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International Business Culture
BADM Wk 4 International Business Culture Terry Ryan 2

Communicating Across Cultures
LANGUAGE Communication amongst people from the same culture is often challenging Communication with people who speak a different language is complicated by different ideas, attitudes, assumptions, perceptions and methods of communication Communication takes place in two ways: Explicit words that are mutually understood Implicit or non-verbal communications: the “silent language” 3

Just one flawed assumption can derail messages Who – is the sender the right person? Who – is the intended recipient the right person? What – is the context appropriate? What – is the content appropriate? How – is the medium appropriate? How – is the style appropriate? How – is the location appropriate? 4

Linguistic Proficiency is paramount (even with other “English” speakers. Cultural Competency is equally important Although American English is often viewed as the language of business, it is often desirable to have expats learn the host- nation’s language. WHY? Practicality is questioned 5

Demonstrate trust and respect – very important in many cultures. (Language and religion are primary drivers of culture.) Translating slows the flow, especially in sale and negotiation scenarios. If one party knows both languages, he or she has a distinct advantage: what is this benefit? Benefits to the individual: Better understanding of other culture Helps in learning of additional languages Gain fuller understanding of one’s own culture 6

More examples of poor translations: Cigarettes with low “asphalt” Computer “underwear” “wet sheep”  “Roto” KY Jelly “BIMBO” – what and where??? Zit (Euro), Super Piss (FI) and Calpis (JPN) Same English words – different meanings Tabling an issue Flats/apartments Trainers/sneakers Hooter/horn 7

Language - The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Conventionally, we think of language as (1) audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs (2) : a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings: (3) : the means by which animals communicate (4) : a formal system of signs and symbols (as FORTRAN or a calculus in logic) including rules 8

Linguistic Diversity 750 languages in Sub-Saharan Africa But, fewer than 100 are spoken by 95 per cent of the earth’s population. One-thousand Native American Languages How was one Southwestren tribe’s language used in WWII ?? 9

Influence of Culture in Language What two activities’ terms are over-used in business??? Most of us recognise technological and occupational terms – both old and new school Carburetor  Fuel injection Typewriter  Keyboard Programmer (TV)  Programmer (S-ware) 10

le Web Communicating Across Cultures Influence of Culture in Language USA – incorporate foreign-language phrases: Quid pro quo; ex post facto; pro tem à la mode; apéritif; laissez-faire; raison d'être Japan – Independent Rear Suspension trans- lates to Independent Rear Suspension! France – the “language police WWW  le Web  la toile Hackers  les fourniers Surfer  un surfer  aquaplanchiste Weekend le Weekend  fin de semaine 11

Lost in the Clouds Influence of Culture in Language
The word on the table that morning was "cloud computing." To translate the English term for computing resources that can be accessed on demand on the Internet, a group of French experts had spent 18 months coming up with "informatique en nuage," which literally means "computing in cloud." France's General Commission of Terminology and Neology – a group of professors, linguists, scientists and a former ambassador -- was gathered in a building overlooking the Louvre to approve the term. "What? This means nothing to me. I put a 'cloud' of milk in my tea!" exclaimed Jean Saint-Geours, a French writer and member of the Terminology Commission. Keeping the French language relevant ain’t easy in the Internet age. 12

B I G A I R ! ! Lost in the Clouds
'saut acrobatique sur tremplin de neige‘ B I G A I R ! ! acrobatic jump on a springboard of snow

Influence of Language on Culture Effects of language on perception Navajo Experiment (Jos. Casagrande) Navajo speakers use different verbs, depending upon the shape of an object Long, thin and flexible Long, thin and rigid Navajo-only speaking children sorted by shape Bilingual children sorted by colour Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis – linguistically different people not only communicate differently, but also think and perceive the world differently. 14

Language Mirrors Values The “self-xxxxxxxx” examples Japan: ‘We’ comes before ‘I’ Ohayo gozaimasu  Konnichiwa Joggers greetings amongst fellow runners vs. non-joggers acknowledgements Hai  Yes OR Yes, I understand and (not agreement); real vs.. good reasons 15

