Appreciating the Diversity in Multicultural Communication Styles.

"In today's world, national boundaries are constantly changing, and societies are moving toward greater interdependency and interconnectedness. The propensity of this increasing globalization poses unique challenges to the issue of how people from diverse cultural backgrounds attempt to effectively communicate on a daily basis. The need for effective communication in conjunction with cultural awareness, sensitivity, and understanding is intensified. As a result, the field of communication has been given an increasing amount of attention." (1) International business, the life blood of many of today's growing enterprises, brings executives into face-to-face contact with other executives of totally different cultural backgrounds. It has become evident that persons of dissimilar cultures are having more difficulties communicating effectively than they are with those from the same cultures. Intensive international competition further squeezes profit margins; and market conditions are changing so quickly that there is seldom time for a second chance at a mishandled contract negotiation because of some type of miscommunication. Therefore, international business communication becomes a pressing and imperative responsibility for those executives who are paving the way for advancement into international markets.

The Purpose of this Study

The importance of understanding the cultures of countries in which a company operates-as well as the similarities and difference between those cultures-becomes clearer when one looks at the multitude of blunders international executives have made because of their mental detachment to the differences of diversity in the multitude of international cultures that they may encounter.

Many stories of insensitive businessman can be found in many forms in the literature and the personnel files of multinational corporations and government agencies which give credence to the misreading of verbal and nonverbal communication signals and result in ineffective communications and loss of business.

When people have misunderstandings or commit "errors" when working with persons from different cultures, they are often unaware that any problem exists. Analyses of those problems and failures both at home and abroad have shown that the techniques, practices, and methods that have proved effective in one country may not work as well in other countries. To one degree or another, the success or failure of a company depends on how effective its employees can exercise their skills in a new location and how well they can communicate with people of different cultures. Therefore, there is a need for greater awareness of the impact of verbal and nonverbal behavior on international business communications, and if executives are to meet the challenges of an increasingly interdependent world during the twenty-first century, they will need to develop a better understanding of how cultural differences influence the operations of international businesses. A healthy dialogue between cultures will be an important step in ac hieving that needed understanding.

The Scope of the Research

We believe that business communication, especially in an interpersonal environment, is a special kind of people-orientated behavior and an established practice throughout the world. It is different from daily spontaneous communication; and to accomplish their responsibilities without any major complications, international business executives have to observe the rules of conduct of the host country in which they are doing business. Research has shown that if these rules are not followed, unanticipated predicaments may surface. (2) These rules dictate both explicitly and implicitly the appropriate modes of communication that indicate what to do and what not to do. According to these rules of communication, the instrument used for the survey consisting of 48 items was compiled by Ms. Dou from her experiences as an interpreter in several business negotiations involving multicultural corporations. These items cover a wide array of business communicative behaviors, ranging from initial contacts such as introduction s, shaking hands, addressing and use of business cards, to setting appointments, telephone etiquette, business negotiations, and gift-giving. The full list of items used is presented in the appendix at the end of this article.

The Research Study

To determine the various kinds of difficulties that business executives, with different cultural backgrounds may experience as they interact with their counterparts from other countries, a survey was taken of Chinese executives who have been doing business with Westerners and Japanese for an extended period of time. Survey data was also obtained from North American, European and Japanese business executives who have had business relationships in Shanghai, China on an ongoing basis. The survey technique involved both a questionnaire and post questionnaire interviews.

Respondents were asked to indicate on a 4 point scale, the degree of difficulty they experienced in conducting business with their host country; 0 = No difficulty, 1 = Minor difficulty, 2 = Moderate difficulty, and 3 = Major difficulty. The respondents were also urged to submit comments on specific aspects of their perceived cultural differences to which they felt most strongly. A total 100 questionnaires were distributed among experienced and professional Chinese business executives from several Shanghai Foreign Trade Companies. A total of 62 questionnaires were returned. With the other non-Chinese respondents 24 of 40 questionnaires were returned from North Americans, 26 of 40 questionnaires were returned from the Europeans, and 30 of 40 questionnaires were returned from the Japanese business executives. All participants had experiences in doing business with Chinese companies, some working exclusively in foreign-owned enterprises, joint ventures or cooperative ventures in Shanghai, and some from attending international exhibitions held in Shanghai, China. Comparisons were compiled for each of the four different cultural groups. The average scores for each item for each group were then calculated and are presented in rank-order according to major difficulties 3.0 to minor difficulties 0.0. Both personal and telephone interviews of the business executives were later conducted to further explain and clarify stated major difficulties.

From the data in Table One can be seen that North Americans and Europeans (the Western group) share a great number of perceived difficulties. What these two Western groups found most difficult had a similar rank order in the areas of language differences, concept of time and punctuality, control over the agenda, and telephone etiquette. The difficulty with smoking etiquette and persuasion skills did not have similar rank orderings; but these difficulties had rankings in the top twenty.

Japan, although an Asian country, also shared a strong similar ranking with her Western counterparts. The fact that Japan has seen its culture become more Westernized in recent decades most likely explains her similar rankings to the Western cultures. Very strong difficulties that Americans and Europeans experienced, namely, the concept of time and punctuation, and telephone etiquette were also the most difficult indicated by Japanese business executives. Many business executives complained about interruptions during talks and tardiness in business dealings with the Chinese. The following statement from a guide to international behavior, can attest to this overall perceived difficulty, "The same transaction that would take a week in New York, two in Paris, and three in Rio may take months in Beijing." (3) Most of the areas in which the Chinese business executives had the greatest cultural difficulties also did not overlap with those of Westerners; but some did overlap with their Japanese business counterparts , (Easterners), such as personal disclosure, smoking etiquette, drinking, and compliments. Seeing the uniqueness of touching as a major difficulty with the Chinese, we can now understand why a Chinese businessman would blush when a Western businesswoman imprints a social kiss on his cheek, or a Chinese businesswoman back away from a harmless hug. It was still quite unexpected to find that Chinese business executives who had long been exposed to Western culture norms should still have such difficulty with interpersonal touching. Chinese frequently show regard for a member of their own sex by physical contact, like shaking hands; but the opposite sexes rarely make any public show of affection, like hugging or kissing.

In analyzing the results of the survey it seems that those difficult areas that all four groups shared in common were mainly concerned with situations involving some kind of business negotiations, such as control over the agenda, persuasion skills, ways of gaining superiority over your counterpart, refusal tactics, decision-making, and ways of making concessions. Even the two other common difficulties of smoking and drinking had a close association with the business negotiation process, especially in an social environment. After interviewing many executives, it was easier to understand how frustrating some aspects of the host cultural norms could be to the executives. Here are some of the cases of miscommunication collected from the comments and the interviews. They are divided into verbal and nonverbal sections for the purpose of the paper.

Verbal Miscommunication

As indicated by the data, both American and European groups listed language differences as their primary difficulties (2.93 versus 2.95).