Intercultural Communication PDF

CHAPTER 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, you will understand such terms as intercultural, international, intracultural, multicultural, and ethnocentric. recognize how communication barriers aff...

CHAPTER 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, you will understand such terms as intercultural, international, intracultural, multicultural, and ethnocentric. recognize how communication barriers affect intercultural communication. understand the differences between norms, rules, roles, and networks. distinguish between subcultures and subgroups. understand the concepts of business globalization, glocalization, and grobalization. differentiate between ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric, and geocentric management orientations. T he number of North Americans who work for foreign employers and the number of foreign companies who have built plants in the United States are increasing. Evidence that the world is becoming more cosmopolitan can be seen in the number of international businesses, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Sony, and Honda, which are common around the world. The new economic bonanza is apparent in the universal appreciation of food such as sushi, fashion such as jeans, and music such as U.S. jazz and rock. Because of the global boom, more and more business will involve international activities, which require the ability to communicate across cultures. Because communication is an element of culture, it has often been said that commu- nication and culture are inseparable. As Alfred G. Smith (1966) wrote in his preface to Communication and culture, “Culture is a code we learn and share, and learning and sharing require communication. Communication requires coding and symbols 1 2 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication that must be learned and shared. Godwin C. Chu (1977) observed that every cultural pattern and every single act of social behavior involves communication. To be under- stood, the two must be studied together. Culture cannot be known with a study of communication, and communication can only be understood with an understanding of the culture it supports.” (Jandt, 2007, pp. 27–28) To gain a better understanding of the field of intercultural communication, knowledge of frequently used terms is important. Such terms as intercultural, international, and multicultural are often used interchangeably; however, certain distinctions should be made. Edward T. Hall first used the term intercultural communication in 1959. Hall was one of the first researchers to differentiate cultures on the basis of how communications are sent and received. Hall defined intercultural communication as communication between persons of different cultures. Intercultural business communication is a relatively new term in the business world and is defined as communication within and between businesses that involves people from more than one culture. Although we generally think of the United States as one culture, a great deal of cultural diversity exists. For example, more than 37% of residents of New York City are foreign born, Miami is 32.47% Latin American, and San Francisco is 31.8% Asian. In fact, African Americans, Asians, and Latin Americans make up 32.47% of the U.S. population. An increase in the Asian and Latin American populations is expected during the next decade. Many U.S. citizens communicate interculturally almost daily because communication occurs between people of different cultural backgrounds (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008a). Susumu Yoshida, Managing Director of Sumitomo Chemical Asia Pte Ltd., in his address to a group of international business executives in Kyoto, Japan, June 19, 2002, said: “We are on the threshold of globalization. The world economy is ‘borderless’ and markets are becoming essentially one. Corporations are looking at the free flow of goods and services, capital, and human resources, as well as infor- mation, as the pathway to growth. Hence, the corporate strategy of going global is no longer a choice but rather a ‘must’ for survival.... A lack of effective intercultural communication skills often causes misunderstandings. This leads to irritation and even distrust between the parties concerned. More often than not, problems arise from differences in communication styles.” (Yoshida, 2002, pp. 708, 710) Giao thoa As contact occurs between cultures, diffusion takes place. Diffusion is the process by which the two cultures learn and adapt materials and adopt practices from each other. This practice is exemplified by how Columbus joined the Old and New Worlds. The Old World gave the New World horses, cows, sheep, chickens, honeybees, coffee, wheat, cabbage, lettuce, bananas, olives, tulips, and daisies. The New World gave the Old World turkeys, sugarcane, corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, petunias, poinsettias, and daily baths (Jandt, 2007). With the increased globalization of the economy and interaction of different cultures, the concept of a world culture has emerged. A world culture is the idea that as traditional barriers among people of differing cultures break down, emphasizing the commonality of human needs, one culture will emerge, a new culture to which all people will adhere. So why study intercultural business communication? Because it addresses procedural, substantive, and informational global problems, intercultural business communication allows you to work on the procedural issues of  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 3 country-to-country contacts, diplomacy, and legal contexts. You can then become involved with the substantive, cultural level and become sensitized to differences. You can also gather informa- tion to make decisions when you are in an intercultural environment (Rohrlich, 1998). The United States continues to welcome a large number of immigrants each year and has been referred to as a melting-pot society. Melting pot means a sociocultural assimilation of people of differing backgrounds and nationalities; the term implies losing ethnic differences and forming one large society or macroculture. Although the idea of everyone’s being the same may sound ideal, the problem with this concept is that many U.S. citizens want to main- tain their ethnic-cultural heritage. Rather than being one melting-pot society, therefore, the reality is that many U.S. cities are made up of neighborhoods of people with a common heritage who strive to retain their original culture and language. In San Francisco, a visit to Chinatown with its signs in Chinese and people speaking Chinese verifies this reality. Many street signs in other U.S. cities, such as New York, Miami, or Honolulu, are in another language in addition to English. The result has not been the melding of various cultures into one cultural group as idealists believed would happen. Because cultures exist within cultures (microcultures), com- munication problems often result. In reality, the United States is a salad bowl of cultures rather than a melting pot. Although some choose assimilation, others choose separation. Thus, the assumption that America is a cultural melting pot, which assumes assimilation, is no longer valid (“Differences,” 1996). Intracultural communication is defined as communication between and among members of the same culture. Generally, people who are of the same race, political persuasion, and religion or who share the same interests communicate intraculturally. Having the same beliefs, values, and constructs facilitates communication and defines a particular culture (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). However, because of distance, cultural differences may exist within a culture, such as differences in the pace of life and regional speech patterns between residents of New York City and Jackson, Mississippi. Distance is also a factor in the differences in the dialects of the people of other cultures, such as in northern and southern Japan. The terms intercultural communication and international communication should not be used interchangeably. Intercultural communication, as stated previously, involves communica- tion between people of different cultures. International communication takes place between nations and governments rather than individuals; it is formal and ritualized. The dialogue at the United Nations, for example, is international communication. Because all international business activity involves communication, knowledge of inter- cultural communication and international business communication is important to prepare you to compete successfully in international environments. In fact, upward mobility and promotion in tomorrow’s corporate world may depend on your knowledge of intercultural business communication. GLOBALIZATION, GLOCALIZATION, AND GROBALIZATION Globalization Although globalization has come to the world, most of the world’s businesses are not globalized. Business “globalization is the worldwide diffusion of practices, expansion of relations across continents, organization of social life on a global scale, and growth of shared global conscious- ness” (Ritzer, 2007, p. 4). International firms have subsidiaries or components in other countries; however, control of the foreign operations is maintained at the home-country headquarters. Multinational firms allow their foreign operations to exist as domestic organizations. Most firms 4 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication are international, either sourcing, producing, or exporting. Many times, the product may also be partially or completely manufactured somewhere other than the United States. In the past, some U.S. corporations have been largely insulated from globalization because of a strong domestic market and an absence of foreign competitors. However, this trend is changing as foreign corpo- rations enter the U.S. market. The personnel of an organization must have a global mindset for the firm to succeed in the international marketplace. Laurent (1986), in a study of multinational corporations, found that successful multinational corporations do not submerge the individuality of differ- ent cultures completely in the corporate culture, that intercultural contact can promote a determination not to adjust to other cultures, and that new management theory and practice can be presented only to individuals who are culturally able and willing to accept it. Rhinesmith (1996) states, “The corporate culture contains the values, norms of behavior, systems, policies, and procedures through which the organization adapts to the complexity of the global arena” (p. 14). Successful corporations have found that the values, beliefs, and behaviors of the parent corporation do not need to be the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the offices in other cultures. Hofstede’s (2004) study of IBM determined that managers had to adjust the corporate management philosophy to fit the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the country in which they were working. Companies with franchises abroad have had to make certain adjustments to accommodate