Inter-cultural Communication

[Iago]

Hello, Everyone. As some of you might know, I'm currently co-writing a business communications textbook, aimed at first and second year university students. One of the chapters (one of the ones I have to write, not my co-writer) will be on intercultural communications. I think this is a very important subject--given the global nature of busines, many of us work with / sell to people from a range of backgrounds and geographic areas--but I have to say I'm usually disappointed by the way inter-cultural communication and cultural sensitivity is handled in the materials I've seen.

Any thoughts? What would you find useful to have included in a chapter on inter-cultural communication?


Thanks for your help!

[Sarah]

If your experience has shown you there's a problem there, then your book would be incomplete without a discussion of it. Is there enough to say on the subject to fill an entire chapter, though? If not, perhaps it could be a subsection of another.

[Lucretia]

Define inter-cultural for me, buddy?

[Iago]

Define inter-cultural for me, buddy?

In a business communications setting like this, it means dealing with co-workers, customers, businesses, etc. who have a different cultural background. In this case, since the textbook is for the Canadian market, it means helping Canadian students to better communicate and work with people from other geographies/cultures--e.g., Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, etc.--and also with the non-dominant cultures that exist within Canada--First Nations, Quebecois.

To Sarah--thanks for your thoughts. I wish it were an option to make this section shorter (I think just reminding people to "Stop being a fucking dick" addresses a wealth of inter-cultural communications problems). However, I was the second writer brought on board, and the table of contents is pretty set at this point.

[Nerdgirl]

I actually developed a workshop on this very topic in my Communications course for second year engineers. So, yes, it would be a useful addition to a textbook, because I've never seen anything out there. I don't have any of my material with me, and I'm feeling pretty lazy. It's a bit of a tricky topic, because you have to keep emphasizing that cultural generalisations do not apply to all individuals etc. As I recall, I get the students to recognise that different cultures have different approaches to time, personal space, getting to the point etc etc. If there was ever anything that was actually forthright and accurate, it could be a whole book and would be very popular. Companies pay huge sums to be told stuff like "When a Japanese person gives you a business card, read it carefully with great respect and don't just stuff it in the back pocket of your jeans".

[Iago]

It's a bit of a tricky topic, because you have to keep emphasizing that cultural generalisations do not apply to all individuals etc.

Yes. Where I've seen things fall down is, to avoid overgeneralizing, they stay too generic. The business comm textbooks I've read tend to make general statements about different cultures, cherry-pick a couple of non-threatening examples to illustrate points, but avoid getting into a lot of specifics that could be interpreted as stereotyping. But it is the specifics that are actually useful in real-world situations. You don't talk to some generic other, you talk to someone from France, or from Columbia, or from the Netherlands. And if your development team is in France--don't schedule a client implementation in August. Chances are your developers won't be in the office that month. If you're managing a project in Bogota, get up and dance on the table with everyone else after dinner. You'll build a lot of goodwill that way, no matter how bad a dance you are. If you're working with someone from the Netherlands, be prepared for legalistic interpretations of your every utterance. Won't always happen, but good to be prepared. Etc.

As I recall, I get the students to recognise that different cultures have different approaches to time, personal space, getting to the point etc etc.

I like that. When you can set up continuums like that, you can minimize judgment, and also allow for inidividual variation.

If there was ever anything that was actually forthright and accurate, it could be a whole book and would be very popular.

Yes. My problem is not lack of material, but difficulty fitting the good material into the space allowed. The best books I've read will spend the whole book on one or two cultural perspectives, not 30 pages trying to cover the whole issue.

Thanks--it was helpful reading and thinking about your response.

[MdmeAlbertine]

The thing I would most like to know about inter-cultural communications, is how to research the differences between my culture and the culture I will be dealing with. If you can't tell me in 30 pages what I need to know, use the space to tell me how to find out what I need to know.

[Iago]

The thing I would most like to know about inter-cultural communications, is how to research the differences between my culture and the culture I will be dealing with. If you can't tell me in 30 pages what I need to know, use the space to tell me how to find out what I need to know.

That's a good idea. There's no way to tell everyone about every culture they might encounter in 30 pages, but hopefully you can give someone a research plan. Assuming of course that every culture doesn't require an incredibly different approach just to the research phase...

Thanks! That's a really good idea.

[Tonke]

Never schedule a meeting on December 5th with the Dutch. It is our national holiday. Is that any help to you at all?

I have never encountered much problems with intercultual communication, growing up in such a multicultural country, you learn along the road what to do and how to respond to certain things. For example, I work along with 14 people, and among those 14 people, there are 6 different cultures. Some people wish to be off during Ramadan and don't care much working during Christmasholiday, others care more for other holidays. Although this is much related to religion, it is also related to culture and something you take into account when scheduling a meeting.

I think the most important point is to emphasize that not every Saudi, Dutch or French person is the same. I may be Dutch, but I never wore wooden shoes, nor do I do drugs every day. I hate it when people bring this up every time, even as a joke. I am just as normal (or abnormal) as you are. But don't disturb me during dinner. You won't be invited and I hate it when I am interruped while I am eating my potatoes

[bettika]

Can't you just direct the readers to the WD? We are multiculturally awesome. And we communicate! Problem solved.