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1 2

Chapter 1 Introduction to Intercultural Communication

3 4 Learning Objectives 5 By the end of this Chapter, you should be able to 6 Define intercultural communication and intercultural business communication. 7 Understand the importance of intercultural business communication. 8 Briefly describe the developmental study of intercultural communication and its 9 applications. 10 Develop an awareness of the complexity involved with intercultural business 11 communication. 12 Many experts in the field of communication theory believe that the two concepts of Intercultural 13 business communication (ICBC) and cross-cultural business communication are basically two 14 different concepts with the same meaning. Cross-cultural business communication is simply a British 15 term for intercultural business communication. There have been some studies comparing different 16 styles of leadership, as well as studies looking at the different negotiation strategies. Still some may 17 argue that cross-cultural communication implies a comparison between cultures. For example, studies 18 on different styles of leadership and different negotiation strategies used by both Chinese and 19 American negotiators are presented as cross cultural business studies. The author finds this particular 20 research concept too restrictive and we prefer to use the more acceptable concept of intercultural 21 business communication throughout this book, in short, ICBC. 22 In chapter one we will first define and then discuss the concept of intercultural communication, 23 secondly we will explain why there is a need to study intercultural business communication; and finally, 24 we will show how the study of intercultural communication developed and was applied in an 25 international business environment. 26I. What is Intercultural Communication? 27 Well start with the question: How to define the terms of intercultural communication and 28 intercultural business communication? 29 Intercultural communication (ICC) is the term first used by Edward T. Hall in 1959 and is 1 30 simply defined as interpersonal communication between members of different cultures. 31 Intercultural business communication (ICBC) is a relatively new term in the business world 2 32 and is defined as communication within and between businesses that involve people from more than 33 one culture. It belongs to the category of intercultural communication. So for students to gain a better 34 understanding of the field of ICBC, a knowledge of ICC is important and essential. 35 Intercultural communication can be understood as a phenomenon, and we call intercultural 36 communication as . It can also be understood as a discipline that is . 37 Some make this distinction, but some dont. They just use for both. 38 Intercultural communication can include international, interethnic, Interracial, and interregional 3 39 communication.

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40 International communication 41 International communication takes place between nations and governments rather than 42 individuals; it is quite formal and ritualized. The dialogue at the United Nations, for example, 43 would be termed international communication. If Chinese Chairman communicates with American 44 President, we have international communication, because this is communication between two 45 nations or countries. 46 Interethnic communication 47 Ethnic groups usually form their own communities in a country or culture. Interethnic 48 communication refers to communication between people of the same race but different ethnic 49 background. For example in China, if a Tibetan communicates with a Han, we have interethnic 50 communication, as they are from different ethnic groups. 51 Interracial communication 52 Interracial communication occurs when the source and the receiver exchanging messages are 53 from different races which pertains to physical characteristic. For instance, if an Afro-American 54 interacts with a white American, its interracial communication. Interracial communication may or 55 may not be intercultural. 56 Interregional communication 4 57 This term refers to the exchange of messages between members of the dominant culture within a 58 country. If a northerner interacts with a southerner, we have what is called interregional 59 communication. These are members of a culture who shared common messages and 60 experiences over a long period of time; but who live in different regions of the same country. 61 Intercultural communication as a phenomenon has the following features: 5 62 First of all, it is a universal phenomenon. Intercultural communication as a phenomenon is 63 universal. It occurs everywhere in the world. When you talk with an American teacher, or send email to 64 a foreigner, or even when you watch a foreign film or read an English novel, you are engaged in 65 intercultural communication. As a result of this communication, whether it be face-to-face, 66 communicating over the Internet, watching a movie, or reading a book; if you are receiving messages 67 from another culture, then you are involved in intercultural communications. 68 Secondly, the communication between cultures has been going on for thousands of years. 69 The history of intercultural communication is almost as long as human history itself. It dates back to 70 when primitive nomadic tribes started mingling with each other and needed to communicate with each 71 other. It become necessary even more so when sailors visited alien lands; and when thousands of 72gold-diggers from Asia and the different European countries immigrated to North America in search of 73 wealth, there was intercultural communication. During the Tang Dynasty in China, there was the 74 example of the famous Silk Road in which people of Asia, Africa and Europe interacted and 75 communicated with each other in order to conduct their business transactions. 6 76 Thirdly, intercultural communication is a common daily occurrence. The communication between 77 cultures today is happening continuously, with it taking place almost everyday. Today, you find 78 thousands of Chinese students going abroad to study, there are millions of foreign travelers coming to 79 China to visit, foreign artists come to China to give performances in and today there are many joint 80 venture enterprises doing business in many of our cities here in China. These are all examples 81 showing how prevalent intercultural communication is today. 82 Especially now during the twenty first century the importance of intercultural communication has 83greatly increased. Why has an increasing number of people now recognized the importance of

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84 intercultural communication? Lets move on to the next point for the answer. 7 85 86 II. Why Is Intercultural Communication Increasingly Important? 87 88 During the later part of the last century, satellite communications, computer networks and 89 supersonic air buses have virtually turned our world into a global village. Even today, as you are 90 resting in your bed at home, you can watch a football game being played in Italy or even a basketball 91 game that is transmitted from America. At the Chinese market, you can buy various kinds of goods and 92 products that are made in many different parts of the world. 8 93 From an intercultural perspective, there are four developments that were crucial to the rapid 94 increase of intercultural communication: 95 1. Improvements in transportation technology 96 The improvements in transportation technology have helped to shrink the earth to a figurative 97 global village by creating the means for people to travel almost anywhere in the world in less than a 98 day's time. For example, where it used to take months to travel from Shanghai to Los Angles by ship, it 99 now takes only 12 hours by plane. In the future, travel will be even quicker. There is aircraft now in the 100 design stage that will increase travel speeds even more so. There will be a time when air travel 101 between China and the United States for instance may be completed in a couple of hours. Where the 102time in air travel will be shorter than the time traveling to the airport. So you can see, the improvements 103 in transportation technology make it much easier for people from different cultural backgrounds to get 104 together and communicate in our modern world. 105 2. Developments in communication technology 9 106 Developments in communication technology paralleled those in the travel technology and 107 prompted even a quicker movement toward a global village. It is now possible for people to have 108 instantaneous vocal, graphic, textual and even video communication with most parts of the world. 109 Unbelievably so, with a cell phone for instance, anyone can be in instant communication with anyone 110 else, anywhere in the world while simultaneously traveling to any place in the world. In addition, the 111 developments with the Internet and the World Wide Web have provided a means for people 112 everywhere in the world to interact and communicate with one another; as well as to transmit, store, 113 and retrieve information about near1y any topic imaginable. It is truly amazing. 114 3. Changes in mass migration patterns 115 Changes in mass migration patterns have also contributed to the development of the global 116 village. Every year, millions of people now move across national boarders. The world's population has 117 continued to increase and shift. As a result of population growth and mass migration, contacts with 118 cultures that previously appeared unfamiliar, alien, and at times mysterious are becoming a normal 119 part of our day-to-day routine. 120 America is widely known as a land of immigrants, and every year thousands of new immigrants 121 arrive in American to make a new life for themselves. American businesses have been making special 122 efforts to adapt to this new cultural diversity. For instance, recently some American telephone 123 companies have been advertising in the Chinese communities using the Chinese language, so that 124 they could better communicate to their Chinese customers and remind them to call home during the 125 Chinese New Year holiday. At the same time, there is also an increasing number of foreigners 126 immigrate to China and would like to become Chinese .citizens 127 4. Globalization of the world economy 10