Linguistic Styles Tell it like it is; Talk turkey; lay cards on the table Ambiguity, e.g., Asians Maybe  no; Very difficult means Never Perhaps . . . Silence can be misconstrued Overstatement vs. understatement What may seem to be assertive to an American may be seen as week or equivocating to an Arab. 16

Language and Social Context Situational awareness Formal (TLN) Informal or familiar (FN) Diplomatic openings Verbal pauses or hiccups (ya’ know, Perhaps . . . Additional Complicating Factors Slang/jargon Euphemisms Proverbs/ Verbal Dueling Humour Conversational taboos 17

Lessons for Managers Learning the host language is usually helpful to settling into another culture. Communicating is life-threatening situations is paramount Knowledge of local language can alleviate risks of injury or death Local language capability can help to minimise culture shock. 18

Language and Social Context Situational awareness Formal (Title Last Name) Informal or familiar (First Name) Diplomatic or tactful openings Verbal pauses or hiccups (ya’ know, like) Perhaps . . . 19

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Slang/jargon Euphemisms Proverbs/ Verbal Dueling Humour Conversational taboos 20

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Slang/jargon dead in the water (disabled, but not sunk, ship) red tape bottom line 21

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Euphemisms New Yorkers called it “What happened” Pass away or passed; croaked or augered in Inventory shrinkage or leakage Life jacket  PFD BCG: Cash cow, Dogs 22

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Proverbs An apple a day keeps the doctor away An army marches on its stomach Any port in a storm Better late than never Better safe than sorry Beware of Greeks bearing gifts Spare the rod and spoil the child Speak softly and carry a big stick The apple never falls far from the tree Touch wood Horses for courses 23

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Verbal Dueling One upsmanship “I can top that” or “When we were up north” 24

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Humour D O N ‘ T 25

Language and Social Context Additional Complicating Factors Conversational taboos Politics and religion Wars Immigration Health, but no health of family members Earnings Material goods 26

“Vacantly occupied, sat on the beach 'til my body got fried Dreamin' of your pretty eyes up in South Carolina I can't pronounce my r's or g's when I'm speakin' southernese Honey do, honey come and do me again” 27

Additional Complicating Factors Southernese or Southernisms That's about as useful as a trap door on a canoe. He couldn't carry a tune if he had a bucket with a lid on it. She was so tall she could hunt geese with a rake. Somebody beat him with the ugly stick I'll knock you so hard you'll see tomorrow today. Dumb as a bucket (or box) of rocks. You're the spitting image of your mother/father. She's madder than a wet hen in a tote sack. Happier than a pig in slop “He’s a mess” followed by ??? 28

Lessons for Managers Learning the host language is usually helpful to settling into another culture. Communicating is life-threatening situations is paramount Knowledge of local language can alleviate risks of injury or death Local language capability can help to minimise culture shock. 29

French colleague became quite distant and uncommunicative.
3-1 Wayne Calder, a recent Harvard MBA and one of his organization’s most innovative planners, was assigned to the Paris office for a two-year period.Wayne was particularly excited about the transfer because he could now draw on the French he had taken while in school. Knowing that his proficiency in the French language would be an excellent entrée into French society, Wayne was looking forward to getting to know his French colleagues on a personal level. During the first week in Paris, an opportunity to socialize presented itself. While waiting for a planning meeting with top executives to begin, Wayne introduced himself to Monsieur LeBec. They shook hands and exchanged some pleasantries, and then Wayne told LeBec how excited his family was to be in France. Wayne then asked LeBec if he had any children. LeBec replied that he had two daughters and a son. But when Wayne asked other questions about LeBec’s family, his French colleague became quite distant and uncommunicative. What did Wayne do wrong?

dealing with the substantive issues concerning their business.
3-2 Bill Nugent, an international real estate developer from Dallas, had made a 2:30 P.M. appointment with Mr. Abdullah, a high-ranking government official in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From the beginning things did not go well for Bill. First, he was kept waiting until nearly 3:45 before he was ushered into Abdullah’s office. When he finally did get in, several other men were also in the room. Even though Bill wanted to get down to business with Abdullah, he was reluctant to get too specific because he considered much of what they needed to discuss sensitive and private. To add to Bill’s sense of frustration, Abdullah seemed more interested in engaging in meaningless small talk rather than dealing with the substantive issues concerning their business. How might you help Bill deal with his frustration?