the tastes and preferences of individual countries; for example, Tex-Mex cuisine is prepared kosher in Israel. According to Rhinesmith (1996), “Diversity—both domestic and international—will be the engine that drives the creative energy of the corporation of the twenty-first century. Successful global managers will be those who are able to manage this diversity for the innovative and competitive edge of their corporations” (p. 5). Evans, Doz, and Laurent (1990) state that the five elements critical to building a successful corporate culture are (1) a clear and simple mission statement, (2) the vision of the chief executive officer, (3) company-controlled management education, (4) project-oriented management training programs, and (5) emphasis on the processes of global corporate culture (p. 118). Lopez-Vasquez, director of multicultural affairs at the Oregon Health Sciences University and a consultant with IEC Enterprises, Decatur, Georgia, believes that well-meaning managers who become supervisors of Hispanic workers often make the mistake of attempting to adopt a “color-blind” approach. “The cultural disparities are obvious,” he says. Lopez-Vasquez argues for what he calls “essential treatment” for Hispanic employees. “I suggest that companies recognize that today it’s essential to take steps to recruit and retain Hispanics, because Hispanics in the United States represent a fast-growing market and because Central and South America are key areas for success in international markets,” he says. (Staa, 1998, p. 8) Although the United States depends on foreign economic opportunities, multinational firms have had problems with U.S. citizens working in foreign assignments. The failures to adapt included differences in lifestyle, language, and business philosophy as well as problems with finances, government, cultural shock, housing, food, gender, and family. Ruch (1989) found that the ability to blend with the host culture and explain one’s own culture is more important than product, price, or quality advantages. Although many of the people sent on foreign assignments know their U.S. market, they are unable to accept another culture on that culture’s terms even for short periods.  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 5 Glocalization The term “glocalization” refers to “the interpenetration of the global and the local, resulting in unique outcomes in different geographic areas” (Robertson, 2001, in Ritzer, 2007, p. 13). As the world grows more pluralistic, glocalization looks at the uniformity and differences between areas of the world. The degree to which a society chooses to adapt indicates the degree of glocalization that is happening. Globalization can cause glocalization that is nationalistic or cosmopolitan. How globalization of an item is embraced determines the degree of glocalization that happens to the community. Advertising and providing products are not seen as coercive; they allow the new society to receive information with which to accept or reject a product (Robertson, 2001). Grobalization Grobalization, according to Ritzer (2007), “focuses on the imperialistic ambitions of nations, corporations, organizations, and the like and their desire, indeed need, to impose themselves on various geographic areas” (p. 15). Because of the drive for profits to grow, once an organi- zation has saturated one market, it must reach out (globalize) in order to continue the profit’s growth. This expands not only the profits of the organization but also the culture, the efficien- cies, the capitalistic economic system, and the consumption patterns to a new group of people (Ritzer, 2007). As the term grobalization relates to culture, it is an expansion of common codes and prac- tices from one location to another. In other words, it is the imposition of an organization on a new culture. What the locals do with the imposition is the glocalization of the imposition, which involves their acceptance, adaptation, or rejection. Glocalization is the interaction of the old way of doing things with the new. Many times this process results in a replacement of the way things were done previously. Sometimes the process develops into a cultural hybrid, but it does bring change and reaction from the new culture that is being infiltrated. With glocalization, the differ- ent cultures in the world are becoming more alike. Individuals locally have the ability to adapt, innovate, and maneuver; and social processes may range from entrenchment to the old ways of doing things in the culture to embracing of the new. With grobalization, the world is becoming the same; individuals have little control of the changes that are happening to their cultures. Social processes are one-directional because they affect and make a new culture; they do not uphold the old culture (Ritzer, 2007). Although we travel to experience the differences between us and people of other cultures socially, culturally, climatically, scenically, and architecturally, it is becoming more difficult because of globalization, glocalization, and grobalization to see the differences—with the excep- tion of climate and scenery. Multinational corporations have had a significant role in this conver- gence process. While a global strategy for a product means economies of scale, many companies find that where cultural differences are strong, a multidomestic strategy that takes into consider- ation the cultural differences is necessary in order to expand their markets (Marsden, 2008). CULTURE Whereas communication is a process, culture is the structure through which the communication is formulated and interpreted. Culture deals with the way people live. When cultures interact, adaptation must take place for the cultures to communicate effectively. With intercultural busi- ness communication, being aware of each culture’s symbols, how they are the same, and how they are different is important. 6 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication Languages (codes / modes) Verbal Nonverbal Physical Psychological Environment Human Behavior Content Processes Natural Man-Made Knowledge Belief Encoding Systems Decoding Thought FIGURE 1-1 Dimensions of Culture Dimensions of Culture To communicate effectively in the intercultural business environment, knowing all the cultural factors that affect the situation is essential. The graphical representation of culture in Figure 1-1 has three primary dimensions—language, physical, and psychological (Borden, 1991, p. 171). The language, physical, and psychological dimensions of culture are interdependent. As we are born into a society, no one dimension is more important than the others. The individual dimensions develop in harmony with each other. First, the language dimension is used to communicate with other people who have similar values and beliefs. Second, the physical dimension relates to the physical reality of our environ- ment and the cultural activities of the people. The physical dimension is measured objectively. Third, the psychological dimension relates to our knowledge, beliefs, and mental activities. The psychological dimension is measured subjectively. Although we can alter these characteristics and our way of communicating with others, we must first understand our own personal dimen- sions and understand why we are the way we are. Culture is learned through perception. Perceptions are formed in various ways: where we are born and raised, the language we learn, the people and environment with which we live, and the psychological stimuli we encounter. No two individuals view the external world the same because no two individuals receive exactly the same stimuli or share the same physical sensory receptors. Because we know only what we have personally perceived and cannot know for sure what someone else has perceived, intercultural communication involving different cultures becomes particularly difficult (Singer, 1998). Another way to describe culture is by using the cultural metaphor, which has six dimen- sions (Gannon, 2004, p. 8): 1. What do members of a society assume about the nature of people? Specifically, are people good, bad, or a mixture? 2. What do members of society assume about the relationship between a person and nature? Specifically, should we live in harmony with nature or subjugate it? 3. What do members of society assume about the relationship between people? Specifically, should a person act in an individual manner, or should he or she consider the group before taking action (individualism to groupism or collectivism in terms of such issues as making decisions, conformity, and so forth)?  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 7 4. What is the primary mode of activity in a given society? Is it being or accepting the status quo, enjoying the current situation, and going with the flow of things? Or is it changing things to make them better by setting specific goals and accomplishing them within specific schedules? 5. What is the conception of space in a given society? Specifically, is space considered private in that meetings are held in private and people respect an individual’s need for space by avoiding close physical encounters? Or is space viewed as public? That is, every- one participates in meetings and decision making, emotions are expressed publicly, and people stand in close proximity to one another? 6. What is the society’s dominant temporal orientation: past, present, or future? Gannon (2004) uses this system to separate cultures into seven groups: authority-ranking cultures; equality-matching cultures; market-pricing cultures; cleft national cultures; torn national cultures; same metaphor, different meanings cultures; and the base culture and its diffusion across borders. The authority-ranking cultures include Thailand, Japan, India, Bedouins of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Brazil, Poland, and South Korea. The equality- matching cultures include Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Canada, Denmark, and France. The market-pricing cultures include the United States and Britain. Cleft national cultures include Malaysia, Nigeria, Israel, Italy, and Belgium. The torn national cultures include Mexico and Russia. The same metaphor, different meanings cultures are Spain and Portugal. The base culture and its diffusion across borders include China and Singapore. Using a cultural intelligence approach to studying culture suggests that different cultures structure knowledge differently and that these differences determine aspects of behavior and communication such as information that is accepted as a proof for an opinion or argument, the syntax of the information, and the topics that are considered appropriate to discuss. In order for people to be culturally intelligent, they must have cognitive flexibility and metacognition across different cross-cultural settings, the behavioral ability to interact interculturally, and the motiva- tion to do so. Some people are able to communicate interculturally easier than others (Earley, Murnieks, & Mosakowski, 2007). If you find that a particular cultural attitude is constant across cultures, then you do not have to be concerned about that particular cultural trait. However, if you find that a particular cultural attitude varies for specific cultures, you should consider the effect it will have on com- munications with cultures that possess this attitude. A cultural symbol is a word or object that represents something in the culture. Cultural symbol variability may be included in social cognitive processes such as information processing, persuasive strategy selection, conflict man- agement styles, personality, social relations, and self-perceptions as well as habits, norms, rules, roles, networks, language, and environment. All the factors interact and influence each other. To communicate effectively in the intercultural business environment, it is important to know all the cultural factors that affect the situation. Stereotypes of U.S. Culture Stereotypes, perceptions about certain groups of people or nationalities, exist with U.S. persons and those of other cultures. Although stereotyping is a guide to a national culture, it does not work well with individuals, particularly those who have worked in international business or who have lived or studied abroad. Individuals generally differ from their national culture in some aspects (Lewis, 2006). 