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Chapter 1
The Nature of
Intercultural
Communication
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Upon Completion of this Chapter:
• Understand such terms as intercultural,
international, multicultural, and
ethnocentric
• Recognize communication barriers
• Understand the terms norms, rules, roles,
and networks
• Distinguish between subcultures and
subgroups
• Understand management orientations
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Example of Intercultural
Miscommunication
Telex sent to a factory manager of a U.S.
subsidiary in Lima, Peru:
“Please send a headcount of the people in your
factory and in your office, broken down by sex.
Information urgent.”
The local manager, a Peruvian, replied:
“Here’s your headcount: We have 30 in the factory,
15 in the office, 5 in the hospital on sick leave, none
broken down by sex. If you must know, our
problem here is with alcohol.”
Axtell, 1990
Global Boom
• More and more businesses involved with
international activities which require the
ability to communication across cultures
• Communication and culture are
inseparable—can’t be separated
• To gain a better understanding,
knowledge of frequently used terms is
important
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Definitions
• Intercultural communication—
communication between persons of different
cultures
• Intercultural business communication—
interpersonal communication within and between
businesses that involve people from more than one
culture
• International communication—communication
between governments or among nations
• Intracultural communication—communication
between members of the same culture
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Definitions
• Diffusion—the process by which two
cultures learn and adapt materials and adopt
practices of each other
• World culture—the idea that as
traditional barriers among people of
differing cultures break down, one culture
will emerge
• Melting pot—sociocultural assimilation
of people of differing backgrounds and
nationalities; implies losing ethnic
differences and forming one large society
macroculture
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Globalization
• Globalization—the ability of a firm to take a
product and market it in the entire civilized
world
• A company is globalized when it can market
its product anywhere in the world
• When a firm is referred to as being global, it
means that the corporation is producing and
marketing products in many parts of the world
• Personnel in organizations must have a global
mindset for the firm to succeed in international
marketplace and respect other cultures
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Domestic and Global Mindsets
Domestic Mindset
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Functional expertise
Prioritization
Structure
Individual
responsibility
• No surprises
• Trained against
surprises
Global Mindset
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Bigger, broader picture
Balance of contradictions
Process
Teamwork and diversity
View change as
opportunity
• Openness to surprises
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Culture
• Culture deals with the way people live
• When cultures interact, adaptation must
take place to communicate correctly
• Three primary dimensions of cultures—
languages, physical, and psychological
• Culture is learned through perception
• Perceptions are formed in various ways—
where we are born & raised, the language
we learn, the environment we live in—
everyone views the world differently
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Dimensions of Culture
Languages
(codes/modes)
Verbal
Nonverbal
Physical
Psychological
Environment Human Behavior
Natural Man Made
Content
Processes
Knowledge Belief Encoding
Systems Decoding
Thought
Borden, 1991, p. 171
Cultures
• Differences in Customs—Holidays,
Independence/Self-reliance, Punctuality, Treatment
of Waiters/Secretaries, Treatment of Females, Need
for Space
• Specific Aspects of American Life—Politics,
Family Life, Driving, Shopping, Personal Hygiene,
Behavior in Public
Althen, American Ways
Stereotypes
• Stereotypes are perceptions about certain
groups of people or nationalities, often based
upon limited knowledge and/or exposure.
