Cross-Cultural Communications for the Global Executive

1. The Forgotten Factor:
Effective Communications for the
Global Executive
Carol Webster
Owner, Cassel International
1

2. Globalization Defined
• Tying it All Together
– Iraq
– Kuwait
– England
– Japan
– Spain
– Germany
– U.S.
• Brand It Like Beckham!
-2-

3. Why Do Business Overseas?
If you want to succeed you should strike out on
new paths rather than travel the worn paths of
accepted success.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
14000
• Global economy
12000
• Expand customer base
10000 Canada
• Lessen impact of domestic
Mexico
downturn 8000
UK
• Tennessee ranks 17th in 6000 China
exports among U.S. states Japan
4000
• TN exports – transportation TOTAL
2000
equipment,
computers/electronic products, 0
2000 2001 2002 2003
chemicals, machinery
Source: OTEA, ITA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce
-3-

4. Checklist for Doing Business
Overseas
A journey of a thousand miles must
begin with a single step. - Lao Tzu • Identifying Specific
Potential Markets
• Assessing Your
Company’s Potential
• Selecting the Right
Distribution Channels
• Promoting Your Product
• Overseas Transportation
• Foreign Credit &
Collections
• The Forgotten Factor??
-4-

5. The Forgotten Factor?
The Gentle Reader will never, never know what a
consummate ass he can become, until he goes
abroad.
--Mark Twain, part of travelog from his trip to Egypt
Mark
• Cross-Cultural
Awareness
• Difference between success or
failure
– Business environment
– Personal/social environment
• MUST be on the checklist
-5-

6. Never Underestimate
-6-

7. Why Cross-Cultural
Communications?
• Offer riches of cultural
diversity
– Come from around the
world
– Speak more than 380
• Over 11 % of the U.S. different languages
population is foreign-born
• (1) child in (5) is an
immigrant or an
immigrant's child
Source: www.learnaboutcultures.com
-7-

8. Communications Defined
In travelling; a man must carry knowledge with him, if he
would bring home knowledge.
Samuel Johnson from Boswell, Life of Johnson, 1791
• From the Latin root
“Communis”
– Having something in
common
– Sharing
• Not the act of sending a
message, but the
achievement of
understanding
Source: Donald K. Smith, Make Haste Slowly “Developing
Slowly,
Effective Cross-Cultural Communications”
-8-

9. Test Your “IQ”
(International Quotient)
• What a
beautiful
vase!
•I’m looking forward to
I’m
working with my English
colleagues.
Oh, I couldn’t possibly drink
that now….
Source: www.learnaboutcultures.com -9-

10. Test Your “IQ”
(International Quotient)
• Why won’t they call me back?
Would you care for a sweet?
Es ist mir eine Freude, Herr
Schmidt, Sie kennen zu lernen.
Source: www.learnaboutcultures.com -10-

11. Where do Communications
Problems Arise?
You gotta know the territory! --The Music Man
The
• Names
• Words
• Touch
• Dress
• Body Language
• Negotiating Styles
• Humor
• Gift-Giving
• Dining
-11-

12. What’s In a Name?
Coca-Cola - Bite the Wax Tadpole
Chevy Nova
• First names are last names (or not?)
– China, Latin America
• Hey Joe!
• Business Card Etiquette
– What to include
– Have them translated!
– Presentation
-12-

13. “Words” to the Wise
“Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.”
• Why Don’t They Speak English!!!
– The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
– After a number of injections my jaw got number.
– The bandage was wound around the wound.
– The farm was used to produce produce.
• Learning a Different Language
– 10 phrases you should know
– Beware pronunciation and emphasis!!!
– Effort is rewarded
• Working with a Interpreter
-13-

14. Globalization through the Internet
Fly Naked! - Braniff
• 60% of all internet users reside outside U.S.
• Non-U.S. portion of e-commerce almost doubled
commerce
from 1998 – 2003 – 26% 46%
• Translation vs. “Localization”
– Sign, symbol, color, image and date conventions
– Currency issues
– U.S. lags behind
– Translation must be accurate
– “Many Markets, One Message
Message™”
Source: International Data Corp. -14-

15. A “Touchy” Business
Seen in a hotel elevator in Paris:
Please leave your values at the front desk.
• How Cultures Differ
– Some cultures don’t like casual body contact
– Some cultures touch a LOT!
• Man-to-man or woman-to
to-woman
• Bow How
• You’re in my space!
-15-