8 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication In American Ways, Althen (2003) describes typical U.S. businesspersons as people who tend to do the following: Be informal in their relationships. Be rather formal in their business attire (suits for men and dresses or suits for women); however, many firms are becoming more relaxed in their dress codes or have a casual day when employees can dress less formally. Be workaholics because they spend more time working than they do with their families or social engagements; U.S. executives tend to put in long hours at the office. Embarrass foreign businesspeople by doing manual labor (e.g., mowing their own lawns) or tasks that would be done by the lower class or servants in their country. Be overly concerned with time, money, and appointments; people of other cultures interpret the need of U.S. businesspeople to begin meetings on time and start business discussions immediately as an indication that they are unfriendly, impersonal, and cold. Make decisions on hard, objective facts rather than on personal feelings, social relation- ships, or political advantage. Consider contracts and the written word as very important and to be taken very seriously. Be aware of the status differences within the organization; however, generally no display of superiority or inferiority is made, which tends to make rank-conscious foreigners very uneasy. Be mobile; they rarely work for one company all their lives, which is very different from many countries in the world. Convey superiority in their actions because they feel the United States is a superior nation.* Axtell (1994) agreed with Althen (2003) regarding the stereotype that U.S. persons are workaholics; he added these stereotypes of persons in the United States: arrogant, loud, friendly, impatient, generous, and monolingual. These descriptions, admittedly, are stereotypes. Stereotypes of Persons in Other Cultures Axtell (1994, pp. 83–84) asked people in the United States who conduct business with persons outside the United States to give one-word descriptors of their impression of people of other nationalities. Some of these stereotypes are as follows: Culture Image English conservative, reserved, polite, proper, formal French arrogant, rude, chauvinistic, romantic, gourmet, cultural, artistic Italians demonstrative, talkative, emotional, romantic, bold, artistic Latin Americans mañ ana attitude, macho, music loving, touching Asians inscrutable, intelligent, xenophobic (fear/hatred of strangers/foreigners), golfers, group oriented, polite, soft spoken By recognizing differences as well as similarities, businesspersons can adjust their mode of communication to fit the individual culture with which they are communicating. *Adapted from American ways (2nd ed.) by Gary Althen, 2003, Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, Inc. Used by permission.  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 9 ENCULTURATION Enculturation is the socialization process you go through to adapt to your society. When you grow up in one culture, you learn one way of classifying, coding, prioritizing, and justifying reality. Cultural information that you are willing to share with outsiders is considered frontstage culture, while cultural information that is concealed from outsiders is considered backstage culture. An example of frontstage culture is a sales representative who loudly announces, “We got the Hunter Fan account.” This information is readily shared. An example of backstage culture is the sales representative who conceals the fact that his child is mentally retarded. Frontstage and backstage cultures vary by culture and by individuals within the culture because some people are inherently more open than others. As a representative of your company, you need to learn what the culture with which you are working considers acceptable frontstage information that can be shared and what is considered backstage information that is not to be shared with others. Datan, Rodeheaver, and Hughes (1987) use the concept of scripts to explain the cognitive imprinting that happens during enculturation: Individuals experience events in their lives as “scenes”—organized wholes com- bining people, places, time, actions, and in particular, affects that amplify these experiences and provide a sense of urgency about understanding them. Out of early scenes, the individual develops sets of rules for interpreting, evaluating, producing, predicting, or controlling future scenes. These rules—“scripts”—are initially innate but are supplemented and replaced by learned scripts. Higher-order scripts are created when scenes are combined and instilled with fresh affect— “psychological magnification.”... The order in personality development, then, derives from the individual’s need to impose order—the script—on the critical events, or scenes, in life. And, finally, scripts that initially arise from scenes begin to give rise to scenes instead, as the individual’s construction of experience affects experience itself. (p. 164) Examples of such scripts are the inability of the Japanese to say the word “no” directly but instead to say that “it would be difficult,” and the difficulty for someone of a strong Christian background to lie to save face when lying is never condoned for a Christian. ACCULTURATION People do not want to abandon their past; therefore, they acculturate new ideas into their existing culture. Acculturation is the process of adjusting and adapting to a new and different culture (Hazuda, Stern, & Hoffner, 1988). If people of two different cultures absorb a significant number of each others’ cultural differences and have a number of similarities, cultural synergy takes place with the two cultures merging to form a stronger overriding culture. Corporate cultures are examples of the synergy of diverse cultures. A manager, to be productive and creative, must make his or her workers realize that the corporation is more important than individual differences. Differences are not to be suppressed but instead managed to maximize the group’s productivity and creativity (Weaver, 1998). Hofstede’s (2004) work shows that what motivates a worker in one country may or may not be important to a worker in another country. For corporations to get the most from their people, they must have managers who can work effectively with many cultural groups. 10 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication People who learn more than one culture are multicultural and can move between two cul- tures very comfortably. An example of multicultural persons is the royal Grimaldi family of Monaco. Princess Grace was a U.S. citizen and married Prince Ranier of Monaco. The Grimaldi children were raised in Monaco; however, because of the time they spent in the United States, they were acculturated to this country. Although acculturation increases the interconnectedness of cultures, differences are sources of potential problems. All differences will probably not be absorbed by either culture. Acculturation has four dimensions: integration, separation, assimilation, and decultura- tion. When a minority moves into a majority culture, he or she will choose one of these modes either consciously or subconsciously. Although as a majority culture we may feel that assimila- tion is the correct acculturation process, the individual may not feel that this fits his or her needs. Assimilation takes place when individuals are absorbed into their new culture and withdraw from their old culture. Integration takes place when individuals become an integral part of the new culture while maintaining their cultural integrity. Separation happens when individuals keep their culture and stay independent of the new culture. Deculturation occurs when individuals lose their original culture and do not accept the new culture, leading to confusion and anxiety (Alkhazraji, 1997). The acculturation mode that an individual chooses is governed by the indi- vidual’s views and desired ways of life. ETHNOCENTRISM Ethnocentrism is the belief that your own cultural background, including ways of analyzing problems, values, beliefs, language, and verbal and nonverbal communication, is correct. Ethnocentrists believe that their culture is the central culture and that other cultures are incorrect, defective, or quaint. When we evaluate others, we do it through our self-reference criterion because it is what we know. Fisher (1997) in his research refers to ethnocentrism as mindsets. Mindsets are ways of being that allow us to see, perceive, and reason through our own cultural awareness. Mindsets are learned by growing up in a particular culture. We learn to be open or closed to others and their way of living; however, these mindsets can be altered. Mindsets include the psychological and cultural factors that make us individuals and make us different or similar. We are predisposed because of enculturation to perceive and reason accord- ing to our cultural upbringing. Our reactions to situations are preprogrammed until we decide to change. Every culture in the world has a different mindset, and every individual within that culture has a variance to that mindset (Chaney & Martin, 2005). The U.S. mindset includes the concept that the American way is best. (“American” as used in the United States is an example of ethnocentrism because the term “American” actually refers to all the people in North, South, and Central American countries.) Although this is mainly a U.S. concept, people who are born in smaller countries feel the same about their own country—that it is the best place to live. The belief that one’s own culture is best is a natural phenomenon common to all cultures. Although it is natural to be ethnocentric and have a particular mindset, we need to look at other mindsets from the perspective of the people who hold them before we judge them as good or bad. However, we must be careful about general- izing about other cultures or making assumptions about how