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128 International business would not be possible without international communication; and as a result 129 of the activity of conducting business internationally, international businesses have become an 130 important economic force for many countries. In developed countries of this world, international 131 business is the process of conducting business transactions across national boundaries and 132 transnational corporations (TNCs) are the principal participants in this activity. The following data will 133 help to show why TNCs are among the worlds largest economic institutions. In 1970, there were some 134 7,000 parent TNCs. In the year 2000, that number jumped to 45,000 parent TNCs, with over 250,000 135 subsidiaries. They controlled from 40% to 50% of the entire worlds productive assets and 90% of 136 foreign direct investment (FDI). A rough estimate suggests that the 300 largest TNCs own or control at 137 least one-quarter of the entire worlds productive assets, worth about US$5 trillion. TNCs total annual 138 sales are comparable to or greater than the yearly gross domestic product of most countries. 139 Transnational companies are also classified as multinational companies. Multinational firms do 140 not ordinarily think of themselves as having specific domestic and international divisions or 141 subsidiaries; its strategic planning, marketing and decision making are concentrated towards 142 international markets; and having a centralized headquarters in one particular country is almost 143 irrelevant. As a multinational firm, TNCs employ people of different ethnic groups and cultures. Actually 144 many TNCs make a point of employing people of different countries. Ted Zhi, the China Manager of 145 Akzo Nobel once described the composition of his company in this way: The division manager is from 146 Sweden, the R & D head from Denmark, the Export Manager is from Holland, and the China Area 147 Manager and I are from China. 148 China's sheer size, coupled with its rapid growth, makes it a major player in the global economy 149 now. In nominal terms, China currently accounts for almost 4 percent of world output. China's share of 150 the world trade has grown more rapidly as well. In 1990, its share of world exports was 1.9 percent; 151 that grew to 4 percent in 2000 and 6 percent by 2003. China's share of world imports grew from 1.5 152 percent in 1990, to 3.6 percent in 2000 and 5.7 percent by 2003. Chinas total exports and imports in 153 2001 amounts to US$ 509.8 billion, which is 4.6 times as much as that in 1989, with an average 154 annual increase of 13.6%. In 2001, Chinas 6th ranking in world exports had advanced up from being 155 ranked 15th in 1989. 156 Since our change in the national policy that now allows foreign-funded enterprises to do 11 157 business in China through joint ventures, China has approved the establishment of 420,753 foreign158 funded enterprises with a contracted foreign investment of 822.24 billion US dollars and actually used 159 foreign investment of 44.32 billion US dollars by 2003. They employed over 23.5 million Chinese 160 people, which accounted to 10 percent of non-agricultural laboring population. Of the top 500 world 161 enterprises, almost 450 have come to China for investment. Over 30 of them have established their 162 headquarters in China. This not only shows that China has become a very attractive area for the direct 163 foreign investment in Asia, especially after the Asian financial crisis, but also shows that those 164 strategical-minded foreign investors have become more confident than before about the continuing 165 growth in Chinas economy. 166 Therefore, even managers and employees who stay in their native country will find it hard to 167 escape or even ignore the changes that are coming from todays global economy. Many of these 168 individuals will be thrust into intercultural relationships when they find themselves working for foreign169 owned companies or in their dealings with foreign suppliers, customers, and co-workers. With or 170 without our approval, these people that we will now have to interact with will often appear alien, some 171may seem exotic, and perhaps even wonderous. In any case, the globalization of the worlds economy

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172 will challenge virtually all businesspersons to become more internationally aware and interculturally 173 adept. 174 All of these instances of major changes in Chinas society reinforces the fact that intercultural 175 communications is becoming a daily occurrence and is greatly becoming increasingly important. They 176have produced major transformations in both worldwide and local patterns of communication and 177 interaction and as a consequence, mankind is going to have to adjust. 178 179 III. How Is the Study of Intercultural Communication Developed? 180 181 Although the phenomenon of intercultural communication is as old as human society, the study of 182 intercultural communication is of recent origin. 183 1. A review of the development of intercultural communication study 184 Intercultural communication, as was mentioned earlier, is a discipline with a fairly short history. 185 It was first started in the United States. Edward T. Hall conceptualized this new field of ICC in 186 the12 early 1950s when he worked for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI). He popularized this 187new area of communication in his foundational book, The Silent Language, in 1959, which is 188considered the founder of intercultural communication study. Because it was he who first published this 189 important book, which has since become a classic in this field. As stated in the Handbook of 190 International and Intercultural Communication, 2nd edition: 191 After World War II, the United States established a foreign aid program, the Marshall Plan, to help 192 rebuild Europe. Based on the success of this program, U.S. President Harry S. Truman proposed in 193 1949 the United States should offer its technical and scientific expertise to the then developing 194 nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to assist their development process. The FSI was 195 established by the U.S. Congress in the U.S. Department of State to train American development 196 technicians and diplomats. Hall was the key intellectual in the FSI training program from 1950 to 197 1955. (Gudykunst and Mody, 2002, p.2) 198 Its easy to understand why the field of ICC has continued to prosper in the United States 199 considering the following reasons: 200 The country is a land of immigrants from many diverse cultures; 201 There are thousands of new immigrants entering the country every year; 202 The U.S. has large numbers of foreign students and tourists; and 203 The American involvement in the global economy 204 As was mentioned previously, America is considered a land of immigrants. There are many 205 opportunities for people from different cultural backgrounds to communicate with each other and as a 206 result, Americans whose ancestors have come from Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia etc. are 207 constantly interacting and experiencing intercultural communication episodes. With new immigrants, 208 foreign students and tourist arriving in American by the thousands every year, large cities like New 209 York, Chicago or Los Angeles are places where you will see many people of different races, ethnic 210 groups and geographical regions. At any typical American college campus, you will also find students 211 from many different parts of the world; and this exposure to multicultural experiences both in and 212 outside of the classroom prepares these students for the future of tomorrow. 213 Besides, more than the majority of Americas Fortune 500 Corporations are multinational and 214 transnational companies with large numbers of employees and offices in many different countries in 215 the world. So that education and training in intercultural communication styles becomes a necessity,

