Prior to her business travel to India, my American friend was very anxious to find out if it was culturally offensive to point your feet at another person. I actually laughed when she said this because my understanding was that any sane person would find that practice to be offensive. Why target Indians alone? Anyway, I explained to her that feet are considered unclean in India and in the case that your feet or shoes touch another person, you are expected to apologize.
But I do understand where my friend’s coming from. After having spent a year in the United States, I was confused with the different cultural traits and practices that I had to get acquainted with. I always got teased on how Indians bob their heads up and down when affirming something and from side-to-side when conveying a 'No'. Then, again, silence can express a 'Yes' or a 'No'.
These cultural traits which were a source of entertainment for my friends actually got me thinking on how our cultures define our fundamental beliefs about how the world works and forms ways in which we interact and communicate with others and develop and maintain relationships. Understanding those differences and adapting to them is the key. These thoughts and actions are so ingrained that we don't even think about them until we are confronted with another culture and another way of doing things. The need for greater cross cultural awareness is heightened in our global economies.
Cross cultural differences in matters such as language, etiquette, non-verbal communication, norms and values can, do and will lead to cross cultural blunders. Thus the business field faced a lot of difficulties such as cultural differences and misunderstandings which prevailed due to the merging and acquisition of the multinational business organizations. The poor understanding and working relation caused too many consequences among the business organizations. The outcome of this was lack of cooperation and poor productivity. To illustrate this, I have borrowed some examples of cross cultural blunders that could have been avoided with appropriate cross cultural awareness training from few internet websites.
An American oil rig supervisor in Indonesia shouted at an employee to take a boat to shore. Since no-one berates an Indonesian in public, a mob of outraged workers chased the supervisor with axes.
Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it "whitens your teeth." They found out that the local natives chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth which they find attractive.
A company advertised eyeglasses in Thailand by featuring a variety of cute animals wearing glasses. The ad was a poor choice since animals are considered to be a form of low life and no self respecting Thai would wear anything worn by animals.
The soft drink ‘Fresca’ was being promoted by a saleswoman in Mexico. She was surprised that her sales pitch was greeted with laughter, and later embarrassed when she learned that fresca is slang for "lesbian."
When President George Bush went to Japan with Lee Iacocca and other American business magnates, and directly made explicit and direct demands on Japanese leaders, they violated Japanese etiquette. To the Japanese (who use high context language) it is considered rude and a sign of ignorance or desperation to lower oneself to make direct demands. Some analysts believe it severely damaged the negotiations and confirmed to the Japanese that Americans are barbarians.
A soft drink was introduced into Arab countries with an attractive label that had six-pointed stars on it. The Arabs interpreted this as pro-Israeli and refused to buy it. Another label was printed in ten languages, one of which was Hebrew. Again, the Arabs did not buy it.
U.S. and British negotiators found themselves at a standstill when the American company proposed that they "table" particular key points. In the U.S. "Tabling a motion" means to not discuss it, while the same phrase in Great Britain means to "bring it to the table for discussion."
In addition to interpersonal cross cultural gaffes, the translation of documents, brochures, advertisements and signs also offers us some comical cross cultural blunders:
Kellogg had to rename its Bran Buds cereal in Sweden when it discovered that the name roughly translated to "burned farmer."
When Pepsico advertised Pepsi in Taiwan with the ad "Come Alive With Pepsi" they had no idea that it would be translated into Chinese as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead."
American medical containers were distributed in Great Britain and caused quite a stir. The instructions to "Take off top and push in bottom," innocuous to Americans, had very strong sexual connotations to the British.
In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into "Schweppes Toilet Water."
In a Belgrade hotel elevator: To move the cabin, push the button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.
In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.
In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: Stop--Drive sideways.
At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
Poor cross-cultural awareness has many consequences, some serious, others comical. It is imperative that in the global economy cross cultural awareness is seen a necessary investment to avoid such blunders as we have seen above.
The only alternative to sort out this difficulty was to attain the intercultural competency. Almost all cultures have different etiquette while communicating. Mere knowledge about the language will not be sufficient to sort out the differences and misunderstandings in a cross cultural communication. The tone, emotion and the style of using the languages are very important in the process of cross cultural communication. Lack of experience in expressing the language style properly reduces the self confidence among the staff and develops a poor interpersonal relationship.
Cross cultural communication is the way which is used to minimize the misunderstandings and maximize the understanding to create strong relationships. The multinational companies which suffer due to the cross cultural differences and misunderstandings can rely on cross cultural consultants who can help the multicultural organizations to a greater extent in the international business field. So the best way is to undergo awareness training on cross cultural communication or some research on the target culture.
The experts in this field suggested conducting a comprehensive training program about the cross cultural awareness. But most of the multinational companies were reluctant to invest for the sake of the cross cultural training and language tuition for their staff. But this expense will be so negligible while comparing to the loss which may be created due to the lack of the cross cultural awareness in the field of business.
Ten tips for cross cultural communication
Ø Be lucid
English is the language used mainly for cross cultural understanding. This doesn’t mean that you have to be fast and fluent in your language. All you have to do is to slow down the language that you say and make it much clear and ensure the pronunciation that you make is lucid.
Ø One at a time
Never ask too many questions to the listener at a time. For example avoid questions like “shall we stop here or should we move on?” While you are in a cross cultural situation make sure either of the questions is asked and let the listener make his choice in giving the answer.
Ø Evade off-putting queries
Use of negative queries creates misunderstandings in cross cultural communication. In certain yes/no queries the answer for a negative question may be ‘yes’ showing the response for the question. For example consider the “question are you not eating?” may be ‘yes’ which means ‘yes, I am not eating.’ But while giving an answer simply as ‘yes’ the listener may be confused thinking that you might have meant that you are eating. So better avoid such off-putting queries.
Ø Take turns
In cross cultural communication, you make take turns i.e. once you make your point clear then you must wait for the response of the other.
Ø Note down
If you couldn’t get the proper idea of what is being explained then do have a habit of writing it down so that you can refer it later. This will be in the case of large figures like a billion in UK means 1,000,000,000,000 whereas in USA means 1,000,000,000.
Ø Be compassionate
The main essence for the cross cultural communication is being relaxed at its most. If you are willing to give an encouragement to those who are weak at English then it will help to develop a confidence, support and a deep trust in you.
Ø Verify gist
While communicating across cross cultures never make any assumptions about what the other person has understood. Always try to be a good listener and make sure you make a summary of what you explained before you stop so as to verify. To ensure the cross cultural communication this is an effective way.
Ø Shun jargon
Idioms, slang and sayings are something which can’t be completely grasped by even the most well educated foreigner. So the problem which is to arise is that the words will be tacit with its missed meaning.
Ø Stare at the humor
Business is considered with much of seriousness in almost all the cultures. Etiquette and professionalism will be observed all the time. While using humor or joke in any of the business context think about how the other culture understand that and in reason for that many of the cultures do not appreciate them. An example is that, the sarcasm of brutish mainly creates a negative impact abroad.
Ø Maintain etiquette
Almost all cultures have different etiquette while communicating. So the best way is to undergo cross cultural communication training or research the target culture.
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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in November, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.
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—About our writer:
Sangeeta Pillai is a PMP/ITIL certified Senior Project Manager with an IT MNC and is based out of Mumbai.She has a master's degree in Sociology and diplomas in labour welfare, travel & tourism and web designing. She has experience in dealing with global clients since 2001.She is interested in writing on research topics, reports, educational topics and web content. Her hobbies include reading, painting and listening to music.
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