Communicating Across Cultures Nancy J Communicating Across Cultures Nancy J. Adler Presented by Patrick Williams

What do you see?

Nancy J. Adler She received her B.A. in economics, M.B.A. and Ph.D. in management from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Nancy J. Adler is a Professor of International Management at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She conducts research and consults on global leadership, cross-cultural management, and women as global leaders and managers.

Nancy J. Adler She has authored more than 100 articles and produced the film, A Portable Life. Her book, International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior (4th ed., 2002), has over a quarter million copies in print in multiple languages. Dr. Adler edited the books, Women in Management Worldwide and Competitive Frontiers: Women Managers in a Global Economy. Her latest book is From Boston to Beijing: Managing with a Worldview. In addition to her research and writing, Dr. Adler consults with major global companies and government organizations on projects in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East. Professor Adler is a Fellow of both the Academy of Management and the Academy of International Business. Awards She has been recognized with numerous awards, including ASTD’s International Leadership Award, SIETAR’s Outstanding Senior Interculturalist Award, the YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award, and the Sage Award for scholarly contributions to management. Canada has honored Professor Adler as one of the country’s top teachers from among professors in all disciplines at all universities.

Telephone Game…. Has anyone ever played? What is the point? What can we learn from it?

Cross Cultural Misperception Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and evaluate stimuli from the external environment to provide meaningful experiences for themselves. Example Figure 1 on page 291

How do we learn perception? Perception is selective Perceptual patterns are learned Perception is culturally learned Perception tends to remain consistent Perception is inaccurate

Video of Misinterpretations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlcFB0NZHLo&feature=related

English Speakers v. Non-Native English Speakers Finished Files Are the Result of Years of Scientific Study Combined with the Experience of Years. How many F’s do you see?

How many F’s did you see? The answer is six. Most Native English speakers see three. Non-native English speakers usually see six. Reason is because of cultural conditioning. In this case it is linguistic conditioning.

Perceptions Interpretation- the process of making sense of our perceptions. Interpretation guide our behavior. Humans group perceived images into familiar categories that simplify our environment. Categorization dictates what is most important in our lives and how to behave in society.

Stereotypes Conscious held: People should be aware that they are describing a group norm rather than the characteristics of a specific individual. Descriptive rather than evaluative: Stereotype should describe what people from this group will probably be like and not evaluate those people as good or bad? Accurate: The stereotype should accurately describe the norm for the group to which the person belongs. The first best guess: About group have prior to having direct information about the specified person or persons. Modified: Based on further observation and experience with the actual people and situations.

Stereotypes Are they good or bad? Good because allows people to make quick decisions without a lot of time and effort. French speakers proofreading English papers for errors. Bad when we judge a book by its cover. Ex. Korean man doing business in Stockholm walks into the business and goes to front desk and asks for the manager. He assumes the woman is a secretary when in fact she is the manager. In Korea that would be true but not in Sweden. Produces misinterpretation.

Lack of Cultural Self-Awareness “What is known least well, and is therefore in the poorest position to be studied, is what is closest to oneself.” - Edward Hall (anthropologist) Many Americans are surprised to discover how foreigners view them: hurried, overly law abiding, very hard working, extremely explicit, and overly inquisitive.

Foreigners view of Americans India: “Americans seem to be in perpetual hurry. Just watch the way they walk across the street. Never allow themselves leisure to enjoy life.” Colombia: “The tendency in the US to think that life is only about work hits you in the face. Work seems to be the one motive.” Turkey: “Once we were out in a rural area in the middle of nowhere and saw an American come to a stop sign. Though he could see in both directions for miles and no traffic was coming, he still stopped.”

Business Mangers Need to be self aware of their culture Need to be aware of other cultures practices and be respectful of them. Need to take “cultural blinders” off. Example: Canadians conducting business in Kuwait. Kuwait business office is open and manager constantly interrupted and now how Western society conducts business. Canadians problem was they looked at own cultural norms and not Middle East. Did not win business.

Communications for Global Business Managers “Know that they don’t know.” Assume differences until similarity is proven not the other way around. In understanding colleagues from other cultures need to emphasize description, by observing what is actually said and done, rather than interpreting and evaluating. Manger tries to understand an international situation, view through the eyes of their international colleagues. Once manager develops an explanation for a situation, treat as a hypothesis to be tested not a certainty.

Questions & Comments

References 1. Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith Rumor Clinic as cited in Robert Bolton, People Skills (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979), pp. 73-74. 2. Asch, S. "Forming Impressions of Persons," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 40 (1946), pp. 258- 290. 3. Bagby, J. W. "Dominance in Binocular Rivalry in Mexico and the United States," in I. Al-Issa and W. Dennis, eds., Cross-Cultural Studies of Behavior (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970), pp. 49-56. Originally in Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 54 (1957), pp. 331-334. 4. Berry, J.; Kalin, R.; and Taylor, D. "Multiculturalism and Ethnic Attitudes in Canada," in Multiculturalism as State Policy (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1976). 5. Berry, J.; Kalin, R.; and Taylor, D. Multiculturalism and Ethnic Attitudes in Canada (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1977). 6. Burger, P., and Bass, B. M. Assessment of Managers: An International Comparison (New York: Free Press, 1979). 7. Gancel, C., and Ratiu, I. Internal document, Inter Cultural Management Associates, Paris, France, 1984. 8. Hall, E. T. Beyond Culture. (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday and Company, 1976). Also see E. T. Hall's The Silent Language (Doubleday, 1959, and Anchor Books, 1973) and The Hidden Dimension (Doubleday, 1966, and Anchor Books, 1969). 9. Ho, A. "Unlucky Numbers are Locked out of the Chamber," South China Morning Post (Dec. 26, 1988), p. 1. 10. Kanungo, R. N. Biculturalism and Management (Ontario: Butterworth, 1980) . 11. Korotich, V. "Taming of a Desert of the Mind," Atlas (June 1977). 12. Lau, J. B., and Jelinek, M. "Perception and Management," in Behavior in Organizations: An Experiential Approach (Homewood, IL.: Richard D. Irwin, 1984), pp. 213-220.