Due to today's global interconnectivity (media, business, trade), mobility (traveling) and migration, our home environment has changed and intercultural encounters have become much more frequent. In fact, if we acknowledge an open definition of culture where everyone possesses a unique membership combination in relation to a range of disparate collectives, all interactions are intercultural. Intercultural interactions are omnipresent in our local, professional or global environment. We might think of situations such as employees who work in a culturally heterogeneous (virtual) team, managers who are responsible for employees from different cultural and professional backgrounds, fellow students with different family migration histories, neighbours in a diverse neighbourhood sharing common spaces, to name but a few.
Intercultural interactions are often considered to be particular challenging, whereas in reality many of them pass successfully without any issues. This is especially so if we have some understanding of the process involved in interculturality and are able to analyse intercultural encounters.
Being successful in intercultural interactions gives organisations a global business edge because they are able to use the resources a diverse workforce can contribute. Thus they can make use of the positive dynamics and outcomes that can be generated from these. In addition, cultural differences can be turned into an advantage, for example when they can be pooled, used complementarily or even synergistically so that when different ideas are brought together, something new is created.
In order to achieve this, a learning process is required that supports intercultural negotiation processes as well as a readiness to share, be open about one’s own preferences, cultural orientations and communication style. These negotiations take place though a communication process, which needs to be established in such a way that it is comprehensible and plausible to all participants. Due to the differing contextual conditions in which individuals commonly communicate and act, it is not always easy to establish comprehensibility and plausibility (cf. Bolten 2015, p. 9). This also means that the results and outcomes of intercultural interactions cannot be anticipated.
Intercultural interaction can result in a new, jointly negotiated culture, based on an ongoing communication process, reciprocal learning and knowledge acquisition as well as knowledge sharing. When this stage is reached, intercultural interactions are an enrichment for all involved.
In a nutshell, intercultural interaction can then be characterized as:
- goal-oriented interactive cooperation of interested parties from a network of cultures where new interaction rules are unconsciously or consciously negotiated
- a dynamic, unpredictable process of spontaneously developing something new
- a creative environment, which is constantly redefined
- synergetic cooperation from culturally different perspectives, and
- a continuous negotiation and renegotiation of meaning
Task: Case "Negotiating with Chinese business people"
Read the case study and, in your learning journal, note down what you think went wrong. Refer to your knowledge about interculturality, perception, experiences and expectations and be guided by questions about the encounter, the people involved, and the feelings of the participants.
A manager of a German company was on his fourth trip to China within a short period of time to negotiate a joint venture contract. However, the negotiations simply didn’t progress. Meanwhile, the German manager was beginning to have serious problems with his head office. Time was running out and his superior in Germany felt that the negotiations were not being conducted effectively enough. He expressed displeasure at the representative’s inept handling of the negotiations. The manager himself was annoyed and frustrated. During the following round of negotiations, after which they still did not seem to have reached an agreement, the manager believed that he had finally understood the Chinese partner’s tactics. He felt that the Chinese wanted to stall the negotiations so that they could extract as much information from him as possible. This, he felt would then be used to play off his company against competitors. Realising this, he felt angry and annoyed with his negotiating partners. In addition, he felt the strain of a couple of weeks’ gruelling negotiations.
Finally, he reacted in a way that you might describe as 'giving them a piece of his mind'. Completely without warning, the German manager screamed at his Chinese partner that he was not prepared to be kept waiting any longer, that there should be no more 'beating about the bush', that his patience had finally come to an end and that he really had expected more transparency and commitment.
For the Chinese, these grievances were expressed in a shockingly loud and direct manner. The Chinese partners turned pale and said nothing. Negotiations did not reach a conclusion.
Upon his return home, the manager learned from his superior that this had been his last trip to China. The Chinese, without uttering one word about the negotiations he had undertaken, wrote to say that they were still interested in the planned joint-venture. The company would have to start over again more or less from scratch, using a new representative.
Last modified: Sunday, 6 October 2024, 2:35 AM