they view the United States. The term “Ugly American” was derived from the behavior of U.S. travelers observed by persons in other cultures who judged them inconsiderate of the culture they were visiting. This term came from the 1958 book by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick and the subsequent  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 11 1963 movie by the same name. The book and movie depict an incompetent, ignorant U.S. ambassador in a fictional Southeast Asian country. The term quickly caught on to describe rude, self-centered people who have no sensitivity for those who are different from them. In reality, most U.S. Americans, when traveling to other countries, do not fit this stereotype of the Ugly American. They want to understand people of other cultures but are simply uninformed (Bosrock, 1995). NORMS, RULES, ROLES, AND NETWORKS Norms, rules, roles, and networks are situational factors that influence encoding and decoding of both verbal and nonverbal messages within a culture. They are unwritten guidelines people with- in the cultural group follow. Norms are culturally ingrained principles of correct and incorrect behaviors that, if broken, carry a form of overt or covert penalty. Rules are formed to clarify cloudy areas of norms. The U.S. Supreme Court is an excellent example of an organization that looks at the intent of a rule and determines how strongly or loosely it should be followed. A role includes the behavioral expectations of a position within a culture and is affected by norms and rules. Networks are formed with personal ties and involve an exchange of assistance. Networks and the need to belong are the basis of friendships and subgroups (Chaney & Martin, 2005). An example of a political network is the exchange of votes between U.S. legislators needed to support their projects. When the United States decided to help the people of Kuwait defend themselves against Iraq in 1992, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations called in the other ambassadors within his network for their concurrence. The ability to develop networks in intercultural situations can enable you to do business more effectively in multicultural environ- ments. In some cultures such as the Arab, Spanish, and Japanese, networking is essential because they prefer to conduct business with people they know or with associates of people they know (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). SUBCULTURES AND SUBGROUPS Subcultures are groups of people possessing characteristic traits that set apart and distinguish them from others within a larger society or macroculture. The U.S. macroculture, which com- prises 66.07% of the population, is white. The largest U.S. subcultures include Hispanics (or Latinos) (15.06%), African Americans (12.62%), Asians and Pacific Islanders (5.06%), and Native Americans (1.19%) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008a). In addition to ethnicity and race, sub- cultures in the United States may be categorized by age, religion, and sexual preferences. Examples of subcultures (or microcultures) in the United States include teenagers, baby boomers, African Americans, Catholics, disabled individuals, and trade associations. All these groups have similarities to the macroculture but also have some differences. To meet the defini- tion of a subculture, the following three criteria should be met: The group members are self-identifiable; that is, group members want to be considered a part of the group. Group members exhibit behavior that is characteristic of the group. The macroculture recognizes the group as a subculture and has given it a name; for exam- ple, senior citizens (Klopf & McCroskey, 2007). A term used more recently for subcultures is “cocultures,” because of the possible implication that members of “subcultures” or “non- dominant groups” are perhaps inferior (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2007). 12 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication Intercultural business communication necessitates working with subcultures. The subcultures form a diversity of ethnic identities with which managers must learn to work harmoniously. Women are one such subculture. As Adler (1993) states, “Although women represent over 50% of the world’s population, in no country do women represent half, or even close to half, of the corporate managers” (p. 3). In some Middle East, Far East, and South American countries, business is male oriented. Because North American women have pro- gressed in the business world faster than their counterparts in most other countries of the world, they may expect to automatically be accepted by men who would be offended by women in business in their own culture. Although men in some countries are still apprehensive about conducting business with women, Bosrock (1995) states that “regardless of the attitude toward women in a given country, most women are treated politely. Much of the resistance to women in business is directed at local women, not Westerners” (p. 109). Even in Asian and South American cultures where women are traditionally seen as nurturers of the family, atti- tudes are changing. Many employers now are less concerned with gender than performance (Bosrock, 1994, 1997). Women sent abroad have a very high success rate. A self-report showed that 97% of the female expatriate managers were successful, a much higher percent- age than reported by male expatriates (Adler, 1993). Subgroups, although also part of the macroculture, are groups with which the macrocul- ture does not agree and with which it has problems communicating. Members of these groups often engage in communication behavior that is distinctively different from that of the dominant culture. Examples of subgroups include youth gangs, prostitutes, saboteurs, embezzlers, and other groups that have unique experiences and/or characteristics not sanctioned by the macrocul- ture (Dodd, 1997). The vocabularies of subgroup members make it difficult for members of the macroculture and subcultures to understand the intended meanings of the words used by subgroup members (Samovar et al., 2007). CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE Cultural intelligence, according to Peterson (2004), is the ability to exhibit certain behaviors, including skills and qualities, which are culturally tuned to the attitudes and values of others. Cultural intelligence involves the areas of linguistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, intraper- sonal intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence. Although speaking a second language is not essential to linguistic intelligence, it is helpful to learn about the customer’s native language when conducting business internationally. In addition, using international business English can increase effectiveness when communicating with persons of other cultures. Spatial intel- ligence is an important aspect of cultural intelligence; it involves the way space is used during greetings and introductions, as well as during meetings and other encounters. Intrapersonal intelligence involves an awareness of one’s own cultural style in order to make behavioral adjustments to international counterparts. Interpersonal intelligence includes the ability to understand other people and their motivations. Peterson (2004) recognized psychologist Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and summarized succinctly the preceding four categories of cultural intelligence: “To interact well with people from other cultures, it helps to (a) speak a bit of their language, (b) know how closely to stand (and other nonverbal behavior), (c) know about your own cultural style, and (d) know how your cultural style meshes with those of others” (p. 95).  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 13 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS When encountering someone from another culture, communication barriers are often created when the behavior of the other person differs from our own. Communication barriers are obstacles to effective communication. An example of such a barrier is the head nod. The nod indicates understanding in the United States, but in Japan it means only that the person is listen- ing. By understanding intercultural communication, we can break down barriers and pave the way for mutual understanding and respect. The following are barriers to communication: Physical—time, environment, comfort and needs, and physical medium (e.g., telephone or letter) Cultural—ethnic, religious, and social differences Perceptual—viewing what is said from your own mindset Motivational—the listener’s mental inertia Experiential—lack of similar life happenings Emotional—personal feelings of the listener Linguistic—different languages spoken by the speaker and listener or use of a vocabulary beyond the comprehension of the listener Nonverbal—nonword messages Competition—the listener’s ability to do other things rather than hear the communication Several cultural iceberg models exist. What you do not see culturally can be a barrier to your ability to communicate effectively and complete your agenda. As shown in Figure 1-2, the values that are below the “waterline” represent those on which behaviors are based; however, we respond to the surface values that we can sense. To truly understand a culture, we must explore the behaviors below the waterline. The common elements of trust, sincerity, and integrity are necessary to building successful business relationships when cultural differences exist (Funakawa, 1997). environment behaviors ethnic dress language nonverbals religion norms rules perceptions stereotypes networks business subcultures philosophy subgroups values FIGURE 1-2 Cultural Iceberg 14 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication INTERCULTURAL CONSTRUCTS Borden (1991) lists seven constructs that individuals must possess if they are going to succeed interculturally. The degree to which we can understand intercultural communication depends on the degree to which the following are true: We are aware that our intent to communicate, either as communicator or communicatee, may result in only expressive behavior or information gathering, respectively. Our cybernetic (self-concept) in one culture can operate independently of our cybernetic in another culture. We are competent in the languages of other cultures. We are able to work within the constraints (personal, situational, and cultural) of the human communication system established by the communication from other cultures. We are culturally literate in our own and other cultures. We know the position of our culture and other cultures on the four universal dimensions of values and their interaction with the cultural orientation model. We know the cultural orientation of our culture and other cultures on the associative– abstractive, particularistic–universalistic, and closed-minded/open-minded dimensions and can use it as the first approximation of the cognitive style of the communicants (pp. 210–213). The components of Borden’s constructs are discussed in later chapters. GLOBAL MINDSETS In order for managers to be successful