Ronald Reagan’s Quote
Peace is a term that can be described in different ways. Some people might think that peace is the absence of conflicts. However, there is a famous quote from President Ronald Reagan regarding peace, which is as follows: “Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means” (McBrady, 2015). The quote means that it is impossible to avoid every conflict and maintain peace. The conflict is going to arise anyway; hence, a key to maintaining peace is finding ways to resolve the conflicts in a peaceful means. It clearly indicates that the peaceful state of the country stands for smart external politics of the country led by wise politicians. Hence, it is a way more complicated task to keep the peace than it seems at first.
Negotiation Skills in Cross-Cultural Conflicts
Sometimes, people from different cultures might end up in conflict due to totally different views on matters. For example, western cultures, such as the American, can find it challenging to live in an environment of eastern cultures, such as China. When such cross-cultural conflicts arise, a key to resolving the problem is high negotiation skills. For instance, the Chinese-established socio-cultural feature called “face work” goes against the western understanding of social behavior (Leung et al., 2003). However, a proper understanding of the cultural feature can give advantages to foreign negotiators when working with Chinese people. Moreover, Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory might be used for effective cross-cultural negotiation. The theory has six main indices that can be used for defining the culture. Those indices include power distance, which can be highly hierarchical or egalitarian, collectivism vs. individualism, such as China vs. Germany, and level of uncertainty avoidance. The other three indices are femininity and masculinity, short or long-term orientation, and restraint vs. indulgence. All those indices can be used to find a proper approach to any culture during cross-cultural negotiations.
Moreover, Blackman’s approach to negotiating with China can be implemented for effective communication. The approach consists of five main stages (Blackman, 1998). The first one is the opening stage, which is usually a pleasant side of relationship building and takes up most of the negotiating process. Technical discussion and term of contract discussion stages are focused on the support of the position of opposing sides and on the discussion aimed at reducing the price. The contract signing phase is immediately followed by the new discussion of possible concessions. Finally, the last stage is post-contract negotiations, which are the long-term process involving potential changes.
Power and Conflict
The role of power in any conflict is of significant role and should not be underestimated. According to Van der Dennen (2005, p. 2), Coser’s definition of conflict is “a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure or eliminate their rivals.” It shows that power is closely related to conflict. Conflicts are, in principle, inevitable in public life; they are omnipresent as an inevitable consequence of any hierarchically organized system (Tittenbrun, 2013). However, people have the ability to regulate conflicts, and forestall “social upheavals.” For this, at least three conditions are important: first, the presence of value attitudes, the recognition of differences and confrontation between the conflicting; secondly, the level of organization of the parties – the higher the degree of organization, the easier it is to reach agreement and fulfillment of agreements; thirdly, the mutuality of certain rules, the observance of which allows to maintain relations between the parties to the conflict.
Reference List
Blackman, C. (1998) ‘Negotiating China. Case studies and strategies, International Business Review, 7(3), pp.323-325.
Leung, T.K.P., Wong, Y.H. and Tam, C.T. (2003) ‘Facework in Chinese culture: Its role in Chinese business’, Web.
McBrady, J. (2015) ‘The challenge of peace: Ronald Reagan, John Paul II, and the American bishops’, Journal of Cold War Studies, 17(1), pp.129-152.
Tittenbrun, J. (2013) ‘Ralph Dahrendorf’s conflict theory of social differentiation and elite theory’, Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, 6(3), pp.117-140.
Van der Dennen, J.M.G.. (2005) ‘Introduction: On Conflict’, The Sociobiology of Conflict. London: Chapman & Hall, pp. 1-19.