Chapter 14

Communication and Negotiation Styles

Communication, Negotiation, and Culture

During the communication process, information is encoded in a verbal or nonverbal message and is imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. Subsequently, the receiver decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. In the same way, negotiation can be described as a back-and-forth communication process aimed at achieving an arrangement between two parties with some interests that might be shared or different.¹ Since communication and negotiation are forms of social relations, they are likely to be influenced by national culture. Culture impacts communication and negotiation through its effects on all important components including interests, commitments, compromises, meanings, relationships, and contacts between two parties. Edward T. Hall,² an American anthropologist, identified three elements that are essential in understanding the effects of culture on communication and negotiation processes, namely, context of communication, temporal orientation, and proxemics. In this section, we rely on Hall’s three elements to analyze the communication and negotiation patterns in Iran.

A High Context Communication Culture

According to Hall,³ a high-context communication is one in which most of the meaning is in the context while very little is in the transmitted message. On the other hand, “in low-context cultures, most of the information must be in the transmitted message in order to make up for what is missing in the context.”⁴ The Western cultures, notably ­Germany, ­Scandinavia, Great Britain, and the United States are classified as low-context because in such cultures the meaning is transmitted mainly through the message and it does not depend very much on the context of communication.⁵ Like many other oriental nations, the Iranian culture is categorized as high-context, because a considerable portion of the meaning is transmitted through the context of communication. The high-context communication involves ambiguous and context-bound messages. The ambiguity is seen in many aspects of the Iranian society such as language, literature, history, religion, and politics. Farsi (Persian) language is rich in terms that involve tantalizing, ambiguous, and even contradictory meanings and connotations. In their daily communications, Iranians use a wide range of vague and contradictory metaphors, parabolas, allusions, images, and emblems that require interpretation. The Persian literary masterpieces such as Hafiz’s poems are well known for implying a high degree of ambiguity and contradiction, so they can be interpreted very differently. For many centuries, the Persian literary masters have boasted of the art of ambiguous communication in their lyrics. The quality of any communication between Iranians and the Westerners may be impacted by their differences in high- and low-context dimension. While the Iranian high-context communication is partly attributed to the linguistic issues, it is also an efficient negotiation strategy. A common form of high-context communication in Iran’s culture is Taarof, which can be literally translated as politeness, but has a much more profound significance. The Iranian Taarof has two important dimensions: chivalrous behavior and indirect communication. The chivalrous dimension of Taarof may include politeness, compliments, pleasant behavior, and offering help to others. The second dimension or indirect communication of Taarof involves verbal games and expressions to gain advantage in business and negotiation. Extreme degrees of Taarof can be viewed as promise, dissimulation, or even deception. In Taatof, the meanings of words may depend on the context of communication. For example, people may verbally tell that they are willing to do something for you while they are not really comfortable doing it. Similarly, they might offer you a precious gift while they expect that you reject it out of courtesy.⁶ It is widely recognized that Taarof tactic gives Iranian negotiators a considerable advantage in their dealings.⁷ Like many other Eastern countries, this kind of context-bound communication may be used as an effective strategy to outsmart the business partners. Exaggeration is another high-context communication technique that is frequently used in Iran to capture the audience’s attention and pave the way for making a business deal. The exaggeration technique may involve the use of multiple metaphors, images, comparisons, and other verbal or nonverbal subtleties.

Temporal Orientation

Temporal orientation deals with the ways in which cultures perceive time and structure their activities accordingly. With this regard, Hall has distinguished monochronic and polychronic temporal orientations. Mono-chronic cultures perceive time as linear, sequential and focus on one thing at a time. People in northern Europe, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavia are mainly monochronic. By contrast, the poly-chronic cultures have a different perception, view time as circular and as a result get involved in different concurrent tasks. The polychronic orientation is common in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Mediterranean, and to some extent in European countries including France, Italy, Greece, and also Mexico. The temporal orientation impacts the perception of future and planning activities. For instance, the monochronic cultures adhere religiously to plans, but the polychronic cultures tend to change plans more easily and quite frequently. In addition, ploychronic cultures attach more importance to interpersonal and human relationships rather than on the plans and regulations.