interculturally, they will need to develop a global mindset. The Thunderbird Global Mindset Project involved interviews with 215 international executives in the triad. The interviews identified the following attributes as needed by successful intercul- tural managers (Javidan, Steers, & Hitt, 2007, p. 222): 1. Respect for cultural differences 2. Ability to generate positive energy in people from a different part of the world 3. Willingness to adapt, learn, and cope with other cultures 4. Adaptability 5. Willingness to accept good ideas no matter where they originate 6. Ability to excite people from a different part of the world 7. Acknowledgment of the validity of different views 8. Openness to cultural diversity 9. Ability to suspend judgment about those from other cultures 10. Positive attitude toward those from other cultures and regions 11. Self-confidence 12. Understanding of how to build and manage global alliances, partnerships, and value networks 13. Ability to connect with people from other parts of the world 14. Ability to adjust behavior in a different cultural setting 15. Collaborativeness 16. Ability to manage the tension between corporate requirements and local challenges 17. Willingness to work across time and distance 18. Ability to handle complex cross-cultural issues 19. Resiliency  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 15 20. Understanding of the global business and industry 21. Optimism 22. Desire to learn about other cultures and other parts of the world 23. Understanding of cultural similarities 24. Understanding of other cultures and histories 25. Curiosity 26. Passion for learning about and being in other cultures 27. Understanding of the political and economic systems in other parts of the world 28. Risk taking It is clear to see that the corporate leaders of the future will have to have a global mindset in order to be competitive in the global marketplace. MULTINATIONAL MANAGEMENT ORIENTATIONS To compete successfully in a global economy, knowledge of management styles used by interna- tional corporations is also important. With the emergence of the concept of world culture has come a heightened awareness of the interdependence of nations and the need to break cultural barriers and find ways to work harmoniously with people of all cultures. Multinational firms, those located in more than one nation, generally will follow either an ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric, or regiocentric form of management. Multinational firms such as Sony, Quaker Oats, ExxonMobil, Robert Bosch, and Nissan may follow a single man- agement style at all global locations or may use various styles of management to increase productivity while maintaining worker morale. All multinational or global corporations are transnational, which means they cross the borders of countries in conducting their business (Moran & Stripp, 1991). Not all these management styles consider the diversity of cultures working within them, nor are they managed to take advantage of the surprises that surface in multinational management. As Rhinesmith (1996) has stated, global managers have a mindset that allows them to take advantage of and manage the complexity, adaptability, teams, uncertainty, and learning that the global organiza- tion requires. Because people are the most critical factor for an organization to succeed globally, they are also the restraining factor in the firm’s capability to survive and grow. Human resource development personnel must be involved in the education and changing of the mindsets. The global mindset differs from the domestic mindset, as illustrated in Table 1-1 (Rhinesmith, 1996, p. 27). TABLE 1-1 Comparison of Domestic and Global Mindsets Domestic Mindset Global Mindset Functional expertise Bigger, broader picture Prioritization Balance of contradictions Structure Process Individual responsibility Teamwork and diversity No surprises Change as opportunity Trained against surprises Openness to surprises Source: From A manager’s guide to globalization (p. 27) by S. H. Rhinesmith, 1996, Homewood. IL: Richard D. Irwin. Inc. Used with publisher’s permission. 16 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication The person who can manage a domestic operation does not necessarily have the competen- cies to manage a global operation. People who have a global mindset tend to live life in many ways that may be physically, intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually different, depending on the culture with which they are interacting. When a firm is located in one country and all its sales are in the same country, ethnocentric management practices are employed. Ethnocentric management does not account for cultural differences in the workforce. All workers will be treated the same. Many times the management practices employed rely on one person’s views of how the organization should be run. Some domestic corporations financed abroad that purchase goods abroad for resale at home or buy tech- nology abroad still need to think globally because of their international activities (Moran & Stripp, 1991). For example, U.S. car manufacturers complained that their cars were not selling in Japan. These manufacturers, however, had not changed the position of the steering wheel from the left to the right for driving on the opposite side of the road from the United States, and they had not downsized their cars in consideration of the limited space available to park cars in Japan. When a company expands internationally, it must consider the consumers who are targeted to buy its products. Werner G. Hennecker (Pegasus Gold): “We run our business on a certain set of standards, regardless of whether we’re in the United States or Kazakhstan. Our in-house environmental policy is much more stringent than that required by any of the areas in which we operate, but it’s inviolate. It’s been interesting getting people in some parts of the world that haven’t worried much about environmental issues to focus on them. Our solution was to base a large part of our bonus program on employees’ avoidance of environmental incidents.” (Donlon, 1996, p. 3) Polycentric management practices consider the culture of the country in which the firm is located. The people in charge consider the cultural needs of the workers in the area in which the firm is located. A melting-pot effect may seem to exist because the majority’s culture is consid- ered in management decisions. In the United States, you see this particularly in small firms. Leaving the polycentric management practices behind is part of the problem employees have when they move to a foreign country to work because they were comfortable with the old man- agement style (Moran & Stripp, 1991). Regiocentric management considers the region rather than the country in which the firm is located, realizing that countries can and often do have many different cultural backgrounds. The regional theory acknowledges that in the United States all areas are not the same. For exam- ple, different management strategies are required for running a production facility in Michigan with high unionization and a facility in Mississippi with low unionization and different ethnic bases. Management strategies consider the diversity of the workforce (Moran & Stripp, 1991). Unions tend to keep the workers from interacting directly with management. Many firms now want to use Total Quality Management (TQM), which utilizes interaction between workers and management. Saturn automotive built their plant in Springfield, Tennessee, because they could start the plant without a union and implement TQM. Although Saturn now has a workforce that is unionized, the union works with management; and the quality and sales of the Saturn automo- bile have been better than any other General Motors’ product. Shepard: “We’ve also developed a program called Aegon University, in which we put managers in their 30s and 40s from different countries into a dormitory setting and bring in international executives to speak to them. Even more important, this  Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication 17 gives them the opportunity to network individually. They are building an e-mail system among the graduates of Aegon University that lets them share practices they think might work across borders in addition to potential customers that operate globally in the pension business.” (Donlon, 1996, p. 4) Geocentric management requires a common framework with enough freedom for indi- vidual locations to operate regionally to meet the cultural needs of the workers. Geocentric refers to the synergy of ideas from different countries of operation. The most successful multinational corporations use integrated geocentric management. Corporations have common control prac- tices that the individual locations are free to modify. Recognizing the management style used is helpful to competing successfully in a global economy (Moran & Stripp, 1991). Claude I. Taylor (Air Canada): “When we first started to go international, we had Canadians everywhere. We found that didn’t work, because they weren’t accepted and they didn’t understand the local culture. That meant we had two levels of labor problems: We had a management problem and a contract problem. Today, we’re expanding rapidly in the United States, and we have the odd Canadian in there part-time. But our philosophy for outside markets is to bring foreigners—from France, Germany, Hong Kong, and South Korea, for example— into Canada for six months, indoctrinate them about what we do, and then send them back.” (Donlon, 1996, p. 3) The ability of different cultures to communicate successfully in a business environment, to assimilate their cultures and conduct business, and to do this either within the United States or abroad is the emphasis of intercultural business communication. Different cultures do present communication problems; differing business practices and negotiation strategies pose additional problems. Intercultural business communication involves a knowledge and understanding of other cultures, including their subcultures, subgroups, and standards of behavior. With the emer- gence of the concept of a world culture has come a heightened awareness of the interdependence of nations and the need to break the cultural barriers to find ways to work harmoniously with people of all cultures. Bosrock (1995) offers the following “Ten Commandments for Going International”: 1. Be well prepared. 2. Ask questions, be observant, and listen. 3. Make an effort; trying and making a mistake is better than not trying at all. 4. When problems develop, assume the main cause is miscommunication. 5. Be patient; accomplishing your goals in another country/culture usually requires more time and effort. 6. Assume the best about people; most people act on the basis of their learned values and traditions. 7. Be sincere. 8. Maintain a sense of humor. 9. Make an effort to be likable; when people like you, they will forgive your mistakes. 