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Lecture 5

Valerija MalavskaTuriba University

Language and InterculturalCommunication

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Motivating People and Building Trust

Motivation - closely linked to leadership and management.

The ability of leaders to get people do what they want done while

at the same time making them feel that it is a good idea, or even

their own idea.

No international formula for motivation.

Essentially a national phenomenon.

Can vary enormously between close neighbors, e.g., Americans andCanadians, French and Germans and Swedes and Finns.

In the modern era, business leaders have occasionally shown the

charismatic and visionary leadership that attracts loyal followers; e.g.Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company), Akio Morita (Sony), Richard Branson(Virgin Group).

Religion - major role in mass-motivation throughout the historical era.

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Twenty-First Century Aspirations

Linear-active people

Traditionally motivated by achievement rather than words (do what you have said you aregoing to do).

20th century Important factors career, money, other forms of remuneration.Work equated with success which equated with prosperity.

21st centuryThe concept of globalization itself constitutes a motivational factor.Globalization means globalization of business that leans strongly toward the imposition of

Western management styles on joint ventures, mergers and acquired companies.

Linear individuals are motivated by

access to high-level technology, generous funding for research, increased opportunities, entrepreneurialism through the Internet and direct business-to-business contacts free of bureaucratic controls.

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Multi-active people

Traditionally motivated by words more than deedsby emotion, compassion,expression of human understanding.

21st century

Their idea of globalization - a more civilized one, where there is a

compromise between materialistic goals and the recognition of softer

human values.

Globalization should usher in an era of market opportunities that are

available also to those who are poor and underprivileged.

Multi-actives gain inspiration from people or circumstances that are

conducive to boosting their self-confidence.

Care and security - important for this cultural category.

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Reactive people

Traditionally motivated by the reassuring comfort of collective goals and

action, common loyalty to respectable organizations, discovery of enduring

trust and diligence in preserving integrity and face for family, friends andcolleagues.

Reactives have a third view of globalization that in which the huge Asian marketsof the future (India, China, Indonesia) will benefit from strategic EastWestalliances, especially in high-tech fields.

Motivational factors in Asia

increased leisure time and opportunities for foreign travel and internationalcontact (things denied to Japanese, Chinese and other East Asians in the 19thand 20th centuries).

Young people

look for education and training wish to taste Western lifestyles participate in trend-setting in fashion, food, films and so on.

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Product versus Relationship

The linear-active assumes an excellent product sells itself,

it paves the way for a successful relationship, a sound idea or policy, backed by facts and figures.

Other cultures - different priorities

Italy, Japan or Saudi Arabia - the personal relationship paves the way for the product (or blocksits purchase).

Arabs, Asians and Latins buy from people they like, not necessarily from those who offer thebest product at the best price.

Motivation, of customers or ones own staff, has to take place in the context of personalrelationships.

Once Latins and Asians know you and trust you - will be motivated to buy from you, tell you ifsomething is amiss, protect you from losing face, look after your interests, help you in need.

If they work for you, they will do so loyally, do quality work, contribute overtime hours without

extra pay and wait for you to suggest promotion or better remuneration without pushing for it.

If they are not properly motivated by their trust in you, there is a risk that they will be disloyal,hide things from you, invent excuses, lack incentive and originality.

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Building Trust

When considering building trust in an international group, national traits must be kept in mind.

A set of basic trust-building strategies:

Examples of difficulties that may hinder the process:

In some cultures managers and executives are much less willing to share information (especiallyvertically) than others.

Effective communication is not the same in France as it is, for example, in Australia.

The Japanese way of giving orders would not be seen as clear instructions by Americans andGermans.

Transparency is much more common in linear-active cultures than among multi-active andreactive cultures.

Set clear, transparent aims and goals,

Prepare clear instructions,

Communicate them effectively,

Insist on an information-sharing policy,

Provide practical, user-friendly tools,

Set up time-efficient processes,

Recognize contributions,

Back up the team,

Act on the teams recommendations,

Work toward transparency.

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High-Trust and Low-Trust Societies

Francis Fukuyama, TRUST, 1995

Members ofhigh-trust societies

normally have a ready trust for their compatriots,

usually linear-active and assume that their fellow nationals follow the rules; in other words, trusta person until he or she proves untrustworthy.

Members oflow-trust cultural groups

are initially suspicious of fellow nationals,

are often multi-actives or reactives, have a more flexible obedience to rules, regulations and laws,

trust completely only those they know best: family and one or two close, lifetime friends,

China and Korea (low trust) - both the family and the state exercise great influence. Thedemands of both state and family take up much of the individuals time.

He or she is not sure what to do with whatever spare time is left.