3-3 Stan Gorelick, an engineer for a Chicago-based international construction company,
was working on a two-year building project in Montevideo, Uruguay. After several months on the job, Stan attended a cocktail party reception his firm was hosting for some of the local subcontractors. Upon entering the formal cocktail party about thirty minutes after it started, Stan greeted several groups of people with a cheerful “Hola!” (Hello) and headed for the bar. Soon, Stan noticed that some of the local people seem to be upset with him. What did he do wrong?

distribute Fred’s hardware products.
3-4 A large Baltimore manufacturer of cabinet hardware had been working for months to locate a suitable distributor for its products in Europe. Finally invited to present a demonstration to a reputable distributing company in Frankfurt, it sent one of its most promising young executives, Fred Wagner, to make the presentation. Fred not only spoke fluent German but also felt a special interest in this assignment because his paternal grandparents had immigrated to the United States from the Frankfurt area during the 1920s.When Fred arrived at the conference room where he would be making his presentation, he shook hands firmly, greeted everyone with a friendly Guten Tag, and even remembered to bow the head slightly as is the German custom. Fred, a very effective speaker and past president of the Baltimore Toastmasters Club, prefaced his presentation with a few humorous anecdotes to set a relaxed and receptive atmosphere. However, he felt that his presentation was not very well received by the company executives. In fact, his instincts were correct; the German company chose not to distribute Fred’s hardware products. What went wrong?

continuing the discussion. What was Betty’s problem?
3-5 Betty Carpenter, president of a cosmetics firm headquartered in Chicago, decided to spend several days in Paris, talking to some potential distributors of their more popular product lines. Upon arrival she felt quite confident with her proficiency in French (based on several years of French in college) in getting from the airport and checking into her hotel. The next morning she met with Monsieur DuBois, vice president of a large French department store chain. Although their initial conversation went quite well, when the subject turned to business, Betty felt that she was not communicating very effectively with DuBois. He seemed to be getting mildly annoyed and showed little interest in continuing the discussion. What was Betty’s problem?

refused the free gift of a cap.
3-6 Ted Gross was in charge of setting up his company’s exhibit at a trade show in Hong Kong. As an inducement for visiting the exhibit, Ted and his two assistants gave away green baseball caps with the company’s logo on the front. During the first day of the show, however, very few people visited Ted’s exhibit. And those who did stop by refused the free gift of a cap. How can you explain this unanticipated poor response at the trade show?

Steve came very close to being sent back to the home office.
3-7 Steve Reichs was on a month-long assignment at his company’s office in Pusan, Korea. Wanting to catch the attention of his supervisor who was standing across the room, Steve “crooked” his index finger at him in an innocent gesture to have him come closer. Not only did Steve get his supervisor’s attention, but he so infuriated his boss that Steve came very close to being sent back to the home office. What was the problem?

How can you explain this situation?
3-8 Peter Gorman, an accountant from Raleigh, North Carolina, had been working for two years in one of his firm’s branch offices in Melbourne, Australia. Normally, he took the bus to work, but one morning he was running late and did not want to miss an important meeting, so he was forced to take a taxi. He signaled to a cab on the street by raising his right hand, jumped into the back seat, and told the driver where he wanted to go. As the driver begins to pull away, however, he turned to Peter and said: “What’s wrong, Mate? Do you think I have leprosy?” Peter was not sure whether the taxi driver was joking or not. How can you explain this situation?