10. Smile. Because the emphasis of this book is on intercultural business communication, countries selected for examples from various cultures focus on those countries with which the United States conducts most of its international business. According to the report of U.S. Exports to 18 Chapter 1 The Nature of Intercultural Communication Individual Countries for 2007, the top 10 countries (in order of high to low) are Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, the Netherlands, France, and Taiwan (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008b). Examples from other countries are included within chapters to illustrate cultural variations in business communication. Terms Acculturation 9 Glocalization 5 Multicultural 10 Backstage culture 9 Grobalization 5 Multinational firm 15 Communication barriers 13 Intercultural business Networks 11 Cultural intelligence 12 communication 2 Norms 11 Cultural symbol 7 Intercultural communication 2 Polycentric management 16 Cultural synergy 9 International communication 3 Regiocentric management 16 Culture 5 Interpersonal intelligence 12 Roles 11 Diffusion 2 Intracultural communication 3 Rules 11 Enculturation 9 Intrapersonal intelligence 12 Spatial intelligence 12 Ethnocentric management 16 Linguistic intelligence 12 Stereotypes 7 Ethnocentrism 10 Macroculture 3 Subculture 11 Frontstage culture 9 Melting pot 3 Subgroup 12 Geocentric management 17 Microculture 3 Transnational 15 Globalization 3 Mindsets 10 World culture 2 Exercise 1.1 Instructions: Match the following terms with their definition. 1. D Belief that your own culture is superior A. Acculturation 2. C The socialization process we go through to learn a culture B. Backstage culture 3. I A sociocultural assimilation C. Enculturation 4. B Cultural information concealed from outsiders D. Ethnocentrism 5. A Absorption of new ideas into existing culture E. Frontstage culture 6. H Between members of same culture F. Intercultural 7. F Between persons of different cultures G. International 8. G Between nations and governments H. Intracultural 9. K Groups having traits differing from the macroculture I. Melting pot 10. J Culturally ingrained principles of correct/ J. Norms incorrect behavior K. Subcultures Questions and Cases for Discussion 1. The United States has long been called a melting 6. What is cultural synergy? pot. What does this term mean? 7. Distinguish between intercultural communication 2. What does it mean for a firm to be global? and intracultural communication. 3. Give examples of how products have been globalized. 8. Identify the dimensions of culture. 4. Explain the differences between norms, roles, 9. Identify types of barriers to communication. rules, and networks. 10. Are business cultures necessarily aligned to national 5. Define a subculture and give examples of U.S. cultures? subcultures. CHAPTER 3 Contrasting Cultural Values OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this chapter, you will appreciate the role that values play in communicating effectively with persons from other cultures. understand differences in word meanings among cultures. learn how attribution and perception play a role in cultural values. appreciate attitude differences toward men and women in various cultures. understand how attitudes toward work and ethics vary with the culture. learn how religious influences impact cultural values. understand how individualism and collectivism play a role in cultural values. VALUES Values form the core of a culture. Values are social principles, goals, or standards accepted by persons in a culture. They establish what is proper and improper behavior as well as what is normal and abnormal behavior. Values are learned by contacts with family members, teachers, and religious leaders. What people hear, read, and watch on television influences their value systems. People in various cultures have different attitudes toward women, ethical standards, and work. Semantic differences and attributions affect cultural values as do religious influences. Because the U.S. workplace is becoming increasingly diverse culturally, managers need to be aware of the values of all workers. Managers are more likely to understand what motivates 51 52 Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values people of different cultures and to deal effectively with problem situations if they understand the cultural background of the person. Some values held by people in the United States are not shared by people in other cultures. In his book American ways, Althen (2003) identifies a number of U.S. values and assumptions, including equality, informality, individualism, directness, and attitude toward the future, time, and work. People in the United States may claim that all persons are equal and that no person is superior to another simply because of wealth, education, or social status. In reality, subtle distinctions are made within a group to acknowledge status differences, many of which are nonverbal. Because of this belief in equality, U.S. Americans are uncomfortable with certain displays of respect, such as bowing, that are common in some cultures. Although inequalities do exist, many women hold positions of power and influence in education, government, and industry. People in the United States also are rather informal when compared to people of other cultures. They often dress more casually. In fact, it is not unusual to see the president of the United States dressed in casual attire. The posture of U.S. people is often informal; assuming a slouched stance or putting feet on a desk or chair is not uncommon. The speech of U.S. people is also rather informal; they often address people they hardly know by their first names. Another quality that people in the United States value is directness. They prefer that people be open and get to the point. Such sayings as “What is the bottom line?” and “Put your cards on the table” illustrate the importance placed on directness in the United States. In some cultures, such as those found in Asia, people do not value directness. They will not reveal their emotions using the same nonverbal cues as Westerners; therefore, people in the United States have difficulty reading Asian body language (the reverse is also true). U.S. Americans generally believe that honesty and truthfulness are important unless the truth would hurt a person’s feelings or unless they do not know the person well enough to be candid. They are less concerned with saving face than are people in Asia. People in the United States value time; they study time-management principles to learn how to get more work done in a day. They are concerned with punctuality for work and appoint- ments, and they study ways of working more efficiently. The success of the fast-food industry in the United States is directly related to eating on the run rather than wasting time lingering over meals. In other parts of the world, mealtime is very leisurely. In many South American countries, businesses close for two hours in the middle of the day for a long meal and a siesta (rest), but people often work into the evening. The importance of time to different cultures is directly related to religious dogma. The Puritans who came to the United States were more concerned with wasting time and with plan- ning for the future than about the past or present. Native Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, and Asians, however, come from a different combination of religious biases and cultural differences and are occupied with the past and present. One of the reasons Deming’s theory of management was adopted in Japan before it was adopted in the United States was the amount of time it takes to formulate group decisions as opposed to individual decisions. The Japanese have always been team oriented; therefore, it was easier for Deming to sell them on his theories. People in the United States do not place as great an emphasis on history as do people of many other cultures; they look to the future and consider change to be desirable, particularly if  Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values 53 they are Christians. In the Asian, Arabic, and Latin cultures, the past is revered. Their future is determined by fate or, in some religions, by the Almighty. People of the Islamic faith believe that if they work hard and pray, everything will be as Allah desires. They simply try to live in harmony with whatever changes occur, rather than seeking change, as is true in the U.S. culture. Table 3-1 contains contrasts of the priority of cultural leadership theories (CLT) of the different cluster groups in the House (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004, p. 682) study. TABLE 3-1 Ranking of Societal Clusters Using Absolute CLT Scores Charismatic/ Humane Self- Value Based Team Oriented Participative Oriented Autonomous Protective Higher Higher Higher Higher Higher Higher Anglo L. America Germanic E. Southern Asia E. Europe Southern Asia L. America Nordic E. Sub-Sahara Germanic E. Middle East Southern Asia Anglo Arabs Confucian A. Confucian A. Germanic E. Anglo Southern Asia E. Europe Nordic E. Nordic E. Anglo Middle East L. Europe Sub-Sahara Arabs L. America Sub-Sahara Arabs E. Europe L. America Confucian A. L. America L. Europe Southern Asia L. Europe L. America Sub-Sahara E. Europe Nordic E. Sub-Sahara Middle East Arabs Confucian A. Anglo Arabs E. Europe L. Europe Sub-Sahara Arabs Germanic E. Germanic E. Confucian A. Middle East Middle East E. Europe L. Europe Anglo Southern Asia Nordic E. Germanic E. Confucian A. Nordic E. Middle East Lower Lower Lower Lower Lower Lower Charismatic/ Team Oriented Participative Humane Autonomous Self- Value Based Oriented Protective A study of the chart reveals that while a culture may have some leadership characteris- tics that they share with another culture, no two cultures rank the leadership characteristics the same way. 54 Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values SEMANTIC DIFFERENCES Semantics is the study of the meaning of words; it involves the way behavior is influenced by the use of words and nonverbal methods to communicate. Words in the English language often have multiple meanings, some of which are contradic- tory. The word sanction, for example, may mean either to restrict a particular activity or to authorize it. Semantic differences are compounded when interacting with people of other cultures. Even when both speak the same language, a word may have a different meaning and implication in another culture. Although England and Australia are English-speaking countries, words are often used in a different way in these countries from the way they are used in the United States. The word homely, for example, means “plain” in the United States although in England, it means friendly, warm, and comfortable. To the English, a sharp person is one who is devious and lacking in principles rather than one who is quick, smart, and clever, which is its meaning in the United States. The expression “quite good” has a different meaning to the English than to U.S. Americans. While the English interpretation is “less than good,” the U.S. meaning is “very good.” Australian English also holds some surprises for people in the United States. In Australia you would hear such terms as bloke for “man,” lollies for “candy,” and sandshoes for “sneakers.” A misunderstanding over the meaning