16. Dress for Success
•Drop your trousers here for best results. (Seen at a Taiwanese laundry)
Drop
• When in Rome
– Try not to stand out
– Don’t try to pull off local dress/costume
• General rule is Conservative!
– Traditional dark suit w/ white shirt for men
– Dress or skirt-suit for women
suit
• Informal dress acceptable sometimes
– Warm cultures
• Shoes on or off?
• How to identify an American overseas
-16-

17. Actions Speak Louder than Words
•Stop -- Drive sideways. (Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan)
Eye Contact – Look me in the eye .or not
Nod Yes for No
Facial Expressions
Put on a happy face!
Poker Face
Wave Bye-Bye!
Gestures
Thumbs up or
down
Everything is
A-OK
V for Victory
Hook ‘em
Horns! -17-

18. Negotiating Styles
“ . . . .Voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone.”
--WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
• Cultural Context
– High context vs. Low context (Subtlety vs. Lay It On the Line)
– Collectivism vs. Individualism
• What is a contract?
– Starting or ending point
• When Yes Means No and Vice Versa
• Friendship first, then business
• Adversarial relationship or not
• Time concepts
-18-

19. Funny You Should Ask ..
Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:
Would you like to ride on your own ass?
• Humor, Religion, Politics and Sex
– Not forbidden, but tread lightly!
• Understanding Smiles & Laughter
– Happiness?
– Embarassment?
– Hide True Emotions?
-19-

20. Beware of Colleagues Bearing Gifts
In a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you
have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
• When It’s Important
• Potential gift
gift-giving gaffes
– Japan
– Dozen red roses
– Middle East, Latin
America, Pacific Rim – Knife
– Elsewhere – Bottle of alcohol
– Leather items
• What to Give
– Unique products from
your state or region
– Something to represent
your city or state
– Music
– Parker Pens -20-

21. Eat, Drink and Be Wary
“I’ll have the chicken with estrogen sauce” ..Heard in a
Prague restaurant
• Don’t ask “What’s for dinner”
– Not knowing is sometimes better
• Pass the sheep’s eye please .
– Offerings likely to be host country’s “specialty”
– Unfamiliarity doesn’t mean bad
• Eat what’s offered
• At LEAST a few bites
• Slice it thin
• Tastes like chicken!
• Be prepared for time differences
• Alcohol Awareness
-21-

22. Achieving Cultural Competency
The most important trip you may take in life is
meeting people halfway. --Henry Boye
• Factual knowledge of country
• Recognize cultural
differences and similarities
• Identify biases and
stereotypes
• Understand impact of world
events
• Respect cultural
differences without
necessarily agreeing with
them, to empathize, to be
open-minded, and to
open
describe differences
without judging
Source: University of NC -22-

23. Recommended Reading
Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy
the journey. --Babs Hoffman
• Cross-Cultural Business Behavior by Richard R. Gesteland
Cultural
• Cultural Issues in Business Communication by Rob Sellin, Elaine
Winters, Robert H. J. Sellin
• Do's and Taboos Around The World by Roger E. Axtell (Editor)
• When Cultures Collide - Managing Successfully Across Cultures by
Richard D. Lewis
• Global Business Negotiations: A Practical Guide by Claude Cellich,
Subhash C. Jain
• Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural
Paradoxes by Marieke de Mooij
-23-

24. Cassel International
The rewards of the journey far outweigh the
risk of leaving the harbor. --Unknown
• International Business
Consulting Firm
– Marketing Services
• Global Market Research
• Competitive Analyses
• Trade Show Management
(Before, During & After)
• Marketing Planning
Go Global and Grow Global!
– Cross-Cultural
www.casselinternational.com Communications Training
-24-

25. Parting Thoughts
Travel has a way of stretching the mind.
The stretch comes not from travel's
immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad
new sights, smells and sounds, but with
experiencing firsthand how others do
differently what we believed to be the right
and only way.
--Ralph Crawshaw Cross-Cultural Awareness is fatal to
prejudice, bigotry and narrow-
mindedness. Broad, wholesome,
charitable views cannot be acquired by
vegetating in one little corner of the
earth.
--With Apologies to Mark Twain
-25-

26. Questions?
26