Spain: Let's Make a Deal! - Part 2
From ExecutivePlanet.com
Further advice on negotiating
Decision-making can be slow and tedious: various levels of management will be consulted and all aspects of your proposal will be analysed in painstaking detail. Ultimately, though, only the individual in highest authority makes the final decision. You must, therefore, understand that you will often be dealing with intermediaries but that maintaining a good relationship with these intermediaries is crucial to success.
Most Spaniards will seek the support and approval of family, friends and colleagues before acting on their own. There seems to be an underlying belief here that a person is not an integral part of society unless he or she is recognised as part of a group, neighbourhood, town or business organisation. This strong sense of community extends beyond family and personal ties to all mutual obligations but excludes more abstract northern European conceptions of social responsibility and the common good, which helps to explain Spanish hostility to the authorities and the whole apparatus of the state. Consequently, there tends to be a resistance to the 'outsider' and visitors to the country are expected to overcome their 'outsider' status by fitting into a group of some kind.
Spaniards generally expect the people with whom they are negotiating to have the authority to make the final decision.
Rather than expecting Spaniards to conform to your way of doing things, you must make the effort to understand, if not emulate, their behaviour. This is an effective way of gaining the acceptance of your Spanish counterparts. Making the effort to adapt to their ways demonstrates your respect for their culture, and also tells others that you are adaptable.
Patience is essential in all dealings with the Spanish and extreme patience is required when dealing with Spanish bureaucracy. Spaniards simply do not hurry [although this does not mean that nothing ever gets done] and there is no point in getting upset or angry. You must quite simply learn to live with the inevitable frustrations that the North American or Northern European mindset will encounter.
Do not expect to discuss business at the outset of any meeting. People are more important than institutions and, despite their fiercely independent individualism, Spaniards accept the primacy of loyalty in their personal relations. Indeed the concept of the business meeting is somewhat alien in a culture where strong leadership is more important than systematic procedures, group discussion, brainstorming, forecasting, and operating plans.
During a first meeting, Spaniards will want to become acquainted with you before proceeding with business, so you should be accommodating and answer any questions about your background and family life. It is unlikely that a meeting will stick closely to a detailed agenda or result in a clear action plan; negotiations tend to be quite open with one party clearly taking the lead, but agreements can be flexible and you will probably need to persevere in order to ensure that commitments are put into effect. This will take time.
You should endeavour to remain warm and personal during negotiations whilst retaining your dignity, courtesy and diplomacy. The Spanish participants may initially seem restrained and indirect, but this is normal until your relationship has been established.
Submit a Comment on this Article
