1. Overview

Knowing how to effectively work with people from other cultures is also a critical part of understanding communication from both the global and local perspectives.  It is very important to be aware of what is involved in working with people from other cultures, whether in international teams or in an office setting, and how to manage the differences that arise in these teams because of the greater integration of the world economy.  We will often be interacting with others from around the world when we carry out our normal day-to-day tasks.

            As more and more people migrate around the world from one country to another, we will find ourselves working with people from other countries and other cultures.  There might be any number of other reasons, however, that we find ourselves working in international teams.  We might be posted to work at a branch office overseas, we might have foreign nationals posted to work with us from headquarters or from branches overseas, we might even be working with others from all around the globe using technology (email, fax, phone, teleconferencing, the Internet) to create an international work team.

We need to understand other people’s perspectives and why they are different from ours.  We need to know that there are nonverbal as well as language differences that can affect our interactions.  It is important to know how people interpret their environments and what their values toward work are. 

Understanding how we are similar and how we are different in our cultural frameworks is crucial in being able to work with others. We need to know how to effectively work and communicate with them if we are to reach our goals and objectives and the goals and objectives of the organization that we are working for. 

2. Hofstede’s Work-Related Values

Every culture has a unique way of looking at work and work-related attitudes.  Based on data collected in 40 countries, Geert Hofstede suggests that there are four dimensions of work-related values that differ from culture to culture.  Those dimensions are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism-collectivism, and masculinity-femininity.

These dimensions give us one important way to start to understand the different perspectives people bring with them to their jobs.  Understanding these work-related values will allow you to better interact and communicate with others from different cultural backgrounds.

Power Distance

Power distance explores the relative power, hierarchical, and status differences between employees and their supervisors or managers.  Cultures that have a high power distance are ones where people accept that differences—inequality—between employees and supervisors is more acceptable than in cultures with a low power distance, where people feel there should be less difference and greater equality between them. 

People in high power distance cultures feel more comfortable with larger status disparity than people in cultures with low power distance.  Cultures with high power distance hold that those in power should not be challenged, the social order should be maintained, and that the use of power is appropriate whenever those in power deem 

            There are implications of power distance for dealing with people from other cultures.  People from countries with high power distance scores are likely to prefer close supervision.  People from countries with low power distance scores are more likely to desire to participate in decisions affecting their work.

3. Hofstede’s Work-Related Values (Continued)

Uncertainty Avoidance

The uncertainty avoidance dimension examines people’s openness to change, their willingness to take risks, and how they deal with change, ambiguity and unpredictable situations.  This aspect of Hofstede’s category system of work-related values looks at how comfortable people feel about living with uncertainty, doubt, and lack of clarity, and how they try to cope with these feelings

People from cultures high uncertainty avoidance cultures feel greater anxiety and discomfort when situations are ambiguous and uncertain.  Therefore they prefer to establish formal rules and structure to create greater certainty and predictability in their lives.

People from cultures that rank low in uncertainty avoidance feel they are able to cope with situations where things are not known.  They are more willing to cope with change and ambiguity.  They feel less need to establish formal rules and structure in their lives.

Individualism-Collectivism

Individualism-collectivism looks at whether a person prefers to take individual and independent action or prefers conformity and interdependent action.  This dimension also explores how much reliance a person places on the self versus the group in the organization. 

Cultures with a high score on individualism (low on collectivism) value independence, individuality, and a strong sense of self.  People are rewarded for their own effort and they make choices based on how things affect them personally.

4. Hofstede’s Work-Related Values (Continued)

Cultures with low scores on individualism (high on collectivism) view reliance on the group as paramount.  People are rewarded for their contribution to group effort and they make choices based on how things affect the group as a whole.

Note that these are preferences and not the only ways people can interact.  People from countries high in individualism tend to more highly value their own independent accomplishments and decision-making; people from cultures that are low in individualism tend to more highly value working with and conforming to the group.  This does not mean that people from high individual cultures cannot work in groups; only that the individual is valued over the group.  Nor does it mean that people from low individualism cultures do not have a sense of self; only that they group is valued over the individual.