of one word during an important meeting in World War II caused an argument between U.S. Americans and the British. The problem was caused by the British interpretation of the phrase “to table an item,” which to them means to bring up the item for immediate consideration. The U.S. interpretation, on the other hand, was to shelve or postpone the subject. (Axtell, 1994) Language problems are compounded when conducting business with people in non- English-speaking countries. Differences in the meanings of words are often lost in translation. Sometimes a word has no real counterpart in the other language, and the translator must select a word that he or she believes is similar to the meaning intended. Semantic differences can be seen in the meaning of the word “stop” in the United States and in South America. A U.S. American while traveling in Bolivia observed that drivers rarely stopped at the red octagonal sign with the word alto, the Spanish word for “stop.” A local Bolivian explained that in this country, the stop sign is more a recommendation than a traffic law. Brand names for U.S. products have caused problems when translated into another lan- guage. For example, the Spanish translation of Ford Motor Company’s Fiera truck means “ugly old woman,” not a very flattering name for a vehicle. U.S. firms have had to exercise greater care when introducing products in non-English-speaking countries because of marketing errors made in the past when product names and slogans were translated into another language (Axtell, 1994). When conversing with people of other cultures, be sure your meaning is clear by avoiding slang, contractions, and idioms; by paraphrasing what the other person has said; and by speaking slowly and distinctly.  Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values 55 ATTRIBUTION AND PERCEPTION Attribution, or the ability to look at social behavior from another culture’s view, can cause com- munication problems because known experiences from your own culture are used in explaining unknown behaviors of those in another culture. Perception, the learned meaning of sensory images, may involve learning a new reaction to an old learned stimulus. Dunkin’ Donuts discontinued an ad featuring Rachael Ray, a celebrity on the Food Network, when it received complaints that the fringed black-and-white scarf Ms. Ray was wearing could be viewed as support for Muslim extremists and terrorists (Fox News, 2008). To lessen anxiety when communicating with someone of an unfamiliar culture, reducing uncertainty and increasing predictability about your own and the other person’s behavior are important. The uncertainty-reduction theory, according to Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey (1988), “involves the creation of proactive predictions and retroactive explanations about our own and others’ behavior, beliefs, and attitudes” (p. 22). People who have high uncertainty avoid- ance prefer to specialize, avoid conflict, want clear instructions, and do not want competition. Some ways to reduce uncertainty about other people include observing them, trying to get information about them, and interacting with them. Uncertainty avoidance can be used to determine whether people who have different con- victions can be personal friends. People from countries with weak uncertainty avoidance are more likely to remain close friends in spite of differing opinions, although those in countries with strong uncertainty avoidance are less likely to remain friendly following open disagreements. Some key differences between weak and strong uncertainty avoidance societies in the workplace are noted in Table 3-2 (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). TABLE 3-2 Uncertainty Avoidance Weak Uncertainty Avoidance Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Shorter employment time with employers Longer employment time with employers Few rules expected Emotional need for rules Tolerance for ambiguity Need for precision and formalization Top managers concerned with strategy Top managers concerned with daily operations Focus on decision process Focus on decision content Better at invention, worse at implementation Worse at invention, better at implementation Source: Based on chart in Cultures and organizations (p. 189) by G. Hofstede & G. J. Hofstede, 2005, London: McGraw-Hill Book Company. Attribution training involves making people aware of their own cultural context and how it differs from the cultural context of the country to which they will travel. Measuring employees’ attribution confidence and then training them to be cognizant of their personal differences with the assignment culture is often used to prepare employees for overseas assignments. Employees are given scenarios that summarize problems they may encounter while living in another country. Participants are then asked to select the one response considered correct from the viewpoint of the 56 Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values native of the country being studied. With feedback from the trainer and exposure to numerous sit- uations, participants are better able to understand cultural variations in behavior and look at the situation from the other culture’s viewpoint. ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN Attitudes are our likes (or affinities) and dislikes (or aversions) to certain people, objects, or situations. Attitudes are rooted in our behavior and in our emotions (Weaver, 1998). Sometimes our personal attitudes may differ from those of the macroculture or dominant culture. For example, a U.S. American male may have the attitude that women belong in the home and not in the workplace. The attitude of the macroculture, however, is that women may choose to work or to stay home and take care of the family. A society’s attitudes toward women are influenced by cultural roots. In some cultures, such as the United States, women are supposed to have the same rights as men. In other countries, such as Libya and Kenya, women are considered subordinate to men. In fundamental Islamic cultures, women are allowed to work only with other women. Although according to the Qur’an women must give consent to their marriage, are given inheritance, and have equal religious rights and responsibilities with men, Qur’an verses also depict men as superior to women. However, Muslim women cover themselves for protection from those who might hurt them. The Muslim proverb demonstrates this: “A woman is like a jewel: You don’t expose it to thieves.” Most women of Islamic faith embrace their religious traditions just as women of other faiths embrace theirs (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2007, p. 95). This attitude toward a woman’s role in society is carried into the workplace. In the United States, gender differences in the workplace are deemphasized. The women’s rights movement has worked for such legislation as fair employment laws requiring that men and women must be given equal pay for equal work. Even though differences in pay still exist, treating men and women equally is expected in U.S. firms. The acceptance of women at higher levels is evidenced by the appointments of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the U.S. Supreme Court and Condoleezza Rice as U.S. Secretary of State. The number of women appointees to top national- and state-level positions continues to increase. In large corporations, the number of women executives is also on the increase. Women-owned businesses are making a significant contribution. In fact, in 2006 there were 7.7 million businesses owned by women in the United States generating $1.1 trillion in annual sales and employing 7.2 million people (National Numbers, 2006). Women in the United States own 10.73% of the businesses compared to 18.45% that are owned by men (Allen, Elam, Langowitz, & Dean, 2007). Women in the United States earn 77 cents for every dollar men make, which is much better than the 59 cents to the dollar that women earned in the 1960s. The largest differences are for women with college degrees (Bravo, 2008). Compared to this U.S. trend, women in France own 3.16% of the businesses compared to 6.66% owned by men; in the United Kingdom 6.15% of females own businesses compared to 15% owned by men; and in Thailand 45.42% of businesses are owned by women compared to 51% that are owned by men. What is interesting is that the gender difference is more pronounced in high-income countries. Europe and low/middle income Asian countries show the largest gaps with Latin American and Caribbean low/middle-income countries showing the largest business ownership by women. However, women entrepreneurs in high-income countries have more education than those in low/middle-income countries (Allen et al., 2007).  Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values 57 According to Axtell, Briggs, Corcoran, and Lamb (1997), attitudes toward women changed greatly during the 1990s. More companies, such as American Airlines, DuPont, and Procter & Gamble, were hiring women. More women are earning business undergraduate degrees and M.B.A.s than ever before. In certain situations, it has been found that women give a company a competitive advantage. Many times the largest hurdles for women are the mispercep- tions and sexist attitudes of managers in the United States rather than barriers in international business. Barbara Fischer, an international attorney from Minneapolis, says, “American women have an advantage over American men doing business in Japan. Japanese men’s style of communicating— indirect, hesitant, ambiguous speech—is the way women have been socialized. It’s what we in the United States had to unlearn, the being deferential and patient.” (Axtell et al., 1997, p. 141) Recent studies have found that women adapt better than men in intercultural situations (Halsberger, 2007). Women manage adversity better and are often given “glass cliff” assign- ments that have a greater risk of failure and criticism than men (Ryan & Haslam, 2007). One problem for men and women are couples who have dual careers. Companies are beginning to recognize the special problems these couples face and are trying to give support to the spouse as well as to the employee in international assignments (Altman & Shortland, 2008). Following the collapse of communism and the rise of the Pacific Rim, a New World order is emerging with a larger number of countries following the democratic system of government. With democracy come increased opportunities, especially for women and especially in govern- ment and politics. In a study of 7,200 businesses worldwide, the percentage of women in senior management positions has grown from 19% in 2004 to 22% in 2007. In the United States, women hold top management positions in 23% of the businesses surveyed; Australia, 22%; France, 21%; Germany, 12%; the United Kingdom, 19%; China, 32%; Philippines, 50%; Hong Kong, 35%; the Russian Federation, 34%; South Africa, 29%; Sweden, 22%; Mexico, 20%; India, 14%; and Japan, 7% (“Businesses,” 2007). U.S. women in international assignments comprised 13% to 14% of the employees on international assignment in 1998 (Varma, Stroh, & Schmitt, 2001). In many countries of