Culture as a Success Factor in International M&A Dispute Processes - Dispute Resolution Journal - Vol. 70, No. 2

Author(s):

Arthur J. Gemmell

Page Count:

12 pages

Media Description:

1 PDF Download

Published:

July, 2015

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“Human beings draw close to one another by their common nature,
but habits and customs keep them apart.”
Confucius

Seasoned businesspeople, especially those engaged in international

mergers and acquisitions (M&A), are keenly aware of the fact that no

matter how pleasant their pre-arrangement business courtship has

been, disputes, either pre or post closing, may, indeed, occur. Some

disputes may be benign and settled amicably by the parties. Other

disputes, however, provide the parties with only an unsated resolution

due to prolonged and costly litigation having been entered into

subsequent to the parties’ inability to peacefully resolve their

international commercial dispute. If businesspeople, caught up in the

euphoria of “making a deal,” fail to provide for amicable dispute

resolution, then litigation, prolonged and costly, might become the

only solution available, regardless of how distasteful.

In order to avoid scrambling once a material dispute occurs, time,

energy, and effort should be expended up front to ensure that,

regardless of the form that the business arrangement takes, the

documents creating the arrangement reflect an agreed upon method of

dispute resolution drafted with appropriate cultural awareness. A

leading arbitral practitioner cautions that, “Most corporate lawyers are

focused on completing the transaction at hand and add boilerplate

language . . . at the last minute.”1 This monition is especially relevant

in the international M&A arena wherein parties have been

acculturated with different socio-political-cultural norms; are familiar

primarily with their own business practices; and each, all too
frequently, only superficially acquainted with their business partner.