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216 and is very important to being successful in the global economy. 217 At the very beginning, even before the establishment of the FSI by the U.S. Department of State, 218 the very roots of ICC developed initially through study of communication by such intellectuals as 219 Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. 220 There had also been an anthropological tradition in the study of race and culture in U.S. that 13 221 contributed to the further development of ICC. Anthropologists such as Franz Boas, a professor of 222 anthropology at Columbia University and some of his students which included Edward Sapir, Ruth 223 Benedict, and Margaret Mead, contributed to the later development of ICC through their studies and 224 research of race and culture. For example, Ruth Benedict is the anthropologist who coined the term 225 culture shock, which is defined as the traumatic experience that someone may encounter when 226 entering a different cultural environment. Benjamin Lee Whorf, a student and colleague of Sapirs at 227 Yale University, advanced linguistic relativity through the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the notion that 228 language influences perceptions and thus human behavior. (This will be discussed in detail in Chapter 229 5.) It is well documented that the favorite research topic for American ICC researchers was to 230 investigate the assimjilation of immigrants to the United States. (Gudykunst and Mody, 2002, p.3) 231 So the major points in the development of ICC are: 232 Culture and communication were studied separately until recent years, and it was not until the 233 early seventies that scholars started to relate culture to communication. 234 In 1970, intercultural communication was recognized by the Intercultural communication 235 Association (ICA), and since that time, many changes in the discipline have taken place, such as 236 ICC being offered as a course of study at many American universities. 237 In the early 1970s, serious training in the field of intercultural communication was begun. 238 The first training actually started with Peace Corps members, who were being prepared in ICC 239 before being sent abroad in the 1960s and 1970s, to countries in the Asian and African 240 continents. Most of these Peace Corp volunteers were recent graduates, fresh out of college. 241 Being inspired by the early 1960 speeches of President John F. Kennedy, they volunteered to go 242 overseas to work for the general betterment of mankind; but when they were thrust into these 243 different cultures that were totally different from what they were accustomed to, many of them 244 experienced what Ruth Benedict called cultural shock. Many of them could not adjust and had 245 to be sent back home. The American government soon realized that sending them overseas 246 without the proper training was a major disadvantage to successful of the Peace Corp . All 247 volunteers would have to be trained in cultural awareness before they were sent to their missions 248 overseas. 249 Sietar (Society for intercultural education, training and research) was set up in 1975; and it 250 is probably the largest international organization engaged in intercultural communication. 251 In 1977, an academic journal entitled International Journal of Intercultural Relations was 252 first published. 253 The International Association of Communication has a membership of over five thousand 254 members. 255 As Hart (1996) summarized, this new field of study originated in the United States in the late 1950s 256 when anthropologists made studies of the native Indians and the problems U.S. diplomats at the 257 Foreign Institute Service had with people from other cultures. The study of intercultural communication 258 gained acceptance through training and testing practice in the 1960s and 1970s, formed its basic 259framework in the late 1970s and has made great achievements in theory and practice ever since the

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260 1980s both inside and outside the U.S. Today intercultural communication not only has become one of 261the major academic disciplines in the United States but also is widely acknowledged and extensively 262 researched in all parts of the world. 263 2. Intercultural communication studies in China 14 264 The history of intercultural communication studies in China is much shorter and more recent than 265 what had happen in the United States and Europe. It was first introduced into China during the early 266 decade of the 1980s by some English teachers, who took an interest in ICC for the purpose of 267 changing traditional teaching methodology into communicative approach in EFL in China. ICC well 268 illustrates the interrelations among language, communication and culture and thus can serve as a 269 theoretical guidance for the research and teaching practice under the communicative approach. The 270 short history of ICC in China can be divided into three distinct periods according to Professor Hu 271 Wenzhong, a leading scholar of ICC in China: 272 The years of 1979 to 1987 marks the first period. During this time there was a heavy emphasis 273 on foreign language teaching. 274 The second period of 1988 to 1994, while foreign language teaching still growing and being 275 emphasized in the field, a new discipline called Intercultural Communication or ICC per se was 276 beginning to be introduced as an area of interest among Chinese researchers. 277 In 1995, the third period began when the 5th International Conference on Cross-cultural 278 Communication: East and West was held in China; and it was during this conference that the 279 China Association for Intercultural Communication was established. 15 280 This Association holds an international symposium on intercultural communication biannually. 281 Thus far five symposia have been held successfully, the first was held in Ha Er Bin, the second was in 282 Beijing, the third was in Shenzhen, the fourth was in Xi An and the fifth was held in Xiangtan. Scholars 283 who participated and are involved in these biannual symposiums are mainly teachers of foreign 284languages, teachers of Chinese as a foreign language, linguists, as well as psychologists. 285 As was stated above, it was the English teachers in China who first took an interest in the study 286 of ICC when they began to investigate the relationships between language and culture. Professor Xu 287Guozhang was one of those investigators who first wrote articles on the cultural loading of words or the 288 meaning of words. After those first several articles, it was not long before hundreds of articles were 289 written and then those articles were followed by books. Their study grew from academic interest to 290 theoretical research and practical implementation. 291 The conceptual areas covered in those researches were mainly concerned with: 16 292 1) Verbal communication (the relationship between language and culture: vocabulary, syntax, 293 pragmatic rules, discourse pattern and translation); 294 2) Non-verbal communication; 295 3) Comparative study of customs and behavior patterns in China and other countries; 296 4) Cultural differences in business management; and Traditional Chinese value orientations and 297 their impact on modernization, etc. 298 With the rapid development of economic globalization, intercultural communicative competence 299 has proved to be more and more important. Therefore, the Requirements for College English Teaching 300 in China newly issued by the Ministry of Education of China has listed intercultural communication as 301 an important content in the syllabus. Up to now, many universities have developed courses in 302 intercultural communication for both graduates and undergraduates. Whats more, intercultural studies 303 have been applied to other fields as well. For example, intercultural training and consultation is gaining

