Nimmersion AB, an Immigration and Relocation Company
Sweden
lena@nimmersion.com
The Finns have been the Happiest People in the World since many years and when I was asked to write about “Negotiations between Finns and Swedes: Directness versus Deliberation” I found it an “mielenkiintoinen kysymys” which translated is “an interesting question”.
The negotiation dynamics between the direct and Happy Finns and the slightly less Happy and deliberation oriented Swedes often display the differences.
One of my first jobs in New York, in the 80s, was at the American-Scandinavian Foundation, which interestingly enough covered all the five Nordic countries. Cultural exchange and scholarships were part of what the Foundation was and is still doing.
I was an administrator to the Executive Director and the Board of Trustees during a capital campaign, fundraising for a new commercial real estate to house our cultural events. The Nordic Trustees were businessmen heading up succesful Nordic subsidiaries such as, SAAB, Kone, Nokia, Maersk, Norsk Hydro, banks along with financial institutions. The Trustees were heavily engaged in the fundraising. Apart from bringing in large donations themselves they also reached out to companies with a Nordic connection.
The Finnish Trustee was incredibly efficient and his style was different from the Swedish trustees. He simply contacted his network, told them what to do, how to donate and not seldom gave them an idea of a suitable amount. He was direct and productive. It worked and the Finnish companies were the ones to lead the way in the capital campaign.
Sweden and Finland share corporate structure. We are essential trade partners to one another, there are many Finnish-Swedish companies and we are often part of the value-chain for each other. Collaboration is important and efforts are made to maintain a good relationship with each other on all levels, official as well as private.
In Sweden there is a consensus culture. As the founder of a relocation company, the talents that our client companies leave in our care, are from parts of the world that typically have a shorter road to a decision. Expats are often concerned of the longwinded discussion model in the Swedish workplace while Swedes talk about inclusion. Decisions are made as a group and the responsibility for the decision is shared.
For Swedes deliberation is necessary. Every decision small or big should be thoroughly thought about, discussed and looked at from many angles by many people. A new policy or decision should be futureproof and be relevant longterm.
Finns on the other hand are known to trust their leader to make decisions. They are fast and direct and the leader takes responsibility. Finns are also no stranger to adapting along the way while Swedes want longterm strategies.
Negotiations between Swedes and Finns are interesting. Finns are resolute, expect fast action and focus on the outcome rather than the negotiation process. Also, Finns are no strangers to re-negotiation. The books by Richard D. Lewis were widely read in the 90s and for a consensus driven Swede it is valuable to learn about the power of silence. While Swedes may be deliberators and slow to come to a decision, they are also talkative when seeking consensus and wanting to move to a group decision that many can be pleased with. While a Finn although direct, speak less and can get a Swedish negotiator nervous by being silent way beyond the Swede’s comfort zone.
Many years ago we had a Finnish client and we carried out immigration and relocation services for them in Sweden. If we had emphasized the common goals and mutual benefits of the negotiation the outcome could have been better for both parties. They renegotiated the pricing and service content several times during the course of our collaboration. The negotiations were quite one-sided and at last they had us at a breaking point and we ended the service agreement.
They were quite taken aback by this and they came to Stockholm for an exit meeting. Even during this meeting and handover they still wanted to renegotiate pricing again and asked us to reconsider. We said no and a large part of that was believing we weren’t a good match as client and service provider. With years of hindsight I see how we could have been better negotiators on both sides.
How can our negotiation styles be combined to both countries benefit? Firstly, plan and research internally (keep the Swedes happy) and when working with Finns use logic, speed and facts (cater to the Finns). Experts say that while we often share a language we don’t share business culture.
The Nato membership application seemingly followed the Finnish and Swedish stereotypes. The Finns made a fast decision and stood by it. The Swedish government was slow to change their stance on the benefits of being neutral in spite of geopolitical realities. To change their position the top politicians in the Social Democrat party travelled around Sweden getting their members on board for a Nato application.
In my line of work, employee based immigration, we have a longstanding partnership with a Finnish firm based in Helsinki. We have had weekly meetings for many years. In 2006, the Swedish Migration Agency digitized the entire immigration process and was a guiding light to our Nordic neighbours. Well established methodologies were used and there was great consensus internally to adopt the change. Finnish representatives came to Sweden to see how well it worked. When a first time work permit was approved in 6 minutes the head of the Swedish transformation team said “We just did a bicicleta like Zlatan”.
In the 2020’s the Finnish Migrii has taken the leadership and is trying out new visa types and simplifying processes. The Finnish corporations are direct and the politicians are listening.
In a perfect world the Swedes can be deliberating longterm plans while learn from Finns model by overturning decision, modifying strategies and adjusting along the way.