This thesis aims at identifying the role that culture plays in the usage of digital tools in business negotiations. Nowadays most negotiations are occurring virtually, and this research helps at having a better understanding of how attitudes and behaviors characterize negotiations of European SMEs considering the role of digitalization. The research has been conducted using a qualitative analysis based on in-depth interviews with salespeople coming from SMEs of 3 different European countries: France, Italy and Slovakia. This has allowed to collect a rich variety of information from the interviewees who were asked to reply to open-ended questions. The collected data has then been analyzed through a multi-level coding process, which has enabled to identify behavioral changes in terms of negotiation style and usage of digital tools. Results provide evidence that culture has a connection with the usage of technological devices in negotiations while it does not highly influence its style. The major limitation of this study is given by the current pandemic situation which has led companies to extensively rely on digital tools. It could then be that a repeated analysis under normal conditions would record completely different results. Future researchers could test the validity of the findings by increasing the number of respondents and moving forward a quantitative analysis. Finally, this paper is unique since it analyses the relation between digitalization, negotiations, and culture, which have never been considered together in previous studies. The case is designed to provide negotiators a clearer understanding on all the affecting factors of business negotiations in today’s digital world. Besides it provides evidence to SMEs that developing a good relationship with suppliers would lower their negative perception towards digital tools and increase their potential in succeeding in their trading performances.
Questa tesi mira ad identificare il ruolo della cultura nelle trattative commerciali focalizzandosi sull’utilizzo dei dispositivi tecnologici. Oggigiorno la maggior parte delle negoziazioni avviene virtualmente: questa ricerca vuole fornire una migliore comprensione di come atteggiamenti e comportamenti caratterizzino le negoziazioni delle PMI europee considerando il ruolo della digitalizzazione. La ricerca è stata condotta utilizzando un'analisi qualitativa basata su interviste a venditori provenienti da PMI di 3 diversi paesi europei: Francia, Italia e Slovacchia. Ciò ha consentito di raccogliere una ricca varietà di informazioni dagli intervistati a cui è stato chiesto di rispondere a domande aperte. I dati raccolti sono stati poi analizzati attraverso un processo di codifica a più livelli, che ha permesso di identificare cambiamenti comportamentali in termini di stile di negoziazione e utilizzo degli strumenti digitali. I risultati hanno fornito la prova che in una trattativa commerciale la cultura ha una connessione con l’utilizzo di dispositivi tecnologici, ma non influenza significativamente il suo stile. Il maggiore limite di questo studio è dato dall'attuale situazione di pandemia che ha portato le aziende a fare ampio affidamento sugli strumenti digitali: un’analisi ripetuta in normali condizioni potrebbe quindi registrare risultati completamente diversi. I futuri ricercatori potrebbero testare la validità dei risultati aumentando il numero di intervistati svolgendo un'analisi quantitativa. Infine questo articolo è unico poiché analizza la relazione tra digitalizzazione, negoziazione e cultura, che non sono mai state considerate insieme negli studi precedenti. Il caso è progettato per fornire ai negoziatori una comprensione più chiara di tutti i fattori che influenzano le trattative commerciali nel mondo digitale di oggi. Fornisce inoltre alle PMI la prova che lo sviluppo di un buon rapporto con i fornitori può abbassare la loro percezione negativa nei confronti degli strumenti digitali e può aumentare il loro potenziale di successo nelle negoziazioni commerciali.
Impact of digitalization on business negotiations: the role of culture on the level of impact.
AMERIO, SIMONA
2020/2021
Abstract
This thesis aims at identifying the role that culture plays in the usage of digital tools in business negotiations. Nowadays most negotiations are occurring virtually, and this research helps at having a better understanding of how attitudes and behaviors characterize negotiations of European SMEs considering the role of digitalization. The research has been conducted using a qualitative analysis based on in-depth interviews with salespeople coming from SMEs of 3 different European countries: France, Italy and Slovakia. This has allowed to collect a rich variety of information from the interviewees who were asked to reply to open-ended questions. The collected data has then been analyzed through a multi-level coding process, which has enabled to identify behavioral changes in terms of negotiation style and usage of digital tools. Results provide evidence that culture has a connection with the usage of technological devices in negotiations while it does not highly influence its style. The major limitation of this study is given by the current pandemic situation which has led companies to extensively rely on digital tools. It could then be that a repeated analysis under normal conditions would record completely different results. Future researchers could test the validity of the findings by increasing the number of respondents and moving forward a quantitative analysis. Finally, this paper is unique since it analyses the relation between digitalization, negotiations, and culture, which have never been considered together in previous studies. The case is designed to provide negotiators a clearer understanding on all the affecting factors of business negotiations in today’s digital world. Besides it provides evidence to SMEs that developing a good relationship with suppliers would lower their negative perception towards digital tools and increase their potential in succeeding in their trading performances.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1084