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304 popularity in some more developed cities in China now. 305 3. The multidisciplinary nature and elements of intercultural communication study 17 306 During the course of conducting ICC studies, it was found that by putting certain ideas about 307communication, culture, society, education and human psychology together, a new and different way of 308 observing and learning about intercultural communication had emerged. 309 James Alutis summarized the multidisciplinary nature of ICC as LAPSE: 310 L--Linguistics and language 311 A--Anthropology 312 P--Psycholinguistics and Psychology 313 S--Sociolinguistics and Sociology 314 E--Education and English 315 In addition to the above named disciplines, ICC is also related to several other disciplines, such 316 as 317 C--Communication studies 318 C--Cultural studies, etc. 319 This multi-disciplinary approach to the study of ICC has widened and deepened the research 320 area in this field. Listed below are what is considered the top ten works and top ten writers in the area 321 of ICC. The reader should notice what an important role the disciplines of psychology and 322 anthropology play in the study of ICC. 323 Top works and scholars in ICC 324 The following works are regarded as the top ten works on ICC: 325 Landis & Brislin (eds.): Handbook of Intercultural Communication Training, 1983. 326 Samover & Porter (eds.): Intercultural Communication: A Reader, (1972). 327 Hofstede: Cultures Consequences, 1980. 328 Brislin: Cross-cultural Encounters, 1981. 329 Brislin: Cross-cultural Orientation Programs, 1976. 330 Hall: Beyond Culture, 1976. 331 Brislin, Bochner & Lonner: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Learning, 1975. 332 Triandis (ed.): Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology, 1979. 333 Furnhan: Cultural Shock, 1986. 334 Furnhan: Culture in Contact, 1982. (Hu Wenzhong, 1999, p.23) 335 Gudykunst, Triandis, Bristin, Ruben, Hall, Hofstede, Kim, Hanner, Furnham, and Landis are 336 viewed as the top ten scholars in ICC. Out of these ten scholars, four are professors of 337 communication, five are in field of psychology and one is an anthropologist. 338 As you may have gathered from the diversity of areas that contribute to the field, intercultural 339 communication is an extremely complicated field of investigation, and it can be conceptually quite 340 arduous at times. This relatively young discipline that draws its variables of study from such a wide 341 diversity of separate disciplines, as was shown above, is becoming even more important as we try to 342 investigate, understand and explain the cultural differences in the behaviors of people. As we move 343 further into the twenty first century and become even more globalized, the importance of intercultural 344 communication as a major field of study will definitely be recognized and studied by more and more 345 professionals. 346 Elements of ICC Study 347 ICC is both difference-based and culture-based. Aspects of a culture are acted out whenever

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348 members of different cultures come together to share ideas and exchange information. As a discipline, 349 intercultural communication studies problems that arise in the course of communicating across 350 cultures. 351 Communication barriers are obstacles to effective communication. By understanding 352 intercultural communication barriers, we can break them down and pave the way for mutual 353 understanding and respect. 354 Condon (1974) highlighted three areas as most problematic in intercultural exchange: language 35518 barriers, different values and different cultural patterns of behavior. More specifically, Bell (1992 ) 356 identified the following barriers to communication : 357 Physicaltime, environment, comfort and needs, and physical medium; 358 Culturalethnic, religious, and social differences; 359 Perceptualviewing what is said from your own mindset; 360 Motivationalthe listeners mental inertia; 361 Experientiallack of similar life happenings; 362 Emotionalpersonal feelings of the listener; 363 Linguisticdifferent languages spoken by the speaker and listener or use of a vocabulary beyond 364 the comprehension of the listener; 365 Nonverbalnonword messages; and 366 Competitionthe listeners ability to do other things rather than hear the communication 367 Because documenting all of these variables would be an impossible task, the author has selected 368 only those cultural elements that she believes have the greatest impact on intercultural business 369 communication. These elements work in combination with each other, although these elements are 370 treated individually in different chapters; the author believes that the context of the communication 371 event is strongly influenced by culture or cultures that are present during the communication process. 372 With this in mind, the author plans to focus mainly on the business context surrounding the 373 communication process itself. 374 375 IV. How is ICC study applied to ICBC? 376 ICC is an important discipline and can be applied in many ways to the area of Intercultural 377 Business Communication (ICBC), such as: 19 378 Training of new immigrants and foreign students. (This is done mainly in America and Australia). 379 Multilingual education (This is done especially in American and British schools.) 380 Foreign language teaching. (As is the case of TESL teaching English as a second language.) 381 ICBC is useful for increasing general cultural awareness. ICC in now a required or elective 382 course for undergraduate and/or postgraduate students of communication, economics, business, 383 linguistics, foreign languages, education, sociology and the humanities in many universities and 384 schools all over the world. 385 Training of business executives and technicians. 386 An important application of ICC can be found in the training of business executives and 387 technicians, particularly for those who are going to be working overseas. These executives may 388 encounter many different cultural problems when they travel overseas; and they need to trained 389 beforehand. Otherwise, these cultural problems may hinder the effectiveness of their performance. 390 391 The literature on international business is filled with many examples of intercultural 20

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392 miscommunication and blunders. What follows are just a few, to give you an idea of how complicated 393 situations can become when there are misunderstandings. 394 Examples of Intercultural Miscommunication: 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434
Telex sent to a factory manager of a U.S. subsidy in Lima, Peru: Please send a headcount of the people in your factory and in your office, broken down by sex. Information urgent. The local manager, a Peruvian, replied: Heres your headcount: we have 30 in the

