Communication is essentially cultural in all form. It draws on the different ways in which a person has learnt to speak and deliver non-verbal messages. For instance, while Americans are more expressive, Japanese prefer to keep a passive appearance especially during business dealings. This does not mean that both of them do not undergo similar feelings and emotions. It is simply the cultural difference that brings out the contrast. Communication implies interactivity, the importance of listening, receptiveness, trust, divergence in goals and difference in the way of seeing the world. Communication has a strong effect on any kind of relationship including business and personal arena. The intercultural issue at a workplace can be illustrated through the following case. Here the cultural issue is mainly language as well as general work habits and practices brought out during verbal communication. (Bovee, 2003)

As far as intercultural communication is concerned Ryan White’s first day at the work place was an unforgettable experience for him. It is a research based consultancy firm based in London. The first day, I was introduced to the people in my department (Client Business Unit), which happened to be Information Technology. The first person whom he came to know happened to be in the same department as his and after the initial introduction he was glad to have found someone to interact with, as he had no friends or relatives staying in the city. However, they started to talk about the place and about the other employees. His name is Peter and is a native of London. Their discussion began when Ryan casually asked him about some Mr. Jones who was supposed to hold a meeting with the new employees. Peter said, “well, he is one of the elder staff, but he is naff.” The word ‘naff’ caught his ear, as never heard of anything like that before. However, instinctively he thought it meant deaf. Ryan asked ‘ O really? Then I don’t think we should ask too many questions in the meetings”. Peter stared at me blankly for sometime and then tried to give me an awkward smile. Another thing Ryan observed was that whenever he was addressing him as Peter, he was about to say something. After a few exchanges, he stopped me midway and corrected me saying that in the British work place seniors were supposed to be addressed as ‘sir’. The British workplace culture is based on hierarchy and seniority. Ryan noted that and proceeded desperately trying not to take his first name and yet made the mistake twice. He received a slight frown in return and immediately apologized. Peter warned him again that in meetings, this would be a real problem. However Peter seemed to be more understanding of the fact that he was an American and in the States, emphasis is mainly on the task and rewards and awards are based on individual achievements instead of seniority as in Britain. The conversation was taking place during lunchtime and Peter warned him that the time was almost getting over and he could not afford to be late.

They were supposed to have the meeting held after lunch hour and the conference room was already filled when Ryan budged into the room. Some very serious faces with some mild frowns turned back at him. Mr. Jones, the manager of the unit looked at the watch and then asked him to enter. Ryan took his seat and then Mr. Jones introduced him by his full name, which is Mark Jones. During the meeting they could interact with the manager and after his initial briefings he told us to ask questions. While asking his first question, he addressed him as Mark, that is his first name. The man immediately looked back at him with a deep frown. Ryan began to stammer and then fell silence. After a few seconds’ gap, Ryan apologized and it was accepted. Ryan repeatedly had to address him as ‘sir’ despite comprising with his own principles. He decided to ask no more questions about work or anything else. After the meeting was over the colleagues treated Ryan with some distance. He found Chinese people who had adapted well with the work culture, but he simply could not fit himself into the ambience. This problem of addressing occurred a few more times unless he was severely warned by the director. Ryan felt left out and lonely. More than anything else, he could not concentrate on his due work and delivered late. The only person he could trust was however Peter who seemed to have understood him to some extent.

The problem could be solved through negotiation and coming to a solution or an alternative, which would best suit everyone. The following strategies involved in intercultural negotiations could be applicable within the same office as well. These steps and strategies could be represented as follows:

The four stages of intercultural negotiations:

Relationship building: non-task sounding – this implies the creation of a rapport without keeping the business matter (task) in view.

Task-related exchange of information

Persuasion and compromise

Concession and agreement

(Gardenswartz and Rowe, 1994; Rogers, and Steinfatt, 1999)

First and foremost Ryan needed to trust someone. Peter could be the ideal person and since he is senior to him he would be able to get in touch with the director and the manager and explain the situation to them. Ryan should participate more during the social gatherings like meetings and also interact with the colleagues outside workplace. This would keep him more at ease with the British ways and culture. This would enable relationship building irrespective of the business matter.

Secondly, while a task is allotted to him, he should knock the door of his seniors in order to gain more information and also he should come up with more suggestions instead of going back into the shell. Since addressing the seniors would be a part of the process, he will fall more at ease with the scenario. However the seniors should also cooperate and when Ryan makes the mistaken of addressing them as ‘sir’ he should be politely corrected at the end of his conversation in case he does not realize it himself. If he apologizes, a warm understanding would help building up the process of learning and adaptation to the work culture. He should be encouraged in turn in order to build up a mutually beneficial and understanding relation.

Since Americans believe in persuasion and compromise, he could use these tools while interacting with the colleagues. For instance, Ryan should be more submissive to wards his boss and try to understand what was expected out of him instead of retreating back into the shell. Being a junior he should take the extra effort to be punctual and conform to the needs of his seniors and the demands of work. The other party should also be considerate and cooperative in explaining the rules and responsibilities of Ryan.

With respect to leave concessions and agreements, the office could be initially polite to him and understand his needs of visiting his hometown in case he needs leave for that purpose. Being considerate to the new employee would help building up trust, which is an important component of any form of negotiation and agreement. (Lynne, 2001)

Despite the globalisation and free mixing of people of different origins, American and British english, although they are mutually intelligible, had many differences that lead to frequent misunderstandings and embarrassing situations. Some words that are quite innocent in one dialect might mean something offensive in the other. The language was introduced in America during the British colonialization period. However over the years the forms and structure of the language have diverged and given birth to two dialects – American and British English. Besides language, which is an integral part of any kind of interaction, behaviors in the workplace means a lot. Work is a necessity for the British people while work relate sto its intrinsic value for the Americans. While Americans have a system based more on equity and egalitarian cocnept, the UK people are more focused on hierarchical values and role differences os gender. The above issue highlights to some extent this difference and some possible solutions have been highlighted. Negotiation can be the best option to address such intercultural differences especially in the process of communication.

References

Bovee, C.L (2003), Business Communication Today, 7th Edition, Pearson Education

Lynne, H.V. (2001), “Corporate Teams in Venture Negotiations: Trust building on corporate collaborative project teams”. Project Management Journal; Sylva March

Gardenswartz, L. and Rowe, A. (1994) The Managing Diversity Survival Guide: A Complete Collection of Checklists, Activities, and Tips/Book and Disk, Irwin Professional Publishing; Pap/Dsk edition

Rogers, E.M., & Steinfatt, T. M. (1999). Intercultural communication. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press