Negotiation in South East Asia

1
Negotiation in South East Asia
Vincent Chan
AiYi Lim
Alyssa Lai
2
Negotiation in South East Asia
3
Negotiation in South East AsiaChinese (1)

• What you need to have
• An awareness and understanding of cultural
  differences
  
• Be prepare for initial pleasantries and recognize
  the beginning of a long-term relationship
  
• Initial negotiations not deal with specific
  issues at first
  
• saying of "yes" and "no" may not mean "yes" or
  "no (face issue).
  

4
Negotiation in South East Asia Chinese (2)

• Negotiation process
• It goes from general to the specific
• Chinese will use confrontation to try to control
  the negotiation process
  
• often concessions are asked for at the end of
  negotiations, be prepared to re-negotiate prices
  
  
• negotiations are often only information gathering
  sessions with decisions to be made later
  

5
Negotiation in South East Asia Chinese (3)

• During the negotiation process, you should
• Be patient, be certain, consistent but not
  aggressive
  
• Maintaining and retaining emotional control
• Allow greater length of time for the project
• look upon the process as the establishing of a
  relationship
  
• Prepare the business card/promotional flyers in
  Chinese
  

6
Negotiation in South East Asia Chinese (4)

• Sales approach - focusing on product features
  rather than pricing
  
• Negotiating rates - start high, never go below
  your lowest pre-determined cut off level
  
• Follow up action is important telephone, thank
  you notes after 1st meeting, followed by formal
  letter.
  

7
Negotiation in South East Asia Chinese (5)

• What you should be aware of
• People are generally conservative, courteous and
  respectful of overseas customers
  
• Address them with Surname include the use of Mr,
  Mrs or Miss
  
• Male might not feel comfortable negotiating with
  female
  
• Little gift appropriate especially for female
  counterpart.
  

8
Negotiation in South East Asian Chinese (7)

• Recognize dietary requirements and preferences
• They bring spouse to join the dinner
• When attending wedding/dinner, punctuality is not
  expected.
  
• Jokes should not be made about food, avoid the
  topics about unequal treatment of races
  
• It is common to entertain at home after dining
  out.
  

9
Negotiation in South East Asia
10
Negotiation in South East Asia Indians (1)

• Hierarchical culture
• Ranking is important
• Top down decision making
• Collective society
• Emphasize on harmony within the group
• Equivalent to wa in Japanese
• Meaning of a message is convey by
• Method of delivery
• Time of delivery
• Content

11
Negotiation in South East Asia Indians (2)

• Give different response to the same issue in
  different occasion
  
• Perceived variation in contextual information
• Avoid in group confrontation
• Needs flexibility to respond to change in
  situational factor
  
• Disregard for corporate rules and policies
• Impromptu attitudes

12
Negotiation in South East Asia Indians (3)

• Laid back society
• Mostly mom pop stores
• Few big companies in Singapore and Malaysia eg.
  Mustapha Shopping Centre
  
• Negotiating with Indians
• Like the Japanese they will want to know you
  better first
  
• Be honest with your proposal and go straight to
  the point
  
• Long term relationship negotiation

13
Negotiation in South East Asia Indians (4)

• Taboo
• Sacred animal Cow
• Avoid giving gifts made from cow hide
• Secret of negotiating with Indians Patience

14
Negotiation in South East Asian
15
Negotiation in South East AsiaMuslims (1)

• Dos Donts
• Never speak of pork or pork products to Malay
  Muslims (bumiputra).
  
• Alcohol is usually not consumed by Muslims.
• Pointing with the finger is considered bad taste,
  but using the thumb is acceptable.
  
• Beckoning is done with the whole hand, palm
  down.
  
• Physical contact (especially with the opposite
  sex) should be minimized or avoided.
  

16
Negotiation in South East AsiaMuslims (2)

• Dos Donts
• Pointing with the feet is considered bad taste.
• The soles of the feet should never be exposed
  (especially towards a person).
  
• The head is considered sacred, do not touch!
• The right hand should be sued to eat, or
  pass/receive objects.
  
• Gifts are not opened in front of the giver.
• Personal space should be respected.

17
Negotiation in South East AsiaMuslims (3)

• Bumiputra religion (Islam) is important.
• Like to relax.
• Pray five times a week
• At specific times
• In any private and clean place, not necessarily a
  mosque
  

18
Negotiation in South East Asia Muslims (4)

• Gifts are not to be opened in front of the giver
• Title which given by royalty is very important to
  all Malaysian
  
• Male FemaleDatuk DatinDatuk
  Seri Datin SeriTan Sri Puan Seri
  
• Tun
• Western style shake is acceptable males only.
  Avoid physical contact with females.
  

19
The End