The ambiguous role of cultural moderators in intercultural business negotiations

Many modern business negotiations cross borders, and one plausible idea for successfully managing such negotiations is to equip negotiation teams with a “cultural moderator,” an individual who has the same cultural background as the business partner. This study investigates the effect of cultural moderators on both the negotiation process (e.g., use of integrative strategies) and economic outcomes (e.g., profit). Using German and French negotiators in an experimental setting, the authors show that a cultural moderator's influence on the team's use of integrative strategies depends on the moderator's degree of collectivism. With respect to economic outcomes, the presence of a cultural moderator always improves a team's results. Together, these findings suggest that the benefits of using a cultural moderator are not unconditional; rather, they depend on the cultural moderator's cultural background and on the negotiation goals (process vs. outcome) of the team that employs the moderator.