THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS AND
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE IN A
GLOBALIZED WORLD OF WORK
Introduction
Globalization has had an effect on human culture and behavior in various settings and
contexts. Human interaction from different parts of the world is now very easy with the rapid
advancement of information technology. Every second for 24 hours every day humans
communicate and interact with other humans from other parts of the world through media or
direct meetings. Intercultural encounters are getting easier and more frequent and more people
are traveling to other countries, whether it is for business, work, study or vacation.
In this globalized and free trade era, there are more and more multinational companies in
various countries, as well as local companies expanding their business to other countries. The
consequence is the increasing presence of foreign workers and professionals in a country or
people working in other countries. The number of foreign workers in various local and
multinational companies is increasing day by day. According to Yoshida (2002), Managing
Director of Sumitomo Chemical Asia Pte. Ltd, the company's strategy to go global is no
longer an option but a necessity for survival. Companies continuously need capital, human
resources, services, goods, and information to grow.
In United States alone, in 2012 the number of foreign workers was 57,329. The largest
number came from China with 12,835 people, followed by Japan, South Korea, India, and
Malaysia. Foreign workers from outside Asia mostly came from Australia, the USA, the UK,
and France with around 2,000 people each. This number decreased dramatically compared to
the number of foreign workers in 2011, which reached 118,000 people (Ministry of Labor and
Transmigration of the Republic of United States, 2013). Meanwhile, United States citizens
who are abroad reach 4 million people, whether as professional workers, students, migrant
workers, TKW, or permanent residence. Most of these United Statess are in Malaysia,
Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Korea, the US, the UK, Germany and Australia (Gustaman, 2012).
Most of the foreign workers in United States come from PMA (Foreign Investment)
companies. There are also those who work in foreign companies that acquire or merge or
affiliate with United States companies. The presence of foreign workers in foreign companies
or local companies is not without problems. Conflicts between laborers and foreign employers
or managers have occurred several times. Labor demonstrations are so frequent that some
foreign companies pull out of United States because they feel unsafe.
Social jealousy, disparity in salaries and facilities are among the root causes although the
beginning of open conflict is often due to intercultural communication problems. One
example is the case at PT Drydock World Graha in Batam. According to a news article on
Kompas.com, the conflict started when a supervisor from India called United States workers
"stupid". The insult spontaneously ignited the emotions of other United States workers. A
fight was inevitable between the Indian-blooded foreign workers and the United States
workers - who according to them had often received similar insults. "If this hat could talk, he
would say that every day we are called stupid and other names," said an United States
employee. The result of the abuse was labor demonstrations and arson attacks on company
facilities. Dozens of foreign workers were evacuated from Batam (Kompas).
Intercultural conflict is not to be taken lightly. Saying and acting rudely may be normal in one
culture, but extraordinary and insulting in another. Everyday communication failures,
misunderstandings due to language differences, differences in cultural background, exclusive
behavior due to expatriate feeling, and other attitudes can lead to intercultural conflict. Others
that do not fit into the local cultural setting can lead to prejudice and very likely end in open
conflict with fatal consequences.
In the global realm, the world is becoming a multicultural society, in which people may come
from several different races and live in several cultural contexts (Samovar, Porter, &
McDaniel, 2010). Take President Barack Obama for example; he was born in Hawaii where
the native population is not white, his father is from Kenya, his mother is white, he lived in
United States with his United States stepfather, and then settled in Hawaii with his white
grandmother.
For the business context, many changes have occurred especially since the rapid development
of information technology. Business transactions can be done in minutes; information
exchange from different parts of the world happens every second. Professionals and
entrepreneurs can make contact and travel to different countries at any time. Unfortunately,
the ability and skills of intercultural communication for smooth relationships and business are
not all realized by business people. This is compounded by the lack of intercultural
communication training to overcome various intercultural barriers. Many business transaction
failures occur simply because of failures in intercultural communication.
Training to improve intercultural communication competencies and to increase intercultural
awareness is a must for both global and local companies. Lack of intercultural awareness and
poor intercultural communication skills often create misunderstandings. These
misunderstandings can lead to offense and distrust from both parties. Even misunderstandings
can occur simply because of differences in communication styles (Yoshida, 2002). Through
this paper, the research aims to show the importance of intercultural awareness and the ability
to communicate interculturally effectively in the global era.
