Communicating Across Cultures

• Political. This category relates to trade issues and legal issues (for example, some countries forbid imports of certain foods or chemicals) and laws about intellectual property, product safety, and liability.
• Economic. A country’s level of economic development is a critical factor. In many developing countries, most people cannot afford devices for accessing the Internet.
• Social. This category covers many issues, including gender and business customs. In most Western cultures, women play a much greater role in the workplace than they do in many Middle Eastern and Asian cultures. Business customs—including forms of greeting, business dress, and gift giving—vary from culture to culture.
• Religious. Religious differences can affect diet, attitudes toward individual colors, styles of dress, holidays, and hours of business.
• Educational. In the United States, 40 million people are only marginally literate. In other cultures, the rate can be much higher or much lower. In some cultures, classroom learning with a teacher is considered the most acceptable way to study; in others, people tend to study on their own.
• Technological. If you sell high-tech products, you need to know whether your readers have the hardware, the software, and the technological infrastructure to use them.
• Linguistic. In some countries, English is taught to all children starting in grade school; in other countries, English is seen as a threat to the national language. In many cultures, the orientation of text on a page and in a book is not from left to right.

• Focus on individuals or groups. Some cultures, especially in the West, value individuals more than groups. The typical Western employee doesn’t see his or her identity as being defined by the organization for which he or she works. Other cultures, particularly those in Asia, value groups more than individuals. The typical employee in such cultures sees himself or herself more as a representative of the organization than as an individual who happens to work there.

  Communication in individualistic cultures focuses on the writer’s and reader’s needs rather than on those of their organizations. Writers use the pronoun I rather than we. Letters are addressed to the principal reader and signed by the writer.

  Communication in group-oriented cultures focuses on the organization’s needs by emphasizing the benefits to be gained through a cooperative relationship between organizations. Writers emphasize the relationship between the writer and the reader rather than the specific technical details of the message. Writers use we rather than I. They might address letters to “Dear Sir” and use their organization’s name, not their own, in the complimentary close.

• Distance between business life and private life. In some cultures, especially in the West, many people separate their business lives from their private lives. When the workday ends, they are free to go home and spend their time as they wish. In other cultures, particularly in Asia, people see a much smaller distance between their business lives and their private lives. Even after the day ends, they still see themselves as employees of their organization.

  Cultures that value individualism tend to see a great distance between business and personal lives. In these cultures, communication focuses on technical details, with relatively little reference to personal information about the writer or the reader.

  Cultures that are group oriented tend to see a smaller distance between business life and private life. In these cultures, communication contains much more personal information—about the reader’s family and health—and more information about general topics—for example, the weather and the seasons. The goal is to build a formal relationship between the two organizations. Both the writer and the reader are, in effect, on call after business hours and are likely to transact business during long social activities such as elaborate dinners or golf games.

• Distance between ranks. In some cultures, the distance in power and authority between workers within an organization is small. This small distance is reflected in a close working relationship between supervisors and their subordinates. In other cultures, the distance in power and authority between workers within an organization is great. Supervisors do not consult with their subordinates. Subordinates use formal names and titles—“Mr. Smith,” “Dr. Jones”—when addressing people of higher rank.

  Individualistic cultures that separate business and private lives tend to have a smaller distance between ranks. In these cultures, communication is generally less formal. Informal documents (emails and memos) are appropriate, and writers often sign their documents with their first names only. Keep in mind, however, that many people in these cultures resent inappropriate informality, such as letters or emails addressed “Dear Jim” when they have never met the writer.

  In cultures with a great distance between ranks, communication is generally formal. Writers tend to use their full professional titles and to prefer formal documents (such as letters) to informal ones (such as memos and emails). Writers make sure their documents are addressed to the appropriate person and contain the formal design elements (such as title pages and letters of transmittal) that signal their respect for their readers.

• Need for details to be spelled out. Some cultures value full, complete communication. The written text must be comprehensive, containing all the information a reader needs to understand it. These cultures are called low-context cultures. Other cultures value documents in which some of the details are merely implied. This implicit information is communicated through other forms of communication that draw on the personal relationship between the reader and the writer, as well as social and business norms of the culture. These cultures are called high-context cultures.

  Low-context cultures tend to be individualistic; high-context cultures tend to be group oriented. In low-context cultures, writers spell out all the details. Documents are like contracts in that they explain procedures in great detail and provide specific information that indicates the rights and responsibilities of both the writer and the readers. In high-context cultures, writers tend to omit information that they consider obvious because they don’t want to insult the reader. For example, a manual written for people in a high-context culture might not explain why a cell-phone battery needs to be charged because everyone already knows why.

• Attitudes toward uncertainty. In some cultures, people are comfortable with uncertainty. They communicate less formally and rely less on written policies. In many cases, they rely more on a clear set of guiding principles, as communicated in a code of conduct or a mission statement. In other cultures, people are uncomfortable with uncertainty. Businesses are structured formally, and they use written procedures for communicating.

  In cultures that tolerate uncertainty, written communication tends to be less detailed. Oral communication is used to convey more of the information that is vital to the relationship between the writer and the readers. In cultures that value certainty, communication tends to be detailed. Policies are lengthy and specific, and forms are used extensively. Roles are firmly defined, and there is a wide distance between ranks.

  As you consider this set of cultural variables, keep four points in mind:

• Each variable represents a spectrum of attitudes. Terms such as high-context and low-context, for instance, represent the opposite end points on a scale. Most cultures occupy a middle ground.
• The variables do not line up in a clear pattern. Although the variables sometimes correlate—for example, low-context cultures tend to be individualistic—in any one culture, the variables do not form a consistent pattern. For example, the dominant culture in the United States is highly individualistic rather than group oriented but only about midway along the scale in terms of tolerance of uncertainty.
• Different organizations within the same culture can vary greatly. For example, one software company in Germany might have a management style that does not tolerate uncertainty, whereas another software company in that country might tolerate a lot of uncertainty.
• An organization’s cultural attitudes are fluid, not static. How an organization operates is determined not only by the dominant culture but also by its own people. As new people join an organization, its culture changes. The IBM of 1995 is not the IBM of 2015.