*INTER CULTURAL ISSUES FOR ASIAN ENTREPRENEURS.
Dr. Tasneem Usmani, Ina Suryani and Azmi Johari
Center for Communication Skill and Entrepreneurship
Universiti Malaysia Perlis
Abstract
Globalization has made the world into a global village where geographical boundaries
have become irrelevant for trade relationships. However, each country wants to and has
retained its cultural values both in business and social interactions. Today’s entrepreneurs
and business managers fortunately or unfortunately do not have the luxury of doing
business only with their own kind. Their horizons have widened to encompass people
from various cultures. Understanding international socio-cultural issues is imperative for
today’s entrepreneur. While there is plethora of literature available that talk about how to
do business with the West, not much is written about how to do business with other Asian
countries. Some subtle and some not so subtle cultural differences exist in various Asian
countries. They need to be understood and addressed while expanding business beyond
the country’s boundaries. This is especially true for countries like Malaysia where
diversity already exists in the form of presence of Chinese and Indians. Yet Malaysians
may be surprised by the differences they will encounter while doing business with India
or China. Malaysia and other Asian countries are increasingly engaging in business
relations within their region. This paper intends to address inter cultural issues, and to
create awareness and sensitivities of these issues which can be very critical, as young
entrepreneurs and business managers participate in international trade. The paper
discusses the problems of team building and group activities when two negotiating parties
are separated by diverse cultures and how one’s own culture and language affect the ways
in which people organize their world, think, feel, and respond. The paper also attempts to
recommend and suggest tools to battle cultural insensitivity and to help international
managers make their influence felt in inter the cultural divide.
Key words: Intercultural. Asian Entrepreneurs
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Introduction
Globalization which led to inter- border alliances, ventures, global relocation and
e-commerce has brought major changes in the field of international trade. Conventional
trade practices no longer ensure success. Today’s business face challenges of not only
doing business with other countries, they also have to deal with people with different
cultural backgrounds within an organization making it more challenging. The growing
diversity and mobility of today's workforce, because of more mergers, acquisitions and
offshore and outsourcing of labor, creates inter-cultural challenges and opportunities in
work environment. Thus the need for understanding and managing diverse cultural and
religious values, customs, and perceptions has become crucial in saving time, effort, and
ensuring success of the business venture.
Culture can be defined as the way in which individuals are trained to behave in
the environment. That determines the way in which each individual responds to a
particular situation which can be as simple as greeting. Webster dictionary states “Culture
is the state of physical improvement; enlightenment and discipline acquired by mental
and moral training; civilization; refinement in manners and taste. Cambridge Dictionary
defines it as: the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular
group of people at a particular time. All the above definitions indicate that culture is a set
of signs and rules for their use that signal how we might differ from another. Culture is
something one picks up and internalizes. It only exists if people act according to the
codes and conventions of it and yet a culture also passes through a set of things external
to the members of the group it defines, as artifacts, rituals, texts (Wark 1997). One
learns a culture through these things, but these things only come to have meaning within
the networks of actions that people make of them. “Culture” in this sense is not the same
as “civilization”; it encompasses much more （Hofstede 2003）. Deeply-rooted and,
therefore, often unconscious values lead us to consider as normal what others think
abnormal, as polite what to others is rude, and as rational what others find irrational
(McCormack 1994)
Hofstede（1994）defines "culture is the collective programming of the mind"
Fisher (1988) defines culture as "shared behavior, which is important because it
systematizes the way people do things, thus avoiding confusion and allowing cooperation so that groups of people can accomplish what no single individual could do
alone. And it is behavior imposed by sanctions, rewards and punishments for those who
are part of the group". Culture is the totality of shared values, believes and basic
assumptions. It is collectively held set of attributes, which is dynamic and changing over
time (Dahl 2002).
Background of the Issues
Culture is like an onion with some features visible at the outer level like dress
code, eating style, walking, talking, social interactions, interactions with opposite
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genders, behavior during public ceremonies like weddings, funerals, official meetings etc.
These are overt behaviors that are apparent to others. But after peeling a layer, there is
another layer which may not be very evident in the first interaction. These features may
include interpretation of various concepts, viz., good behavior, justice, beauty, code of
conduct, appreciation of art, freedom of expression, moral conduct etc.