Methods
The method of writing this article is a literature study. Data and information are obtained from
secondary data derived from books and references related to the theme of the article. The
main sources of this paper are various research results that have been carried out contained in
various journals and various intercultural communication textbooks.
Results And Discussion
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
Understanding Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Awareness
Differences and diversity are natural. Every person, every nation is unique. Even though the
world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the boundaries of countries due to
technological advances, differences and diversity will remain. Many argue that globalization
can homogenize existing cultures and there is no need to worry too much about cultural
differences, but the author believes that cultural differences and diversity will definitely
remain. Differences and diversity actually add to the vibrancy of life and are the wealth of the
nation.
Whether you're in an international business context, working for a foreign company or being
an expatriate in a country, when interacting with strangers, you're bound to have experienced
a stare that implies incomprehension, a forced smile, a mumbled comment in a language you
can't understand. On the other hand, sometimes without realizing it, we ourselves have
confused others with our body language, facial expressions, and speaking accents. People
from different cultures process information in different ways, value treatment differently and
measure concepts of time and space in different patterns. Insensitivity to cultural differences
can turn into serious business problems (Mitchell, 2008).
An example is given by Mitchell (2008) of the serious business problems experienced by
Disneyland due to cultural insensitivity. After successfully opening Disneyland in Japan,
Disneyland was going to create this theme park in France. Having already made a success of
Japan - which has a very different culture - Disneyland felt there was no need to change the
system to suit Europeans. Problems arose from the initial purchase of the 1,950 hectares of
land. The land purchased was prime farmland at below-market prices. French farming
families who had managed the land for centuries were outraged and opposed. French
newspapers denounced the American businessman with angry and insulting articles that
Disneyland had trivialized French farmers' ties to their ancestral lands. Disneyland further
offended the French public by using lawyers to negotiate the contracts. In France lawyers are
a negotiating tool of last resort. The use of lawyers shows distrust and rejection of the French
way. Disneyland executives should have been the ones negotiating. The problem was further
complicated by Disneyland's ignorance of European culture and French work norms.
Disneyland demanded that its employees dress American-style. As a result, staff and labor
unions revolted and demanded French models of everyday dress. Work morale plummeted. In
addition to these, there were many cultural details that Disneyland ignored in France. The cost
of the company's cultural insensitivity cost the company a huge amount of money and
goodwill.
Cultural insensitivity and ignorance of details are also widely practiced by global business
people and managers. They tend to generalize ways and styles to apply to different cultures.
Comments such as "It works in my country, so it will work everywhere," "I know how to
sell/make/manage this business everywhere," "My product is the best, I don't have to worry
about cultural differences," are often heard (Beamer & Varner, 2008).
The attitude that one's own culture is the best and other cultures should follow one's own
cultural ways and be judged by one's own cultural standards is an attitude that should be
avoided when interacting with people from different cultures. This attitude is a form of
negative ethnocentrism (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010). If a person tends to have
negative ethnocentrism, it will hinder success in intercultural communication.
Yoshida (2002) also tells the story of a business meeting between a US delegation and high-
ranking Japanese officials. He mentioned that the problem he faced at that time was the
"perception gap". He said that after the U.S. delegation finished meeting with high-ranking
Japanese officials, one of the delegation members told a good Japanese friend about his
impression of the meeting.
The next morning, a Tokyo newspaper quoted one of the high-ranking Japanese officials who
participated in the meeting as saying, "we really appreciate the meeting that was held, we
tried to be good listeners rather than imposing our views on them and we felt the American
delegation appreciated it."
In contrast to the American delegates' perception, the Japanese consider the 'cold' atmosphere
to be an appropriate and good attitude. By them being silent and listening, it means that they
are seriously contemplating every issue on the subject being discussed. After all, in Japan
there is a philosophy of 'those who know a lot do not speak, and those who know nothing
speak a lot'.
These two events show how important it is to understand and recognize the differences of
each culture. By understanding that cultural diversity is vast and amazing, one will be more
open to accepting the differences that exist and opening oneself up to learning the differences
that exist. The concept and understanding of time, space, life after death, nature, and reality
held by people of different cultural backgrounds will more or less impact the process and
success in communicating and doing international business.
Various studies on intercultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity have been conducted
by intercultural communication scholars. It is proven that high intercultural sensitivity and a
positive attitude towards multiculturalism will significantly reduce ethnocentrism; which in
turn will reduce intercultural and intergroup conflict (Dong, Day, & Collaço, 2008).
