TEMPORALITY IN NEGOTIATIONS: A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Sungu Armagan, Manuel P. Ferreira, Bryan L. Bonner and Gerardo A. Okhuysen ABSTRACT This paper discusses national differences in the interpretation of time in mixed motive decision contexts, such as negotiation. Specifically, we consider how members of different national cultures (Portugal, Turkey, and the United States) experience temporality in these situations. We argue that cultural temporality such as polychronicity, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance form part of a broader national environment. The national environment is also expressed in national stability factors such as legal systems, family ties, and homogeneity of populations. We propose that temporality and stability aspects of national environment determine negotiation paradigms, which subsequently influence tempo- rality in negotiations. We conclude by suggesting that inclusion of com- plex and interdependent national environment factors in the study of negotiation has the potential to substantially advance our understanding of negotiations. As national borders become increasingly open to international trade, foreign investments, and cross-national partnerships, successfully negotiating in different cultures becomes critical to organizational success. In the last two 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 3B2v8:07f XML:ver:5:0:1 RMGT  V009 : 9006 Prod:Type: pp:1172147ðcol:fig::NILÞ ED: PAGN: SCAN: 29/4/06 12:07 Research on Managing Groups and Teams, Volume 9, 117–147 Copyright r 2006 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1534-0856/doi:10.1016/S1534-0856(06)09006-2 117