factory, 15 in the office, 5 in the hospital on sick leave, none broken down by sex. If you must know, our problem here is with alcohol. A U.S. supermarket, trying to impress Japanese visitors, served sushi and tea to its guests. Unfortunately, the fish was served cooked and the tea was Chinese. (Here the American was not aware that in Japan sushi is fish served raw and serving Japanese tea is somewhat different from serving Chinese tea.) A U.S. executive innocently refused a Saudi Arabians friendly offer to join him for a cup of coffee. Such rejection is considered an affront in Saudi Arabia. International Business Blunders: A Chinese electronic engineer of Sony Corporation Ltd. told his own experience. One day, he saw a broken PCBA, which was a circuit board for the multimedia computer. He picked it up and found there were many expensive components on it. As an engineer, he though it was his duty to repair it. Otherwise, it would be discarded as useless. It took him two hours before he finally fixed it, and it worked perfectly when tested. As he felt so proud of what he had done, he signed his name on the card that was tied to the PCBA. About an hour later, the PCBA was rejected by the QC Department, and he was called to the General managers office. Why did you repair that damaged PCBA and put it on the line? the Japanese manager asked him suspiciously. Its not a defected piece any more. Im sure it works well. He answered with a confident gesture. In order to save money for the company, I have done a hard but excellent job. It is good for the company. Why do you call me here and ask me in such a serious way? He looked directly into the managers eyes. Instead of answering his question, the manager asked him a direct question. Do you want to buy a multimedia computer with this seriously broken but well repaired PCBA inside? Suddenly, the Chinese engineer came to realize somethingif he were a consumer, he definitely would not buy a computer like this. He suddenly understood there was a cultural difference between them. So he said in an apologetical way, Yes, well, manager. Saving the thing when it still has some value is our Chinese way. But from this case I understand what quality means to us now. Its true that if I were the consumer, I wouldnt buy a computer in a good working condition but with a broken PCBA inside it. It is a reasonable explanation, and thats a cultural difference. The manager said with a satisfied expression on his face. You know, Mr. Cue. You tried to save 1,000 US dollars for Sony, but the goodwill of Sony is priceless. If the repaired broken PCBA passed our checks and went to the consumers, it would be a disaster for Sonys goodwill. And thats why we must throw away those seriously defected PCBAs. As Chinese students, you can understand the Chinese engineer rather easily. You might also have

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435been told by your parents or teachers that it would be a good habit to save everything and make use of 436 it as much as possible. Do you remember the Chinese saying use something for three years when it 437 looks new. When it looks old, it should be used for another three years. When it is broken or worn, 438 have it repaired or mended, and then use it for another three years. ( ) To you, 439this idea might be already out of date; but to the engineer, who is a member of an older generation, it is 440 what he was taught when he was young. 441 These are just a few examples to show the results of miscalculatingor simply ignoring--the 442 cultural dimension of international business. Hence, more and more people have come to realize the 443 cultural impact and possible negative consequences that comes from inappropriate communications 444 during international business transactions, and over the past few decades, it has become an important 445 subject of study. 446 447 1. The research of ICBC 448 Despite the increasing interest in the subject noted above, until recently a relative paucity of work 449 has existed on intercultural business communication. This should not, however, seem surprising 450 considering that general communication as a discipline has only recently gained recognition in 451 business studies. It is a relatively new field. 21 452 Historically, much of the research examining international issues falls into two categories: 453 international business and intercultural communication. Most of the important work on intercultural 454 communication research at least somewhat relevant to business, surfaces in a wide range of other 455 disciplines ranging from comparative management, organizational behavior, and psychology to 456 anthropology and foreign language studies. However, relying on research from related disciplines can 457 create risks. For example, imported research may provide answers to questions that do not go to the 458 heart of intercultural business communication and impose its own conceptual model of intercultural 459 communication or international business that may hinder the development of more appropriate 460 concepts of intercultural business communication. 461 While the international/intercultural business literature does not focus on communication, the 462 intercultural communication literature traditionally does not examine the communication in a business 463 context but a more general cultural context. For example, Holtgraves (1997) examines how culture 464 influences whether a person uses direct or indirect communication. He finds that Koreans are more 465 likely to be indirect than are U.S. citizens in intercultural communication. Gudykunst, Matsumoto, and 466 Ting-Toomey (1996) found that individual factors are better predictors of high and low-context 467 communication styles than are cultural values of individualism and collectivism. A number of studies 468 focus on acculturation of immigrant groups (Laroche, Kim, & Hui, 1997), while others compare 469 intercultural communication behavior based on cultural variations in role and social rules (Hammer, 470 Nishida, & Wiseman, 1996; Nishida, Hammer, & Wiseman, 1998). 471 Another focal point of intercultural communication research is individualism vs. collectivism and 472the impact of the relationship on the functioning of society (Gudykunst & Hammer, 1988; Gudykunst, 473Matsumoto, & Ting-Toomey, 1996; Lieberman, 1990; Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, & Lucca, 474 1988; Triandis, McCusker, & Hui, 1990; among many others). Triandis (1989), for example, examines 475 ingroups and outgroups in individualistic and collectivist societies. He analyzes the causes of 476 collectivism and individualism and the implications for social interaction. 477 Many of the findings of this body of knowledge can be applied to business situations. Insights 22 478 into social behavior, attitudes towards morality, self-perception, and the role of hierarchy are not just

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479 beneficial for getting to know other cultures but help in shaping business interactions. For example, the 480 construct ingroup vs. outgroup will help us understand how competing groups in a business 481 environment will communicate with each other. However, the focus of Triandis work is on the 482 theoretical foundation of intercultural communication rather than intercultural business communication. 483 He does not tie the intercultural communication directly to business organizations or business 484 activities. 485 Over the last 15 years business communication specialists have increasingly concentrated on 23 486 intercultural business communication. The number of internationally oriented articles in The Journal of 487 Business Communication, Business Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Business and Technical 488 Communication, and the Management Communication Quarterly has increased dramatically. The 489 Journal of Business Communication dedicated two special issues to intercultural business 490 communication: July 1992 and July 1997. The Journal of Business and Technical Communication 491 devoted the July issue of 1997 to international/intercultural communication. The international articles 492 can be grouped into five categories: the theory of intercultural business communication, practices in 493 other countries, comparative studies, studies of specific communication genres, and intercultural 494 business communication studies. Some articles can be placed into more than one group. 495 An examination of the literature shows that the focus of intercultural business communication in 496 24 business communication journals tends to be on intercultural communication, country-specific 497 business communication studies, and comparative studies. Only recently have researchers focused on 498 the influence of all three variables---communication, culture and business, and the implications for 499 intercultural business communication. While the research in each area contributes to the 500 understanding of the whole, the implications for intercultural business communication are often only 501 implied. 502 For example, in his article entitled The Theoretical Foundation for Intercultural Business 503 Communication: A Conceptual Model, Iris I. Varner develops a theoretical framework for intercultural 504 business communication which sets it apart from intercultural communication and international 505 business. In the past, discussions on the theory of intercultural business communication have mostly 506 focused on intercultural communication using business as examples rather than including business as 507 a distinct variable. The model presented in his article discusses the intercultural, business, and 508 communication strategies that are part of intercultural business communication. It is argued that for 509 intercultural business communication to take place, it is not sufficient for all three variables to be 510 present. The three variables interact and create a synergy that reflects the dynamic character of 511 intercultural business communication. In this process, intercultural business communication becomes 512 a unique construct that is different from intercultural medical or intercultural religious communication. 513 The article examines how past articles in the field fit into this model. 514 More recently, more topics have been explored in the field of ICBC by an increasing number of 515 scholars and researchers. 516 2. The Importance of Learning ICBC 517 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS are essential for businesspersons in today's market. 518 As was discussed earlier, the increase in globalization in the last few decades has changed the way 519 people view the world and conduct business in that world. Economic globalization generally results in 520 individuals from one culture working not only with, but also for individuals from another culture. 521 Business schools have a responsibility to prepare their students to be effective intercultural 522 communicators. Many business schools in U.S. have begun to incorporate intercultural communication

