Negotiation – Page 6 – understand-culture

Establishing Principles Precedes Negotiating Specifics

Expect French negotiation to proceed from general to specific. Before addressing particular terms, French negotiators often want to establish shared frameworks and principles: What are we trying to accomplish? What considerations apply?

How should we think about this situation? This intellectual groundwork may seem abstract, but it serves important functions. If parties agree on principles, specific terms become matters of application rather than arbitrary bargaining.

This approach front-loads conceptual discussion but can speed progress on specifics once frameworks are established. Do not mistake this conceptual discussion for avoidance of real negotiation. Engage seriously with the framework discussion; the principles you establish will shape what specific terms seem appropriate.

Comprehensive Agreement Over Incremental Deals

French negotiators often prefer addressing all significant terms together rather than reaching quick agreement on easy points. This reflects concern that early agreements may constrain options on difficult issues to come, and that agreement terms interrelate in ways that separating them might miss. Be prepared for this comprehensive approach, which can extend timelines but produces agreements whose parts fit together coherently.

Avoid pressing for quick wins on individual terms if the other party prefers seeing the complete picture first. Understand that concessions may be linked across terms—what you offer on one point connects to what you expect on others. The negotiation is not truly settled until the complete arrangement is agreed.

Indirect Approaches Complement Direct Negotiation

French negotiation often employs indirect approaches—hints, suggestions, hypothetical framings, tentative proposals—rather than exclusively direct statements. This indirection allows positions to be explored while maintaining flexibility, preserves face when positions must change, and shows respect by not confronting the other party with stark demands. Pay attention to what is suggested tentatively; it may be seriously meant.

What is not said directly can be as important as what is. Use indirection yourself when exploring possibilities or when direct demands might seem aggressive. As negotiation progresses and positions clarify, directness increases, but the path to clarity often proceeds through indirection. Learn to read and use these indirect signals appropriately.

Negotiation Operates Within Recognized Frameworks

French negotiation recognizes that constraints exist—legal requirements, institutional rules, procedural norms—and skilled negotiation works within these constraints rather than ignoring them. Invest in understanding the applicable frameworks before negotiating. Know what is negotiable and what is fixed by law, policy, or procedure. Attempting to negotiate what cannot be negotiated wastes effort and damages credibility.

However, within constraints, discretion often exists. Finding where flexibility lies and how to access it is negotiation skill. The negotiator who masters relevant frameworks—labor law, contractual requirements, industry practices—gains advantage over those who do not. Framework knowledge is negotiating resource.

Ongoing Relationship Shapes Negotiation Conduct

French negotiation is typically shaped by expectation that the relationship continues beyond any particular transaction. This consideration moderates purely transactional calculation: winning a negotiation while damaging the relationship may be net loss. Consider not only immediate outcomes but relationship implications: How will this conduct affect future interactions?

What reputation am I building? French negotiators assume today’s counterpart may be tomorrow’s partner or contact. Conduct that demonstrates trustworthiness and respect builds standing that serves across many negotiations. Even in apparently one-time deals, consider reputation effects and the possibility of future dealings. The relationship dimension is never entirely absent from French negotiation.

Relationship Precedes and Enables Negotiation

In Chinese contexts, effective negotiation requires relationship foundation before substantive discussion. Time spent on meals, social interaction, and building personal connection isn’t wasted—it’s essential preparation that makes subsequent agreement possible. Relationship creates trust that enables deals requiring good-faith implementation; without relationship, negotiations must rely entirely on formal terms that can’t anticipate every contingency. Rushing to substance before relationship is established signals either ignorance of how things work or desperation that weakens your position.

Invest in relationship before and during negotiation. The relationship itself is being negotiated alongside the substantive terms—how you treat your counterpart, what respect you show, what investment you make. Strong relationships enable flexibility in implementation that purely transactional deals can’t achieve.

Hierarchy Shapes Negotiation Possibilities

Chinese negotiation operates within hierarchical awareness. How you can negotiate depends on your position relative to your counterpart. Subordinates cannot negotiate with superiors as equals—direct demands that ignore hierarchical reality typically fail.

Instead, work within the relationship: demonstrate value, build connection, frame requests in terms of superior’s interests, exercise patience. Even among formal equals, sensitivity to relative status and face shapes interaction. Recognize where your counterpart sits in their own hierarchy—what constraints they face, whose approval they need, what flexibility they actually have. Treating them as autonomous decision-makers when they must answer to superiors misunderstands the situation. Map the hierarchical context within which negotiation occurs; work with that reality rather than against it.

Harmony-Oriented Outcomes Over Positional Victory

Chinese negotiation aims at harmonious outcomes that preserve relationship rather than victories that defeat counterparts. The goal isn’t to win, extract maximum concessions, or prove you were right. It’s to achieve resolution that all parties can accept and that enables continued relationship.

This shapes everything: tactics that damage relationship for tactical gain are short-sighted; outcomes that humiliate counterparts may technically succeed but create resentment and retaliation. Seek outcomes balanced enough to sustain. “Each step back one step”—mutual concession—describes ideal resolution.

This doesn’t mean abandoning your interests but pursuing them in ways that don’t require counterpart defeat. Outcomes where you clearly won and they clearly lost often aren’t sustainable; outcomes where both parties can present the agreement as acceptable actually get implemented.

Indirect Approaches Over Direct Confrontation

Chinese negotiation favors indirection over explicit demands and confrontational tactics. Rather than stating positions baldly, work through implication and signaling. Rather than direct pressure, use intermediaries and patient positioning.

This indirection preserves face—positions not explicitly stated can be adjusted without loss of dignity. It maintains relationship by avoiding confrontation that damages harmony. It provides flexibility by keeping options open that explicit commitment would foreclose. Direct approaches—ultimatums, aggressive demands, public pressure—often backfire by triggering defensive resistance and damaging the relationship that makes agreement possible.

Learn to communicate and receive messages indirectly. What isn’t said often matters more than what is. Proposals floated as hypotheticals, concerns expressed through questions, positions communicated through intermediaries—these indirect approaches achieve what direct confrontation cannot.

Strategic Patience and Positioning Over Tactical Forcing

Chinese negotiation emphasizes patient strategic positioning over aggressive tactical pressure. Prepare thoroughly before engaging. Work to establish favorable conditions rather than relying solely on negotiation-table tactics. Wait for favorable moments rather than forcing premature closure.

This patience isn’t passive—it’s strategic recognition that timing and positioning matter more than confrontational force. Extended timeframes often characterize Chinese negotiation; what seems like delay may be deliberate pacing allowing relationship to develop and circumstances to ripen. Showing urgency signals weakness that counterparts can exploit. Demonstrating willingness to wait shows you have alternatives and cannot be pressured.

The negotiation itself should confirm positions established through prior strategic action. If you’ve positioned well, the final agreement becomes straightforward.