The effect of CMC and FTF on negotiation outcomes between R&D and manufacturing partners in the supply chain : an Anglo/Nordic/Latin comparison

The growing significance of global electronic commerce has led to the increased use of computer support during negotiation of deals, which until now has been carried out almost exclusively via face-to-face (FTF) communication or other high-feedback media (e. g., telephone), but not via computer-mediated communication (CMC). To analyze this process and its outcomes, the following research questions were examined in this study: How do CMC and FTF contribute to a win-win strategy in negotiation? How do CMC and FTF affect the participants' ability to empathize with each other? Are the negotiation strategies of Anglo, Nordic, and Latin negotiators affected differently depending on the medium? Is the ability of Anglo, Nordic, and Latin negotiators to empathize with each other affected differently depending on the medium? On the basis of our results, we surmise that CMC does not allow negotiators to employ a cooperative win-win strategy (as recommended by negotiation-strategy training). We see significant differences when we examine the use of personal pronouns and speech acts by the Anglo, Nordic, and Latin culture clusters. When we look at the use of cooperative speech acts, a similar situation occurs: in contrast to Anglos, who behave in a cooperative way, Latins are significantly less cooperative and Nordics use many more general speech acts in the CMC setting.