BRIDGING THE DIVIDE EXECUTIVE “CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE … · 1 BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: DEVELOPING...
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1 BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: DEVELOPING EXECUTIVE “CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE” FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE presented for the German-American Business Council of Boston and the French American Chamber of Commerce Goethe-Institut, Boston June 3, 2013 Frank Conway
Transcript of BRIDGING THE DIVIDE EXECUTIVE “CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE … · 1 BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: DEVELOPING...
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BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: DEVELOPING EXECUTIVE “CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE”
FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE
presented for the German-American Business Council of Boston
and theFrench American Chamber of Commerce
Goethe-Institut, BostonJune 3, 2013 Frank Conway
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Is this one village or two connected by a precarious little bridge? Is this even about the village or is it about the river? Infuse and assimilate Confluence – A flowing together
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Bigger picture, more to bridge, different streams Infuse and assimilate Confluence – A flowing together
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Frame of Reference
1. Work in international teams (virtual and collocated)2. Project work internationally for and with global companies3. 30 years living and working abroad4. Localization business5. Study abroad coordination
Common thread – learning and education in international contexts
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Themes
› Cost of cross-cultural miscommunication or blindness› Too big for our own good› Decoding 1:1 and human universals› Stereotypes and meta-level
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Cost of Cross-Cultural Miscommunication
› April 2013 – Tesco (Fresh and Easy) failure in US results in billions loss in profits
› Walmart in Germany› BMW – Rover merger› Corporate culture can cloak challenge› Economy of knowledge workers depend on communication
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Presentation Notes
Tesco 2 billion GBP loss 199 stores to be sold or closed Walmart 1 billion loss Hiring old people to greet customers Morning warm up sessions
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Too big for our own good?
› The power - distance dimension and the native language factor› Imperial, colonial, global?› Lands of immigration and emigration› Bias toward extraversion or introversion
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Decoding 1:1 and Looking for Universals
› When in Rome…?› Knigge für Weltbümmler?› Non-verbal and paraverbal› Proxemics and kinesics
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Non-Verbal, Oral and Written messages. Non-Verbal contact involves everything from something as obvious as eye contact and facial expressions to more discrete forms of expression such as the use of space. Experts have label the term Kinesics to mean communicating through body movement. Huseman, author of Business Communication, explains that the two most prominent ways of communication through Kinesics is eye contact and facial expressions. Eye contact, Huseman goes on to explain, is the key factor in setting the tone between two individuals and greatly differs in meaning between cultures. In the Americas and Western Europe eye contact is interpreted the same way, conveying interest and honesty. People who avoid eye contact when speaking are viewed in a negative light, withholding information and lacking in general confidence. However, in the Middle East, Africa, and especially Asia eye contact is seen as disrespectful and even challenging of one’s authority. People who make eye contact, but only briefly, are seen as respectful and courteous. Facial expressions are their own language by comparison, and universal throughout all cultures. Dale Leathers, for example, states that facial expression can communicate ten basic classes of meaning. The final part to Non-Verbal communication lies in our gestures, and can be broken down into five subcategories; Emblems, Illustrators, Regulators, Affect Displays, and Adaptors. Emblems and Illustrators are the easiest to communicate since Emblems refer to sign language (such as the “Thumbs Up” which is one of the most recognized symbols in the world) and Illustrators mimic what we speak (such as gesturing how much time is left by holding up a certain amount of fingers). Regulators act as a way of conveying meaning through gestures (raising up one’s hand for instance indicates that one has a certain question about what was just said) and become more complicated since the same regulator can have different meanings across different cultures (making a circle with ones hand for instance in the Americas means O.K but in Japan the gesture is symbolic for money, and in France conveys the notion of worthlessness). The last two, Affect Displays and Adaptors, are the two the individual has very little to no control over. Affect Displays reveal emotions such as happiness (through a smile) or sadness (mouth trembling, tears) where Adaptors are more subtle such as a yawn or clenching fists in anger. The last Non-Verbal type of communication deals with communication through the space around us, or Proxemics.
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Take It Up a Notch
Communication at the meta-level› Among professionals, adults› Negotiate for the benefit of the doubt› Express your speechlessness› Representative and individual
Think
Feel
Act
Say
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Meta-level. Use your beginning “low context” advantage Pre-emptively excuse yourself for the mistakes you don’t even know you’re making and enlist host support Encourage others to ask you Representing country, culture, company and yet you are an individual – Please don’t lump me in
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Known and Unknown
› If you don’t know› If you know
Reminder:Four risks of known and unknown apply in cross-cultural communications too. The things you› Know that you know› Know that you don’t know› Don’t know that you know› Know that “just ain’t so”
Where is the biggest risk in cross cultural communication?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Things you Know you know Know you don’t know Don’t know that you don’t know Know that are wrong
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Appendix
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References from Cross-Cultural Competence ResearchTrompenaars7 dimensions
› Universalism vs. Particularism› Individualism vs. Collectivism› Neutral vs. Emotional› Specific vs. Diffuse› Achievement vs. Ascription› Sequential vs. Synchronic› Internal vs. External Control
Lewis3 Interactive Poles
› Linear-active› Reactive› Multi-active
HallProxemics and Context
› High vs. Low Context› Public, Social, Personal, Intimate
Distance
Hofstede5 Dimensions / Indices
› Power Distance› Individualism vs. Collectivism› Uncertainty Avoidance› Masculinity vs. Femininity› Long Term Orientation
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Scholars of Cross Cultural Communication1. Edward T. Hall (1914-2009) is widely considered the
father of intercultural communication. He developed the popular concept of high and low context cultures and wrote numerous books about the field.
2. Geert Hofstede is a researcher whose groundbreaking theory of cultural dimensions laid the foundation for future cultural research.
3. Fons Trompenaars is a cross-cultural communication scholar and prolific author. Along with Charles Hampden-Turner, he built on Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory.
4. Stella Ting-Toomey is a researcher and Professor of Communications at California State University, Fullerton. A successful author in her own right, her numerous contributions to books and journals are at the core of the intercultural communication curriculum.
5. William B. Gudykunst (1947-2005) was a communications scholar, author and researcher whose vast body of publications are still relevant to the field today.
6. Milton J. Bennett is the co-founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cultural understanding and one of the premier resources of all things intercultural. Bennett is also (or has been) a researcher, lecturer, author and intercultural trainer.
7. Janet M. Bennett is the co-founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute and now serves as executive director. The ICI sponsors the annual Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication which is three weeks of workshops dedicated entirely to the intercultural field and surrounding issues. Bennett is also very active in numerous capacities throughout the intercultural field.
8. Richard D. Lewis is a linguist, author and founder of Richard Lewis Communications. His innovative book, When Cultures Collide, has met with great success. He also designed The Lewis Model of Culture as a guide to classifying cultures. Follow his blog here.
9. Young Yun Kim is a professor of Communication at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. She is known for her Integrative Communication Theory and has also published numerous works in the field.
10. Fred E. Jandt has authored several textbooks on intercultural communication and is Dean and Professor of Communication at CSU San Bernardino.
Source: The Interculturalisthttp://interculturalist.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/top-10-intercultural-communication-scholars/
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Food for Fun and Thought –Entertain Yourself Toward Competence
Reading› When Cultures Collide – Lewis› A Whole New Mind – Pink› Blink – Gladwell› Outliers - Gladwell› I’m a Stranger Here Myself -
Bryson
Consider Film and TV› TV series – What do they tell
us about cultural norms?› International film festivals, incl.
shorts› Night on Earth – Jarmush› TED Talks, e.g.
• Actually, the world isn’t flat – Pankaj Ghemawat
• Listening to global voices –Ethan Zuckerman
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Reading When Cultures Collide – Lewis� A Whole New Mind – Pink�Cultures with a bias toward left and right brain thinking Blink – Gladwell�Universals – facial expressions, tuning out the words (meaning still there) Outliers – Gladwell�Chapter about airline crashes; relationship to work and education (math) I’m a Stranger Here Myself - Bryson Consider Film and TV TV series – What do they tell us? Film festivals, incl. shorts Night on Earth – Jarmush
