Business Fit Magazine January 2019 Issue 1 | Page 55

Every day we are informed in studies, reports or
headlines that intercultural competence, diversity
and internationalisation in general - and for
businesses in particular – is the Holy Grail and a
universal remedy.
Our (business) world is now more connected
and mobile than ever. Running a company on
the other side of the world without setting foot
on the continent and accessing a worldwide
labour pool isn’t something from a science
fiction movie but daily reality Our colleague
from India is just a click away, and online
platforms offer us the possibility to schedule
business meetings with Brazil, China and
Europe while lying on the beach.
The question now is how does this work
in business practice? Contrary to common
beliefs that since we all speak English at a very
professional level and so do our counterparts
around the world, there isn’t much left to
consider, the list of misunderstandings,
miscommunication, insult and rudeness
from one culture to another is huge (current
worldwide tensions are a reminder of that).
So let’s talk about culture. Often cited as the
expert in intercultural matters and author of
Riding the Waves of Cultures Gert Hofstede’s
definition is. “[…] culture is how you were
raised. It developed while you grew up. […]
Culture is the software of our minds. We need
shared software in order to communicate.
So culture is about what we share with those
around us.” Thus, it’s our learned behaviour
patterns and characteristics which distinguish
one group from another (i.e. customs, religion,
language, material artefacts and shared
system of attitudes and feelings).
Sounds very complex to master, doesn’t it?
Stereotyped assumptions – all Latinos
are not on time and Germans are always
structured and suck the fun out of everything
Pausing – in some Asian cultures a pause is
a negotiation tactic and a sign of respect for
the argument just voiced. Whereas a Western
negotiation partner could see this as a sign of
disapproval and continue talking to “convince”
the other party.
Even though we all speak English we need to be
aware of nonverbal communication stumbling
blocks:
Body contact – handshakes, hugging, cheek
kisses, touching during conversation, no
touching at all?
Personal comfort zone – how near are you
allowed to approach a person when talking
(intimate distance, personal distance, social
distance, public distance)?
Voice – volume, timbre, accent. How does this
influence a discussion?
Our colleague
from India
is just a click
away
Let´s have a look at three issues arising in
intercultural business:
False communication – in some cultures
nodding your head is not a sign of agreement
i.e. Japanese often nod as a sign of politeness,
in Greece nodding means no
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