Recognizing Other Cultures
Culture is defined as a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religions, conceptions of time, roles, distance, relationships, general
concepts, material objects and possessions of a group of people that are passed down from
generation to generation through individuals and groups (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel,
2010). Furthermore, Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010) state, in order for culture to be
passed down from one generation to the next, individuals and cultural groups must
communicate every aspect of culture. Therefore, culture and communication are inseparable
and form a strong bond. Culture determines how to talk, what to talk about, to whom the
message is delivered, under what conditions the message is delivered and received, and how
the message is communicated interpreted. Culture is the basis for communication, and as
cultures vary, so do ways of communicating.
Cultural experts classify the cultures of various nations/countries. These experts include
Gudykunts and Kim, Hall and Hall, and Hofstede. The classifications made by Hall (1984),
Hall and Hall (1990; 1990) are still relevant and always cited by other intercultural
communication experts today. He explained and classified cultures in the world based on the
concept of time and cultural context. Gudykunts and Kim (2003) classified individualistic and
collectivistic cultures. Meanwhile, Hofstede (2005) identified value dimensions and measured
the degree of these value dimensions in more than 50 countries around the world.
Hall and Hall (1990) categorize various cultures ranging from low-context cultures (LCC) to
high-context cultures (HCC). In high-context cultures most of the information is expressed in
the physical context or internalized in the people interacting. Very little information is in the
form of verbal messages and are more skilled at reading the environment and nonverbal
behavior. High-context culture people expect others to understand their nonverbal
communication. Japan, China, United States, and other Asian countries are high-context
cultures.
The "perception gap" that occurred in Yoshida's story was due to the Japanese delegation
coming from the HCC who expected the American delegation to understand the nonverbal
messages of 'cold' and 'silence' as a form of respect for the opinions and thoughts of the
American delegation. Meanwhile, the American delegation came from LCC. In low-context
culture most of the information is in the form of verbal messages. Verbal messages are very
important because LCC people tend not to learn how to obtain information from the
environment. Disagreements and differences of opinion must be expressed verbally because
LCC people find it difficult to understand nonverbal messages. The United States, Australia
and other Western European countries are low-context cultures.
In addition to categorizing various cultures into LCC and HCC, Hall and Hall (1984, 1990)
categorized time into monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). Hall
characterized people monochronic time and polychromic time. However, they asked that this
characterization should not be applied to all cultures, only to help find patterns.
Characteristics of M-time people include: comes from LCC, does one thing at a time and
concentrates on one job, uses time based on commitments (schedules, deadlines), requires
complete and detailed information, is tied to work, strictly follows a plan, highly values
privacy. Whereas P-time people are characterized by: coming from HCC, doing various
things at one time so that things are often interrupted, tied to people and human relationships,
easily and often change plans, have close relationships with family and friends.
Gudykunts and Kim (2003) state that countries in Asia and South America belong to
collective cultures. Collective culture emphasizes togetherness and family and group ties are
very important. Whereas countries in Western Europe and North America, the people belong
to an individualistic culture.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) surveyed IBM employees in all its representatives in 74
countries to identify the differences in value systems in each country (national values). The
values measured include 4 dimensions. First, power distance, relates to social inequality
including relationships with authority. The degree is scored from small to large. The higher a
country's score, the greater the power distance in its society. Second, collectivism versus
individualism, relates to self-concept, relationships between individuals and individuals with
groups/societies. The higher a country's score, the more individualistic the society is of the
country. Third, femininity versus masculinity, the social and emotional implications of being
born male or female. The higher a country's score, the more masculine its society. Fourth,
uncertainty avoidance, ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity that manifest in
emotional expression and control over aggression. Degrees are assessed from weak to strong.
The higher a country's score, the higher the level of anxiety and the less accepting of
uncertainty.
Countries that show high power distance scores, such as Malaysia, have high status and
power distance between superiors and subordinates. Power is centralized and held by a few
people with a high hierarchical pyramid structure. Subordinates must always obey the orders
of superiors and superiors are highly respected. Superiors receive various facilities and
privileges and there is a high salary difference between superiors and subordinates. In
contrast, countries that show low power distance scores, such as Germany, the superior-
subordinate relationship tends to be equal, the hierarchical system is only for differences in
roles/tasks. Organizations tend to be decentralized with a short hierarchical pyramid structure.
Respected superiors are democratic superiors.
