Business Negotiations

[Kurt Hansen]

Japanese business practices are different than American business practices. When I worked in Japan, a group of us tried to negotiate a raise based upon our job description. The negotiations were so confusing. Just when we thought we had a deal, we found out we didn’t. I enjoyed hearing, re-living and getting a greater insight into those negotiations through our lecture. We had pauses, shrugs and recesses to talk to superiors more times than I can count. We would set out our reasons and they would appear to understand, only to return the next day and start all over again. We succeeded because we were able to use a go between who really understood our position and was able to convince our bosses that the raise was the right thing. Too many people, too many misunderstandings, too many time outs. I wish I had had this lecture so I could have used this knowledge to make my life a little easier at the time.