It is important to clearly communicate one’s position for effective understanding. Goals should equally be aligned to avoid shifting positions. Finally, conflicts are best managed when the element of coercion or dominance is kept in check. Following these guidelines for conflict management and resolution can lead to a healthy discussion where conflicts are navigated with respect, and continuous focus on the negotiation objectives.
While participating in international negotiations, it is almost possible that several cultures will be represented at the discussion table. To effectively benefit from such a negotiation, it is important for the negotiators to embrace an inductive reasoning approach instead of the deductive approach. Inductive one is preferable because it looks beyond the generalizations which characterize deductive reasoning. At the interactive phase of the negotiation, certain cultural generalities might have been traded.
At the discussion stage, conflict may rear it head and assumptions made based on the acquired information concerning a given culture. This locks out individual peculiarities of the discussants, which can only be effectively captured with inductive reasoning. With inductive reasoning, conclusions will be arrived at stating from specific cases, a move that is more beneficial in the negotiation arena than narrowing down generalities to specific cases (Cooper, 165) While the prospects are clearly enticing to expand and establish in Thailand, it is important to note that the country has had a history of political instability with several attempts of coup d'etat. The general elections of the July 2011, when a sister to the former president won the elections by a landslide, promised the elusive political stability the country has hungered after for a long time. Moving into Thailand also presents cultural challenges as the country is largely Buddhist, while Americans subscribe to Christianity. This religious disparity could present covert difficulties once human resources have been deployed to the country.
Differences in food and diet could also be another concern. Furthermore, Thailand has legalized prostitution, which is now recognized as huge contribution to the economy of the country. Americans might be uncomfortable with this aspect of legality (Cooper, 204).