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523 into their curricula through individual chapters, research projects, semester-long courses, study abroad 524 programs, and other methods. However, it seems that the students in China sometimes are more 525 interested in learning about business and professional knowledge than they are in learning about the 526 process of intercultural business communication. Effective international business communication skills 527 are the backbone that supports the many transactions of businesses throughout the world. The ability 528 to communicate effectively gives both businesspersons and their organizations tangible benefits, such 529 as: 530 Quick problem solving 531 Stronger decision-making 532 Increased productivity 533 Steadier work flow 534 Strong business relationships 535 Clearer promotional materials 536 Enhanced professional image 537 The goal in learning should therefore be to increase the students communicative competency25 538 skills, which would include not only linguistic competencies but also sociolinguistic competencies. The 539 students should also be taught to become culturally aware in the learning process and to not only 540 know, but also understand how and why it is important to develop the communicative skills that will 541 help them to interact with people from other cultures. This is especially important to students who are 542 majoring in international business or foreign language studies, where there is an urgent need for highly 543 developed interpersonal communication skills and intercultural business communication competence. 544 For example, in order to understand the significance of a message from someone, you need to 545 understand the way that person looks at the world, and the values that weigh heavily in that persons 546 cultural background. You need to understand the meanings that are not put into words, the importance 547of the words that are used, and the way the message is organized and transmitted. You also need to 548know what to expect when that other person engages in a particular communicational behavior such 549 as making a decision, negotiating a sales agreement, or writing a legal document such as a contract. It 550 is also important to be knowledgeable about the organization that a particular person works for, and 551 how its structure and its organizational culture affects its communications. 552 In summary, we are living in an age of globalization when we increasingly interact with people 553 from different cultures. And whether we like it or not, those interactions will continue to grow in both 554frequency and intensity. The time to prepare to work in it is now. Accordingly, this book is provided to 555 help students take a step in that direction. 556 557 3. The complexity in learning intercultural business communication 26 558 Improving intercultural communication is not only expedient, but also possible, because our brain 559is an open system (we can learn), we have choices (we can communicate one way or another) and our 560 actions produce a response (we do something to other people). Yet it is not easy for us to learn from 561 each other or to learn new information about other people and other cultures. 562 As noted above, several Western scholars have been investigating and trying to explain the main 563 barriers to intercultural communication. Barna suggests that there are six main stumbling blocks 564 which often cause difficulties in intercultural communication: 565 1) People tend to assume that there are more cultural similarities between themselves and 566 people of other cultures than there actually are, and this can lead to misunderstanding.

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567 2) Language differences, obviously, are often a source of misunderstanding. 568 3) People of different cultures often misinterpret each others non-verbal communication. 569 4) People often have stereotypes and preconceptions about foreigners that lead to 570 misunderstanding. 571 5) People often evaluate what foreigners do and say before really understanding what they 572 mean. 573 6) When people interact with foreigners, they often have feelings of anxiety or stress, and 574 this can lead them to jump to inaccurate conclusions. (One source of this stress is 575 sometimes cultural shock.) 576 Lustig and Koester (2000) summarize the barriers to intercultural understanding in a somewhat 577 different way. They suggest that the following three features of the way human beings think create 578 obstacles to intercultural communication and understanding: 579 1) People tend to reduce the complexity of the world into a smaller number of groupings and 580 patterns; in other words, they tend to generalize and over-simplify. 581 2) People tend to identify and define groups by a few key characteristics. 582 3) People tend to assume that all people pf all cultures see the world similarly. 583 Specifically, its generally agreed that the potential problems in intercultural communication are 584 mainly as the following: 585 Avoidance of the unfamiliar 586 As the proverb goes Birds of a feather flock together, most people seek to be near others with 587 whom they share common outlooks, habits, and traits. Culture often separates you from people with a 588 history different from your own and many people often feel uncomfortable when confronted with 589 strangers. This tendency is the very reason the bias of similarity can be a potential communication 590 problem. 591 Uncertainty reduction 592 People have a desire to reduce the uncertainty build into every new meeting with strangers from 593 diverse cultures. Fear, dislike and distrust are emotions that all too often erupt. Whats more 594 problematic to intercultural communication is that if the amount of uncertainty present in initial 595 interactions is not reduce, further communication between the people will, in all likelihood, not take 596 place. 597 Withdrawal 598 If you can not find similarities and / or fail to reduce uncertainty in a satisfactory manner, you are 599 apt to withdraw from the communication event. Withdrawal, at an interpersonal, intercultural and 600 international level, has often been the rule rather than the exception. 601 Stereotyping 602 Stereotyping is a complex form of categorization that mentally organizes your experiences and 603 guides your behavior toward a particular group of people. Stereotypes hamper intercultural 604 communication, because (1) they are rooted in your compulsion to make in-group and out-group 605 distinctions, (2) they are oversimplified, overgeneralized, and / or exaggerated, (3) they repeat and 606 reinforce beliefs until they often become taken for truth, and therefore keep you from making fair and 607 honest judgments about other people. 608 Prejudice 609 Macionis (1998) offers a detailed definition of prejudice while explaining its damaging effect on 610 intercultural communication: Prejudice amounts to a rigid and irrational generalization about a

