Intercultural Mgmt

MGT 2301, Intercultural Management 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Explain how the economic environment of the company affects decision-making. 1.1 Describe how a market economy interfaces with the cultural environment of a populated area.

2. Compare human values that affect job behaviors.

2.1 Determine relevant factors that affect marketing of a product in any culture.

4. Examine the influence of culture on business goals. 4.1 Categorize business cultures of a country for the introduction of a product.

Course/Unit

Learning Outcomes Learning Activity

1.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 4 Unit IV Scholarly Activity

2.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 4 Unit IV Scholarly Activity

4.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 4 Unit IV Scholarly Activity

Required Unit Resources Chapter 4: Communicating Across Cultures Unit Lesson

Communicating Skills for In-Country Personnel In Unit II, you selected a populated area to serve as a test market. In Unit III, you reviewed different methods for introducing products in foreign markets and cultures. For this unit, we will continue to review the test market’s culture and subcultures to establish the best way to communicate with in-country staff, agencies, and customers. As you work through the aforementioned elements, keep in mind that the goals of this section are to continue studying the selected culture and subculture on how to best use the market for the selected product in the populated area.

Communication Skills: Verbal, Written, and Nonverbal Any research procedure is acceptable on any topic presented in an academic or business environment if it is supported by viable and current source material. Communication skills are required by all members of the in- country team, and the three styles are verbal, written, and nonverbal. All are equally important. Many of the needed communication skills are inherent in Western culture, but a number of skills are not. The issue is further complicated by countries that have multiple major cultures and subcultures. For example, without having been to or having studied Spain, one would think Spaniards are composed of a homogeneous culture. This assumption would be wrong. Spain is divided into two major cultures: Catalonians and Spaniards. The languages and cultures are vastly different. In the case of Spain, the verbal and written languages are different, but the nonverbal communication is similar. When comparing the different subcultures of Rio

UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE Cultural Communications: Written, Verbal and Non Verbal

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Grande Valley Texans and New York City dwellers, the language may be the same, but nonverbal communications are vastly different. In some countries, the communication methods differ by gender, religion, and age. Gender and religion will be easy to research for your in-country work, but age difference is not readily explained. For example, in Japan, executives over the age of 60 tend to be more formal in their communication styles. For some, even their offices are traditional (e.g., using tatami mats rather than hard flooring). They also tend to have two reception areas; one has a traditional Japanese tatami area, and one has conference tables, chairs, and couches. As the ancients leave the business world in Japan, the younger generation will probably convert the tatami rooms to traditional, Western-style offices. This contrast is provided in this lesson as a reminder that, as an intercultural manager, you must have prior knowledge of the communication customs of any host country executive before any form of communication takes place. Sometimes, countries and cultures may be viewed as homogeneous due to some forms of communication that are utilized. For example, Latin American executives traditionally do not discuss business when a guest first enters their office. Now, this is no longer an absolute, but it still prevails for senior executives. The general custom is that the intercultural manager is escorted into the executive’s office; the escort offers the guest a beverage—normally coffee, which should not be refused. Then the host executive and the guest sit and discuss anything but business. The key is knowing who initiates the business or purpose of the meeting; the host has that privilege, and in order not to insult the host, the guest waits. On rare occasions, the social conversation lasts longer than one of the parties has set aside for the meeting. Only the host can indicate that the meeting is to reconvene at a later time or date. Notwithstanding the Western tendency to fell the pains of wasted time, the guest must never indicate any displeasure over not getting down to business. The example above will probably not be found by research; some of the more esoteric communication customs must be learned from those who have gone before. One major source of these nuances of communication comes from repatriated intercultural managers when they are debriefed upon return to the home office. Verbal On the surface, verbal communication appears to be the easiest to master. What is generally not analyzed is how perfect the mastering of a host country’s language should be. There are three possible levels that need to be considered before initiating or contracting for language training. The three levels are native language skills, polite language skills, and no language skills. For native language skills, the most cost effective is to retain the services of a skilled native language executive. If sufficiently qualified, the executive may be a part of the intercultural management team. If not, the native speaker can serve as an interpreter for the other levels. A non-language-skilled team member, in some countries, can function efficiently because the host country’s culture uses English as a business language. In these countries, when visiting the host country’s executives and managers, it is polite to let the host know (for first visits) that the visiting team does not speak the host country’s language. The host executive will either be bilingual or have an interpreter available. Most in-country team members are socially bilingual. This includes greetings, health inquiries, and admiration statements for extended hospitalities. When necessary, a translator for the actual business discussions will either accompany the team member or be provided by the host business. Written Written documents require the utmost care when they are written in the host country’s language. For example, letters written in Spanish tradition start off with what the Spanish refer to as flowers; in English, this would translate to starting off the letter with compliments. Although this may no longer be a custom, it is important to obtain samples from the host country’s team. Once you have their format, use it as a template. The next issue is deciphering the language to use when writing documents. Research will probably not help with this issue; the recommended solution is to have a bilingual staff person call on the host company’s staff persons to ask if there is a preference. If possible, repatriated intercultural managers will have the answer, so

