Culture Clash
Culture Clash
Formal norms
of communication still
developing in Hawaii'I'd be willing to organize a reception to honor the new law partner," Leo Martin told Sylvia Ching. Leo had recently moved to Honolulu from Chicago after graduating from the University of Illinois Law School. Sylvia was from Molokai and was a senior partner in a law firm specializing in immigration cases.
The firm had recently named a new partner and Sylvia told Leo his efforts to host a reception for various lawyers and business people would be welcome. Sylvia added her secretary would have a basic list of people to invite, and that Leo could supplement this list as he saw fit.
Leo sent out 200 invitations, asking people to "RSVP" by a certain date. The reception was to be at a hotel, and Leo wanted to give the caterer a good estimate of the number of attendees.
Two days before the RSVP deadline, Sylvia's secretary knocked on Leo's door and said, "It's probably about time for follow-up telephone calls to see who is coming." Leo responded, "I just noticed that not very many people responded to the invitations. How did you know that I was going to talk to someone about finalizing the guest list?"
Sylvia and her secretary know an aspect of local culture in Hawaii. People are not particularly good at requests to "RSVP" when they receive a written invitation. Knowing this, individuals who host receptions realize they must integrate a "telephone call follow-up step" into their planning. This telephone follow-up is true for other social events. If the bride's family is arranging a wedding where a large number of guests have been formally invited, someone from the family must plan time to be on the telephone to obtain "the final count."
One reason for this RSVP behavior is that a formal system of communication is being grafted on an informal system. Years ago in Hawaii, people who received a formal invitation would expect to see the host at the shopping mall or on the beach. They could then give a personal response to the invitation during this face-to-face encounter. When Hawaii's population grew and people moved to various parts of the islands, the more formal RSVP system did not become integrated quickly into the older, informal style.
This incident and analysis developed from conversations with Eric Fong and Carissa Koyama, students at the University of Hawaii's College of Business Administration. They attended Hawaii Baptist Academy and Castle High School, respectively.
They can benefit from knowing different communication styles. For example, if a formal style seems called for, they can engage in behaviors such as sending "thank you" notes to people who interviewed them for various jobs.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Special attention will be given to miscommunications caused by cultural differences. Each column will start with a short example of such confusion. Possible explanations will be offered to encourage thought about these issues.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration,
University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the
College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu