<?page no="0"?> Sierk A. Horn Intercultural Leadership Humanistic Perspectives For many of us, connecting with people across the world is now easy and commonplace. But coming into contact with different ways of doing things means losing our superpower of-giving meaning to what is happening around us, interacting skilfully and building rapport. In the first part of this book, Sierk Horn shows how intercultural interactions set in motion psychological processes. The second part deals with the behavioural determinants of-intercultural communication. The third part examines our social environment and how we deal with cultural differences. The book wants to make you curious about intercultural leadership. It invites you to explore humanistic perspectives in everyday communication. A wealth of exercises will accompany you on your learning journey. Management ISBN 978-3-8252-6186-3 This is a utb volume from UVK. utb is a cooperation of publishing houses with one common goal: to publish textbooks and learning media for successful studies. utb.de Scan this QR-Code for further information. Intercultural Leadership Horn 2024-09-05_6186-3_Horn_L_6186_PRINT.indd Alle Seiten 2024-09-05_6186-3_Horn_L_6186_PRINT.indd Alle Seiten 05.09.24 15: 12 05.09.24 15: 12 <?page no="1"?> utb 6186 Eine Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verlage Brill | Schöningh - Fink · Paderborn Brill | Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht · Göttingen - Böhlau · Wien · Köln Verlag Barbara Budrich · Opladen · Toronto facultas · Wien Haupt Verlag · Bern Verlag Julius Klinkhardt · Bad Heilbrunn Mohr Siebeck · Tübingen Narr Francke Attempto Verlag - expert verlag · Tübingen Psychiatrie Verlag · Köln Ernst Reinhardt Verlag · München transcript Verlag · Bielefeld Verlag Eugen Ulmer · Stuttgart UVK Verlag · München Waxmann · Münster · New York wbv Publikation · Bielefeld Wochenschau Verlag · Frankfurt am Main <?page no="2"?> Dr. Sierk A. Horn is Professor for Business Communication and Intercultural Com‐ petence at Munich University of Applied Sciences. He has worked in various roles in European and Asian Business Schools and as an executive in commercial semiotics. He holds a PhD in Japanese Studies from Freie Universität Berlin. Much of his work takes the perspective of the resilience of individuals and organisations in cross-cultural contexts. <?page no="3"?> Sierk A. Horn Intercultural Leadership Humanistic Perspectives UVK Verlag · München <?page no="4"?> DOI: https: / / doi.org/ 10.36198/ 9783838561868 © UVK Verlag 2024 ‒ Ein Unternehmen der Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Dischingerweg 5 · D-72070 Tübingen Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. 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Internet: www.narr.de eMail: info@narr.de Einbandgestaltung: siegel konzeption | gestaltung Druck und Bindung: Elanders Waiblingen GmbH utb-Nr. 6186 ISBN 978-3-8252-6186-3 (Print) ISBN 978-3-8385-6186-8 (ePDF) ISBN 978-3-8463-6186-3 (ePub) Umschlagabbildung: Pavlo Stavnichuk iStockphoto Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http: / / dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. <?page no="5"?> 9 10 12 14 17 1 21 1.1 27 1.2 31 1.3 34 1.4 41 2 49 2.1 51 2.2 61 3 65 3.1 70 3.2 83 4 87 4.1 90 4.2 96 4.3 99 4.4 104 4.5 111 Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leadership Across Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Humanistic Perspective on Leadership Across Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Manual for This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Features of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unfamiliar Worlds and Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turning Global Integration into Intercultural Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual Consideration (1): Sense-Making in Intercultural Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual Considerations (2): Communication in Intercultural Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now . . . . ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward T. Hall (1959) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hofstede (1976) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schwartz (1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <?page no="6"?> 4.6 116 4.7 119 5 125 5.1 129 5.2 141 5.3 145 6 151 6.1 156 6.2 174 7 181 7.1 183 7.2 185 7.3 187 7.4 196 7.5 201 8 209 8.1 211 8.2 216 8.3 220 8.4 225 8.5 235 9 241 9.1 244 9.2 250 9.3 251 9.4 264 Project GLOBE (2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Life Biographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Life Biographies in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intercultural Competence as a Learning Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Environment and Everyday Life Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arousal and Intercultural Sense-Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonic and Phasic Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Culture Bumps and Arousal Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Effects of Culture Bumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emotions in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual Considerations: Emotions as Pass to Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Are Emotions Universal or Culture-Specific? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motivations in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conceptual Considerations: Why Do People Behave the Way They Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motivation Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Contents <?page no="7"?> 10 271 10.1 274 10.2 302 11 307 11.1 310 11.2 313 11.3 315 11.4 323 11.5 327 11.6 331 11.7 335 12 343 12.1 346 12.2 348 12.3 355 12.4 359 12.5 372 13 381 13.1 385 13.2 398 14 405 14.1 408 14.2 429 14.3 430 15 439 15.1 442 15.2 447 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motivation and Intercultural Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motivation as a Source for Developing Intercultural Abilities and Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Importance of Self-Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Two Pathways of Sense-Making: High and Low Pot of Practising Interculturality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Navigating Fear Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Risk of Incongruence When Practising Interculturality . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitudes in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitudes and Intercultural Competence Conceptualisations . . . . . . . . A-B-C Model of Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitude Change & Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Awareness in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing and Responding to Culture Bumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trust Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trust Creation in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 7 <?page no="8"?> 15.3 458 15.4 468 16 475 16.1 478 16.2 484 16.3 487 16.4 490 16.5 495 16.6 499 507 511 523 550 552 Trustworthy Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Facework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Role of Facework in the International Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . Verbal-, Non-Verbal and Para-Verbal Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . What Language Should We Use in the International Workplace? . . . . Proficiency in English as a Driver of Intercultural Competence . . . . . Business English (in a Nutshell) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And What Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Contents <?page no="9"?> Preface Auguste Guiteau, the inspiring character in Disney Pixar’s movie Ratatouille, loved cooking. So much so that he believed anyone could do it: ‘You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul. What I say is true - anyone can cook…but only the fearless can be great. What Auguste believes about cooking, I believe about intercultural leadership: everyone already possesses intercultural leadership skills. While not everyone can become an elite polyglot adept at living in many foreign cultures, we all want to share our stories and connect with those around us. Whenever we meet people, we communicate. This book encourages you to build on this innate human skill when dealing with people of different cultural backgrounds. The movie Ratatouille is about Remy, a rat, and his rags-to-riches journey from being a member of a colony that could not care less about what they eat to becoming a chef of a fine restaurant, much like his human hero Auguste. His passion for cooking and his unwavering belief that humans and rats can work together sets Remy on his path to success. Likewise, great leaders discover, over time, good ways of collaborative working across cultures. It may not really be their original intention. If they could do things in their own ways, they would probably do so. But just as Remy and Linguini, the young heir of Auguste Gusteau, realise that they work better together, intercultural leaders find ways to form relationships and collaborate with people through reflection, through empathy, through dialogue. These humanistic values inform the direction of this book. In Ratatouille, commitment to practice, mutual appreciation and resilience make the two protagonists achieve culinary excellence. These ‘ingredients’ embody in many ways intercultural leadership journeys: • In the beginning, Linguini is only a human vehicle for Remy. As a rat, Remy cannot cook or run around in the kitchen alone without being seen. Remember, he is also quite small. So, Remy needs Linguini. The two realise that they have to practise quite a bit. They cannot cooperate quickly right from the start. There are many mistakes, and they break a lot of eggs. But as they practise, they improve over time until they work together in harmony. Good global managers understand that leadership is something interactive. People influence each other’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviours. When working together, everybody brings their specific ideas and skills to the table. It is not always easy, but leaders have to find a way to integrate various elements, like pieces of a puzzle. But to achieve the desired results, leaders have to practise working with others to create this kind of smooth unity Remy and Linguini come to acquire. • The basis of any intercultural leadership journey is mutual appreciation. In the movie, two very different cultures meet - rodents on the one hand and humans <?page no="10"?> on the other. But Remy and Linguini find ways to build bridges and collaborate. In the kitchen, Remy notices Linguini accidentally knocking down a soup pot. Talentless Linguini adds random ingredients to fix his mishap. Remy is shocked, takes the initiative and fixes the ruined soup. Recognising Remy’s skills, Linguini takes the rodent to his apartment. In return for a place to stay and sleep, he asks Remy to help him in the kitchen. This implies an attitude that focuses on genuine appreciation without making assumptions or assertions of (human) superiority. In the same vein, intercultural encounters are somewhat fragile. It does not take much to cause working relationships to crumble. Good leaders usually avoid implying that they know better, or their group is superior to others. It should go without saying that integrating genuine appreciation into one’s leadership style makes for a more engaged and motivated work environment. Although such an attitude is highly relevant to practising intercultural leadership, its application is easier said than done because how we see ourselves and others is a relatively enduring evaluation. • The movie is also an excellent analogy for intercultural resilience. Of course, the mere belief in being able to become a great chef without the ability to recover quickly from difficulties would be futile. So, throughout the movie, Remy has to face and overcome numerous hurdles. When his father, Django, claims ‘you can’t change nature’ and demands a return to the fold, Remy challenges the assumption that humans will always treat their kind, rats, as enemies. He holds that things do not necessarily need to stay as they are: ‘Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide.’ Similarly, intercultural leaders are committed to change. Sure, cultural differences are relatively easy to see as a cause for clashes or even conflicts. And a vast and growing gap between us and others results from that. But intercultural leaders do not take differences in outlook, action, and values for granted. They are willing to work to make their ideas happen. True leaders think about cultural differences in bolder and more productive ways and usually spend considerable time building relationships. Leadership Across Cultures Explorations of leadership focus heavily on the attributes of a leader, situation-appro‐ priate decisions, and positional power (Wiswede, 1995). Nevertheless, intercultural situations are significantly more complex: (i) We may think of leadership skills as something that splits people into haves and have-nots. In other words, relatively stable personality traits determine intercultural leadership success. But even if we did not have an upbringing full of intercultural experiences, we can close the gap; (ii) We may frame leadership skills as something fixed and, thus, unchangeable from situation to situation also across cultures. But our experiences with intercultural encounters vary greatly. Contact with different cultures can trigger different responses; (iii) We may consider leadership skills as something dependent on rank. But this differs greatly 10 Preface <?page no="11"?> 1 I am using the adjective ‘intercultural’ throughout this book, when I want to emphasise the idea of collaboration and relationships rather than the comparisons between cultures. from reality in intercultural encounters. Organisations have many pockets of cultural and linguistic skills (Barner-Rasmussen, Ehrnrooth, Koveshnikov, & Mäkelä, 2014). Depending on where we find them, leadership across cultures can be lateral and even bottom-up. Intercultural differences can either be a source of division or a source of unity. I will try to convince you that looking at emotions, thought processes, and personal growth - a humanistic understanding of intercultural leadership 1 - is a powerful platform for learning and relationship-building opportunities across cultures. This book will make the case that the commitment to practising, mutual appreciation and resilience give intercultural business practitioners significant orientations for moving in international circles. The obvious and simple understanding that we are all human beings moves this basic idea forward. Thousands of experiences and factors outside our control precede every cultural avenue we take. In light of these many variables, it would be rash to assume this book can give a final answer to the question of what makes leadership across cultures successful. Nevertheless, what it can and will do is approach the topic by following three fundamental and complementary assumptions: 1. Intercultural leadership extends beyond individual traits or roles; it is a complex social phenomenon rooted in relationships and our perceptions of ourselves and others. We can only be interculturally competent if others trust us to be interculturally competent (Middleton, 2015). 2. Leadership across cultures emerges from situational needs and demands. Cultural differences can be blatant or subtle. They may be subjectively positive or negative, happen outside or simmer inside us. However, only when we stumble over ‘culture bumps’ (Archer & Nickson, 2012) - realisations that something is relevant, irritating or potentially embarrassing - do we respond. We do so by influencing situations and creating mutually beneficial environments. 3. Leadership across cultures builds on communicative skills. We can only step up as leaders and control specific actions when we create rapport. This means navigating ‘culture bumps’ by considering how we use language. Verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal communication helps us facilitate understanding (in us and others), gain support for our initiatives, or achieve our goals in negotiations. Based on these assumptions, this book does not attempt to explore intercultural leadership solely from situational perspectives. Neither does it assume that leaders possess specific traits allowing them to influence situations or actions across cultures. By implication and contrary to common usage, leadership across cultures has little to do with rank, power, and control. Not all people in executive positions are successful leaders across cultures. Likewise, we all can become skilled intercultural leaders, but this does not qualify us automatically for executive positions. Therefore, approaches in Leadership Across Cultures 11 <?page no="12"?> which characteristics of the person and attributes of the situation are simultaneously taken into account deserve our attention (von Rosenstiel, 2000). That is precisely what this book proposes by asking what ‘culture bumps’ do to us. It understands leadership across cultures as structured and purposeful interaction. Thus, I take a specific look at communication as the most prominent and accessible form of motivation, curiosity, and humility. A Humanistic Perspective on Leadership Across Cultures This book is about leadership, specifically leadership across cultures. Its pragmatic approach is based on a humanistic understanding of human interaction. I concur with Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, who suggests that we need to turn to uniquely human capacities such as learning, caring, and creativity in the face of digital transformation (Ma, 2018; OECD, 2019). I see in people dialogue-oriented and responsible human beings who want to improve themselves. These qualities lead, ideally, to human-centric, appreciative, and respectful approaches to others, including those of different cultural backgrounds. We should take people as they are. Relationship building should never be tied to any prerequisites or presuppositions. By implication, people and their needs and wants in intercultural situations are best understood systemically, that is, within their larger biographical, psychological, and social contexts. The conception of this book lets these basic humanistic premises shine through, in that: • it aims to connect with readers’ experiences and offers freedom and independence within the learning process; • it values rich relationships between us and others; • it wants readers to reflect on their own values and develop a sense of responsibility for inclusivity and diversity; • it wants to encourage readers to take responsibility for their own lifelong learning and development; • it recognises the importance of engaging, inspiring, and supportive learning features. • My book explicitly follows in the footsteps of great humanistic thinkers such as Martin Buber, Carl Rogers, and Marshall Rosenberg, whose work we will meet throughout this book, most notably when we explore how their work can inform our understanding and approach to intercultural communication. To me, the key to intercultural leadership is to find synergies between adaptation on the one hand and self-actualisation on the other. But the art of handling intercultural encounters is not something that comes naturally or can be mastered with ease. A commitment to learning (and letting go of cherished practices) helps us to respond to intercultural challenges with wit, wisdom, and expertise. When we communicate with genuine curiosity and appreciation for people and the world around us, we can better navigate differences. Intercultural leadership can only succeed if we accept complex 12 Preface <?page no="13"?> and challenging emotions and move forward with engaging experiences. It seems reasonable to suggest that the starting point for making good contact with others is to look inward, not outward. By putting intercultural encounters squarely into the domain of humanistic ideas, this book invites you to self-reflect and adopt appreciative perspectives in everyday communication. This book’s offering is fivefold: • First, this book will give an overview of behavioural insights into intercultural leadership. It will apply psychology-derived conceptualisations and explain these so that you become immediately familiar with them. Readers can, thus, acquire a rich repertoire of techniques that will help them (i) make sense of their intercultural experiences, (ii) become more flexible when engaging with unfamiliar ways of doing things, and (iii) improve their intercultural leadership skills. • Second, the psychological explorations of this book provide structure to explain and anticipate not only your own behaviour but that of others, too. Understanding why individuals behave the way they do and the mental processes that influence their actions gives us the tools for reflection and learning about intercultural interactions. As practice is central to acquiring new skills, the book will offer you plenty of opportunities to reflect, explore and apply behavioural insights to your intercultural leadership repertoire. • Third, human behaviour is incredibly complex, especially real-life behaviour across cultures. Many tiny factors intervene so that (i) no model can accurately mirror it, and (ii) dysfunctionalities may not always have to do with intercultural encounters per se. The theoretical approaches presented in this book provide a much-needed context. They primarily deal with the basics of human behaviour and do not peg, as a matter of principle, the behaviour of leaders at an abstract national level. Instead of isolating cultural variation as an unchanging, universal phenomenon, they offer impulses for more meaningful studies of intercultural behaviour. • Fourth, leadership is communication (said Winston Churchill). Especially in intercultural situations, we must create rapport, that is, a trusting relationship between us and others based on mutual appreciation and understanding. By integrating the behavioural basics of psychology and communication theory, we expand our discourse on intercultural leadership. At the end of each chapter, I will introduce you to seminal works of humanistic, i.e. appreciative and cooperative communication. You can apply these to intercultural scenarios through exercises, self-reflection, and practical impulses. • Fifth, this book uses a neo-behavioural approach, that is, the interplay between environmental events and our mental responses to them, as its structural backdrop. Though largely unobservable, internal, mental processes are crucial elements that help to explain behaviour, intercultural and otherwise. Following this psycholog‐ ical research tradition, we do not merely mechanically respond to what is going on around us. Still, several internal forces, such as past experiences (e.g., earlier en‐ counters, foreign language skills) or motivation (e.g., social orientation, perceived A Humanistic Perspective on Leadership Across Cultures 13 <?page no="14"?> practical value), have input into how we engage with people of different cultural backgrounds. This now observable behaviour, thus, roots in much more than cookie-cutter recipes of cultural differences. An exploration of mental processes offers the opportunity to understand and analyse intercultural leadership. What this book does not offer, however, is predetermined ‘how to …’ guidance. Neither does it give any country-specific ‘when in x, then do …’ advice. Our life histories are full of experiences with intercultural encounters, good or bad. I thus assume that the readers of this book have plenty of ideas of their own. You may have compartmentalised what has worked for you and what has not. Instead of imparting conceived knowledge and ready-made solutions, the book aims to complement and connect with your previous experiences. So, get ready to open your minds and find your own way to arrange or rearrange your encounters and experiences. A Manual for This Book A good mix of commitment to practice, mutual appreciation and resilience opens personal and professional doors. In essence, intercultural proficiency inspires trust, facilitates intercultural collaboration and, thus, reinforces managerial efficiency. How‐ ever, there is a gap between the expectation to simply function in international work settings and the accomplished handling of team members, corresponding with clients, presenting to business partners etc. We not only lose the effortless language use of our mother tongue but cannot easily draw upon the cultural repertoires available to us. When meeting people of different cultural backgrounds at home or abroad, we simply lack these superpowers of cultural sense-making, the ease of giving meaning to what is happening around us, skilful contact, and rapport building. As a consequence, our experiences with ourselves and others are rawer. People’s emotional and cognitive demands are usually relatively high as we adapt to intercultural situations. And these can take us in very different directions. Sometimes, these demands are pleasant, exciting, and inspiring. Sometimes, these demands are troublesome, frustrating, and distressing. Because of these ups and downs, we often cannot tactfully deal with situations and people. Furthermore, communicating in a language that is not our own, most notably English, can play further tricks on us. All of a sudden, we might find it difficult, without the agency of our mother tongue, to present ourselves in the best possible light. Companies are very experienced in dealing with an international workforce (Wag‐ ner, 2023). They consistently emphasise the importance of intercultural leadership skills, which, following Weinert (1989), I here define more broadly as the ability of influencing intercultural situations or actions through communication as the key to professional success. But we cannot predict how unfamiliar ways of doing things impact us. When engaging with people of different backgrounds, we rarely are our unfiltered and culturally fixed selves. Under such circumstances, limits to our ability to 14 Preface <?page no="15"?> 2 The inspiration for this book came from reading the work of Kroeber-Riel and Weinberg (1996). Its most recent, newly co-authored book has turned into an international standard reference on consumer behvaviour (Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). Through the lens of psychology-derived conceptualisations it explains market behaviour. It distinguishes between activating, cognitive, and social processes. The book you hold in your hands takes this idea forward and applies it to intercultural scenarios. interact well with others become, thus, quickly apparent. And the complex interplay of affective, cognitive, behavioural, and linguistic processes is the reason for this. 2 First, our past experiences and our senses connect us to our surroundings. Together, they significantly affect how we experience differences and relate to others. Then, there will always be trade-offs between emotional sensations and our ability to regulate them. Realising differences in feeling, thinking, and doing can challenge taken-for-granted beliefs about how we should go about things. We have to absorb and understand these differences. Such information processing is cognitive in a broader sense. Finally, we respond in one form or another to what is happening around us. Our reactions are based on sometimes short-circuited, sometimes extensive mental processes. Communication is the most obvious aspect of our behaviour and interaction with the social world. The book is committed to following experiences with unfamiliar others. The structure of the book reflects this ambition. In line with Figure 1, it comes in three parts: First, I deal with antecedents of intercultural encounters and how they set in motion internal processes (Sensing Differences): Global integration has come a long way. In the first part, I will represent my pragmatic point of view on how economic, social, technological, ecological, and cultural shifts abound and, together, have changed almost all aspects of our everyday lives. In it, I will describe how these forces increase the likelihood of us connecting with people worldwide. Then, I will give a past-to-present overview of theoretical and empirical advances in the field of intercultural management. This raises the central question of this book: How can a behaviour-oriented approach contribute towards a better, more realistic, and more pragmatic understanding of intercultural encounters? I will infuse my focus on subjective experiences and personal growth with the neo-behavioural emphasis on the characteristics of the person and attributes of the situation. Second, by zooming into mental processes, I will offer a fuller understanding of all the complex things inside us (Giving Meaning to Differences): The second part of this book deals with social and psychological determinants of intercultural communication. I will initially look at life biographies and their impact on intercultural leadership. Specifically, the influence of reference groups, near and far, and macro-level roots on our behaviour is analysed. Though largely unobservable, these forces offer impulses on how we accommodate cultural differences. I will distinguish between activating and cognitive considerations. Activating processes are fine-sliced into arousal, emotions, and motivations and cognitive processes into attitudes and learning. Together, they lead to distinct intercultural behaviour. A Manual for This Book 15 <?page no="16"?> Third, emotional sensations and cognitive considerations eventually affect how we respond in intercultural encounters (Dealing with Differences): The third part turns to our social world and how we interact with our environment. I will encourage you to explore how you deal with cultural differences. A helpful starting point is awareness, both of our own and that of others. Both profoundly affect our willingness to learn and our ability to manage contacts across cultures. Knowing who you are and allowing others to see you translates into three crucial skills of trust as a motor of practising interculturality, which I will present next: (i) Etiquette (the way we show appreciation to us and those around us); (ii) Intuition (a fine grasp of the invisible rules that make up intercultural encounters); and (iii) Authenticity (the ability to act in accord with what we believe, and do so in an unbiased, honest and non-manipulative way). This book closes with insights about how we facework, i.e., how we manage social interaction through communication. Practical advice on communicating effectively in English-dominated professional environments will round off our learning journey. Chapters 1-4 Macro-Environment - Global Shifts - Deglobalisation - Shocks Theoretical Considerations - Sense of Differences - Sense of Us - Sense of Others Comparing Cultures - Variables and Dimensions - Iconic Frameworks Chapters 7-13 Chapters 14-16 Awareness - Mindfulness - Self-Esteem Trust Creation - Etiquette - Intuition - Authenticity Facework - Verbal - Non-verbal - Para-verbal Chapters 5-6 Life Biographies Personal Environment Perceptual Roots Activating Processes Cognitive Processes Activation Emotion Motivation Attitudes Learning Stimulus Sensing Differences Organism Giving Meaning to Differences Response Dealing with Differences observable observable unobservable Figure 1: Themes and Structure of the Book Against this backdrop, the chapters follow a logical order from sensing to giving meaning to and dealing with differences. Remember, however, that this book is about self-exploration and reflection. Like a cookbook, it is not intended to be read from the first to the final page, and when you reach the end, you know how to prepare a meal. You are the expert on your concerns. And, as humanistic thinkers such as Virginia Satir would suggest, you have all the necessary resources for personal growth and self-actualisation within you. Do not let your current assumptions limit your feelings, thinking and behaviour (see Plate, 2021). As you would look for tasty recipes, focus first on those chapters that look most appealing to you. From here, you might 16 Preface <?page no="17"?> want to open further pages and explore more and more aspects of leadership across cultures. With these introductory thoughts, I invite you on a personal learning journey. I hope this book augments your understanding of past, present and future intercultural encounters. Features of This Book In this book, the humanistic-systemic approach is reflected in the way in which the teaching content has been prepared. Exercises encouraging self-reflection, discussion, experiential learning, and project-based approaches are provided throughout. We will likely encounter challenges when working with people of different cultural backgrounds. These cannot be solved with simple recipes but with critical and reflective attitudes towards what is happening around us. In my view, there are three challenges to teaching intercultural leadership. 1. First, nowadays, students are ‘born’ global. The speed and reach with which they communicate with their peers across the world is utterly different from that of previous generations. Globalisation has indeed come a long way. Consequently, many of us consider intercultural communication unnecessary or irrelevant, especially in situations where English is spoken by everyone. But the cultural differences are not going to go away. The starting points with which people engage in a supposedly global culture remain the same. 2. Second, teaching intercultural leadership often heavily relies on a range of cultural frameworks. Sadly, they make otherness look deceptively easy to grasp and suggest a certain simplicity in dealing with these differences. In my teaching experience, this, in turn, inspires a rather careless use of patterns of basic assumptions along which cultural differences can be explained and challenges addressed. 3. Thirdly, while many frameworks do a good job of making us aware of cultural differences, with few exceptions, they pay too little attention to how to go about handling them. Many frameworks were developed without practical application in mind (as evidenced by the now famous quarrel between Hofstede, 1996, and Hampden-Turner & Trompenaars, 1997). Furthermore, the frameworks do not adequately address how cultural environments and individual makeups interact. In light of such lack of complexity, serious questions should be asked regarding their suitability for everyday management. This book tackles these challenges head-on. It shifts the focus to what intercultural contact does to us and, thus, offers a vital role in emotional, cognitive, and linguistic processes for our behaviour in these encounters. Readers will come to understand that intercultural leadership is not merely about categorizing situations based on cultural dimensions but rather acknowledging that it originates from within ourselves. This behavioural perspective opens the door for giving serious thought to our feelings and thinking (which, in turn, affect our behaviour and, by extension, our communication). Features of This Book 17 <?page no="18"?> This invites you to become more aware of yourself and others. By implication, I see in this book a call to self-reflect and try out heartful, mindful and appreciative communication styles. If you like, you can integrate them into your everyday life, inside or outside your home culture, at work or in your private life, and in formal or informal situations. The book seeks to capture the excitement of intercultural leadership. Everyone can cultivate skills that enable them to work within culturally diverse environments. Intercultural competence is malleable. We can grow and stretch it. Of course, the question is where best to start. The book may offer a structured way of inviting self-reflection. Still, you can create your own learning journey by selecting any chapter that seems appealing. You can work through the chapters on your own or as a group, for instance, as part of a course on intercultural management. Many exercises are most compelling when done in tandem with partners. Opening Vignettes: Each chapter starts with a personal short story. This will introduce you to the concepts the book will cover. Critical thinking questions at the end of the opening vignettes invite you to engage with the topic. Think Abouts: Throughout the book, you will find exercises illustrating the concepts covered. I am sure they will make you curious to learn more about the relevant themes and perhaps even the regional culture in which the story is set. Explore: Where do you stand on matters raised in this book? Introspection is crucial for personal development and intercultural growth. Each chapter will offer plenty of opportunities to reflect, explore and apply behavioural insights to your intercultural leadership repertoire. Try Its: To do is better than to know (says the ancient Chinese philosopher Xun Zi). This is why there are many activities interspersed throughout the book. The idea behind the individual and team exercises is to bring the theoretical concepts to life and make them memorable. Applied Communication Models: Language and communication are dear to me. They flow from all the things that go on inside us. The seminal models at the end of each chapter apply very well to intercultural scenarios. Exercises and immersive tasks help you to try out your new skills. End-of-Chapter Summaries: For readers pressed for time, I provide an overview of the main learning points at the end of each chapter. These may inspire you to revisit the main text and prepare you to go forward. Online Resources and Learning and Teaching Materials An extensive range of online resources and learning and teaching materials accompany the textbook. I hope that these help you to make the most out of the topics covered. You can find them here: http: / / www.intercultural-leadership.org 18 Preface <?page no="19"?> Resources for Students Interviews: Real-world insights bring the core themes of this book to life. Hearing about professional experiences is a great way to expand your understanding of leadership challenges. Experts bring real-world insights and practical knowledge to the table. Students can benefit from hearing about experiences, challenges, and successes directly from professionals who have hands-on experience in the field. A collection of interviews will be available with utb.de as separate book. Online Resources for Instructors Supplements: PowerPoint slide decks provide an active and comprehensive overview of each chapter and its content. Feel free to use them to enhance classroom experiences. Instructor Notes for Role-Play Exercises: I believe effective teaching involves more than simply presenting information to students; it requires demonstrating concepts through practical examples. Therefore, this book includes role plays to provide hands-on learning experiences. Features of This Book 19 <?page no="21"?> 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me Opening Vignette Wong Tai Sin Temple, Kowloon, Hongkong Photo by pespiero on istockphoto Managers make rational decisions, do they not? Perhaps they may occasionally follow their intuition, but there is no place for superstition or shamanism in the business world. Terry wanted to believe this before he took up his new position in Hong Kong. After all, the Chinese mega-city is an icon of modernity, rationality, and capitalism. Here, he was responsible for the local HR department of a German-based technology group. However, he soon discovered that beliefs in the supernatural world continue to play an important role in our private and professional lives. When walking the streets of Hong Kong, he discovered that many shop owners use lucky charms in their displays, most notably the famous ‘Maneko.’ Originally from Japan, the golden cat with the Chinese character for luck on its belly and waving one pawn at you is believed to bring good fortune to its owners. But there were also many traditional shops with auspicious symbols that reminded him of bats. When he asked locals, he found out that the Chinese pronunciation of ‘bat’ is similar to that of ‘fortune,’ which explains why shop owners use it as inspiration. <?page no="22"?> Then, he could not help but notice the many fortune tellers who offered spiritual guidance to Hong Kong residents. You can seek advice from tarot cards, temple talismans, palm reading, fortune sticks, bird hopping, the Chinese zodiac and so forth. Hong Kongese from all walks of life, housewives looking for guidance in their private lives, students hoping for good marks, or indeed managers wondering about the fate of their business decisions make use of fortune tellers. It dawned on Terry that Suan Ming, Chinese for fortune telling, remains firmly rooted in society despite the hyper-modern surroundings. It is at its most obvious during Chinese New Year celebrations. Then the city sprawls with the colour red, is noisy with firecrackers and bright fireworks. All these customs have to do with ‘Nian,’ an evil spirit said to terrorise and even kill people. As Nian is afraid of red hues, loud noise and bright light, people better make ample use of these traditions to exorcise such monsters for better luck in the new year. Then there is the craze for auspicious numbers. Vehicle registration plates are on the Lunar New Year auction and can sell for millions of dollars if they carry the right combination of numbers and letters (Mok, 2023). These often involve the numbers ‘8’ (which in sound is similar to ‘fortune making’), ‘9’ (with the Chinese character representing longevity) or ‘2’ (as one is better not alone in this world). Airlines flying in and out of Hong Kong tend to use these numbers as their flight number. By contrast, one better steers clear of the number ‘4’ (which is similar in sound to the word ‘death’). Many buildings in Hong Kong omit the fourth floor. Clearly, superstition is a respected part of Hong Kong’s culture. Terry found out that it would also spawn workplaces. And why wouldn’t it? The future is unknown. And every little thing helps that can give us a little bit of good luck or, at least, divert bad luck. As Hong Kong is so deeply seeped in the belief in fate and magic (and connected with this, symbols to regain control), it was no wonder that his workplace was also full of supernatural signs and rituals. Next to the company entrance was a shrine dedicated to a local tutelar guardian (‘Tudigong’ or ‘God of the Land’) who would protect all employees from evil spirits entering the offices. Many of his colleagues would discreetly wear a lucky charm or even be quite open about superstitious practices (e.g., shying away from auspicious numbers) and temple visits. Before renting the office space, the local partner had advised Terry’s company to seek advice from a Feng Shui master. This ancient practice of ‘wind & water’ is about cosmic energy so people can live in balance with their surroundings. A life in flow with the forces of nature is said to boost fortune and health. Luckily, according to the consultant, the office space design followed the Taoist philosophy of harmonising the five elements (earth, metal, water, wood, and fire). Other companies in Hong Kong also adhere to these principles: The British HSBC bank resided in a skyscraper in Hong Kong’s city centre and, with a clear view of the harbour, was purpose-built for its business and Feng Shui. But when the Bank of China opened its doors in 1990, it ignored ancient art principles, 22 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="23"?> as Feng Shui practice was banned in mainland China. Their new skyscraper was said to kill the cosmic energy (‘qi’) surrounding the HSBC building, potentially affecting its employees and fortunes. Indeed, the banks’ share prices plummeted. Whether this was due to the overall economic downturn or, indeed, evil spirits were anyone’s guess. HSBC, better be safe than sorry, was advised by a Feng Shui consultant to point two cranes (in the shape of cannons) at the Bank of China building to restore balance. Allegedly, Feng Shui did the trick. HSBC’s business performance recovered after following the master’s guidance. Source: Keegan, 2020. Critical Thinking: • Do you consider yourself superstitious? • If there are signs of superstition in your country, what are they? Give examples: Are there, for instance, food or kitchen-related superstitions in your home culture? • Can you find out where these practices come from? • In your country, do these superstitions affect the way you work? How so? • How do religious and business practices intermix in your country? • What would be your thoughts if your local partner would suggest calling in a shaman to look after the prosperity of your business? Without a doubt, globalisation is and continues to be one of the most important phenomena of our times. Thomas Friedman, New York Times journalist and best‐ seller author, notoriously alleged 20 years ago that the world is now flat, blurring centre-periphery relationships between economies and the players within them. Though we must not blow this borderless level-playing field world vision out of proportion, global integration has come a long way: Economic, social, technological, ecological, and cultural shifts abound and, together, have changed almost all aspects of our everyday lives. Economic Shifts: Corporations are operating increasingly on a global scale, creating networks across borders. In line with these activities, global capital knows no boundaries with almost immediate effects on economies around the world. Then and now, the import and export of goods require and create hubs of power and trade. Such ‘favoured terrains of supply and demand’ (Braudel, 1983) orchestrate the international flow of goods and services. The booming Eastern Swiss cotton industry of the 18 th century (and their global networks in Southeast Asia) benefitted, for instance, from having a significant market in its immediate vicinity: Zurich (Horn, 2021). The logic behind international business, of course, is that long-distance trade can provide significant profits (Holden & Horn, 2016). And outperforming strictly domestic counterparts is usually the result of global market expansion. Urban areas, where goods can be easily bought and sold, often drive these expansion efforts. The homogenisation of institutional framework conditions, especially internal markets, 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me 23 <?page no="24"?> further propels trade. The emergence of digital currencies will further ease global activities. The likes of cryptocurrencies are no longer bound by any kind of central bank or indeed geography. One major aspect of said flattening world is the corporate push to go global in terms of trade goods and services and foreign direct investment (FDI). With the cross-border expansion not only of operations per so but also of their ownership, companies signal a lasting interest in foreign countries. The anticipated inflow of wealth, technology, and jobs makes such investments quite attractive to many host countries. Social Shifts: Such ‘financescapes’ (Appadurai, 1990) are crucial but by no means the only driver of a flattening world. There is now a substantial flow of people across national boundaries, fuelled by growing middle classes, higher travel connectivity and freer trade. Country-to-country moves can occur out of necessity (search for economic and educational gains), leisure (search for experiences and broadening horizons), or private reasons (following loved ones): Today, more people worldwide live outside their birth countries than ever before. According to UN estimates, as of 2020, about 281 million people live in countries other than their home country. This amounts to three times the migration volume of 50 years ago. Tourism, too, is part of this social shift, which brings people from different parts of the world and their way of doing things into contact. Travel has increased sharply in recent decades. A World Tourism statistic suggests an increase by a factor of 60 from the 1950s to today. Naturally, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted global travel, but according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), overall traveller numbers will rebound to reach 4 billion in 2024. While we, historically, tend to think of tourism as a prerogative of people from Western countries, more recently, China has advanced to become the world’s largest outbound travel market. Higher-income levels and access to online travel information - China is now home to the world’s largest online travel portal: Fliggy, a member of the Chinese Alibaba Group - stir the desire to explore places across the globe. For many, global travel is not only a matter of experiencing other cultures but also important for work purposes. Attending trade fairs and meetings or initiating business contacts, for instance, are among the regular activities of employees of corporations, small and large, that increasingly work across boundaries. A serious chunk of global travel is related to work and business trips. Pre-pandemic business tourism spending peaked in 2019, for the time being, with 1,29 trillion US dollars. In a nutshell, living and working in monocultural environments is an exception to the rule for many. Technological Shifts: Theory predicts foreign trade arises because countries are at different technical developmental stages. However, such time lags and comparative advantages that arise from them melt away in many industries. Today, technology develops at a rapid speed, and it does so without knowing any kind of boundaries. Companies try to enter as many markets as quickly as possible to make fast and full use of their innovative capabilities. Often, products are now made available (almost) simultaneously worldwide. For sure, some industries and technologies are more global 24 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="25"?> than others, but there are many examples showcasing how goods and services often increase cultural interaction. Technology itself turns into a driver of global integration. Smartphone line-ups, for instance, reflect similar needs, wants, and tastes no matter where their users live. They are, thus, offered simultaneously across boundaries. Technology connects people, too. The success of apps such as TikTok (video sharing) or Facebook (social media platform) provides ample evidence of a genuine global consumer culture in the sense that people from different countries mix with one another and create and share meaning. Ecological Shifts: Then there are sustainability considerations, which matter to all of us regardless of where we live. What we do to our environment cannot and has never been bound to a specific geographical spot. However, the insight of interconnectedness has changed in recent years. Whatever we do (or do not do) over here might have a disastrous effect in other parts of the world. Droughts or rising water levels already risk the livelihoods of millions of people, with profound impacts on migration movements. Arguably, globalisation has a direct and measurable impact on environmental spheres. Although companies internationalising might raise the living standards of many regions of the world, it might very well lead to a ‘race to the bottom’ in other respects. In the pursuit of competitive advantages, companies and countries put pressure on working conditions or even environmental care (Meyer & Horn, 2015). Deforestation, pollution, or deprivation are just a few examples of how global corporate expansion results in environmental damage. Amid growing concerns for lowered ecological quality, there is now a call to arms at the supra-national (e.g., UN Sustainable Development Goals, SDG) and regional level (e.g., EU climate policy) to tackle climate change and reduce social inequality. Governments and companies have to mitigate the excesses of globalisation. The only way to achieve this is to commit to global partnership and align efforts across all developed and developing nations. Cultural Shifts: Finally, there are increasingly global media flows. More than ever, we are consuming largely the same kind of images, narratives, movies and so forth. This, in itself, is not new. For many decades, people across the world have enjoyed Hollywood blockbuster movies that capture and multiply, in one form or another, the American way of life. However, new dissemination channels make exposure to these portraits more frequent and perhaps more typical. Companies such as Netflix, Disney, Sky, and Apple TV, to name just a few global media empires, reach our homes regardless of where we live and offer their services in a similar way. VPNs allow unfiltered access to media content across the world. A further sign of change is shifts in the direction of media flows. The popularity of Korean and German drama series (‘Squid Game’ or ‘Pagan Peak’) might usher in alternative ways of thinking about the American way of life, spearheading global cultural flows. Their departure from experiences with how American pop culture does things offers new cultural meaning and semiotic space. Not only that but how we consume media is also changing. The way we produce information is changing, too. Not least because we increasingly augment our reality with a virtual one. Social media, video conferencing, and so forth ease communication 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me 25 <?page no="26"?