Masculinity-Femininity

Masculinity-femininity explores whether people are assertive and achievement oriented or whether they are nurturing and socially supportive.  It also refers to whether gender roles in the culture are clearly defined or not.

Cultures that scored towards what Hofstede refers to as the “masculine” end of the continuum tend to have very well defined expectations of male and female roles in society.  The more “feminine” cultures tend to have less of an expectation that people will take on more traditionally defined gender roles.  

Understanding of Hofstede’s four dimensions of work-related values can give you a much better understanding and appreciation for the cultural perspectives of people you work with who come from different cultures.

5. Hall’s Cultural Context

As we have seen, our cultural frameworks shape what we select out of our environment and pay attention to and what we disregard, ignore, or push to the background.  These fames of reference create a context for our perceptions.

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall provides another way to better understand those you work with who are from other cultures.  Hall believes that different cultures provide different types information via the contexts through which to perceive the world.  He believes that the interpretation of an interaction can be found in the verbal or symbolic aspects of the event or in the context in which the interaction takes place.  

The symbolic aspect of an interaction involves the words and language we use in and to talk about the situation.  The context involves the setting, especially the nonverbal cues that are part of the interaction.  Hall suggests that there are high and low context cultures, depending on whether the information comes from the context—these are high context cultures—or from symbolic interaction—these are low context cultures.

For people in high context cultures interpretation comes primarily from the context of an interaction.  Much is left unsaid and people assume their interpretations from the situation and the nonverbal behavior in the situation.  People from high context cultures are more attentive to nonverbal cues.

For people in low context cultures the verbal or symbolic aspect of the interaction carries most of the information we need to interpret an event.  In other words people tend to talk about the meaning of the situation or interaction more than making assumptions about them from the nonverbal cues.  People from low context cultures are less attentive to the nonverbal cues that give information about how to act and behave in any given situation.

6. Intercultural Competence

Being aware of these cultural differences is not enough, however.  We also need to accept the differences for what they are and not judge them.  People have been taught by their cultures to perceive the world in certain ways.  Their ways are not necessarily any better or worse than our own, just different.  Once we are aware of, and accept these differences, then we can find ways to effectively and productively work with people from other cultures. 

Communication scholars Myron Lustig and Jolene Koester propose several ways to become competent in communicating and interacting with people from other cultures.  Here are some of their suggestions that can help you more effectively work with others:

·        Display of Respect: This is the ability to show respect toward others and to value them as fellow humans.

·        Orientation to Knowledge: This is the awareness that each person has an individual way of perceiving the world, one based on cultural background.

·        Empathy: This is the ability to try to understand other peoples’ cultural perspectives.

·        Relational Role Behavior: This is the ability to establish harmony in interpersonal interactions with people from other cultures.

·        Tolerance for Ambiguity: This is the ability to cope effectively with are new and uncertain circumstances.  It means being able to adapt easily to new cultural situations.

·        Interaction Posture: This is the ability to view other cultures in a nonjudgmental manner.

7. Working in International Teams

Working with people from other cultures is never easy.  Communication scholar Charles Bantz suggests that there are four important issues that need to be dealt with when working in international teams:

·        Language

·        Cultural norms

·        Status

·        Politics

Language

The issues of language involves deciding on which working language will be used by the team in their interactions and in carrying out the functions of their tasks.  The team need to decide on the working language so that all members are able to participate and can be productive in their work.

      Once a working language has been chosen, a number of interaction and communication tactics need to be adopted for the team to deal with the fact that different members of the team will probably have different degrees of facility in the working language.  Bantz feels that: “The simplest tactic is ‘slowing down’ the communication.  This tactic usually includes:

·        Repeating information when team members seem not to understand.  For this to occur it is important to be aware of any nonverbal indications that a member of the team is not following the interaction.

·        Asking for understanding and clarification on the part of team members to make sure the entire team understands what is being said.

·        Restating ideas in another language when appropriate and where more than one of the team members speak the same non-working language.

