Contract Negotiation Tips from Ascent Consultants for Japanese Corporations – An Introduction
In our experience, Japanese corporations are usually highly risk-averse do their best to avoid any kind of aggressiveness or confrontation. Such negotiating techniques may well be seen by the average Japanese as unnecessary, disrespectful and potentially damaging to the long term mutually beneficial business relationship which is usually the goal of both parties.
It is not difficult to find material in English relating to Japanese negotiation style and advice for Western companies on how to negotiate effectively with the Japanese. Many books and articles have been written on these topics by both legal and Japan specialists. But since Ascent is Japan-based and most of our clients (more than 80%) are Japanese corporations, we would like to take a look at the negotiation process from the perspective of a Japanese corporation either building a new relationship from scratch or renewing/re-negotiating a current contract.
In providing some negotiation tips which focus on how the Japanese company can better negotiate with foreign counterparts Ascent hopes to provide some value and insight to our Japanese clients which we hope will be useful to them in future negotiations.
Some of the tips provided will be relevant to both negotiating parties, while some will cover only one side. Obviously the relevance of each suggestion will vary depending on the participants to the negotiation and a host of other factors such as available negotiation time and the origin of the other party.