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611 category of people. Prejudice is irrational to the extent that people hold inflexible attitudes supported 612 by little or no direct evidence. Prejudice may target people of a particular social class, sex, sexual 613 orientation, age, political affiliation, race or ethnicity. (p. 217) 614 Racism 615 Racism refers to the belief that one racial category is innately superior to another. Built into this 616 idea of superiority is the belief that a group of people can be mistreated on the basis of race, color, 617 religion, national origin, or ancestry. Racism is a major hindrance to successful intercultural 618 communication. 619 Misuse of power 620 Power is the ability to control what happens, to cause things you want to happen and to block 621 things you dont want to happen. What makes power an important dimension in intercultural 622 communication, and a potential problem, is that power usually means controlling not only your own life 623but also the lives of others. In interpersonal communication the amount of power you have, or do not 624 have, influences who you talk to, what you talk about, and how much control you have when you talk. 625 There are vast cultural differences in both the perception and use of power. Misuse of power is a big 626 headache to successful intercultural communication. 627 Culture shock 628 The anthropologist Oberg first introduced the term culture shock with the following definition: 629Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of 630 social intercourse. Although the reactions associated with culture shock vary from individual to 631 individual, most of the literature in the area of culture shock suggests that people normally go through 632 four stages (the U-Curve): honeymoon phase, culture shock phase, recovery phase and adjustment 633 phase. In a positive sense, experiencing culture shock has a strong potential to make people be 634 multicultural or bicultural. 635 Ethnocentrism 636 Ethnocentrism is the belief that your own cultural background, including ways if analyzing 637 problems, values, beliefs, language, and verbal and nonverbal communication, is correct. 638 Ethnocentrists believe their culture is the central culture and other cultures are incorrect, defective, or 639 quaint. The negative impact of ethnocentrism on intercultural communication is obvious: it shape social 640 sense of identity which is narrow and defensive; it normally involves the perception of members of 641other cultures in terms of stereotypes; ethnocentric judgments usually involve invidious comparisons 642 that ennoble ones culture while degrading those of others. 643 644 The above are the major potential problems facing you as you are engaged in intercultural 28 645 communication. In the following chapters, we will see their negative effects in various areas of ICBC 646 and discuss in more detail the reasons for these problems and explore ways to solve them. 647 The book is divided into two parts with six chapters each. 648 The first part is based on the basic theory and the framework of intercultural communication, 649 exploring the relationships among culture, values and communication and their influence on ICBC. 650 Chapter One serves as an introduction to ICC and ICBC, pointing out the importance and the 651 complexity in learning ICBC. Chapter Two discusses the basic communication theory and its 652 application in ICBC. Chapter Three turns from communication to culture, including its functions, 653 definitions, ingredients and characteristics, etc. Chapter Four focuses on cultural values which have 654 the most influential effect on ICBC. The next two chapters cover separately verbal and nonverbal

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655 communication, the two communicative channels through which various cultural differences are 656 manifested. 657 The second part consists of the next six chapters, attempting to apply the above communication 658 theory into the analysis of some importance aspects of international business practice. Namely, 659 Chapter Seven is about intercultural business writing, Chapter Eight intercultural business etiquette 660 and protocol, Chapter Nine cultural considerations in international business negotiation, Chapter Ten 661 cultural considerations in international marketing and advertising, Chapter Eleven legal and ethical 662 consideration in ICBC and Chapter Twelve the consideration of organizational culture in ICBC. 663 Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with key terms to help readers grasp the 664 main points of the chapter. After each chapter, various forms of exercises and cases studies are 665 provided for readers to review and work on. Hopefully, this book will help readers in increasing cultural 666 awareness and competence of ICBC.

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667 Key Terms: 668 Intercultural communication 676 Avoidance of the unfamiliar 669 Intercultural business communication 677 Uncertainty reduction 670 International communication 678 Withdrawal 671 Interethnic communication 679 Stereotyping 672 Interracial communication 680 Prejudice 673 Interregional communication 681 Culture shock 674 Globalization 682 Racism 675 Communication barriers 683 Ethnocentrism 684 685 Exercises 686 I. Discussion Questions: 687 1. What is intercultural communication (ICC)? Give examples to illustrate its different 688 types. 689 2. What does it mean by the term intercultural business communication (ICBC)? Why is 690 intercultural communication increasingly important in international business? 691 3. How was the study of intercultural communication developed both in America and in 692 China? 693 4. What are the potential problems of intercultural communication? Have you ever 694 experienced any intercultural communication barriers? If any, how did you deal with 695 them? 696 697II. True or False: 698 Write T if the statement is true; write F if it is false. 6991. The terms intercultural and international can be used interchangeably. 7002. International communication takes place between such groups as African Americans and 701 Latin Americans. 7023. Communication barriers are caused by the same communication having different meanings 703 in different cultures. 7044. Globalization of the world economy is crucial to the rapid increase of intercultural 705 communication. 7065. Technology has made international business travel obsolete. 7076. The recent increase in migration of people around the world has led to discussions about 708 multiculturalism in many countries. 7097. In the study of intercultural communication, the influence of immigration histories in U.S. has 710 little significance for current intercultural communication interactions. 7118. As they become globalized, companies will have to train their work forces to deal with 712 multiculturalism. 7139. Intercultural communication as a discipline was not established in U.S. until the 1980s. 71410. Intercultural communication has an important application in the training of international 715 business persons. 716 717 III. Multiple Choices 718 1. From what areas of the world do most of today's immigrants to the United States

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719 come? 720 A. Asia and Latin America 721 B. Mexico and Eastern Europe 722 C. Haiti and China 723 D. Eastern Europe and the Middle East 724 2. Which of the following has occurred due to advances in technology? 725 A. People are beginning to spend more time with family members. 726 B. The number of relationships we have with people have decreased. 727 C. People have more frequent contact with people from other cultures. 728 D. People are gaining a clearer sense of who they really are. 729 3. To effectively compete with other nations, Chinese companies have to 730 A. impose their own business conventions on other countries. 731 B. emphasize quick returns and short-term goals. 732 C. understand how business is conducted in other countries. 733 D. encourage their overseas representatives to complete business deals very quickly. 734 4. Communication technology is an important issue in intercultural communication 735 because 736 A. it enables us to come into contact with people who are very different from ourselves in 737 ways we do not always understand. 738 B. we are not always able to meet or see people with whom we communicate. 739 C. it is not possible to develop cultural understandings with people over E-mail or other 740 such high-tech communication devices. 741 D. cultural differences disappear when we are able to communicate with people all over 742 the world. 743 5. As a result of globalization, new issues facing corporations include 744 A. cultural differences in work ethics 745 B. stereotyping by members of international teams 746 C. personnel who are overqualified for overseas positions 747 D. a & b 748 6. The classic The Silent Language published in 1959, was written by _____. 749 A. Kluckhohn 750 B. Benedict 751 C. Mead 752 D. Edward Hall 753 7. Which of the following is true about the development of the intercultural communication area of 754 study? 755 A. It originated with scholars looking for practical answers to help overseas workers. 756 B. This area of study is almost the same as the research done in the field of sociology. 757 C. It began as a result of people's displeasure over the foreign relations concerning the 758 Vietnam conflict. 759 D. The primary goal of scholars was to develop theories that described intercultural 760 communication processes. 7618. Joint ventures, transnational corporations, multinational mergers, and acquisitions are products 762 of

