Cultural Differences and Good Communication

Business people wishing to maximize their chance of success in pursuing an opportunity in a new foreign market should familiarize themselves with the cultural sensitivities of the country in which they intend to do business.  But the dynamics giving rise to this fundamental maxim of international business do not cease to operate after that first trip abroad.   The development of a successful relationship with one's foreign business contacts built on mutual trust continues with each phone conversation, letter and e-mail.

As noted in an earlier post, the process of developing these relationships "requires patience, a quality frequently in short supply in the fast paced world of the information economy, particularly for American business people used to closing the deal."  With this thought in mind, I was interested in a recent post on the excellent "Manage to Change" blog by Ann Michael entitled "Are American's Rude?"   The post quotes findings by Margaret Neale of the Stanford Graduate School of Business from an article in the Harvard Management Update to the effect that "the e-mail behavior of Americans, who tend to go immediately into the task, often is experienced by people from other cultures as rudeness . . . "

Dealing with these cultural nuances can at first seem overwhelming -- avoiding the unintended offense when we were merely intending business as usual.  Ms. Michael's post makes the excellent point, however, that avoiding these cultural faux pas may be less a matter of developing a new found cultural sensitivity than simply following the most basic tenet of effective communication -- i.e. "communication is not about us, it's about the audience!"  At least in this respect, a foreign audience is no different than an audience we might face at home -- usually what is important is not that we said something, but that it was understood as we intended.   It is critical to understand the perspective and needs of the audience and gear our communication to those expectations and needs if we are to achieve our business goals in any culture.

Comments

[ann michael]

Craig -

Thanks for noticing my blog (and introducing me to yours)! I've looked back through some of your entries - this is really useful and fascinating information. I'll be back!

Ann

[Craig Maginness]

Ann:

Thanks for the comment. Change is a constant force in today's volatile world, and taking a business international introduces many different dimensions of change for companies of all sizes. Readers who haven't already added Ann's "Manage to Change" blog to their reading list should.

Craig