NEWS
2024/12/10 教育・研究
DJW Workshop with invited professionals at Ritsumeikan OIC
Negotiation Workshop
A negotiation workshop was conducted with two experts, Professor William Baber (Kyoto University, Business School) and DJW member Ms. Angela Kessel (Director, Access Culture), who were invited by Ritsumeikan University as guest speakers. They provided guidance to twenty participants on the spot and a dozen who joined us online. Among them were many professionals experienced in international business; among them Tomoko Shimizu (Santem Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd), David Tiedemann (Panasonic Industry, Co.), Melanie Saxinger (Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany), Masayuki Kawane (Nippon Paint Corporate Solutions Co., Ltd.) and leading members of the German Japanese business association (DJW) such as Anne Pomsel, Kazuya Yoshida and Mathias Maul. The Negotiation workshop was held at Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC) on 1st November 2024. Dr. Rolf D. Schlunze’s Cross-cultural management seminar students were interacting also with members of the DJW Working Group (AG) Intercultural Management guided by the co-leader Carsten Watanabe.
After a short introduction by Prof. Dr. Rolf D. Schlunze and Ms. Aoi ONO (HR manager at Nippon Paint Solutions KK) the negotiation workshop was conducted by Professor Baber introducing a roleplay that aimed to create awareness about the need to negotiate diverse approaches to Work/Life balance. Ms. Kessel provided an understanding for the German Japanese workplace context. The participants were divided into five groups on the spot with two groups online. The groups were asked to discuss a critical incident where German employees demanded longer vacation in a Japanese workplace. The different perspectives on Work/Life balance were discussed by each group. Solutions were discussed by all participants while applying a constructive intercultural management perspective. Finally, a debriefing was conducted with all participants clarifying the challenges and outcomes of the negotiation process.
Outcomes
The roleplay was perceived as a successful training by the participants. The roleplay simulated difficulties in intercultural workplaces and participants were challenged to interpret the cultural differences finding solutions within their group. Constructive intercultural negotiation was exercised during the workshop.
We reflected on the following questions in our Cross-cultural seminar: Why do Japanese have more problems to negotiate? What can be changed? How can learning made easier? During the Overseas study visit to Germany in 2009 one participant concluded “Japanese live to work. Germans work to live.” After more than one decade Japanese value set changed a lot and we need to ask if this statement is still true or not? We like to think about how interculturality need to look like when different approaches on Work/Life exists? How can work / life balance in a bi-cultural teams?
Awareness of cultural differences
Students discussed problems related to work/life balance in intercultural teams but eventually also issues like reimbursement for individual performance. Negative stereotyping or valuing without cultural understanding can endanger a successful negotiation process. Participants found that prejudging can stall discussions. Participants inspected the existing opinions and differences.
Interpretation
Balancing diverse cultural values in the negotiation process was most challenging. For the interpretation of these issues it was necessary to hold a professional attitude characterized by friendly and logical argumentation and careful listening to opinions. Emotional problems like the regret of being defeated by cultural dominance made it difficult solving problems and sustaining workplace harmony. Flexibility in the negotiation process with intentional purposes such as interculturality were rather helpful but rare. Awareness about cultural differences in terms of way / concepts / contextual aspects is an important foundation enabling actors to think about solutions. In the negotiation process between German and Japanese participants the awareness of different needs for harmony was very important.
Solutions
Listening carefully to the demands of the employees made possible a complementarity of different views resulting in decisions sustaining Work-Life balance. Students exercised to achieve mutual understanding but also realized their limits of adapting to another culture. Oral understanding does not always lead to the knowledge needed to find solutions. More important are the interpretations of problems. Creating cultural proximity by liking each other is a useful way to achieve a better solution. Students found that there is a need of repeating the training to prepare for the real intercultural workplace.