As members of a polychronic culture, Iranian negotiators try to build interpersonal relations with their counterparts before getting involved in business or professional discussions. That’s why they may pay attention to their counterparts’ appearance, attire, title, education, qualification, specialization, and personal background. They may conduct lengthy and circular discussions and use compliments to break the ice and get closer to their interlocutors. They put a good deal of emotion in their negotiations and try to change the course of negotiation by building amicable relations with other parties.⁸ Their temporal cyclicality implies that in general they do not have detailed plans for what they want to say and consequently, they prefer to improvise during the negotiation and communication process. For example, Iran’s clerics often deliver very long speeches of two to three hours and furnish huge amounts of information without referring to any notes or documentations. Since Iranians have a cyclical conception of time, they may change the topics very frequently during the negotiation process, or they may interrupt the communication abruptly and start a new topic. Sometimes they cunningly utilize irrelevant topics to gather information about the interlocutors and manipulate them more effectively. This communication style can be annoying for the monochronic Westerners who are characterized by temporal linearity, result-orientation, and well-thought plans and deadlines. Another important effect of the temporal cyclicality is that Iranians in general prefer oral and face-to-face communication over written and impersonal modes such as e-mail and letter. One may suggest that during an oral and face-to-face communication, Iranians can use the contextual factors more effectively to transmit their messages and affect the interlocutors. As a direct consequence of temporal cyclicality, punctuality is not a major concern in Iran. While they try to be punctual, their tardiness is customary. Iranian negotiators often operate under uncertainty and envisage a short time horizon assuming that in future everything might be different.⁹ They are well known for their tendency toward procrastination, and therefore their negotiations become generally long and exhausting. Skillful negotiators may use procrastination as an effective strategy to defend their positions, distract the interlocutors, and eventually achieve their desired goals. Furthermore, most of Iranian negotiators want to take some time to establish a personal relationship before they decide whether they want to do business with their counterparts. This is in contrast with German and American styles viewing time as linear and measuring it in terms of economic value.

Proxemics

Space is another central element of Hall’s theory, which may have different meanings and implications. Hall¹⁰ maintained that intimate and public spaces are perceived differently across cultures. He suggested that each person has around him an invisible bubble of space that, depending on the national culture, may expand or contract.¹¹ While Iran, the Mediterranean, Arab, and Latin American cultures conceive space as public, the Westerners in general and the American and Scandinavian cultures in particular protect their personal space.¹² Like other Eastern cultures, Iranians tend to keep a close distance among each other during the communication and other social exchanges. For the same reason, they may convey their messages by touching the interlocutor. In Iran, holding hands, kissing on the cheek, and hugging are generally accepted between people of the same sex, however, males and females do not show these signs unless they are husband and wife or brother and sister. According to Iran’s sociocultural norms, the place of seating in a gathering is highly meaningful. For instance, seating near the door may be an indication of one’s low rank while seating at the head of the table may mean one’s high rank and influence. In political or family gatherings, the distance between the host and guests is an indication of the degree of their seniority, status, or influence. Furthermore, being placed in the left or right side may convey different meanings. For instance, during official meetings, important and senior government officials are often seated close to the supreme leader. Generally, raising the head during negotiation means disagreement or dissatisfaction but lowering the head shows affirmation or satisfaction.¹³ Likewise, keeping one’s head down and putting one hand on the chest is an expression of sincerity and friendship toward others.