Nonverbal Dimension Nonverbal communications referred to as: The silent language Hidden dimension of communication Body language Telegraph messages about feelings Elaborate on the verbal language Govern the time and turn taking btwn. communicators Arbitrariness of nonverbal communications Nonverbal cues that connote a different meaning Nonverbal cues that connote the same meaning 39

Crude & Rude

Nonverbal communications categorised: Facial expressions Hand gestures Walking Posture Space Touching Eye contact (or NOT!) Artifacts Clothing Hairstyles Cosmetics Time Silence 41

Body Posture: Who was criticised for bowing to the Prime Minister in Japan ? Can communicate: social status religious practices feelings of submissiveness social distance sexual intentions US – lean back, feet up (casual dress) Europe - offensive 42

Hand Gestures: (Under Construction) 43

Facial Expressions: Face-2-face communications “Losing face” Eyebrows, eyes & mouth are primary Interpretation is difficult Masking one’s emotions Tom Brokaw Poker face React opposite: cry while laughing (tears of happiness) 44

Gaze: Maintaining eye contact is as effective as not maintaining eye contact But the extent to which different cultures utilise it vary widely. What is acceptable in Greece may make others uncomfortable To the Taureg, gaze is important because hands and arms are covered with clothing High level of gazing can be seen as threatening, disrespectful, haugthy or insulting. 45

Proximity: Personal spaces differ Initimate distance – really close Personal distance – 1 ½ to 4 ft. Social distance – 4 to 12 ft. Public distance – 12 to 25 ft. (or 4 to 8 metres) 46

Bodily Contact (Touching): Most personal form on nonverbal communications Patting  Slapping  Punching  Kicking Shaking hands  Air kissing  Kissing Guiding  Holding  Embracing Grooming  Stroking High-touch cultures: Arabs, Jews and Eastern Europeans Low-touch cultures: English, Germans, Northern Euro’s and many Asian cultures Subway (tube) and elevator (lift) protocols 47

Bodily Contact (Touching): Ballroom dancing can be viewed as asexual (USA) or promiscuous or in bad taste. PDA: where did Richard Gere – a Buddhist - get in trouble? Low-touch cultures: English, Germans, Northern Euro’s and many Asian cultures Subway (tube) and elevator (lift) etiquette Be careful of stereotypes or appearances: German & American men less tactile than Italian men, they were more tactile that Italian women. 48

Lessons for Managers: When in doubt: DON’T Read, read, read Observe, observe, observe Research, research, research (I’net) Ask, ask, ask – no “dumb” questions Context/situation specific Virgin Media COO Leigh Wood – guy or gal? Typical greetings 49

inappropriate, or maybe they were just not appreciative.
4-1 Don Bynum, a Boston banker, was assigned for several weeks as a troubleshooter in the Rome office. To facilitate his adjustment to the Italian banking system and to assist with translation, the branch manager had assigned Don to work with Maria Fellini, a bilingual employee of the bank. Maria, like Don, was single and in her early thirties, and she lived with her widowed mother. Maria invited Don to her mother’s home for dinner. When Don arrived, he brought a large bouquet of chrysanthemums for Maria’s mother as a token of his appreciation for her hospitality. Maria answered the door, greeted Don, and took the flowers into the kitchen. But for the entire evening neither Maria nor her mother mentioned anything about the flowers. Don felt that perhaps he had done something inappropriate, or maybe they were just not appreciative. What went wrong?

started yelling at Eric.
4-2 While living and working in Milan, Eric Woodward decided to spend part of a Saturday at a local art museum. Because he was not exactly certain where the museum was located, he asked a man on the street for directions. While the Italian was explaining how to get to the museum, Eric had an uncontrollable itch on his left earlobe. He tried to satisfy the itch by tugging on his earlobe. The Italian man immediately became upset and started yelling at Eric. What did Eric do to cause such a negative reaction?