In high- or medium-trust societies - Sweden, Germany, Britain, Canada and the United States -a superabundance of extra time because the demands on peoples time outside of work are notnearly as great.

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Linear-actives

Worddeed correlation - essential

If you always do what you have said you are going to do, on a consistent

basis, you build trust by cementing your integrity.

Truth is recognized as scientific, based on facts and figures, almosttangible.

As official institutions in linear-active cultures are normally efficient andrelatively speedy,

Individuals place their trust in those institutions (banks, schools, the postoffice, etc.).

Trust is fairly impersonal. In general, people do what they are paid to do.

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Multi-actives

E.g. Italians, Hispanics, Greeks, Turks, Slavs,etc.

Truth is more flexible (creative), wheels of bureaucracy turn more slowly, faith ininstitutions is less firm.

They prefer to place their trust (strong indeed) in group intimatesfamily, formerteachers, close friends.

They trust people who show them compassion, accept closeness, protect theirvulnerabilities and disobey regulations in keeping that trust if it is necessary.

Reactive cultures

E.g. Japan, China and Korea, etc.

Trust is gained through respectful behavior, protecting the others face.

Compassion and closeness are not required.

The Japanese particularly place great trust in their schoolmates and formerschoolmates who graduated from their university.

Trust is also given to former teachers and tutors.

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Trust in Virtual Teams (1)

Face-to-face meetings

Especially important for multi-active and reactive members-personal relationships and

genial socializing have great significance.

Distance, as they say, breeds distance, and this is particularly true for reactive andmulti-active nationalities.

Germans, Finns and Swedes shine in the nitty-gritty lets-get-down-to-work areas.

Latins contribute most effectively in a committee atmosphere enhanced by closesocial contact.

Reactive Asians - the feeling of togetherness is reassuring and brings out their bestqualities.

Nordics function fairly well at a distance in a cool, common-sense way.

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Trust in Virtual Teams (2)

AmericansAccept that electronic proximity is with us to stay and are experts at impersonalizing

communication.

Hispanics, Italians, Portuguese, Chinese and JapaneseThe lack of face-to-face interaction is a far more serious matter.

Asian customers

In general, want to be visited. They want and take time to evaluate and absorb whatand whom they see.

Tactile HispanicsNeed the warming handshake, embrace or arm around the shoulder.

The French

Want to display their oratorical skills (difficult by e-mail).

ItaliansWish to convince you through persuasive tones and expressive use of eyes, hands,

arms and shoulders.

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High Context vs. Low Context

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This deals with where one looks for meaning

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall , Beyond Culture, 1976

High context A lot of unspoken information is implicitly transferred during

communication. People in a high context culture tend to place a larger importance

on long-term relationships and loyalty and have fewer rules andstructure implemented.

Low context A lot of information is exchanged explicitly through the message

itself and rarely is anything implicit or hidden. People in low context cultures tend to have short-term

relationships, follow rules and standards closely and are generallyvery task-oriented.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhhALfB_1Aw

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How to establish trust in an intercultural team?

In face-to-face meetings, low-context Germans and Nordics will require explicitness about how they are toproceed.

High-context French, Indians and Japanese will leave a lot unsaid, paying their colleagues the compliment of

assuming they know the situation.

High-context people speak more, but they say less.

Low-context people speak less, but every word counts.

These different communication styles can be improved in a variety of ways:

body language,

tone of voice and

subtle timing when people are face-to-face.

The low-context individuals on the team assume their high-context teammates are hiding information from themor

are being purposefully unclear.

These same low-context Germans and Americans frequently annoy the high-context French and Italians with

their painstaking emphasis on instructions, explanation and clarification.

One should remember, for example:

Low-context, linear-active team members normally focus on tasks; they get moving first and then build uptrust.

High-context, multi-active teammates will first deal with the question of trust (i.e.,relationship building)before getting down to the tasks.

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Beginning a meeting in different countries

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Structuring a Meeting

Just as ways of beginning a meeting vary, so do methods of structuring them.

Linear-active people - fond of strict agendas, agendas have linear shape.

Multi active (usually Latins) tend to wander, wishing to repeat points already discussed.

Reactives, especially Japanese, concentrate on harmonizing general principles prior to examining any details.

The purpose of a meeting depends on where one is coming from:

E.g.

Britons and Americans see a meeting as an opportunity to make decisions and get things done.

The French see it as a forum where a briefing can be delivered to cover all aspects of a problem.

Germans,more concerned with precision and exactness, expect to gain compliance.

Italians use meetings to evaluate support for their plans.

The Japanese regard the first few sessions as occasions for establishing status and trust and finding out what

possible sources of disagreement need to be eliminated from the outset.