People in countries that score high on the individualistic dimension show characteristics of
low-context culture, oriented and thinking "I" not "we", independent, upholding individual
privacy and ownership, media as the main source of information, more extroverted
personality and supported to express feelings and thoughts. In contrast, people in collectivistic
countries are very "we" oriented, highly dependent on extended family and group, harmony is
prioritized and avoid direct confrontation, share with family the resources owned, high-
context culture, highly maintain the good name of family and group, social network is the
main and trusted source of information, personality tends to be introverted.
The Challenge of Communicating Interculturally in the Global Workplace
Communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds is not easy. Organizations
and individuals who want to be able to compete in the global sphere must prepare themselves
for the challenges and difficulties that will be experienced when doing business, negotiating,
or working in a global company. As a global individual, you must prepare yourself to
successfully and effectively communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds.
When you communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds, you are
communicating interculturally.
Globalization makes employees in various companies and organizations more heterogeneous,
also requires organizations to understand the differences in regulations, socio-political
situations, economic conditions and social environments of various countries. Any global
organization or one that is preparing to become a global organization, must prepare each of its
members to be able to communicate interculturally effectively because intercultural
communication skills are the backbone to support business transactions around the world
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010; Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This self-preparation is not only for
individuals who want to live and work abroad or companies who want to expand their
business to other countries, but also for exporters and importers. Differences in habits,
behaviors, values can be problematic and can only be solved through effective intercultural
interaction and communication (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2010). And one of the main
problems that often hinders intercultural communication is discrimination followed by
prejudice and ethnocentrism (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
For global managers, being able to communicate effectively is a very important skill because
smooth planning, organizing, monitoring, and facilitating can all be done well through
communication. When all these managerial activities have to be done together with people
from different cultural backgrounds, according to Chitakornkijsil (2010), the most difficult
thing is the process of encoding and decoding messages so that meaning can be interpreted
correctly. Although verbal messages are the main way of encoding messages, nonverbal
messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, body language, distance, and eye
contact contain broader and more complex meanings. It is precisely these nonverbal messages
that are often ambiguous and can lead to misunderstandings.
In addition to problems in encoding and decoding messages, a major obstacle for global
managers is the diversity of languages. Approximately 6000 languages are spoken worldwide
(Chitakornkijsil, 2010) with 10,000 dialects (Saee, 2007). A global manager must master
more than 1 language and at least master English as an international language. Even though
both communicating parties are equally proficient in English, misunderstandings still often
occur. Chitakonrkijsil (2010) suggests that global managers should master the language of
their customers and the local language where they work.
Another challenge that global managers and entrepreneurs often face is limited time to
familiarize themselves with the language and culture of clients, consumers and business
partners. Short deployment times in a country and tight business travel schedules often
prevent global managers and entrepreneurs from following up on their messages and
encouraging feedback from business partners and stakeholders from different cultural
backgrounds (Chitakonrkijsil, 2010).
Based on his experience, Yoshida (2002) further added 4 main problems he encountered
during his time as a global CEO, namely: 1) lack of proficient English language skills, spoken
and written by employees and managers. Insufficient English proficiency and skills will cause
delays in responding to instructions, affecting business processes and operational smoothness.
2) Managers and leaders of global companies at headquarters often lack communication with
managers at branch offices about the company's vision and strategic policies. This can
eliminate opportunities to learn strategic differences and brainstorm with local managers to
address local issues. 3) Cultural snobbery and ethnocentrism from global leaders and
managers that inhibit intercultural understanding. 4) Lack of knowledge and understanding of
local needs and customization of rules in accordance with local cultural norms and values,
including understanding differences in perceptions and communication styles.
Furthermore, the author had a brief interview with a government relations manager of a
multinational company in Jakarta about the problems faced in intercultural communication.
He stated that often leaders from headquarters, mostly from Europe and the United States,
insist that negotiations with government officials bring results quickly and when delivering
messages and discussing company issues he is asked to be to-the-point. When participating in
meetings with decision-making officials, headquarters leaders are often impatient to engage in
small talk before addressing the issue at hand. This often leaves the manager at a loss as to
what to do to accommodate the boss's request while still maintaining good relations and the
official's feelings. Because he knows, if he is too urgent, it could be that the results of the
negotiations that have been achieved will be useless.