While the differences in the upper layer of the onion (culture) may have blurred
because of increased global interaction and changes in life style, the inner layers remain
the same. Upper layer convergence may give a false notion of similarities. The fear of
ignoring the inner layer of divergence may prove to be a stumbling block in business
interactions. For example Western dress has become almost synonymous with business
meetings in most of the countries. This is the overt expression of culture expressing
convergence. But the final business decision being taken only by the patriarch of the
family in India for example is the expression of inner layer and is symbol of divergence
which a careless eye may miss out.
As Asian countries are opening their doors for foreign investment, and more and
more international companies from all over the world are showing their interest in
increasing their economic activities with Asian countries, the need for understanding
cultural differences between various countries has assumed great importance. Inter
cultural negotiation – a process where two or more parties from different cultural
backgrounds exchange goods or services, is becoming an important part of modern
business. Today cultural awareness is not just an advantage, but an absolute necessity in
order to create strong inter-cultural business relationships.
Gaining cultural awareness and knowledge has always been a substantial need for
anyone involved in inter-cultural relationships. Business deals with foreigner’s can fail
due to lack of awareness of the complexities of others cultural practices, their norms and
values. Good quality product is not the only guarantee of success in other countries.
Sensitivity to cultural diversity is also an important issue for successful international
business. We all are products of our culture. Culture defines people and controls their
actions and behavior. People’s actions, ways of doing things, looking at issues reacting to
situations are all the result of their culture. Many of the cultural differences can at a first
sight, without the knowledge of that particular custom or local behavior, can create
misunderstandings which may lead to difficulties if not total failure in business deals.
Two businessmen, experienced and successful in their own countries may fail in the
absence of clear understanding of cultural diversities. Being informed of foreign
countries’ geography and history only is not enough for successful business talks.
Knowledge of other country’s food habits, politics, religious beliefs, language and culture
can equip businessmen with tools necessary for successful business negotiations and
avoidance of conflict with colleagues and clients with different cultural backgrounds.
Critical Issues
As Dahl (2001) cited in his book on S.G. Summer’s concept of "Ethnocentrism"
there is the tendency that most people see their own culture as the 'center of the world'.
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He further elaborated that this phenomenon has been seen as a result of "naive" thinking,
following from the assumption of the world in itself being like it appears to the
individual: a set of 'self-evident' rules, roles, categories and relationships, seen as
'natural'. The concept of ethnocentrism is often displayed in the form of nationalism.
When faced with what we might perceive as ‘odd’ behavior from people of other
cultures, instead of condemning it, we need to understand what that behavior means in
their culture. This is possible only when one can appreciate the fact that there is more
than one way “our way” of looking at things. We need to sensitize ourselves to other
cultures. This is becoming imperative everyday as the world is becoming one “Global
village” in which we have to interact with people not only from Western culture but also
people from other Asian cultures. Most of the literature on inter-culture negotiations
treats Asian culture as one culture. For Westerners perhaps Asian culture is one culture
but we as Asians should be aware that in Asia different countries and regions can have
totally different cultures, language, eating habits and way of doing things. If we want to
have successful business relationship with other Asian countries we need to have a
deeper understanding of why people from different backgrounds behave the way they do.
There are several similar practices among all Asian countries which may give us the false
impression that all the countries of Asia have same culture but if we carefully study, we
will realize the subtle differences among the culture of each country. Being sensitive to
these differences is a key premise to successful negotiations.
We often tend to generalize about other cultures, ‘they’re lazy’, ‘they’re cold’
‘they’re superficial’ ‘they are too aggressive’ and many will say ‘my way is best’.
Whatever country we are from, we all have a certain amount of arrogance, and we judge
others by our own values. So our first principle in dealing with other cultures is to
remember that our way of doing things is not better than others, nor worse than others,
just different.
Professor Nisbett (2003) in his book “ The Geography of Thought” tells us how
people actually think - and even see - the world differently because of differing ecologies,
social structures, philosophies, and educational systems. Thus knowing the facts about
the country with which we plan to do business is very important. This will avoid general
misconception and mutual frustration, unspoken assumptions and expectations.
Understanding of each other’s culture has never been more important. Not only do we
need to understand inter cultural differences for successful business negotiations, we need
to do it fast because business is moving fast and we cannot afford lengthy acclimatization
periods.