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Linear-active members

little small talk before getting down to business,

like to introduce bullet points that can serve as an agenda,

tasks or issues are segmented, discussed and dealt with one after the other,

solutions reached are summarized in the minutes.

Multi-active members

not happy with the bullet-point approach,

prefer to take points in random order (or in order of importance) and discuss them for hours

before listing bullet points as conclusions.

Reactive people

do not have the linear obsession with agendas,

in Japanese eyes, for instance, things are not black and white, possible or impossible, right

or wrong.

they see arguments and ideas as points coming together and ultimately merging.

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Body Language

Paralanguage - non-verbal elements of communication used to modify

meaning and convey emotion.

Pitch, volume, intonation of speech are often more important in communication thanwhat is actually being said orally.

70% of what we communicate when talking directly with others is through

paralanguage.

Kinesics / body language - the most obvious form of paralanguage, the

language of gestures, expressions, and postures.

Proxemics - the study of interaction distances and other culturally defined

uses of space.

Comfortable interaction distance to a person with whom we are speaking.

Comfort in interaction distance between faces that are looking directly at each other.

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organization of spaceProxemics

Westernoffices

Japaneseoffices

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the study of touch

Haptics

Low-contactcultures

High-contactcultures

North Americans,

the British,China, Japan

Italians, theFrench,

Russians, Arabsand Latin

Americans

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Different Types of Body Language

Anthropologists view

speech developed to make body language more explicit, and that as the formerbecame more sophisticated, gestures became less necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTE0G9amZNk

Finns and Japanesedo not seem to have any body language- both cultural groups do use body language

that is well understood by fellow nationals in each country.

restrained type of body language that is so subtle that it goes unnoticed by theforeign eye.

Italians, Arabs and South Americansdemonstrative body language

For reactives to observe multi-actives is as if someone used to listening to the subtle

melodies of Chopin or Mozart were suddenly thrown into a modern disco.

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Head

Eye contact

Multi-active cultures

speakers will maintain close eye contact while they deliver their message. Spain, Greece andArab countries (some linear-actives and reactives would call it staring)

Japan - close eye contact - improper and rude. Japanese avoid eye contact 90 percent of the time. Looking at a speakers neck while listening and at their own feet or knees when they speak

themselves.

In societies where hierarchy is important, it is easy to detect the pecking order by

observing peoples eye behavior.

Lower-ranking staff often look at superiors, who ignore them unless they are in

direct conversation with them.

When anyone cracks a joke or says something controversial, all the subordinates

eyes will switch immediately to the chief personage to assess his or her

reaction.

French and Hispanic people indulge in the nose twitch, snort or sniff to express

alertness, disapproval or disdain respectively.

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Asians, Puerto Ricans, West Indians, African Americans and

Native Americans consider a direct eye contactto be rude, or

disrespectful, or intimidating, while Europeans find it a sign of

openness and honesty.

Oculesics - the study of the use of the eyes in interpersonalcommunication

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The Rest of the Body

Multi-active cultural groups also use all the rest of their bodies to express themselves.

mobile shoulders (normally kept still in northern societies.)

Latins keep their shoulders back and down when tranquil and observant but push themup and forward when alarmed, anxious or hostile.

Arms, which are used little by Nordics during conversation, are an indispensableelement in ones communicative weaponry in Italy, Spain and South America.

The hands - among the most expressive parts of the body.

Immanuel Kant called hands the visible parts of the brain.

Italians watching Finnish hands may be forgiven for thinking that Finns have slow brains.

It is undeniable that Northern peoples use their hands less expressively than Latins orArabs, who

recognize them as a brilliant piece of biological engineering.

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Leg language

Legs together position signifies basically defensiveness against a background of formality, politeness or

subordination.

Most people sit with their legs together when applying for a job; it indicates correctness of attitude.

This position - common for Anglo-Saxons at first meetings, but they usually change to legs crossed as

discussions become more informal.

The formal Germans and Japanese can go through several meetings maintaining the legs-together position.

Ways of crossing legs:

the most formal - the crossing of ankles only, the average - crossing the knees, the most relaxed and informal is the ankle-on-knee cross - common in North America.

It is said that the feet are the most honest part of the body

Foot messages may include, for example,

tapping on the floor (boredom),flapping up and down (want to escape),heel lifting (desperate to escape) and multi-kicking from a knees-crossed position (desire tokick the other speaker).

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Speak slowly

Repeat as necessary

Be sincere and empathetic

Keep it simple and short

Show and demonstrate by using examples /illustrations

Borrow attributes of the other culture that will allow you tofunction effectively in it

Practice the skill of switching cultural channels

Intercultural Verbal and Non-verbalCommunication Advice