• Stereotyping is only a guide to a national
culture
• By recognizing differences as well as
similarities, businesspersons can adjust how
they communicate with others
• Examples of stereotyping follows and can be
found in your text
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Stereotypes of U.S. Persons
• Informal relationships
• Rather formal in business attire (suits for men
and dresses or suits for women)
• Workaholics
• Embarrass foreign businesspeople by doing
manual labor
• Overly concerned with time, money, and
appointments
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Stereotypes of U.S. Persons
• Make decisions on hard, objective facts
• Consider contracts and the written word
as very important
• Are aware of status differences within
the organization; however, no display of
superiority or inferiority is made
• Are very mobile
• Convey superiority in their actions
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
What foreign students WOULD
like to see incorporated into
their own culture:
• Opportunity for individuals to raise their
station in life
• Efficiency of organizations
• Hard work and productivity
• Freedom to express opinions openly
• General sense of freedom
Althen, American Ways
What foreign students WOULD NOT
like to see incorporated
into their own culture:
• Excessive
individualism
• Competitiveness
• Weak family ties
• Divorce
• Treatment of
older people
• “Free” male/ female
relations
• Materialism
• Impersonality
• Rapid pace of life
Althen, American Ways
Can you Describe Your
Own Culture? US
• American Values and Assumptions—
Individualism and Privacy, Equality, Work,
Informality, Time, Goodness of Humanity,
Arrogant, Competitive
• Communicative Style—Small Talk,
Forms of Interaction, Loud, Monolingual
• Ways of Reasoning—Get to the Point
and Prove it, Distrust of Theory, and
Generalizations, Truth Comes from Sight
Althen, American Ways
Can you Describe Your
Own Culture? China
• Reserved and well mannered. Superb
hosts. Pride in their nation, its long
history, and its influence on other
countries. Strong family ties and a loyalty
to family members. Chinese frequently
display affection toward a member of the
same sex by holding hands. They do not
like to be touched. Great respect is given
to older Chinese.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Can you Describe Your
Own Culture? Japan
• Japanese tend to be modest, respectful of
superiors, loyal to their organizations,
contemplative and holistic in their
thinking, and traditional in terms of their
society. They are achievement oriented.
They value human relationships above
business relationships and practice
situational ethics. Privacy is important
and direct questioning on person lives
resented. “Losing face” is BAD.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Can you Describe Your
Own Culture? Germany
• Germans businesspeople are more formal,
reserved, and restrained than Americans.
They are likely to be inquisitive and want
to hear the supporting evidence for a new
idea or product. They value intelligence
and education. Value individualism and
the success of an individuals. Germans
are outspoken or blunt, but see this
behavior as simple honesty.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Can you Describe Your
Own Culture? Mexico
• Mexicans tend to be warm, friendly,
gracious people. They are good host. The
Roman Catholic Church has greatly
influenced the culture, attitudes, and
history of Mexico. They are inclined to be
patriotic and proud. Family is important
and divorce low. They stand close when
talking, possibly touching the other
person. Generally trust only friends.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
MORE—Stereotypes of People
of Other Nationalities
Culture
• English
• French
• Italian
• Latin American
• Asians
Image
conservative, reserved, polite,
proper, formal
arrogant, rude, chauvinistic, romantics,
gourmets, cultural, artistic
demonstrative, talkative, emotional,
romantic, bold, artistic
mañana attitude, macho, music
lovers, touchers
inscrutable, intelligent, xenophobic
(fear/hatred of strangers/
foreigners), golfers, group
oriented, polite, soft-spoken
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Stereotypes of Other Cultures
As viewed by Japanese and U.S. Students
Japanese
U. S. Americans_______
English
gentlemanly,
polite
formal, proper,
polite, intelligent
Irish
cold, patient,
religious
drinkers, jovial,
hot-tempered, loud
Chinese
diligent, serious,
laboring
quiet, small,
industrious, smart
Mexicans
cheerful, passionate,
spicy-food eaters
lazy, poor, loud,
dirty, uneducated
Russians
cold, dark, closed,
secret, selfish
cold, respect authority,
hard-working
Israelis
religious, faithful,
warlike, Jewish
religious, quarrelsome,
wealthy, greedy
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Enculturation and Acculturation
• Enculturation—socialization process you go
through to adapt to your society. Learn norms!
– Frontstage culture—cultural information that you
are willing to share with outsiders
– Backstage culture—cultural information
concealed from outsiders
• Acculturation - process of adjusting, adapting, &
accepting to a new and different culture. Accepts
other cultures and their ideas.
