| Author(s) | Abdulrahman Al-Aali, Fouad Al-Rumaihi* and Kholoud Al-Enazi** |
| Affiliation | Professor of International Business & Marketing and Dean of Prince Abdullah Research & Consulting Institute (PARCI), King Saud University, Saudi Arabia *Visiting Assistant Professor, Arabian Gulf University and Assistant Secretary General for Research Grants, Bahrain Center for Studies & Research, Bahrain **General Industry Authority, Kuwait |
| Title | Managing Technology Negotiation: An Empirical Study of the Kuwaiti Oil Industry |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Administrative Sciences. Volume 17, No 2. (2005/1425) |
| Abstract | The objectives of the study are to assess the importance that executives in the Kuwaiti oil industry place on negotiation preparation and readiness to obtain technology, to analyze the basic goals negotiators try to accomplish when negotiating and to assess the impact of the executive’s demographics on their responses. Executives working for the Kuwait Oil Ministry and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its affiliates were surveyed using quota sampling of 170, of those 122 were analyzed. The analysis uncovered the nine pre-negotiation activities (out of 16) received high rating which indicates that executives in the Kuwait oil industry are conscious and aware of the importance of preparationa nd rediness. The “t-tests” showed that the demographic factors have an important role in explaining executives’ perceptions. This indicates that the selection of the negotiators is important when representing the company. Factor analysis of the pre-negotiation activities uncovered four dimensions: deciding the negotiation posture, deciding procedural elements, knowing the negotiation parameters and selecting thenegotiation team. As for the considerations that are taken into account by technology acquisition negotiators, they placed eight activities (out of 15) as important. Overall, the ratings were medium in magnitude and indicate that these executives, on the average, do not place importance to some technology considerations when negotiating. The “t-tests” showed that the demographic factors have an important role in explaining executives’ perceptions. Factor analysis uncovered three dimensions; technology external environment, local considerations of the technology negotiation and technology type considerations. Based on the study results and logical analysis of the outcome, several recommendations were made at the industyr, firm level and negotiator levels. |