From the manager's story, there was a lack of intercultural understanding and a culture clash
between the head office and the local manager. Leaders from the head office come from a
low-context culture and a monochronic-time culture where differences of opinion and all
ideas are welcome expressed verbally and to-the-point and they are very time/schedule
oriented. Whereas United States officials come from a high-context culture and polychronic-
time culture that prioritizes comfortable relationships without being too fixated on time when
going through the process of achieving good relationships. This condition is certainly a
challenge for local managers working in multinational companies to be able to understand the
differences that exist and how they deal with them well.
Studies on expatriates show international assignments result in high costs, individual and
family adaptation problems, poor performance, difficulty maintaining productivity and
satisfactory relationships with people in the host country. These conditions are apparently not
due to technical managerial incompetence but rather to the dynamics of the intercultural
experiences encountered (Saee, 2007).
Furthermore, Saee (2007) states that most multinational companies consider that providing
English language training for their managers and employees is sufficient. The company
leaders assume that for effective intercultural communication it is only a matter of linguistic
competence and that communicating is like a mechanical skill that does not involve emotions
and various interpersonal factors. But having foreign language competence only solves part of
the problem.
A global manager who is fluent in English but reluctant to learn the local language will miss
nuances and snippets of meaning from a conversation. A lot of important information from
local people is very helpful in solving company problems and getting a full picture of what is
happening. Even a British manager working in Germany should learn German even though
many Germans speak English and Anglo-German is a low-context culture (Beamer and
Varner, 2008).
Pet-kevičiūtė and Budaitė (in Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010) identified problems that often
arise in multicultural organizations, namely: Different dispositions of communicators,
different styles and ways of negotiating, different perceptions of superior-subordinate
relationships, different patterns of time management, different work cultures and rules of
conduct, and different styles of decision-making. Of the various challenges that exist and have
been described, the biggest challenge actually comes from within intercultural
communicators. Perceptions and attitudes that can hinder and even potentially derail
communication must be eliminated. Various studies have proven that ethnocentrism, mistrust,
lack of empathy, avoidance, apathy, stereotyping, and prejudice can potentially derail
communication and even lead to conflict (Pliopaitė & Radzevičienė, 2010).
Becoming Competent
Competence translates as proficiency or ability. Various literatures place intercultural
communication competence almost the same as communication competence in general. A
person who is competent in communication means that he or she can communicate
effectively, that is, the message is interpreted equally by the sender and receiver of the
message. Thus, intercultural communication competence looks at the success and feasibility
of communication and interaction between people from different cultures who identify with
certain symbolic and physical environments (Mulyana, 2005; Deardorff, 2006).
Scholars of intercultural communication identify four basic components of intercultural
communication competence, viz: motivation, knowledge, attitude, and behavior (Wiseman in
Martin & Nakayama, 2007). Each scholar elaborated the four components into more detailed
explanations. Hofstede (2001) states that to be proficient in intercultural communication, one
must go through the stages of awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Martin and Nakayama (2007) describe intercultural communication competence into 2
components, namely individual components and contextual components. The individual
component consists of 1) motivation, i.e. the desire to commit to the relationship, the desire to
learn about oneself and others, and striving to be flexible; motivation is the most important
dimension in the individual component; 2) knowledge and self-knowledge, i.e. knowing one's
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator; 3) language knowledge, i.e. knowledge of one's
mother tongue, foreign language, and knowing its difficulties; 4) attitudes, including tolerance
of ambiguous meanings, empathy, and unprejudiced; 5) behaviors and skills. The contextual
component consists of 1) understanding the context and setting in which the communication
takes place, because a good communicator must be sensitive to the conditions and cultural
setting around him and 2) knowing his position as a communicator in a
conversation/meeting/situation.
Chen and Starosta (2008) offer a model of intercultural communication competence. The
model aims to improve interactants' ability to understand, appreciate, tolerate and integrate
cultural differences, so that they are ready to become members of the world community. The
model presents a transformational process of symmetrical interdependence described through
three perspectives: (a) affective or intercultural sensitivity; (b) cognitive or intercultural
awareness; and (c) behavioral or intercultural skills.
These three perspectives are equally important, inseparable and form a holistic picture of
intercultural communication competence. 1) The affective process: intercultural sensitivity,
including self-concept is the way a person perceives himself, open-mindedness, non-
judgmental attitudes are not prejudiced, and social relaxation is the ability to reveal only a
little emotional anxiety when communicating interculturally. 2) The cognitive process:
intercultural awareness, including self-awareness or self-monitoring and cultural awareness.
