Inter cultural Communication

Transcription

1 Inter cultural Communication Niels Hallenberg IT University of Copenhagen BAAAP Spring 2010 Outline Culture as Mental Programming Introduction: The Rules of the Social Game Five New Practices How China Transforms an Executive s Mind 1

2 Software of the mind Reginald Rose, Twelve Angry Men, 1955: 11th juror: I beg pardon, In discussion 10th juror: I beg padon. What are you so goddam polite about? 11th juror: For the same reason you re not. It s the way I was brought up. Two people with different patterns of behavior. Culture as Mental Programming: Mental programs very as much as social environments. Culture is the unwritten rules of the social game. Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others. Three levels of Mental Programming Personality Unique personal set of mental programs. Not necessarily shared with any other human being Partly inherited within ones genes and partly learned, that is, modified by influence of collective programming and unique personal experiences. Cultural Derives from one s social environment and not from ones genes. Human nature Common for all human beings the operating system Our ability to feel fear, anger, love, joy, sadness, shame and need to associate with each other. The ability to observe the environment. Figure 1.1, page 4 2

3 The Power Distance Index How to handle the fact that people are unequal The following cluster of questions deals with power and inequality: 1. How frequently (1 very often, 5 seldom): employees being afraid to express disagreement with their managers? 2. Boss s actual decision-making style: (autocratic/paternalistic, consultative, majority vote) 3. Preference for their Boss s decision-making style (autocratic/paternalistic, consultative, majority vote) Table 2.1: Relative country scores The Power Distance Index, Conclusions In countries where employees are seen as frequently afraid of disagreeing with their boss and bosses as autocratic/paternalistic, they also less prefer a consultative boss. In countries where employees are not afraid of disagreeing with their boss and bosses are not autocratic/paternalistic, they also express a preference for a consultative decision style. Dependence relationships Small PDI: small emotional distance between subordinate and boss. They can easily approach and contradict their boss. Large PDI: large emotional distance between subordinate and boss. They will unlikely approach and contradict their boss. 3

4 The Power Distance Index, meaning The meaning of PDI can be defined as The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. PDI of China: 80 PDI of Singapore: 74 PDI of Denmark: 18 The Power Distance Index, School PDI at school: Large PDI: teachers are treated with respect and older teachers even more. Students stand up when teacher enters the room (similar to the military in DK). Large PDI: teachers are not publicly contradicted and criticized. Large PDI: the educational process is teacher centralized the wisdom transferred is the personal wisdom of the teacher. Small PDI: teachers and students are equal. Small PDI: the educational process is student centralized students make uninvited interventions in class. They are supposed to ask questions. They argue with teachers. Small PDI. The quality of learning is determined by the excellence of the students. Table 2.3, page 57 4

5 Degree of Individualism in Society Individualism versus Collectivism. Individualism: societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself and his or her immediate family. Collectivism: societies in which people from birth onward are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout people s lifetimes continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Individualism Index (IDV) Questions 1. Personal time: have a job that leaves sufficient time for your personal or family life. 2. Freedom: have considerable freedom to adopt your own approach to the job 3. Challenge: have challenging work to do work from which you can get a personal sense of accomplishment 4. Training: have training opportunities (to improve your skills or learn new skills) 5. Physical conditions: have good physical working conditions (good ventilation and lighting, adequate work space, etc.) 6. Use of skills: fully use your skills and abilities on the job. Individualists: Scored 1, 2 and 3 as important and 4, 5 and 6 as unimportant Collectivist: Scores 1, 2 and 3 relatively unimportant and 4, 5 and 6 as relatively important. 5

6 Individualism Index (IDV) Individualist: the importance of personal time, freedom and personal challenge stress the employees independence from the organization Collectivism: the importance of training, physical conditions and skills used on the job stress the employees dependence of the organization. Individualist countries tend to be rich Collectivist countries tend to be poor In rich countries training, physical conditions etc. may be taken for granted. Table 3.1, page 78: Denmark: 74 China: 20 Singapore: 20 Collectivism is the rule in our world, and individualism is the exception. Masculinity - Femininity Masculinity versus femininity (gender difference) The only dimension on which the men and the women among the IBM employees scored consistently differently Questions important for males: 1. Earnings: have an opportunity for high earnings 2. Recognition: get the recognition you deserve when you do a good job. 3. Advancement: have an opportunity fo radvancement to higherlevel jobs. 4. Challenge: have challenging work to do work from which you can get a personal sense of accomplishment Questions important for femininies: 5. Manager: have a good working relationship with your direct superior 6. Cooperation: work with people who cooperate well with one another. 7. Living area: live in an area desirable to you and your family 8. Employment security: have the security that you will be able to work for your company as long as you want to. 6

