Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin

Chapter 1

The Nature of Intercultural

Communication


Upon Completion of this Chapter:

• Understand such terms as intercultural, international, multicultural, and ethnocentric

• Recognize communication barriers• Understand the terms norms, rules, roles,

and networks• Distinguish between subcultures and

subgroups• Understand management orientations

Axtell, 1990

Example of Intercultural Miscommunication

Telex sent to a factory manager of a U.S. subsidiary in Lima, Peru:

“Please send a headcount of the people in your factory and in your office, broken down by sex. Information urgent.”

The local manager, a Peruvian, replied:

“Here’s your headcount: We have 30 in the factory, 15 in the office, 5 in the hospital on sick leave, none broken down by sex. If you must know, our problem here is with alcohol.”


Global Boom

• More and more businesses involved with international activities which require the ability to communication across cultures

• Communication and culture are inseparable—can’t be separated

• To gain a better understanding, knowledge of frequently used terms is important


Definitions

• Intercultural communication—communication between persons of different cultures

• Intercultural business communication—interpersonal communication within and between businesses that involve people from more than one culture

• International communication—communication between governments or among nations

• Intracultural communication—communication between members of the same culture


Definitions• Diffusion—the process by which two cultures learn and adapt materials and adopt practices of each other• World culture—the idea that as traditional barriers among people of differing cultures break down, one culture will emerge• Melting pot—sociocultural assimilation of people of differing backgrounds and nationalities; implies losing ethnic differences and forming one large society macroculture


• Globalization—the ability of a firm to take a product and market it in the entire civilized world

• A company is globalized when it can market its product anywhere in the world

• When a firm is referred to as being global, it means that the corporation is producing and marketing products in many parts of the world

• Personnel in organizations must have a global mindset for the firm to succeed in international marketplace and respect other cultures

Globalization


Domestic and Global Mindsets

Domestic Mindset

• Functional expertise• Prioritization• Structure• Individual

responsibility• No surprises• Trained against

surprises

Global Mindset

• Bigger, broader picture• Balance of contradictions• Process• Teamwork and diversity• View change as

opportunity• Openness to surprises


Culture

• Culture deals with the way people live• When cultures interact, adaptation must

take place to communicate correctly• Three primary dimensions of cultures—

languages, physical, and psychological• Culture is learned through perception• Perceptions are formed in various ways—

where we are born & raised, the language we learn, the environment we live in—everyone views the world differently

Borden, 1991, p. 171

Dimensions of Culture

Languages(codes/modes)

Verbal Nonverbal

Physical Psychological

Environment Human Behavior Content Processes

Natural Man Made Knowledge Belief Encoding Systems

Decoding Thought

Althen, American Ways

• Differences in Customs—Holidays, Independence/Self-reliance, Punctuality, Treatment of Waiters/Secretaries, Treatment of Females, Need for Space

• Specific Aspects of American Life—Politics, Family Life, Driving, Shopping, Personal Hygiene, Behavior in Public

Cultures


Stereotypes

• Stereotypes are perceptions about certain groups of people or nationalities, often based upon limited knowledge and/or exposure.

• Stereotyping is only a guide to a national culture

• By recognizing differences as well as similarities, businesspersons can adjust how they communicate with others

• Examples of stereotyping follows and can be found in your text


Stereotypes of U.S. Persons

• Informal relationships• Rather formal in business attire (suits for men

and dresses or suits for women)• Workaholics• Embarrass foreign businesspeople by doing

manual labor • Overly concerned with time, money, and

appointments


• Make decisions on hard, objective facts

• Consider contracts and the written word as very important

• Are aware of status differences within the organization; however, no display of superiority or inferiority is made

• Are very mobile

• Convey superiority in their actions

Stereotypes of U.S. Persons


• Opportunity for individuals to raise their station in life

• Efficiency of organizations

• Hard work and productivity

• Freedom to express opinions openly

• General sense of freedom

What foreign students WOULD like to see incorporated into

their own culture:


What foreign students WOULD NOT like to see incorporated into their own culture:

• Excessive individualism

• Weak family ties

• Treatment of older people

• Materialism

• Competitiveness

• Rapid pace of life

• Divorce

• “Free” male/ female relations

• Impersonality


Can you Describe Your Own Culture? US

• American Values and Assumptions—Individualism and Privacy, Equality, Work, Informality, Time, Goodness of Humanity, Arrogant, Competitive

• Communicative Style—Small Talk, Forms of Interaction, Loud, Monolingual

• Ways of Reasoning—Get to the Point and Prove it, Distrust of Theory, and Generalizations, Truth Comes from Sight


Can you Describe Your Own Culture? China

• Reserved and well mannered. Superb hosts. Pride in their nation, its long history, and its influence on other countries. Strong family ties and a loyalty to family members. Chinese frequently display affection toward a member of the same sex by holding hands. They do not like to be touched. Great respect is given to older Chinese.


Can you Describe Your Own Culture? Japan

• Japanese tend to be modest, respectful of superiors, loyal to their organizations, contemplative and holistic in their thinking, and traditional in terms of their society. They are achievement oriented. They value human relationships above business relationships and practice situational ethics. Privacy is important and direct questioning on person lives resented. “Losing face” is BAD.


Can you Describe Your Own Culture? Germany

• Germans businesspeople are more formal, reserved, and restrained than Americans. They are likely to be inquisitive and want to hear the supporting evidence for a new idea or product. They value intelligence and education. Value individualism and the success of an individuals. Germans are outspoken or blunt, but see this behavior as simple honesty.


Can you Describe Your Own Culture? Mexico

• Mexicans tend to be warm, friendly, gracious people. They are good host. The Roman Catholic Church has greatly influenced the culture, attitudes, and history of Mexico. They are inclined to be patriotic and proud. Family is important and divorce low. They stand close when talking, possibly touching the other person. Generally trust only friends.