8. Working in International Teams (Continued)

Cultural Norms

            As we have seen from the discussion of Hofstede’s work-related attitudes, different cultures have different norms about work.  Because different cultures view work differently, it is important to take such differences into account when negotiating how to work in an international team and how the team establishes work norms.  Charles Bantz illustrates this point when he states that:

“More complex norms include the appropriateness of doing work while eating or ‘on break,’ whether one works on a single task to completion or multiple tasks, whether individuals independently develop their work plans, and the basic significance of work in one’s life.”

Bantz suggest a number of tactics for managing cultural differences concerning work norms that will arise for international teams as part of their communication interactions:

·        Recognize cultural differences and make that recognition part of the team process.

·        Explicitly talk about temporal issues, such as holidays, work times, and so forth.

·        Recognize that team members will have different ways of dealing with conflict; decide how the team will deal with conflict when it arises.

·        Explicitly talk about how the team will carry on discussion to hear all points of view.

9. Working in International Teams (Continued)

Status

All of the members of an international team will come, not only with status differences, but also with different concepts about the function of status and power in the work setting.  Hofstede’s power distance dimension reveals just how different cultures view the perception and use of status differences.  As with norms, an open discussion of the place of status in the team is an important step in establishing a productive work environment.

Politics

            Some cultures avoid discussions of broader societal and global political issues within work groups and teams, others cultures feel that such discussions are a normal part of everyday work life.  These different cultural perspectives need to be dealt with for the team to be effective.  Bantz notes that:

“Political differences again raise issues of conflict management, and a team’s success in managing such differences will be related to the team’s ability to find an overall strategy of conflict management, aw well as specific tactics in managing differences in politics.”

There are also several important communication tactics that Bantz specifically identifies for working in international teams:

·        Agreeing on long-term goals, while continuing to negotiate short-term goals.

·        Maintaining social support by engaging in con organizationing communication even when disagreeing.

·        Adapting to language differences by slowing, checking out, restating, and using more than one language.

10. Working in International Teams (Continued)

·        Discussing group procedures.

·        Initiating social discussions of work life to determine cultural perspectives.

·        Responding to political differences.

            In summary, Bantz feels that there are four common threads to the tactics that international work groups can use to manage differences effective:

·        Gather information.

·        Adapt to differing situations, issues, and needs.

·        Build social as well as task cohesion.

·        Identify clear mutual long-term goals.

            These are only a few suggestions about how to deal with cultural differences when working in international teams.  A careful study of Hofstede’s work-related values will help an international team negotiate the cultural differences that will be inherent in their interactions.  While explicitly talking about these differences and their effects on team productivity and effectiveness will likely be uncomfortable for some or all of the team members, that might be the most important way to deal with those differences.

Bantz feels that it is not enough to just understand differences in cultural perspectives that people in international teams bring with them to the group, but also they need to know how to manage those differences productively:

“Working in a culturally diverse work group necessitates both some level of understanding of the variations in the group and effort by the members to be sufficiently flexible that various strategies of accommodations can be utilized. . .

To be successful, participants must employ an array of tactics to manage diversity to the benefit of the project.”

Assignments

Matching the Columns

Answers:

1.)    C

2.)    B

3.)    F

4.)    D

5.)    E

6.)    A

Multiple-Choice

1.         Explores the relative power, hierarchical and status differences between employees and their supervisors or managers.

a.      Power distance

b.      Uncertainty avoidance

c.       Individualism-collectivism

d.      Masculinity-femininity

2.         Explores how much reliance a person place on the self versus the group in the organization.

a.       Power distance

b.      Uncertainty avoidance

c.       Individualism-collectivism

d.      Masculinity-femininity

3.         Looks at how comfortable people feel about living with doubt, and how they try to cope with these feelings.

a.       Power distance

b.      Uncertainty avoidance

c.       Individualism-collectivism

d.      Masculinity-femininity

4.         Refers to whether gender roles in the culture are clearly defined or not.

a.       Power distance

b.      Uncertainty avoidance

c.       Individualism-collectivism

d.      Masculinity-femininity