Doing Business in a Global Context

Marya Dantzer, MA, is a consultant in communication. She teaches COMM E-140 Communicating in a Global Context.

Marya Dantzer

What is it you try to impart to students in your course COMM E-140 Communicating in a Global Context?

The overriding goal of COMM E-140 is to increase students’ “cultural intelligence”—the knowledge, awareness, and skill they bring to communicating cross-culturally as managers. To provide an academic foundation, I begin by introducing leading theories of cultural analysis. These enable students to understand and identify potential sources of miscommunication. But because culture operates on so many levels—it is manifested not only in behaviors but also in assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, and values—I draw upon experiential, cooperative, and reflective learning modalities, as well.

The CM Program’s multinational enrollment offers COMM E-140 students a natural laboratory for cross-cultural teaming, through which they discover firsthand the subtle ways in which culture can affect their own and others’ work processes and products. Even students with considerable prior international experience typically are surprised by how challenging these team projects can become.

Finally, students complete several self-analysis exercises designed to reveal the culturally influenced assumptions they hold about the world-a key step in developing the mindfulness and flexibility to communicate effectively in the global context.

People may assume, considering the emergence of the global economy, that more and more managers are being prepared to do business globally. Is this correct?

Unfortunately, most managers are required to do business globally without preparation. Like children “taught” to swim by being thrown into the deep end of the pool, they begin by floundering, at the cost of their productivity—and a 50 percent failure rate for expatriate assignments. Because of America’s global economic dominance, managers outside the United States often are more aware of how Americans do business than vice versa. So cross-cultural effectiveness is especially important for Americans. Training in cross-cultural relations, although often considered a costly “frill,” actually represents an investment in a company’s global advantage.

If most global managers speak English, why is it so important to understand cultural differences?

Because language is just the tip of the cultural iceberg. Words alone convey less than 10 percent of a message’s content. And it’s in the hidden 90 percent that culture is so strongly manifested: facial expression and body language; directness or indirectness of communication style; and, most fundamentally, assumptions, beliefs, and the values they reflect. These are, to paraphrase McLuhan, the media of the message. If you can’t correctly interpret them, you’ll miss much of what is being said-indeed, probably the most important part.

Can you recount a situation or two that underlines the importance of understanding cultural differences?

Striking an appropriate balance between relationship-building and deal-closing can be challenging in cross-cultural exchanges. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem, really. Americans rely on a record of successful transactions to build relationships and trust. So American are willing to do business with strangers, without getting to know them first.

In other regions of the world, however (for example, in Latin American and Middle Eastern cultures), it’s the opposite: the ability to conduct successful transactions emerges from relationship and trust. Negotiators who fail to take this difference into account may face an impasse—and lose potentially lucrative deals.

Another common misunderstanding occurs when a party says “yes” but means “no.” In Asian cultures, preserving harmony—or “face”—is paramount. It is considered rude or embarrassing to directly refuse a request, so indirect phrasings, such as “it will be very difficult” are used to close off an option. In contrast, for Americans, Russians, or Israelis, confrontation is used as a tool for hammering out agreement—so Asians’ polite demurral is read as an opening to further discussion. Again, cultural intelligence—knowledge and mindfulness—is required to avoid crossed signals.

Why do you think that some managers are better than others when it comes to understanding how to do business in different cultural contexts?

Three important dimensions of the skill of cultural intelligence are humility, imagination, and empathy. Humility allows one to acknowledge that “my way” may not be ideal. Imagination helps one generate alternative interpretations of an unfamiliar situation. Empathy enables one to value another’s standpoint.

Living in an unfamiliar culture can develop these qualities, of course; but so can overcoming hardship or inequity, because experiences like these release one from a narrow sense of one’s own superiority. Managers who have “been there” in these respects can more readily open themselves to the idea that cultural differences afford an opportunity for growth, rather than a threat to one’s competence or comfort.

Finally, to summarize, what pointers would you give a manager about to embark on doing business abroad?

First, do your homework: develop your knowledge of the culture you’re about to visit. By this I mean not only learning the basics—how much to tip, what time constitutes “on time,” how to say (and correctly pronounce!) “hello,” “thank you,” and “it’s a pleasure to do business with you” in the language of the country. I also mean boning up on the history of the country, its cultural contributions, and its heroes. By doing so you show respect for your hosts abroad.

Second, take a hard look at yourself. Just as you may hold stereotypes about the culture you’re about to visit, you yourself are likely to be the object of stereotyping. Become mindful of the expectations that your position, your country, and you as an individual are likely to evoke. This will help you mindfully tailor your self-presentation to the situation.

Third, be generous—with yourself and your hosts. In a cross-cultural setting, mistakes and misinterpretations are bound to occur. Acknowledge them, apologize genuinely, and move on. Your sincerity will show and win your hosts’ empathy in return.

CM News Home Previous | Contents | Next