Module 3

Hierarchy, relationships and decisions: who speaks, who decides, and how trust is built

A good deal of misunderstanding in international matters is not about words at all, but about who is allowed to say what to whom, how much trust is needed before business can be done and how a decision is reached. A lawyer who sends a proposal to the junior person, because that is who sent the email, and then wonders why it vanishes. A client who does not want to sign until the lawyers and the principals have had dinner. A team that agrees ‘in principle’ in a meeting, and then takes three weeks to consult. This module covers titles and rank, how to find out who really decides and how decisions are made, how relationships are built before and during a matter, how meetings work when people expect different things of them, and the point at which hospitality becomes something that anti-bribery law forbids. It then looks at working through intermediaries and local counsel, and at negotiating when styles differ. It builds on Across the Table, which teaches negotiation itself. Everything here is a map to test and not a rule, and all the people are invented.

General education on communicating across cultures, using invented people, companies and places. It is not legal advice and does not describe any nation or group as a whole. Rules on bribery, privilege, confidentiality, data protection and professional conduct differ between countries and change: check the rules that apply to you.