3) The Behavioral Process: Intercultural Adroitness (Communication Skills), including
message skills which is the ability to use the language of others, appropriate self-disclosure is
appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility is the ability to choose appropriate behavior
in different contexts and situations, interaction management is the ability to speak in
conversations and to start and stop conversations appropriately, and social skills (empathy).
Kim (in Gudykunts and Kim, 2003) suggests 3 dimensions of intercultural communication
competence especially for expatriates placed in a country. First, the cognitive dimension has
knowledge of the local language, nonverbal signs, cultural values, communication systems
and rules of interaction. Second, the affective dimension has motivation and attitude
orientation in accordance with the local culture, has cultural sensitivity, sense of humor, and
others. Third, the behavioral dimension has the ability to speak, listen, read and write the local
language, is able to express and understand nonverbal expressions, can follow the rules of
interaction and is able to manage relationships.
The various components and dimensions of intercultural communication competence that
have been proposed by several scholars should be added to the important aspects that should
be known and understood in the context of multicultural business and the global workplace.
Global entrepreneurs and managers should pay attention and be ready to deal with differences
in: business protocol, such as rules for first meetings, attitudes and behaviors when
welcoming business partners, personal appearance, gift rules, taboos in conversation;
leadership style; decision-making style and manner; business etiquette and negotiation,
including issues of formality and status, speed and patience in negotiating, expression of
emotions, direct and indirect messages, understanding between evidence and truth (Samovar,
Porter & McDaniel, 2009).
Efforts to improve intercultural communication competence cannot only be aimed at
employees who will be sent on international assignments and expatriates who are deployed
but all employees must also be managed for their ability to interact and relate interculturally.
The skills that all employees possess in interpersonal and intercultural interactions are
essential for successful global management (Graf & Harland, 2005).
Furthermore, Graf and Harland (2005) recommend that every global organization or
organization with a global vision measure interpersonal competence and intercultural
competence for all employees. This measurement is certainly very useful when selecting
expatriate candidates. Graf and Harland's research proves that employees who have
interpersonal and intercultural competence will be able to deal with social problems,
interpersonal problems, be able to face challenges in managing cultural differences, and have
a desire to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Korean, French, German and Japanese companies expect their employees to be able to adapt
quickly, function and communicate skillfully in a variety of cultural contexts. European
companies expect managers to have a good command of at least one foreign language. All
intercultural communication scholars agree that technical expertise is not enough, employees
and managers must be able to adapt to various cultural contexts, sensitivity and proficiency in
English and local languages are important (Chitakornkijsil, 2010).
The main strategies that organizations should adopt to foster and enhance the inclusion
attitude of their employees are to organize employee training to sensitize them to cultural
differences, encourage employees to accept overseas assignments, and offer foreign language
training. Furthermore, organizations must be able to manage diversity and empower the
potential of their employees as a competitive advantage (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While
suggestions for employers, leaders, managers, and global employees: 1) conduct intercultural
communication training within the organization; try to see things from another person's
(cultural) point of view; 2) start from yourself building intercultural communication
competence through self-evaluation, removing cultural prejudice, increasing intercultural
sensitivity and understanding, building empathy based on accepting differences and forming
positive attitudes; 3) complete the arsenal to be able to empathize, namely: wisdom, humor,
sensitivity, flexibility, compromise, warmth, calmness, readiness for discussion, careful
listening and patience; 4) learn local/client/business partner cultural values, customs, rules and
rituals in order to behave appropriately; 5) improve the quality and quantity of communication
with clients, leaders, managers, and employees at headquarters and in branch offices
(Yoshida, 2002; Lewis, 2005).
Conclusions
Globalization gave birth to thousands of international and multinational companies around the
world. Interactions between foreign and local workers are inevitable, and business
transactions and negotiations are not always successful and smooth. The failure of business
transactions and the decline in company performance are often due to cultural differences. For
now, for business people and members of multinational organizations, understanding the
culture of foreign partners is a must.
Being aware of, recognizing, and understanding cultural differences is of utmost importance.
Each culture has its own uniqueness and characteristics; different language means different
culture. Remove prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism. Increase cultural sensitivity,
openness to differences and communication skills, and interact appropriately.
Local, multinational, or international companies should immediately conduct intercultural
communication training, sensitivity training, and intercultural understanding for all their
employees. Intercultural communication competence can be achieved through the process of
intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and intercultural communication skills.
Companies that have intercultural competence will be able to succeed and maintain success in
global business.
