
138 SEVEN SECRETS FOR NEGOTIATING WITH GOVERNMENT
sit down with your counterparts to work out. Negotiation is not
only a tool to create transactions; it is also a means to manage
them. To the extent that you have preserved a working relation-
ship with the government department concerned after you have
signed the contract or obtained the permit, you will have an easier
time of working out the difficulties that may subsequently arise.
TheProblem of theTwoCultures
A difference of cultures between government negotiators and their
counterparts from the private sector is often an obstacle to rela-
tionship building. A government negotiator and a corporate