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Question 1: What are the most important cultural variables to include within a cultural profile template?

Answer: Many variables have been identified by a variety of researchers. It is not necessary to identify or address all of them. The objective of understanding the cultural variables is to lessen the miscommunication that can occur from differing attitudes, beliefs, and practices. The variables selected for any profile are usually influenced by the available information that best allows for comparisons between a home country and a host country to be made and the degree to which those differences matter. A blend of variables from several sources often provides a more accurate cultural depiction than just the variables developed by one source.

The age of the research should also be taken into consideration. Some common variables were first developed in the 1960s and 1970s but have been updated and refined while others have not. While some aspects of culture change slowly, other aspects do not, especially given the increasing pace and degree of globalization and communications.

Researchers should also determine if the selected cultural variables apply to all age segments or geographic regions within the given host country. In many cases, attitudes and beliefs will vary significantly between older and younger people or between rural and urban communities.

Question 2: What are parochialism and ethnocentrism?

Answer: Parochialism refers to having the attitude that others should conform to your way of doing things, while ethnocentrism refers to the attitude that your way of doing things is better than another’s way. An example of parochialism is evident when a tourist becomes annoyed with the local restaurant staff because the restaurant does not serve ice water automatically, and when the tourist asks for water, he or she receives a bottle of water for which he or she must pay. A parochial reaction of the visit to this might be to say, “Why aren’t they serving us water? Serving water is the way it should be done.”

An ethnocentric view could be expressed in the following statements: “How stupid, we always serve water free of charge if a customer asks for it. They must not know how to treat customers, or worse, they don’t care.”

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The opposite of ethnocentrism is xenocentrism, which essentially is a bias toward ideas or practices of another culture over your own.

An alternative approach to viewing other cultures is cultural relativism, or the viewpoint that there is no absolute right or wrong way of doing things and that what may be right for one culture can be wrong for another. That is, beliefs, values, and behaviors are culturally relative to the circumstances, history, and circumstance.

A number of problems or lost opportunities can result from either an ethnocentric or xenocentric perspective. Either perspective frequently leads one to make negative judgments of another’s behaviors, leading to less-than-successful business decisions.

Question 3: What is culture shock, and what can be done about it?

Answer: Culture shock describes a process that travelers or visitors to another culture frequently experience. It essentially entails several stages starting with being excited and pleased with the new ways of doing things, the new foods, and the thrill of discovery. This phase may last for a few weeks to several months, depending on the degree of differences between the old and the new environment, the preparation and experience of the visitor, and the personality makeup of the visitor.

As time passes, the visitor begins to transition to the second phase, which has been described as the negotiation phase. During this phase, some of the differences begin to cause the visitor stress, either because he or she does not know how to get things done, does not feel like he or she is in control, or has trouble reconciling differences between the way things are done at home versus how they are done in the new environment. A variety of emotions can be experienced, which include frustration, loneliness, anger, depression, loss of confidence, and impatience. This phase can pass as the visitor comes to terms with the differences and learns to function more efficiently in the new environment. This second phase can take some time, and it may wax and wane before the visitor passes through it.

The third phase entails a growing sense of satisfaction and acceptance of the new ways. It can be marked by a growing sense of acceptance and taking pleasure in the new ways of doing things. It is marked by an increasing level of psychological well-being.

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A fourth phase is when the individual begins to integrate both the old and new ways in a manner that suits his or her situation, and he or she accepts both the positive and negative ways of the environment. The individual essentially begins to get on with the day-to-day tasks of living and spends less time thinking about the culture of the environment.

A final stage can be experienced when the individual returns to his or her original culture. Called reentry shock, he or she may realize that he or she has changed so much that some ways of his or her original culture no longer make sense.

Question 4: What is expatriate failure, and what are some of the means to reduce its risk?

Answer: Expatriate failure essentially describes a situation in which managers or key employees who are posted to a foreign location fail to perform their jobs satisfactorily or return to their home country prematurely. The problem of expatriate failure is both widespread and costly. It is clear that expatriate failure is a serious and expensive problem for firms deciding to send individuals on foreign assignment, and one deserving of adequate predeparture preparation.

In general, expatriate failure can be reduced through three primary methods. The first is to improve a firm’s selection process to ensure that individuals selected for a foreign posting have certain characteristics that correlate with better-than-average success. The second method is to ensure that appropriate training programs are provided so that the individual is better prepared to manage and mitigate any culture shock. The third method is to provide ongoing support both during the assignment and when the individual returns.

The selection of individuals for overseas assignments can be based on a number of different models; however, work by Mendenhall and Oddou (1985), respected researchers in the field of international training and development, identified four factors that should be considered:

• Self-orientation revolves around having high self-confidence and -esteem and being able to adapt one’s interest to the situation at hand.

• Others-orientation reflects one’s ability to interact with people in the host country (as opposed to isolating oneself).

• Perceptual ability measures an individual’s capacity to place him- or

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herself in the shoes of a host country national—in other words, to understand and empathize with their foreign coworkers' frame of reference, rather assuming the foreign national has the same frame of reference as they do.