the world, women are just beginning to be accepted at managerial levels. Progress in the advancement of women is slow in the Middle East. In such countries as Saudi Arabia, the Islamic belief in the subordination of women has impeded the progress of working women. Women in Mexican businesses are respected, but they are expected to compete on an equal footing with men and prove their competence. Although Mexican businesses have historically been male dominated, this seems to be changing as many Mexican businesswomen are now enjoying success at managerial levels. With mounting global competitiveness, companies need to examine their current attitudes and practices toward women to ensure that they are making maximum use of their resources and that selection and promotion decisions are based solely on qualifications rather than along gender lines. Fortunately, people in many other countries, including those where women are not treated as equals, are beginning to change their sexist attitudes and are less concerned with gender than performance. Although some women in various countries may have received their first job opportunities from family or political connections, others advanced because of professional qualifications and 58 Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values job competence. Major problems that women in the workforce have faced, such as childcare and trying to combine a career and family, are common to all cultures. As more women are success- ful in managing multiple priorities and demands on their time and as they demonstrate that they are equally effective in high positions in business and politics, it will be easier for women in all cultures to advance to positions of prestige, importance, and responsibility. The following quote by the late mayor of Ottawa expresses the view held by many women in the workplace. Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, that is not difficult (Charlotte Whitton). WORK ATTITUDES Attitudes toward work are culturally diverse. The term work attitudes refers to how people of a culture view work. Work, defined as mental or physical activities directed to socially productive accomplishments, in some societies is associated with economic values, status and class, and cultural values. People in the United States value work and tend to subscribe to the work ethic, which means that hard work is applauded and rewarded although failure to work is viewed nega- tively and with disdain. U.S. Americans admire people who work hard and are motivated to achieve; they have an aversion to idleness and prefer people of action to people of ideas. This concept of the United States as a work-ethic society is sometimes referred to as the “Protestant ethic,” which suggests that a person’s work (or “calling”) comes from God and that people demonstrate their worth to the Almighty and to themselves through their work. Proverbs such as “Blessed is he who has found his work” and “Satan finds mischief for idle hands” express the idea that in the United States, work is virtuous as well as respectable (Ferraro, 2001). Reward systems in many firms are based on an employee’s achievement and willingness to work beyond a 40-hour week. U.S. senior-level executives often work 56 hours a week, far more than in many European countries. They take only 14 days of vacation a year, far fewer than in some countries in Europe, where people often close businesses for a month to go on vacation (Utroska, 1992). According to the International Labor Organization (ILO, 2007), the average number of hours worked per week, per person for select countries is shown in Table 3-3. TABLE 3-3 Working Hours per Week by Country (2007) Country Hours (avg.) Country Hours (avg.) Singapore 50.5 United States 42.8 China 47.1 Switzerland 41.2 India 46.9 The Netherlands 38.5 South Korea 46.0 Germany 37.9 Mexico 44.7 New Zealand 37.8 Japan 43.5 France 36.2  Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values 59 This attitude toward work and responsibility to a job is ingrained from an early age in the United States. Parents teach their children about the American free enterprise system, which is based on the premise that you are the master of your own destiny, that you can be anything you want to be if you are willing to try hard enough, and that you will be rewarded for hard work. In contrast, people in the Islamic countries place great importance on the will of Allah and believe that planning for the future would conflict with religious beliefs. To people in the United States, the job is almost an identification badge. A person’s per- sonal identity is associated with his or her occupation. Evidence of this identification with the job is shown when making introductions. People tend to include the person’s occupation or job title along with the name; for example, “I’d like to present Betty Freeman, owner of the Health Hut” or “This is Jay Hunt, president of Southern Express.” Success is not only measured by the job title but by the perception of what one earns; the implication is that the high income has prob- ably resulted from the person’s willingness to work 12- and 14-hour days, seven days a week. People in the United States are action oriented; they are often unable to relax because they feel guilty doing nothing. People from other cultures have observed that U.S. Americans even work at relaxing. Television commercials in the United States often depict an activity as leisure—activities that persons in other cultures would consider manual labor such as gardening or washing the car. When they do take vacations, U.S. Americans are inclined to plan what they will do and where they will go so that the entire time is scheduled. Even those who participate in sports for recreation seem to try to make work out of it (Althen, 2003). A graduate student from India recounted his first experience at being invited to the home of a U.S. graduate student. When he arrived, his U.S. friend invited him into the house, where he was dressing his son while his wife was sweeping the patio. His friend then asked him to help with grilling the chicken outdoors. As the Indian student narrated the story in his intercultural communication class, he expressed surprise that his friend and his wife did all their own work. In his country, he had never swept a floor, cooked a meal, or dressed his children. Unlike people in a number of countries, many people in the United States consider spend- ing hours visiting a waste of time and may excuse themselves from a group because they say they need to get back to work. People in other countries view with both amazement and amusement this apparent obsession with work. In much of Europe, attitudes toward work seem to be more relaxed. Many businesses close during the month of August when people go on vacation. Most Europeans do not work on week- ends or holidays, as they believe this is time that should be spent with family or engaging in personal activities. The French, in particular, value their vacation time and prefer not to work overtime. They enjoy the longest vacations of any country in the world; French law dictates that employees receive a minimum of five weeks of vacation a year. German companies appear to be moving in this direction as well. Despite the extended free time, people of both France and Germany are very productive when they work. Australians, too, value free time; they say they work to get a vacation. Australians have the shortest working hours of any country in the world, and they enjoy taking frequent breaks throughout the day. Although many people of the United States receive a two- or three-week vacation, the individual vacation time periods are staggered so that businesses will not be closed for an extended period. Upper-level management workers often do not take all their vacation time each 60 Chapter 3 Contrasting Cultural Values year. Because of these attitudes toward work, the culture of the United States is referred to as a “live to work” culture in contrast to the cultures in countries such as Mexico that are “work to live” cultures. The attitude of Japanese men toward work is very group oriented, and it plays a major role in their lives. They work Monday through Friday; 18-hour days are not unusual. Because of the long hours, relaxation does not include working around the house. Instead, they relax by watch- ing television, playing computer games, browsing the Internet, drinking, or joining their friends at the local bar. However, this attitude appears to be changing as they become more Westernized. A study in Mexico of Mexican expatriate managers found that they could motivate the workforce through building community and allowing collective control versus paternalistic control to dictate the way the facility operated. They found that most problems were caused by intercultural misunderstandings (stereotypes) rather than by local cultural issues (Litrico, 2007). ATTITUDES TOWARD ETHICS Ethical standards are guidelines established to convey what is perceived to be correct or incor- rect behavior by most people in a society. According to Ferrell and Gardiner (1991), ethical conduct “is something judged as proper or acceptable based on some standard of right and wrong” (p. 2). According to Borden (1991), being ethical means keeping your values in balance; if you compromise your values, you are being unethical. What it comes down to, according to Rabbi Dosick (2000), is that you have to determine what is right and what is wrong. Although there are sometimes penalties for doing both right and wrong, you have to be able to live with yourself and sleep at night. Truth, according to U.S. beliefs, is an important aspect of ethical behavior. People in the United States have been taught from childhood to always tell the truth. Some parents even tell their children, “If you’ll just tell me the truth, I won’t punish you.” Therefore, as adults, U.S. persons subscribe to the saying, “Always tell the truth; let your word be your bond, and let your honor be your word” (Dosick, 2000, p. 19). When Abraham Lincoln was a young boy, he was a clerk in a small dry-goods store. One day, after real- izing that he had overcharged a customer, he walked two miles through the snow to return the overcharge of one penny (Dosick, 2000). Personal ethics or moral standards may differ from societal ethics. Your own standards of what is right and wrong may be more stringent than those of your society as a whole. Problems may occur when the reverse is true, that is, when your ethical standards are lower than those con- sidered acceptable by society. Of course, your ethical standards must meet the minimum level of behavior identified by law as acceptable. It has been found that peer reporting of unethical behavior is affected by cultural attitudes and styles of communication. Cultural unfamiliarity affects the communication of seen unethical behaviors. Culturally diverse encounters have revealed different patterns of expression, modes of behavior, value sets, attitudes, and styles of communication within the same nation. Cultural diversity includes race, gender, sexual orienta- tion, age, religion, socioeconomic backgrounds, and such. Some of the cult