> between people living in different parts of the world. In other words, our media world is shrinking literally at our fingertips. Namely, how we think about the world is changing substantially through the increasingly global reach of media and the information flows that come with them. Of course, globalisation is, as the then German president Rau pointed out in 2002, ‘not a natural phenomenon.’ It is man-made. Therefore, people can also shape these global forces and steer them in a direction that suits them. What path we take is determined by two opposing forces. One takes care of our need for safety, familiarity, and shelter; the other offers growth, learning and autonomy. One force ties us to cherished practices; the other loosens this frame of reference of how we should do things. Indeed, few of us are born polyglots. Globalisation does not turn all of us auto‐ matically into footloose cosmopolitans. ‘Home,’ and connected to this, feelings of groundedness and shelter, have mattered and will always matter significantly to many of us. We are primarily concerned with what happens in our closest surroundings. We form friendships mostly where we live. Especially in times of shock and upheaval, the familiar gains in importance. The Brexit referendum or the catchy Make America Great Again (MAGA) campaign slogan attest to people’s suspicions of pervasive globalised forces. More recent developments, most notably the return to nation-based and fragmented responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, beg the question of just how global we truly are. But perhaps the biggest evidence of a global world at a tipping point, in which states border up against a free flow of people, technologies, media, or finances, is Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. As a result, not few would argue that the glorious years of hyper-globalisation are over. As geography matters again, we might enter a new era of deglobalisation. The main argument of this is that an interconnected world economy is rapidly falling apart into four individual blocs: the ‘West’ (with the US as a resurgent economic and cultural pacesetter), the ‘East’ (an area of influence dominated by China) plus an increasingly emancipating Indian sub-continent and a self-isolating Russia-led sphere. The Ukrainian invasion is a turning point in many respects, but precisely because of this, preparing for effective communication across borders has never been more critical. So, where do we go from here? The world may not be so flat, after all. Given recent events, it might get hillier again. At the very least, it is uneven, if not crooked. Some people may think globalisation is good. Some think that it is terrible. But the genie is certainly out of the bottle, and globalisation continues to have a massive impact on the corporate world. It is unlikely that we can turn back time, as the lion’s share of companies have and will have valid reasons to go international. Technology has also unleashed powerful globalised forces that are here to stay. And the appeal of easy access to media content from around the world is unlikely to go away. The bottom line of all this is that very few of us will live in an entirely local world. New communication technologies and streaming apps (such as Zoom or Teams) easily transcend time and space. They allow timeand borderless interaction with people from distant regions, even at high quality and comfort. And if need be, we can still physically reach any part 26 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="27"?> of the world within 24 hours. In short, we are in touch with people and places we have never been in contact with. Nevertheless, recent shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in the middle of Europe have caused people to re-examine the generally accepted idea of a flattening world. We have to ask how corporations and the people within them can become more resilient to the magnitude of the challenges that have come with the across-the-board movement of goods, services, people etc. Tensions from how we relate to otherness will not go away. Especially in the world of work, everybody must ask themselves (Friedman, 2006), where do we fit into a world of global competition and opportunities? And how can we collaborate and perhaps compete with others globally? Some people adjust well when exposed to different cultures, while others experience irritation. Diversity of experience, perspective, and insight remain critical to these daring challenges. It seems more than timely to put centre stage the idea that the cultivation of soft skills, especially etiquette, intuition, and authenticity (see Chapter 16), helps to navigate encounters, intercultural or otherwise, and ‘get work done.’ 1.1 Turning Global Integration into Intercultural Contact As more and more companies enter overseas markets, the flow of goods, capital, and production across international borders surges. From this arises the need to consider task division and integration: what responsibilities can be shared (specialisation) and what needs coordination (integration of activities). As organisations continue to internationalise, we interact more with people from other cultures (Wagner, 2023). With global integration fundamentally transforming the world of work, at least five different but overlapping paths lead to higher chances of us getting in touch with other people around the globe (Figure 2). Work in Virtual S pa ce Video conferencing as alternative to face-to-face meetings; Virtual workspaces as future of business Work in Multicultural Teams Organic and flexible organisations of work that meet dynamic and complex environments Work in a Foreign Firm Inward foreign direct investment sky-rocketing with multiplier effects for job creation Work Abro ad International assignments, job market saturation, residency opportunities, free movement, love etc. Trade ties, overseas operations & ‘connectedness' of businesses, markets, people and information Work on an International Project Figure 2: Why Are Intercultural Leadership Skills Important for You? 1.1 Turning Global Integration into Intercultural Contact 27 <?page no="28"?> Work Abroad: You might find yourself working abroad for some time. Working for an internationally operating company means more international exposure. International roles might be short-term (e.g., in the form of project management) or mediumto long-term (e.g., taking on an expatriate position as part of a secondment to a company branch outside your home country). Perhaps your job market at home is saturated, and you find yourself looking for job opportunities in other parts of the world. Here, you might benefit from legal arrangements of common markets. For instance, citizens of EU membership states can move freely within the European Union and work and reside wherever they see fit. Then, it is not uncommon that we want to be with our partner from abroad. That is, we might have fallen in love with somebody from another part of the world. This inspires us to make our partner’s country our new home. As a result of that, we look for job opportunities in our new country of residence. Work in Multicultural Teams: The idea that tasks can best be accomplished in monocultural environments is undoubtedly a thing of the past. Today, companies have to organise work in much more flexible and dynamic ways than ever before. Why? Because complex tasks and environments demand new problem-solving skills. And one way of dealing with these new challenges is multicultural teams. This, quite automatically, makes your work more multilingual. At the very minimum, you would be pushed to use a bridge language (most commonly English). This means that we have to make do with instant translations so that we can make sense of what is said and respond appropriately. In spite of such challenges, multicultural teams have quickly become the workhorse of international business activities. Bringing talents from all parts of the world together means using a greater variety of skill sets, viewpoints or working styles. Next to productivity, performance and creativity gains, such pooling of talents brings about more sensitivity and responsiveness to cultural differences (Cox, 1991; Thomas & Ely, 1996). In domains such as marketing and HR, these are frequently overlooked, especially when there is only input from one culture, one language, and one way of doing things. Clearly, the reasons for forming multicultural teams go beyond beliefs of superior performance. Immigration inevitably results in a society becoming culturally more diverse. Germany, for instance, has, not least because of its geographic location as the centre of the European continent, a long history of labour migration. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, as of 2020, one in ten people in Germany did not have German citizenship. German society is, of course, even more multicultural and multilingual if one counts all those people who have been naturalised or are offspring of earlier waves of so-called ‘Gastarbeiter’ generations, i.e. people who have come to Germany as part of a formal guest worker program of the 1960s to the 1970s. These bior multicultural individuals (e.g., Turkish-German, Italian German) bring complex skills to the table in their response to workplace issues. The political relevance of much-needed invitation schemes for skilled workers from abroad unfolds with firms in specific regions and sectors trying to fill vacancies. Increasingly, they rely on head-hunters who search and recruit staff internationally. In the same vein, the Australian government has upped its efforts to attract highly 28 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="29"?> qualified professionals to work and live in Australia. The Global Talent Visa scheme streamlines the application process and targets individuals who bring innovation to high-priority industries. In short, with work teams becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse, globalisation now occurs at home. Work on an International Project: What organisations do is filled with global challenges. Manufacturing processes are rarely a local effort. Managing the sourcing, assembling, and distribution of products across borders has become crucial for the livelihood of many firms. International trade comes with cross-border logistic, regula‐ tory and payment issues. Decision-making, too, involves international considerations. Executives often need to take a broad view of markets, near and far, and how developments over there might affect one’s activities here. Internationality poses additional challenges for organisations. Structures and responsibilities must reflect structure and processes: ‘What has to be done? ’ ‘Where should it be done? ’ and ‘Who should be best doing it? ’ Support functions such as human resource management or accounting are now on an international scale, too. Staff recruiting, selection, and training are crucial elements in HRM. A global perspective is absolutely vital to creating an open-minded business culture. The effective management of a business depends, to a large extent, on how financial reports are structured. Data are usually stored in different formats when operating in multiple countries. This requires internationally operating firms to make sense of local peculiarities and prepare data in a structured approach. It is evident that the scope of management has become rather complex. Working for a Foreign Firm: You might find yourself working for a foreign firm. We know that inward direct investment has skyrocketed. More and more companies are arriving at our home shores from other parts of the world. Take, for instance, the Rhineland, a German region embracing the land on the banks of the river Rhine. In 2019, more than 15.000 sizeable foreign companies were commercially registered in this region (plus another 45.000 small businesses and start-ups). This accounts for about 11 % of all companies in the Rhineland area (IHK, 2019). So foreign companies are a vital part of local business communities. As one would expect (and the Uppsala Model of Internationalisation suggests), many of those firms come either from nearby (the Netherlands, Belgium, France) or are culturally and emotionally close (UK, USA). But investors from other parts of the world, especially Asia, are discovering the Rhineland region, too. The scale and scope of investment from China and Japan (the world’s second and fourth-largest economies in terms of GDP) is enormous. In 2020, there were 88 Chinese investment projects, expanding the already strong position of China in the region with more than 1.500 registered firms in China. Only Dutch firms have a more substantial presence. Such prominence is, obviously, quite in line with China’s rise to economic power. Investments from Japanese companies in North Rhine-Westphalia, especially Duesseldorf (nickname: Little Tokyo on the River Rhine), have been traditionally substantial. Around half of all Japanese investments in Germany are in North Rhine-Westphalia. As of 2019, about 450 firms from Japan are commercially registered here. Clearly, foreign firms are an important job engine 1.1 Turning Global Integration into Intercultural Contact 29 <?page no="30"?> for people living in the Rhineland region. According to NRW-Invest (the investment promotion agency of North-Rhine Westphalia), large-scale investment projects make firms from China and Japan top employers (only US firms will create more jobs in 2021). All this makes it not unlikely that you find yourself working for a foreign firm. Suppose international business relationships are a prime channel through which we come in contact with other cultures. In that case, we have to deal with the many nuances of how such foreign companies really work even without travelling abroad. Often, there is a gap between our work intuition and experience and different ways of doing things. Explore: Working for a Chinese Firm The Chinese technology giant Xiaomi entered Germany in 2019. Soon after, it turned its Duesseldorf-based sales office into its German headquarters. Since then, Xiaomi has risen to become the third most important smartphone brand in Germany in just one year. Further expansion at the North Rhine-Westphalia site is planned. As part of this expansion, Xiaomi will create several hundred jobs. Consider the following questions: • What would a letter of motivation look like when applying for a job with a Chinese company like Xiaomi in Germany? • What sort of challenges would you expect when working for Xiaomi, Duesseldorf ? • What kind of day-to-day management adjustments might be required from German and Chinese staff ? Now read ‘A guide for foreign workers at Chinese firms’ (https: / / www.economist.co m/ business/ 2020/ 06/ 04/ a-guide-for-foreign-workers-at-chinese-firms) • Compare your expectations and assumptions with Paul’s experiences when working for a Chinese multinational. Virtual Space: Finally, there is virtual space. Not least since the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have had to rethink physical work arrangements. It pushed remote work and virtual meetings even in countries like Japan, where business cultures revolve around face-to-face interaction. Under these circumstances, establishing and maintaining international links was particularly challenging. Firms had to be creative and pragmatic in connecting people inside and outside their organisations. To succeed in the pandemic economy, visits to international trade fares, negotiations business opportunities, and cross-border quality management processes, to name just a few examples, needed rethinking. Although some work aspects continue to be done best in person, shifts to more flexible and virtual workspaces are here to stay. Today, millions of interactions across cultures occur via conferencing applications, virtually linking firms with various stakeholders. This speed, scale and reach of business communication is staggering. 30 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="31"?> The emergence of this real-time, face-to-face interaction has introduced new ease into international business exchanges. Costs and time issues drop dramatically, and as we have all gotten used to these platforms, there are new possibilities of forging relationships, organisational learning or creating knowledge. Doing business with strangers also has its pitfalls. As we operate in multilingual realities, we move constantly back and forth between monocultural and multicultural realities. When launching the videoconference, there is no chance of easing ourselves physically or psychologically into these encounters as one could do when travelling to another place. Consequently, we will likely feel less up for it. This means we suddenly engage in instant cultural and linguistic translation without personal touch and contact. We must make sense of other people, understand the context, and interpret motives by merely looking at a tile with their faces and a bit of blurred or virtual background. We must think on our feet as we struggle to bond and establish a collaborative atmosphere. Virtual icebreaking is far trickier than initiating business communication face-to-face. Impressions (and decisions) are, thus, in danger of being influenced by this or even flawed. 1.2 Conceptual Consideration (1): Sense-Making in Intercultural Encounters Complexity indeed rises with the growth in scale and scope of companies’ international activities. Management needs answers to questions of the why, where, and how to go global. However, as the old adage ‘a company is nothing without its people’ goes, there is also a strong human side to cross-border business. Above all, it brings people with different cultural backgrounds into contact within and between firms and between firms and society. This, in turn, can create (unexpected) challenges. Sure, managers generally know about cultural differences, not least because introductory courses in intercultural management are now part of many business school curricula. Experience and training, or merely common sense, encourages them to be ‘culturally aware’ (or ‘culturally sensitive’). Recognising that we all have diverse cultural backgrounds is simply good manners. And ‘being tolerant’ about different ways of doing things is widely regarded as the ‘proper’ way to behave in business and private life. Few would dispute that valuing others and respecting their ways of doing things is a healthy part of interpersonal relationships. Many engaged in culturally distant markets anticipate that working in novel environments is not always plain sailing. They know that norms of dialogue can differ greatly across cultures. They know that, eventually, they may suffer from so-called culture shock. That is, they feel unwell, inept, or disorientated because of being unfamiliar with ways of life in their country of temporary residence. But despite all this experience, training, and commitment to diversity, International Business scholarship suggests that managers are generally not very skilled in anticipating the nature of these impacts (Holden & Michailova, 2014). Disruptions or even breakdowns of communication because of discrepant readings of a 1.2 Conceptual Consideration (1): Sense-Making in Intercultural Encounters 31 <?page no="32"?> situation often frustrate intercultural encounters, deflect time and attention, and result in disproportionately costly ventures. In short, dealing with others whose culture is different is tricky, and managers often fail to reach rewarding results. Very often, people overlook the essence of intercultural encounters. There are many ways in which things can go wrong, but in my experience, most challenges have to do with differences in how we relate to ourselves and others. Essentially, we can divide these fields of tension into three large areas: First, we sense differences, and this otherness does something to us. What we make of our environment shapes how we feel (and behave). Experiencing others can be both positive (you feel excited and intrigued) and negative (you feel awkward and tepid) feelings. Second, as we give meaning to differences, such experiences (if activating enough) trigger certain emotions, motivations, or attitudes. Many of these sensations take place without intervening cognitions. Third, these, in turn, make us deal with differences. Here, culturally induced assumptions creep into encounters with people from other backgrounds. Language is the main medium through which these complex inner processes surface. As we often communicate in English, this creates situations lacking the safety net of our mother tongue. Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG What kind of (communicative) behaviour do we show? How do cultural differences affect us? Do we experience subtle or even blatant ‘culture bumps’? Stimulus (S): Sensing Differences Organism (O): Giving Meaning to Differences Response (R): Adjusting to Differences Figure 3: The Three Interlocking Zones of Leadership Across Cultures Therefore, intercultural encounters can be more complex and challenging than we, at first blush, might think. When establishing deep contact, we will likely encounter surprises and question how to absorb disruptions. To explain responses to these perceived areas of differentness, we must look at various mental processes. Such processes might be unobservable but have a direct impact on our behaviour, potentially 32 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="33"?> changing it. As a result, our response to differentness, the behavioural outcome, is a function of what is happening outside and inside us. Later in this book, we will get to know these aspects as Stimulus (S), Organism (O), and Response (R). A large number of intercultural challenges are fiddly to isolate, and typical dilemmas surface in all three S-O-R-areas: (i) making contact (how does one get in touch with oneself and others? ); (ii) giving meaning to, at times, confusing experiences of differentness (including our efforts to regulate our emotions and cognitions in the face of such ‘culture bumps’? ) and (iii) adjusting to disruptions (how do we display our emotions, beliefs, and attitudes, especially through communication patterns? ). These three areas interact and mirror what happens when we find ourselves in intercultural situations or are with people of different cultural backgrounds. Figure 3 describes the connection between stimuli (internal and external aspects) that will affect us (our cognitions and emotions) and will result in some form of response (our behaviour, usually in the way we communicate). These three factors explain the ups and downs of leadership across cultures and provide structure to the book you hold in your hands. Conveniently, we tend to zoom into cultural differences (usually conceived and measured at an aggregate, national level) as the root cause for conflict in business situations. Differences in coveted cultural values are made scapegoats for breakdowns in communication and barriers to building connections and motivating people. But in my experience, contact does not develop or break down simply because of more or less open differences in attitude or behaviours. Things are far more complicated and subtle than overt differences in things such as timekeeping (some cultures are said to value punctuality while others are not) or emotionality (some cultures are said to be okay with displaying emotions while others are not). When working with people from other cultures, we usually know or at least anticipate that culture could impact how business is done. Because of this, we are encouraged to be ‘culturally aware’ (or ‘culturally sensitive’). We learn to anticipate intercultural issues at play once we are unsure why things get awkward. What we tend to forget, however, is that mental processes, especially emotions and cognition, frame any of these assumptions and experiences. Such intrapsychic processes and how they come to light in communication, whether verbal or non-verbal, conscious or unconscious, significantly impact engagement across cultures. These internal ‘stories’ provide part of the context in which interpersonal exchanges occur. So, instead of focusing on the liabilities that come with ‘otherness,’ the real question of intercultural leadership is, in my eyes, are we aware of differences, and if so, what do these differences do to us, and how do we deal with these differences? This book follows Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein (2019) in that it divides the unobservable aspects of intercultural leadership into (activating) processes associated with inner excitement and tension and (cognitive) functions related to information processing. Obviously, affective states are not in conflict with reason. When engaging with people of different backgrounds, we rarely are our unfiltered selves. There will always be trade-offs between emotional sensations and cognitive considerations that 1.2 Conceptual Consideration (1): Sense-Making in Intercultural Encounters 33 <?page no="34"?> guide reasoning and sense-making. Both components are hard to separate, but together, they support flexible, adaptive responses and complex goal-directed thought. 1.3 Conceptual Considerations (2): Communication in Intercultural Encounters Without communication, organisations are nothing. This is why ‘social skills, strong communication skills and flexibility, as well as motivation and initiative, are decisive factors,’ say Cavadini and Lierow of Oliver Wyman (2023). One of the effects of this is that poor communication skills can make us look stupider, less likeable, and less professional than we are. After all, communication is behaviour, and behaviour is communication (Watzlawick, Beavin, & Jackson, 1996). This is especially true when we move outside our cultural and linguistic home. By implication, we permanently need to cultivate how we talk and walk at work. Working across cultures brings us together with people from all walks of life. Here, we need to build relationships with others, listen to others and present our ideas in a way that they can pick these up, and all this in an increasingly multilingual and intercultural environment. We must always be aware that ‘good contact’ involves rather complex processes surrounding fundamental dilemmas, making and staying in contact, and honing our communication skills in dealing with disruptions. As we process and adjust to cultural differences, incongruent behaviour (your mind thinks one thing, but your body says something else) limits our ability to build relationships (see Satir, 1976). While we might want to mask how we experience an intercultural encounter, there is often little we can do about revealing our emotions, motivations, and attitudes to other people. Good or bad, people intuitively sense something is incongruent. Incongruence, e.g., in the form of contradictory messages, can scupper intercultural dialogue. While the three interlocking zones of intercultural encounters give us a roadmap to the potential riches of intercultural learning, their practical application to commu‐ nication is the second concern of this book. Like a river that flows into the sea, communication results from our life experiences and all the affective and cognitive sense-making processes. This makes communication the most obvious facet of inter‐ action with people of different backgrounds and the most crucial bond between us and them. We exchange information, we appeal to others, we share our feelings. And we do so through language and all the signals we express non-verbally. Clearly, what we say and how we act can make or break intercultural relationships. Arguably, good communication skills make intercultural leadership real and tangible. For all these reasons, I have made explorations of communication part of the learning journey of this book. They bring the humanistic pledge of this book to life: Each chapter creates space for self-reflection about listening to others, asking yourself what you want, and inviting dialogue. Successful intercultural communication is about rapport (mutual, empathic understanding) and moves through three different contact phases: We make 34 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="35"?> contact. We stay in contact. We deepen contact. Each of these phases varies in intensity and fragility, but, together, they contribute to healthy bonds (Figure 4). Building Trust Making Contact Building Common Ground Staying in Contact Building Meaning Deepening Contact Figure 4: Contact Phases Making Contact: Every culture has developed basic assumptions surrounding strang‐ ers and how to deal with otherness. There is always a trade-off between what we want (self-orientation) and our trust in others. The extent to which we align our interests with people we do not know is linked to fundamental ways we think of human nature, both in terms of our moral compass and that of others. Maintaining a positive, honest view of ourselves competes with self-serving concerns (related to survival if we think of our ancient ancestors). Next to our egotistic biases, social interaction is also about whether we should show goodwill to others (or not). Theoretically (and thinking in extremes), we either see in others those who are fun and safe to be with or those who are nasty, and we better stay away from them. Such attributions, ‘us’ and ‘them,’ are basically good or basically evil and can have a major impact on our behaviour. Crucially, concepts of self and other people differ significantly across cultures. According to a now seminal study about social norms and dishonesty (Cohn, Maréchal, Tannenbaum, & Zünd, 2019), the odds of lost money being returned were about three times lower in China than in Switzerland. Even accounting for variations in economic development, in China, people in this study valued, on average, their own gains over concerns for others. By contrast, honest behaviour in the form of returning the money to its rightful owner is more common in Switzerland. Although such findings must be interpreted with great care, it seems feasible to assume members from countries that do not ward off dishonest behaviour, such as China, Morocco, or Peru, may also be accustomed to expecting more selfish behaviour from unknown others. Meanwhile, those from countries in which honesty pays off, such as Switzerland, Norway, or the Netherlands, may rather avoid opportunistic behaviour. In other words, social norms surrounding caring for others and caring about one’s self-image and their interplay affect expectations about behaviour. Such contexts may affect how we see and approach others: Plausibly, when we feel that those around us are okay (and fundamentally honest), people unknown to us can be expected to be good, creative, and productive. Trust building is tough at the best of times, but especially when trying to network with people from other backgrounds. One key insight from my twenty years of consulting experience in Europe and Asia is that assumptions around human nature greatly influence our behaviour. We watch for subtle cues that frame strangers as 1.3 Conceptual Considerations (2): Communication in Intercultural Encounters 35 <?page no="36"?> ‘friends’ or ‘foes.’ Consequently, we show curiosity, empathy, and openness. Or we might hesitate to let others get close to us. The dynamics of intercultural relationships that flow from such fundamental differences in assessing strangers can be serious. Making contact might be based on the attitude ‘You are okay’ and, thus, appreciative (see Berne, 1964). Socio-emotional opportunities will, however, look different if we think of other people as being ‘not okay.’ We might, then, distance ourselves from the situation and be perhaps less inclined to maintain open communication with people (e.g., voicing opinions and ideas and showing interest in what others have to say). Crucially, whatever our basic assumption, both in terms of what we say and, perhaps to a much larger extent, how we act (facial expressions, body language, etc.) will set the relationship in motion. Think About: A Loser’s Paradise Japan is famous for its courteous conduct towards one another. That one can leave a suitcase unattended in the middle of Shinjuku, one of the world’s busiest train stations, might be an urban myth, but the Lost and Found department of Japan Rail, Tokyo, is stunningly efficient. Watch the documentary ‘A Guide for How Tokyo’s Massive Lost & Found Works’ https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=2xlUDUtftGw Discuss in small groups: • What makes the Japanese Lost and Found system so efficient? • High-value items and relatively large amounts of cash are returned. What if you were to find a wallet containing rather large amounts of money? What would you do with it? • Even inexpensive items such as umbrellas are regularly returned (but not picked up by their owners). What does this tell you about the care for people you do not know in Japan? • How would you describe the culture of returning lost items in your country? In Japan, losing something, for instance, your luggage takes effort. Even in prominent and busy train stations, commuters are very observant. They would pick up and carry a suitcase to you (or at least point out where you have lost it) so that you do not suffer from the discomfort of losing your luggage. Social media are the newest platform for care and fairness. Locals use a map, describe what they have found (here, a wallet), and post it online with the request to share it amongst their friends. • Would this be possible in your country? 36 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="37"?> Staying in Contact: We all react to disruptions that flow from differentness. The nature of relationships across cultures unfolds, of course, with the mutual sense-making of us, others, and the situation. We are likely to interpret our behaviour in the context of the other’s behaviour. There is always a ping-pong of actions and reactions, whereby what another person says or does is taken as the root cause for one’s own behaviour, and so forth. I have observed, over and over again, that this process all too easily results in a communication breakdown because of culturally induced misinterpretations. Once we are outside our comfort zone, many things do not make sense to us, and the question is how do we deal with such disruptions so that we can stay in contact and not destroy a growing relationship? Intercultural or otherwise, principles of relationships are marked by mutual attentiveness, rhythm of verbal or nonverbal behaviour, and a sense of common ground. Such ‘good contact’ is about alertness, interest in and curiosity about the perspectives of others. It is the ‘joy’ of letting go of one’s own convictions to develop something together with others. Only then, so the ideal, can we achieve common goals. However, people from different parts of the world vary in how they establish common ground, getting more or less on the same wavelength. For instance, non-verbal behaviour (posture, gestures, intonation, etc.) gives away our attentional focus and mental state. Then, there are culturally induced preferences for body language and voice modulation (amongst many other aspects of non-verbal and paraverbal behav‐ iour). What contact is usually seen as good and trustworthy in one culture might be inopportune in another. When, for example, people from Northern Europe look directly into your eyes, they signal openness, interest, and sincerity. By contrast, people from an East Asian culture are usually somewhat irritated by direct eye contact. Such a person, making direct and prolonged eye contact, would come across as being angry, and this frames the situation for many East Asians as unpleasant. Voice modulation, too, can set the tone for intercultural engagement. While there are commonalities in the perception of low (e.g., dominance, self-confidence) and high (e.g., submissiveness, pro-sociality) pitched voices, cultures can use melody to create a particular atmosphere. In Mexico, for example, people use softer voices to express warmth and courtesy, whereas in Germany, you would like to speak with a deep and full voice to convey stoicism and competence. The challenge, of course, is that a differing use of intonation does not travel well across cultures. Although we are usually quite good at guessing emotional states from intonation within our own culture (including focus but also sarcasm, irony, etc.), we often lack this ability when speaking foreign languages. On top of this, interactions flow from the different perceptions of how languages sound to others: Mandarin often seems shrill and harsh to an ear used to English, whereas French is often described as elegant and beautiful. Accordingly, people might unconsciously attribute certain qualities to a speaker based on the voice melody, constraining or facilitating appreciative contact. Sadly, we are all too easily locked into negative communication patterns (e.g., blaming, distancing) at the very moment when we cannot make sense of different 1.3 Conceptual Considerations (2): Communication in Intercultural Encounters 37 <?page no="38"?> verbal and non-verbal ways of communication (especially when the two do not match our expectations). We may even feel obliged to defend our cherished practices. We do so because many of us have not learned to respect that others may have a different opinion than us (Birkenbihl, 2016). Consequently, we are often not good at seeing situations through another person’s eyes. Maintaining contact is about being ‘in sync’ with each other and letting go of established thought patterns. Building bridges means adapting our behaviour to the other person’s behaviour so that they feel understood and respected as human beings. Try It: Listen, Listen, Listen! Form groups of two. Person A and Person B sit on chairs and face each other. A must talk about something dear to them for 3 to 4 minutes. B says nothing at all and must not interrupt the talk. Instead, B should try to see and feel the world from A’s point of view. Once the talk is over, B summarises what A said. A then provides feedback on the extent to which the content is fully understood. Consider the following questions: - How did A feel when B listened and engaged in the talk? - Did A feel that B paid full attention? How so? - How did B feel about just listening? Were you tempted to interrupt? Deepening Contact: Relationships at eye level are essential to deepening work relationships across cultures. We tend to package how we see ourselves and what we expect from others in how we speak. Relationships are realised through language, especially English, in today’s time and age. Ultimately, as more and more companies go or are global, the business person today unconsciously operates among ‘multilingual realities,’ which they must align in order to make sense of contexts and ‘to say the right thing’ (Holden, 2015a). This means that every non-native English business person - face-to-face as well as online - alternates between at least two language varieties. We are, in essence, constantly engaging in acts of translation (Holden & Michailova, 2014). Moreover, one of the many challenges of working with people of different back‐ grounds is to create a conducive atmosphere in a language that is not our mother tongue. This makes English not just ‘the language of business,’ facilitating general intercultural communication. It is the paramount language of forging common ground, relationship building and multicultural learning (Holden & Horn, Language and the development of trade networks in early modern Europe: modern reflexes, unexpected consequences , 2016). ‘Business English’ requires more than technical mastery, such as grammatical correctness, vocabulary knowledge, comprehension competence etc. Clearly, language demands in the world of business are much higher and not all of us simply function in English-dominated work environments all the time. To put this into context and state the obvious: Even in our mother tongue, inspiring mutual trust, 38 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="39"?> support, and commitment is difficult at the best of times. It does not take much to upset effective communication. Operating in a foreign language makes us less reliable in ‘reading the air’ (or between the lines) and knowing intuitively what to say and how to respond in specific situations. We usually miss out on a great deal of elegance and mastery available to us in our mother tongue that helps us to gel with others. While many of us speak English reasonably well, we do not necessarily have the sociolinguistic sharpness to get all the nuances of what is said and correctly interpret what is going on around us. Nor can we easily finesse relationships through playing with language, signalling appreciation, smoothing conflict and so forth. This lack of sociolinguistic agency, i.e. the capacity to act and exert control in an English-dominated work environment, makes deepening contact difficult. Ideally, we should listen to others in such a way that they love talking to us and speak in such a way that others love listening to us (see Bohm, 1996). But all too often, especially when using a language other than our mother tongue (i.e. English), we do not air signals of an authentic and lively dialogue. Spontaneous translations often stand in the way of reaching a common understanding. Second language use can be tiresome, and this, in spite of well-intended efforts, hampers our active listening. Worries about looking awkward or less competent probably handicap vivid exchanges, too. As we become unhooked from our mother tongue, we easily misread what is being said or fail to hit the right tone. As we lose our intuitive and emotional use of autobiographical language, English emerges as a prism that distorts dialogue and, at times, can create misunderstandings that have the potential to grow into bigger disagreements. We see the world through our mother tongue, even if we switch to a foreign language. That is, we will likely carry over our views and experiences to how we use foreign languages. This may make things really messy: We may think we now share a common frame of reference because of using a common language. But possible differences in how we see the world (as resembled in our mother tongue) will not go away. Bridge languages such as English promise easy interpersonal exchanges even if we do not share a common language. They might do a good job when it comes to exchanging information, perhaps even coordinating actions. But when it comes to promoting deepening contact, based on a climate of trust and common ground, English (as the corporate workhorse) can hold many surprises. Here, typical challenges occur not so much in grammar, vocabulary, or word order (syntax) but in the emotional facets (semantics) and social context of communication (pragmatics) (De Vecchi, 2012). 1.3 Conceptual Considerations (2): Communication in Intercultural Encounters 39 <?page no="40"?> To subject Vietnamese English meaning Random people Tôi I Friends (same age) Tớ / mình I Close friends (same age) Tao I Older friends Em I Younger friends Anh (for male) / chị (for female) I Parents Con I Teachers Con / em I Aunts and uncles Cháu I Random aunts and uncles Cháu I Grandparents Cháu I Table 1: Vietnamese Expressions of ‘I’ as Signifiers of Relationships For example, norms of social hierarchy differ greatly across cultures. Some cultures may be accustomed to bridging relationships between people with varying powers. In Danish business environments, people are used to speaking up, voicing their opinions openly and calling others, line managers or not, by their first names. By contrast, in many Asian cultures, the importance of having and keeping hierarchical distance is embedded into languages. Vietnam, for instance, is a country with strong Confucian roots. An old Vietnamese proverb, ‘to be without leaders, to obey no one, is unworthy of man,’ mirrors a culture highly sensitive to power distance. Indeed, the Vietnamese language knows many different ways of expressing hierarchies. For instance, the use of ‘I’ depends on the situation, gender, age, region, and so forth and is not interchangeable (see Table 1). Personal names are usually accompanied by some honorific title when addressing one another. Unsurprisingly, in Vietnam, one’s willingness to voice opinions or ideas depends on how one sees oneself in relation to others. Confucian values will, naturally, get lost when using English. Both Danish and Vietnamese individuals might use the word ‘I,’ but such similarities in the use of pronouns hide very different (even opposite) values. Each of them will continue to experience the other through their respective mother tongue, even if they use the same words in English. They may use the same words but attach very different experiences and emotions to them. Consequently, they do not mean the same thing (because of imperfect translations). Foreign language use can, under these circumstances, turn into intercultural hazards. Instead of levelling things out and converging towards commonality, intercultural dialogue in English makes for many surprises and unexpected consequences. These not-so-obvious language challenges certainly can lead to oversimplified and erroneous assumptions of deep understanding (in English). 40 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="41"?> Explore: Respect The exchange of name cards, or Meishi, is a quintessential part of business culture in Japan. But there is more to this greeting ritual than meets the eye. The Japanese language can emphasise social distance, respect, or humbleness. To best use these delicate nuances, one first needs to understand possible differences in hierarchy. The name cards give away this vital piece of rank information. Japanese know what words to use in conversations only when the job roles (and, with it, the hierarchical relationship between the speakers) are understood. Consider the following questions: • What do you associate with ‘respect’ in your own culture? • Is showing respect to others important here? How so? • How and to what extent is this reflected in your mother tongue? Maintaining intercultural relationships, therefore, depends in no small part on the congruent use of language and the sensitivity to imperfect translations and, at times, the untranslatability of words (and their hidden meanings). This book assumes that internal or intrapsychic processes influence, to a great extent, how we get in touch with us and approach others (making contact), how we regulate our behaviour in response to otherness (staying in contact), and how we enact our fundamental beliefs (deepening contact). In short, our mental states determine the way we walk and talk. Because of (i) this interrelationship between mental states and language, (ii) my belief in good communication as a lifelong learning journey, and (iii) the unique challenges of using English as an intercultural bridge language, I have designed the chapters in basically the same way. A selection of classic communication models will bring the specific concepts of each chapter to life. They offer pragmatic suggestions, points for reflection, and ideas for professional development. 1.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership The five axioms of communication, devised by Paul Watzlawick, map the cornerstones of human communication (Watzlawick, 1964). When applied to intercultural situations, they are tremendously valuable for pinpointing sources of misunderstanding: One Cannot Not Communicate: The moment people meet, communication be‐ tween them starts, even without saying a word. We inevitably interpret any behaviour or action (and even their absence) of our interlocutors. By implication, whatever they do (or do not do) sends out information. And so do we: Both sides will perceive these verbal and non-verbal messages. In intercultural contexts, this communication maxim is important for two reasons: First, how people use and are aware of body 1.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 41 <?page no="42"?> signals and paraverbal behaviour varies considerably across cultures. Some people may openly show their thoughts and feelings through touch or gaze behaviour, through gestures, through body movements. When they speak, they may do so with high volume, and because they are uncomfortable with silence, they readily fill a void should it occur. Others are more reserved and less ‘loud’ in their body and paraverbal language. Unawareness or insensitivity to these differences quickly disrupts communication and results in misunderstandings. Second, non-verbal communication makes up a considerable part of human exchanges. We are likely to rely to an even greater extent on these non-verbal signals when we find ourselves in intercultural situations, as we scan our environment for clues. Every Communication has Content and Relationship: Verbal and non-verbal communication do more than merely transmit bits of information. They simultaneously say something about how the interlocutors relate to each other. What we say is as important as how we say it. And how we say things frames what we say. Thus, words and behaviour can take on very different meanings depending on who we talk to. We know this and choose our words and how we frame them accordingly (and hopefully wisely). The combination of content and relationship takes on a highly relevant spin in intercultural contexts. First, we distinguish between cultures with ‘task’ and ‘relationship’ orientations. The former implies matter-of-fact communication with a focus on getting the point across. Relationship considerations follow content. The latter means language use with a preference for social concerns. Content follows relationship considerations. Second, when we travel across cultures, we often lose the ease and coolness of encoding and decoding messages. As we can no longer express ourselves with our usual verve and finesse, we must concentrate on the content to make ourselves understood. Consequently, relationship aspects get quickly lost. Third, interlocutor expectations rise in line with proficiency levels. For better or worse, the better we speak a language, the more our audience trusts our ability to find the right tone. But creating rapport is already difficult at the best of times. Outside our home culture, the challenge of saying the right thing in the right way is often tough and troublesome. Punctuation Communication Procedures: Verbal and nonverbal communication is more than putting out statements into an empty space. It does something to us, and we respond to messages. Thus, communication needs order and rules for dialogue and turn-taking to unfold, just like the written word. Punctuation marks start (or end) points of messages and transforms ongoing interaction into sequences (see Figure 5). At each turn, we interpret what has been said and follow up with a response. Understanding these rules turns communication into an interactive process and colours relationships. Given this cause and effect of communication, things can get easily out of control, especially in intercultural situations. First, punctuation and turn-taking rules differ from culture to culture. Some cultures are okay with breaking the sequences, for instance, by breaking turn-taking rules. Other cultures are less appreciative of others jumping in and cutting off the flow of thoughts of a speaker. Likewise, some cultures 42 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="43"?> are direct and explicit about what they want to say, while others make do with leaving room for interpretation. When people of these different cultures meet, punctuation rules are no longer clear. Interlocutors risk confusion. Second, a part of communication is always subjective as we all have our own versions of what we (we want to) see, hear, and experience. This, of course, is determined by our life biographies and cultural background. This makes punctuation and their interpretation of sequences highly fragile, meaning that messages can fly in all sorts of directions, resulting in radically different interpretations of the interaction. Third, foreign language use further impairs punctuation. Next to the challenge of finding the right tone, our understanding of what has been said (and meant) and when to take turns are often skewed. As we are likely to react on the basis of our home-grown mental map, dialogue, in spite of presumably speaking the same language, can all too easily spin out of control. Manager (Culture B) Team Member (Culture A) Figure 5: Punctuation as Cause and Effect in Business Communication Digital and Analogic Modalities of Communication: Communication comes, according to Watzlawick, in two parts: (i) Digital communication refers to conventions of how information is conveyed, most notably in terms of symbols and syntax. Languages develop rules for how words are spelt and what grammatical structures to use. These rules make for explicit, unambiguous, and logical communication. (ii) Analogic communication refers to the semantics of a language. We need to give meaning to what we say and hear. We do so by relying on nonand para-verbal parts of language (and their interpretation). This makes communication implicit, ambiguous, and unruly. Interaction is easily upset when digital and analogic communication are out of sync. Intercultural communication usually involves learning another language or using a bridge language. Symbols and syntax are more or less easy to pick up. But stringing them together to create or make meaning, i.e. the semantics of a language, is incredibly difficult. Obviously, different levels of proficiency and abilities in digital communication can be the root cause of misunderstandings. What worsens is when non-verbal and para-verbal language and analogic communication styles do not follow our culturally learned preferences. Outside our home turf, it is easy to miss the point of, for instance, eye contact, haptics, and intonation, with which interlocutors give context to their messages. Regular frustration comes from differences in analogic conventions. What means ‘yes’ in one culture does not necessarily agree with or have the same 1.