Negotiating with Managers from Russia

The Russian Federation is characterized by a national culture notably different from European or Asian cultures. Surprisingly, perhaps, Russian culture is similar in many ways to those of Mexico, Portugal, and Brazil. Minding cultural peculiarities is vital in intercultural communication. As a foreigner, there are some helpful rules to follow while working with Russian managers. For example, as a foreign negotiator, you must prove your credentials and authority quickly, as Russians hold status and technical expertise in high esteem. While Russians respect firmness and dignity, you must also be approachable and friendly. For effective communication, you should be aware that whereas Russians might seem reserved at first, they usually open up during socializing. Meals and entertainment are a pleasant setting for developing relationships and facilitate personal communication. In fact, such interactions are vital, given that most Russians do not trust people who are “all business”. Russians tend to treat schedules and deadlines flexible and complete their assignments at the last minute. However, under certain conditions of intercultural and global interaction, you might encounter Russians adopting a different approach and adhering to relatively strict standards of timeliness. In this chapter, we present a background analysis of Russia and discuss its general business environment. We follow this with a review of national culture analysis based on Hofstede’s model. Finally, we describe how Russian businesspeople view and conduct the negotiation process and recommend best practices for negotiating with Russian businesspeople.