RESOLVING CONFLICTS WITH THE JAPANESE - MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

IT'S NOT EASY TO NEGOTIATE CROSS-CULTURALLY. NOT ONLY DO WE TEND TO MI SUNDERSTAND THE BEHAVIOR OF THE OTHER PARTY, WE OFTEN don't realize ho w deep behavior differences go. Americans have read that Japanese typi cally respond to direct questions with vague answers and silence. But that's only part of die story. This paper tells the rest. The authors explain how Japanese behavior is significantly tied to context. They d escribe the important cultural mechanisms that affect this context and offer suggestions for Americans who want to handle these situations m ore effectively.