Kuala Lumpur is a modern city with its skyline dotted with many more yellow M
of McDonalds than found in any other Asian city. Western influence is evident in its
shopping malls. Young boys and girls can be seen dressed in jeans and shirts giving a
false sense of Western values. But further observations suggest other issues. For Malay
locals their Muslim culture and values and for the Chinese population their Chinese value
system ran much deeper than anything Western that they had taken on at a superficial
level. Even Malay Indians who had immigrated more than a century back had their own
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culture and values system quite different from India. One of the major difficulties in
effectively communicating and teaching was the language barrier despite the usage of
English as a common language. Even the tone and emphasis on words can have different
meanings. Body language also has different interpretation. For example using the index
finger to point out something is offensive for Malays whereas in India index finger is
used for emphasis. One needs to use the fist to point out things. They feel uneasy at being
handed something from a left hand. Even if consciously they may not react adversely, in
the subconscious they may treat it as an insult and the deal may fail. Talking in a raised
voice is considered highly impolite and the other party may back off from the deal. The
concept of “losing ones face” is very strong and can cause great humiliation. It is
extremely important to understand and respect this concept when doing business in other
Asian countries. People from South East Asian cultures tend to be less confrontational
and more ‘avoiding’ and ‘obligating.’
This brings back the view that confirms that culture can be illustrated in several
layered. One needs to peel one layer to see the next layer. As already stated apparently
the upper layer does not indicate much difference. However as one goes into deeper
understanding, one realizes the existence of other layers of culture. The second layer
which consists of norms and values showed signs of subtle differences between Indian
and Malay and Chinese cultures. The following layers which made up the core of culture
showed the differences in handling everyday problems. This is the inner most layers and
defines the actual differences.
Recommendation
Cultures have clearly moved closer together. In addition to the traditionally
understood symbolism, there is something like an internationally understood symbolism
and the world-wide understood meaning system that is displayed in the 'cosmopolitan'
culture. The development over time is, of course, less predictable, but might well be
somewhat brighter for the existence of the local cultures and the protection of the
'heritage', than it is seen by some very pessimistic scholars. There is already strong
movement of preserving ones’ culture and identity in most countries.
In order to comprehend differences it is helpful to divide cultural differences into four
main categories: spoken language, body language, manners, and customs and systems.
These differences can be understood by knowing how these differences arise. Knowing
facts about the country of the other person will help us to see what attitudes exist and
why because these facts influence behavior patterns which in turn govern the
communication.
To succeed in global business environment, it is imperative to :
•
Understand the cultural forces that shape behavior in international human
resource management
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•
•
•
•
Understand the effects of cultural nuances on communication
Understand the effects of cultural forces on decision making
Understand how people from different cultures negotiate
Understand how conflict is managed by people from different cultures
To be able to communicate effectively people have to appreciate the differences in each
other’s world views, use language and rules of politeness. If there is some understanding on
both sides then there is a chance of mutual respect being established and a workable
arrangement being negotiated. In the end, it is the almost unlimited human capacity for
adaptation and self-organization that makes the area of intercultural encounters and cultural
convergence so interesting.
Conclusion
With the emergence of new communication forms, further research is needed to
identify the impact of the possible new communities and communication possibilities that
arise. Equally, the influence of mass media and in particular commercial media merits
further attention. Their influence on shaping the individual's reality is still largely
contested; particular problems that arise are the democratic culture and the national
cultures.
Furthermore, the convergence of cultures has to be studied in more detail. While
the field of what makes a culture has been elaborated and solidified, the predicting
theories of cultural convergence are still not developed. Also there is a need for further
research into the different theories of intercultural exchange, the appropriateness,
usefulness and relevance of developed theories has to be tested against reality.
Nonetheless, at this point, it can be safely said that people of other countries, of
another generation, social class, job or organization, often think and act in ways that
puzzle us. To these people, of course, we are the ones who behave in a surprising manner.
What separates them from us is the culture in which we grew up.
Bibliography:
Dahl, Stephen (2002).”Communications and Culture Transformation,” EBS
http://www.stephweb.com/capstone/1.htm Last retrieved 25 march 2008.
Fisher, G., (1988). Mindsets: The Role of Culture and Perception in International Relations.
Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Hofstede.G, 1994 Management Science, Vol.40, No.1,Focused issue: Is Management
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Hofstede,G 2003, “Cultures and Organization” Profeelipze. N.Jersey.
John B, Cullen, (2002.) Multinational Management: A Strategic Approach, 2nd ed.,
Cincinnati:
International Thompson Publishing,
McCormack, M.H (1994) “What They didn’t teach you in Harvard business school”
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Profile Books
Nisbet (2003) “The Geography of Thought: How Asian and Westerners Think” Free
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http://www.ptc.nsw.edu.au/scansw/culture.html Retrieved 25 March 2008
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