– Cultural synergy—two cultures merge to form a
stronger overriding culture
– Multicultural—people who can move between
two or more cultures very comfortably
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Dimensions of Acculturation
• Integration—persons become an integral part of
the new culture while maintaining their cultural
integrity
• Separation—individuals keep their culture and
stay independent of the new culture
• Assimilation—persons are absorbed into their
new culture and withdraw from their old culture
• Deculturation—when individuals lose their
original culture and do not accept the new culture
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Ethnocentrism
• Ethnocentrism—the belief that your own
cultural background is correct including the ways
of analyzing problems, values, beliefs, language,
verbal and nonverbal communication. When we
evaluate others we do it through our selfreference criterion because it is what we know.
• Ethnocentrists believe that their culture is the
central culture and that other cultures are
incorrect, defective, or quaint.
• Mindsets—ways of being that allow us to see,
perceive, and reason through our own filter. We
want a GLOBAL mindset for business.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Norms, Rules, Roles, and Networks
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(Unwritten guidelines we learn through
enculturation)
Norms—culturally ingrained principles of
correct and incorrect behaviors which, if broken,
carry a form of overt or covert penalty. Learned
through enculturation.
Rules—formed to clarify cloudy areas of norms
Roles—include behavioral expectations of a
position within a culture and are affected by
norms and rules
Networks—formed with personal ties and
involve an exchange of assistance
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Subcultures and Subgroups
• Subcultures (or microcultures)—groups
possessing traits that set them apart from others
within the macroculture.
U.S. examples: senior citizens, Catholics,
disabled persons, Asian Americans
• Subgroups—groups with which the microculture
does not agree and has problems communicating.
U.S. examples: youth gangs, prostitutes,
embezzlers
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Cultural Intelligence
• Ability to exhibit certain behaviors, including
skills and qualities, which are culturally tuned
to the attitudes and values of others.
• Linguistic Intelligence—speaking the language
of the customer’s country
• Spatial Intelligence—the way space is used
during greetings and meetings
• Intrapersonal Intelligence—involves awareness
of one’s own culture
• Interpersonal Intelligence—the ability to
understand other people and their motivations.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Cultural Intelligence
• To interact well with people from other
cultures, it helps to speak to (a) speak a
bit of their language; (b) know how
closely to stand and other nonverbal
behaviors; © know about your own
cultural style; and (d) know how your
cultural style meshes with those of others.
(Howard Garder Psychologist)
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Communication Barriers
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Physical—time, environment
Cultural—social, ethnic, religion, social
Perceptual—viewing from your own mindset
Motivational—mental inertia of listener
Experiential—dissimilar experiences or life
happenings
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Communication Barriers
(cont.)
• Linguistic—unusual vocabulary
• Emotional—personal feelings, likes or
dislikes
• Nonverbal—how something is said, or
how the person behaves or gestures
• Competition—listener’s having the ability
to do other things
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Cultural Iceberg
• Above the waterline—what we can see;
behaviors that are visible
• Below the waterline—what we cannot see;
behaviors that are not visible or that do not
make sense
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Multinational Management
Orientations
• To compete successfully in a global
economy, a knowledge of management
styles used by international corporations
is also important.
• Multinational firms, those located in more
than one nation, generally will follow
either an ethnocentric, polycentric,
geocentric, or regiocentric form of style.
• All are transnational—cross borders of
countries in conducting their business.
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Multinational
Management Orientations
Ethnocentric Management—All workers treated the
same; no allowance for cultural differences in the
work force
Polycentric Management—Considers the cultural needs
of the worker in the area in which the firm is located
Regiocentric Management—Considers the region rather
than the country in which the firm is located. There
is a common framework with regional control
Geocentric Management—A synergy of ideas from
different countries of operation
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin
Ten Commandments
for Going International
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Be well prepared.
Ask questions; be observant; listen.
Make an effort.
When problems develop, assume the main
cause is miscommunication.
Be patient.
Assume the best about people.
Be sincere.
Keep a sense of humor.
Try to be likable.
Smile.
Bosrock, Put Your Best Foot Forward
Topics Covered—Review Your
Materials Carefully
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Intercultural business communication
Globalization
Culture
Stereotypes
Enculturation/acculturation
Ethnocentrism
Norms, rules, roles, and networks
Subcultures and subgroups
Cultural intelligence
Communication barriers
Multinational management orientations
Intercultural Business Communication, 4th ed., Chaney & Martin