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 43 <?page no="44"?> function in others. We might confuse a ‘yes’ with a ‘no.’ What signals agreement in one culture is a mere signal of understanding of what has been said in others. The challenge in these situations, then, is to learn how digital and analogic communication interact and, together, create an overall picture in our minds. Symmetry and Complementarity of Relationships: Communication is a short‐ hand of worldviews and mirrors relationships (see axiom two). These are either based on balanced or unequal power. In symmetric relationships, all play by the same rules, and everyone treats each other as equals. In complementary relationships, interlocutors readily accept rigid hierarchies. Language and behaviour underpin these relationships. Symmetric communication strives for equality and emphasises what is in common. In contrast, complementary communication replays power in that messages conform to social expectations and enforce role behaviour (e.g., interactions between parent and child, line manager and subordinate). In both cases, conflicts abound when a party challenges the status quo. This is often the case when we travel from one culture to another. People from cultures that value unequal power distribution may stumble over egalitarian-minded interlocutors. Similarly, people from cultures that value equal distribution of power, roles, and resources may find the behaviour of hierarchically minded interlocutors strange, if not upsetting (Meyer E. , 2014). In both cases, power struggles over the sovereignty of interpretation, what to make of interactions and how to interpret them may arise. Such disputes do not go away when using a bridge language such as English. While all parties involved may pretend to meet at eye level, our world views (and how we communicate) do not simply disappear. They are not readily obvious, but people will extend their basic assumption to English. Holding on to beliefs in symmetric and complementary relationships can block intercultural communication efforts. Exercise 1: Work Meeting Imagine you have organised a meeting at work. You have put much effort into finding a mutually suitable time slot for all attendees. An issue that is dear to you will be discussed during this meeting. While most colleagues come on time, one junior member arrives 10 minutes late. He enters the boardroom, sits down, and gets out his laptop. You hear yourself saying: ‘Thank you for joining us, Andreas. But you are late for our meeting.’ Say this sentence out loud in different tonalities. You may also experiment with different body postures. • Neutral • Passive aggressive • Interested • Sad • Angry 44 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="45"?> Exercise 2: A Man with a Hammer A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore, it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn’t want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn’t do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people’s life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This has got to stop! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor’s door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: ‘You can keep your hammer, you bastard! ’ Source: Watzlawick, 1983. • Which axiom helps us make sense of the man’s mental processes? • What would you ask him to do to tame his emotions? • Have you had similar experiences at work? • Turning to intercultural encounters, can you think of situations in which things can spiral out of control? Find examples for each of Watzlawick’s axioms. Exercise 3: Communication Issues A Chinese high-tech manufacturer is expanding its operations in Europe. For this purpose, it has acquired a German tech company and turned it into a wholly owned subsidiary. Soon after the take-over, key local positions were filled with Chinese managers. Andreas, a project manager, soon discovered that the shift in ownership brought about numerous differences in working style. There was plenty of scope for surprises (and, indeed, upsets). Although many decisions were now being made in the company headquarters, things often moved much faster. Then, workers were used to receiving lots of positive feedback. Now, they felt that there was little appreciation for their work. Top management announced that they would phase out the much-cherished flexible home-office agreements. Employees no longer had a contractual right to work from home. A further unpleasant surprise was the Chinese management’s expectation that all should participate in corporate dos. In Germany, people tend to keep their professional and private lives separate. For Andreas, this plan blurred the split between these two spheres. When Mr Wu asked him to attend tonight’s after-work gathering, Andreas replied that he had a doctor’s appointment which he must not miss. While Mr Wu could hardly say anything, he was pretty upset. How could Andreas decline his offer to build team spirit? He should be happy to work for a Chinese company that has invested in a German tech company! The next time a corporate gathering 1.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 45 <?page no="46"?> was lined up, Mr Wu reminded Andreas about the importance of such meetings. He also made the point that he had missed out on the last after-work meeting. Andreas, who already felt badly about not being honest with Mr Wu about his doctor’s appointment (which he made up so that he could enjoy his evening without colleagues), again found a new way of bowing out of this obligation. Mr Wu did not say a word but was furious. He could, of course, insist but was hesitant to do so. For that, Andreas was too good an employee. This ping-pong of calls for attendance and seeking excuses went on for some time. The more pressure Mr Wu exerted, the more reactant the behaviour of Andreas. Both Mr Wu and Andreas quietly loathed the impasse. • What do you make of the situation? • How do the interpretations of the same situation differ between Andreas and Mr Wu? • What axiom could shed light on the situation? • What would you advise Mr. Wu to do? Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? The Forces of Globalisation Are Still Strong Over the last decades, globalisation has changed almost all aspects of our everyday lives. Economic, social, technological, ecological, and cultural shifts now challenge traditional ‘centre-periphery’ relationships. Despite deglobalisation tendencies, more regional thinking in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resurgence of military conflicts, international competition and cooperation scenarios are here to stay. We need more intercultural training, not less. What Do the Forces of Globalisation Mean for You? With globalisation not so quickly disappearing, chances of getting in touch with people of different cultural backgrounds are perhaps higher than ever before. Professionally, we may find ourselves working abroad or in foreign firms. Our line of work might have strong international strings attached. Or we find ourselves being part of a multicultural team. Virtual collaborations are likely to break down the last bastions of monocultural biotopes. The bottom line of all this is that the comfort zones of our monolingual and monocultural environments are on their way out. They will be the exception to the intercultural rules. Fusing Two Points of Consideration Propelling This Book Forward This book assumes a strong human side to business across borders. The question is how the forces of globalisation affect us personally and what we can do about them, namely being pushed out of the comfort zones of our home culture. Through the lenses of environmental influences, psychological processes, individual responses, and their interplay, the book offers the possibility to understand and analyse inter‐ cultural situations. It stimulates self-reflection and learning opportunities. These 46 1 Unfamiliar Worlds and Me <?page no="47"?> should help the engaged reader to develop a clearer perspective on intercultural leadership skills. Against this backdrop, I fuse two approaches that have been so far seen in isolation in the context of intercultural leadership. From communication studies, I take humanistic-systemic models and ask what these seminal works can do to improve how we interact with people of different cultural backgrounds. From psychology, I apply neo-behavioural thinking to intercultural encounters. Instead of conveniently capturing them at an abstract national culture level, the Stim‐ ulus-Organism-Response-model pulls experiences with otherness to an individual level. Both approaches are about the experiences and behaviour of people. By aligning these two separate starting points of consideration, the intriguing question is how they, together, can help readers think about cultural differences in more constructive ways. They are complementary in that they look at what is going on inside us to explain what happens on the outside. They are both people-facing and assume human behaviour to be highly complex, organic, and decidedly non-mechanical. They focus on learning, dialogue and human growth and imply appreciative, respectful approaches to us and others. Jointly, they make leadership across cultures more tangible and fathomable. 1.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 47 <?page no="49"?> 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now Opening Vignette Venetian Chocolate Photo by Tamara Malaniy on Unsplash An Italian FMCG manufacturer plans to introduce a new chocolate line in Germany. A meeting between the Italian senior product manager and his German counterpart is scheduled for 2 pm. Here details about the product launch are set to be discussed. The Italian manager, Stefano, uses his time in Germany for a courtesy visit of a German colleague he has worked with on earlier other projects. Over a nice cappuccino, the two discuss old times. He knows he will be slightly late for the next meeting but will not go before he invites his friend to visit the Italian headquarters. Meanwhile, Klaus, responsible for the local product launch, eagerly waits for Stefano to arrive in the meeting room. Punctuality, accuracy, and reliability are dear to him. He has a busy schedule ahead of him, and time is short for planning the product launch of the new chocolate line. His philosophy is that it is better to be safe than sorry, so detailed planning is essential. He needs detailed instructions from Stefano to inform his German team. <?page no="50"?> It is now 2.15 pm. Stefano enters the meeting room. Just stopping short of making the point that his counterpart was late for this meeting, Klaus eyes him with barely veiled contempt. Shortly before 3 o’clock, Klaus stands up and announces that he has to attend another meeting. ‘Sadly, we could not resolve all the important issues today,’ he says, leaving the meeting room with his document folder under his arms. While leaving, he informs Stefan that he will send him an e-mail with detailed questions about the product launch. ‘If there is anything else you would like to know, please contact my administrator! ’ Stefano is stunned. He calls the administrator to ask whether she wants to have a coffee with him. They could discuss the project. Later that day, Klaus meets his project team members. He makes clear that only slight progress was made with the senior product manager, and the market launch is looming. He really tried everything to ensure the success of the new product. But apparently, for Stefano, the product launch is not one of his top priorities. He himself had other meetings lined up that needed his full attention. Stefano also contacted Klaus’s line manager the next day. He thanked for the generous reception and constructive meetings. He felt that the country manager looked very stressed about the product launch. Given the importance of the product launch, this, of course, is understandable. As there are some aspects that still need clarification, perhaps he can invite Klaus to the Italian headquarters. The good Italian food and lovely scenery might do Klaus well. Critical Thinking: • What are the issues that distort the meeting between Stefano and Klaus? • How and to what extent do cultural norms and values play a role in this failed meeting? • Can you isolate ‘culture’ in this scenario? How so? • Do you think cultural frameworks are helpful in making sense of what is going on between Stefano and Klaus? • For better or worse, we all have some expectations about how people from other cultures might behave. Why is it difficult for Stefano and Klaus to accept cultural differences and move on? • How would you respond as Klaus’s line manager? The past 70 years have seen vibrant research on cultural management across social and behavioural sciences, including anthropology, economics, humanities, psychology, and sociology. As international firm activities expanded, the global business needed concepts with which to explain and tackle the evolving empirical realities. Attempts to find answers to what look like relatively simple questions such as ‘What, then, is culture? ’ and ‘How and to what extent might culture affect organisational and managerial systems? ’ ranged from desk-based research or qualitative studies to large-scale population-based studies. Among this research, we find work quite in line 50 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="51"?> with the ethnographic work of Roman historian Tacitus (AD 58-120), who wrote about German tribes without ever being there. Anthropologist Ruth Benedict’s study The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture (1946) explored Japan ‘at a distance’ mainly through literature, newspaper clippings etc. On the other hand, we find projects such as the GLOBE study (2004-ongoing), a collaborative, multi-country, and multi-phase work of hundreds of researchers involving tens of thousands of interviews. These works offer explanations regarding variabilities in responses to universal problems ‘for which all peoples must at all times find some solution’ (Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961). As such, they are also portals to recommendations on confronting the challenges of managing cross-cultural diversity. 2.1 ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History The popular view of management across cultures today is that culture is a source of differences in behaviour, outlook, and values. In this vein, I refer to these instances in this chapter as ‘cross-cultural’ (to also mark the differences to intercultural leader‐ ship and its emphasis on building relationships). Culture is usually conceived at an aggregate, national level. These macro-variables are said to have tremendous effects on groups and arguably are even outpacing individual dispositions. There is a vast amount of literature that catalogues dimensions (or containers, each representing preferences for dealing with social challenges) that define culture and differentiate between discrete national territories. Thus, people in one country might be, on average, higher (or lower) in ‘x’ (fill in here any one of the many proposed dimensions) than people in another country. This difference in ‘x’ (usually a reflection of a universal problem that addresses people, time, or space) ‘seems to inevitably’ lead to cultural conflict, clashes, and shock. Essentially, the views of these extant frameworks are both cause and effect of deeply entrenched beliefs in universal phenomena across cultures in the field of business studies. They also chime with the ‘generalist’ and ‘culture-neutral’ approaches that are so prevalent amongst business community members. Its followers do not usually warm to the idea that societies can best or perhaps only be understood from within. Their specific way of doing things is, by and large, unique and not comparable to how things are done elsewhere. One of their biggest strengths (ease of access to culture through bifurcating values into high and low) is, therefore, one of their biggest weaknesses: National culture variables hardly trump the characteristics of its members. In other words, macro-level containers are arguably sub-par individual behaviour predictors. This suggests that making sense of otherness is not as straightforward as many prefer. Today, we unconsciously operate among a mixture of national cultures and individual differences. This interplay transcends and augments the lived realities of every businessperson. Traditional explanations do not contribute to these challenges in the much-needed high resolution. While good at offering clues about the differences between countries, they are holding back information on managing them. But we 2.1 ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History 51 <?page no="52"?> need close-to-the-problem recommendations. Only then can we develop skill sets that help us navigate these differences. The best way to explain and confront the challenges businesspersons face today is, in my eyes, to take a look at the history of the development of cross-cultural management research. Firms have faced several big questions which arose from the expanding breadth and depth of their international activities. We can identify six distinct phases that moved the understanding of firms going global and getting in touch with different ways of doing things from a macro to a micro perspective. These are shown in Figure 6. We explore each of these epochs below: 1950s US Centrism Assumptions of universal principles of management Culture largely ignored 1960s: Realisation that social organisation in other cultures can be different from the US 1970s: Country comparisons of management Cultural differences within organisations Corporate culture as success factor and competitive advantage Cross-cultural team dynamics and intergroup processes Comparative leadership styles Expertise in one culture and language Working with people of many cultures at the same time Need for flexibility in leadership styles Expertise in more than one culture and language Individual Disruptions and uncertainty as the new normal Virtual collaboration Expanding communicative repertoire, especially English language skills Irrelevant Country Company Group Task 1960s-70s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s How can things be different at all? Are things done differently elsewhere? How can organisations link together? How do cross-cultural groups best fulfil tasks? How can individuals collaborate with others? What expertise is needed for what tasks? Figure 6: Epochs of Cross-Cultural Management Research 1950s: Cultural Differences Are Negligible In the 1950s, domestic markets were king, with most firms focussing on serving local customer needs. Only a few firms had the credentials to engage in international trade. In some countries, such as Japan, they needed government approval (Horn, Wittek, & Iguchi, 2018). Following World War II, an international economic world order was established with the United States, which was the clear political and economic hegemon, unequivocally at the helm. In this phase, management and organisation principles largely followed the ‘American Way,’ which was seen as the pinnacle of how things could and should be done in international business. It was also the time when we saw the golden era of US business schools. The executive education at premiere American business schools continued to thrive and was, for many, key to professional success. There was an overall feeling that the world of business was converging towards a US-led system, and what, in hindsight, would be considered ethnocentric education further augmented this view. In terms of technological or managerial innovations, all firms, regardless of where they are from, should aspire to learn and implement US-style principles in manufacturing, supply chain management, HR, and so forth. If in doubt about how things should be done, it was suggested at the time that one better follow this 52 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="53"?> tried and tested, superior form of management thought. So, in that sense, management, even management across borders, was seen as largely culture-free in that solutions from the US could be applied universally. Because of this lack of appreciation for cultural differences, possibly fruitful insights from anthropologists such as Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck were, at this time, given the cold shoulder. There was nothing in their work that could possibly be applied to day-to-day business. Abegglen’s (1958) seminal explorations on idiosyncrasies of Japanese organisations in The Japanese Factory, for instance, shed first light on differences in Japanese and US management approaches but did not turn into a source of inspiration simply because it did not fit with the then undisputed and dominant Western management thought. 1960s-1970s: Cultural Differences at the National Level From the 1960s onward, firms increasingly considered growth opportunities outside their respective domestic markets. Even in countries with robust governmental control over foreign exchange reserves and the outflow and inflow of goods and services (like Japan), firms started to explore possibilities of going international. With this surge of cross-border flow of goods and services and the increase in foreign direct investment, companies were suddenly exposed to new ways of doing things. At the time, such organisational and managerial systems were considered certainly foreign and different, if not alien. Universalist, one-size-fits-all, American-style approaches to operating abroad turned out to be unhelpful. As a consequence, interest in cultural differences was on the up, as it gradually emerged as an important factor in doing international business. Did this mean management embraced geocentric attitudes and committed to best practices and people regardless of where they come from? No! Approaches to going global were essentially ethnocentric in nature. Things worked well at home, so why shouldn’t they work elsewhere, too? Accordingly, they should be done the same way as is customary at home in spite of all possible differences. Such beliefs in extending norms, processes, and ways of thinking from home to abroad meant a heavy focus on supervising and controlling how things are done in host countries. Decisions were taken in the headquarters and implemented in other parts of the world. What was new, however, was the realisation that differences in business environ‐ ments existed between countries. Make no mistake, the focal point of comparison was not (yet) cultural considerations but easy-to-observe and widely accessible aggregates such as demography, geography, socio-economic variables etc. Extending and trans‐ ferring cherished home practices were commonly considered the best way to address these differences. Perhaps because of suspicions of being unreliable and unpragmatic, and more generally being ‘unscientific balderdash’ (similar to Dr. Lanyon’s assessments of Dr. Jekyll’s experiments! ), international business continued to be slow to use an‐ thropological work. Edward Hall’s interpretive work on intercultural communication struggled to get noticed as it was simply not in tune with the positivist worldviews of much of the management domain (Hall, 1959). 2.1 ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History 53 <?page no="54"?> The awareness that cultural differences might play a role in different types of organisational and managerial styles took off only in the 1970s. To the surprise of many observers, this decade saw the cometic rise of Japan or Germany to regional economic superpowers. This came with three consequences: First, the awareness that the social organisation of business in these cultures differed from the US. Success could not be achieved by merely adopting and warming up American-style management recipes. Second, both countries evolved from mere importers of goods and services to export champions. They were increasingly engaged in foreign direct investment activities, too. The rise of international business relationships meant that people worldwide came into contact with German and Japanese cultures. Third, the success of German and Japanese management styles came with the demise of trust in the superiority of the American way of doing things. American firms found themselves increasingly less competitive in foreign markets. So, all this fuelled an increasing interest in what made these foreign types of organisations and management so competitive. As more and more practitioners travelled to Germany and Japan, it became apparent that cultural differences in approaching management played no small part in explaining their challenger status. This realisation marked the birth of deeper concerns with culture in international business. The 1970s, accordingly, saw culture comparisons at the centre of research. Large-scale studies, most notably that of Dutch scholar Geert Hofstede, moved beyond demographic, geographic, or socio-economic indicators and attempted to uncover differences in values and norms (Hofstede, 1980). The basic idea driving these endeavours was that national cultural environments either stimulate or restrain individual behaviour. As these reinforcement contingencies also affect work values, cultural explorations were thought to answer a big empirical problem: Differences in how work was organised turned into a big source of conflict in globally operating companies. Research on cross-cultural groups could, so the hope, offer direction for businesses as to how divergent organisational contexts can be moulded into one common work culture (thereby smoothing said conflicts). Undoubtedly, Hofstede’s work has been ground-breaking on many levels and was highly successful in putting culture centre-stage in business research, education, and practice. But it was also a child of its time: The computer metaphor ‘culture is the software of our minds’ suggests a scientific, quantifiable and, thus, calculable understanding of human behaviour. This simultaneous positivist and etic approach to culture resonated with universalist ideals of business and management. 1980s: Corporate Culture is King The 1980s saw the breakthrough of multinational enterprises (MNEs) that produced goods or services in more than one country. This new reality brought about entirely new challenges of what operations to own, where to localise and how to create core competencies (Buckley & Casson, 2016). What was clear, however, was that 54 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="55"?> ‘hard’ management factors had limited potency in dealing with these challenges. Management pioneer Peter Drucker got to the heart of the matter by pointing out, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast. And disruption for lunch.’ In other words, the best strategy is useless if it is not backed by people sharing an appropriate culture. Now that firms have acknowledged the ‘human’ factor, the focus of cross-cultural management has shifted from the national level to organisational structures. This swing from hard to soft management aspects was surely inspired by the continued success of the Japanese and German economies (which advanced to become the second and third largest in the world). Firms and products from these two countries turned into global household names. Foreign direct investment followed, and this became so unsettling to the US as the lead economy that a ‘takeover’ fear began to ooze into American culture. Think About: Us and Them - Western Anxieties of the Alien The economic ascent of Japanese firms had a far-reaching impact on the US economy, including trade deficits, dependence on technology and investments from Japan as job motors. Military metaphors soon seeped into public discourse. Consider the front of the US magazine ‘California Today’ (August 1979). • How is ‘Japan’ being portrayed? • How is ‘otherness’ being conveyed? • Would we use a similar picture today? 2.1 ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History 55 <?page no="56"?> A nation’s culture is thought to affect its people’s attitudes and behaviour, including that of work. In the case of Japan, the human factor was said to define firms’ competitiveness. A cooperative spirit and a strict work ethic and loyalty shaping the commitment of employees raised the game of many Japanese firms, so the conceived wit and wisdom at the time. That Japan’s success might be based on different factors than that of US-based approaches was not new (as these insights had begun to emerge the decade before). What was new, however, was the genuine willingness to learn from Japan and leave views of ethnocentrism behind. The 1980s saw researchers and practitioners actually go to Japan in the hope of truly understanding which soft factors contribute to the incredible competitiveness of Japanese firms. Hofstede’s Culture’s Consequences spurred a new generation of comparative studies in management and organisational behaviour. The title says it all: Ezra Vogel’s bestseller Japan as No. 1: Lessons for America illustrates the growing appreciation of cultural differences (Vogel, 1979). 1990s: The Multicultural Organisation The rise of the multinational enterprise has been influential in pushing cross-cultural management thinking from the national level towards an organisational context. Organisations were keenly aware of the need to fine-slice their operations for more effective global interaction and consider moving specific business units or functions to other countries. As corporate networks became increasingly complex and highly in‐ terdependent, questions arose about how best to mould all the different cultures across the corporate networks into one coherent way of doing things. Through the backdoor of earlier work on corporate culture, research and practice in international business took to cultural influences in network organisations. An understanding emerged that soft factors in management mattered, that corporate culture mattered, and that the human factor mattered in multinational enterprises. Based on this, conversations around divergent business practices soon zoomed into the leadership skills of expatriate managers. Now that firms were seen to be composed of various groups, it was up to them to make things work on the ground through cultural sensitivity and socialisation. The ability to handle people of different backgrounds and cross-cultural situations has become a new and complementary feature of cross-cultural management research. One of the best ways of dealing with cultural differences across the corporate network was to think of leadership as having or developing expertise in one specific culture. This skill set should enable managers to competently move about in a particular culture, like the proverbial fish in the water. They should act as go-between headquar‐ ters and subsidiaries for effective performance outcomes. This ‘boundary spanning’ role could be achieved in two ways. Either the firm recruited local staff or looked for expatriate managers to take care of local business operations formally and informally. Only when executives have or develop a fairly good idea of locally appropriate practices can they contribute to local business success and build meaningful relationships within 56 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="57"?> corporate networks. In this phase, culture-specific know-how, or at least sensitivity to local customs, was understood to be vital to leading and controlling operations abroad. Specialisation, for instance, in Japanese or Brazilian culture, would enable you to get the job done in these respective cultures, deal with their local people, and adapt to living in this foreign culture. You would, ideally, speak the language of this particular culture (to stick with examples, Japanese or Portuguese), and you would use these linguistic and social skills on your foreign business assignments. In short, you would be seen to be specifically skilled in cross-cultural interactions with people from these specific cultures. So, the awareness that culture matters was translated into having or building social capital in one specific culture based on cultural expertise, linguistic expertise etc. These new empirical realities ushered in a new crop of research imperatives. The level of analysis moved from the organisational level to the working group level. After recognizing the importance of the group within an internationally operating organisation, questions arose about how management and leadership practices could help bridge cultural differences. Country culture comparisons were only partly helpful in finding answers to how best to establish effective working and social relationships with host-national subordinates. Large-scale studies, most notably that of Schwartz and colleagues and Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, made clear that we need not only account for differences among countries but also differences among individuals (Schwartz, 1992; Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1994). This, in turn, led to a greater emphasis on cross-cultural team dynamics and intergroup processes. As we will see, this pioneering work laid the foundation for a profound exploration of comparative leadership styles. 2000s: Walking Between Worlds From the turn of the century, polycentric tactics when managing cross-cultural differences were no longer helpful in capturing the breadth and depth of global leadership assignments. The rise of the global economy, most notably in the form of integration (e.g., the European single market) and the ascent of emerging markets (e.g., China’s access to the WTO in 2001), brought about an unprecedented flow of goods, services, capital, and people. As the operating environment became more diverse and uncertain, a more global leadership perspective was necessary. Jack Welch (1935-2020), then chairman and executive of General Electric, made clear that ‘edge walkers,’ people who are able to walk and talk between worlds, are key to managing multinational enterprises by saying, ‘The Jack Welch of the future cannot be me. I spent my entire career in the United States. The next head of General Electric will be somebody who spent time in Bombay, in Hong Kong, in Buenos Aires. We have to send our best and brightest overseas and make sure they have the training that will allow them to be global leaders who will make GE flourish in the future’ (cited in Javidan & House, 2001). A key concern of leadership skills was dealing 2.1 ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History 57 <?page no="58"?> 3 The expression ‘ethnorelative’ juxtaposes the idea of ethnocentrism, i.e. assumptions of one’s own culture being at the centre of one’s understanding how the world works and should work. By implication, those who hold ethnorelative views appreciate their own culture as much as other cultures. with the range of experiences and contacts across subsidiaries. Instead of focusing on a single foreign country, on becoming an expert in one specific culture, and based on this, on managing relationships between HQs and that country, questions around working with and learning from people from many cultures became prominent (Briscoe and Schuler, 2004). This line of thinking placed new demands on multinational enterprises and the people within them, most notably questions around the adaptability to operating and living in many foreign cultures or working with people of diverse backgrounds at home. Leadership now was all about being well-grounded and flexible in the practicalities of dealing with different cultures simultaneously. Crucially, this shift ‘from one to many’ implied being fluent in the ways of the world as a more permanent fixture of executives’ skill sets. As work environments per se became more multicultural, we were expected to deal with ambiguity and psychological stress, develop an ability to communicate effectively, and not only be tolerant of otherness but to live and internalise inclusiveness. In short, the cross-cultural skills of the individual became fundamental to running internationally operating organisations as they ensured commonalities in communication and business, the success of teamwork, and ultimately aligning local preferences with global strategy. No doubt, developing a global mindset is a steep call for many: It challenges us to take a broad view, to be okay with contradictions (and learn from them) and to see conflicts as an opportunity (instead of complaining about otherness). This shift in attention from the group to the individual renewed concerns about how to relate and work effectively in the face of extreme diversity. A new strand of work looked at what makes us as individuals interact successfully with those from different cultures. The highly influential work of Earley & Ang (2003) saw in this ability to creep into the minds of other cultures (and see things from their perspective) a form of intelligence that can be measured and developed. Some people are better at making sense of culturally unfamiliar and ambiguous situations than others. The GLOBE Studies (as shorthand for Global Leadership and Organisational Behav‐ iour Effectiveness), too, looked at leadership skills but took a different approach. In multiple waves of data collection (starting in 2004), this major research effort seeks to map how leadership, good or bad, is viewed throughout the world (House, Dorfman, Javidan, Hanges, & de Luque, 2014). Quantitative in nature, the GLOBE studies recognise the impact of culture on leadership styles. Its expansive classification of cultural dimensions provides context to how to approach management in more than 120 countries. Spelling out preferences for different leadership styles invites more ethnorelative consideration of intercultural experiences 3 . Rallying behind global mindsets, the GLOBE team asks us to understand that there are many valid world views, pushing us to engage with and learn from people from many cultures. 58 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="59"?> Explore: Global Leadership A certain uni-dimensionality of top management in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity is not uncommon. But Janina Kugel, chief diversity officer of Siemens, says: ‘Diversity strengthens our innovative strength, unleashes the potential of Siemens employees and thus contributes directly to our business success.’ Consider the following questions: • Does a lack of top-executive internationalisation threaten a firm’s competi‐ tiveness? • How can a firm possibly ‘globalise’ leadership? • In your home country, how ethnically diverse are corporate boards? 2010s: Dealing With Disruptions Naturally, a conclusive assessment for the most recent phase is, at this moment in time, not possible. What seems clear, however, is that we are in the middle of a phase of radical uncertainty, and the question is how to restore stability. Much of the experience of what is happening around us occurs through language. So, how we put our experiences into words might be at the heart of cushioning global friction in all its variants. Communication, of course, has long been recognised as a critical international managerial skill. How we present ourselves through language, posture, and gestures flows from our emotional sensations and cognitive considerations. When working across cultures, excellent communication skills help us communicate effectively with others. How well we communicate determines our ability to build trust and forge common ground for idea-sharing and problem-solving. In short, language is a window to our hearts and, thus, provides a backdrop for ‘presencing’ (i.e. bringing oneself into the present moment, making one’s reality tangible and connecting with others). But what happens if we are robbed of opportunities when building rapport? For sure, one of the great disruptors of international business has been the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought both supply and demand in many parts of the world to a standstill. Companies responded by radically restructuring supply chains and business teams. In doing so, the pandemic reset our thinking about collaborations and transformed how we connect with other people more generally. As we can no longer travel and meet people, we can no longer rely on picking up rich sets of signals when talking to others in person. Because of this, we might miss crucial visual and social clues that make sensing your partners’ feelings (‘reading the air’) difficult, if not impossible. In short, virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom or Teams test our communication mettle. There is a relationship between how people use language and how social interactions pan out. The dependence on electronic forms of communication deepens this relationship. For the last three decades, much work has been carried out on the multifaceted role of language in international business. The 2010 saw a proliferation in the 2.1 ‘Cross-Cultural’ Management Research: A Short History 59 <?page no="60"?> engagement with language skills. Findings from these research streams pretty much unequivocally point towards communication performance, the actual use of language in concrete situations, as key professional competence. Especially proficiency in English, ‘the’ workhorse of international teams, makes or breaks relationship-building efforts across cultures. Not only top executives but also mid-level employees are more and more dependent on foreign language skills (for an overview of research on the role of language in international business (see Brannen, Piekkari, & Tietze, 2014; Tenzer, Terjesen, & Harzing, 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic has, thus, made a further, indelible mark on cross-cultural management. Even as the necessity for digital workplaces eases, many companies continue to opt for virtual collaborations over brick-and-mortar, in-person operations. The ability to ditch time-consuming and tiring long-distance travel is changing how organisations think about operating in multicultural international environments. What is new is the immediateness and global reach of communication. What is also new is that more languages and cultures interplay today than ever before (Horn & Holden, 2016). On top of this, as we work remotely, we induce a certain informality into business exchanges. The emergence of virtual collaboration forms makes it tricky to establish common cognitive grounds and motivational atmospheres among interplays of languages, cultures (and competing interests). Under these conditions, we are unlikely to feel the same level of attention, connection, or trust. As a consequence, the need for good English skills might have never been greater. Clarity of thought and word aids in swaying people to one’s point of view, avoiding miscommunication and minimizing back-and-forth communication. In our eyes, the role of language and symbols in group formation, learning, and identity constructions is here to stay as a significant topic in cross-cultural management research and practice. Explore: Global Leadership During the COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic meant international travel restrictions. As a result of the stay-at-home orders, as many companies at that time, a French engineering firm specializing in printing solutions had to resort to videoconferencing. After some initial hiccups, executives quickly got used to online communication, including trade fair visits, weekly meetings with executives of their sales representatives worldwide, and so forth. The biggest challenge, however, was the international certification of their products. The French firm has long-standing business relations in South Korea and won a major contract with a local pharmaceutical company just before the pandemic’s start. Legal requirements in South Korea intended for French products and production processes to be inspected in person by exchanging engineers. Under lockdown conditions, this face-to-face certification process was not possible. By implication, the products would not be approved for use by local pharmaceutical companies. While Korean customs has been quite flexible in granting more import licenses, the Korean partner was slightly concerned about the quality of the products. 60 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="61"?> Photo by Maxime on Unsplash Consider the following questions: • How can French management inspire trust when in-person meetings are not possible? • Both parties had to resort to a virtual videoconferencing platform: What extra challenges do you think cropped up? • What is the role of English language skills in negotiating? 2.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Conflicts are likely if assumptions and values (how things should be done) differ. Such disputes can be quite blatant or subtle, conscious or unconscious, surprising or unsurprising, as our opening case has demonstrated. Extant frameworks, at any level of abstraction, can help identify the root causes of misunderstandings and, by extension, conflicts at work. At this point, you might want to revisit the case of Stefano’s and Klaus’ miscommunication. Between the two, you may find cultural differences in how human relationships are best maintained (task versus social orientation), time is being kept or used (only one task is undertaken at a time versus multiple tasks undertaken simultaneously), or the social fabric is enacted (hierarchy vs. egalitarianism), amongst many other aspects. Some of you may have rightfully pointed out, in this context, that those models may underestimate the importance of who is meeting (personal makeup and biographies), in which context (e.g., industry, hierarchy, history), and under what circumstances (needs and wants of the people involved) and so forth. In other words, we rarely isolate cultural artefacts and make them single-handedly responsible for things going pear-shaped. Moreover, these models are silent about tackling possible cultural differences, let alone see them as a starting point for learning. 2.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 61 <?page no="62"?> Communication psychologist Schultz von Thun asks us to explore relationships between interactants and see opportunities for personal growth in them. His ‘value and development square’ suggests aligning with specific values that propel our emotions and thinking (Schulz von Thun, 1989). These mirror desirable, morally or ethically, character traits. Don’t we all want to be kind, brave, or tolerant? In most cases, it is not the value itself or its quality that is problematic but its intensity. Although values themselves are always positive, we often forget that values are never fixed. We can stretch them, and this leads to inner tensions. Take, for example, ‘frugal.’ Being careful with using money is a positive value that many of us cherish. However, when we overdo frugal behaviour, we risk becoming ‘stingy.’ According to Schulz von Thun, this is where the sister value ‘generous’ comes in. This is why we need to balance the risk of going into overdrive. Likewise, we can super-cultivate the sister value ‘generosity,’ but this would mean running the risk of ‘wastefulness.’ In sum, we end up with a ‘value square,’ full of tensions, in which our emotions, thinking and behaviour take place. At the same time, and this is important, these tensions offer personal growth opportunities. The diagonals provide ideas on where to look for. In our example, when we exaggerate frugality (becoming a miser), our learning journey could start with exploring how to become more generous. By contrast, if we find ourselves too wasteful, we perhaps want to find ways of becoming more frugal. The value and development square can serve as a convenient tool for making sense of cultural conflicts and dealing with them in constructive and rewarding ways. At first blush, cultural differences may seem logically incompatible, especially when they appear as polar opposites. Both Stefano and Klaus represent extreme examples of sense of time, space, and people. How could they overcome such fundamental differences in outlook? The value square sends a clear warning that we should not prematurely devalue the behaviour of others. Even if they represent the opposite, values themselves are always positive. In their respective worlds, Stefano’s and Klaus’ behaviour is meaningful. A good starting point for defusing cultural conflicts is to map two virtues and their positive tension in the top two boxes. For instance, there might be a gap between task orientation (Klaus) and social orientation (Stefano), but there is a connection between the two virtues, namely, how to maintain relationships. From this perspective, each orientation is but a deflection in one direction or the other. Friction and misunderstanding occur once they live out their respective values too much. In our case, Klaus’s task orientation turns into cold and dismissive behaviour. Conversely, Stefano’s social direction turns into ambiguous and non-committal behaviour. The four values are in dynamic balance with each other (Figure 7). The arrows suggest that both Stefano and Klaus could learn from each other. In doing so, they can expand their horizons. 62 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="63"?> Relationship Non-Committal Task Cold & Dismissive Figure 7: Schulz von Thun’s Value Square Exercise: Out of Sync Values Stefano and Klaus carry quite different values. Map Development Squares for the following values: • Time • Trust building • Respect • Communication • Separation of private and professional life In each case, start with the value of either Stefano or Klaus. Then, think about what happens if they super-cultivate this value. Then, go on and think about the other values. Finally, think about why the values are out of sync for each square and what learning opportunities they offer. Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? Research in Cross-Cultural Management Research Remains Vibrant Research in Cross-Cultural Management Research remains vibrant. The past to present overview of research in cross-cultural management highlighted the energy and creativity with which researchers pursued and built knowledge in the field. Their goal was to find answers to big questions about cultural behaviour. Their approach was basic, empiric, and scientific in search of universal principles. Looking back over the last 70 years, I discerned six distinct phases. And each phase was concerned with a clear-cut research question. Research in Focus: From the National to the Individual Level The history of cross-cultural management research suggests that these questions moved, over time, from macro to micro perspectives. ‘Then’ research was partic‐ ularly interested in identifying cultural differences at the national level. Thanks to past achievements, we understand that meaningful variations exist, where they may come from, and how they affect the lived realities of every businessperson. ‘Now,’ the individual level comes increasingly into the focus. Current themes 2.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 63 <?page no="64"?> surrounding how we fit into a global and interconnected world are as challenging as they are significant. They certainly call for further investigation. This book takes a step in this direction. Basic Versus Applied Research Researchers in the cross-cultural management field primarily pursued a basic research agenda. With few exceptions, their work took place in the context of prominent universities and the scientific community. Concerned with real-life problems and social implications, they were not! By and large, they may have expanded our knowledge but were less concerned with the applicability of their findings. As the practice of business became more international, users turned to their models and data to solve particular problems. These efforts blur the line between basic and applied research. The Issue of Universalism and Particularism Much of cross-cultural management research follows etic perspectives. Following World War II, the study of culture quickly moved from ethnographic considerations to exploring universal principles. These would then allow comparisons across different cultures. Data availability and complexity reduction made the models very popular amongst members of the business community and academia. That cultures are better and deeper understood from within, emic research perspectives, was eyed with scepticism. Applied research, however, would do well using a combination of both approaches. 64 2 Determinants of Cross-cultural Management Research: Then and Now <?page no="65"?> 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters Opening Vignette Control Panel of Japanese Washlet Photo by Kokkai Ng on istockphoto Katrin is studying for an MA in Marketing. As part of her studies, she is doing a placement in an internationally operating bathroom appliance company. She wants to use her time with the firm to develop her Master’s thesis, which she needs to hand in later this year. Katrin is keen to write about a topic with practical value for professional marketers. The project she works on for the appliance company is about toilets, which, of course, have a lot to do with hygiene standards across the world. Specifically, she was tasked by her supervisor to find out about how people use toilets in select countries around the globe. Katrin is full of ideas for converting this job into a viable research project. She became particularly interested in cross-cultural management research during her undergraduate degree programme. Therefore, she is quite familiar with the fundamental frameworks and culture-specific dimensions of human societies. These would suggest that a good starting point for her research would be to look first at how toilets are used in her own country. After all, some ways of doing things are universal, while others may be culture-bound. So, she starts by looking <?page no="66"?