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763 A. globalization. 764 B. domestic interaction. 765 C. international interaction. 766 D. the environment. 767 9. It is important to study intercultural communication because 768 A. it is a necessary and worthwhile pursuit. 769 B. most people are more alike than they realize. 770 C. cultural differences bring people together. 771 D. intercultural communication is subjective. 772 10. The China Association for Intercultural Communication is held ______. 773 A. once a year 774 B. every two years 775 C. every three years 776 D. every four years 777 778 Case Study 779 Case 1: Monsieur Mickey 780 Bringing the wonders of Disneyland to a foreign country must have seemed like old hat for 781 Disney. After all, only a few years earlier the company had successfully opened a Disney theme 782park in Japan, bridging the enormous differences between Japanese and American cultures. 783 EuroDisney, at least initially, proved to be another story entirely. The company, it seems, failed to 784 do its cultural homework on everything from French business negotiating styles to employee 785 flexibility and dress habits to consumer spending patterns and eating preferences. The company 786 had a system that worked in the United States and Japantwo very diverse culturesand 787 evidently saw no good reason to change it to adapt to European sensibilities. 788 Day one began with a nightmare. The French people, who tend to wear their cultural hearts on 789their sleeves, howled about Yankee cultural imperialism when Disney managed to buy 1,950 790hectares (4,400 acres) of prime farmland for a fraction of the market price after the government 791 used its right of eminent domain to find Mickey and friends a home. The farmers whose families 792 had worked the land for centuries were bounced. French newspapers railed at the American 793 invaders in a very public display of anger and insult. Before a single building foundation had been 794dug or a brick laid, the company had managed to alienate the community, partly because it had 795 underestimated the attachment to the land of one segment of French society. 796 S E N S E A N D S E N S I B I L I T Y 797 Next, Disney offended French sensibilities and created a wellspring of ill will when it used 798 lawyers rather than its executives to negotiate construction and other contracts for EuroDisney. It 799 was simply not a French thing to do. In France, lawyers are considered a negotiating tool of 800 absolute last resort. The use of lawyers early on in the process was a sign of mistrust and 801 backhand rejection of French ways. Then, according to the French trade and popular press, the 802 company insisted during the construction of Disney-run hotels that a sprinkler system be 803 included. While required under American law, such a system was unnecessary under French law 804 which demands only adequate fire escapes and alarms and access to an emergency water 805 supply. Disneys insistence on the sprinkler system was perceived as a negative comment on 806 French safety standards and an assertion that the American way was better. The battle ruffled

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807 the feathers of Disneys French partners and management, generating even more ill will made 808 public in a stream of negative press reports. 809 In terms of operations, Disneys ignorance of European culture and French working norms 810 caused more problems. The company, which prides itself on the squeaky clean All-American look 811 of its employees, instituted a strict dress code for its local employees, barring facial hair, dictating 812 a maximum length for fingernails and limiting the size of hoped earrings. The staff and its unions 813 rebelled at this perceived attack on everyday French fashion. Morale plunged. 814 T H E D E V I L I S I N T H E D E TA I L S 815 Disney got several other important details wrong. For example, the company believed that 816 Europeans do not generally have sit-down breakfasts. Relative to the normal workday lifestyle of 817 the European commuter, they were correct. But the exact opposite is true when Europeans 818 vacation. As a result of this incorrect notion, hotel dining rooms at Disney hotels were kept small, 819 creating logjams and angry customers when the overcrowded rooms that seat a maximum of 400 820 guests tried to serve upwards of 2,500 sit-down breakfasts every morning. Lunch times inside 821 EuroDisney also bordered on disaster. While Americans visiting Disneyland prefer to graze, that 822 is, eat at irregular intervals, as they wander the park confines, Europeans are used to set 823 lunchtimes. As a result, the parks restaurants became jammed at the lunch hour as everyone 824 tried to eat at once and were empty the rest of the day. Customers complained of long lunch-time 825 lines and pressure to eat quickly. The staff complained of being overworked at lunchtime and 826 under worked during the rest of their shifts. To top it off, Disney, in keeping with the family 827 friendly theme, barred the serving of alcoholperhaps the ultimate insult in a country where the 828 consumption of wine at mealtimes is a birthright. 829H O S P I TA L I T Y H E A D A C H E S 830 The company committed other marketing foibles. While the park did hit its initial attendance 831 target of more than 10 million visitors in the first year, its revenue projections were way off. The 832 reason: unlike Americans or Japanese visiting Disney parks in their home countries, the 833 European visitors to EuroDisney did not spend money on souvenirs. Europeans, it seems, are 834 more used to taking month-long vacations and as a rule do not go on short spending sprees like 835 the Americans and Japanese when they visit a theme park. Finally, Disney found that checkout at 836 its official hotels had turned into a nightmare because of different consumer patterns. Unlike the 837 Americans or the Japanese, the European visitor to EuroDisney tends to stay only one night at a 838 hotel, not the three or four nights common at other Disney parks. The result: the hotels had too 839 few computers to handle the irate guests as they all tried to check out of the hotel at the hotel at 840 the same time after a single nights stay. 841 It was so unlike Disney to get so many details so wrong, says one U.S.-based securities 842 analyst who follows the company. Maybe its not such a small world after all. The companys 843 cultural insensitivities cost it a Jot of money and goodwill. I think it is a good reminder to any 844 company or individual doing business in another countrythe devil is often in the cultural details. 845 They can make or break you. But for Disney at least, alls wall that ends well. After making some 846 significant cultural adjustments, EuroDisney is no longer the economic drain it once was on 847 company coffers. 848 (Source: Charles Mitchell, International Business Culture, Shanghai : Shanghai Foreign 849 Language Education Press, 2000, pp.2-4) 850 Questions for discussion:

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851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How could you explain the response of French people when Disney just set foot on the land of France? What mistake did Disney make in the cultural adaptation process when it negotiated construction and other contracts for EuroDisney with their French counterparts? What advice would you give to resolve the dispute over the sprinkle system? What details should EuroDisney have noticed in its daily operation? How do you understand the comment of the securities analyst the devil is often in the cultural details. They can make or break you.?