Culture Clash
Culture Clash
Enthusiastic welcome not
automatic in some placesTravelling from her home near San Francisco, Karen Burke represented her computer manufacturing company on a sales trip to three Asian countries. Karen traveled to Japan, Korea and China, and made stops in several large cities within each country. Her goal was to introduce innovative technologies that had proven very popular in American and Canadian markets.
Arriving back at company headquarters, she reported that she experienced limited success on this trip, her first to Asia. "People listened attentively, but I did not feel that they were anywhere near as enthusiastic as people were on my recent trip to the Eastern United States."
Karen has experienced cultural differences in the role that enthusiastic interactions play in the development of interpersonal and business relationships.
In the United States, people learn to meet others in an enthusiastic manner as part of social skills development. While growing up, they are taught to meet people quickly and to put them at ease, to show interest in what they have to say, to keep up conversations on a variety of topics, and to tell them how much they enjoyed the interactions. I remember my mother shooing me out of the house to go to the birthday parties of junior-high school classmates. "You have to learn to meet people and to make them feel comfortable interacting with you," she insisted, and she was correct.
In many other parts of the world, enthusiastic reactions when meeting others for the first time are not expected. Rather, people are more wary and careful and want to get to know others well before communicating special interest and a clear desire for future interactions. Karen needs to view her first trip to Asia as part of a long-term investment and should be happy that people were attentive when she talked about new technologies. Later, if she feels that people are taking a special interest in her and her products, she can view this as a positive development in her business relationships in the three Asian countries.
The cultural difference leads to predictable reactions. To Americans, many Asians seem like "cold fish" and as rather dry and dull. To Asians, many Americans seem superficial given that they offer equal enthusiasm to everyone they meet. If Asians misinterpret American exuberance as indicating special attention, they may be disappointed if the Americans do not follow through with other offers of friendship or positive business relationships.
There will be individual differences among people, and these should always be kept in mind when cultural differences are discussed. There are individual Asians who meet people in a vivacious manner, and there are Americans who are reserved. Cultural differences exist, but people should always keep in mind that they will encounter exceptions when they travel extensively in other countries.
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