Identifying Workplace Cross Cultural Communication...

1 Workplace Cross Cultural Communication

Identifying Workplace Cross Cultural Communication Environment

and How to Improve It

Dustin Hochmuth Comm 424

Spring 2013


Abstract

The workplace has become a global environment that encompasses people of different

ethnicities and cultures. This rapidly, and inevitable, reshaping of the workplace must be addressed with

how this changes and affects workplace communication. The U.S. labor market must accommodate for

this diversity to be able to hire the most qualified workers for the job, grow in new consumer markets,

and emerge in the globalized economic competition.

Cross cultural communication includes a need for researching areas that cultures differ, the

communication preferences of those groups, and the ability to actively listen and communicate with

those groups properly. Lack of this knowledge makes critical jobs, such as medical, inefficient and

problematic. Proactively, countries around the world, kids are taught a minimum of two different

languages (Wenshaw, 2005). Teaching languages, and well as important cultural contexts and

differences are an emerging critical need in the workplace.

Universities, colleges and many professions have begun incorporating education, classes and

training to their students and workers to help develop the necessary skills to communicate within the

workplace here, but also worldwide (Moran & Harris, 2011). This is necessary to continue economic

strength and competition as a world economic leader.

“The world is flattening…and America better be ready for it” (Friedman, 2006, p.7).


Introduction

Cross cultural communication practice and fluency are among the very necessary tools to be

able to be effective in today’s workplaces. Managing cultural differences is a way for workplace

communications to remain in a globalizing thought process (Moran & Harris, 2011). If a workplace

atmosphere does not embrace cross cultural understanding and communication it can become a costly

loss to the employee and the employer (Moran & Harris, 2011, p. 40; Satpathy & Mohapatra, 2012).

Employers must facilitate an environment to adapt to different listening behaviors, learning styles and

cultural values.

Geerf Holfsteade’s value dimensions are an ideal way for employers to quickly learn some

underlying values of employees and co-workers. Wenshaw (2005) and Fadiman (1997) wrote about the

affects of directness between cultures (power distance), how topics are discussed or shared

(masuculinity), or how decisions are made or predicted (uncertainty avoidance). The connection

between Holfsteade’s research, and the writing describing the difficulties of integrating cultures, help in

advancing an understanding of the importance and impact of understanding cross cultural

communication practices.

An example to show these practices, in today’s nursing industry, nurses must be prepared to

communicate with people from different backgrounds, histories, languages, and personalities (Timmins,

2011; Satpathy & Mohapatra, 2012; Fadiman, 1997). The article by Fadiman (1997) depicts a very unique

perspective from nurses’ about their Hmong patients, and how important understanding those

differences can be. The education and training of doctors and nurses in the U.S. has maintained an

extremely western perspective and interpretation on medicines and practices. However, with patients

such as those of traditional Hmong decent will not follow any of the training or education that doctors


or nurses are prepared for. Not understanding, or sympathizing with those patients, will lead to

miscommunication and feelings of discrimination.

Situations like those in nursing are found in all workplaces and social settings in the U.S, and it is

important to address how to incorporate the necessary communication skills to achieve effective and

efficient communication practices. Success in this area, for individuals and employers, will help to

maximize the potential in the global marketplace and embrace new opportunities.

Situation in U.S.

The U.S has traditionally been an admired destination for immigrants, and welcomed millions to

the country during the industrial revolution (S. Wildersmuth, personal communication, April 2013).

Although there was some social resistance to immigrants, the country was economically welcoming

during that time. This was how cities such as Milwaukee was developed and expanded by large

immigrant populations.

In today’s market there are still many immigrants coming to the U.S, however, there is much

more ignorance to the adaptation of how to cope within the social and workplace context. “In North

America there is a growing need for cross cultural communication skills in the basic dynamics of

operations, such as interviewing” (Lipovsky, 2006, p.1152). Candidates and interviewers from different

cultural backgrounds may have different expectations about what a job interview consists of (as cited

from Louw, 2010). Traditional businesses will be forced into respecting and understanding the value of

cross cultural communication in order to maintain employee relations, customer relations or the hiring

process.

An article by Morgan et al. (2005) describes how employers must careful and precise in the

negotiations with employees to address the benefits of everyone. “Skillful negotiators build trust and


negotiate for mutual long-term benefits for all” (p. 72). This quote defines the purpose of the collection

of research within this paper, as well as the focus for employers and individuals for communication in

the workplace.

History

The previous section mentioned the era during the industrial revolution when immigration was

rampant and welcomed due to the necessity for a larger workforce. Over the last 100 years other global

events have also made the U.S. home to immigrants, and have expanded into many different

subcultures and communities. Due to the context of some of these immigrants, stereotypes and social

resistance has made integration or assimilation very difficult (Wenshaw, 2005; Fadiman, 1997).

An interview in 1998, mediated by Robert McNamara, between Colonel Herbert Schandler, U.S

military veteran and Colonel Quach Hai Luong, Vietnamise military veteran who fought for North

Vietnam, depicts war time miscommunication. This was at a conference in Hanoi, Vietnam (McNamara

& Blight & Brigham & Biersteker & Schandler, 1999, p. 191-195). During the interview Colonel Quach Hai

Luong asks Colonel Herbert Schandler to describe the objectives given to them during the Vietnam War,

and discuss how those objectives were described. Essentially it is uncovered that the real problem in the

Vietnam was a misconception of their culture and miscommunication to the people there.

Colonel Herbert Schandler identified that one of their objectives was to negotiate for peace with

the North. The unfortunate of this objective was, as Colonel Quach Hai Luong responded, was Vietnam

did not want to be divided. Therefore, the misperception of the U.S encouraged more violence than was

necessary. Colonel Quach Hai Luong describes that the country never wanted a divide and their civil war

was the keep unity of the country. The case represents the lack in understanding of cultural differences

by the U.S. government, and that many costly lives and resources could have been saved through


effective communication. The article from McNamara et al. (1999) continues to provoke questions of

miscommunication already identified in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This interview is a

representation, in historical context, the severity of losses from misunderstood communication and

cultural assumptions.

Histories such as the one in the example have caused some immigrants to struggle with

acceptance and have caused some separation from the host country. The objective for individuals

studying cross cultural communication, and how to become fluent, is to know these histories and by

sympathetic to those who have been impacted by the results.

Changing

Cross cultural training must be the focus in the new emerging global job market. To be effective

even if an organization is local, it is becoming increasingly necessary to be able to communicate with

numerous different publics, employees and consumers (Moran & Harris, 2011). For many professions it

is increasingly important to be globally competitive, and increasing investments and activities in foreign

countries is how many are emerging into the global competition. This enables an organization to bring

resources in, or also outsource tasks to a more efficient workforce (Moran & Harris, 2011, p. 29, 73).

The changes in training of the workforce have also prompted changes in management objectives

and styles. Performance must become tailored to the individual, and their effectiveness on the group or

team (Moran & Harris, 2011, p.30). The traditional manager is growing obsolete because it is no longer

effective to manage and entire group using one medium or message. As different cultures provide

different traditions the motives must be tailored to each individual, and feedback must be provided

appropriately. As stated in the Harvard business review in August of 2003, “A Global Manager is set

apart by more than a worn suitcase and a dog-eared passport” (as cited by Moran & Harris, 2011, p.1).


These practices are being implemented throughout colleges and universities to be prepared for

the emerging global workplace (Moran & Harris, 2011, p. 30). As Percy Barnevik, former President and

CEO of Asea Brown Boveria, says: “There is no such thing as a global manager” (as cited by Moran &

Harris, 2011, p. 31). It is something that requires experience and training. Socializing and becoming

immersed in the experience will bring real growth and understanding (Davies, 2012).

The requirements universities have are important in forming multicultural work groups, or

opportunities to work in other countries. By making these options available to students it is helping

shape a new, more culturally trained, workforce. More cross culturally trained workers can shed

ethnocentric traditional thinking and show understanding for their co-workers. In a perfect quote by

Marcel Proust, a French Novelist: “The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new landscapes

but in having new eyes” (as cited by Moran & Harris, 2011, p. 16).

There are categories to observe when learning about a new culture that will help broadens

depth and understanding. It is important to remember that there are many layers to individuals’ beliefs,

tradition and culture. Begin with understanding or observing the sense of self and space needs. The

distance and space required for comfortable communication varies throughout cultures, and is

important to recognize. Communication and language preferences are not always simple. Many

countries have numerous national languages, and some prefer a certain language for business rather

than at home. These differences could save great embarrassment, or unnecessary training (Moran &

Harris, 2011).

Spend time observing food and feeding habits. In China, breakfast seems much different

compared to an “American” breakfast (Wenshaw, 2005). Or perhaps in Japan, where a deadly poisonous

fish is a delicacy dish. Instead of being terrified at dinner, its best to know and understand the unique

cuisine of other cultures.


Lastly, an extremely important cultural perspective to understand is the idea of time (Moran &

Harris, 2011, p.11). Although Americans want to hold the ethnocentric idea that time is meant to be

rationed and planned as the orientation is in America, which is far from the understanding of time in

other cultures. The difference in time orientation helps to understand and prepare appropriately for

how someone else may be interpreting a message. Three o’clock has one message for a Latino, and an

entirely different message for a German.

What’s Different

Thomas Friedman discusses how in the last 25 years cultural communication and economic

interconnectedness have become heightened by broadband and computer connections worldwide

(Friedman, 2006, p. 6). Decreased prices for computers and global competition have “flattened” the

world. This connectedness is also bringing work groups and clients together, collaborating across

country boarders. In the industry of informational and intellectual work it becomes possible to for a

daily work team to be in Beijing, Boston and Bangalore (Moran & Harris, 2011, p.3; Friedman, 2006, p.7).

In the Information Age, this is how corporations are efficient global competitors and masters of these

new capabilities, and responsibilities.

It is important to understand these new capabilities and responsibilities. First, culture impacts

business and personal relationships significantly, and understanding how to provide efficient

communication is imperative for success. An example is demonstrated in what motivates group

members at work. Americans are driven by the “bottom line,” but a Chinese group member may have a

more collective mindset and driven by team success and honor (Moran & Harris 2011). Although every

culture is developed and motivated by something, it is important to identify what those things are to

avoid embarrassment or misunderstanding.


Another impact of a flattening world, and responsibility to the workforce, is that cultures often

have the same universal activities, but are translated and expressed in the context of the culture. For

example almost all cultures share sports, humor and music together; however, it is portrayed differently

in setting and context depending on the culture (Moran & Harris, 2011). This is defined as the syntax of

a language, and is an essential to understand communications in a different language or culture.

Wenshaw discusses in an article, that the Chinese have a different value system of “saving face,”

and this respect is prevalent throughout their society including in humor, music, or sports (Wenshaw,

2005; Moron et al, p. 16, 2011). Anthony Robbins said, “To effectively communicate, we must realize

that we are all different in the way we perceive the world, and use this understanding as a guide to our

communication with others” (as cited in Moron & Harris, 2011, p. 37).

Communication Impacts and Truths

Syntax and high/low context communications can be shown and defined better by an airplane

crash in 1991. The copilot of the plane was Colombian, coming from a very high context culture, and an

American controller, from a low context society (Moran et al, p. 50, 2011). The pilot instructed the

copilot to tell the controller that they had are in emergency. The controller asked if they were fine, and

the fact that they intended to declare a fuel emergency was never communicated properly.

In a relatable example of a context communication scenario can be view in the Film “Crash”

(2004). Actor Terrance Howard plays an upper class black male who becomes overly frustrated with the

stereotypes he has had to deal with. In the Film, a scene shows law enforcement threatening him, and

nearly shot him, essentially based on stereotypes and prejudice (01:15:45). The scene is high context

because the situation communicates more to the police officer than the actual verbal language.

However, to the character Howard is playing, it is low context. No matter what the situation or


surroundings are, a black man will be stereotyped and labeled quickly. The situation makes

communication between the police officers and Howard’s character impossible for collaboration.

These different cultures utilize different levels on context in conversation, and in this case it

created an entirely different interpretation of the message. Maron & Harris (2011) then states how it is

important when communicating with different context to be observant of surroundings, tones and pace

of conversation (p. 52). It is essential to develop trained listening skills early in life.

Moran & Harris (2011) discuss the relationship of talk and context in a conversation: “Context and

talk are now argued to stand mutually reflexive relationship to each other, with talk, and interpretive

work it generates, shaping context as much as context shapes talk” (p. 14).

Moran & Harris (2011) lists the axioms, truths, about communication. These are necessary to

remember when assessing how to converse with a new co-worker, boss or client. It is important to

respect that every generation perceives life differently. Although it may fluster an individual enough to

determine how to approach someone from a specific culture, but it is important to know there

approximate age (p. 43). Each generation views and acts on their traditions and culture based on their

present needs, values, and standards. A young supervisor may be less impactful on communicating with

older workers due to a different world view, managing styles, or global oriented growth strategies.

Another axiom is that communication is “at the heart (p. 44)” of organizational operations and

international relations. If this were not the case, there would be much less emphasis on educating and

training individuals on how to improve and excel in the matter. The global market demands that workers

are understanding and cooperative with each other in order to make an organization operative

efficiently. If an international venture begins without proper training and understanding international

team members, information and messages will be distorted and compromise the entire operation

(Moran & Harris, 2011).


Education and Growth in Communication

For self development in global thinking and cross cultural communication it is important to

understand and recognize your prejudices, biases and assumptions (Davies, 2012). Being proactive

about identifying things about you, and seeking education about how to develop your communication

skills is an ideal way of keeping up in the globalizing workforce. The article by Nicola Davies also advises

people to ask questions to others in their field for advice or help (2012). As the need for cross cultural

competence rapidly develops many others face similar struggles (Moran & Harris, 2011).

Listening is essential to understanding the full meaning of the conversation and message. Moran

et al (2011) shares six different kinds of listening, with the most important are an active listeners (p. 53).

Active listeners want full understanding of the message; they emphasize with the speaker, and offer

feedback to the conversation. Active listening is a key role in developing strong communication in cross

cultural work settings. American workers can become rushed with deadlines, meetings and agendas

which can reduce how much of the message they are actively listening to. This will disrupt the message

being communicated, or create problems between co-workers or clients. Cross cultural exchanges are

often part of daily lives, and three things must be emphasized.

Pay attention is the first focus for an active listener. The listener must clear themselves so that

they have the space within to listen effectively (Satpathy & Mohapatra, 2012)This will build the

speaker’s confidence and delivery as well as keep the listener clued in for the word usage, nonverbal

elements, and cues for feedback (Moran & Harris, 2011, p. 54; Davies, 2012). Secondly, empathize and

create rapport. Empathy is mentioned by Thomas Friedman and Moran as necessary to become

influential in global communication, and cross communication, as well as being developed as an active

listener. This helps the listener understand the message and the speaker.


Lastly, to ensure full understanding of the message and the speaker’s intention, paraphrase your

understanding and accuracy of it. This is a skill that is accepted as active listening and allows the speaker

to correct any misunderstandings. If the speaker is using a second language, or has an accent that limits

understanding this is an ideal and accepted way to work around that (Moran & Harris, 2011, p.54).

Road Blocks

Literature by Huntington writes: “The primary division and human conflict in the world will no

longer be ideological or economical but rather cultural” (as cited by Moran & Harris, 2011, p.11).

Cultural identities define morals, values, work ethic or belonging. To avoid conflict between individuals,

organizations or countries learning and identifying these differences will reduce potential conflict

(Moran & Harris, 2011, p. 11). Culture and tradition are often subjects that a person cannot reason with

logic, because it is so engrained in their beliefs and values. A song about tradition best describes the

concept from Fiddler on the Roof:

“Because of our tradition, we keep our sanity…Tradition tells us how to sleep, how to work, how

to wear clothes...How did it get started? I don’t know- It’s a tradition…Because of our tradition,

everyone knows who he is and what God expects of him!” (as cited by Moran & Harris, 2011, p.

18)

The “tradition” song captures the rational and irrational behaviors involved in traditions in a

culture. This is a perspective that people benefit from understanding more. The writer of the song is

trying to portray that traditions may not appear to make sense or even logic, but they are continued by

a culture because that is how they were raised. Therefore, think twice before judging it.

An article by Shirley Van Der Veur (2003) discusses a lot of stereotypes and perception of the

American people of African traditions, such as birthing rituals for new borns. These traditions are


representing the values, ideals and norms of that society. Should they suddenly be forced to stop their

belief system and culture would be devalued and cause panic and chaos. To remain a “global” worker

and individual it is important not to question or discredit traditional meanings or practices (Moran &

Harris, 2011, p.18).

To advocate a “global” mindset, it is important to analyze traditions deeper. They represent a

large portion of what may be outwardly visible such as prayers, dress, food, or relationship (Moran &

Harris, 2011, p.19). Tradition is a mindset in which individuals monitor what is right and wrong or

desirable. For example, in Wenshaw’s (2005) article it is describes a non-confrontational style of

interaction amongst Chinese tradition that verbal expression of disapproval is to direct and should be

only suggested non-verbally. However, American traditions suggests that disapproval should be

announced and probably include raising voice, or an inappropriate hand gesture. However, a response

like this to a person of Latino culture might be highly offended as their traditions are based around

loyalty, respect, and cooperation (Prosser, 1998). Imagine a work group consisting of these three

individuals all coming from such different cultures, and how the level of understanding of each other’s

cultures may dramatically affect how effective they are working together.

Conclusion

In Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, an excellent quote that puts the purpose of cross

cultural communication in an excellent perspective: “[The] countries like India are now able to compete

for global knowledge work as never before- and that America had better get ready for this. (Friedman, p.

7, 2006). Communication in the American workforce is essential to becoming more globalized in

planning for success in the future. Even for local business in the U.S it is increasingly important for

communication training to maintain employee and customer relationships.


In competitive race there is no victor yet, and learners of successful cross cultural

communication can learn together. Take opportunities to work in multicultural groups and teams to be

proactive about learning their cultures as well as asking necessary questions to develop your

understanding.

Work towards a future of cultural cohabitation where everyone is accepting and sympathetic to

those of different cultures. These practices must begin in the workplace in the U.S. so we can keep up

within the global market, and then these practices will become the social norm.


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