Q & A Table of Contents
What About People From Brazil?
From: Brigitte in France
Question: I would like to know more about negotiation with Brazil.
Do Brazilian people in general use an integrative or distributive approach?
What kind of cultural difference do they have? What kind of mistakes should
we avoid with them in particular?
Thank you for your help.
Brigitte
Response: Dear Brigitte,
Your question is troublesome because it seems based on the assumption that
upon finding out one is negotiating with someone from Brazil it is
immediately possible to predict all kinds of characteristics about them.
Brazil is a very large country with a large and highly diverse population.
To assume that there is a single 'Brazilian style' of negotiation is unfair
to the many individuals who call themselves Brazilians.
Rather than entering into negotiations with people or companies from any
particular country assuming that 'they all act alike', it is crucial to ask
questions about the specific parties with whom you'll be negotiating. Find
other people who have worked with them and ask for their experience and
impressions.
More important, consider the wide variety of interests and styles that may
'drive' your negotiation partners before you begin the process. Use those
thoughts to develop a series of questions you can ask so that the people
with whom you negotiate can let you know more about themselves -- and thus
help you understand what approaches are most likely to be convincing to
them.
The best way to avoid making mistakes with any new person or group with whom
you are negotiating is to ask them to let you know what they find
troublesome or offensive. While they may not tell you everything, what they
say and what they don't say may be equally revealing.
It is extremely risky to generalize about people based on such external
qualities as their nationality, their appearance, even their sex. In our
global community, an increasing proportion of the population is exposed to
widely varied inputs from all kinds of sources. The global village is
replacing the isolated hamlets where our ancestors spent their entire lives.
Good luck with your negotiations. May you enjoy learning about the
individuals with whom you meet.
Steve
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