> at who would buy toilets, under what conditions, for what purposes and so forth. This gives her a good idea of why her company’s products would look the way they do and how they manage to meet local needs. From here, she continues by exploring why these products look so different elsewhere. For instance, Katrin found out that there are two types of toilets in Japan. First, there are squat toilets, which are different in use and appearance from the Western-style sitting ones. Second, there are so-called ‘Washlets,’ which expand the sitting version of toilets with bidet and heating functions. Newer ‘smart’ versions even included medical sensors. Data are sent directly to the medical practitioner. In countries like Italy, bathrooms even come with two toilets (a sitting toilet and a bidet) for extra cleaning and disease prevention. Next to differences in the use of technological advances, Katrin finds out that ecological considerations also play a role in how toilets function worldwide. In her home region, Europe, manufacturers give a lot of thought to saving water. Here, toilets have a dual flush function. Katrin, however, is quite surprised by how little guidance the well-respected models of cross-cultural management offered for her very concrete question. Sure, they would explain fundamental differences in how people go about their daily lives. They would even provide some guidance as to how these differences might affect business interactions. But overall, she feels the frameworks are way too abstract and, frankly, too dated to apply to real-world problems such as her current project. Even though they seem to reflect major factors in cross-cultural management, Katrin wonders why these frameworks do not offer any advice, let alone practical impulses, on bridging these differences. When writing up her research, Katrin definitely wants to give her project an applied spin. Was cross-cultural research perhaps even running out of steam? Likewise, should companies still care about potential cultural differences in an increasingly global consumer market? Hadn’t Theodore Levitt already predicted 40 years ago the demise of local marketing? In spite of such worries, Katrin is convinced that culture still matters to marketers. Although challenging, she continues to explore how cultural differences might affect personal hygiene standards and their impact on product use. Her insights should help her current employer consider more ethnorelative perspectives when marketing bathroom appliances in other parts of the world. Therefore, when setting out her research design, she feels that a good start‐ ing point for implications for practice is to study what people of different backgrounds would actually do when using toilets. So, she decides to look at cultural environments and what these do to customers. Positive and negative events would pervade social situations, affecting specific behaviour according to extant frameworks. However, it is obvious to Katrin that internal psychological processes, too, would affect how people see personal hygiene and use bathrooms. Obviously, she needs to look at subjective states involving emotional and cognitive experiences for a more granular understanding of cultural differences. Therefore, 66 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="67"?> taking her ideas and plan forward, she aims to fuse environmental influences and psychological processes to grasp intercultural interactions better. In this way, Katrin hoped the practical implications of her work would be more down-to-earth and tangible for users such as her employer. Critical Thinking: • Why does Katrin question the value of seminal works of the likes of Hall or Hofstede? • Find out how bathroom appliances look in Japan and how they reflect local needs. • Are your own cultural values and experiences likely to infringe on research projects at work? • What are the potential advantages of modelling intercultural encounters along internal processes, be they conscious or unconscious? • Or do you believe mental processes are mumbo jumbo and that we are better served to stick to what we can observe? • Do you believe that a person’s mental world shapes reactions to their environment, for instance, when interacting with people of different cultural backgrounds? Research into cross-cultural management has been vibrant. As our past-to-present overview suggests, much effort has been going into tracking why managers repeatedly discount, misconceive, underestimate, or fail to anticipate the impact of culture on international activities. Overall, we can distinguish six phases, each with distinct research agendas. Interest and focus have shifted slowly but surely from macro to micro levels, from how countries interact to what organisations, groups and individuals make of intercultural contact. In each phase, research has been trying to (i) explain where cultural differences come from, (ii) how these might affect interaction and (iii), more recently, understand what they mean for global leadership. In a recent Master class, we discussed this overview, and a student asked whether any work was left to do. So much knowledge has been accumulated over the last seven decades, and, thankfully, introductory courses to intercultural management have been a standard part of Business School training worldwide for many years. By implication, we can expect today’s managers to have a solid understanding of cultural differences and the sources of conflicts. Many will know how to navigate them. Like the student, one may wonder: What is next, then? If any, what is the next ‘big thing’ in cross-cultural management research? The models mentioned above (which we will explore in much greater detail in the subsequent chapter) are very good at making us aware of cultural differences and, perhaps, even their potential impact on interlocutors. Their authors are giants on whose shoulders we stand today. They have all been tremendously helpful in charting the roots of these differences, whether specific values are practised or idealised, and how 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters 67 <?page no="68"?> they potentially compare across cultures. Their seminal work has made ‘culture’ a fixpoint in management education. To my mind, however, there is little doubt that we have just scratched the surface of what it really means to work across cultures. Classifying the root causes of cultural differences, measuring them, and modelling ‘dimensions’ were necessary and important steps for explaining why cross-cultural management is neither easy nor straightforward. But, in my eyes, the problems with much of the literature on cross-cultural management are fourfold: First, as Katrin of our opening vignette observed, extant frameworks continue to be relatively mute about what cross-cultural encounters do to us as individuals. Second, the reality of cross-cultural encounters is far messier than what the abstract dimensions say about why people behave the way they do. Third, even if we identified what exact forces are at play in cross-cultural encounters, we would be hard-pressed to consult extant frameworks on what to do about them. Fourth, and I see in this an overall verdict, they are cross-cultural in nature and (over-)emphasise differences. They miss out on the real chance of looking at all the connecting elements of culture: • We do not respond to intercultural encounters simply and automatically in terms of the norms, values, and beliefs of our cultural environment. Psychological factors often play a crucial role in how encounters pan out. After all, we cannot predict what unfamiliar ways of doing things do to us. When engaging with people of different backgrounds, we rarely are our unfiltered and culturally fixed selves. There will always be trade-offs between emotional sensations and cognitive considerations that guide our sense-making of what is going on in our environment: (i) cross-cultural encounters set in motion internal processes once we sense differences; (ii) these complex, mental processes help us give meaning to these differences; and (iii) these intrapsychic processes eventually affect the way we deal with differences. Consequently, the actual behaviour of the people involved in cross-cultural situations differs greatly from the suggested approaches. Thus, this book proposes that psychological processes play an essential role in understanding how we interact with people of different backgrounds. • In a complex, fast-paced, and interconnected environment, any limitations to our ability to interact well with others usually become quickly apparent. Intercultural engagement is still largely treated based on extant frameworks that scaffold cultural variation as a universal phenomenon. In these models, the behaviour of interlocutors is assumed to be pegged at the national level and thus fixed. They make dealing with unfamiliar others look deceptively easy (as long as all speak English). We just need to dial up the ‘right’ dimension, and - voilà - we can pinpoint the problem's root cause. However, what might look good on paper is much more complex in the real world. First, we can only speculate what abstract, ‘group-level’ variables affect us and others in a given situation. Second, we can hardly isolate ‘cultural’ factors solely responsible for why interactions run smoothly or not. Dimensions may interact or are part of a broader set of considerations (e.g., task, personal makeup) that make demonstrating any causality near impossible. Third, 68 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="69"?> we often find it difficult to take ourselves back for a moment and realise that if something feels off, it could be due to cultural differences. • We will likely encounter challenges when working with people of different cultural backgrounds. We could turn to extant frameworks. And why not? Many of them rest on sound theoretical foundations and substantial empirical work. Despite widespread criticism (e.g., McSweeney, 2002), cross-cultural management conceptualisations certainly belong to the success stories in international business research. Many frameworks do an excellent job of making us aware of the existence of cultural differences and speaking about them. Nevertheless, they are firmly anchored at the national level, and much is left to intuition, imagination, and individual insights into human nature and how to go about these cultural differences. Erin Meyer’s ‘Culture Map’ and Trompenaar’s ‘Model of National Culture Difference’ may buck this trend by providing pragmatic views and more hands-on advice on what to make of cultural differences. Still, because of the applied and commercial nature, their work does not go into great detail on reconciling cultural forces and their impact on face-to-face interactions. Though a step up from the predominantly theory-driven work, they leave us with insightful but simple recipes for how to deal with rather complex issues. The unpredictability of human behaviour in intercultural situations must not imply we should discard theoretical conceptualisations and toss empirically oriented research overboard. On the contrary, we need more theoretical input, not less. But the processes that take place when we find ourselves in situations involving people of different backgrounds cannot fully be clarified by modelling and tracking abstract, group-level variables. Suppose we follow our historical overview and its macro-to-micro shifts in the level of analysis. In that case, it seems reasonable to suggest that a good reboot could come from looking for inspiration at the individual level. A behavioural approach could provide cross-cultural management research with fruitful impulses. Psychological determinants help structure situations in refreshing ways to track down reasons for behaviour. The key to intercultural leadership is to compromise between adaptation on the one hand and self-actualisation on the other. When we communicate with genuine curiosity and appreciation for people and the world around us, we can better navigate differences. And the starting point for making good contact with others is to look inward, not outward. This book shifts the focus of attention to the question of what cultural unfamiliarity does to us and, thus, proposes an important role of psychological processes for our behaviour in intercultural encounters. Instead of just structuring situations along cultural dimensions, I posit that intercultural leadership is not something ‘out there’ but starts with us. This humanistic perspective opens the door for giving serious thought to our emotions, motivations, or attitudes (which, in turn, affect our behaviour). Internal or intrapsychic processes influence a great deal of how we get in touch with and approach others, enact our fundamental beliefs, and regulate our behaviour in response to differentness. Our mental states drive the way we behave. These we can 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters 69 <?page no="70"?> divide into (activating) processes associated with inner excitement and tension and (cognitive) processes related to information processing (Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). Obviously, affects do not contradict reason. Activating and cognitive processes are complementary. Together, they filter the way we engage with people of different backgrounds. There will always be trade-offs between emotional sensations and cog‐ nitive considerations that guide reasoning and sense-making. Both components are, of course, hard to separate, but together, they support flexible, adaptive, and goal-directed responses. When working with people of different backgrounds, sometimes activating processes are dominant, sometimes cognitive processes. We respond more or less automatically to unfamiliar experiences once we become aware of different ways of doing things. This realisation can trigger all sorts of psychological, i.e. activating and cognitive processes. A look into the inside (emotion and thought) makes for a better understanding of what happens on the outside (behaviour). In this book, I see, thus, an invitation to self-reflect and adopt apprecia‐ tive perspectives in everyday communication. Through the lenses of environmental influences, psychological processes, and individual responses, and their interplay, it offers a more granular understanding of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of culturally unfamiliar situations. 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes Historically, much has been made of understanding cultural differences. There are a multitude of well-documented ways in which culture impacts the international world of work. Why, then, should we concern ourselves with such complex psychological processes when an abundance of frameworks is already available? At first blush, these already explain why individuals prefer certain ways of doing things but reject other alternatives, do they not? With the help of cultural frameworks like Hall or Hofstede, it can certainly be revealed which cultural aspects play a role in how people interpret the world around them, including relationship building (or barriers to developing links and trust). We might even be able to indirectly conclude how we could possibly work effectively with people of different backgrounds, as the Globe Leadership framework suggests. But we cannot be sure whether our assumptions or ideals are accurate, i.e. whether this or that response to differentness is better or not. Intercultural encounters are too complex; there are so many intra-psychic and inter-personal processes taking place that we must not rely on explanatory models at the macro-level that claim to understand entire areas of actions, behaviour, values, and attitudes. In a nutshell, cross-cultural frameworks might be good at structuring cross-cultural situations. Still, they do not necessarily work the other way around: It is a fallacy to believe that we can make assumptions about individual behaviour in cross-cultural situations from abstract and aggregate frameworks and, based on these, make inferences about how best to 70 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="71"?> respond (but see Erbring & Young, 1979). We can only speculate where preferences and expectations about how best to do things are truly coming from. Hence, a serious weakness of these frameworks is their cookie-cutter approach. They strip off context and individual virtues and vices from a particular culture. In doing so, they make otherness look deceptively easy to grasp and suggest a certain simplicity in dealing with these differences. In my years-long experience, this plainness (of cataloguing culture into x-number of bare-bone dimensions, on which countries then score either high or low, but from which individuals might deviate) inspires a rather careless use of patterns, resulting in basic assumptions along which cultural differences are then analysed. At the AIB conference in Nagoya in 2013, Geert Hofstede himself mentioned that his work is about group and not individual differences. As his seminal work focuses on variations at the national level, his data is, arguably, often misinterpreted, if not outright misused. This and the many frameworks that followed in Hofstede’s footsteps might do an excellent job of making us aware of the existence of cultural differences at the national level. Still, they certainly pay too little attention to subnational, let alone individual-level variations. When it comes to individual differences, they remain mute altogether and are, thus, hardly suitable for a more granular understanding of intercultural management. But to develop pragmatic and problem-solving strategies, we need to recognise that experiences of encounters with differentness are actually taking place at the individual level. People meet, not cultures! We respond more or less automatically to otherness once we become aware of different ways of doing things. This realisation can trigger all sorts of psychological, activating, and cognitive processes. A look into the inside (emotion and thought) makes for a better understanding of what happens on the outside (behaviour). The nature and impact of intercultural engagement are too diverse to be content with simplifications. We will see in the course of this chapter that complex psychological processes (usually consisting of affects, cognition, and their interplay) underpin our responses to differentness. Arguably, it makes sense to go beyond catalogued structures in and across cultural systems. Helpful as they may be, how people from different countries act in intercultural encounters might depend more on systematic individual biases rather than differences at the national level. We can, after all, never be sure why and how behaviour occurs: • Similar values might cause different behaviour. For instance, conceived wisdom suggests that it is better to keep one’s thoughts to oneself (i.e. not be open about your inner feelings) in some situations. Proverbs from across the world suggest that superfluous or inappropriate things are better left unsaid. The German proverb ‘Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold’ (Speech is silver, silence is gold) is quite similar to the Japanese ‘Tori wo nakazuba utaremaji’ (If the bird had not sung it wouldn’t have been shot) or the Arabic ‘Wackßid fi meschjicke wagdud min sawtick’ (Be humble and lower your voice). Such universally shared values might, however, surface in very different ways: Finns, for example, tend to hold back from displaying emotions as they prefer a ‘think before you speak’ approach. The 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes 71 <?page no="72"?> Dutch might come across as rather outspoken and honest. Still, the proverb ‘Lets bedekken met de mantel der liefde’ (Covering something with the cloak of love) suggests they also value reservedness. The British (though famously preferring to ‘keep calm and carry on,’ too) have a pattern of indirectly addressing their feelings. In Germany, letting someone else take the stage can be a form of self-assured modesty. All this suggests that these cultures share similar values but are likely to show them quite differently. • Different values might cause similar behaviour: What would you make of a junior colleague working very late, well beyond regular working hours? Assumptions around their work ethic depend on the cultural context in which such behaviour occurs. You might connect this work spirit to individualistic needs. They might be very enthusiastic about the task or job or put in extra effort for job advancement. A good professional position might serve financial or social needs (reputation, power, etc.). The same behaviour would be interpreted very differently in other parts of the world. People in Korea, for instance, work long hours because they feel obliged to give their all for the company (that is often seen through the lens of Confucianism). The term ‘Gwarosa’ (death by overwork) hints at extreme social pressures. By contrast, Mexicans, who statistically work the longest amongst OECD countries, have to do so because of the high demands of bureaucracy and inefficiencies. So, a potpourri of motivations might lead to quite similar behaviour. All this suggests that there is more to intercultural encounters than meets the eye. A person’s behaviour is affected not only by the norms and beliefs of the cultural environment but also by their individual makeup. A look at internal processes gives us a better sense of why we act the way we do. What is clear is that great care must be taken to understand the reasons for the manifold ways we adapt to otherness. A more granular understanding of individually different behaviour (in identical situations) and individually similar behaviour (in different situations) would enable us to develop pragmatic recommendations. Ultimately, cross-cultural management research is about questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ of culturally diverse conditions. Extant frameworks do not recognise personal characteristics of behaviour. Nor do they elaborate on predictions or generalisable recommendations about how to deal with people of other cultures effectively. However, the interplay between situational and intra-personal factors arguably plays a critical role in intercultural encounters. Exposure to otherness does something to us, and the strength of the activation essentially determines our emotional and mental experiences. These experiences, in turn, will likely affect how we see others and interact with them. A holistic approach, infusing humanistic ideas with neo-behaviouristic principles, might help us get a closer understanding of interactions between environmental influences and psychological processes that take place in the person. In contrast to classic cross-cultural framework models, that essentially overlook affects and cognitions (or even dismiss such touchy-feely aspects), I firmly believe that a focus on the inner workings of interlocutors can contribute greatly 72 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="73"?> to broadening and substantiating our understanding of the puzzles of intercultural encounters. Mapping Intercultural Encounters as S-O-R Processes A good way to explain different behaviour (in identical situations) and similar behav‐ iour (in different situations) is to think of intercultural encounters as interactions of environmental influences and psychological processes on the individual level. It seems plausible to assume that realisations of differentness act as a particular stimulus that hits us (sometimes more, sometimes less). This will provoke some form of reaction. In line with the neo-behaviouristic S-O-R paradigm, we can now map this process into a structural model with observable environmental stimuli (S), unobservable, internal mental processes (O for the organism) and, finally, observable reactions (R). As Figure 8 suggests, when thrown into an intercultural situation, the organism stands between the stimuli and the behaviour, reflecting how a person takes in those stimuli, processes them, and translates them into behaviour. Figure 8: Intercultural Encounters as Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Processes As a critical environmental characteristic, country cultures have served as indicators for underlying systematic differences in behaviour at work. This book takes a different approach. We extend assumptions of cultural differences to include internal mediating processes that can occur between the realisation of otherness and our reaction to these differences. In this view, we (human beings) are no longer somewhat powerless pawns in the face of group-level, cross-cultural environments but an organism that can distinguish between a range of external and internal stimuli according to subjective importance and evaluation. We decide for ourselves how we respond to and shape intercultural encounters. We can emphasise the relational aspects between ‘them’ and ‘us.’ Instead of just structuring situations along cultural dimensions, we recognise that most of our experiences with otherness are actually internal. By including the complex interplay of observable (stimuli, response) and unobservable, internal aspects, we move to a closer and more granular understanding of what otherness does to us and why and how we respond to culturally diverse situations: The same stimulus (e.g., physiological triggers such as taste, touch etc.) can lead to quite different behavioural patterns because other, unobservable processes take place within us. On the other hand, different 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes 73 <?page no="74"?> stimuli (e.g., different greeting formats such as a handshake, bowing, etc.) can lead to quite similar behavioural patterns. That is to say, including intrapsychic aspects takes processes surrounding intercultural encounters out of the black box and allows explorations beyond open, objectively observable behaviour. This is important, as a look at our internal workings opens the door to seriously thinking about our emotions, motivations, or attitudes (which, in turn, affect our be‐ haviour). To a great extent, applying S-O-R principles to intercultural communication issues can help us appreciate the reasons underpinning a person’s behaviour. Crucially, it does so in a somewhat structured way. We can look at intervening, non-observable variables such as emotions, motivations, or attitudes to understand how we interact with others and build relationships (or not). They impart knowledge about the process with which we encounter ourselves, others, and the world, and, in turn, drive the structure of this book (see Figure 1, in the Preface) While extant frameworks are quite good at explaining and predicting events surrounding intercultural encounters, they usually fall short of practical applications. Very few offer advice on how to deal with challenges from otherness (for instance, how to make contact, deal with disruptions and so forth). Ultimately, I have seen managers repeatedly downplay, fail to foresee, or plainly misunderstand the effects of culture on international activities. And, as we have seen, a communication breakdown is often the result of that. There is, thus, still considerable controversy surrounding techniques that may influence intercultural behaviour or help to better connect with others. This book feels committed to tracking down why that is the case and contributing to what might work best in interculturally challenging situations. Intercultural competence is not something ‘out there’ but starts with us. Few things are more valuable than self-reflection, which is ongoing self-talk about what you are experiencing when in unknown, ambiguous situations when working across cultures. Mapping encounters with people of different backgrounds as S-O-R directs attention to such individual experiences. Doing so enables us to find solutions to real-world problems in innovative and dynamic ways. As the saying goes, ‘There is nothing so practical as a good theory’ (Lewin, 1952). The neo-behaviourist backdrop of this book is intended to explain and predict how intercultural encounters unfold and find fruitful new avenues of dealing with otherness. A better understanding of ourselves and others helps assess responses to events involving people of different backgrounds and certainly lessens the dangers of misconceptions. Advantages of Intercultural S-O-R Mapping The basic idea of including interactions between environmental influences and psy‐ chological processes shifts attention to what we make of stimuli in intercultural encounters. A stimulus, which I define as an internal or external force that influences an individual (see Anon., 2023 f) here, reflects the characteristic of a culturally diverse situation that affects our internal psychological state. First, we must be aware, of course, 74 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="75"?> that potential differences exist and that these might affect us. Good or bad, these must be relevant or dear to us (otherwise, any form of arousal is rather unlikely). When in touch with people we perceive to be like us or find ourselves in well-practised situations, it is doubtful that this triggers some kind of emotional reaction (such as an increased heart rate or feeling energised). Intercultural encounters, however, can crack our shelter of cherished routines, and this might whirl our sense of agency. In the face of contradictory interpretations or different worldviews, we feel unprepared and perhaps even at a loss as to how to go about a situation (Bernstein, 1996; Horn, Sekiguchi, &Weiss, 2021). Changes in how we experience our environment (for instance, we stumble over a different way of doing things and are surprised by specific behaviour that does not make sense to us) can influence our psychological and emotional stability. Crucially, it is not the objective nature of the stimuli that makes for a response but instead our (subjective) evaluation of such incidences. That being said, people vary in how susceptible to sudden and unexpected realisations of differentness they are: what affects one person may not affect another. Sensitivity to otherness and insecurity as to how we usually go about things might depend on a range of factors, including (but not limited to) predispositions (e.g., being susceptible to ambiguity or volatility), autobiography (e.g., upbringing, life experiences), contextual factors (e.g., life-situation, importance of professional success), and so forth. Structuring Framework: When working across cultures, we are likely to expect hiccups, challenges, or opportunities. We may then consult frameworks in the hope that they prepare us for eventual differentness. Sure, these can give us a certain sense of security, as we feel at least somewhat prepared. Still, what we cannot predict is what these encounters actually do to us and whether we experience them as alarming or enriching. These stimuli affect our internal state once we pass a certain difference threshold. Our body and mind will respond. We take in those stimuli and process them. Our sensory experience might alter, and as we become consciously aware of differences, we attend to these stimuli. Physiologically, we might become more alert (not so dissimilar to our ancient ancestors; our body more or less automatically readies us to fight or to run). As we mobilise our body’s resources, our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate might increase. Your mind is also not immune to realisations of differentness. Because you feel overwhelmed by the situation, you start worrying, pondering, and attaching a negative emotion to an event, becoming unfocused, and so forth. But whether they are activating or cognitive processes: our internal workings are not observable. 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes 75 <?page no="76"?> Explore: Stage Fright Before shrugging off fight-flight responses in the context of intercultural en‐ counters, think of, for instance, giving an important presentation in English or even in a third foreign language. Public speaking, standing up in front of a crowd, can make you feel rather alone and naked. Your audience might turn on you and on what you have to say at any moment. Giving presentations is stressful for many of us, and our body often responds to these with blushing, pounding heart, breathlessness and so forth. In short, our body reacts to real or imagined dangers. Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash Your company intends to move into an emerging market. You have been tasked with a presentation to Brazilian state officials (when applying for this job ages ago, you mentioned in your CV that you have some Portuguese language skills). A lot depends on you doing a good job. Consider the following questions: • Would you feel stressed by such an outlook? Why? • Where, do you think, does this dread come from? • What might speaking Portuguese in front of Brazilian state officials and your own colleagues do to you? • How would your body react to such a situation? • Would you perhaps consider wriggling yourself out of giving the presenta‐ tion in Portuguese? Whenever we face inconceivable events which do not fit our standard routines, we wonder what this ambiguity might mean for us. As these sudden experiences rain down on us, we, that is, the organism (‘O’), stand between the stimuli and our response towards experiences of otherness. Arguably, the stronger the stimuli of differentness, the stronger our activation (that is, we become perceptually, physiologically, and 76 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="77"?> psychologically more and more alert to otherness), with significant implications for mobilising emotions - sometimes vague, sometimes strong - about what will happen. The arousal level then determines our intra-psychic state, emotional experiences, and cognitive performance. Sometimes, activating processes dominate, and sometimes, cognitive processes command the way we deal with intercultural situations. But once set in motion, our inner workings influence our behaviour. All this suggests that if we wish to understand why we act the way we do, we first need to know how the stimulus affects our mental state. Although the complexity of intercultural encounters makes it difficult to isolate single stimuli, we can distinguish between their strength: • Stimuli of cultural differences have to be relevant or dear to us. They require a certain minimum level to elicit some form of response. • The more we sense differences from cherished routines, the more activated we are. • When differences are so radically different that we have little hope of getting to grip with them, we are likely to feel overwhelmed - and as a result, we may stall. This internal processing of different stimuli can be conscious or unconscious, short or extended and trigger a response. This action or outcome is our observable behaviour vis-à-vis intercultural encounters. Seen through a neo-behaviouristic lens, our behav‐ iour in intercultural situations depends to a large extent on how we select and weigh up these stimuli. Intra-psychic processes intervene between realisations of differentness (e.g., slap on my shoulder as part of an interpersonal exchange) and reaction (e.g., taking a step back, creating distance). In between physical contact and withdrawal, there will be several internal processes taking place, including haptic sensations (shoulders), visual sensations (closeness), emotions (‘this does not feel right’), judgements (‘I think this is inappropriate’) and so forth. Our dialogue partner will, however, only see me taking a step back and perhaps a smile (out of courtesy, not wanting to disrupt harmony). In sum, my response does not immediately follow a stimulus. A myriad of internal processes is happening in the meantime, with this inner story triggering an emotion leading to my observable reaction (Table 2). Observable Stimulus Unobservable American Businessman Unobservable Asian Businessman Observable Reaction American business‐ man touches Asian part‐ ner on his shoulder, squeezing it firmly - • ‘I really appreciate this guy’s effort.’ • ‘I see in him a friend and buddy.’ • ‘I want to express my ap‐ preciation.’ • ‘I pat him on his shoulder.’ • Register of sensory im‐ pressions ▸ Haptic: ‘He is touching me! ’ ▸ Visual: ‘I see him coming closer! ’ • Emotions (surprise, fear, perhaps disgust) • Cognitions ▸ Outside horizon of experience and comfort zone Asian busi‐ nessman steps back from his American partner and smiles - 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes 77 <?page no="78"?> ▸ Judgement (‘This is inappropriate, at least in my home culture.’) ▸ Importance of maintaining con‐ tact (‘Shall I restrain my negative feel‐ ings? ’) Table 2: Observable und Unobservable Business Communication Complex and Subtle Forms of Behaviour: S-O-R models are helpful when we need to explain complex forms of behaviour. That is certainly the case when we think of the likelihood of communication breakdowns in the context of intercultural encounters. We often feel awkward and uncomfortable when working with people of different backgrounds. Often, their behaviour does not fully make sense to us as they challenge the core of what we consider good practice. If things go wrong (as they often do), we may perceive such differentness as threatening us and our status quo. Mapping encounters as S-O-Rs helps us zoom into all these internal stories that determine our reactions and interpersonal consequences. In doing so, such maps warn not to over-generalise culture and the implied (but uncertain) impact on individual behaviour. Cultural frameworks such as the one mentioned above might be useful in making clear, rather blatant examples of cultural differences, from co-workers always coming late to work to business negotiations being treated as a boys-only playground. Such assumptions certainly challenge how the world should work (in the eye of the beholder) or, in some instances, can be perceived as outright offensive. Such blatant forms of intercultural differences are usually quite easy to detect. Classic frameworks such as Hofstede, Trompenaars, or Hall remind us that if there is an interpersonal problem, we should zoom into cultural differences. These will guide us to make sense of alternative values, habits, customs, and lifestyles. They might even give us some confidence when we know we will meet people of different backgrounds. But such blatant forms of differences in cultures must not blind us to the abundance of more subtle, hard-to-detect ones. Sure, introductions to intercultural management are now part of business curricula across the world. Most managers no longer visit other countries without proper preparation. They rarely mock local business practices or use pejorative language (though exceptions prove the rule). These days, such troublesome practices are no longer acceptable in contemporary workplaces that take pride in intercultural training and commitment to diversity. However, there may still be traces of them: Managers might continue to ignore job applications of candidates whose names sound unfamiliar (or foreign) (Peters, 2022) or switch to their mother tongue the moment the official part of a meeting is over (thereby excluding certain workers from socialising). These latter behaviours are unintentional and are much harder to detect, let alone decode and remedy. 78 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="79"?> We might think of ourselves as affirming diversity and are sensitised to embracing the values of people of different backgrounds. Still, our unconscious response to otherness will not go away (at least not so easily). We are, thus, likely to continue to encounter stealthy and largely invisible forms of differentness rather than overt ones. For example, if a Japanese line manager tells a team member to behave more appropriately in no uncertain terms, ‘You aggressive woman! You better learn some humbleness! ’ it’s relatively easy to recognise the root of such gendered role expecta‐ tions: Cultural bias. However, suppose the line manager asks the female (European) employee to take herself back a bit and instead discretely observe negotiations with the Japanese headquarters. In that case, the call for a more restrained participation in a business meeting is less clear. She may ponder such directions in multifarious ways, but none is healthy: ‘Why is he asking me this? Is it because I am a woman? ’ ‘Is it because I am more junior than others? ’ or ‘Is it because I am a member of the subsidiary? ’ In ambiguous situations, we try to make sense of why people treat us the way they do, and ethnocentrism (by stealth) is still rather destructive. It does not take much to upset effective communication. As bias plays out, interpretations of what is happening around us handicap our day-to-day functioning. Sure, subtle or blatant, people are unlikely to experience bias similarly. The strength of these effects should, therefore, be moderated by internal or intrapsychic processes. Mapping unnerving encounters as S-O-R should be instructive as to how individuals differ in how they size up subtle forms of differences and deal with the pressures of communicating across cultures. Explore: Puzzled in Ankara When heads of state meet, procedures and processes are well pre-planned. Diplomatic etiquette dictates topics, seating arrangements, and so forth. Mistakes and cultural blunders are rare. When meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2021, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was not to sit next to the Turkish head of state. While EU Council President Charles Michel was to sit side by side with the Turkish President, the first female President of the EU Commission had to take a seat on one of two sofas, in clear distance to the two gentlemen. Close observers would comment that this seating arrangement was misogynous and happened on purpose. Consider the following questions: • Cultural differences can be in plain sight and, no doubt, very hurtful. Have you noticed similar, rather obvious ways in which your cultural assumptions have been challenged? What did this do to you? • Visit https: / / www.hofstede-insights.com or www.thtconsulting.com for in‐ formation about cultural dimensions and country differences. How and to what extent are they helpful in explaining the state visits’ seating arrange‐ ments and participant behaviour (French, German, Turkish)? 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes 79 <?page no="80"?> Pragmatic Orientation: Many organisations quietly assume that we are ‘intercul‐ turally fluent’ and, as a consequence, may overlook that unconscious responses to otherness still complicate much of our professional lives. We quickly reach our limits when being confronted with otherness, and the use of the S-O-R framework offers opportunities to structure, analyse, and understand intercultural encounters: 1. Including internal psychological processes helps uncover their complexity and moves us closer to capturing situations involving people of different backgrounds more realistically. There is meaning behind everything we say and do. Such pat‐ terns are hardly visible through the lens of explanatory models at the macro level (however large the sample size). Once we understand the nature of misconceptions (and perhaps conflict), we can consider whether and to what extent translating otherness may or may not be appropriate. 2. S-O-R modelling also refers to the behavioural dimension of intercultural encoun‐ ters. Intrapsychic processes determine how we construct our environment and thus have significant effects on how we relate to others. Accordingly, we must not forget that S-O-R also has a lot to say about social activities involving the recognition of feelings of others and, in light of this, appropriate behaviour. By implication, it carries a humanistic understanding of intercultural engagement based on appreciative relationships, dialogue, and growth. It thus offers the opportunity for self-reflection. 3. Finally, S-O-R is more than a theory-driven scaffold for making sense of intercul‐ tural encounters. There is also a very pragmatic facet to it. As it breaks intercultural encounters down into environmental influences, psychological processes, and individual responses, it combines theory with recommendations for practice, for instance, how to deal with ‘threats’ of communication breakdowns or how to improve one’s own communicative skills. To stay with the example of subtle bias, attending to emotionally loaded and potentially upsetting situations could suggest the use of empathy-related techniques (like perspective taking), de-escalating practices (like nonviolent communication) or social learning (like theme-centred interaction). Think About: A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing (Alexander Pope, 1688) Many of us think they are quite sensitive and open to cultural nuances. Sadly, we often overestimate our abilities to truly read between the lines and get to the crux of things when something is culturally off. In such situations, we are often unable or unwilling to appreciate the extent of our incompetence. Other (more knowledgeable) persons might pull their hair out in light of your ignorance. Now imagine you are working for an internationally operating company with a subsidiary in Qatar. Not for the first time, your Qatari colleague makes the point ‘that things are just done differently’ over there. As usual, he has hinted that the best way to understand local consumer culture is to speak directly with users of 80 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="81"?> your company’s products and perhaps even live with them for a while. In his eyes, marketing research is an executive-level job. According to him, the analyses of even the best agencies must not be trusted. While you fully appreciate invisible cultural differences (or at least think you do), you cannot believe what you hear. Your firm pays a lot of money to internationally operating market research firms. Surely, their work can be trusted even in Qatar! Living some time with a local family so that I can truly understand how our products are used and seen? Pah! I know best because I was part of the product development team. Photo by Florian Wehde on Unsplash Discuss in small groups: • Step into the shoes of the Qatari employee. What do you do when others cannot or do not want to grasp cultural differences? His knowledge of the local market is clearly superior. He should know best what works and what works not when it comes to a better understanding of local consumer habits. How can he make clear his deep insights to you (as his line manager who apparently thinks very highly of himself and his expertise? • We cannot handle things if we can name them. If I can’t articulate what bothers us and, based on this, what can be done better, then I remain caught in frustration. Can the S-O-R framework help identify the source of misunderstanding? In sum, this book wants to track down experiences with unfamiliar others. The S-O-R approach reflects this ambition. First, we will deal with the antecedents of intercultural encounters and how they set internal processes in motion. Second, zooming in on the inner workings offers a fuller understanding of all the complex things inside us. Emotional sensations and cognitive considerations eventually affect how we respond 3.1 Intercultural Encounters as Interaction Between Environmental Influences and Psychological Processes 81 <?page no="82"?> to cross-cultural encounters. Third, the breakdown of communication is, more often than not, a result of very subtle signals. We are all different in picking up and digesting these not-so-obvious signals. S-O-R models help explain resultant variations of behaviour. Fourth, there is something very pragmatic about structuring intercultural encounters as individual experiences being couched between environmental influences and behaviour. We can reflect and learn from this theory-driven breakdown of intercultural interactions and eventually improve our own actions vis-à-vis others. Think About: Banquette in Chongqing In China, there is a saying that ‘Westerns dance when there is something to celebrate, while Chinese people go out and eat.’ So, it is no surprise to you that you have been invited to a banquette to celebrate successful joint-venture negotiations between your company (an Austrian metal goods manufacturer) and a Chinese furniture conglomerate based in Chongqing, China. As part of the celebrations, you are, of course, also treated to many local delicacies, including Chongqing Hot Pot. However, this local cuisine and culture showcase dish is not for the faint-hearted. Next to numerous veggies and condiments, it comes with pig blood and duck offal. It is customary to lift the intestines up and down 7 - 8 times in a boiling hot pot just so that they curl up and have the right texture (Chinese appreciate texture as much as the taste of food). Usually, you are not that squeamish when it comes to food. And, of course, you are aware that ‘food’ is a window to culture. It would not only be impolite not to taste the Hotpot, but you would also openly snub local heritage and culture. Photo by Peijia Li on Unsplash Discuss in small groups: • As a European guest, how would you react in this situation? • Can you ‘map’ the situation as a SOR model? What would be the (physiolog‐ ical) stimulus (S), the organism (O) and the response (R)? 82 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="83"?> • Are there perhaps other stimuli at play? • Now, think about other guests that may join the banquette. Your legal advisory team, one German and Japanese partner, has also been invited. How do you think they would react to the offer of Chongqing hot pot? 3.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Cultural differences often involve conflicting standpoints. Often, conflict leads to mutual dismissal, does it not? However, classifying culture as a nuisance and disturb‐ ance is a relatively simple way out of conflict. We might as well think about ‘alien’ standpoints in more constructive ways. Doing so can expand our emotional, cognitive, and behavioural ranges. In her seminal work on learning in groups, psychotherapist Ruth Cohn (1975) developed ‘theme-centred interaction’ (TCI) as a way of bringing conflicts to light through engagement with the strange (to us), through dialogue, and through the experience of mutual understanding. Cohn’s basic idea was that conflicts arise either from things that happened or from things that did not happen (see DIE, 2023). She realised that all are part of the situation (sure! ) and, thus, part of the problem (surprising to many! ), a good starting point for self-reflection and conflict resolution. TCI is based on the assumption that four internal and external factors determine cooperation and competition in groups: • I (individuals and their physical, emotional, and cognitive needs): Their biography and form on the day affects how participants perceive and interpret what is going on around them. • We (relationships between interactants): The group brings together people of different ways of life. Some of them feel close to each other, others not. Together, like an organism, they create their own worldviews. • It (theme, occasion, or task): There is always a reason why people come together and group forms. Each member contributes something to tackle the task. • Globe (the environment). People come together in a wider organisational, social, and cultural context. Inevitably, these forces affect group and work dynamics. Cohn then formulated three axioms, all echoing her humanistic perspective on communication: Autonomy: We are all a psycho-biological entity; The more we are aware of our mutual interdependence with what happens around us, the more autonomous we are. Appreciation: The humane is valuable; the inhumane is perceived as threatening. We should, thus, show respect to everything alive. From this respect, we grow our evaluations and decisions. Expanding Borders: Free decisions take place with certain internal and external boundaries. We can develop these boundaries. 3.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 83 <?page no="84"?> Two postulates of TCI offer guidance on how we can integrate members, lead groups, and navigate tasks. First, we need to recognise that we are personally responsible. The call ‘Be your own chairman! ’ suggests that we should be aware of who we are, where we come from and what happens around us. Our decisions affect ourselves and those around us. We have ownership over our choices. Second, conflicts are normal and a natural part of group processes. Once disturbances occur, they should take priority. According to Cohn, they would not happen were they not important. As they stand in the way of achieving group goals, we should explore how to overcome them. She suggests we consider them as learning opportunities because we might have overlooked or repressed something relevant. From all this flow, ‘auxiliary rules’ that help us put TCI into practice (RCI, 2003): 1. Represent yourself when you speak; speak in the ‘I’ form, and do not use ‘we’ or ‘one.’ 2. When you ask a question, say why you asked and what the question means to you. Speak for yourself and avoid an interview. 3. Be authentic and selective in your communications! 4. Hold back on interpretations of others. You should express your personal reactions instead. 5. Hold back on generalisations. 6. When you say something about another person, also tell what it means to you. 7. Private exchanges take priority. They interfere and are usually important. 