Linguistic Protocols and Haggling

The Persian language is highly important in Iran and is viewed as the essence of national identity. Persian is a flowery, euphonic, and literary language enriched by various proverbs, maxims, aphorisms, and poetic expressions. Poetry is often more important than prose in Persian culture and Iranians boast of their famous classical poets. Skillful communicators and negotiators can artfully use poetic expressions and metaphors to make their case more euphonic and convincing. It is common to seek endorsements from credible persons or start a conversation with some verses from the great Persian masters such as Saadi, Rumi, Hafiz, or Ferdowsi. Those who are more religious wrap their words in Koranic verses and make references to the Prophet or Imams. Some have a tendency to employ Arabic or English words and expressions to impress the interlocutor. Because of their proclivity toward shrewdness, Iranians consider negotiations as a game of chess where they can exert their smart tactics. In trading and business, negotiators are involved in tough haggling and verbal competition. They may use empty threats to strengthen their positions or to slash the prices. In business negotiations, it is customary to see significant discounts on initial prices. On some occasions, informal mechanisms seem more practical and the negotiators seek backchannels to attain their goals. Some observers believe that apart from financial gain, Iranians might have a tendency toward haggling and verbal competition.¹⁴

An Extraordinary Sense of Humor

Iranians are famous for having a sharp and refined sense of humor. They dexterously play with words and express their humor in various forms. Farsi (Persian) is especially a flexible and powerful language to transmit humor and satire in poem and prose. The topics of humor cover a wide range of individual, social, sexual, political, ethnic, and even religious matters. A famous satirical figure in Iran is Mullah Nasreddin who is well known for his funny and witty anecdotes. Mullah Nasreddin’s stories have a subtle, educational, and philosophical nature.¹⁵ With the advent of cellular phones, a growing number of Iranians have been using text messaging to communicate implicit or explicit satirist messages. Some newspapers and weeklies have special satirist columns where they can express their ideas more freely and even criticize the well-established social or political authorities without facing criminal charges. In a highly conservative and collectivistic society such as Iran, it seems that humor plays a major role in provoking open-minded and even controversial ideas. Moreover, Iranians view humor as a relief from some of their bitter realities such as corruption, inflation, oppression, nepotism, hypocrisy, and international sanctions.

Impacts of Cultural Collectivism and Hierarchical Distance on Communication and Negotiation

In collectivistic societies, loyalty toward group and family is extremely important and for that reason, the communication should be in conformity with the group’s interests and conventions. That’s why in collectivistic societies the freedom of speech is often low and the communicators cannot express their intentions freely or easily. As a collectivistic society, Iranians from an early age learn to be careful about what they say and are advised to use an indirect language for expressing their intentions.¹⁶ This is in stark contrast with the Western societies that emphasize individualism, autonomy, and consequently freedom of speech. As we mentioned previously, the communication style in Iran is marked by ambiguity and therefore, intentions and messages are not necessarily identical.¹⁷ A very frequently cited Iranian proverb emphasizes the importance of dissimulation and teaches people to be careful about what they say: A long tongue shortens thy life. The traditional Iranian houses consisted of two separate and different parts—outer (birooni) and inner (andarooni). The outer part was dedicated to receptions and meetings, but the inner part was occupied by wife and children. This architecture involved a duality of reality versus appearance, or inner versus outer. It is important to emphasize that Iranians appreciate honesty very much, but like other collectivist cultures, they are not comfortable to do or say something against the widely-accepted conventions of their communities. Since identity is based in the social system, keeping face is extremely important and the outcome of negotiation may be affected by how the negotiator can save his face and honor. Therefore, Iranian negotiators may concede some privileges in order to boost their honor or prestige.

In a hierarchical culture such as Iran, a good deal of attention is attached to the communicator and very often the messenger becomes more important than the message. That is why in any negotiation, it is important to find out about the rank and power of negotiators. Furthermore, devotion to a superior goes beyond the work relationship and affects all aspects of communication and negotiation process. Likewise, age, seniority, and experience determine the way interlocutors are involved in the communication process. Due to high hierarchical distance, the decision making is mainly centralized and the negotiators especially in the government agencies do not have much power; rather they consult with the center before making important decisions and accepting resolutions. This centralized decision making may result in tedious and even fruitless discussions, especially when the negotiators are not sufficiently empowered. In personal or business negotiations, negotiators are usually the owners or managers who are capable of making important decisions. In official dealings, the center of political decision making is the leader or a high ranking official.