7 Masculinity Index A society that is masculine: Emotional gender roles are clearly distinct: men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success, whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life. A society that is feminine: Emotional gender roles overlap: both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life. Masculinity Index (MAS): 0 for most feminine and 100 for most masculine. Table 4.1: China: 66 Singapore: 48 Denmark: 16. Masculinity is unrelated to a country s wealth. Uncertainty Avoidance Index Questions: 1. Job stress: How often do you feel nervous or tense at work? 2. Rule orientation/agreement with the statement: Company rules should not be broken even when the employee thinks it is in the company s best interest. 3. Intent to stay with the company: How long do you think you will continue working for IBM? Correlation: If in a country more people felt under stress at work, in the same country more people wanted rules to be respected and more people wanted to have a long-term career. Individuals having one of these feelings did not need to be the same persons. It s the culture of the country likely reactions of people with same mental programming. 7

8 Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) Uncertainty avoidance is defined as: the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations. A relatively larger part of individuals: 1. Feel nervous and tense at work. 2. Feel that breaking a company rule introduce ambiguity 3. Feel that changing employee introduce an unknown situation. Table 5.1, page 168: China: 30 Denmark: 23 Singapore: 8 Notice the low values! Language and Humor What is considered funny is highly culture-specific. Be careful with irony Be polite Be patient and get a feeling of the communication Be active write every day that is the only way you get a feeling of the communication and the only way you get your negotiations done. 8

9 Intercultural Negotiations Universal characteristics of nogotiations: Two or more parties with shared / conflicting interests Both gain from a common agreement Initially an undefined outcome A means of communication between the parties. A control and decision-making style National cultures may affect negotiation processes: PDI will affect the degree of centralization of control and decision-making structure IDV will affect need for stable relationships between negotiators. A replacement means a new relationship must be built which takes time. MAS will affect the need for ego-boosting behavior the show of force UAI will affect the tolerance of ambiguity and the need for structure in the negotiation procedures Learning Intercultural Communication Learning intercultural communication comes in three phases: Awareness: Recognition that we all carry a particular mental software achieved through different environments. Be interested in other cultures Knowledge: Learn about the culture you must communicate with: their symbols, their heroes, their rituals and their values. Skills: Learn to practice and apply the symbols, their rituals and be satisfied by being able to get along in their environment. 9

10 5 Minutes Excercise Define Your Culture What keywords describe the Danish national culture? What keywords describe the Danish educational culture? How would the Danish educational culture be different from the Singaporian educational culture? What might be their expectations to group work? Communication in practice Write polite and precise short sentences Communicate often (preferably daily) Agree on fixed days/times when you are online simultaneously Use different medias: , msn, skype, google chat etc. Make sure you document your decisions Followup on progress and identify misunderstandings actively Agree on your goal, milestones and responsibilities Remember your personal stuff get to know each other especially in the beginning. 10

11 How China Transforms an Executives Mind Study of expatriate (voluntarily absent from home country) executives who are highly effective in the Chinese environment Why are they effective? They have learned to think differently They have learned to react and act within the environment. Five practices: Just go Switch your thinking modes Don t discuss emotions attend to people Strengthen attention and concentration Go Beyond yourself How China Transforms an Executives Mind Just go : use your intuition instead of a linear approach with one argument following the other. Switch thinking modes between linear analytic thought and intuitive thought. Don t discuss emotions attend to people: We handle conflicts directly in Denmark We do not walk around them and just continue. The Chinese approach is not to solve emotional problems/dilemmas but to move ahead. Focus on people like inviting to the Opera, all kindness to the boss or refusing dinner to care of all involved. 11

12 How China Transforms an Executives Mind Strengthen attention and concentration: Get into the situation, forget about yourself and go ahead and do the work. Don t evaluate and analyze but be free to act. Go beyond yourself: A sense of purpose based on being connected to something larger than themselves. 12