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this question should be asked in the debriefing. If the repatriated manager is staying with the organization, then the methods of communication for the host country can be reduced to writing for the future. Writings generally have three formats: casual, business, and contractual. Traditionally, casual writing is written by hand. The host country’s tradition may be identified through research, but the best way is to have staff persons contact their counterparts in the host organization. Once again, repatriated intercultural managers will generally have the answer for this issue. In some countries, such as Bolivia, calligraphers were used for casual letters. Failure to understand the protocol could be embarrassing for both organizations. Business letters written in English need only follow the organization’s head office procedures. If a translation is necessary, it should be an exact translation. For example, “go jump in the lake” would be translated to a phrase on point but with the word “lake” would probably something else. Another nuance of business writing is deciphering whether to include a requested deadline for a response. Normally, as a cultural courtesy, it is best to assume the receiving party will respond in accordance with their custom and in a timely fashion. Contractual documents should be left to the organization’s counsel. In most countries, duplicate documents are executed in the language of each party. See the example below. AFFAIRE RELATIVE A LA DE`NONCIATION DU TRAITE` SINO-GELGE DU 2 NOVEMBRE 1865 DENUNCIATION OF THE TREATY OF NOVEMBER 2nd, 1865, BETWEEN CHINA AND BELGIUM Nonverbal One of the most obvious non-verbal communications is the handshake. Just imagine some variations such as pressure (how much or how long), who offers first, and whether to offer. As will be noted throughout this course, the goal is not to memorize all nuances of every cultural norm for all cultures in the world. The task is to develop skills to understand the cultural norms for any country or culture to which you are assigned. For example, when in Israel, men should not offer a hand to females and Jewish women never touch a man who is not in their immediate family. In this unit, select a culture of interest and determine what cultural requirements should be adopted for the research.

Research For this unit’s assignment, it would be best to access your host country’s website. Most will have some form of database concerning the three communication methods described above. Use the host country’s website to find other sources on these issues. When taking notes from the sources, be sure to extract information for all three methods and various subsets, such as gender, age groups, cultural groupings, economic brackets, family communications, and business. Practice documenting the aforementioned information, so once you have a real-world need, the tasks will be completed faster and more efficiently.

Sources In today's world, there is no limit to finding sources; the researcher’s goal is to separate the viable sources from the unviable ones. Probably every intercultural manager doing research has a cadre of methods. Viable sources can be found through many mediums. Consider the tools listed below:

• search engines, such as Google or Yahoo; • family of databases, such as InfoTrac; • scholarly databases, such as NexisUni; • database vendors, such as EBSCO; • newspapers and magazines; and • the CSU Online Library for academic works and databases.

Tip: When you find a viable resource, it can be beneficial to review the sources that were used to compose the work. This can lead you to other viable sources.

Discussion Boards

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As a part of this course, the Discussion Board forum provides a platform for sharing research techniques and sources with your classmates. The purpose of this is to simulate what happens in host country organizations and associated cultures. Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resource, click the link below. The following resource was included as a part of your required resources in a previous unit. Review the Sample Research Paper, which demonstrates how to correctly format an assignment using APA Style.