The increase in international business and in foreign investment has created a need for executives with knowledge of foreign languages and skills in cross-cultural commucication.Americans,however,have not been well trained in eigher area and,consequently,have not enjoyed the same level of success in negotiation in an international arena as have their foreign counterparts.

Negotiating is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose of reaching an agreement.It involves persuasion and compromise, but in order to participate in eigher one,the negotiators must understand the ways in which people are persuaded and how compromise is reached within the culture of the negotiation.

In many international business negotiations abroad,Americans are perceived as wealthy and impersonal.It often appear to the foreign negotiator that the American represents a large multi-million-dolar corporation that can afford to pay the price without bargaining further.The American negotiator's role becomes that of an inpersonal pruceyor of information and case.

In studies of American negotiators abroad,several traits have been identified that may serve to confirm this stereotypical perception, while undermining the negotiator's position.Two traits in particular that casue cross-cultural misundersatnding are directness and impatience on the part of the American negotiator.Furthermore,American negotiators often insist on realizing short-term goals.Foreign negotiators,ont the other hand,may value the relationship established between negotiators and may be willing to invest time in it for long-term benefits.In order to solidify the relationship,they may opt for indirect interactions without regard for the time involved in getting to know the other negatiator.