8. Only one person at a time should speak! Though distinct from the model (its humanistic approach has been hailed as a third way, couched between psychoanalysis and behaviourism), both (i) look at environmental influences and psychological processes and (ii) have introspection and independence at its core. TCI is an excellent method for designing group work. Team members are of different cultural backgrounds. One way of using it is in flashlight: We ask participants to share their thoughts on a specific topic (theme, or ‘it’). They should share their ideas freely. We can rethink group work and redesign a course of action from this feedback. Exercise 1: Project Leader Let’s apply this method to an intercultural situation: Imagine you are a project leader tasked with developing a new service portfolio for an international client. Your team comprises five members, each from different parts of the world. You have collated this team with an eye to the specific, highly valuable skills they will bring to the table. After the first couple of meetings, you feel that the group’s enthusiasm seems waning. You are concerned with the project’s overall success and call in a group meeting. Can you apply the TCI model when preparing for the meeting? Start with considering the four factors that determine cooperation and competition in groups. You could then prepare questions about how members’ affective states 84 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="85"?> stand potentially in the way of turning the project into a success. As a leader, you must take yourself back for the moment. It goes without saying that you should take each comment and each standpoint seriously. As a team leader, your job is summarising the discussion fairly without taking sides. It is now time to explore what can be done to push the project forward. Though there might be many ideas flying around, you all should agree on a course of action that is both realistic and pragmatic. Perhaps you can write down both what has been agreed upon and, connected to this, any action points that need to be looked after. Exercise 2: Languages at Work You are an Indian professional working for an Austrian company. You have only recently arrived at the firm’s headquarters in Vorarlberg. Although you have been learning some German prior to coming to Austria, it is nowhere near business proficiency. Luckily, the colleagues in your team speak English at a very high level. And indeed, during group meetings, the team sticks to the corporate language policy: In the presence of non-native German speakers, staff should cease speaking German and use English instead. Nevertheless, and in spite of all these efforts, you feel frustrated. While your colleagues use English during meetings, they instantly switch to their mother tongue once the official part of the meeting is over. On their way in and out of the meeting, you do not understand a word of what is going on around you! Of course, you could study more German, and you are quite sure that your colleagues would appreciate your efforts, but this can only be a long-term solution. • What advice would you give to the Indian colleague to get on top of the frustrating situation? • How, do you think, would Ruth Cohn assess the situation? Divide into groups of four or five. Then, follow these steps: • A group member steps into the shoes of the Indian colleague and prepares a short speech of 2-3 minutes in which the issue is addressed. The others listen to the talk. • Now, the audience asks clarifying questions, which the presenter answers. • The audience then gives feedback to the speech. The presenter listens. • Together, the presenter and audience discuss what can best be done about the issues raised (‘How can I achieve x? ’). • The presenter and audience jointly explore solutions. 3.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 85 <?page no="86"?> Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? Use Extant Cultural Frameworks With Care Historically, much has been made of extant cultural frameworks. Seven reasons quickly stand out as to why we should be cautious when using them to make sense of intercultural situations: First, they are conceived at the national level, not at the individual level. Although groups can affect the dispositions and behaviour of their members, exactly how the transfer of values and assumptions might take place in the case of cultural variables is still unclear. Second, socio-geographies are far too dynamic for culture to be bounded by national borders. Third, they do not account for the, at times, substantial sub-national variations. Fourth, with few exceptions, much of the data needs to be updated. The social world has moved on since many models have been conceived and their data collected. Fifth, extant frameworks move about at a very high level of abstraction. They remain rather crude when it comes to practical recommendations about how to deal with cultural differences. Sixth, and perhaps most importantly, we can rarely isolate ‘culture’ as the one and only factor responsible for how intercultural interactions pan out. Seventh, when frictions do occur, pinpointing them solely to the cultural background of a person can be a dangerous thing. In short, while extant cultural frameworks have made, no doubt, outstanding contributions to theorizing about cultural dimensions and differences, their abstractness and aloofness make them poor predictors of individual behaviour. Mapping Intercultural Encounters as Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Patterns The principal aim of this book is to explore what unfamiliar ways of doing things do to us. The best way to achieve this is to give experiences with departures from cherished practices a sound theoretical grounding. A good starting point is affective and cognitive processes. They matter greatly when we are in touch with people of different cultural backgrounds. We are no robots that mechanically respond to what is happening around us. Our responses are much more complex as we cannot help but respond with emotions and thinking about the social world. By emphasizing the mental processes with which we construe our environment, neo-behaviourist S-O-R modelling is a near choice to appreciate the strength and direction of intercultural behaviour. S-O-R models capture the interplay between stimuli (S), the cognition and emotion of people (O), and the resultant response to the stimulus (R). In the context of this book, experiences with intercultural encounters are stimuli that trigger psychological processes. Our behaviour, therefore, is not random but the result of these interactions: (i) sensations of differences stimulate internal or intrapsychic processes; (ii) they help us to take these sensations in, and (iii) adjust to them. The advantage of grounding intercultural encounters in S-O-R perspectives is that it firmly locates intercultural leadership at the individual level. This neo-behaviourist backdrop invites the exploration of emotions, motivations, and attitudes as essential components of understanding intercultural behaviour. 86 3 A Neo-behavioural Approach to Intercultural Encounters <?page no="87"?> 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds Opening Vignette Slab from Cornelius Tacitus’ funerary Photo by Nick Thompson on Flickr In 98 A.D., the Roman historian Tacitus published the political ethnography ‘Germania’ (De Origine et Situ Germanorum), describing the Northern neighbours’ habits, customs, and lifestyles. It was published in the heyday of the Roman Empire. At this time, Rome saw its greatest geographic expansion, exerting cultural, military, and political influence from Scotland to North Africa and from Portugal to the Middle East. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest 90 years earlier may have been one of the greatest defeats of the Roman army, but now the borders to Germania were largely fixed and secure. Tacitus knew that there was not one Germania but rather a hodgepodge of smaller tribes. Some of them were sympathetic to the superpower in the South, others less so. With no central and organised power, Germania was no immediate threat, but the unfamiliar worlds of the Germanic tribes appeared to have struck a chord with him. Members of these tribes he described as tall, blue-eyed, and red-haired with fierce looks, impatient and prone to outbursts. He assumed that the cold and wet climate must have hardened the Germanic demeanour. The features of the lands meant that the <?page no="88"?> Germanic people were ‘accustomed to cold and hunger.’ Why would anybody care to settle in such unhospitable lands? In a mix of awe and loath, Tacitus observes their power distance (relationships are based on respect and bravery), masculinity (wearing weapons day in and day out) or sense of others (making no difference between strangers and acquaintances). At the same time, he paints Germanic tribes as somewhat outlandish as they lacked aesthetics (nakedness, wearing a mantle fastened with a thorn; the women expose the upper part of their breast), restraint (drinking alcohol day and night, without intermission), or engineering skills (resorting to short and narrow iron tips on their javelins). Some tribes practised human sacrifices to appease their gods. He also attests to some flaws in character, in that they have little stamina and are sensitive to thirst and heat. Punctuality is not their strongest point. The group, however, seems to count more than the individual. Tacitus writes that during battle, their spouses are always near (to give their husbands strength). Germanic tribes are astonishingly egalitarian. They can do without authoritarian leadership. In town hall meetings at the new moon, all members have their say when discussing consequential matters. Status symbols do not mark the relationship between the individual and the collective, for Germanic people do not care for possessions. Maybe you are surprised to learn, that Tacitus had never visited Germania. He would have perceived an in situ ethnographic study of German tribes as absurd. Instead, he relied solely on available accounts of third parties (presumably all in Latin). He might, thus, have got some details right, but we must not get carried away by an overly accurate portrayal. What is remarkable, however, is that Tacitus tried to make sense of the unfamiliar and explored the differences between the two cultures. Yes, he looked at the Germanic people as one unified culture and described the physiological similarities. Yet he was acutely aware of tribal variations in customs. Also, he moved beyond the merely visible aspects of a culture. He went on to look at the social fabric of Germanic society. He explored how the tribes related to time, space, and others. In many ways, his ethnocentric perspectives are strikingly modern. With great conciseness and an eye for detail, he dissects the different cultural backgrounds and takes us on a journey of how life and living in Germania might have looked like. Of course, the dimensions widely used today were unknown to Tacitus. Still, he made the unfamiliar familiar to the reader by looking at core themes of comparison that made Germanic people look surprisingly human (and not like savages). The reader can relate to how Germanic culture dealt with uncertainty (religious practices), what values they cherished, and how core beliefs transcended social arrangements. We can only speculate what motivated Tacitus to write this 40-page portrait (the only fully preserved ethnographic study of that time). Some believe he used the Germanic tribes as a cultural mirror to lament the increasingly decadent life in ancient Rome. His writing is of great respect for the Germanic tribes’ bravery and a life devoid of any luxury. However, in spite of all these tributes, Tacitus cannot 88 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="89"?> get out of his Roman skin. Essentially, he defines Roman culture as a yardstick with which he compares to what he must have seen as lesser cultures. Tacitus looks at Germanic culture through somewhat pretentious lenses and inflated confidence. His quick judgements tap into many of the cliches of Barbarian life up north, juxtaposing the ‘civilised’ and ‘uncivilised’ worlds of the two people. His ethnographic study might be imperfect, but his reflections and astute observations remain an outstanding attempt at making sense of an unfamiliar, alien world. Sources: Staedele, 1994; Tacitus, 2023a,b. Critical Thinking: • What could have motivated Tacitus to write his book? • What fundamental themes of life and living has Tacitus uncovered? • How did they help him compare his Roman culture to that of the Germans? • Do you think that cultures are fundamentally comparable? • How can a look into the past deepen our appreciation of cultural variations now? • How are ethnographic studies in the ancient world the same or different from cultural comparisons today? Our timeline review in Chapter 2 revealed that a higher complexity of international business activities came with a higher need for network coordination and integration (e.g., structural arrangements, linkages, responsibilities and so forth). Growing con‐ cerns for soft aspects of management dovetailed. Over six distinct periods, the role of culture in international business research and practice became gradually clearer. Firms needed to find solutions to continually emerging new contingent stages of internationalisation. Over time, the operating environment became more complex and uncertain for firms, with culture (in all its forms and facets) directly and indirectly affecting the dynamics inside and outside of multinational enterprises. With each iteration, attention shifted from the macroto the micro-level, from country differences to orientations towards employees and tasks. Essential themes included how and to what extent things are done differently in other environments (country level). In an ever-expanding operating environment, how can organisations not lose oversight and continue to link up (organisation level)? How do cross-cultural groups best fulfil tasks (group level)? How do we as individuals fit into global competition (employee level)? What does the fine-slicing of operations mean for the practical importance of language (task level)? In short, concerns about differences and similarities between people of different cultural backgrounds contributed to today’s high-resolution picture of management at the juncture of people’s behaviour and international context. Since its inception, cross-cultural management has maintained relevance by tackling phenomena that purely rationalistic economic approaches were poorly equipped to address. Today, cross-cultural management is something that everybody talks about. Firms identify 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds 89 <?page no="90"?> with, or are at the very least aware of, the repercussions of cultural differences affecting strategies, structures, operations, and leadership, amongst other things. Before sending staff on assignments abroad, they are thoroughly tested for their intercultural suitability, including whether (or not) they are okay with ambiguity, have the right personality profile, or bring along the right attitude (for instance, deal with strange habits or food). Sensitised to the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce, many firms now use a common corporate language (usually English) for smoother communication and performance. New impulses come from experiments with chains of command, as firms empower project management through collaborative leadership that builds cross-cultural learning. Due to the complexity, cross-cultural management research taps into many disci‐ plines, ranging from diverse domains such as anthropology, linguistics, social sciences, or psychology. As a result of this multi-disciplinarity, it was not always easy to find resonance in international business. Some contributions took time for their added value to be appreciated, while others had an immediate and genuine practical relevance. Nevertheless, the domain has, as a whole, been successful in offering guidance to firms embroiled in ever-greater challenges from intercultural intricacies. Significant and lasting impulses came from five management-oriented approaches to culture. We will now have a closer look at different possibilities to distinguish and compare cultures: 4.1 Edward T. Hall (1959) The cultural anthropologist was from very early on exposed to many different cultures at home (he was brought up in New Mexico and worked for the US Indian Service, which brought him in contact with natives of Hopi and Navajo tribes) and abroad (as part of his work for the Foreign Service and secondments during World War II). These life experiences spurred his interest in interactions between people of different cultures. This and his training brought him in contact with pioneers in the fields of anthropology (Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict), linguistics (Edward Sapir, Benjamin Lee Whorf) and psychology (Erich Fromm). They inspired his interdisciplinary and applied approach to ‘intercultural communication’ (a term he coined in his book The Silent Language). He broke with the anthropological tradition of exploring one single culture in great detail. Instead, he focused on what happens when people communicate across cultures. His work’s roots in anthropology, linguistics, and psychology clearly shine through. To him, ‘culture is communication, and communication is culture.’ Crucially, practical application and usefulness of his work were dear to him. His Foreign Service training manual (jointly developed with linguist George L. Trager) was designed to help trainees become more effective when interacting with people with a different culture than their own. His applied approach also showed in the engaging delivery of programs, participatory training methods and the involvement of native speakers as language instructors (which, at the time, was considered somewhat revolutionary). 90 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="91"?> Conceptually, Hall believed that cultures can best and perhaps only be understood from within. That is, cultures differ fundamentally from one another, and this is a good thing. According to him, we must not judge others based on our own moral codes and cultural values. Naturally, such cultural relativism did not go so easily with etic viewpoints. This, then and now, dominant position in the field of business studies searched for insights that could be universally applied across cultures. In spite of this mismatch in objectives, he widened the scope of cultural explorations and the role of language within these. He made the very relevant point that language connects the inner and outer worlds. There are many ‘out-of-awareness’ aspects in the way we communicate (both verbal and non-verbal) that reveal a fundamental (and more often than not hidden) belief in people, space, and time. Only in-group members (people from the same culture) are able to understand what we want to convey fully. Such critical insights might not have resonated with business thinking at the time but were to play a significant role in inspiring the practice of management (with the so-called cultural turn from the 1980s onward). According to Hall, there are three principal categories to interpret people’s commu‐ nications and interactions between cultures: How people make sense of others, time, and space (both physically and symbolically). People (Context): How we relate to those around us depends on the extent to which we feel we share the same context or body of knowledge. The way we make use of language reflects these basic assumptions. According to Hall, cultures are either high or low in context (compared to other cultures). People of high-context cultures tend to see themselves as part of a larger group. They assume that there is a large pool of shared meaning and reference points all members can tap into. By extension, communication can be implicit, indirect, and layered. Words are used sparsely. In fact, there is the expectation that those around one are sensitive to unspoken nonverbal messages. That means it is not so much about what people are saying but how and in what context things are said. By contrast, people of low-context cultures see the world through a lens of individual needs and wants. When talking to others, they assume little overlap in reference points. Under these circumstances, with low levels of shared meaning, they must quickly get to the point and beat not around the bush. Directness in thought and word is thought to be all-important for successful communication. In low-context environments, it would not cross people’s minds that there is hidden meaning behind what is said (or not said) and that there could be additional non-verbal clues. Table 3 presents conceptualisations surrounding the question of how we relate to others. Our communication conduct (both verbally and non-verbally) flows from our value expectations. These, in turn, provide the context for each category. 4.1 Edward T. Hall (1959) 91 <?page no="92"?> Relationship with others Intercultural communication How should we assess strangers? • Human nature is basically good: Unknown people are considered favourably; • Human nature is basically evil: Unknown people are treated with suspicion. Who should be considered trustworthy? • Perceptions of age: Older (younger) people are viewed favourably; • Gender: Genders differ in capabilities or not; • Social class: The emphasis on social class is attributed to wealth or birth. Appraising oneself: To give the correct appearance, one should display • Low/ high self-esteem: Shy and modest versus extrovert and arrogant; • Low/ high potency: Power should be hidden versus shown; • Low/ high activity: Busy or unoccupied/ idle people are well regarded. Relating to the individual or group • Independence: The individual as an autonomous, inde‐ pendent entity is the basis of society; • Interdependence: People are an integral part of their group, which is the basic unit of society. Table 3: Imagining Others Time: Hall believed that cultures differ also in their sense of time. In the chapter ‘Time Talks,’ he distinguishes between technical, formal, and informal perceptions of time. A technical understanding of time is a domain for specialists (for instance, that of the astronomer who can precisely determine the length of a year or that of a priest who would be able to predict floods). A formal understanding of time breaks it down into systematic sets, for instance, years, seasons, night-day etc. However, an informal account of time depends on the person, context, and traditions. The way we talk about time, then, is full of subtleties both in private (‘When will we be there? Soon! ’) and in our professional lives (‘Hand in your report by close of play’). Clearly, there is much more going on than what is actually being said, and only in-group members will fully understand what is meant. As we grow up, we become sensitised to all the layers and nuances of time in our society. Over time, we develop a highly complex picture of social time. There is no clear-cut definition, but we simply ‘know’ when to take things easy or need to speed up, what it means to be early, on time, or late, or whether we should cherish the past, the present or the future. Deadlines indicate urgency (economicity of time), schedules signal certain flows of activities (linearity of time), and glorifications of old days show the past giving a sense of identity (temporal orientation). In sum, cultural differences can be found in how we think, behave, and talk about time. These local rules are usually a closed book to all those not brought up in the same culture. As communication in all forms and shapes influences our realities, language is usually a good starting point to uncover time perceptions. 92 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="93"?> Think About: History of the Chinese Character 時 The Chinese character for ‘time’ (or Ji) has undergone many iterations. Initially, the pictogram combined the characters for ‘to sustain’ at the top and ‘sun’ at the bottom. Today, it is usually combined with the Chinese character ‘inbetween’ (or Kan). Together, they imply a phenomenon of ‘flow’ that connects the past with the present and the future. At the same time, the characters also come with notions of seasonality and ongoing transitions of months and days. In other words, time in Japan is about constant movement; everything is in flux. Noriko Williams (2016) Talking about the future can be a tricky undertaking in some Asian languages. No grammar would allow for transforming a verb into the future tense. Nevertheless, you can use auxiliary terms that imply you are talking about events that have not happened yet. Discuss in small groups: • How do you talk about the future in your mother tongue? • What grammatical structures does your language have to talk about the future? Are the similar or dissimilar to English? Fundamentally, Hall distinguished between monochronic and polychronic cultures. Monochronic approaches are guided by a linear understanding of time. M-time people think of time as a continuum that can be fine-sliced. Activities, then, are lined up one after the other. These must be completed before moving on to the next. Sequencing time formally and technically also means that we will start planning for events the earlier, the more important they are (using milestones, workflows, etc.). Polychronic approaches, by comparison, deal with events as they happen. From this perspective, time flows are unpredictable anyway, so planning ahead makes little sense. One must stay as flexible as possible. In P-time, interacting with people is more important than fixed schedules. In fact, we can jump from one task to the other (and back) without them being completed. Although Hall’s monochronic and polychronic conceptions help explain different interpretations of time across cultures, they are not ironbound. People might move in between these time models depending on circumstances. While operating in interna‐ tional business environments, we might switch to a monochronic behaviour (including using English as lingua franca, which in itself might alter our interpretations of time). 4.1 Edward T. Hall (1959) 93 <?page no="94"?> When among our in-group members again, we may slip back into our accustomed vocabulary of time. Explore: Time as a Human Invention Swedish and Spanish speakers talk about time differently. This influences the two country’s experience of time. The Swedish language captures time units in terms of distances (e.g., ‘wait a short time’). The Spanish language, by contrast, captures units of time in terms of size or volume (‘a day is full’); that is, time is more of a container that fills up than a distance that is covered. In a series of experiments, it was shown that languages represent duration differently and that this interfered with experiences of time. Swedish Aymara (South America) Chinese Front time (‘Framtid’) Sth. that is ahead of us Behind time (‘Qhipuru’) Sth. that cannot be seen Up (‘Shang’), i.e. earlier or past Down (‘Xiá’), i.e. later or future Linear & horizontal metaphors of time Linear & vertical metaphors of time Past Future Future Past Past Future Source: Athanasopoulos, n.d. Talking about the future (time that is yet to happen) Source: Voss & Blackmon, 1998; Mauthner, 1923. 94 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="95"?> Contrast these to how the Pirah-, indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil talk about time: Their language does without any markers of the past and hardly refers to what might happen in the future. As a result of that, their lived experiences focus on the here and now (Bredow, 2006). Likewise, the Japanese language does not have dedicated verb flections expressing the future tense. Instead, it makes do with a combination of the present tense with time or intention markers, especially indicators of probability or beliefs. This corresponds with an immediacy of experiences in the here and now (with the presence being rooted in the simultaneous influence of the past and the future). Consider the following questions: • Talking about the future (time that is yet to happen): What would be a typical answer in your mother tongue if you were to ask a taxi driver how far the airport is from your location? • If people speak and think about time differently, varying perceptions towards a range of work-related issues are likely, for instance, in terms of ○ Punctuality ○ Work ethic ○ Deadlines ○ Sense of urgency ○ Relationship building ○ Decision making Discuss in small groups the potential implications for managers. Space: Hall also realised that people look at space differently in different parts of the world. In what he called proxemics, he highlighted the importance of social distance (how people make sense of space and distance between people as they interact) and territoriality (how people mark and set boundaries and take ownership and control over space). Just like language, the chapter ‘Space speaks’ clarifies how we use space and is loaded with basic assumptions. Representations of space, thus, reveal a particular universe (that can only be understood when born and raised in that respective culture). Each of us lives in our own ‘space bubble,’ which varies in size depending on intimate (reserved for lovers, children, and family), personal (conversations with friends and associates), social (interacting with people unknown to one), and public situations (long range for large audiences). Depending on where we grew up, we develop a sensory world for an appropriate distance for each situation. Such social distance considerations would include senses such as sight (how close-up we see the other), sound (how loudly others speak), touch (do we allow others to touch us? ) or smell (how about personal odours of others? ). This language of space and the extent to which we are okay with others encroaching on our space bubble differs wherever one goes. Some cultures have a low need for territory. 4.1 Edward T. Hall (1959) 95 <?page no="96"?> Here, people tend to stand closer to each other and, thus, allow sensory exchanges. At work, open-plan offices with flexible workspaces would require employees to be at ease with co-workers being close by (and not having an assigned seat, nameplates, etc.). Sharing space can also be quite abstract, as it may extend to fuzzier boundaries of leadership, group-based decision-making, or socializing outside regular work hours. In cultures, however, where there is a high need for territory comfort zones, respect for private space is valued. People like to keep others physically at a distance, and only close friends are allowed to intrude into this comfort zone. At work, open-plan office ideals of shorter and open communication channels are offset by the wide variety of individual needs of people. Encroaching sensory space (noise levels, privacy, feelings of being observed) then harbours significant potential for conflict. In high territorial cultures, personal space at work is seen as an expression of professional status. Having one’s own office, preferably in the corner of a building (with a window) or on one of the upper floors, gives one the air of success. In private life, space can be a mirror of personality. A car, for instance, is often much more than just a means of transportation. It is a bulwark against the outside world. Roads turn into a stage for one’s position in society. 4.2 Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961 Explore: Job Interview You have been invited for a job interview. You arrive a few minutes before the arranged time but announce that you are already here. The receptionist sends you to one of the upper floors, where an HR officer greets you. He tells you your contact person is still busy but brings you to a meeting room where you should wait 5 minutes. There you find a sofa and two armchairs; a window offers lovely views of a nearby park. What do you do? Anthropologists Florence Kluckhohn and Frederick Strodtbeck’s values orientation theory has fundamentally shaped research on culture. From their fieldwork on com‐ munities in the southwestern part of the United States, they identified five basic 96 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="97"?> practices and values surrounding people, space, and time. All communities and people within them have basic (and universal) assumptions about what to make of the resultant problems. For conceptual purposes, they treated these issues as dichotomous. That is, to each problem, there are two extreme responses. People respond to these modalities on a continuous scale, from negative to positive. Thus, they created a blueprint for uncovering similarities and differences between human beings from differing cultural backgrounds. Every society develops preferred ways of dealing with the five fundamental challenges. These, in turn, provide orientation for members of its respective members (either stimulating or restraining particular individual, culture-specific behaviour): • What do we make of others (or what is the ‘nature of human nature’)? People might be good, bad, or a mixture of both. We see in others people who are primarily self-centred and keen to protect their self-interests. Consequently, people are constantly competing with each other (or, as English philosopher Thomas Hobbes put it, ‘A man is a wolf to another man’). Or we fundamentally believe others to be good and trustworthy. Harm from them is, therefore, unlikely. In line with French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rosseau’s understanding of human nature (‘People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence, however, is corrupted by the evils of society’), this basic quality might, however, change over time. Society can stifle the innate happy nature of human beings. • What is our relationship with nature? In some cultures, people see nature as so overpowering that they better submit to it. Here, people simply have to accept the inevitability of natural (or supernatural) forces. In other cultures, people want to dominate nature. This ‘humans over nature’ orientation suggests that humans can control or influence nature and its powers through intelligence and the application of knowledge. In between these two extreme poles, some cultures believe people should live in harmony with nature. If you look at the current commentary on natural disasters today, you will realise that all three positions are represented in your society. • How do we relate to time? All societies have to make sense of the dimensions of time. Some cultures prefer to pay attention to the past. The best way to deal with the present (and the future) is to look into and learn from the past. One should cherish and preserve the traditions of the past. Other cultures stress the here and now. Present-oriented societies believe it is best to make the most of the moment. What might happen in the future is vague at best and not in our hands. The past, old memories and bygone moments are also likely to spoil the joy of the moment. Then, some cultures emphasise the future. Future-oriented societies believe people should better not succumb to temptations and thus risk a more rewarding future. Looking forward, preparing, and planning for the future gives the best direction in life. • What is our relationship with others? Some cultures place value on individualism, self-reliance, and independence. People should control their fate, whereas personal bonds with others are less important. In other cultures, networks and relationships 4.2 Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961 97 <?page no="98"?> are what makes a society. The needs of a collective (e.g., state, group) beat the needs of an individual. Seen through a collateral lens, reciprocity, empathy, and loyalty make societies tick. Then, there are linear cultures. Quite like collectivist societies, they cherish the group but extend this to conceptions of time and kinship. The group here includes physical and symbolic kinship, in which people see themselves as a part of an extensive network of blood relationships (e.g., tribe, clan) and family lineage. This often comes with notions of varying power and nuanced hierarchies. • Finally, what motivates our behaviour? Some cultures believe people should work hard, be frugal and strive for self-improvement. This ‘doing’ perspective means we can only separate ourselves from others through our achievements. This performance orientation could be, for instance, expressed in financial terms. Money then serves as a measuring device of success. Other cultures place the greatest value on ‘being.’ Here, personal achievements and development are less important. People don’t ‘do’ things; they ‘are’ part of fixed relationships and derive their self-understanding from existing social structures. Then, some societies value personal development. Through self-reflection, one should strive to become one’s best self. Orienta‐ tion Manifestations Human nature Good: People are inher‐ ently good Neutral: People are both good and evil Evil: People are inher‐ ently evil Mutable Immuta‐ ble Mutable Immuta‐ ble Mutable Immuta‐ ble Nature Mastery: People can and should exercise con‐ trol over natural and supra-natural forces. Harmony: People should exercise some control over nature but not total control. Subjugation: There is little people can do about nature’s forces. We should accept the inevi‐ table. Time Past: Traditions are im‐ portant. Past events in‐ fluence people. Present: The past is ir‐ relevant, and the future is vague. People should live in the here and now. Future: What people do now affects what will happen in the future, so we better prepare. Relation‐ ship Individualistic: Em‐ phasis on the individ‐ ual and independent dec‐ ision-making within the group. Lineal: Emphasis on hi‐ erarchical principles and deferring to higher au‐ thorities and kinship. Collateral: Emphasis on the group and consen‐ sual decision-making. Motivation Being: People should fo‐ cus on living in and for the moment. What and who we are is more im‐ portant than what we do. Becoming: People should hone those abili‐ ties they value. Doing: People are what they do. We separate ourselves from others in what we achieve in life. Table 4: Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Cultural Dimensions and Their Manifestations 98 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="99"?> Table 4 summarises the five value orientations and their respective manifestations. The great insight of the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck body of work was boiling down cultural beliefs and practices to five fundamental social challenges. These are universal as (i) they are common to all societies, (ii) there is variation in how to respond to them, and (iii) there are preferred ways of dealing with them. According to the authors, preferential answers to these fundamental human problems at the aggregate or group level create orientations for how things should best be done. Such cultural beliefs and practices eventually feel normal and natural to ‘in-group’ members but strange and abnormal to ‘out-group’ members. These ‘cultural dimensions’ provide clues, concepts, and structure when meeting people of different cultural backgrounds. The value of this body of work must not be underestimated, as subsequent models of culture go back to these five fundamental issues. 4.3 Hofstede (1976) Geert Hofstede’s framework is undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive studies in the field of cross-cultural research. Originally trained as an engineer, his industry experience soon took on an international trajectory. In 1965, he joined IBM, which, at that time, was already a globally operating company. His work had an international scope, too. As a management trainer and personnel researcher, he was tasked with surveying employee opinions within the geographically vast company network. This brought him into contact with colleagues from across the world whom he interviewed with an eye to their values, sentiments, and behaviour. Eventually, his dataset contained more than 115.000 entries from more than 50 countries. Then, he let the data talk. Perhaps the vast and often confusing observations could be boiled down to fewer ‘super-variables’? These could help compare and contrast patterns of thought, feelings, and actions across cultures. Instead of testing hypotheses emerging from theory, he factor-analytically explored the data, looking for common behaviour features. A breakthrough came from his realisation that he had collected data from persons broadly similar in terms of key socio-demographics - apart from their country of origin. This made cultural differences stand out very clearly. The best way of analysis, thus, was to aggregate individual answers and examine these at the national level. This shift opened the door to a closed and uncontaminated examination of ways of doing things at the country level. His database became a treasure chest, providing a robust basis for generalisations concerning cross-cultural variations. Initially, Hofstede offered four dimensions that would capture differences at the national level: Power Distance (PD), Individualism (IDV), Uncertainty avoidance (UA), and Masculinity (MAS). Essentially, each dimension mirrors fundamental assumptions about the world. These exist in all (surveyed) countries but are handled differently. Variations in lived experiences serve as a basis for contrasting and comparing cultures. Inspired by subsequent fieldwork of collaborators, two further dimensions emerged from the data. Long-term Orientations (LTO, originally dubbed Chinese dynamism) was added in the 1990s based on work by 4.3 Hofstede (1976) 99 <?page no="100"?> Michael Bond. He and colleagues had data collected in a Chinese business environment. Finally, with his son Gert Jan and Michael Minkov, Hofstede identified Indulgence (IND) in 2011 as a further variable that would distinguish cultures. This now jockeys as a sixth dimension of his framework. Today, scores of close to 120 countries are available on www.hofstede-insights.com, based on: Power Distance: One fundamental social question is handling inequalities among people. This dimension refers to the willingness of less powerful members to anticipate and accept unequal power distribution. High Power Distance cultures value hierarch‐ ical orders. These ensure that each member has a dedicated place in society that does not need further explanation. Under these conditions, it is common for decision-making processes to be top-down and for these decisions not to be contradicted. In low Power Distance cultures, by contrast, the answer to the extent of social inequality is ‘as little as possible.’ People strive to even out distributions of power. If there are apparent power inequalities, they must be justified. The smaller the power distance, the more people tend to meet each other ‘at eye level.’ Under these conditions, participation in decision-making processes is the norm. The index ranges from 0 to 100, with Malaysia, Panama, and Guatemala scoring the highest and Denmark, Israel, and Austria the lowest in this category. Individualism: A further universal problem is the balance between the needs of an individual and that of the group. The fundamental question is whether the ‘I’ or the ‘We’ is the defining glue of society. This dimension describes individual interests as subordinate to those of the group (collectivism, we-group identity/ traditional societies) as one extreme and the interests of an individual being above those of the group (individualism, self-realisation) as the other. Resultant perspectives on social behaviour and interaction could not be more different: Collectivist societies value tightly-knit social networks. These are typically quite large. Group ties are substantial. Mutual loyalty is wanted and, indeed, expected. You ‘never walk alone’ as group members expect others to look after them. As a result, it is more important who you know than what you know. Social norms are extensively considered as one sees oneself as interdependent with others. By contrast, members of individualistic societies cherish individual independence. One better look after number one. Such beliefs in self-sufficiency and self-actualisation come with high levels of competitiveness. A winner-takes-it-all mentality, then, is typical. The US, Australia, and the UK are considered highly individualistic societies and score highest in this category. Guatemala, Ecuador, and Panama are considered highly collectivist societies and score lowest in this category. Masculinity (recently renamed in Motivation towards Achievement and Success): This refers to assumptions of gender-appropriate behaviour connected to these domi‐ nant social values. ‘Traditional’ male values are assertive, ambitious, and competitive. ‘Traditional’ female values are gentle, intuitive, and modest. These translate into classic gender roles between men and women in all walks of life. The fundamental question is whether a culture wants and assigns these. In masculine cultures, the roles of men and 100 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="101"?> women are clearly defined, whereas in female (low-masculine) cultures, gender roles are more fluid. The outcomes of this distribution are sometimes in the face, sometimes less so. In societies in which male values dominate, quite differentiated gender roles mean fewer women in positions of power, substantial wage gaps, or split household responsibilities (into breadwinners and homemakers). In societies where female values are cherished, we tend to see more women in management, relatively small wage gaps and shared household responsibilities. How values play out in everyday life is less visible but equally important. An emphasis on peer competition and achievement might surface in what we teach our children (e.g., boys do not cry! You must not fail! ), taking responsibility for one’s actions (e.g., stop making excuses), conflict resolution (e.g., hard bargaining) and so forth. The African proverb ‘If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’ juxtaposes such ego-driven motives. A society leaning towards feminine values would emphasise good relationships and positive approaches to others (avoiding arbitrary positions). Japan scores exceptionally high on the Masculinity dimension (followed by some distance by Hungary and Austria). The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden are consid‐ ered to be the most feminine societies. Uncertainty Avoidance: The future can never be foretold. From this arises the universal question of how best to deal with any kind of unpredictability. Hofstede found that cultures vary substantially in the degree to which members feel okay in unknown or ambiguous situations. Consequently, some cultures try to reduce uncertainties as much as possible through rules and processes, while others accept uncertainty as a normal phenomenon and are willing to take risks. The dimension’s label ‘uncertainty avoidance’ says as much: Cultures that lean towards uncertainty avoidance might accept known risks but are likely to see the ups and downs of life as a source of stress if not a constant threat. The best way to deal with this fear is to bring it under control. Accordingly, these cultures are keen on traditions and rituals and value bureaucratic structures and rules. Time is a good helper, too - precision and punctuality structure and sequence situations. Conversely, low uncertainty cultures are relatively tolerant of unpredictability. In the face of the unknown, one feels less stressed out. Under these circumstances, there is little urge to bring things under control. What is the point of rushing around? In fact, there is a rather relaxed approach to deadlines and timekeeping (which does, however, not mean hard work is rejected). Greece, Portugal, and Guatemala are at the top of the uncertainty avoidance scale. Here, rules and regulations are felt to make the world a less threatening place to live in. Denmark, Jamaica, and Singapore score lowest in the country ranking. Plans can always change, and members of these societies are fine with this. Long-Term Orientation: A temporal focus is a further dimension that distin‐ guishes cultures and their members. What should be emphasised: the past, the present, or the future? For some cultures, the future is important. The belief that the future is inevitably ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ means that one better prepares for the long term to reap future rewards. This makes perseverance and thrift cherished attributes. 4.3 Hofstede (1976) 101 <?page no="102"?> Long-term-oriented cultures emerge from socially stable structures that are difficult to change. This comes with respect for the status quo and a duty of gradual adaptability. By contrast, the past (and present) is important for short-term orientated cultures. The prevailing thinking is that roots are implanted in the past. Survival depends on these roots. Change is usually seen with suspicion against this backdrop of stability and steadiness. Of course, there is the need to consider future events, but spontaneity and ad hoc thinking are crucial to adapting to eventual change. The lower the long-term orientation, the more attention is given to quick gains (over long-term success). This dimension was developed in an Asian context with strong Confucian influences. Unsurprisingly, East Asian cultures (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea) top this category. Indulgence: This is the latest addition to Hofstede cultural dimensions. Needs and wants propel ourselves forward. We might feel discomfort if these needs are not met or are only partially met. The question is how and to what extent cultures accept the need for individual self-actualisation. Enjoying life or having fun includes pleasure-oriented leisure activities, living out our sexuality, or freely expressing our identities, for instance, through what we wear. Indulgent societies allow instant gratification of our desires and, thus, the pursuit of subjective feelings of happiness. Members of such societies feel in control over their personal lives, resulting (according to the authors) in more optimistic outlooks. Restrained societies, by contrast, suppress such gratification-seeking behaviour. They do so through strict social norms and regulations. As a consequence, members of such societies feel less in control over their own fate. What happens to them is seen not as much of their doing. Perceptions of having little or no control over outside forces lead to rather pessimistic, if not cynical, attitudes. Whether a society is looser or stricter about acting out our vices has knock-on effects on our daily lives, including how we spend our money and think of rewards or work-life balance. It even affects how we use social media (including how large our networks are). Mexico, Nigeria, and Sweden plot very highly on the indulgent side, while France, Japan, and Germany lean towards the restraining side. Hofstede defined culture as the ‘collective programming of the mind acquired through growing up in a particular country,’ by which he assumed that a national cultural environment both stimulates congruent or restrains incongruent behaviour of its individual members. In other words, generalisations affect personal dispositions, so the argument. However, much critique has been directed at the extent and weight of these influences. Neither do national borders reign in culturally induced patterns of thought and behaviour, nor can cultural dimensions fully grasp subnational or regional variations. Culture and country are not the same. While national cultures affect the attitudes and behaviour of their members, at least to some extent, the makeup and dispositions of an individual inevitably vary. Within each country, there might be an average of what would be considered appropriate and acceptable behaviour. People might differ - sometimes more, sometimes less - from this average. Accordingly, these 102 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="103"?> deviations, in turn, might distort the ‘ideal’ business behaviour of a given culture. We have, thus, to think of and judge observable behaviour always in terms of ranges, including overlaps, extremes, and outliers (see Figure 9). Austrian Culture Cultural Dissimilarities Cultural Overlap Cultural Dissimilarities French Culture Figure 9: Culture Comparisons as Overlaps of Similarities Between Normally Distributed Curves Collectively, this behaviour will cluster around the middle of a set of sentiments and values that mirror appropriate and acceptable behaviour in a specific country context. With this caveat in mind, the Hofstede framework offers valuable perspectives on how culture shapes what we make of our environment and the people within it. When interacting with people of different backgrounds, it is a helpful starting point to map distinctions in behaviour, get ideas of why they behave the way they do, and, based on this, consider how perhaps to adapt to these cultural conditions. Culture was on the fringes of business studies until the arrival of Hofstede’s work. Given the importance of going international at this time, more and more cultures met, creating more and more managerial challenges. