, 65 rapport in, 29 socioculturally defined, 26 stages, 25-26 style, 1 technical details in, 26 textiles, 55 three levels in, 34 (see also closing, haragei, negation, strategy, tatemae) negotiator: Americans’ first visit, 52 and colloquial language, 43 decision maker, 39 experienced, 59

Kinhide, M„ 68 Lantolf, J., 10, 13, 14, 14, 15, 17 Leontiev, A., 9, 11, 42 linguistics: and closing, 68 idioms, 70 outcome, 34 with numbers, 65 negative tag questions, 69 logic, 47 and haragei, 49 in negotiations, 47, 59 Lory, R., I losing face, 22, 27, 60 Americans 1. f., 38 and haragei, 48 Masatsugu, M., 55, 61, 66 Matsumoto, M., 47, 48, 48-49, 57, 58, 59 McCreary, D. and Blanchfield, R., 31,56 meishi (calling cards), 18 and other-regulation, 31 metastrategy, 35 and haragei, 48

120 / )apanese-U.S. Negotiations

first meeting, 18 and haragei, 57-58 industries represented, 25 Japanese negotiators, 43, 61 number of, 51-52 interviews, 25 selection of, 30 and silence, 53 truthfulness, 68 weaknesses, 4 Westerners and bluffing, 55 (see also American, Japanese) Nierenberg, G., 6, and H. Calero, 57 Nixon-Sato textile negotiations, 54-55 no, 59, 61 avoidance of, 65, 66, 69 delaying answers, 63-64 examples of, 64 example of American, 62 example of Japanese, 62 as organizational strategy, 64 response to, 62, 66 sixteen ways, 62 nonverbal communication, 16, 52, 54, 65 object-regulation, 12 defined, 12 obligation, 51, 70 onegai, 51, 52, 74 other-regulation: and amae, 20, 31 defined, 13 and haragei, 46, 51, 74 impact on negotiations, 5, 73 in initial stages, 33 in Japanese negotiations, 30 in Japanese society, 19, 32, 52, 72 other-controlled, 13 other-controlling, 13 and parent-child, 37 and tatemae, 64 and yes, 37, 61 patience, 67, 74 perceptions, I of Americans, 23, 60 phatic communication, 5, 25-26 and closing, 26, 67, 70 and disagreement, 60

in domestic Japanese negotiation, 30 and harmony, 26 initial topics of, 31 for trust, 29 and uchi, 32 politeness, 60, 72 in closing, 71, as a tactic, 61 power, 50, 71 rank: establishing, 18 regurgitation, 37 and amae, 38,3 9, 73 example, 38-39 Japanese reaction to, 39 and writing, 38 requests: in American’s closing, 68 in Japanese closing, 71 role establishment, 28 of seller, 35 Rommetveit, R., 8, 10, 15 saving face, 22 seating arrangement, 27 self-esteem, 52 self-regulation, 12, 14, 72, 73 in Japanese negotiations, 61 and soto, 32 selling: American style, 68-69 Japanese style, 71 setting: asymmetrical, 4, 5, 11 (defined, 11)

and continuous access, 15 Japanese-American, 8, II, 73 Japanese reaction to, 37 in negotiation, 23 symmetrical, 4, 11 (defined, 11) Sharpe, R., 46, 63 silence, 5, 26, 27, 36 American, 50 as haragei, 46, 52 and informality, 70 Japanese, 53, 74 as Japanese reaction, 53-54 as a negation strategy, 65 pregnant s., 46, 47, 52 smile, Japanese, 20, 52, 53, 61 social dialog, 9

Index

sociocultural derivation, 7 speech activity, 8-9, 11 definition, 11 and frame, 11 Japanese, 22, 74 in negotiation, 29, 42 status, 50, 71 stereotyping, 2, 73 strategy, 52 affirm, 47 analytic, 75 with cigarettes, 53, 54 codeswitch, 40, 43 complain, 36 counterstrategy, 55-56 delaying answers, 63-64 defense, 26 deny, 22 disarming, 61 easy problems first, 35 first name basis, 29 haragei, 46, 52 holistic, 75 Japanese name-dropping, 70 with numbers, 65 regurgitation, 38 response to Japanese, 66 sarcasm, 42 silence, 50 sidetracking the point, 63 tangential responses, 63 unfair Japanese, 73 use of third parties, 65 tatemae, 5, 49, 58, 59, 61, 64, 66, 67 timing, 5, 6 trade deficit, 5 1 solution to, 5 1 trust, 2, 25—26, 73 trust building, 25-26, 67 trustworthiness, 26, 29 and amae, 31 establishment of, 37 untrustworthiness, 53 and silence, 65

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121

truth, 57 Tsuda, A., 30, 69, 70, 71, 74 Tsurumi, Y., 21, 66 U.S.: choice culture, 68 deception, 56 idioms, 50 impatience, 2, 4, 41 negotiation, 28-29 society, 50 superiority complex, 37 uchi vs. solo (inside vs. outside), 32 and law, 40 and phatic communication, 32 Ushiba, N., 2 Van Zandt, H„ 53, 65 Vygotsky, L., 4, 7, 73 advantage of, 7, 9 and control, 12 inner speech, 16 for Japanese language, 18-20 in negotiation, 26 and social derivation, 19 wa (harmony), 25-26, 73, 73 Wertsch, J.,8 ,8 , 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16,23, 25, 32, 34, 37, 37, 42, 73 Williams, G., 25 winning, 6 win-win, 22, 26 win or lose situation, 47 and yes, 60 Wolf, M„ 42, 57 Yes, 36, 74 and aizuchi, 68 American reaction to, 36 example, 60 and haragei, 47 meaning of, 36-37, 60 misinterpretation, 36-37 series of, 68-69 superficial agreement, 59 and tatemae, 59 Vygotskyan analysis of, 37

About the Author

Don R. McCreary is an assistant professor of English at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA where he teaches courses in applied linguistics. He taught English in Japan in the mid-1970s and returns frequently for research in negotiation analysis and psycholinguistics. Dr. McCreary has published in the field of Japanese linguistics, including lexicography, pedagogy, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and discourse analysis. His articles and reviews have appeared in such journals as Papers in Linguistics and the Modern Language Journal. Dr. McCreary holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Mary­ land, an M.A. in TESL from West Chester University, and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Delaware.