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Cross-Cultural Business Communication: How the Chinese People Can Adapt Successfully to Western Countries

Prof. Robert M. March, Ph.D.

In the 1st session, the students were required to make self-intros to the entire class by pretending that the audience are foreigners. The Prof. wrote a very simple sentence on the blackboard----'My name is ....very pleased to meet you.' Not as originally expected, the seemingly concise self-intro sentence turned out to be a very difficult part for almost all students presenting this as demanded.

What their mistakes were had not been perceived in our past dozens of years of english learning, which include pronunciation error----even when telling of their names, wrong or misleading body languages or gestures, and improper cross-cultural interpretation which resulting confusing understanding.

When communicating with foreigners, one might not pay attention to the gap between different countries/nations and even between different cultural backgrounds, and this always, if not happening every time, cause hinderance in business communications and relations.

Of course mutual understanding and proper tolerance/discretion are generally accepted rules, as I believe, in cross-cultural communications, but when concerned with the course itself, the basic and indispensable skills required is the students' english----listening, speaking, and interpretation capability.

When class was over, at least we knew the proper expression when one makes his business trip abroad and self-introduces himself is Hi, My name is (Ang, and please call me Arnold). Pleased to meet you.. The rule for this situation is:

• Be confident, and use proper body language</li>
• Make your name easy to pronounce, ready to recall and better meaningful to both sides' interests</li>
• Showing your concerns and friendliness</li>

March 15, 2007 lecture in An-zhong Bldg.

The prof. wrote some words on the blackboard(as follows) and asked us to tell the meaning of them. For some words, we did make a right answer, but for the rest, or say, nearly most part of the group, we did not give a detailed and complete meaning. The dis-match occurs often when when people from different cultures/countries refer to the separate things but use exactly the same words, or expression.

CULTURE
HONEY MOON
CULTURE SHOCK
SUPERFICIAL ADJUSTMENT
DEPRESSION
COMMON SENSE
BAGGAGE

The case went obvious when Prof. March asked me what a knife was and what a pot reminded me of? For some students in the same classroom, a knife may be as short as a man's finger, but for some other, it may be as long as 20 centimeters or more! The superficial reason for the phenomenon may be attributed to different understandings on the subject or various kinds of personal experiences, but as we go deeper, we shall realize its internal basis. Human beings interpret from varying angles the same thing because they belong to separate cultures/sub-cultures which shape their opinions and behaviors. Culture is rooted from the bottom of one's soul.

To sum this up, here is Prof. March's definition that well describes the true culture instead of the one always used in history.
The behavior and beliefs that enable us to live comfortably in a particular country or group.
or
Common sense behavior in a country that enables me to get along with everyone without friction.

March 22,2007
ps: the bad news is today's lecturing went further and i did not enjoy the theoretical thing. i am afraid of the contents beyond my scope or beyond my interest. the good news is that all the enrolled students have been reimbursed for the registration fee

Running a Meeting

The class in April 5th consisted of three parts. In part one, each group reported to the rest of the class what they have discussed on Premier Zhou's communication skills. In part two we were told to practice social conversation in the classroom among those unfamiliar classmates. The Prof. gave us in advance some hints on common topics such as the weather, movie stars and so on.

By learning this, I came to understand the joy and ease of chatting, of establishing bridges between two or more topics or even persons. In the successive conversation-initiation practice that lasted about 20 min, almost all the classmates were indulged into communication as well as english practicing. At least we were not choked for not knowing how to switch to another interesting topic!

The last part was more practical----each divided group was asked to run a meeting to discuss on the formation of a training center. In the process, we realized the importance of leadership and contribution from every member as well.

<a href='http://bizedu.spaces.live.com/blog/cns! ... !214.entry' target='_blank'>http://bizedu.spaces.live.com/blog/cns& ... 4.entry</a>

April 5, 2007

Four Stages of Relationship-Building

Prof. March asked me a very interesting question in class, "How do you establish a relationship with a girl?" For young man like me, it is really a hot question. Although I don't know the exact skills or tactics of doing this, I may have learnt some from the media, the TV series and etc. I guess my answer should be a commonly accepted one, while it later did not turn out to be so.