have discussed the repairs with her.
4-3 Construction superintendent Justin Clark had just been transferred to Saudi Arabia for two years to supervise the building of new state-of-the-art oil rigs for the Saudi government. Upon moving into their rented house, Justin and his wife Lorna discovered several things that needed repair. The landlord, very happy to have rented the house on a two-year lease, was very prompt in responding to their request for repairs. However, when he arrived, Justin was not home, and the landlord entered the house without speaking or acknowledging Lorna’s presence. The repairs proceeded under the landlord’s supervision. Lorna was insulted and felt that the landlord’s behavior was rude and disrespectful. Since she was the one home at the time, she thought the landlord should have discussed the repairs with her. Why did the landlord ignore Lorna?

toward him and at times even hostile.
4-4 In what was considered a “hostile takeover,” a U.S. corporation purchased a regional wine-producing vineyard in Limoges, France, in a strategic maneuver to enter the European market. Frank Joseph, a human resource specialist, was sent to Limoges to smooth the ruffled feathers of the vineyard’s workers. Along with videos and propaganda on the merits of working for a Fortune 500 corporation, Frank also brought to Limoges a number of company logo items. In what was intended as a goodwill gesture, he presented the workers with T-shirts, ball caps, ink pens, and coffee cups to take home to their families.Over the next several weeks, Frank never saw any of the company’s logo items being worn or used by the workers. Instead, the workers were uncommunicative toward him and at times even hostile. Why was Frank treated in this manner?

venture never did take place.
4-5 Aware of the enormous interest the Japanese have in the game of golf, a U.S. sports equipment manufacturer decided to explore the possibilities of a joint venture with a Japanese firm. Three representatives from each firm met in San Francisco to work out the details of the proposed venture. After the six men were introduced to one another, they were seated at opposite sides of a large conference table. In an attempt to show the Japanese their sincerity for getting down to the task at hand, the Americans took off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves. Then one of the Americans said to his counterpart across the table, “Since we are going to be working together for the next several days, we better get to know each other. My name is Harry. What’s your name?” The joint venture never did take place. What went wrong?

that Larry sensed that the negotiations were not progressing smoothly.
4-6 Larry Ligo, an art dealer from Florida, was in some intense business negotiations with a Brazilian firm. At the meeting many differing opinions were discussed, and at times the exchanges became somewhat heated. This intensity was exemplified by the Brazilians who tapped Larry on the shoulder or arm each time they expressed an opinion. The repeated taps began to make Larry angry. In fact, he wondered whether the Brazilians were trying to pick a fight. The next time Larry was touched on the arm he impulsively jerked his arm away. The Brazilians were surprised by Larry’s response. After that Larry sensed that the negotiations were not progressing smoothly. Why?

How might you explain the cause for the hilarious outburst?
4-7 Randy Hightower, recently appointed to manage his firm’s office in Singapore, was anxious to do well in his first overseas assignment. Shortly after his arrival, he called his first staff meeting, to outline the objectives for the coming fiscal year. He had already met with his staff individually and was feeling quite confident about the prospects for having a good first year. Toward the end of the staff meeting, Randy, in his characteristic upbeat fashion, told his employees that he looked forward to working with them and that he anticipated that this would be their best year ever. To emphasize his optimism for the coming year, Randy punctuated his verbal remarks by slapping his fist against his palm. The reaction was instantaneous: Most people laughed, giggled, or looked embarrassed. Unfortunately, he felt that the point of his dramatic climax was lost amidst the laughter. How might you explain the cause for the hilarious outburst?

4-8 While working for a Philadelphia bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jennifer Roberts
met, quite unexpectedly, one of her female colleague at a shopping mall one weekend. The local Malaysian colleague was accompanied by her five-year-old daughter. Jennifer was so taken by the girl’s beauty that she patted the girl on the head while commenting to the mother what a gorgeous child she had. Much to Jennifer’s surprise, however, the mother responded by saying that the girl was not very pretty at all and then abruptly left. What had Roberts done?

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