Intercultural Communication

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Intercultural Communication

• Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society
• Hong Kong Summit
• Edmond I Ko
• City University of Hong Kong
• 27 August 2003

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Outline

• What is intercultural communication?
• Why is it important?
• How can one be effective at intercultural
  communication?

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What is culture?

• Culture is about customs, arts, social
  institutions, etc. of a particular group of
  people.
• Culture can be objective (e.g., food, clothing)
  and subjective (e.g., values, attitudes, norms of
  behavior). It is often the subjective elements
  that involve interpretation and evaluation.
• Culture can play an important role in how people
  interact with each other.

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What is intercultural communication (IC)?

• Communication is about a person sending a message
  to another. Effective communication occurs when
  the message sent is the same as the message
  received.
• Intercultural communication takes place when
  people of different cultural backgrounds interact
  with each other.

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The most important in communication is to
hear what isnt being said. --- Peter Drucker
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Why is IC important?

• With a global economy, chances are we will
  interact more and more with people of different
  cultural backgrounds.
• People can get very uncomfortable or upset when
  their cultural values are challenged and
  culturally-accepted behaviors are violated.
• Culture clashes, which arise out of a
  misunderstanding of others cultures, are often
  the roadblock to effective communication.
• People who can work across cultural barriers will
  be a real asset to multinational corporations
  because they can get things done.

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A key requirement for future leaders

• The ability to
• attract the best people from anywhere to work
  for/with you
• create an environment for your people to perform
  at their best anywhere

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Theres just no place you can go any longer and
escape the global problems, so ones thinking
must become global. --- Theodore Roszak
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How can the IC skills of university students be
enhanced?

• Raising awareness is a good first step
• Incorporating IC development as part of
  communication skills development
• Providing resources (see references at the end)
• Offering workshops/seminars/courses
• Creating intercultural experiences (exchange,
  tours, internships, international networks)

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Some useful tips

• To be better at intercultural communication, you
  should
• keep an open mind
• respect diversity
• not make assumptions readily
• be mindful of the importance of body language
• learn to listen with empathy
• have a high tolerance of ambiguity
• develop a sense of humor

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Cultural dimensions

• Cultural dimensions are yardsticks that can be
  used to characterize a particular culture.
• A word of caveat the very essence of cultural
  sensitivity is to respect diversity and not to
  stereotype groups of people, so cultural
  dimensions should be viewed as broad
  categorizations.

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Cultural dimensions

• Power distance (hierarchy, formality)
• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Context (the entire array of stimuli surrounding
  every communication)
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Masculinity vs. femininity
• Concept of time (monochronic vs. polychronic)

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Confucian-heritage culture (CHC)

• Inner harmony
• Moderation in all things (????)
• Pursue key virtues such as righteousness, filial
  piety, and propriety.
• Social harmony
• Collectivism/face/guanxi (??)
• Structural harmony
• Conforming to expected behavior pattern
• Respecting a hierarchical structure

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Common problems for Westerners working in CHC

• Indirectness
• Silence does not mean yes, and there are many
  ways to say no.
• Public criticism and disagreement are rare.
• Perceived slowness
• Establishing a relationship is more important
  than driving for results.
• Committing cultural faux pas
• Upsetting the hierarchy (e.g., talking to a
  subordinate instead of the boss) or failing to
  follow protocol.

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Common problems for Chinese working in a Western
culture

• Language proficiency
• Turn-taking in speaking at meetings
• Raising questions/challenging authority
• Blowing ones own horn/making requests to ones
  superior
• Voicing disagreements with peers/colleagues

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Parting thoughts

• By participating in this summit and being part of
  ASES, you are already off to a great start in
  developing your IC competence.
• To maximize your learning from this experience,
  be reflective and active.
• Stay in touch with your network of friends. Take
  the necessary time and efforts to cultivate your
  relationships.

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Its the things in common that make
relationships enjoyable, but its the
little differences that make them interesting.
--- Todd Ruthman
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References

• K. Cushner and R. W. Brislin (1996).
  Intercultural Interactions A Practical Guide,
  2nd edition, Sage.
• H. N. Seelye and A. Seelye-James (1995). Culture
  Clash Managing in a Multicultural World, NTC
  Business Book.
• M. OHara-Devereaus and R. Johansen (1994).
  Global Work Bridging Distance, Culture Time,
  Jossey-Bass.
• I. Varner and L. Beamer (1995). Intercultural
  Communication in the Global Workplace, Irwin.
• R. Scollon and S. W. Scollon (1995) Intercultural
  Communication A Discourse Approach, Blackwell.
• M. M. Wang, R. W. Brislin, W. Z. Wang, D.
  Williams and J. H. Chao (2000) Turning Bricks
  into Jade, Intercultural Press.