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Unit 2: Cultural Aspect of International Assignments

between the sender’s and the receiver’s culture, the greater the chance for cross-cultural mis- Notes
communication.

Example: A Japanese businessman wants to tell his Norwegian client that he is
uninterested in a particular sale. To be polite, the Japanese says, “That will be very difficult.” The
Norwegian interprets the statement to mean that there are still unresolved problems, not that
the deal is off. He responds by asking how his company can help solve the problems. The
Japanese, believing he has sent the message that there will be no sale, is mystified by the
response.

Communication does not necessarily result in understanding. Cross-cultural communication
continually involves misunderstanding caused by mis-perception, misinterpretation, and mis-
evaluation. When the sender of a message comes from one culture and the receiver from another,
the chances of accurately transmitting a message are low. Foreigners see, interpret, and evaluate
things differently, and consequently act upon them differently. In approaching cross-cultural
situations, one should therefore assume difference until similarity is proven. It is also important
to recognise that all behaviour makes sense through the eyes of the person behaving and that
logic and rationale are culturally relative.
Moving from one country to another, whether for business or pleasure, almost invariably
causes culture shock and the severity of the shock is directly proportional to the cultural distance
between two countries. The process of intercultural communication is complex as it involves the
communication between individuals from the different cultures. The societies are divided on
the basis of the culture internationally. High-context and low-context cultures have to be taken
in account by the organisation to design their policies internationally.
Members of high-context culture, depend heavily on the external environment, situation and
non-verbal behaviour in creating and interpreting communication. Members of this culture
group learn to interpret the covert clues when they communicate – so much meaning is conveyed
indirectly. They believe in long-term relationships.
In low-context cultures like the US, Sweden, and Britain, the environment is less important, and
non-verbal behaviour is often ignored. Therefore, communication has to be explicit and clear.
People pay more attention to words than to gestures. People publish their experiences, which
are widely read and commented upon. In the East, experiences are not published but passed on
to close individuals. Relationships between individuals are of relatively short duration, and
deep personal bonds with others are not greatly valued.

Example: High-context cultures are Arabia, Chinese, and Japanese, where indirect style
of communication and ability to understand the same is highly valued. U.S., Sweden and Britain
are low-context culture countries where non-verbal behaviour is ignored.
The model is useful in understanding how members of different cultures develop business
relationships, negotiate with insiders and outsiders and implement contracts.
Based on the cultures, the countries are also divided which is most relevant to the business
communication and negotiations. The four dimensions are:
1. Dealers Focus vs. Relationship Focus: Deal-focused (DF) cultures are task oriented, while
relationship-focused (RF) cultures are more people oriented. Conflicts arise when DF
managers are marketers communicate or negotiate with RF business persons. RF managers
find their DF counterparts pushy, aggressive and offensively blunt. On the other hand, DF
managers often consider their RF counterparts dilatory, vague and inscrutable.

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