Intercultural Communication and Negotiation Skills
Executive Summary
This research report analyzes intercultural issues that may have influenced the outcome of potential business dealing between Southern Candles Inc, an American company, and Les Belles Choses. The cultural and communication problems or issues have been analyzed using Hall’s framework, and Culture and Communication: A model, as well as theories and concepts arising from the topic. The choice of the models were justified on the basis that the cultural dimensions suit the events taking place in the case. In this case, it was found that some cultural aspects among the French are interpreted differently by the Americans and vice versa. Where Americans showed attributes of monochronic, low context, and big bubble interpersonal distance, the French showed polychromic, high context, and small bubble interpersonal distance. The communication of the message was also misinterpreted across the cultures because of conflicting gestures and body language movements. As much as Southern Candles had a valid business deal and a potential to establish a thriving business in Western Europe, these intercultural conflicts may have caused the deal not to mature. As such, recommendations are given on what should be done in the future to prepare for culturally diverse markets.
Table of Contents
2.0 Identification of Problems/Issues. 3
3.1 Description of the Model/Framework. 4
1.0 Introduction
The purpose of this case report is to analyse the intercultural and communication issues that occurred in a negotiation to market an American candle products brand to a French organization, and which led to an unsuccessful deal due to intercultural misunderstandings. First, the problems arising from the different cultural negotiations will be analysed using the Hall model. Second, Culture and communication model has been applied in the understanding of the French-American intercultural communication problems. This also considers the verbal and non-verbal cues in the interaction. The analysis of problems is followed by recommendations that can help to solve the intercultural communication problems.
2.0 Identification of Problems/Issues
The business negotiation between Southern Candles, Inc and Les Belles Choses did not produce the desired outcome and this could be as a result of misunderstandings regarding intercultural, verbal, and non-verbal communication issues (Ting-toomey & Kurogi, 1998).
- Intercultural Issues
First, Mr Picard was uneasy about the length of time taken for lunch unknowing that the French treasure culinary moments and use such moments to establish and strengthen business ties (Yochanan & Yehuda, 2010).
Second, Mr Picard severally attempted to bring up the earlier business topic during dinner which in French, business conversations during dinner is unacceptable (Kerri, Stuart, & Anton, 2008).
- Intercultural Verbal Communication Issue
Third, Mrs. Dubois could not understand why the French team stared and smiled at her, and there was no attempt to explain this showing less verbal communication among the French (Kerri, Stuart, & Anton, 2008).
- Intercultural Nonverbal Verbal Communication Issues
Fourth, Mr. Durand and the Les Belles Choses team mostly offered handshakes and smiles for greetings even for people meeting for the first time (Kerri, Stuart, & Anton, 2008).
Fifth, Mr. Picard gave gestured an “okay” sign to his team members when he perceived that Mr. Durand’s team liked his presentation without knowing that the ‘okay’ sign means ‘useless’ in the French culture (Kerri, Stuart, & Anton, 2008).
3.0 Literature Review
3.1 Description of the Model/Framework
Hall model is the most appropriate for describing intercultural issues occurring in the negotiation between America’s Southern Candles and France’s Les Belles Choses. This is because the high context and low context characteristics presented in the French and American culture respectively, and of which also form the cultural dimensions in the Hall’s model (Hall, 1990).
The Hall cultural model was established by American cross-cultural researcher and anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1981 that first created the concept of proxemics, and coined the term polychromic (Beamer & Valentine, 2000). The model describes three cultural dimensions which are context, which is measured in terms of low and high; space which is measured in terms of centre of power and centre of community; and time which is measured in terms of monochromic and polychromic. According to Cardon (2008) contexting is a commonly cited theoretical framework in subjects of intercultural communication in business and technical communication.
The model shows that an understanding between people comes from the synergy of information and its context. Cultures that have a high context are characterized by close links between people, and a high level of the unspoken. On the other hand, low context cultures value explicit communication where messages are given in a clear direct manner (Hall, 1990). Monochronic cultures recognize time as a valuable and tangible resource having a past, a present, and going into the future. On the other hand, polychronic cultures view time as an element by which several tasks that can take place simultaneously are associated more by relation rather than time. For the third dimension, interpersonal distance is restricted by some kind of protective bubble around each person, and the size of the protective bubble depends on culture where for others it is small, while for others it is large (Hall, 1990).
| Cultural dimensions | Scale Anchors | |
| Context | Low | High |
| Space | Centre of power | Centre of community |
| Time | Monochronic | Polychronic |
3.2 Strengths
The strength of the model is in its ability to enable users to interpret culture based on three dimensions of context, time, and space (Cardon, 2008). This makes it possible to interpret intercultural activities in a highly definitive way even in the case where two cultures are expected to share commonalities, for example, both the US and French cultures are dominantly West cultures.
- Weaknesses
The weakness of the model is that there are no individual scores placed for the different countries regarding the cultural dimensions (Cardon, 2008). The user has to go an extra mile into learning the cultures of the countries and relating their attributes to Hall’s dimensions. This slows down the ease of identifying intercultural issues of a country.
- Conclusion
Hall’s model of culture is based on dimensions of context, time, and space that can be aligned to an individual, national, or organizational culture to enable greater understanding of intercultural relationships.
