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Conor John Fitzsimons

Communication

The greatest communication problem is that the message sent is not the message received. Although this also happens between people from the same culture, there are additional problems in intercultural communication:

  • Communication is in a second or third language, for at least one of the people communicating.
  • Style of communication US and Northern European cultures use a content-rich form of communication and focus on what is said. In other parts of the world the emphasis is much more on context, e.g. who is delivering the message, in what setting, and in what way.
  • Use of slang and idiom leads to confusion because idioms usually do not translate directly between languages.

There Is No Single “Business Culture”

Different cultures have very different approaches to business. Examples include:

  • How decisions are made Who decides and who is involved in the decision-making process varies greatly between cultures and companies.
  • Business focus For example, in the USA the focus tends to be on the bottom line; in the same situation French people will tend to focus on what their boss might be thinking; Germans have a strong culture of social responsibility in business so that, for example, they are reluctant to close departments or factories if this leads to a loss of jobs; a strong driver in England is to avoid embarrassment.
  • How meetings are run Is there a time for small-talk before the meeting starts? Is the purpose of the meeting just to inform people of the decision that the boss has already made (Germany) or to consider the facts and make a decision based on them (USA)? How respected is time in the meeting?
  • How people are hired and managed In Germany the traditional view is that the manager is expected to be fully technically knowledgeable about everything happening in his area of responsibility. It is not considered acceptable that he cannot answer all technical questions about his products or processes. In the USA, a manager in the same position would be expected to hand over technical responsibility to one of his subordinates.
  • The level of respect business enjoys in the society For example, because of the cultural split between arts and sciences in England, engineers tend to be held in low regard in society.

Working Interculturally Is Stressful

The stress of working in a multicultural environment has many sources, e.g.:

  • Physical and mental It is necessary to adjust methods of communication, and sometimes also to speak a different language. The work may also include a lot of travel.
  • Ambiguity and Contradiction People working within their own culture take a lot of unwritten rules for granted. Working across cultures involves coping with many different sets of such rules. Another source of ambiguity is that many things are just done differently.
  • Unintentional insults It is so easy to insult someone from another culture (even in something as simple as greeting someone) that trying to be additionally-careful not to offend raises stress levels.
  • Outside work everything is strange in a new environment People who move to a new country to take up a working assignment also have to cope with the fact that outside work everything is different also. Simple examples that trip people up include: people from USA, UK or Ireland not registering with the authorities when they move to work in Germany or Switzerland; how to open a bank account; how to mail a letter or get a telephone; looking for somewhere to buy milk in Switzerland on a Sunday.

People Are Blind To The Differences

Here are three examples:

  • “Our way is best” The people from the home culture take the attitude that the others must adapt to their way of doing things.
  • “There are no differences” Some people minimise the difficulties using the argument that we are all civilised, educated people ...
  • Emphasising identity When problems arise in the multicultural workplace, many people express their own culture more strongly than usual: Germans become more German, Irish more Irish, and so on.

“When I was 16 I was shocked by how ignorant my father was, how little he knew. By the time I reached 21, I was amazed how much he had learned in five years.” — Mark Twain

Dave slams down the phone. Hans, his colleague, tries to be supportive: Hans: What's the problem with the supplier?
Dave: He's playing hardball right now.
Hans: Ah, so you couldn't speak directly to him.
Dave realises that Hans has misunderstood him ...
Dave: Oh, sure. He's just trying to make us sweat it out.
Hans: When is the sauna open?

And the frustration level in the office rises once again.