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions filled this gap. Perhaps because of its anthropological heritage, culture was until then perceived as something rather exotic. Its theoretical treatise scared off business practitioners, who questioned its relevance for real-world problems. Hofstede’s profound empirical foundation, large sample size and simplicity (not in thought but in the density of a complex phenomenon) made ‘culture’ palatable to a broader audience. He introduced us to the idea of culture being measurable. Likert scales enabled us to tabulate and aggregate scores. He statistically arrived at fundamental and serious social questions to which all cultures must respond on a continuous scale: his mathematical exploration, the sample size and conciseness made for very robust and enduring dimensions. By implication, country scores could be treated as dichotomous; that is, they would offer 4.3 Hofstede (1976) 103 <?page no="104"?> quick and easy insights into whether a country would be considered as either at the high or low end of the specific dimension. Country cultures could now also be compared with each other, thereby shedding further light on where differences might be coming from and why some differences in thought and behaviour may stand out. Its ease of use and summary of large data sets in a visual form is equally useful and seductive. Any serious management student will have had to learn (and possibly apply) the Hofstede framework. In spite of all its usefulness in understanding the cultural aspects of business interactions, data and dimensions should undoubtedly be interpreted with great caution. Try It: Hofstede in Action - Bafa Bafa! Divide into two groups. Each group comes together in a separate location where you will receive instructions about your specific culture. You then practise these (fictitious) cultural rules, standards, values, non-verbal behaviour, etc., within your group (see instructions for each group below). Once you clearly understand appropriate behaviour, the exchange with the other cultures begins. Select 1-3 people who are sent to the other culture. Once there, these missionaries experience the other group’s habits. They should try to find out as much as possible about the values and customs and how the other culture works. They must only observe. They are not allowed to ask questions or have conversations about the other culture. After about 7 minutes, they return to their group and report what they learned. Each group should now hatch a plan on whether and, if so, how to engage with the other group. In the next step, another ambassador is selected, who now should get in touch with the other culture and interact with its members. They shall then report back to their own group. Source: Shirts, Robert G. (1977): Bafa Bafa - A cross-culture simulation. Del Mar, California, USA. 4.4 Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1994) A further milestone in exploring culture came from management consultants Alfons ‘Fons’ Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner and their book ‘Riding the Waves of Culture.’ While the footprints of earlier work are clearly visible (especially that of Kluckhohn and Strodbeck and Hofstede), their 7-dimension model adds, as one would expect, a very pragmatic and applied angle to detecting and dealing with cultural differences in business environments. Over the course of 10 years, the team surveyed more than 46,000 managers in 40 countries (numbers of both interviews and countries covered vary, however). The starting point of their analysis of this extensive database is that there are few hard-to-observe assumptions about the world we live in that 104 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="105"?> surface in the way we engage with our surroundings. To a certain extent, the study mirrors what people actually think and do when interacting with others (both in their professional and private lives). They found that people act in relatively predictable ways and offer solutions regarding how to reconcile cultural differences (in contrast to Hofstede, who merely laid out patterns of variations but was mute about how underlying values could convert into behaviour that could then be addressed). With Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, cross-cultural management studies were now firmly anchored at the group level, and all this was done with an eye to the real world of work, together with the model being less abstract and less theoretical in its approach. Though words of caution not to overgeneralise when dealing with people of different backgrounds certainly apply, this model proved particularly attractive for management practitioners. Each culture has its own way of thinking. This can be measured through paper and pencil tests. Preferences converge to a set of dimensions, each representing a continuum of attitudes and values. Here, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner borrow from Hofstede’s work and extend it. These dimensions represent responses to funda‐ mental dilemmas which emerge from universal human problems. All cultures need to face up to these. Here, the team taps into Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s theoretical treatise: Out of seven dimensions, five deal with relationships with others, one with attitudes towards time, and one with attitudes towards space and the environment. For conceptual purposes, the authors treated each dimension as dichotomous, representing extreme manifestations. Cultures differ in their preference for how they approach and resolve dilemmas. As their work evolved, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner perceived these dimensions neither as fixed nor bipolar or mutually exclusive extremes. A preference for solving a specific dilemma does not imply that cultures outright neglect alternative answers. Rather, they will likely mix and match values that best help find an appropriate response to a given dilemma. Sometimes, this might mean reconciling opposite options (for instance, teamwork in individualistic cultures or being a straight shooter in high-context environments). Opposing manifestations coexist and work together in specific ways (Figure 10). 4.4 Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1994) 105 <?page no="106"?> Decentralising Centralising Figure 10: Dilemma Reconciliation Source: THT Consulting, 2023. Universalism vs Particularism: People in universalistic cultures place value on fairness. The application of rules to all members (and their enforcement) helps treat people fairly. Making exceptions (in light of the particular needs of those close to us) erodes these rules. People in particularistic cultures are not as rigid; relationship considerations and circumstances trump rules. The circumstances come first for them, and then they consider whether and to what extent rules might apply. Responses to situations constantly evolve depending on the moment and who is involved. The ‘spirit’ or ‘intent’ of the law is considered more valuable than obeying the letter of the law. Think About: What is More Important - Rules or Relationships? In your company, there is a job opening. You are leading the selection committee. Several highly qualified candidates have thrown their hats in the ring. On what basis will you decide who will get the job? Discuss in small groups: • Do you rank candidates exclusively on their merits and how they match the job requirements? In fact, when advertising the post, have you spelt out exactly what the candidate needs to bring to the table? • Or do you screen candidates first based on whether or how well you know them personally? Or are you inclined to strengthen your network by hiring a preferred candidate? 106 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="107"?> Individualism vs Communitarianism: People in individualistic cultures believe in personal freedom, achievement, and self-determination. The ‘I’ counts more than the ‘We,’ making the pursuit of happiness, fulfilment, and, more generally, success in life (usually measured in monetary terms) an individual’s responsibility. People in communitarian cultures believe in the importance of the group. The role of the individual is, up and foremost, to be loyal and to serve the greater good of the group or society. By doing so, individuals’ needs will automatically be taken care of. Through the group, one connects with the past (the group existed before we were born and will continue after we die). Think About: What is More Important - The Individual or the Group? The salary gap between top executives and typical employees is large and expanding. In 2020, this differential could be as large as 350 times in some countries. Discuss in small groups: • Do you consider such a CEO-to-employee wage gap appropriate? • What arguments would be brought up in your country to justify or condemn the high-income levels of top executives? Specific vs Diffuse: People in specific cultures emphasise hard facts and processes. The relationship with organisations is contract-based and unemotional. Organisations start with the elements and the specifics of business objectives. Accordingly, this analysis breaks down tasks and jobs, which are largely independent of who fulfils them. There is a clear split between one’s professional and private life. Being professional means getting along with colleagues whether you like them or not. People in diffuse cultures believe that relationships are vital to get things done. Such relationships are created both inside and outside one’s organisation. This blurs the line between profes‐ sional and private life. Instead of tasks being compartmentalised (and information being seen as a source of power), diffuse cultures see each element from the perspective of the whole. Think About: How Far Do You Want to Get Involved? Complaints about poor work-life balance in Chinese companies are relatively common. The expectation of staying for after-work get-togethers, receptions, or group development events is alien to many Western employees. Displaying team spirit might be critical for Chinese business culture, but such shindigs bite into one’s private time (so the perception). 4.4 Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1994) 107 <?page no="108"?> Discuss in small groups: • In your culture, are job duties and private life clearly separated? • What about company policies concerning one’s availability outside office hours (e.g., mobile phone, e-mail access during holidays) or home-office arrangements? Affective vs Neutral: Cultures differ in the way they express emotions. People in affective cultures are okay with showing emotions. In fact, for them, such a display is part and parcel of appropriate behaviour, even in the workplace. In neutral cultures, however, it is necessary to keep feelings to oneself and certainly not display emotional outbursts. This does not mean that neutral-culture people have no feelings. They do. But showing affective reactions (such as happiness, pride, or shock) would erode one’s social capital, that is, one’s ability to bond with others and have productive social relationships. Think About: Do We Display Emotions? The extent to which we show emotions in intercultural situations has become an increasingly important topic. Such encounters are full of ups and downs, and we are usually not unaffected by these. Research suggests that we are surprisingly good at reading other people’s flush of emotions, especially their nonverbal expressions (face, gestures, and so forth). Cultures differ, however, in how intensively members express their feelings. Discuss in small groups: • Think of leaders in your country (e.g., in politics, business). What would be considered appropriate behaviour when they have slipped up (for instance, poor performance in their job, mistakes, perhaps even fraud)? Can you give examples? • Based on your observations, what do you think of Stephen Elop’s crying gesture when he announced that rival Microsoft would take over the iconic Finnish company NOKIA? Would such a display of emotions be appropriate in your home culture? Achieved Status vs. Ascribed Status: Cultures differ in how they assign status. Fundamentally, status can be assigned by birth or later in life (based on social conventions), or it has to be earned (based on personal skills or efforts). One’s position in achievement-oriented societies is up to oneself, fluid and depends on how much effort one is prepared to make. Idleness is, thus, conceived as a recipe for failure. In 108 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="109"?> other cultures, status is gained through other means. Rather than performance, one’s status is based, for instance, on sex, age, religion, and relationships. Explore: Is Status Given to Us, or Do We Have to Prove Ourselves? We may want to believe that professional progress is all about merit. However, in some countries it is restricted to have photos on resumes for job applications. This move tries to rule out that better-looking people have better chances of being hired. Discuss in small groups: • Is it allowed in your country to have photos on one’s resume? • Do you think that physical appearance can skew career progression? • Can you think of countermeasures in your society that might curtail possible biases? Sequential Time vs Synchronous Time: Each culture has to develop ideas surround‐ ing time, namely responses to two questions: First, how do they structure time? Second, what is the relative significance they give to the past, present, and future? For people in sequential cultures, time moves forward in chronological sequence (i.e. in a straight line). Events (and preparing for them) happen in a logical order. For people in synchronous cultures, time moves around in cycles - with the past, present, and future all interwoven. Time is flexible and intangible. From this perspective, sequencing events, doing things one at a time, does not make much sense in terms of the relevance of past, present, and future. Past-oriented cultures view the future as an extension and recap of past experiences. The past is a source of learning. People in present-oriented cultures are neither concerned about the past nor what might happen in the future. They live from day to day with everyday experiences guiding life. In future-oriented cultures, people’s concerns circle around the future. Envisioning what the future might bring shapes planning in the here and now. Think About: Cottle’s Circle Test: How Are the Past, Present, and Future Connected? Please draw three circles. One should represent the past, one the present, and one the future. You may draw the circles in any size you want. Also, you can arrange them to your liking. Once you are done, please label each circle clearly (Cottle, 1976). Inner-Directed versus Out-Directed: Each culture has grown out of its response to nature. We can either live in harmony with nature or act against it. What we make 4.4 Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1994) 109 <?page no="110"?> of our environment informs basic beliefs about how much control we have over our lives. People of inner-directed cultures believe the natural environment controls them. In an inner-directed culture, people think of nature as controllable (if we put our mind to it and have the scientific literacy to do so). Such thinking then generally extends to our environment and how we master life. People of outer-directed cultures are less convinced that nature’s forces are controllable. On the contrary, one can never anticipate what nature might throw at you. For them, nature remains mysterious, and the best way to deal with nature’s forces is to live in harmony with one’s environment. Such an organic view of nature also means that our own destiny is pretty much out of our hands. Explore: Are We Masters of Our Environment, or Does the Environment Control Us? Today, cars are full of high-tech tools. All these are there to make the driver’s life easier and safer. At the same time, cars are the symbol of individuality and self-actualisation. So, when is it enough? A French car manufacturer discovered that a board computer that would tell a driver when to fill up their car challenged the idea of who is in control: machine or man? The test persons feared that they were being out-smarted. Consider the following questions: • How about your smartphone experiences? You may have already realised that your little helper knows quite a lot about you. It has learned from your habits and tastes, which it compares to other users. And artificially intelligent suggestions (for instance, music, transport, and goods) are the result of that. • What is the understanding of nature in your country? • Do people tend to live ‘in harmony’ with nature, or do they prefer to think of nature’s forces as essentially controllable? Give examples. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s framework was not without critique. Hofstede attacked their work harshly (Trompenaars was his student once), pointing out meth‐ odological fuzziness and a lack of rigour in the data analysis. Others complained that the model does not recognise personal characteristics and how these might moderate behaviour. Finally, the authors do not provide any recommendations on addressing cultural differences as and when they occur. Yet, this was never the objective of their framework. After all, they approached culture from a dilemma reconciliation perspective. They saw in the seven dimensions merely heuristics in how people from specific cultures approach people, time, and space. Rather than mechanistic and zero-sum views of culture in which people select one solution at the expense of another, they capture culture as a system of permanent, dynamic, case-by-case adjustments. In my eyes, this pushed cross-cultural management research into a new, more qualitative 110 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="111"?> direction. Although not entirely abandoning ideas of universality and measurability of culture, they re-introduced human agency to explore cross-cultural variations. Hofstede’s worldview was mechanistic, with human beings as objects (whose minds were ‘collectively programmed’). Theirs was more organic, although admittedly at the cost of limited predictability of behaviour. 4.5 Schwartz (1994) Work on cross-cultural management has come a long way since its inception in the 1950s. While we have seen a shift from the national level to organisational structures and individual makeup, insecurities about how exactly individual differences and national cultural variables interact persist. Social psychologist Shalom Schwartz addressed this riddle. Initially anchored at the personal level, his work explores how and to what extent there are universal values that transcend cultures. He was particularly intrigued by how these values relate to each other. From this, he hoped to gain new insights into how the interplay of values guides significant aspects of life and, in turn, might influence everyday practices in societies at large. From a complex web of meanings, beliefs, and symbols, ideal values emerge that reflect and justify much of what happens in societies. Reciprocally, such real or imagined ideals carve out the desirable behaviour of the members of said societies. Focussing on how people best get along with each other, Schwartz formulates three basic questions that societies have to answer (see Gutterman, 2010 for a summary). These are (i) to what extent are individuals autonomous from or bound to the groups they belong to (autonomy versus embeddedness)? (ii) to what extent should we see others as equals or assume responsibility through ascribed roles in order to preserve the social order (egalitarianism versus hierarchy)? (iii) to what extent do we seek to fit in or change the relationship with our environment in order to pursue personal or group interests (harmony versus mastery)? Each question is bipolar and mirrors particular cultural preferences in how we think of ourselves and those around us. Placing value on one pole usually means placing less value on the other. That is, their values and motivational goals are usually incongruent. In these, cultures have alternatives in designing their social world. Patterns in answers to these three questions, thus, help discern cultures. Autonomy vs Embeddedness: Every culture has to develop ideas surrounding the relationship between the individual and the collective. The fundamental question is whether individual freedom trumps group interests in society or the other way around. Societies that place value on autonomy view individuals as largely independent and self-directed. Schwartz further distinguishes between intellectual autonomy (individu‐ als are expected to realise their own potential and pursue their own ideas) and affective autonomy (individuals strive for positive emotions and optimal activation levels). The former would be associated with values such as self-direction, curiosity, and creativity and the latter with excitement, novelty, and a varied life. 4.5 Schwartz (1994) 111 <?page no="112"?> Societies that place value on embeddedness view individuals as largely dependent on their reference group. Nobody stands out; all members of a society are seen as equal to others. That being the case, one should strive to fit in, not upset traditional order, and participate in a shared way of life. Preserving the status quo, showing respect (to others and traditions), and restraining one’s impulses are defining goals of such conservative values. Egalitarianism vs Hierarchy: Cultures differ in how they envision their members’ responsible behaviour. The fundamental question is how interdependencies should best be managed. This can happen through a hierarchical social structure with a strong unequal distribution of power and strict sanctions if one does not comply with assigned roles and the obligations that come with them. Values such as power, authority, social status, prestige, and control are prevalent in hierarchical societies. By the same token, modesty, self-control, and conformity would also feature rather strongly, as these values ensure that members accept unequal distribution of power. Another way of managing interdependencies is through an egalitarian structure with more equal rights and voluntary cooperation. The ideal is that people are seen to be essentially equal (in status and morals). Everyone shares basic interests as human beings, with members looking after each other and their welfare. Honesty, benevolence, and tolerance are the defining goals of such egalitarian values. Mastery vs Harmony: The third cultural dimension concerns the natural and social environment. The question is how we handle our social world. Managing the relationship between us and the world around us could either be about self-assertation. An emphasis on control gives rise to attempts to master, direct or change the world around us for personal or group gains. Ambition, a drive for success, and a preparedness to take risks are important values in mastery cultures. Understanding and appreciating our natural and social environment could be quite another opposing cultural response to managing the relationship between us and the world around us. Instead of exploiting or subduing it, societies that value harmony could seek to preserve and protect the natural and social environment. From this perspective, people will likely be content with the status quo as they look for stable relationships and a stable self. Values such as a world at peace, unity with nature, or protecting the environment would be considered necessary in harmony cultures (see Schwartz, 2006). 112 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="113"?> Harmony Embeddedness Hierarchy Mastery Affective Autonomy Intellectual Autonomy Egalitarianism Figure 11: Cultural Dimensions as Integrated and Circular System Source: Schwartz, 2006. In sum, tapping into earlier seminal insights, Schwartz posits three basic questions that societies must answer. These he converts into three bipolar dimensions of culture, each reflecting alternative answers to these fundamental challenges. He then tested his assumptions on a large pool of data collected between 1988 and 2000 from samples of nearly 70 different countries, aggregated to a sample size of more than 90.000 participants. He finds that the observed orientations closely match the theorised content and structure of values and their relation amongst them. He also finds, and this is important for us, that these ratings at the individual level do show similarities at the national level (when controlling for similar groupings). Hence, Schwartz’s work is important both conceptually and empirically when contrasting and comparing cultural value orientations and prevalent motivational goals. Not only are values considered relatively stable, but they capture cross-cultural differences in terms of appropriateness of norms, sentiments, and behaviour. Next to the order of values, the real power of the Schwartz conceptualisation lies, however, in the relationship between them. They are not loosely connected but collectively form a continuum of systematically related motivations. This gives rise to a circular structure that reflects both compatibility and conflict of motivational goals (Figure 11). Values may overlap, indicating shared assumptions, or they may disagree, indicating opposing assumptions. For instance, intellectual autonomy and egalitarianism are placed next to each other. Pursuing these values is compatible as they share the underlying assumption that we should take responsibility for our actions. Conversely, the simultaneous pursuit of traditional customs and varied life would give rise to conflicts at the individual 4.5 Schwartz (1994) 113 <?page no="114"?> and the group level. The value types ‘embeddedness’ and ‘affective autonomy’ are largely incompatible motivational goals and, thus, the opposite. From this, it follows that basic values are either adjacent or distant in the circle, reflecting the extent to which motivational goals are experienced as mutually supporting or opposing. Such congruency (or incongruency) in cultural orientations will typically show in people’s actions and find expression in the practices of society at large. Schwartz extends our view of cross-cultural management from three important angles. First, he tackles the huge gap between group characteristics and individual disposition. He proposed an important role of individual value ratings in a wide range of everyday life situations. These value orientations shape their perceptions of what is good and desirable for them individually and, by extension, the group to which they belong. The value priorities of societal members set off and reflect what is happening in societies. According to Schwartz, they are an incredibly efficient way to characterise cultural realities. Second, Schwartz conceptualised the three cultural dimensions as an integrated system of related motivations. Cultural orientations are either compatible (adjacent in the circle) or incompatible (distant around the circle) but never independent (Schwartz, 2014). By extension, and instead of treating each dimension as dichotomous and bipolar (on which cultures either score high or low), Schwartz suggests that the way societies manage basic issues and problems comes from a set of interdependent motivations. Interpreting everyday life through the lens of a single dimension means oversimplifying things. Third, initially, the Schwartz cultural orientations seem to converge towards those of Hofstede. There are indeed conceptual overlaps between autonomy/ embeddedness and individualism/ collectivism, between egalitarianism/ hierarchy and power distance, between mastery and masculinity and between harmony and uncertainty avoidance. However, each dimension offers some additional flavour to country profiles and, thus, to cross-cultural comparisons (Table 5). The Schwartz framework suggests more varied perspectives of social preferences that arguably represent the twists and turns of cultural realities quite well. 114 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="115"?> Conceptual Overlap Added Nuance Autonomy/ Embedded‐ ness Individualism/ Collecti‐ vism 1. Relations between the individual and the group 2. Autonomous versus interdependent view of people • Attitudes towards openness to change versus conserva‐ tion/ tradition • Distinction between intellec‐ tual and affective autonomy • Little to no emphasis on selfish‐ ness Egalitarianism/ Hierar‐ chy Power Distance 1. Distribution of power 2. Social stratification • Emphasis on getting things done in responsible ways • Hierarchy is not necessarily about social stratification • Egalitarianism emphasises mo‐ ral equity and voluntary coop‐ eration Mastery Masculinity 1. Relationship between us and the world around us 2. Self-assertion • Emphasis on taking action and control (even to the extent of disruption) but not at the ex‐ pense of disinterest in others • No selfishness Harmony Uncertainty Avoidance 1. Appreciating the nat‐ ural and social envi‐ ronment 2. Harmonious order as ideal • Harmony not at the expense of control (over ambiguity) Table 5: Conceptual Overlaps and Differences to the Hofstede Dimensions Source: Schwartz, 2006; Gutterman, 2010. Try It: Understanding Your Values Schwartz has defined values as guiding principles in our lives. For this, he has developed a 57-item SVS questionnaire. You can find a paper and pencil version here: https: / / www.mededportal.org/ doi/ 10.15766/ mep_2374-8265.10002 and the key to how the individual items stack up here: https: / / onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/ 10.1111/ rego.12281 Consider the following questions: • What are your top values? • How do they compare to the national average of your home culture? These you can find here: https: / / www.researchgate.net/ publication/ 304715744_Th e_7_Schwartz_cultural_value_orientation_scores_for_80_countries • Do they match the lived values in your current work environment? 4.5 Schwartz (1994) 115 <?page no="116"?> 4.6 Project GLOBE (2004) The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (in short, GLOBE) research program is a multi-phase, multi-author, and multi-directional project located at the juncture of culture and effective leadership (House, Javidan, Hanges, & Dorfman, 2002). In a collective effort, more than 200 researchers explored the interplay between values and practices and their impact on the leadership behaviour of 17,000 managers of 62 societal cultures. Ten years later, this study was extended to include data from over 100 CEOs and 5,000 senior executives. A further geographic and contextual expansion is underway that looks at what is cross-culturally perceived to be good and poor leadership. The study distinguishes between values (judgements of ‘what should be’) and practices (observations of how things are commonly done). The distinction between what values are dear to middle managers and what shared ideals they see as prevalent out there link individual and group-level preferences. The idea is that people are likely to strive and re-enact values held by society at large. However, the research team found that these views must not necessarily overlap and that practices are more often than not systematically different from their values. There is a gap between what people do and what they should do. This raises the vital question of how, why, and when individuals disassociate themselves from cherished behaviours and institutional practices. The findings send out the warning that individual behaviour is determined by both real or imagined cultural ideals and immediate situations. Next to the scale and scope of the study, this makes Project GLOBE relevant for us for two interrelated reasons: First, it expands and updates Hofstede’s seminal work. Second, by exploring leadership qualities, the research stream provides advice on how to act in different surroundings and respond to cross-cultural differences (and similarities). GLOBE proposes nine cultural dimensions. Similar to earlier conceptualisations, these reflect shared sense-making attempts. At the same time, they tell apart one society from another. Five dimensions are conceptually and empirically enriched versions of Hofstede’s original dimensions. The other four fine-slice the masculinity dimension and, thus, add novel aspects of culture (see https: / / globeproject.com): Power Distance is the degree to which members of organisations and societies can expect power to be unequally distributed. Uncertainty Avoidance is the extent to which collectives, organisations or groups alleviate uncertainty by relying on established social norms, rules, and processes. Orderliness, consistency, and structure are thought to decrease the probability of unpredictable future events instead of experimentation, opportunism, or risk-seeking behaviour. In-Group Collectivism is the degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their groups they belong to (including families, reference groups, or organisations). 116 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="117"?> Institutional Collectivism is the degree to which organisational and societal insti‐ tutional practices prescribe (encourage and reward) the collective distribution of resources and collective action. Future Orientation is the degree to which individuals engage in future-oriented behaviours and, by extension, delay gratification, systematic planning, and investing in the future. Gender Egalitarianism is the extent to which collectives or societies minimise role differences and promote gender equality. Assertiveness is the degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive when with others. Humane Orientation is the degree to which collectives or societies want (encourage and reward) individuals to be fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, and kind to others. Performance Orientation is the extent to which collectives or societies want (encour‐ age and reward) individuals to strive for performance improvement and excellence. The GLOBE research team expected cultural variables to interact with leadership behaviour in particular ways in that leader attributes would fit the respective envi‐ ronment. What makes a good (or poor) leader connects with both universal and culture-specific considerations: Universal in the sense that there are commonalities that would be regarded as must-have leader attributes and behaviours, regardless of context and situation (e.g, honesty, courage, influence). Culture-specific, in the sense that leadership always plays out as leader-follower relationships. Culture-specific dos and don’ts are an important part of such social interactions, so the team’s reasoning. As a first step, Project GLOBE empirically identified 21 primary leadership attributes deemed desirable across all 62 countries. Next, they condensed these views to a comprehensive grouping of six universal leadership dimensions. In general, different cultures have different expectations of leaders, and the six behaviours differentiate cultural profiles of what are considered desired (or undesired) leadership qualities (Grove, 2008). These are pretty useful guides for a better understanding of what attributes may work in one culture but may impede a leader’s effectiveness in others. Ranked in line with their universally perceived importance, the six dimensions of culturally induced leadership are (see the original definitions in the visualisation tab of the GLOBE project website): Charismatic/ Value-Based Leadership reflects the ability to inspire, motivate, and expect high-performance outcomes from others based on deeply held beliefs. This type of leadership shows in being visionary, inspirational, decisive, virtuous (integrous), self-sacrificing, decisive and performance-oriented. Team Oriented Leadership is about effective team-building capabilities and the extent to which one is able to realise a common purpose or goal among team members. It would comprise showing collaborative team orientation, smoothing obstacles and barriers, and being diplomatic, benevolent, and administratively competent. 4.6 Project GLOBE (2004) 117 <?page no="118"?> Participative Leadership reflects the degree to which managers are prepared to listen to others and allow ideas to be freely exchanged. They involve employees in decision-making processes. This implies a democratic, egalitarian, non-autocratic approach to guiding and managing groups of people. Humane Oriented Leadership reflects the degree to which leaders are supportive, empathetic, and considerate of team members’ needs. To this effect, it also includes compassion and generosity. Attributes linked to this leadership style include modesty and an emphasis on caring for others. Autonomous Leadership refers to independent and individualistic approaches to leadership. Autonomous leaders do not rely much on others and stress individualism, independence, and autonomy. They are seen to have unusual characteristics and behaviours that set them apart from others. Self-Protective Leadership focuses on ensuring the safety and security of the in‐ dividual and group. The approach to leadership is through the lens of self-centredness, status enhancement, and face-saving. Being self-centred, status-conscious, face-saving, and procedural encompasses such a leadership style. In sum, the GLOBE research stream underlines country cultures differ in what they see as a good (or poor) leader. Successful leadership in one country does not easily imply success elsewhere. The GLOBE data set suggests that cultural environments come with favourable views of specific leadership styles (Table 6). Because of their centrality to what people feel, think, and do, values provide a powerful basis for navigating cross-cultural management. Cultural Dimension Leadership Style Power Distance High: Self-protective Uncertainty Avoidance High: Team oriented, humane oriented, self-protective Low: Participative In-Group Collectivism High: Charismatic/ Value-based, team oriented Institutional Collectivism Low: Autonomous Future Orientation Not significant Gender Egalitarianism High: Charismatic/ Value-based, participative Assertiveness Not significant Humane Orientation High: Humane oriented Performance Orientation High: Charismatic/ Value-based, participative, autonomous Table 6: Associations Between GLOBE Dimensions and Leadership Style Source: Grove, 2005. 118 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="119"?> Think About: Outstanding Leadership in Egypt Egypt has, of course, been steeped in the rich history of authoritarian styles of leadership since days gone by. Thousands of years ago, pharaohs ruled the land with an iron fist. Do these approaches persist in modern Egypt? Find below a visualisation of what would be considered today as desired leadership qualities in this North African country. Intercultural Leadership Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Charismatic Team Oriented Participative Humane Oriented Autonomous Self-Protective Country Score Range of Scores Average GLOBE Score Discuss in small groups: • Studying the chart, what kind of leadership styles do you expect in terms of ○ Decision-making ○ Performance and bonus expectation ○ Attention to employee needs ○ Team building ○ Face-saving efforts • How do these endorsed leadership qualities differ from ideals of effective management in your home country? • How and to what extent would you consider such differences when working in an Egyptian environment? 4.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership When faced with unfamiliar worlds, we must make a very basic decision: Do we want to hold on to our views? Or are we ready to let go? David Bohm, a quantum physicist, and Martin Buber, a philosopher, distinguished between three forms of interaction (Bohm, 1996; Buber, 2006): (i) Dialogue (one is prepared to let go of one’s views and listens without preconceived ideas); (ii) Discussion (one is not prepared 4.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 119 <?page no="120"?> to let go of one’s views. Interaction is about winning or losing) and (iii) Debate (literally a war of words expressing different opinions). They firmly believed that only free-flowing communication of dialogue enables us to experience other people’s worldviews, ultimately opening a path to shared understanding. Sadly, people rarely engage in dialogue. We often want others only to listen to us. This often turns the conversation into idle talk instead of genuine dialogue. Communication can turn really dissatisfying (or even ugly) when we and others only half-heartedly participate or do not really engage with what others want us to hear. Consequently, many miss out on the transformative possibilities when we start listening (with our hearts and not only our ears) or in the words of Bohm himself, ‘Communication can lead to the creation of something new only if people are able to freely listen to each other, without prejudice and without trying to influence each other.’ This makes dialogue an existential experience. According to Plate (2021), principles and practices for a successful dialogue include: 1. radical respect for the different perspectives (only then are we able to really listen in conversation); 2. openness (makes us less vulnerable, empowers new ideas to emerge); 3. learning mindset (creates space for exploration); 4. mindfulness (talk in such a way that others love to listen to you) 5. suspend your assumptions and judgements (look out for alternative interpreta‐ tions) 6. speaking from the heart (be sincere but short in what you say) 7. generative listening (listen as if the other person were wise). With this impulse in mind, here are two exercises which will help you practise a Bohm dialogue. Exercise 1: Talk In groups of 5 to 8, discuss the following topic for about 10 minutes: ‘Vaccinations should be mandatory for all children! ’ Now consider the following questions: - Did others pay full attention to what you have had to say? - What signals did you pick up that others truly listened/ did not listen? - Did you pay full attention to what others had to say? - Can you describe the emotions that surfaced in you during the discussion? - Can you describe a group dynamics that emerged during the debate? Now repeat the exercise practising the Bohm dialogue principles. You may sit in a circle and use a ‘talking stick’ (or any other object). Only the person holding the object is allowed to speak. Before continuing your discussion, think about the following questions: 120 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="121"?> - What do you think happens to the group members when they all genuinely listen to each other? - How can we suspend our assumptions and judgements (for the moment? ) - Is it easy for me to listen to others as if they were wise? - Can we use different perspectives for personal and collective development? Exercise 2: Dilemma Shoichi is facing a dilemma. He is working as an expat for a Japanese company operating in the US. Recently, two of his team members have left. He knew that the two were quite dissatisfied with the working conditions. On top of that, he might not have been as good a line manager as he wanted to be. He made some decisions in the past to which the two team members, over time, more and more openly voiced their frustration. Be that as it may (he could no longer do something about it and, after all, he just followed HQ policies), he had recently learned about ‘Glassdoor,’ a website where employees can leave anon‐ ymous feedback about firms. While his company was, overall, being portrayed reasonably well in these reviews, at a recent executive meeting, the CEO, his direct line manager, said that he came across very poor employee assessments on an employee feedback site. It was claimed that the Japanese management was treating local staff poorly. They felt that there was very little appreciation for the local staff ’s ideas. Overtime was the norm, as were the expectations of management to take part in after-work team meetings. Apparently, health and safety were issues, too, during their time with the Japanese firm. The boss did not mince his words. Such feedback was disastrous for the company, especially at a time when recruiting was difficult anyway. There were clear policies about overtime. After work, team meetings had been phased out a long time ago. Health and safety issues were a top priority for management. Should he find out who was responsible for this mess, the responsible manager would face serious consequences. What should Shoichi do? He realised that he had two basic options. He could either step up and do nothing. Taking responsibility here and now would mean risking the wrath of his line manager. He would lose face. But wouldn’t this wrath be perhaps even more devastating if the boss found out himself ? Okay, he could point out that the feedback was anonymous anyway. Who is to say that he was, by proxy, responsible for such a bad reputation? He worried that this could very well mean the end of his career ambitions in the company. And changing firms at his age was somewhat taboo for Japanese employees. Form groups of five or six. What should Shoichi do? Of course, there is no right answer to his ethical dilemma. For about 15 minutes, discuss what you would do if you were in his position. Now, reflect on your experiences with the group discussion. 4.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 121 <?page no="122"?> - Do you feel the others have listened to your viewpoints and ideas? - Did you think others spoke from their heart? - Have you understood those of the other participants? - How did you feel about the group dynamics and where the discussion was heading? - Were there a lot of disruptions? For instance, did participants interrupt each other, or did some talk all the time? - What about the flow of the conversation? - Did you feel participants picked up the ideas of others and further elaborated on them? Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Actually is Cross-Cultural Management Research? I define Cross-Cultural Management Research as the scientific study of cultural differences and their impact on various aspects of management and organisational behaviour. Cultural factors influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviour at work. Understanding these factors helps explain professional practices ranging from communication and conflict resolution to leadership styles, team cohesion and decision-making. Consequently, its insights should be useful for all those concerned with managing crossand intercultural relationships. The Power of Cultural Influence Culture is a mighty force shaping our worldviews. It brings about norms and values, which, in turn, augment how things should or should not be done within a society, such as guiding ideas for greetings, rituals, or ceremonies. We tend to appreciate these social expectations surrounding acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, not least because, if we comply, we can expect approval from our community. However, we should refrain from explaining all behaviour entirely in terms of culture, as this may lead us to underestimate the impact of individual dispositions and makeups. Where Do Cultural Differences Come From? To appreciate its power of influence, researchers such as Edward Hall, Geert Hofstede, and Shalom Schwartz have tried to understand how people construe their cultural realities. They all say the same thing: There are commonalities within countries and variations between countries. This makes a nation’s culture a key determinant of systematic differences in behaviour. Although the frameworks pursue, in general, different directions, there is general agreement that we can distinguish cultures through three fundamental questions: How do cultures relate to (i) ‘Time’? (ii) ‘Space’ and (iii) ‘Others’? Accordingly, we must examine how people construe their social realities along these three fundamental principles. 122 4 Making Sense of Unfamiliar Worlds <?page no="123"?> Cross-Cultural Management Research: An Empirical Science Cross-cultural management is an empirical science. Rather than relying on com‐ mon sense and intuition, researchers go into the field to find answers to the three key questions underlying cultural commonalities and variations and how these might affect managerial and organisational lives. Looking back at more than seven decades of research, we can see that philosophies have varied quite a bit. While emic and interpretive work might have dominated the field in its early stages, today, we are looking at large-scale, globe-spanning, collaborative studies pursuing an etic and positivist research agenda. Accordingly, prominent management-relevant studies of country culture have used a spectrum of methodological approaches, including archival research, ethnography, observations, case studies, and, more recently, surveys and even experiments. Cross-Cultural Management Research Cross-cultural research has come a long way. While our initial knowledge of why cultures differ systematically in the way they go about time, space, and others was sparse, survey work (especially since the 1960s) helped to uncover underlying patterns or ‘factors.’ These have helped to explain similarities and differences across country cultures. Such a ‘cultural dimension’ represents a continuum with two extreme poles (e.g., individualist versus collectivist), indicating how prevalent an issue is for a given country’s culture. They, thus, provide us with anchors of comparison because (i) we can find them in all cultures (at least in those that were being surveyed), and (ii) we can explore how each culture measures up in terms of strength and direction on that factor. Their graphical presentation makes for straightforward country culture comparisons. Today, we have a battery of such cultural dimensions. They may vary from framework to framework, but overall, they can help us explore and make sense of how these dimensions affect managerial and organisational practices. 4.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 123 <?page no="125"?> 5 Life Biographies Opening Vignette NHS Ambulance, UK Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash Béla Szondy has gained his medical degree from a large and prestigious Hungarian university. After his graduation, he trained in various local hospitals. Truth be told, he had always toyed with the idea of spending some of his professional life abroad, especially in England. The UK is home to top medical schools and world-leading in his specific medical field. Because the National Health Service (NHS) struggles to sustain its healthcare system, it has become increasingly open to practitioners from abroad. Béla decided to take the plunge and applied for positions in the UK. Although the hospital that took him on board was not located in a metropolitan region, as he had hoped, he was satisfied enough with the terms and conditions offered. He would work with true specialists in their field. Practising amongst the best was an excellent opportunity for him to hone his skills and medical insights. Sure, there were also social costs to consider. His wife, Ursula, would also need to find a job to make ends meet. And, in tow, his two sons would also be uprooted from their Hungarian home. But wouldn’t all this be a small price to pay for such an ultimate career boost? <?page no="126"?> However, once in the UK, Béla finds that the reality looks very different. Of course, the first few weeks were very exciting to him and his family. The hospital helped him to find a new home for rent, and his children appeared to adapt to their new environment quickly. However, the dual career services of his employing institution say they cannot support his wife’s search for local career opportunities. Though advertised on the hospital’s intranet, he is told that such support is only available to employees with permanent contracts. Béla had signed an initial five-year contract. But the only job opportunities Ursula finds are underpaid entry positions for graduates. As a trained accountant, she cannot envision herself working in a role well outside her original qualifications. So, Ursula will, for the time being, stay at home and manage their social transition. What happens at Béla’s work gets curiouser and curiouser. He learns that many local graduates refused to work in such a remote and rural place. The most respected and renowned doctors work and teach in the City of London or Manchester. And though he feels warmly welcomed by his colleagues, he has trouble getting used to the Northern English accent. Misunderstandings that could be funny at times (an invitation to ‘tea’ turned out to be a dinner experience) quickly turn into anxiety-laden conversations with patients. His ‘school’ English is passable, but many local expressions and jargon just elude Béla. Some minor patient complaints about his non-native English were normal and common. In a way, he understands such concerns. Though such comments did not make him feel brilliant, he reasons that people look for reassurance in their mother tongue in health matters. But to add insult to injury, patients occasionally complain and ask for a local, i.e. in their words, a ‘real’ doctor. In fact, Béla is in good (or rather poor) company: Statistics suggest that doctors trained abroad are significantly more at risk of patient complaints and disciplinary hearings than locally trained staff. Even after his arrival in the UK, paperwork and background checks continue. The local healthcare organisation concludes that not all of his Hungarian specialist qualifications matched British rules and regulations. It is suggested to him that he should redo additional training and top up his degree within the UK system (of course, on top of his regular work schedule). Only then can he hope his fixed-term contract will be converted into a permanent position. He cannot get rid of the feeling of a general but unsaid consensus that working in the UK is somehow a privilege for foreign doctors. Wouldn’t they return to their home countries with a wealth of expertise and experience anyway? Perhaps all this explains why he feels he has fewer chances of being promoted than his local colleagues with similar, if not lesser, qualifications. Time and time again, he does not fully understand the local ‘rules of the game.’ Promotion criteria and processes are largely opaque to him or simply don’t apply to his particular ‘alien’ situation. When comparing himself to others, he not only falls short in terms of professional development opportunities. The procedures themselves are skewed towards ‘insiders,’ i.e. those 126 5 Life Biographies <?page no="127"?> who rose through the ranks by being part of the local system. Béla is particularly sensitive to management, which appears to be fully capable of showing concern and compassion to some, especially local employees, but not really to him. In a nutshell, although respected and well-trained at home, Béla has to start all over again when abroad. And ever so often, he wonders whether all this was worth the effort. Critical Thinking: - What motivates Béla to seek professional success outside his home country? - What kind of obstacles did he face in the UK? Are there perhaps similar hurdles in your home country regarding the medical profession? - What do you think this experience does to his self-esteem? - Why is it important for Béla to compare himself to local others? - What makes social comparisons across cultures such a complex undertaking? - What are potential countermeasures for Béla to regain control over his situation? The way we think about people from other cultures, how we experience intercultural encounters and what we do and say in these situations depends to a large extent on our biography and our life story. When working with people who are not like us, it is not just about how we see them but also about how they see us. They and we more or less easily recognise some aspects of our behaviour. But there is also a larger, more significant portion, hidden from the daylight, that is much more difficult to grasp. From these roots flow our cultural makeup and practices. In my eyes, the analogy of a tree best captures ideas of why we behave and communicate at work the way we do (Figure 12). Core Beliefs Our ‘worldview’ of how we and others should behave in various circumstances Deep Structure ‘Unobservable roots’ and unconscious assumptions, sources of values and action Surface Structure ‘Visible’ behaviour and communication others can see (but hard to decode) Growth & Flexibility • Relationship orientation • Energy, empathy, responsibility • Communication style Internal Readiness • Knowledge, attitudes and skills • Openness and self-reflectivity • My approach to ‘others’ My Intercultural Competence Roots • Parents and peers • Institutions • Experiences with ‘others’ Figure 12: How Did We Get Here? Tree Model of Personal Growth 5 Life Biographies 127 <?page no="128"?> It helps us to understand where we come from and, by extension, what the ‘core’ of us and our actions are. Such mental self-pictures are usually quite unshakeable. After all, these things are dear to us, motivate us, and guide us. Let’s not forget, however, that as we meet people, we have new experiences. That is, in life, we continuously learn and grow. Hence, the branches might make our ideals, beliefs, and dispositions visible to the outside world. But they are exposed to the elements, seasons, and surroundings, too. We learn from life’s challenges and try to find a balance between lessons learned and core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world around us. All these forces ultimately help us figure out what is important to us when engaging with other people with or without different cultural backgrounds. When someone (for instance, your colleague or your negotiation partner) looks at you, they will unconsciously size you up. This sense-making of your actions is important, not least because it guides appropriate interaction. Such impressions come mainly from how others see us and our actions. These are the branches and leaves of our tree analogy that constantly grow and change. The treetop is your visible everyday behaviour at work. That is, people form impressions, often with only minimal information, about how you deal with situations and people. Today, this also includes judgements about how you interact, communicate, and manage people from different cultures. Of course, there is much more to your behaviour at work than meets the eye. Our social and cultural background pushes past actions and learnings and, together, leads to distinct behaviour. But such ‘roots’ are invisible and almost impossible for outsiders to decode. The way you give feedback, the extent to which you are okay with trusting others’ expertise, or, more generally, how you manage difficult situations or people at work, all this your co-workers will watch more or less closely. These ‘translations’ are not only ad hoc and improvised but also use cultural and personal filters and are, thus, often imperfect. Yet they form the basis of impressions, which, in turn, determine their responses to us. Managing across cultures and languages requires you to cope with people and situations without relying on the weight of past experiences. No doubt, some people are quite at ease with otherness. They are happy to explore exotic food. They are masters of small talk and networking. They do not get easily upset when things are done differently from what they are used to. In short, when working with people from different cultural backgrounds, they seem like a fish in the water, at home or abroad. Others struggle with thinking and acting appropriately in such contexts. When working with people with different cultural backgrounds, they quickly discover that their skill set in dealing with these differences is limited. And, by extension, boundaries to mutual understanding become evident. They might get irritated, stressed, or even anxious about their reduced sense-making abilities. Such negative sentiments augment cacophony, both in private and professional life. Some vent their frustrations directly, others more subtly mock their environment or even feel victimised. Negativity might drive a wedge between them and others. 128 5 Life Biographies <?page no="129"?> We usually know that cultural differences can create (unexpected) challenges. We can find reasons for such different experiences in dealing with these challenges in our biographic narratives. We acquire attitudes, skills, and knowledge throughout our life. Our social and cultural environment is particularly influential in shaping the way we experience otherness and deal with ambiguous situations or people: We continuously learn from those around us, such as family members, peers, colleagues and so on, about the rules of the game. Media, schools, or religious institutions are reference points for effective and appropriate behaviour in intercultural interactions. They show and remind us - sometimes consciously, sometimes less so - how we should deal with otherness. Of course, new experiences might overwrite our learnings from past social interactions. But this rarely happens overnight. 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace We learn about our culture through social interaction. The roots of our behaviour towards others go back in time, even as far back as our early childhood. Social institutions, near and far, play a pivotal and formative role in how we feel about ourselves and others. We come in touch with them either directly or indirectly, often or rarely, and physically or virtually. First and foremost, family members (often especially parents and grandparents) shape how we think, feel, judge, and act. We grow further roots during our formal education. Teachers (and other caregivers such as trainers, youth group leaders, etc.) give us an understanding of prevailing norms and values in our society. At a more global level, we grow up in a specific social setting, network of friends, and media milieu. Thus, everyday life also shapes our worldviews. Clearly, in our upbringing, we probably got to know people who showed us how to deal (or better not to deal) with otherness. These models teach us about cultural differences and what these differences do to us. Collectively, these formative layers make up the somewhat random rules of our childhood about openness or closedness to diversity (Figure 13). These set elementary milestones for later life, as they give rise to more or less stable expectations about how we relate to our environment. 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace 129 <?page no="130"?> Contact • Often vs. Rarely • Direct vs. Indirect • Real vs. Virtual Environment Education Reference Groups Figure 13: Formative Layers of Influence on Learning About Otherness Communication of Values Through Reference Groups Reference groups are social aggregates to which we are drawn or feel close. They provide orientation for our emotions, thinking and behaviour. Generally, they have a comparative, normative and aspirational function (see Newcomb, 1953): • In many situations, we turn to reference groups as a benchmark for social comparison of ourselves and our beliefs, norms, and values. Their influence can be substantial, especially when we are unsure what to think or how to behave. They can form a reference point for our views and judgement, as shown in the famous Asch (1936) experiment. He showed how peer pressure can influence one’s views even to the extent of obviously incorrect statements (i.e. visual perceptions of lengths of lines were influenced by what the other group members claimed to have perceived). • Reference groups can also have normative functions, providing norms and values. Through rewards and sanctions, reference groups take care of compliance. A reference group’s normative influence makes us feel, think, and behave in specific ways that are highly regarded within the group. UEFA’s ‘Say No to Racism’ campaign, for instance, featured the sport’s superstars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others. In their role as opinion leaders and reference group members, they called for action against discrimination. The hope is that this cements the universal norms in sports. • Reference groups can also be aspirational. We look up to members who are like who we would like to be or who we would like to be associated with. They motivate us to emulate their behaviour or put effort into becoming like them (for instance, joining their professional ranks). In intercultural situations, you may have a colleague who has travelled extensively or is exceptionally smooth in dealing with people of different cultural backgrounds. Perhaps you are so impressed by their interpersonal qualities, values, or lifestyles that you aspire to follow in their footsteps. 130 5 Life Biographies <?page no="131"?> Explore: Upbringing Every child interacts with the world around them. They observe and imitate the behaviour of those close to them. Thus, the family is a pivotal place for children’s cultural learning. Everyday practices at home teach them how they should think and behave. These experiences lay the foundation for intercultural development paths. Consider the following questions: • Have you lived in more than one place in your childhood? Have you perhaps attended school in different parts of the world? • How about ‘home’? Were you raised in a metropolitan or rural region? Was this region culturally heterogeneous or rather homogenous? • Do your parents share the same culture, or do they hold different nationali‐ ties? What implications did this have on the languages you spoke at home? Do you consider yourself to have ‘one’ true mother tongue? • How was interculturality practised in your family? Have you been travelling internationally a lot? Do you remember regularly eating food from different cultures? • Are you from a family where a certain antagonism directed against someone of a different nationality was (at the time) acceptable? • Would you generally describe your ‘family culture’ as appreciative of cultural differences? Did your parents encourage you to be tolerant of others? Was adaptability to different cultures important to your parents? • During your childhood, have you had the opportunity to meet plenty of people with different cultural backgrounds? • Would you describe your upbringing as being framed with curiosity about other cultures? We usually have many reference groups simultaneously. We can distinguish between different forms and occurrences, the most obvious ones being primary and secondary groups of reference. The former are usually small in size and full of intimate, informal, emotional, and everyday contact; because of that, the normative influence is significant. Families and close workgroups would usually count towards this type of reference group. As we have seen above, their influence on value development is substantial. The latter are typically large in size, but contact is formal, irregular, indirect and impersonal. Because of their abstractness, their influence on their members may not be as strong as with primary groups. But depending on (i) the makeup of the people involved, (ii) the situation, and (iii) the subject of their influence, social pressures can be significant (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). Examples of such secondary reference groups include large organisations, congregations (e.g., churches) or clubs (e.g., in sports). 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace 131 <?page no="132"?> Primary Reference Groups (Family): Families are the most important social institutions. They are the place where culture is learned. They reflect and pass on how things should be done. In no small way, we learn appropriate behaviour or attitudes by seeing and imitating the behaviours or attitudes of those close to us, including our thinking of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Our family sets practical examples of how sensitive, flexible, and or open-minded we should ideally be. Naturally, families are very dynamic, constantly changing learning places. According to Epp and Price (2008), there is more to families than the mere ‘we.’ Sure, there is a shared identity for all members. Still, a family might come with some subgroups with nuanced relationships (‘siblings,’ ‘parents,’ and so forth) and individual identities of family members (see also Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). Let us also not forget that the meaning of ‘family’ can differ greatly from one culture to another, from generation to generation, or from region to region. Time plays a role in what makes families. In some cultures, family identity is set in an extraordinary context of lineage and spirituality (e.g., in Japan, household shrines are a place of ancestor worship). In contrast, in others, extended families (e.g., in Arab cultures, families are the nexus of social security) and caring for future generations are the norm (e.g., in some German regions, farmers build a so-called ‘Austragshäusl,’ or a small house on the farm’s premises, in which they will move into upon their retirement. At the same time, they will make space in the main building for the next generation so that the eldest son can step into their economic shoes and take over the farm). Day-to-day experiences affect the many ways in which communication is lived and practised within a family. There are religious rituals (e.g., Christmas or Bar mitzvah), stories (e.g., grandfather was a prisoner of war in Russia) or social dramas (e.g., rebellion against family norms) from which we learn rules of social interaction. All these factors give us our bearing and will, eventually, influence how we think about other cultures. In several instances, intercultural learning occurs in families: Parents or parental figures may come from different cultures and speak in various mother tongues. As a child, your family might have often relocated across borders, perhaps even across continents. You accompanied them and, thus, might have experienced living in different cultures for a significant portion of your developmental years. All this implies that you are carrying deep international experiences with you; your intercultural upbringing may mean you have been raised to be tolerant and have experienced an entire range of intercultural challenges. Secondary Reference Groups: Secondary reference groups come in all forms and shapes. As a rule of thumb, their influences vary with (i) what role we allow them to have in our everyday life and, connected to this, (ii) how firm our attitudes and convictions are. The four most common types (Table 7) can significantly impact how we approach intercultural situations. Reference groups give us space to feel secure, at ease and confident. No wonder that their importance in intercultural encounters is well documented in extant literature: • When abroad and faced with culture bumps (as is often the case, especially when stays are over prolonged periods), many of us will want to create space so that 132 5 Life Biographies <?page no="133"?> we can deal with the ups and downs of living in a (to us) alien world. Commonly, we, thus, turn to reference groups near (e.g., local ‘expat’ community) or far (e.g., family and friends from home) to reconfirm our sense of identity and belonging (Minot, 2014). We orbit around like-minded people who speak our mother tongue and share our eating preferences or ways of doing and thinking about things. Such short-term differentiation is immensely empowering as it helps us to step off, at least for some time, the rollercoaster ride of expat experiences, including time out from constant observation and cognitive overload (e.g., when speaking a foreign tongue, see Volk, Köhler, & Pudelko, 2014). Next to the practical support, these reference groups can give us emotional support and help us create much-needed boundaries (see also Ernst & Chrobot-Mason, 2011). Likewise, bills for international phone calls easily skyrocket as we try to connect with family and loved ones (Miller, 1993). Under these circumstances, there might be even something positive in making humorous or perhaps even somewhat unfavourable remarks about one’s experiences with the local communities to clear the air (and one’s head) and create a sense of togetherness. • There is, however, also a dark side to reference groups at the interstices of intercultural interaction, as people look online in search of echo chambers that would validate or augment their views (Criss, Michaels, Solomon, Allan, & Nguyen, 2020). Sadly, the anonymity of cyberspace means they find it relatively easy to air their frustration, which can involve importing derogatory language use. Of course, such offensive language use can cause tremendous harm, most notably when this turns into extremism, racist slurs, or cyberbullying. Online far-right ecosystems can breed conspiracy theories and even goad members to real-world violence, as has been strikingly shown in the 6 th January 2021 Capitol Hill incident (Zakrzewski, Lima, & Harwell, 2023) or the Christchurch Massacre in New Zealand (McGowan, 2020). In other words, virtual reference groups can be as real, powerful, and influential as face-to-face contact, if not even more so in today’s time and digital age. • Ill-intended or not, your worldview is entirely conditional on the social environ‐ ment you find yourself in. Its subtle or unsubtle ways of talking about and doing things can undoubtedly move the goalposts in how you see issues, including people of different cultural backgrounds. Language can unmask what we (and others) truly feel and think. For instance, a German-speaking manager responsible for North East Asian business referred to colleagues in Hong Kong as ‘Honkis’ (a contraction which sounds, at first blush, like affection). At a UK university, a student group called itself ‘Jap-Soc’ (which was meant as an abbreviation for Japan Society). In both cases, observers will not miss the pejorative undertones (even if they are affectionately packaged). Skilled interlocutors can get a good sense of you merely by what you say and how you talk about issues. Remember, you can never unsay things. You have been warned! 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace 133 <?page no="134"?> Type Shape Example Influence Contact Face-to-Face Family, work groups Small and informal groups, frequent contact; a strong sense of ‘us’ (and ‘them’). Virtual Communities, digital plat‐ forms Anonymity in cyberspace; exchange of infor‐ mation; frequent interaction; echo chambers (but the possibility of radicalisation). Membership Voluntary Club, party, association Choice to gain membership because of shared interests; identification with the values of a group, or feelings of closeness. Involuntary Family, age, caste, sex Forced or compulsory membership; usually unchangeable; relationship with a group without much say in it. Formality Formal Party, union, Association Groups, usually large in size, with specific goals or missions; well structured but often distanced and impersonal. Informal Peer groups, family Small(ish) in size, with members being in regular contact; familiarity and a strong sense of togetherness. Role Aspirational Models, actors, sports stars Real or imaginary groups with whom people want to connect or be seen with; in some cases, we may even be like them. Dissociative Competing sports teams, nation Out-group orientation, perhaps driven by stereotypical views and avoidant behaviour; we do not like to be associated with this group. Table 7: Points of Contact to Secondary Reference Groups Source: e.g., Shibutani, 1955, for the emergence of virtual reference groups see, e.g., Valck, Bruggen, & Wierenga, 2009. We can borrow Leon Festinger’s (1954) Theory of Social Comparison for a deeper grounding in what role reference groups can play in intercultural encounters. He believed people have a need to validate their opinions and abilities (which, according to him, work hand in hand). They do so because they want to be liked and be part of a group, all the while fearing social isolation. When we are unsure about ourselves and what we do we turn to others and ‘compare’ ourselves to them (although there are rarely objective criteria that would warrant feelings of closeness or estrangement). There are two reasons why we would engage in such processes: First, issues of comparison must be dear to us (relevance). Second, we are more likely to make use of comparison the more similar other’s opinions and abilities are (similarity). Based on these basic assumptions, Festinger theorised two kinds of pathways: We see ourselves in relation to those who we think are better (upward social comparison) or worse off than us (downward social comparison). In the former case, we are motivated to stretch ourselves, for instance, by looking for ways how we could develop similar language 134 5 Life Biographies <?page no="135"?> skills or achieve the same level of proficiency. In the latter case, usually a first choice in ego-sting situations, we are motivated to make us feel better about ourselves. From this, it follows that social comparisons affect how we see ourselves. We risk either boosting or exposing our self-esteem. We can now apply reference group theory to intercultural encounters and how we approach otherness both in private and professional contexts. In the face of otherness, our usual frames of reference within which we operate are, per definition, ineffective. Culture bumps, unmet expectations about the behaviour of others (Archer & Nickson, 2012), can make us feel insecure and worry about social consequences. As we cannot objectively assess our opinions and abilities, we scan the environment for guidance. Who we choose as a reference depends on how similar we feel they are to us. There are plenty of trigger points for comparative processes to unfold in intercultural situations, including foreign language proficiency or adaption to novel situations. We could look for suggestions on how close others (friends, neighbours, group members, near and far) have or would behave in the same situation. It is perfectly plausible to then compare ourselves upwards, i.e. we look for inspiration from those who we feel are better at speaking a local language or, from our point of view, are more at ease with unpredictable behaviour. Downward comparison is effective when we want to feel better about ourselves. We could tell ourselves that our proficiency is better than that of other students, that we know more vocabulary or have better comprehension skills and so forth. However, we could also find ourselves exposed to downward comparisons, for instance, when someone makes the point that they are oh-so-well integrated into local society. So, reference groups in intercultural situations are all swings and roundabouts. What makes things more complicated, however, is when we do not know who should be our point of reference: When abroad, we might feel torn between those who share our biographies and upbringing (e.g., compatriots or colleagues) and those who do not (but we would like to be like, such as local friends, colleagues). Professional life is full of culture bumps to which we react unconsciously or consciously with social comparisons. When working internationally, worries about organisational justice are not uncommon: We may find that we have unequal op‐ portunities within our own organisation (Behtoui, 2004) or feel that processes are internationally out of sync and, thus, favour others (Hooi, Bin Sulaiman, & Omar, 2012). Worries about unfair treatment can also come from information flows within internationally operating firms. Corporate language can be distorted in such ways that it bifurcates employees into those who have access to information and those who do not (Welch, Welch, & Marschan-Piekkari, 2001). Performance appraisals are also apparent bones of contention in international contexts. Social comparisons can be past- (How did I perform in contrast to others? ) or future-oriented (Can I perform a new task? ). In both cases, we may have a pretty good idea of what performance expectations are in our own culture (although this is already quite a difficult undertaking). However, we often lack this ability in international contexts, especially when we have to or should play according to the local rules of the game (Neeley, 2011). When upward comparisons 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace 135 <?page no="136"?> (seeing oneself similar to local high-performing others) do not work, we may want to deflect the unsatisfying status quo. As immediate countermeasures, we could question the superior performance of others (‘I am surprised. At home, such performance would never warrant a promotion! ’) or the relevance of comparison standards (‘They have it very easy here’) (see Greenberg, Ashton-James, & Ashkanasy, 2007). Note that feedback is always highly sensitive to cultural variations. Reference group considerations, for instance, may drive 360-degree feedback. Systematic cultural differences may skew the useful application of such appraisal systems in some parts of the world (Eckert, Ekelund, Gentry, & Dawson, 2010). Virtual environments are the new normal in international business communication. Social comparison mechanisms also matter in surprising ways (Horn & Takino, 2023). When web-conferencing interlocutors are boxed into ‘tiles,’ with only their face and upper body being visible (if they have turned on the camera, that is), they, thus, lack vital comparative information (such as dress, non-verbal behaviour and so forth). Resultant uncertainty leads to compensation efforts (such as phone calls to colleagues and the use of message boards) and other search efforts. Table 8 summarises how secondary reference groups can shape the way we experience culture bumps. - Worries about Unfair Treatment - Example - Organisational justice - Distributive justice Glass ceiling: Discriminatory barriers based on cultural or linguistic background; e.g., executive positions reserved for HQ nation‐ als. - Procedural justice Subtle or blatant institutional discrimina‐ tion: Worries about biased processes, e.g., near-native language ability or local certif‐ ication of qualifications as selection or ap‐ praisal criteria. - Interactional justice (1) Selective information flows: Knowledge sharing bifurcates in-group and out-group members, e.g., essential information only available in the mother tongue. - Interactional justice (2) Microaggressions: Sensitivity to being de‐ nied unbiased treatment, e.g., the line man‐ ager appears to be more caring for compa‐ triots than for outsiders. Performance appraisal Rejection Distortion: Biased modelling of one’s present or future performance, goal posts, judgements or expectations are felt to be culturally distorted and do not make sense in a local context. - Deflection Lack of proxy comparison: Unwillingness to acknowledge or value local performance 136 5 Life Biographies <?page no="137"?> criteria, e.g., how success is defined in one’s home country. - Peer evaluations Diversity and power distance: Background similarity in multicultural teams is not guar‐ anteed. In some less egalitarian cultures, people might feel uncomfortable with peer feedback. Table 8: Impact of Reference Groups in Professional Life Source: Greenberg, Ashton-James, & Ashkanasy, 2007; Miner, 2005. Communication of Values in Educational Institutions Our ‘Weltanschauung’ (or world view, what we think is necessary and right in the world) depends to no small extent on the social and cultural conditions in which we grow up. No doubt, approaches to intercultural encounters and, by extension, the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately are rooted in one’s attitudes acquired in childhood. You can connect with other cultures more easily if you have learned to react positively to differences and ambiguity. As we have seen, your family (parents, grandparents, siblings) or other caregivers play an important role in learning and acquiring skills. Schooling, too, is another crucial part of enculturation, where reactions to differences are fundamentally shaped. Here, we make formative experiences sur‐ rounding responsible and respectful interaction with each other, including respect for others and other beliefs, openness to cultural diversity, or curiosity about different ways of doing things. What has occurred previously affects one’s intercultural competence in the here and now. These learning opportunities can take place at different levels and in a variety of forms (according to educational psychologist M. Barrett, 2018), ranging from (i) institutional missions (usually couched in national educational policies), (ii) pedagogical approaches of teachers, and (iii) social interaction in the classroom. Institutional Missions: Education falls into the responsibility of national or regional governments. Policymakers might be committed to creating a culturally inclusive curriculum. Initiatives then could, for instance, include compulsory intercul‐ turality classes, options in religious education, or more holistic history or geography syllabi that are expressly ‘not’ national in focus and character. Schools could endorse extra-curricular activities through international excursions, exchange with local com‐ munities (e.g., visits to churches, mosques, and temples), or study abroad programmes. All this exposes young people to cultural diversity and enables them to develop intercultural competencies from early on. 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace 137 <?page no="138"?> Explore: Is Pipi Longstocking Racist? Written in the 1940s, this classic children’s book’s eccentric heroine shares her house with a monkey and a horse. Because of discriminatory language and alleged colonialist storytelling, the original book was recently removed from many German school libraries. The publisher adapted the Swedish-German translation. Pippi’s father, who had been originally dubbed as ‘King of the Negroes,’ now appears as ‘King of the South Seas.’ Such changes do not go without criticism of censorship, while others argue that merely amending terminologies does not change the portrayal of certain colonial stereotypes. By today’s standards, the Pipi Longstocking book is not the only artwork that would be considered offensive and (in part) out of place. Many of Disney’s earlier characters share the same fate. Find out what the American entertainment giant does about them today. • How and to what extent you agree with their approach? • Are there other possibilities for updating portrayals that were common in one cultural and temporal context and not in another? Pedagogical Approaches: Teaching is all about fostering exploratory behaviour and self-reflexivity. Curiosity enhances intercultural learning. Teachers, thus, have the task of boosting, wherever possible, openness and understanding of other cultural forms of life. Of course, some teachers might have touched your heart more than others. Perhaps one of your teachers used rather creative pedagogical approaches that stimulated your intercultural awareness or critical self-reflection when interacting with others. Or was there a teacher who largely ignored diversity issues, or whose behaviour you would consider (in hindsight) even as discriminatory? Perhaps you remember co-students with migration backgrounds being teased more than others (for example, often about language skills, odour, or social behaviour). For some of us, times have tremendously changed since we left school. Are there perhaps instances of intolerance in class ‘then’ that would be considered unacceptable ‘today’? Thanks to social media and the anonymity of cyberspace, issues of political correct‐ ness and prevailing narratives are fiercely discussed. Is there perhaps a backlash in your culture underway with debates about censorship and free speech when it comes to diversity? Think About: Cancel Culture The world of marketing and advertising is not unaffected by increasingly polarised discourses. Especially in social media, the potential for aggressiveness and rapid escalation is noticeable. And users are quick to boycott brands that do not echo their position on diversity. 138 5 Life Biographies <?page no="139"?> Consider the following questions: • Can you find examples where brands have stirred up such emotions? • What was the bone of contention? • Are brands of your childhood rewriting their appearance according to current ideas? Social Interaction in the Classroom: Schools are set in and part of a unique sociographic environment. The school’s catchment area influences the makeup of classes. Based on this composition, each cohort develops a specific classroom culture. Depending on the degree of in-class heterogeneity, emotional and social development might also include dealing with cultural diversity (Pevec & Schachner, 2019). Clearly, these learning journeys require teachers who help create an inclusive atmosphere and encourage collaborative learning and engagement opportunities. Make no mistake: Cultural diversity in the classroom is not unproblematic. Lack of language proficiency can lead to learning difficulties. Learning difficulties can lead to frustration and fear of being left behind or treated poorly. Frustration can lead to aggressive behaviour. Through peer interaction (including those outside school, e.g., in sports, youth groups, etc.), good or bad, we learn patterns of intercultural engagement such as empathy or indifference, appreciation or disapproval, trust or distrust and so forth. Communication of Values in Everyday Life Last but not least, everyday life experiences play a crucial role in shaping adolescents’ orientation, worldviews, and attitudes. There is ample evidence to suggest that emotional ties to a group influence our beliefs about ourselves and others. Identifying with a group comes from many different paths and at various levels of abstraction. Self-perceptions of being a member of a national community with shared traditions, culture, and language are one way of forming a sense of belonging. Arguably, such elements of the country’s environment can have powerful effects on how we experience and respond to intercultural encounters. Particularly noteworthy in this context are international competitions such as sports events like the Olympics and World Cups or national commemoration days, when people rally around national symbols (flags, national anthems, etc.) and shared identities become visible. Under these circumstances, when interaction or comparisons with other cultures matter, a national identity can foster a sense of belonging. If a situation triggers cultural comparisons, our social reality (conceptualised at different levels of abstraction, including the national level) will affect how receptive we are to different ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. But in everyday life, when we do not interact with people of different cultural backgrounds or do not experience different ways of doing things, a strong sense of national unity or cultural attachment usually does not feature significantly. Also, note that a nation’s culture can be made up of various socio-geographies and, with it, 5.1 Life Biographies in the International Workplace 139 <?page no="140"?> sub-cultures (including religion, ethnicities, class and so forth). These may contribute to people’s sense of belonging and shared identity. Because of the emphasis on preserving in-group norms and needs, in some settings, cultural differences are felt to challenge or even threaten cherished practices by its members. And applying one’s cultural standards as a sense-making frame for judging others is the result of that. This is evident in particularly challenging or sensitive situations. Think of a doctor’s visit. You feel unwell and insecure about your health. Communication skills are extremely important for doctor-patient discussions, including reading and understanding between the lines. Would you prefer to talk to the doctor in your mother tongue? Would you expect the doctor to demonstrate native-level proficiency just so you truly understand what might be wrong with you? What about the role of legislation? Would you want your country’s professional bodies to ensure that doctors’ language and professional skills are sufficient for everyday clinical practice? Of course, answers to these questions depend to a large extent on the severity of illness and perceived level of uncertainty. Some countries are okay with cultural diversity, while others are not. In spite of a general push towards equality, commitment, and respect for cultural pluralism, in strained situations, engagement with others might be considered more or less tolerable and let, for instance, language issues just happen. Other countries are less welcoming when it comes to sub-par resident language skills or prevent doctors from practising altogether when they have not trained in the local system. Think About: Foreign Service Staff Walking about Tokyo you come across this sign in front of your favourite coffee shop: ‘Dear Customers, our shop actively hires people from outside Japan. It takes an incredible amount of effort to strive in a country that is not your own. If you step into their shoes you will understand their unimaginable effort and determination. Some staff are getting used to it, while others are working at our Cafe for the first time. There are some staff members who are nervous and can't speak well yet, but I hope you will look at them with kind eyes.’ 140 5 Life Biographies <?page no="141"?> Picture and Post by John Cathcart, found on Linkedin 2024. Consider the following questions: • What is the purpose of this sign? • What has the shop owner got right, and, perhaps, what not? • What does it tell you about the coffee shop’s corporate social responsibility? • Have you come across similar signs in your country of residence? 5.2 Intercultural Competence as a Learning Journey Intercultural communication at work has much to do with basic assumptions about the world’s workings. As we have seen, many issues surrounding ‘otherness’ and how to deal with it have already cropped up in our childhood. It is a time when we can play, try, and experience new things. As we move through childhood, we also make a series of social experiences that become part of our nature. Interaction between children and parents (family), between children and other children (schooling), and between children and society as a whole (physical and psychological environment) add layer upon layer to our behaviour and worldviews. We adapt to and internalise the prevailing culture of the society, namely, appropriating its attitudes, norms, and values. Like sediments, such experiences layer up and together shape the course of our engagement with people of different cultural backgrounds. We develop certain expectations about relationships with others, for instance, how we treat others when meeting for the first time (friend or foe? ), how comfortable we feel when with others less similar to us (intimacy or social distance? ), or how we overcome frustrations when intercultural encounters start getting to us (fight or flight? ). We might, however, not necessarily understand why we do what we do at home. We cannot explain why we feel the way we do with others. Beliefs about others might be so deeply embedded that the way we go about things remains largely unconscious or follows automated sequences. As sources and grammar of values, they establish what is really relevant to us. This top-of-heart and top-of-mind ‘pre-selection’ then frames courses of action, that is, how and to what extent we cherish experiences of otherness - or not, as the case may be. Our roots, then, propel the energy with which we seek international 5.2 Intercultural Competence as a Learning Journey 141 <?page no="142"?> contact and exchange, leave our comfort zone so that we can grow, or simply enjoy food from other parts of the world. So, whether we are comfortable with different cultures (or prefer the known, trusted, and accepted ways of ‘home’) results from sequences of past interactions, actions, and learnings, each leading to distinct experiences with otherness. This learning journey tips us continuously in one direction or the other. Our roots prepare us for the journey ahead. We usually do not do well without roots. The values and attitudes that shape our everyday life vary, as we have seen, depending on what learning journey we have, what people we have met, and what intercultural encounters have done to us. Maybe we already experienced what it means to live abroad when we were young. Perhaps we were invited to the home of a school friend of a different culture. Maybe we spent some time at a university abroad or gained our first work experience in a foreign country. Each new situation offers the chance to learn something new about us and others. To stay with our tree analogy, it is the sum of all these experiences that make up the trunk of our tree. Together with the roots, it anchors us from storms or unknowns. Try It: World Picture Test Use a pen and paper to • Draw a map of the world as accurately as possible! • Do not use the internet and any other source of information. Draw what you know. • After five minutes, share your drawing with your group. • Remember, this exercise is about your unconscious perception of the world (and not your drawing skills). Exercise applied from Usunier & Lee (2000) Discuss in small groups: • Do all maps look alike? • Is the format of the maps two-dimensional? • Where do people place the centre of the map? • What about people from different parts of the world? Do their maps look different? • Does the drawing contain all continents? • Are there differences in the accuracy of drawing certain world regions? If so, to what extent does this reveal one’s awareness of that country or region? • To what extent do the proportions of a country or world region match up? • Have persons objected to participating in the exercise? Why do you think is this the case? Find out here how distorted your view of the world really is: https: / / thetruesize.com 142 5 Life Biographies <?page no="143"?> Like the annual tree rings, we grow with every intercultural experience we have. Wide rings indicate good years (plenty of water). Narrow rings indicate not-so-good years (droughts). Like these rings, we sometimes have good intercultural experiences and sometimes perhaps not-so-good ones. We have probably come across many inspirational intercultural role models in the course of our lives: The expat who was at ease yielding to their subordinate’s expertise because he knew his information about local culture was limited. The manager who is able to overcome his team members’ deeply held cultural perceptions and turn different communication styles into something positive or even desirable. However, intercultural encounters do not always have to be free of conflict. Indeed, we might have come across people who failed spectacularly in dealing with otherness. Cultural diversity might bring about hostile situations with emotions running high or communications turning toxic. It might have even been you who had frustrating experiences with people from other cultures that resulted in you being fed up or emotionally unstable. A tree is an organic system; it grows up and out. As the trunk that gets thicker and stronger, experiences, good or bad, shape our intercultural competence vis-à-vis people and situations. As we layer up experiences and perspectives across our life course, we get sharper and more and more steadfast about how we want to deal with otherness. Clearly, childhood socialisation has a major influence on how we see and engage with the world around us. Positive feedback reinforces the path taken. As we move forward, such loops help to hone our cognitive, emotional, and social capabilities. Path-dependent processes, carried over from the past, will eventually converge towards one’s very own wants and needs. Smaller incidences hardly cause a departure from our basic attitudes towards other people and situations. This does not mean, however, that we all grow towards high levels of cultural awareness, understanding, and sensitivity. After all, basic attitudes vary greatly and cover a wide range of considerations. They could, for example, look like this: • Migrants have to adapt! They should certainly learn to speak my language. • People are people regardless of their origin, and I will treat everyone equally! • I am curious about how things are done in other cultures! • Home is where life is good! Developmental models of intercultural competence recognise such changes in sensitiv‐ ity to cultural differences. In his seminal work, sociologist Bennett (1986) identifies six phases of becoming more interculturally mature as we learn through social interaction. According to this model, we should progress from monocultural to multicultural world‐ views, where there is a sequence from the simple to the sophisticated. As intercultural experiences layer up, we move from ethnocentric stages (my culture is paramount and universal) to ethnorelative stages (other cultures can only be understood from within). We can fine-slice these two worldviews into distinct sequences. Initially, our reality revolves solely around our home culture. We are uninterested in what happens outside our own cultural bubble. Then, we might realise that there are other ways of 5.2 Intercultural Competence as a Learning Journey 143 <?page no="144"?> doing things out there. But we would maintain that, ultimately, our culture is superior. Next, we might find that universal values apply to everyone regardless of where they are from. However, because of the now-assumed similarities, we run the danger of trivialising cultural differences. As our experiences further stack up, we might cross over to more ethnorelative views. We accept that there is not only ‘my way (or the highway).’ We get that people from other cultures do things differently, and our own culture is just one of many. All cultures have rather complex answers to universal challenges. Once we develop the ability to see things through the eyes of others, we are okay with adapting to cultural differences. More and more, we start acting in culturally appropriate ways. Lastly, we might find ourselves choosing customs that suit us best and can easily switch in-between cultures. We literally creep into the minds of others. We will learn more about this model in Chapter 9 when we look at the role of motivation in developing intercultural competence. Each of us grows up in different circumstances. People and situations come and go into our lives. There will be hangovers from past experiences, and ongoing interactions will add to these. They combine to produce fresh and perhaps unexpected insights into how we can relate to otherness. Like the branches of our proverbial tree, we permanently grow and evolve - sometimes slower, sometimes faster - depending on the seasons (or life situations we find ourselves in). The leaves might change colour as we transit new phases of intercultural awareness or sensitivity. When engaging with others, we might start to pay attention to what works and what does not. In tracking what are desirable and appropriate outcomes, we permanently adapt to our environment. What we have learned in one context might not be useful in others. This, then, might involve unlearning things so that we can ensure further personal growth - we prune some of our branches. In short, as the tree, we are an extensive system that is constantly changing, adapting, and growing. What seems crucial to me is that intercultural competence, the ability to communi‐ cate and work with people from different cultural backgrounds effectively (Leung, Ang, & Tan, 2014), is nothing that is slipped into one’s cradle. Rather, it comprises skills, knowledge, and attitudes that need tender love and care. We can only start figuring things out through continuous self-reflection. We have to be prepared to ask ourselves serious questions, perhaps even questions we would rather not like to think about. Only by examining ourselves and our relationship with others can we expand our roots, trunk, and branches, or, in short, hone our cognitive, emotional, and social capabilities. A biographic introspection will help us make more of ourselves and our skills in dealing with otherness. • Why am I so edgy when working with people from other cultures? • What skills do I need in order to better cope with intercultural situations? • Why do I always make the same mistakes when working abroad? • Looking back, what can I learn from these mistakes? 144 5 Life Biographies <?page no="145"?> 5.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne compared social interactions to ‘transactions.’ He saw in the to and fro of communication between people reciprocal reactions. Whoever starts a conversation provides a ‘stimulus’ to which an interactant ‘responds.’ Berne’s ‘transactional analysis’ informs us of our emotions, thoughts, and behaviours during social interactions (Berne, 1964). It helps us look at S-O-R processes and, accordingly, the roles we play. The framework is a great help for a deeper understanding of what happens to people and between them when they communicate. Inspired by the works of Freud and Jung, Berne’s great insight was that our childhood experiences and biographies significantly impact our ego states and, by extension, the ways we approach social interaction. He recognised that we all like to be liked. We strive for social recognition (so-called strokes). He then differentiated between three distinct modes of being during an exchange: parent-, adultand child-like behaviour. Parent Ego State: All emotions, thinking and behaviour that we have observed from influential people, reference groups and institutions in our biographies. These have converged towards internalised rules of what is right and wrong and how we should and ought to behave in social situations. Berne fine-slices this way of being into controlling or nurturing parent states. We can jump into a situation with harsh, moralising critique and a certain aggressiveness, or we switch on our rescue behaviour when we feel others are in need of help. Adult Ego State: All emotions, thinking and behaviour that we apply to the here and now. We use logic and reason to appraise what is happening around us. Our adult mode is less judgemental (than the morale-driven parent mode). Child Ego State: All emotions, thinking and behaviour of our childhood. These we replay in the present. This way of being flows from infant or adolescent learnings (usually through reinforcement, i.e. rewards or punishment of desired/ undesired behaviour). Berne further distinguishes between adapted and free modes. We may find that we want to fit in and want to be seen in a positive light. We hope that through conformity, others like us. Alternatively, we may want to follow our hearts and vices. Then, our playful, creative, and perhaps even rebellious side shows. Transactional analysis (TA) assumes that the three ego-states affect social interac‐ tion. The ego states of the interlocutors combine in specific ways: Either ego states match, or they do not. We can expect harmonious transactions when ego states are parallel (e.g., at work, when both interlocutors take on adult ego states, or, at home, when a nurturing parent mode meets conforming child-like behaviour). By contrast, social interactions are more conflict-loaded when ego-states cross. For instance, when we as team members respond with an adult ego state to our line manager’s moralising adult ego state. In short, TA explains why we (and others) behave the way we (or they) do. Our childhood experiences and biographies are like scripts that affect how we position ourselves in social interactions. Over and over again, we may find ourselves in similar situations, playing similar, perhaps even self-prophesising roles. 5.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 145 <?page no="146"?