Success and Failure of Business Negotiations for South Koreans

The focus of this paper is to explore South Korean perspectives concerning the factors that contribute to success and failure in business negotiations. A total of 115 negotiators (87 survey participants and 28 interviewees) participated in the research. In general, the participants reported adopting a long-term view when assessing a negotiation: Success or failure is not declared until after the implementation of a contract. Analysis of the written questionnaires revealed four factors as contributing to success (attitude and product characteristics, cultural awareness, counterpart attitude, and past experience) and three factors as contributing to failure (differences in styles, practices & customs, lack of sincerity & miscommunication, and competition/need). The interview participants reported wanting to improve trust between the negotiating parties, wanting to make decisions more quickly, and wanting better inter-party communication. The success rates reported by our participants were greater when the participant had negotiation experience with Americans, when the assets of his/her company were larger, and when experts/consultants were not hired.