A cultural perspective on negotiation: Progress, pitfalls, and prospects

In this article, we review the last 20 years of research on culture and negotiation, and discuss progress that has been made, pitfalls which exist, and prospects for future research. Our review discerned that much research tends to examine the following implicit models: (1) the influence of culture on negotiation tactics and outcomes, and/or (2) the interaction of culture and other proximal situational conditions on negotiation outcomes. This research has been conducted in a wide variety of cultures, and has illuminated a number of interesting patterns. However, we describe three pitfalls characterising much of this literature, which have limited our progress. First, most research uses geographical location as a surrogate for culture, and consequently, it is often not possible to specify the aspects of culture which account for observed differences. Second, most research ignores the psychological processes (e.g. motives, cognitions) that are involved in negotiations in different cultures, and consequently, we know very little about the psychology of negotiation in different cultures. As such, there is a "black box" that remains generally unopened in culture and negotiation research. Lastly, research has examined only a limited number of proximal situational conditions in negotiations across cultures, and thus our understanding of the moderating effects of culture on negotiation is limited. Based on these concerns, we advance a third model of culture and negotiation, describe recent support for some of its relations, and delineate prospects for future research.