4.0 Case Analysis
4.1 Issue 1
The issue can be explained by the concept of chronemics. Mr. Picard’s surprise that lunch with the French took over two hours can be described by the cultural dimension of time (Adair & Brett, 2005). Mr. Picard reflects the American’s cultural attitude to time, that it is money and therefore essential (Yu-Tse & Lien-Ti, 2008). Therefore, the American culture is monochromic. On the other hand, the French show highly polychronic behaviour. Several events took place for a business meeting that could take place in a few hours and a conclusion reached at. In fact, the French do not give feedback of the decision immediately after the meeting (Adair & Brett, 2005), as seen by Mr. Picard getting the feedback after two weeks.
4.2 Issue 2
Mr. Picard attempted to remain focused on the objective of the France business tour by bringing up the subject of the meeting at dinner but he was ignored. This is also because of the polychronic nature of the French culture as seen by incorporating several other activities, namely dinner to the host’s place more for strengthening the human relationship than making a business deal (Ott, 2011). Picard’s American-based monochronic value is attached on the concept of time where dinner can be used as a moment to discuss the business deal further.
4.3 Issue 3
France is a high-context culture and there seems to be unwritten rules or implicit language that can be confusing to understand by a person from the outside (Ott, 2011). On the other hand, America is a low context culture that focuses more on verbal communication than body language and the reason why Mrs. Dubois could not understand the meaning behind the stares and smiles.
4.4 Issue 4
The issue is explained by the dimension of space or proxemics (Hall, 1990). The American people have a big protective bubble, indicating they try to avoid physical contact. On the other hand, the French have a small protective bubble and do not mind closeness with one another as exemplified with handshakes even for people meeting the first time, and invitation of business members to the host’s house. The French therefore appreciate more the non-verbal cue of haptics, which is the ability to touch as compared to Americans (Ott, 2011).
4.5 Issue 5
The issue entails the use of body movement or kinesics to convey information in the communication process. Mr. Picard uses a gesture to convey enthusiasm but the gesture used conveys something negative in the French culture (Ott, 2011).
Communication between members of different cultures can result to misconstructions and misunderstandings (Saunders et al, 2010; Steers et al, 2010). The communication process involves various steps such as encoding where the sender’s thoughts are transformed into a figurative format such as spoken words or body language and relaying this through a normal conversation (Cooper et al, 2007). Mr. Picard’s business presentation uses a non-standardised media, which is face to face communication, after which the message is decoded. The steps of decoding can be hazardous. Whereas the American team decoded his ‘okay’ gesture as he intended, the French team decoded the same message to mean ‘useless’ because of cultural differences.
The diagram below represents the model culture and communication, and shows how intercultural issues can affect the receivers decode the message.
Source: Steers, Sanchez-Runde, & Nardon (2010).
- Recommendations
First, Mr. Picard should establish a marketing research team at international or intercultural levels. This will enable the acquisition of knowledge on the characteristics and preferences of intercultural market segments (King& Segain, 2007) especially at this moment when he wants to expand his business beyond the U.S.
Second, a multi-cultural awareness training program should be introduced for the staff at Southern Candles Inc. This awareness will enable Mr. Picard and his marketing team to create proposals, communication and presentation styles that are culturally compatible to their target markets (Warren, 2006).
Third, Southern Candles Inc. can also outsource or recruit members of diverse cultural backgrounds to assist in the marketing of their products at the specific cultures. This is an easier way to avoid conflicting and embarrassing situations in an intercultural negotiation (Brett, 2000).
6.0 References
Adair, W., & Brett, J. (2005). ‘The negotiation dance: Time, culture, and behavioral sequences in negotiation’, Organization Science, 16(1), 33-51.
Beamer, L., & Valentine, D. (2000). ‘Finding a way to teach cultural dimensions’, Business Communication Quarterly, 63(3), 111-118.
Brett, J. (2000). ‘Culture and negotiation’, International Journal of Psychology, 35(2), 97- 104.
Cardon, P. (2008). ‘A critique of Hall’s contexing model: A meta-analysis of literature on intercultural business and technical communication’, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 22(4), 399-428.
Cooper, P. J., Calloway-Thomas, C., & Simonds, C. (2007). Intercultural communication: A text with readings. Boston, MA: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.
Hall, E.T. (1990). Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans, Yarmouth: Intercultural Press.
Kerri, G., Stuart, M., & Anton, F. (2008). ‘Personality and culture: A comparison of Francophones and Anglophones in Quebec’, Journal of Social Psychology, 148(2), 133-166.
King, C., & Segain, H. (2007). ‘Cross border negotiated deals: Why culture matters?’ European Company & Financial Law Review, 4(1), 126-166.
Ott, U. (2011). ‘The influence of cultural activity types on buyer-seller negotiations: A game theoretical framework for intercultural negotiations’ International Negotiation, 16(3), 427-450.
Saunders, D., Barry, B., & Lewicki, R. (2010). Essentials of negotiation, 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Steers, R. M., Sánchez-Runde, C., & Nardon, L. (2010). Management across cultures: Challenges and strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ting-toomey, S. & Kurogi, A. (1998). ‘Facework competence in intercultural conflict: An updated face-negotiation theory’, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 22(2), 187-225.
Warren, F. (2006). ‘Business ethics training: Face –to-face and at a distance’, Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 117-126.
Yochanan, A., & Yehuda, B. (2010). ‘The organizational lunch’, Culture & Organization, 16(2), 127-143
Yu-Tse, L., & Lien-Ti, B. (2008). ‘The perceived value of time in a transaction’, Advances in Consumer Research, 35, 720-721
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