Jan 27 Speaker Event: Intercultural Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
mercoledì, febbraio 10th, 2010by Kristina Tool, Speaker Director
Conflict resolution and negotiating were the first topics of the year for PWA Milan’s monthly speaker events. Cynthia Milani presented Intercultural Negotiation & Conflict Resolution: Tips from a Corporate Anthropologist to PWA members and guests on the evening of January 27, 2010 at the Grand Hotel et di Milan.
Cynthia Milani, Director of the Institute for Global Development (IgD), applies her background in anthropology to the corporate environment. As a corporate anthropologist, she explained how understanding the people and the cultures which they come from can help us to resolve conflict.
Cynthia began an interactive presentation by asking the audience to define the difference between conflict and negotiation. It was clarified that conflict usually stems from a lack of understanding each other and makes it more difficult to achieve mutually successful outcomes, while negotiations are something we experience in both work and our personal lives to get what we need from each other. Negotiations usually require some give and take or compromise.
How can we shift away from conflict in order to negotiate more effectively? Cynthia discussed how our behavior in negotiations is influenced by the overlapping of various cultural components. National culture, business culture and individual culture all come together and result in our approach and reaction to a particular situation.
For business negotiations, certain corporate cultures can have an overriding influence on how the individuals who work within these companies handle negotiations. Differences can be seen too between males and females. Many factors come together in the end to affect how each individual handles a given situation. This evening’s topic focused primarily on the national cultural influences.
Our national culture shapes how we interact with others, and problems can develop when our perspectives on developing relationships contrast. In understanding the various cultural approaches in getting to know each other, we are better able to deal with those from different backgrounds. Three kinds of cultures and which nationalities exhibit them were outlined:
- Peach: Soft on the outside, with a hard pit center. – Americans
- Coconut: Hard to crack but once you break through, warm and soft. – Europeans
- Onion: Peeling back layer after layer, never really knowing where you are or if you have arrived. – Asians
Expanding on the fruit and vegetable metaphor, Cynthia continued to highlight differences we see among nations. Some cultures such as Arab nations come from an environment with more constraints, while Asian cultures tend to place a much higher value on harmony.
Another potential area for conflict comes from how various cultures view time, ranging from preplanned and more structured schedules to those who are more spontaneous and reactive to a given situation.
We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.
-Anais Nin
The Anais Nin quote served to remind us that we that our background and context influence our perspective. With this understanding we can be better prepared to have successful interactions.
Cynthia Milani sold out the copies of her book Brand Italy: A Guide to the Italians at the event. It can be purchased at the American Bookstore in Milan, or at Amazon online.