MORE—Stereotypes of People of Other Nationalities

Culture Image

• English conservative, reserved, polite, proper, formal

• French arrogant, rude, chauvinistic, romantics, gourmets, cultural, artistic

• Italian demonstrative, talkative, emotional, romantic, bold, artistic

• Latin American mañana attitude, macho, music lovers, touchers

• Asians inscrutable, intelligent, xenophobic (fear/hatred of strangers/ foreigners), golfers, group oriented, polite, soft-spoken


Stereotypes of Other CulturesAs viewed by Japanese and U.S. Students

Japanese U. S. Americans_______

English gentlemanly, formal, proper,polite polite, intelligent

Irish cold, patient, drinkers, jovial,religious hot-tempered, loud

Chinese diligent, serious, quiet, small, laboring industrious, smart

Mexicans cheerful, passionate, lazy, poor, loud, spicy-food eaters dirty, uneducated

Russians cold, dark, closed, cold, respect authority,secret, selfish hard-working

Israelis religious, faithful, religious, quarrelsome,warlike, Jewish wealthy, greedy


Enculturation and Acculturation• Enculturation—socialization process you go

through to adapt to your society. Learn norms!– Frontstage culture—cultural information that you

are willing to share with outsiders– Backstage culture—cultural information

concealed from outsiders

• Acculturation - process of adjusting, adapting, & accepting to a new and different culture. Accepts other cultures and their ideas.– Cultural synergy—two cultures merge to form a

stronger overriding culture– Multicultural—people who can move between

two or more cultures very comfortably


Dimensions of Acculturation

• Integration—persons become an integral part of the new culture while maintaining their cultural integrity

• Separation—individuals keep their culture and stay independent of the new culture

• Assimilation—persons are absorbed into their new culture and withdraw from their old culture

• Deculturation—when individuals lose their original culture and do not accept the new culture


• Ethnocentrism—the belief that your own cultural background is correct including the ways of analyzing problems, values, beliefs, language, verbal and nonverbal communication. When we evaluate others we do it through our self-reference criterion because it is what we know.

• Ethnocentrists believe that their culture is the central culture and that other cultures are incorrect, defective, or quaint.

• Mindsets—ways of being that allow us to see, perceive, and reason through our own filter. We want a GLOBAL mindset for business.

Ethnocentrism


Norms, Rules, Roles, and Networks

(Unwritten guidelines we learn through enculturation)

• Norms—culturally ingrained principles of correct and incorrect behaviors which, if broken, carry a form of overt or covert penalty. Learned through enculturation.

• Rules—formed to clarify cloudy areas of norms• Roles—include behavioral expectations of a

position within a culture and are affected by norms and rules

• Networks—formed with personal ties and involve an exchange of assistance


Subcultures and Subgroups

• Subcultures (or microcultures)—groups possessing traits that set them apart from others within the macroculture. U.S. examples: senior citizens, Catholics, disabled persons, Asian Americans

• Subgroups—groups with which the microculture does not agree and has problems communicating.

U.S. examples: youth gangs, prostitutes, embezzlers


Cultural Intelligence

• Ability to exhibit certain behaviors, including skills and qualities, which are culturally tuned to the attitudes and values of others.

• Linguistic Intelligence—speaking the language of the customer’s country

• Spatial Intelligence—the way space is used during greetings and meetings

• Intrapersonal Intelligence—involves awareness of one’s own culture

• Interpersonal Intelligence—the ability to understand other people and their motivations.


Cultural Intelligence

• To interact well with people from other cultures, it helps to speak to (a) speak a bit of their language; (b) know how closely to stand and other nonverbal behaviors; © know about your own cultural style; and (d) know how your cultural style meshes with those of others. (Howard Garder Psychologist)


Communication Barriers

• Physical—time, environment

• Cultural—social, ethnic, religion, social

• Perceptual—viewing from your own mindset

• Motivational—mental inertia of listener

• Experiential—dissimilar experiences or life happenings


• Linguistic—unusual vocabulary

• Emotional—personal feelings, likes or dislikes

• Nonverbal—how something is said, or how the person behaves or gestures

• Competition—listener’s having the ability to do other things

Communication Barriers (cont.)


Cultural Iceberg

• Above the waterline—what we can see; behaviors that are visible

• Below the waterline—what we cannot see; behaviors that are not visible or that do not make sense


Multinational Management Orientations

• To compete successfully in a global economy, a knowledge of management styles used by international corporations is also important.

• Multinational firms, those located in more than one nation, generally will follow either an ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric, or regiocentric form of style.

• All are transnational—cross borders of countries in conducting their business.


Multinational Management Orientations

Ethnocentric Management—All workers treated the same; no allowance for cultural differences in the work force

Polycentric Management—Considers the cultural needs of the worker in the area in which the firm is located

Regiocentric Management—Considers the region rather than the country in which the firm is located. There is a common framework with regional control

Geocentric Management—A synergy of ideas from different countries of operation

Bosrock, Put Your Best Foot Forward

Ten Commandments for Going International

• Be well prepared.• Ask questions; be observant; listen.• Make an effort.• When problems develop, assume the main

cause is miscommunication.• Be patient.• Assume the best about people.• Be sincere.• Keep a sense of humor.• Try to be likable.• Smile.


Topics Covered—Review Your Materials Carefully

• Intercultural business communication• Globalization• Culture• Stereotypes• Enculturation/acculturation• Ethnocentrism• Norms, rules, roles, and networks• Subcultures and subgroups• Cultural intelligence• Communication barriers• Multinational management orientations

Documents

Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication