Decoding the implicit rules behind dealmaking across different cultures

Negotiation may be about getting to ‘yes’ but in Asia, hearing ‘yes’ doesn’t always mean you’ve reached agreement. In many Asian contexts, particularly in China, Japan and Korea, saying “yes” can mean “I hear you,” not “I agree.”

As life science ventures deepen their partnerships across Asia, whether for clinical trials, manufacturing, joint ventures, or licensing, the ability to decode what’s left unsaid becomes a strategic advantage.

As Erin Meyer observes in The Culture Map (https://erinmeyer.com/book/), “No culture is wrong or right, just different. But if we don’t understand the difference, we make poor decisions.”

Western-trained executives often over-index on clarity, directness, and contractual enforcement, traits that can inadvertently damage trust in relationship-centric cultures.

In this session Professor Joel Lee will introduce Hofstede’s 6 Dimensions of Culture as a framework to navigate gaps. We’ll examine how the dimensions of culture shape negotiation behaviour, especially concepts like power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation and why understanding the dynamics of "face" and relationships is critical to sustaining both formal and informal commitments in Asia.

We have also invited CEOs from our community to briefly share their real-world deal experiences, surfacing what worked, what misfired, and what they wish they had known earlier.

Professor Joel Lee Tye Beng, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

Professor Joel Lee co-pioneered the teaching of negotiation and mediation in Singapore universities and has played a foundational role in shaping the country's mediation ecosystem. A graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and Harvard Law Schools, Joel is a principal mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre and the founding and immediate past Chair of the Singapore International Mediation Institute.

He has advised Singapore’s Ministry of Law on international commercial mediation, taught across Asia and Europe, and continues to shape the cross-cultural discourse through his work as co-editor of An Asian Perspective on Mediation and General Editor of the Asian Journal on Mediation. Awarded with NUS’s Outstanding Educator Award in 2011 and Singapore’s Public Service Medal in 2023 for his work in promoting mediation, Professor Lee brings a rare mix of academic rigour and practical insight to the challenge of cross-cultural negotiation.