In Prof. March's opinion, relationship building is a science more than a kind of skill. The principles that can be used in man-and-female dating will also work in business circle. To be more specific, here are four stages of how's.

• Orientation</li>
• Trust building</li>
• Interdependent</li>
• Marriage</li>

In the 1st stage, what people do is mainly getting information from the other side, and then use the obtained or perceived information for further evaluation----"Am I gonna setup a deeper relationship with her?" In the 2nd stage, the two parties work together to build their mutual trust. In this part, the whole class discussed a problem of mask. In my opinion, a mask is not a good thing, nor is it a bad one as a vehicle because it is only a tool. The thing that really matters is people's intention behind the mask. So under some conditions, people may be suggested that they do not behavior like they are at home.

We did not talked too much about the remaining two (interdependent and marriage) as we did in the first two phases but what interested me is that business relationship building to some extent resembles marriage. When two parties "live" together and after all "get married", it is like two companies' merger or integration into a new but powerful one.

April 12, 2007

In talking about DIPLOMACY, Professor March showed us some soft definitions at page 73 and explained them one by one. One of those definitions attracted me deeply. It says "A diplomat is a man who remembers a lady's birthday but forgets her age." According what I learnt in my university, it is very impolite to ask for a female's age which has been believed to be the most secret thing of a woman. Women love beauty or being beauty but with time going on, their skin becomes loose and they get more and more wrinkles and this gives them impression that they are no longer beautiful as they had been. Thus, for purpose of not hurting these ladies, it is advisable that a man knowing diplomacy always forget ladies age deliberately even when he compliments her in her birthday party.

In the following session, we were told to make group discussion. Luckily, I was nominated as the most diplomatic member of the group. Zhu Chang-long made a short report on the good deeds I had been doing that implied diplomacy such as being considerate, respectful for seniors, letting the ladies go into the elevators first and etc.

All the groups accordingly made their respective reports to the whole class, and from this discussion, we knew the criteria when considering diplomatic behaviors.

• leaves a good feeling</li>
• does not offend</li>
• is not evasive</li>
• contributes something positive to the topic being discussed</li>

April 19, 2007

When asked 'How would you train yourself or others to become LITERATE in a foreign culture', most of us may answer with 'go to Bob's CCBC' while an alternative is, as mentioned by Prof. March, to read English newspapers, to make friends from English-speaking countries or even to travel to a foreign country.

We don't always have chances to try those alternatives any time as we wish. However, in the last session of CCBC, we did find a short-cut for training ourselves. In that class, Prof. March told us to do short plays, and that was something beyond my expectation. Should a serious class contain an interesting and funny part as this?

Soon, even before I had finished my part in the role-playing in the mini-drama, I happened to realize that only by being a part in the context, can one truly learn and acquire the required knowledge of cross-cultural communication and some relevant skills. We felt the uncomfortableness and puzzles arising from being an alien of the environment. With the true feeling and the pressure, we can learn more deeply.

Also, one thing amusing that has just bumped into my head is our monitor’s embarrassment when she had to follow the drama script and pretended to kiss me. From her flushed face and stumbling steps, all students present saw that everyone, even monitor could not overcome the barrier of cultural shock in a short period of time. The CCBC is really a long-term process.

April 26, 2007

Due to some time-management issues, I proposed yesterday to Bob March that I quit the course, and he without any hesitation agreed.

This is really beyong my expectation when at the beginning of the semester I, among many other student applicants were very interested in this course and its professor.

It's OK now that I have partially completed the course.

听说我要退出该课程了，班长李敏很急，担心Bob会发火，还打电话报告了孙老师。虽然当晚与授课老师沟通出乎意料的顺利，但不禁在反观当时和李敏的一些短信时感到了一些意外的‘颓废’。

天要下雨，娘要嫁人，由着去吧。不因可能的愤怒就更改决定。选择是自由的，也承担没成绩的后果。能力有所不达，时间有所不济，弃之无奈亦无惜。

做决策，最基本的能力是弃，而不是取。