Intercultural Management

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Intercultural Management

• Culture

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Culture Definition

• Culture is a system that enables individuals and
  groups to deal with each other and the outside
  world.
• Culture means shared values, beliefs,
  assumptions of who and what we are.
• They manifest themselves in our behavior and
  language, the groups we belong to, the nature of
  our society.
• They are externalized in our artefacts, our art
  and technology.
• Our physical environment conditions our
  technology and art, our behavior and language,
  and our identity

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Language

• The most important competence in international
  business
• Ability to understand and make yourself
  understood
• The most obvious characteristic of another
  culture

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Language

• Know at least some of the essential politeness
  words it is a courtesy.
• An acquaintance with someone elses home language
  helps to understand them then they are speaking
  yours.
• Language is not only a vehicle for communication
  but gives an insight into a peoples way of
  thinking, attitudes and behaviour.

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Differences
English ?French pleasure, sophistication
French ? British violence, boring food
Quite pleased UK fairly US very
Table an idea UK put on the agenda US put off the agenda
Coach US manager UK trainer, tutor
International English Simple vocabulary, standard pronounciation Native English accents, colloquialism, slang difficult to understand
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How to use language?

• Language is not only the words we speak, it is
• Body language, dress, manners, attitudes and
  conventions of behavior
• Scandinavians, Dutch very explicit, try to say
  exactly what they mean, use facts and figures to
  back it up
• British more vague, fond allusion and
  understatement, hints and hedging which many
  foreigners find confusing

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Humor

• Britain and Ireland humor is used to create a
  relaxed atmosphere, ligthen tedium and diffuse
  tension, disguises aggression
• North America a speech or presentation starts
  with a joke
• Other cultures humor has no place at work
• Outside the business environment a sense of humor
  is well developed in Germany, Japan or Turkey

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Oral styles

• Direct speakers appear rude and overbearing to
  indirect speakers
• Indirect speakers appear evasive and unclear to
  direct speakers
• Different communication styles lead to
  misunderstanding
• In France people speak more loudly than in other
  countries they appear domineering to soft
  speakers (Turkey) who seem uncommitted and
  unenthusiastic
• Expansive gestures and emphatic facial
  expressions (Greece) seem aggressive to people
  whose body language is restrained (Germany)
• Simultaneous speakers (Ireland) appear shallow
  and rude to serial speakers (Finland)
• It is important to avoid drawing wrong
  conclusions from other peoples styles

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Oral, literal, and visual

• You can tell someone to love them or write a love
  letter or draw a heart with an arrow through it.
• Different cultures use this in different
  proportions
• Northern cultures are more literal, southern
  Europeans are more oral
• People from literal cultures will not take the
  spoken word seriously unless it is confirmed in
  writing (letter, fax)
• For oral cultures written communication is
  primarily for the record ? confirm letters and
  faxes with a covering phone call.
• In America communication is primarily literal but
  at the sime time more visual than in Europe
  incorporating graphics, diagrams and
  highlightened bullet points

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Business or personal

• Middle of a negotiation Northern Europeans and
  Americans order in sandwiches and coffee for
  lunch
• Business relationship is independent from
  personal relationship
• For southern Europeans food and drink figure
  higher in their value system
• Southern Europe and East Its important to
  cement social and personal relationships before
  you can even start to work together. You need
  introductions, references and time to develop
  personal relationships.
• Hospitality and gift giving are an integral part
  of the courtship period.
• Business between companies business between
  individuals
• It takes much longer to start business in
  relationship cultures

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Literature Mole,John Mind Your Manners.
Manging business cultures in the global Europe,
Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London 2003