• Cultural toughness refers to the ability to cope with and adapt to differences in culture, some of which may be very different from that which they are used to, such as communications, foods, health care, and climate.

Training programs should include cultural training, language training, and practical training. It is worth noting that a high percentage of expatriate failures are not caused by the failure of the assigned individual but the inability of family members to cope.

Question 5: How do differing negotiation modes fit into a cultural assessment?

Answer: Negotiations are a part of all business dealings. Negotiation of price, delivery, design, roles, responsibilities, defects and returns, work stoppages, contracts, legal matters, and numerous other areas are common in business. The study of negotiations is an important business skill in its own right; cross-cultural negotiations add another level of complexity.

One model of negotiation identifies five steps in which cultural differences can play a large role.

1. Preparation: Some cultures will come to a meeting fully prepared by having done background research beforehand and will be ready to skip to the information exchange, while other cultures consider the preparation stage as something to be done together to build trust and understanding.

2. Relationship building: This varies from culture to culture: Moving straight to the business at hand is appropriate to some, while skipping the relationship building is offensive to others.

3. Information exchange: What might seem as straightforward to some can be fraught with potential for misunderstanding with others. In some cultures, negotiators are initially suspicious and indirect, giving little substantive information at first; in other cultures, this phase is used to ask seemingly endless questions and for requesting extreme detail; other cultures simply follow protocol.

4. Persuasion: A range of persuasion techniques may be seen in the

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fourth step, ranging from promises or threats, rewards and punishments, commitment, self-disclosure, nonverbal behaviors such as silence or touching, and psychological tactics such as harsh lighting or uncomfortable surroundings.

5. Concessions/agreement: This comprises the final step, and here, tactics can vary significantly. Some cultures are disposed to find a mutually beneficial solution, while others see success for the other side as failure for their own side.

Question 6: What special considerations must be taken into account when conducting business with others who speak English as a second language?

Answer: The use of specific words, humor, or images may vary in meaning even though the business language is the same. Take for example a U.S.-based advertisement that contains sexually suggestive humor. To use this same message in Japan would likely be considered in poor taste and would be negatively received. Humor frequently does not translate well, even if the host country recipient speaks fluent English, because it often requires an underlying cultural understanding or relies on some shared sense of timing, situations, or stereotypes.

Specific words also can have different meanings across cultures, even in the same language such as English.

Question 7: When it is appropriate to give a gift in the course of business, and what gifts are appropriate?

Answer: Gift giving is a very minor part of doing business in the United States. In the U.S. culture, giving gifts is often not done (or is done as an afterthought) except in a few specific industries. When it is done, great care must be taken to assure it is not seen as a bribe or payment for a favor. Business ethics frequently dictates that gift giving is to be avoided or is to be something of minor value such as food around Christmas; however, in other cultures, gift giving can be imbued with great importance.

The kind or color of gift given can also be very culturally sensitive. Generally, it is wise to do research on the specific gift-giving practices in a host country before giving a gift. Internet research, contacts with the host country

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embassy, questions to the U.S. embassy, and gaining advice from friends or associates from the host country are common sources of information on appropriate gift giving practices.

In China, an example of a gift-giving error is the giving of any gift in the colors of white, black, or blue, as these colors are associated with death. In Mexico, giving something with a company logo is seen as cheap, and silver items are frowned upon because Mexico is a producer of silver items. In Japan, the giving of items that come in sets of four or nine are frowned upon.

How the gift is given can also be important. In China and many Asian countries, elaborate rituals have been developed around gift giving. Who gives the gift, who receives the gift, and how the gift is offered and received are quite prescribed. In many African nations, as well as some Asian countries, giving or receiving a gift with one’s left hand is very rude. In India, giving gifts of leather is offensive. Finally, even the wrapping and colors or use of ribbons and bows can carry unintended meanings. In short, treat the practice of gift giving as an essential business task that requires as much attention to understanding as does the primary business objective of the firm.

Question 8: How can women working abroad expect to be treated professionally?

Answer: The treatment of women will vary from country to country. In some nations, women have been accepted in the business world for a significant period of time. In other nations, women in positions of authority or expertise are still a rarity. Usually, international business has prepared counterparts to accept some degree of participation. You can find information on the Web on 12 key areas of cultural material for 35 key nations around the world.

Question 9: What are the differences between cultural knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and competency?

Answer: All of these terms are similar; however, they differ in degrees of application.

Cultural knowledge is simply becoming familiar with the history, the people, the norms and beliefs, and the practices of another culture. Cultural awareness refers to developing a deeper cultural understanding of another nation and becoming sensitive to the value contained in those cultural differences. With time, one’s own attitude and judgment of any cultural

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differences begins to change and appreciate those differences. Cultural sensitivity refers to the process as accepting the differences as neither right nor wrong but simply different and acceptable in context. Cultural competency refers to being able to effectively function in a different culture. Knowledge, sensitivity, and awareness are the building blocks to reach cultural competency.

Reference

Mendenhall, M., & Oddou, G. (1985). The dimensions of expatriate acculturation [Electronic version]. Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 39–47.