Delivery of the final project evaluated by pairs for the program of Negotiation Skills and Effective Communication

1. The Negotiation Game in
the Asia-Pacific region
Brain Consulting
By Andrés Villarreal

2. The following material is the proposed personalized
negotiation intended for high-level executives, with the
purpose of preparing them in the best way for the
possible challenges they may face when negotiating
with their counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region.

3. The profile of the participants of this course are high-
level executives of multinational companies, who are in
need of improving their negotiation skills in order to
achieve the best possible results, while understanding
how the further develop their interpersonal skills in the
science of negotiation, and comprehending the existing
differences in culture, ways of negotiating, interests,
communication barriers and relationship making in the
Asia-Pacific region.

4. Topic list for the program
● Structure of a negotiation
○ Objective: To comprehend what are the basics of the science and art of negotiation, and what is its
architecture and grammar, and the types of negotiation that exist.
● Emotional Intelligence
○ Objective: Understanding what is emotional intelligence, its role in negotiation, how to develop its
skills (self-awareness, self-control, and self-management), and how to handle conflict when it arises.
● Interests and Positions
○ Objective: To understand what are interests and positions in a negotiation, and how they can be used
to achieve better results.
● Critical Thinking
○ Objective: To understand what is critical thinking, its functions, and how it can help in the generation
of alternatives to reach better agreements.
● Cultural differences in negotiations
○ Objective: Contrast the dissimilarities of our cultures, through ethics, tactics, values, beliefs, how to
divide the pie, and biases.

5. Topic list for the program (continuation)
● Protocol in the Asia-Pacific region
○ Objective: To understand how our cultures differ in the degree of what are the usual protocols, or
formalities of the relations between the two negotiating parties.
● Communication in the Asia-Pacific region
○ Objective: To understand the implications of different communication methods, dispute resolution
preferences, differences in strategies and tactics, orientation towards long-term or short-term goals
and types of communication.
● Time sensitivity in the Asia-Pacific region
○ Objective: To understand the perception of time in the area and its related protocols.
● Agreements
○ Objective: To understand the nature of agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, comprehend the
cultural differences in closing agreements and how to avoid confusions and misunderstandings.
● Practice and exercises
○ Objective: Reinforcing the theory learned by developing the necessary skills by multiple situations in
which the participants will negotiate with their peers, assuming different roles, interests and positions.

6. Managing the specific needs of the language for the
cultural factor
Regarding the case of language as a cultural factor, even though a common language is spoken,
in this case English, this doesn’t necessarily mean problems will not arise. People in the Asia-
Pacific region speak different types of English, with differences in vocabulary and given that they
are not native speakers, problems in understanding may affect the negotiations.
Taking this into consideration, it’s fundamental to abstain from technical jargon, or colloquialisms
that may confuse people who are not used to these.
When speaking it is fundamental to use plain language in an straightforward manner,
communicating our points in a direct way, so our counterparts can understand us without the
confusion of technicalities or words they may be unfamiliar with.
The technical jargon will be teached in the program, but also, alternatives in plain languages in
order to avoid misunderstandings.

7. Managing the specific needs of the time to set agreements
Other cultures have different views about the time pressure in order to achieve agreements. This generates an opportunity for
misunderstandings because of the differences in perception during negotiations.
It is important to note that in the specific case of the Asia-Pacific region, there is usually no pressure to achieve quick agreements, with
great opportunities to reflect and prepare offers during long periods of time, in order to reach an agreement. Another factor to consider
is that long term relationships of trust are very much valued by companies in the region. We should take this in great consideration as
this may be an advantage for us given the available time we may have to reach an agreement, allowing us to better prepare and
negotiate, but also it may be a problem given the time frame of our companies.
In order to manage the specific need of the time to set agreements, it is fundamental to fully understand our situation and needs, in
relation of our available time, and also, to have an idea of the other party’s situation, considering the cultural differences on the issue.
It is important to be direct with our needs, taking in consideration the needs of our counterparts, and specifying all the details upfront,
avoiding leaving any details unspecified, which may cause the negotiations to take longer.
We should pressure our counterparts, not incessantly, but in a way that clarifies the importance and relevance of the negotiation, but
also, we should avoid allowing the negotiations to being controlled by their time frame.

8. Program Dynamic
The program will have a duration of 5 weeks, in which the 9 previous topics will be covered, plus a
session dedicated entirely to negotiation practices and exercises.
The program will consists of 2 sessions per week, Monday and Thursday, with a duration of 2 hours
per each session. 5 weeks of 2 sessions per week ads to 10 sessions in total, with 20 hours of
program content, including theory and practice exercises.
The program will be taken online, through the use of Google Meets, where the material will be shared
with each of the participants, additionally, for the last practice session, it will be taken in person in a
location which will be specified further on in the program.
The active participation of the executives will be achieved through different exercises, and practical
cases of negotiation taking different cultural roles, focusing on being empathic with our
counterparts, sharing our interests expecting reciprocity, and focusing on achieving the best
possible negotiations based on this.