This presentation describes the negotiation style of Singapore business persons. It helps us to understand the context and culture before negotiating with the people and businesses in Singapore.

1. Singapore Negotiation Style
•Pramanick, Vivek
•R, Madhuranath
•Sing, Joyce
•Bhimavarapu, Vamsi Venkata

2. Impact of Geography and History
 Singapore is a small island open economy
 Dependent on services and hi-tech industries
 This influences the culture of Singaporeans
 Makes them less risk averse and conservative
 More disciplined and hard working
 Influences their biz style and negotiation styles

3. Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension
 Legend:
 PDI- Power Distance
 IDV-Individualism
 MAS-Masculinity
 UAI- Uncertainty Avoidance
 LTO- Long Term Orientation
 Source: http://geert-hofstede.com/singapore.html

4. Relationship and Respect
 Group-oriented
 Business relationships mostly exist between individuals
rather than companies
 “Saving face”
 Values include humility, experience and team spirit

5. Communication-1
 Speak in quiet, gentle tones
 Silence during conversations does not have a negative meaning
 Be indirect
 Being direct is considered rude or pushy
 What does “yes” or “no” mean?
 “Yes” does not mean they agree with you, only that they heard you
 “No” means they are not interested

6. Communication-2
 Negative messages can be delivered through a third party (“saving
face”)
 Non-verbal communication is important
 Avoid physical contact except for handshake
 Do not touch their head!
 Point with the hand, not with a finger
 Sucking in air means there’s a problem
 Too much eye contact is considered rude and intrusive
 Avoid facial expressions that express disagreement
 Laughter may be used to hide embarrassment, shyness,
disapproval, and distress

7. Initial Contact & Meetings
 Better to conduct negotiations with a team
 signals importance, facilitates stronger relationship, speeds up process
 Be well aligned in team; clear role assigned to each member
 They are good at exploiting disagreements in opposite team
 Provide details on titles, positions, responsibilities well in advance
 Singaporeans want to know whom they will be meeting
 Do not try to hurry along with your agenda
 It is unrealistic to expect initial meetings to lead to straight decisions

8. At the Negotiation Table
 Talk to the person at the right level
 Decision making can be slow or impossible
 Coming with unorthodox new ideas will take some convincing
 Uncharted territories need one or the other govt. approvals
Some important tips:
- Ask where you should sit or wait to be seated
- Carefully try to establish who makes the decisions
- Be well prepared and establish expectations level at the start

9. Negotiation Styles
 Attitudes and Styles
 Relationships can be used as a leverage
 Value long term relationships than short term gains
 Respect hard bargainers as long as they avoid creating direct conflict
 Pace of Negotiation
 Relationship building, information gathering, bargaining, and decision making can take
considerable time
 be patient, control your emotions, and accept that delays occur
 Bargaining Style
 Love bargaining and haggling
 May use a wide array of negotiation techniques quite competently

10. References
 http://geert-hofstede.com/singapore.html
 http://www.globalnegotiationresources.com/cou/Singapore.pdf
 http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=Singapore:_Let%27s_Make_a_Deal%21