> Things get more complicated when our ego states, consciously or unconsciously, do not fit with what we say or do. We can make our messages look like they come from certain ego states, thus masking our true intentions. Or we say one thing but do or expect the other. For instance, your line manager could say that it is entirely up to you how you go about a task but also warn you that you will, of course, have to live with the consequences should things go wrong. In this example, the parent ego state comes in the disguise of the adult ego state. These ‘games’ are difficult to decode and hint at dysfunctional behaviour patterns. It is nearly impossible for non-native speakers to pick up the very fine nuances of role play and role switching. The value of TA for intercultural interactions is threefold: First, it resonates with expectations surrounding how a social fabric is best maintained. Second, it helps understand patterns of intercultural encounters. Third, TA brings us much closer to what is going on when people of different cultures meet than the somewhat abstract cultural models. Maintaining Social Fabric: Some cultures are relaxed about hierarchies, while others accept rank and authority as guiding principles. By implication, people have to follow and play specific roles in their lives. This suggests that ‘transactions’ within these cultures can take on very different directions. The former would indicate preferences for parallel interactions, where people (and their ego states) meet at eye level. The latter would suggest preferences for interactions, where ego-states mix depending on the role of the interlocutors. Problems, of course, occur when these hierarchies are being challenged, which is often the case when people move in and out of cultures. TA sensitises us to different forms of social interactions, too. Instead of relying on overly abstract norms and beliefs of the cultural environment, it provides robust understanding at the personal level. Ego-states are likely to show in verbal, para-verbal and non-verbal behaviour clues. Observing and understanding these patterns puts us in the position of finding adequate responses. Understanding Communication Patterns in Intercultural Encounters: Mov‐ ing across cultures often means speaking in a foreign language and adapting to different ways of doing things. Under these circumstances, many of us will be unsure about how much effort should go into such adjustments. Our ego-states may play a role here, as the novelty of situations means we are likely to slip into our childhood behaviour. Take, for instance, language proficiency. It is tough to communicate with the same ease and impact as we are accustomed to in our mother tongue. Likewise, we are losing our superpower of cultural sense-making when abroad. In many ways, we have to relearn how to navigate situations and people. Adult ego states are often out of reach as we are missing the basic ingredients for creating rapport or experiencing clumsiness (i.e., we cannot project our competent selves as usual), which makes us too uncomfortable to keep a cool head. In such situations, it is much easier to adopt a child-like ego state so that we can better deal with social problems. We want to belong to our new habitat. Alternatively, we may revert to parent ego states and more or less disapprove of the local rules of the game. Such behaviour would signal to interactants that we do not wish 146 5 Life Biographies <?page no="147"?> to adapt to or learn about our new social environment. Once we understand the roles we play in intercultural encounters, we can think about our communication patterns and reasonable responses to and exits from conflicts. Exercise 1: Analysing Emotional Reactions and Concerns TA is a gentle reminder that communication is more than what meets the eye and certainly much more complicated than extant cultural models want us to believe. People do rarely behave consistently across situations. They, thus, switch roles depending on the context, relationships, and the interplay between them. We can expect social interaction to play out very differently, not only across cultures but also within cultures. Such variations will reflect in communication patterns and, with it, ego states. For instance, in power situations (e.g., involving state functions such as incidents involving state authority), people will take on very different roles than in more ambiguous settings. Think of a car accident. Here, the roles between a police officer and the people involved in the accident are clearly distributed. Now assign ego states to the interlocutors (police officer, person who caused the accident, victim, insurer, etc.). Discuss in groups of 3 or 4. - How do you think communication will unfold in a high-power, distant culture? - What are the likely differences in social interaction in cultures that score low power distance? - What would happen to these ego state roles (and expected communication patterns) if someone from a low-power distance culture is involved in a car accident in a high-power distance culture? - Do you think the ego states of those involved in the car accident would be different in other situations? For instance, how do you imagine the police officer acting outside their professional role? Exercise 2: Drama Triangle Stephen Karpman’s (1968) ‘Drama Triangle’ applies TA to interpersonal inter‐ action, specifically dysfunctional communication patterns. He distinguishes between three interlocutor archetypes: Victim: People in this role feel helpless and powerless. The outcome of interaction depends on circumstances outside their control. As they are at the mercy of others, they do not need to account for their action. Persecutor: People in this role feel they have control over the outcomes of interaction. So that things go their way, they can intimidate or manipulate others. Their sense of power comes from identifying weaknesses in others. 5.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 147 <?page no="148"?> Rescuer: People in this role feel they need to take care of other people’s problems. From helping others, they gain self-worth. They want to do the right thing, even at the cost of their own well-being. We may also find ourselves switching from one role to the other as we interact with people. Each role in itself is unhealthy, especially if we overdo them. - In intercultural encounters, which role do you find yourself often in? - Which role is most comfortable and most uncomfortable for you? - Think of a situation in which you experienced a culture bump. Did you feel like a victim, i.e. a sense of helplessness? What did you do about it? Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? The Power of Intercultural Socialisation What we make of our social world is deeply rooted in our life biographies. A critical source of information on how we should go about intercultural encounters is the behaviour of important others. Accordingly, to appreciate the power of our biographic narratives over intercultural encounters, we can turn to those in our environments who play or have played a formative role in how we feel about ourselves and others. Sources of intercultural socialisation can be intimate (e.g., family, close friends), direct (e.g., teachers, trainers) or even virtual (e.g., formal education, media milieu). Like the rings of a tree, we grow expectations about how we best relate to our environment from what we have learned from social institutions. What are Reference Groups? Reference groups are indispensable in understanding social influence and inter‐ cultural behaviour. They are social groups that we look to as points of reference for our emotions, thinking and behaviour. In terms of intercultural encounters, they influence how we see ourselves and others, providing orientation for appropriate social interaction. There are three main functions of reference groups: They set benchmarks for right or wrong behaviour (normative function), they serve as standards for social comparison (comparative function), and they can inspire us (aspirational function). We can further distinguish between primary reference groups (i.e., those we are in direct and frequent contact with) and secondary reference groups (i.e., those we are in less intimate and less frequent contact with). Both types can have a significant impact on how we approach intercultural situations. How Do Reference Groups Shape the Way We Experience Culture Bumps? By comparing ourselves to others, we learn how we stack up against others. We do so when we are unsure about ourselves and what we do and when we need benchmarking criteria. Typically, we compare ourselves in relation to those who we think are better (upward social comparison, especially in terms of setting 148 5 Life Biographies <?page no="149"?> benchmarks of how we would like to be) or worse off than us (downward social comparison, especially in terms of making us feel better about ourselves). Both social comparison types can play out at work when coming across culture bumps. Worries about unfair treatment, particularly issues surrounding organisational justice (e.g., glass ceiling effects) or performance appraisals (e.g., institutional bias) induce interpretations of our intercultural world. Knowing About Intercultural Encounters Through Family and Friends Family members and caregivers are a fundamental part of our personal develop‐ ment. Through observation, modelling, and experiences, we learn first-hand how to go about things (read our ‘culture’), including customs, traditions, and language. All this shapes who we are and gives us a sense of belonging. Family socialisation profoundly impacts how we approach intercultural encounters as it sets practical examples of how sensitive, flexible and or open-minded we should be. Knowing About Intercultural Encounters Through Education Schooling is much more than mere academic learning. It plays a crucial role in so‐ cialisation, notably in communicating norms, values, and social skills. Institutional missions, pedagogical approaches, and social interaction in the classroom give us formative experiences. Through their interplay, we learn respect for others and other beliefs, openness to cultural diversity, and curiosity about different ways of doing things. Knowing About Intercultural Encounters Through Everyday Life Experi‐ ences At a more abstract and complex level, national identity and its practices, symbols and language can also provide a sense of belonging. It usually plays a relatively minor role in everyday life but can come to the fore when interacting with other cultures, most notably during international competitions (or, sadly, wars). Events such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cups can make national identities visible. Also, in particularly sensitive and challenging situations (e.g., issues of health, care for children, and safety), some people may want to refer to social elements from their home culture. However, this does not imply that a sense of belonging and national identity are the same. Given the sociocultural diversity of a nation, learning social norms, values, and skills can take place at different levels within a broader national framework. Tree Model of Intercultural Competence The tree model of intercultural competence is an analogy of the various layers of how we approach intercultural communication. Some aspects are visible on the surface, while others are hidden beneath. A tree has roots and is exposed to the elements. Crucially, the tree model establishes intercultural competence as a learning journey. Some might think of intercultural competence as fixed, constant from situation to situation, and something we have or not. But my tree analogy illustrates that it is organic and malleable. Like a tree, we have roots, 5.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 149 <?page no="150"?> make experiences, and grow from life’s challenges. All these forces influence how we develop intercultural competence and how our tree ultimately looks like. To truly understand and appreciate how we approach intercultural communication, we need to explore what our life journey has brought out in us. 150 5 Life Biographies <?page no="151"?> 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences Opening Vignette Gardens by the Bay, Singapore Photo by Timo Wagner on Unsplash Patrick has just received his master’s accolades in Business studies with a focus on Human Resource Management. Now, he is keen to prove his mettle. He has, thus, just signed up with an American consultancy firm based in Singapore, where he has joined their country profiling team. This department has two tasks: First, it continuously scans the external environments of the region. Based on this, it updates key insights into political, economic, social, and technological developments in select Southeast Asian markets for its clients. Second, zooming into the social contexts, it also provides intercultural training for managers arriving in Southeast Asia. Next to country briefings, it introduces clients to local communication, work, and leadership practices. To prepare expats to work more effectively in local business communities, the modules provide instructions on how cultural differences impact interactions and how best to manage these. Theoretically embedded into the compositional models of intercultural compe‐ tence development (Howard Hamilton, Richardson, & Shuford, 1998), numerous interactive simulations are meant to hone central values of intercultural action <?page no="152"?> (e.g., curiosity, respect) and seek to develop intercultural communication skills (e.g., self-reflection, perspective taking). Patrick is thrilled with the opportunity to look over the shoulders of highly skilled and enthusiastic intercultural trainers. Their teaching approach goes far beyond the standard (and somewhat stale) textbook approaches of ‘culture’ and all its variations. He had always felt that the standard models of cultural differences, so widely taught in business schools across the world, are all too detached from real-world experiences. Why, for instance, would some of us sometimes feel closer to those geographically and emotionally far away than those near us, as textbook approaches suggest? In his experience, even speaking the same language does not automatically bring about goodwill. At times, it can make rapport even more difficult! Patrick feels that the models are not helpful in exploring new and pragmatic ways to navigate culture bumps effectively. The aloofness of most models is juxtaposed to the hands-on approach the trainers are taking. Instead, they aimed at involving participants as much as possible (true to the motto of the ancient Chinese philosopher Xun Zi, ca. 313-238 BC, ‘To hear is better than not to hear; To see is better than to hear; To know is better than to see; And to do is better than to know,’ cited in Kikkawa & Crookall, 2011). Having said that, Patrick thinks the team would do even better with the third component of what makes individuals interculturally competent, i.e. knowledge. A deeper understanding of cultural context, identities and world views would cer‐ tainly be helpful in making sense of others’ emotions, motivations, and attitudes. In short, the mental map of employees largely depends on the interplay between personal and group makeup (see also Steenkamp, ter Hofstede, & Wedel, 1999). To Patrick’s mind, key environmental characteristics, especially geography, history, ethics, and media representations, would make for a well-rounded impression of how local employees see and work with managers from abroad. First, such knowledge would provide more context and make findings from well-known cultural frameworks more tangible. Second, cultural distance is not easy to bridge without shared biographies, memories, or ideas. From knowledge can flow respect and curiosity, which, in turn, can propel self-reflection. Third, and perhaps most crucially, expanding our knowledge about other cultures can create more overlap and empathy between the interlocutors. As Birkenbihl’s Island Model suggests, expanding our knowledge base enables us to better deal with how our counterpart feels, thinks and acts (Birkenbihl, 2019). Instead of talking past each other, knowledge about another country’s social and cultural dynamics helps us adopt more positive and relaxed attitudes towards others. Though language is the most obvious bridge between cultures (even a few words of the counterpart’s language can go a long way! ), the study of a foreign country and culture provides managers with the much-needed vocabulary and semantics of local ways of seeing and doing things. In addition to a closer understanding of past and present experiences specific to a region, local knowledge would enable 152 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="153"?> them to tease out intercultural influences on staff behaviour and their ways of communication. Managers can then start looking for similarities in their beliefs, experiences, and memories (e.g., Do we share similar memories? Are similar things dear to us? Do we have similar goals? ). Although building bridges through knowledge does not always work, at the very least, learning about a foreign country and culture signals interest in local others and a willingness to understand what moves them. Critical Thinking: - According to experts, there are three components to intercultural competence. What are they? - Patrick suggests knowledge can add real value to navigating intercultural encounters. Do you agree with him? What role, if any, could it play in effectively managing interaction between people of different backgrounds? - Is a look into a country's geography, history, or ethical practice perhaps more than an intellectual exercise? How can familiarity with, for instance, history help executives in their experience with people of other cultures? - What does knowledge have to do with listening to others, looking for similarities, or staying tuned (even if intercultural encounters get bumpy)? - Developing knowledge of others (and ourselves) is an ongoing process. What do you think is the best way to grow or expand our knowledge about foreign countries and cultures? - What is the role of language learning in intercultural leadership? In the previous chapters, we have established that extant frameworks, useful as they are for an across-the-board stab at cultural differences, are rather abstract (why people behave the way they do) and mute about what intercultural encounters do to us as individuals. Their mechanistic worldview (think of Hofstede’s metaphor of comparing culture to ‘the collective programming of the mind’) and universal claim (which can be applied to all situations, to all people, at all times) is, in my eyes, far from watertight (see also Kirkman, Lowe, & Gibson, 2006). My experience is that intercultural reality intermixes with all sorts of aspects and is, thus, far messier than the simple and isolating dimensions of culture suggest. Although more recent work has started drilling into subnational variations (e.g., Schwartz treats East and West German cultures separately), cultures do not abide by national boundaries. In my experience, ‘intercultural competence’ truly starts when we grasp any subnational distortions of ways of doing things. For instance, for historical reasons, Germany is a hotchpotch of regional cultural permutations. At the sub-national level, customs, mentalities and even language can vary greatly. Berlin is said to be laissez-faire about things but rough in tone. People from Bavaria are presumably down-to-earth, and the Rhineland is a proverbial place of cheerfulness and sociability. Likewise, people from West Japan are said to be laid-back, outgoing, and funny (many comedians are from the Kansai region), 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences 153 <?page no="154"?> while East Japanese tend to keep their distance. Sure, there is always the chance of clichés and over-stereotyping, but (near-)native speakers are quite aware of how these regional differences colour private and professional lives. These differences can make sense when looked at through historical, geographic, and religious lenses. The point is, that, though obvious to natives, subnational variations remain often hidden to shortand even long-time sojourners. Explore: Mismatch What data of extant frameworks say about country cultures may not necessarily match our observations on the ground. Have a look at the two pictures below. Both have been taken in Japan. To my mind, they signal anything but high levels of collectivism or gentle restraint. Apparently, we need to look closely at what is happening left and right of the mean score achieved by a country in a cultural framework. McDonald’s branch, Kyoto Car paint using Swarovski crystal glass 154 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="155"?> Consider the following question: Can you find similar examples in your culture where there is a gap between what framework data say about your country and real-life experiences? Crucially, with few exceptions, these frameworks portray culture at an aggregate national level. This may make them useful for research streams that ‘horizontally’ explore and compare countries and cultures (Beugelsdijk, Kostova, & Roth, 2017). Any kind of ‘vertical’ conjectures, i.e. how country-level context relates to regional temperaments or even individual emotions, thinking, and behaviour, have to be treated with great care. Such comparisons must be, by nature, superficial and can distort much deeper lying cultural differences. Sadly, I have seen over and over again that what is meant to be group-level data (the data is often graphically enhanced, so that mean differences literally jump into the eye) is blatantly used to explain individual behaviour. Remember, though they may be prisms for individual makeups, the frameworks were, by and large, never intended to be used to pinpoint or predict individual behaviour. Please allow me a final word of caution: It might be, ostensibly, appealing to describe culture by using numerical data. We can insert these into statistical analyses, manipulate them, and use them for country comparisons. But I doubt that such usage does justice to everyday realities and intercultural experiences. In my eyes, social phenomena are best explored in more detail and depth, especially through the rich data of behaviour-oriented approaches. The interplay between groupand individual-level variables is what makes Patrick’s work so interesting. Part of his new job is concerned with country profiling. This usually involves the processing and preparation of major external factors, most notably economic, political, and technological impressions of a country. Social-cultural aspects, too, can be part of such a profiling job, but it usually only gives a macro picture of a society. Indicators would include socio-demographics, income distribution, living standards, education, health and so forth. Data from one or two cultural frameworks rounds this information up. Related to this is the other part of Patrick’s job profile. He (and his team) need to make the country environment in Southeast Asia palatable to managers from abroad. Specifically, Patrick is tasked with developing intercultural training for them. Put differently, he needs to move beyond socio-demographic and group-level variables and prepare managers for what happens culturally on the ground. The best way to do this is to scan environments for potential influences on people’s makeup, emotions, thinking, and behaviour. Such knowledge would give them a better understanding of the ‘big picture’ of what behaviour to expect from local interlocutors. Indeed, Deardorff (2006, p. 247) suggests one’s ‘ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations’ depends on knowledge. After all, understanding local culture makes it easier to find topics for conversation, smooth ways of communication and interaction, or takes the edge off differentiating ideas and stances (Gondra & Czerwionka, 2018). 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences 155 <?page no="156"?> 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ Over and over again, when working abroad or organising international seminars, I observed the importance of four macro-level knowledge determinants: Geography, history, religion (and their ethical implications), and media (GHEM). Together, they produce and represent social reality and have a decisive impact on worldviews and attitudes towards others. Cultural bumps are most pertinent when things are close or dear to us, most notably in issues of health, law, finances, love, food, employment and so forth. These four aspects offer important context to how we and others respond in and to intercultural encounters (Figure 14). Leadership Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG ISBN 9783825261863 | eISBN 9783838561868 Perceptual Roots of Otherness Perceptual Roots Geography History Ethics Media Figure 14: Perceptual Roots of Otherness What is the relevance of geography? Understanding a country’s physical and social layout draws our attention to how landscapes augment people’s lifestyles. Location greatly matters in how people see the world. It gives us our bearings in what we call ‘home’ and, based on this, our familiarity and awareness of other parts of the world. Likewise, history might not repeat itself, but it often rhymes (Mark Twain). Hence, the study of history is an invaluable source for how people feel, think, and behave. Today’s events and the people within them are incomprehensible without such knowl‐ edge. Knowing about past experiences, such as key moments in history, technological and social transformations, or immigration patterns, prepares managers to act on cultural distances. Religion, too, is arguably closely intertwined with culture. We might miss out on critical cultural clues if we are blind to religious forces. Despite secularisation, religion continues to shape people’s identities in many ways, most notably in terms of symbols, 156 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="157"?> ideas, rituals and practices, moral norms, and values. In short, religion is among those things that give guidance on how individuals should treat one another. Finally, media and culture closely intermingle, too. As media diffuse and mirror a society’s norms and values, they can familiarise people with essential ideas, expecta‐ tions and stances surrounding cultural assumptions (e.g., masculinity, beauty, family life). When combined with socio-graphic data, the study of geography, history, religion, and media can be, as we shall see, a powerful backdrop to a better understanding of why people feel, think, and behave the way they do. It helps us organise and evaluate intercultural forces. Geography Location matters. Where we grow up has important social outcomes. At the most abstract level, think about the physical and social features of your home country’s layout. Natural barriers such as mountains and seas isolate regions, make migration difficult and constrain intercultural encounters. Access to water can turn regions into hubs for trade and exchange but, in the case of island settings, can also turn into emotional distancing (e.g., in Britain, ‘Europe’ is being referred to as the ‘continent’). Of course, geography has to do with climate and, with it, what we eat, what we wear, and what we consider appropriate social interaction. Language can make for a revealing foray into environmental experiences. In his mystery novel ‘Smilla’s Sense of Snow,’ Peter Høeg makes the point that Innuit have a very nuanced perception of their cold surroundings (although that they have an indeterminate number of words for snow seems to be an urban myth, Kaplan, 2003). The Changbai mountain range (in Korean Paektu) and two large rivers separate, for instance, the Korean Peninsula from China and Russia. These geographic features ensured astonishing political and social stability for about 1000 years. This isolation fostered the development of a rich, unique, and perhaps most importantly, ethnically homogenous culture. David C. Kang, Professor and director of the USC Korean Studies Institute, points out that ‘centuries of stability basically disappeared with the arrival of ‘the West’ in the 19 th century’ (Kang, 2013). There is a deep and persistent sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’, which, in turn, also affects a broad range of acculturation issues such as employment, education or interpersonal relationships. 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 157 <?page no="158"?> Explore: Sumo - A National Sport in Crisis Japan’s insular location means that there is a strong emotional connection to its people and culture. The term 外人 or ‘Gaijin’ (short form of Gaikokujin) is commonly used for foreigners. However, the literal translation ‘people from the outside’ hints at a more deep-rooted understanding of what it means to be non-Japanese. In a collectivist society that values the group over the individual, being an outsider comes more or less with notions of not belonging there. Sumo, Japan’s oldest and most traditional sport, symbolises quintessential Jap‐ aneseness. In spite of the meteoric success of Mongolian wrestler Asashōryū (his real name is Dolgorsürengiin Dagwadordsch, but he had to change it so he could perform in Japan), he received a frosty reception. His ‘Hinkaku’ ( 品格 , ‘dignity’ or how he carried himself) did not match public expectations of a Sumo grandmaster. His foreign and troubled personality became synonymous with the erosion of Japanese values. Photo by Bob Fisher on Unsplash Watch the short documentary ‘The Irony of Sumo’s Bad Boy Asashoryu’ (https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=J6c_Mv_eeFs) Consider the following questions: • What can you learn about Japanese culture through the lens of Sumo? • Why did Asashōryū struggle to gain acceptance from more conservative pundits in Japan? • Is there a national sport in your country that, like sumo, promotes cultural values? • How are these discussed in the public domain? 158 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="159"?> By contrast and for a long time, borders in Europe were in constant flux. Over the years, national boundaries have been redrawn repeatedly. For most of European history, you would be hard-pressed to recognise stable political and social units. Only after the beginning of the 19 th century did we start to see more enduring political units. Though complex and by no means coherent narratives in terms of inclusivity, cultural exchanges have always been part of European history. More recently, the European Union (EU), an economic and political union consisting of 27 countries, made the free movement of people a core principle. EU citizens are allowed to reside and work wherever they like within the EU. Member states treat workers and their family members in the same way they treat national citizens. The ambivalence towards this cornerstone of European policy is commonly cited as one of the main reasons why Britain voted to leave the European Union (‘Brexit’). Consequently, national borders are a relatively poor predictor of how Europeans value openness to others. In fact, even within countries, huge variations exist in the way people experience intercultural encounters. In a study on regional personality differences in Great Britain, Rentfrow, Jokela, & Lamb (2015) found that concentrations of openness, a general appreciation of new and different ideas (including tolerance for others) appeared mainly in metropolitan areas (especially London, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, and parts of Wales). By contrast, the majority of people from less urbanised regions had a more closed, conservative personality. Such phenomena are by no means a British-only occurrence. Lifestyles around the world are highly mobile and transform urban communities. So-called global cities as hubs of globalised economic networks have become a space for intercultural encounters. Metropolitan experiences of diversity are distinct from regions less exposed to migration. Is this also true for your home country? Explore: In Unfamiliar Terrain When travelling, some of us are keen to explore unknown terrains. They seek adventure and want to satisfy their curiosity. Others may quickly get overwhelmed by unfamiliarity. They then seek out cultural familiarity. Food is an excellent example of this. When people travel abroad, they may want to experience iconic local dishes, or when things get too much, they look for things they know and are more at ease with. Through this anchor, they can regain a sense of security and comfort. Consider the following questions: • What are the things that you miss most when travelling abroad? • Why do you think food connects you with home well? • What do you do when you are abroad, and things get on top of you? 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 159 <?page no="160"?> History History gives us our bearings. Interpretations of the past affect our understanding of what happens in the present. Symbols of our past surround us. These can be anything from the food we eat to ceremonies or museum exhibitions. Such artefacts speak to us and help make sense of social processes, including how your people ‘then’ dealt with intercultural encounters. In some countries, some values and beliefs have been introduced by settlers, while other countries may see themselves as a ‘non-immigrant country.’ Based on this, we might discover some continuity (are there stable patterns over time? ) or change (have there been changes in the way people dealt with diversity? ). We might also learn about the extent to which understanding of others has been formed by a sequence of past experiences, where distinct conditions and actions lead to distinct outcomes and so forth. These causes and consequences of encounter patterns may provide crucial background for understanding intercultural openness as well as tensions or even conflicts. Historical and cultural differences might let hostilities flare up: As immediate neighbours, China, Korea, and Japan, for instance, have a long and complex history of social and cultural exchanges. Today, these superpowers might be economically closely intertwined, but rivalries remain (which has become known as ‘hot economics, cold politics’). Ongoing tensions have national and historical roots, most notably because of the war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial Army. State representative visits to a controversial war memorial in Tokyo (Yasukuni shrine, where those who died in Japanese service are commemorated) or textbook controversies (with critics claiming a lack of remorse for past actions) put on full display different interpretations of the past. Crucially, time and time again, such visits or a lack of textbook reforms inevitably evoke strong anti-Japanese sentiments in both China and Korea. Ill feelings then can turn into boycotts (for instance, in 2019, many Koreans stopped buying Japanese products and services, refrained from travelling to Japan, and ceased watching Japanese-made films). Anti-Japanese protests are not uncommon side effects in response to past Japanese aggressions. Sadly, we can also find history-induced sentiments at events that should really bring people from different nationalities together. Booing national anthems, singing discriminatory songs (English fans are notorious for singing and mimicking the children’s song ‘Ten German Bombers’ in English-German matches) or outright racial abuse in social media (e.g., directed at three black England players who missed their penalties in the European championship semi-final) reveal a lot about how we see us and others. Explore: ‘Wir schaffen das! ’ - Is Germany an Immigration Country? Language taps into deep-rooted experiences with diversity while at the same time providing practical orientation in everyday life. Metaphors can be a potent tool to shape world views. In 2015, Europe faced an unprecedented refugee 160 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="161"?> and migrant crisis. Then chancellor Angela Merkel asserted that Germany was fully capable of socially absorbing large numbers of immigrants (‘We can manage! ’). Soon, metaphors such as Flüchtlingsstrom (‘stream of refugees’) or Willkommenskultur (‘culture of welcoming’) dominated the public debate. These linguistic images triggered both fears and hope of a new era of social acceptance of migrants while at the same time mirroring an age-old dispute over migration. The movement of people, of course, is an essential part of German history. Its geographic location and economic diversity meant that long before its proper formation and proclamation of the German Empire in 1871. People from near and far were always searching for work, a better life for their family or safety (e.g., from hunger or political persecution). The coal and steel industry in the Ruhr area, or the ore mining region of Saxony, Bohemia and Saar, attracted hundreds of thousands of workers and their families. Later, World Wars resulted in large-scale migration from East to Western Europe and from Germany to North America. The 1970s saw an influx of so-called ‘Gastarbeiter’ (or guest workers) as part of a formal programme to buffer severe labour shortages. Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash Consider the following question: • How is ‘migration’ discussed in your country’s public domain? Naturally, emotions that come with intercultural encounters can also make life difficult at the workplace. In many professions, working across cultures is the new normal. But this does not mean that anti-migration atmospheres simply disappear. Bias and disadvantages because of one’s country of origin or nationality can come in many dis‐ guises, sometimes blatant, sometimes subtle. The public framing of migration can affect communities and their perceptions of migrants: The UK electoral vote to withdraw 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 161 <?page no="162"?> from the European Single Market (‘Brexit’) left open a wide variety of questions on the broader impact on EU nationals working in Britain. With political claims of ‘British jobs for British workers’ (Gordon Brown, 2015) or ‘foreign workers should not be taking jobs that British people could do’ (Amber Rudd, 2017), many could see the writing on the wall of a re-framing of the EU free movement principle. Some people were increasingly vocal about their anti-immigration sentiment (‘exploiters’ or ‘invaders’). In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, the Home Office recorded an increase in hate crimes against migrants. For many settled immigrants, trust in their jobs and personal security collapsed, with little information about what might replace their settlement status. Perhaps unsurprisingly, for some, the overall hostile environment also took root in their professional life. A decline in the positive perception of inclusivity and cultural clashes at work have led to worries about career progress or social exclusions. According to a poll on the largest UK Jobsite portal, nearly one in ten workers born overseas have left their jobs in post-Brexit UK. An estimated 1.3 million foreign-born nationals have left the UK between 2019 and 2020. Not only cultural friction but also the economic fallout contributed to this exodus. A government survey found that the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionally hit foreign workers because many migrants work in service jobs. Resultant lay-offs and economic hardships augmented migrant experiences. Of course, the UK is an island, and this unique geographic location has always influenced its view of the world. The changes and permutations of cultural encounters and migrations suggest that one way of catching sight of everyday assumptions about ‘otherness’ is to grasp how the past has shaped relationships between people and communities and between them and non-natives. Think About: Baguette in Vietnam - Colonial Influence and Food Wandering the streets of Ho Chi Min City, you might be surprised by what looks like the European touch of many of the market stalls and the food vendors’ offerings. Next to staple food you might know from and enjoy in a Vietnamese Restaurant at home, baguettes, crepes, beef stews galore! Looking into Vietnam’s history, it is plausible to argue that Vietnamese cuisine today has been influenced by its colonial past. For 70 years (1887 to 1945), Vietnam was part of French colonial territories in South East Asia (‘Indochine Française’), with lasting effects on everyday life. Food is one example: Banh Mi, a baguette-style sandwich, might be the most emblematic French influence on Vietnamese eating habits. Bread is not a standard part of East Asian diets. At the same time, Vietnamese adapted baguettes, making them distinctly local. Bakers use rice flour instead of wheat flour, giving Banh Mi a distinct flavour and a crisp texture. The savoury ingredients are also borrowed from French pate or meat. However, the mix with local herbs and seasonings shows how chefs infuse Western food and eating habits with Vietnamese spirit. 162 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="163"?> Photo by Van Thanh on Unsplash Discuss in small groups: • Food tells stories. Is there a dish from your culture that symbolises specific experiences? • How do you feel about chefs from other cultures making ‘your’ dish? Does it taste the same? Is it pronounced in the same way? What about pricing (for instance, when abroad)? • If the chef did not get it just right (i.e. ‘your’ dish is not really authentic or is presented in different ways), do you feel let down? Perhaps you even think the chef does not care for your culture? Historical consciousness also plays a crucial role when in contact with other cultures. In general, familiarity with customs and traditions from other cultures creates the ability to interact and communicate more effectively. But appreciating that there is a history behind the current world adds extra depth to engaging with people from different cultural backgrounds. History and culture are closely intertwined. Tradition and heritage shape values, beliefs, and identities. From this alertness for the past, we might see patterns in current behaviour and communication that might otherwise be hidden. It does not stop here. Next to gaining an understanding of why we might differ in our ideas from people from other cultures, historical learning positions us to see things from perhaps unfamiliar perspectives. That is, our historical understanding is typically coloured from references to our own culture. In school, we primarily learn about our own narratives. If we learned about other countries or regions, we would mostly learn how these representations relate to our own history. All this might give us a pretty good idea about how our lives fit into the cultural practices at home and how we see the world around us. But we are poorly prepared to understand how others 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 163 <?page no="164"?> might see the past in general and shared experiences in particular. There is always a history behind how we view others. But there is also a history behind how others see us. Through the lens of history, we, thus, might develop the ability to step into others’ shoes, appreciate ideas and views that are not our own, and relate these representations to our own understanding of the past. By implication, building empathy for how similar (or dissimilar) our experiences are can provide practical orientation in intercultural encounters. Ethics (Religion) Despite ongoing secularisation, religious convictions and closely related to this, ethics continue to play a central role in many cultures. People look for answers to ethical dilemmas, and religions offer answers in terms of morality. They distinguish between right and wrong and relate to fundamental beliefs and values of the real world. They include assumptions about human nature and, in part, considerations about life after death. Though eluding empirical testing, they provide guidance for how we should see and treat one another. For instance, the Ten Commandments of the Christian and Judaic belief systems advocate compassion and respect. Principles such as ‘honour thy father and thy mother,’ (No 5) ‘thou shalt not commit adultery,’ (No 7) or ‘thou shalt not steal,’ (No 8) shape relationships with one another and, overall, the moral fabric of a community in general. Thus, religion occupies a key position in the formation of cultural values and norms in a society. As it intermingles with culture, religion surfaces in everyday life activities such as ceremonies or worship rituals and institutions such as architecture, literature, art and so forth. Events such as Easter (Christianity), New Year (Shintoism), or Ramadan (Islam) make religions visible. Religious beliefs structure time and, with it, how people go about their routines. ‘Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest,’ says the Old Testament. Hence, activities in Christian-dominated regions are limited to Sundays (in fact, ‘Sunday rest’ can be traced back to the Roman emperor Konstantin). When window shopping became popular in mid-19 th century Europe, the clerics were concerned about the impact of consumerism on church service attendance. In Vienna, they, therefore, asked shopkeepers to cover their windows on Sundays (Breuss, 2010). Today, the opening times of shops and public holidays are gentle reminders of how concepts of time and religion mix. This can complicate management across borders, as we, for instance, have to navigate different time zones, ritual calendars, diverging accounting periods, and so forth. Religion and superstition overlap. In the Middle East, ‘Evil Eye’ amulets guard their owners from bad energy. In Southeast Asia, it is still common for Bomohs (local shamans) to use magic spells to get rid of evil spirits that may stand in the way of good business. In some Alpine regions of Austria, a bonfire in early spring (or ‘Funken’ of a wooden stack towered by a witch figure) is supposed to rid evil spirits. In the Nordic countries, many people believe that supernatural spirits (‘Huldufólk’ or hidden 164 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="165"?> people and elves) live among them. No doubt, this list of overlaps between the spiritual, private, and professional worlds could be continued indefinitely. The main point is that religion profoundly shapes individual and collective identities (for social identification, see, e.g., Ashforth & Mael, 1989). Their respective customs and practices are passed from generation to generation, providing belonging, social cohesion, and continuity. Common faith level identities or group belongings (including race, gender, nationality and so forth). Even when abroad, we can find like-minded people through religion and religious practices. If religion were at the core of identity formation, it would be short-sighted to overlook its manifold impact on how it organises behaviour and relationships with others (including ingroups and outgroups; see Preston & Ritter, 2013). It promotes social order and harmony (e.g., also in terms of family life, including marriage and divorce) and serves as a basic moral compass: (i) It makes clear to us what is sinful or not as it distinguishes between good and evil, right and wrong and so forth; (ii) It establishes ethical rules and codes, what people should believe in and how to carry themselves in daily life (e.g., sharia in Islam or halakha in Judaism); and (iii) It guides basic beliefs how people should go about other faiths, nonbelievers or dissenters. Responses may range from tolerance and ambivalence to rejections (and, in extreme cases, fundamentalism and conflict). Hence, the way religious and cultural institutions interact is certainly not uncontroversial, especially when religious differences result in clashes, if not wars. Explore: Eruv The fourth commandment of the Thora advocates, ‘Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ In Jewish belief, the Sabbath is a day designated for worship, spirituality, and abstinence from the mundane. Orthodox Jews, in particular, take care not to engage in any activities or use modern technologies (including electricity, driving a car, or carrying keys). The so-called Eruv, a virtual and shared boundary, permits activities that would otherwise be prohibited within these confines to allow for life to continue as per usual. In Vienna, city walls, arches or railway lines were originally regarded as Eruv. Today (and similar to New York), a wire creates a space of about 25 square kilometres deemed ‘private residential areas.’ This, then, allows day-to-day activities, even on Sabbath. 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 165 <?page no="166"?> Eruv boundary sign in New York Photo by coulmont on Unsplash Find out where the Eruv is in Vienna or New York: https: / / www.eruv.at/ verlauf.php http: / / eruv.nyc How do spiritual practices in your country interact with business life? Give examples. Religion is a sensitive subject for many. Of course, it depends on how religions and their respective readings are interpreted and lived. Still, they also offer insights into how followers use (or are asked to use) their beliefs and groundings as a frame of reference. Many faiths promote equality and diversity (Buddhism’s emphasis on pluralism and universalistic principles being a case in point). Yet there are considerable differences between religions in dealing with people who think differently and people who believe in other religions or who do not belong to any religion at all. By implication, religions can have both separating or connecting effects. It seems reasonable to suggest that this is important for intercultural considerations, including what we make of strangers, what motivates us to seek contact (or not) or how we should behave vis-à-vis people of different backgrounds. The Thora, for instance, asks its believers to be open about others and their thinking. At the same time, if they are somewhere else or with people who believe in something else, they should preserve their own beliefs. In Luke (6.31), we find that believers should ‘treat others just as you want to be treated.’ The Bible’s universalistic principle, ‘we are all equally made in God’s image’ (Genesis 1: 26), suggests worshippers should make no difference between race, faith, social status, nationality and so forth. The Qur’an asks its followers to be kind to people regardless of their faiths. The question is how these readings are interpreted and how central the respective teachings are to one’s daily life. One will also come to very different 166 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="167"?> conclusions as to whether one embeds the readings in a historical context or not (i.e. takes it literally or not). Arguably, the more important your religion is to you, and the more their teachings and interpretations want you to stay within your own religious group, the more you will distance yourself from others who do not share your faith or do not believe in the supernatural at all. At these borders of religious belief, differences in integrative efforts or the preparedness to learn (and change) can be identified. But this warrants an essential word of caution: When it comes to ethics, there is the real risk of stereotyping. Islam comes in many forms and shapes. So does the Christian faith. If you talk to an Alevi, he will tell you something completely different than a Sunni, for instance. Likewise, a Protestant will have a very different understanding of the Bible than an Evangelical. In short, it is impossible to pin down the exact expression of a faith like Islam or Christianity in a way that is true for all groups within them. There will be many streams within one religion, each with entirely different values. Nevertheless, religion remains a vital jigsaw piece in a culture or country's lifestyles and value systems. Media Media shapes our reality to an exceptional extent. They are both mirrors and sound‐ boards of prevailing values. According to sociologist Luhman (1996) (‘Whatever we know about our society, or indeed about the world in which we live, we know through the mass media.’), media pegs what we value in life and what is important to us. This particularly affects children and adolescents who make use of a wide range of media options in their daily lives. Television, computers, game consoles, and cell phones help them deal with an uncertain environment, namely as channels to expand their knowledge (information function), learn about role behaviour (social function), and even see lifestyle patterns (economic function). In addition, they, of course, also use media directly to touch base with their peers (communication) and indirectly to express their personality (self-representation). In sum, media provide, to a large extent, an orientation for what matters in our culture. This media socialisation includes all aspects of coping with us, with others, and with situations. If necessary, we refer to media content for all sorts of things and how we should go about them: managing conflict, body image concerns, critical life events and so forth. By observing specific behaviour, we can use media content as a stone quarry from which we choose fitting material to sculpt our own behaviour. Likewise, some media formats, especially those produced with a local target audience in mind, might stimulate our thinking about which values prevail in cultures other than our own. The effects of mass media have been hotly discussed for almost a century. Initially, communication models explored the success of propaganda in Nazi Germany. In the US, the podcast of Orson Well’s ‘War of the Worlds’ (mimicking ‘fake’ reports of aliens invading the earth) was made so realistically that it caused hysteria amongst its listeners. From such events, it was, at the time of WW2, assumed that mass media, 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 167 <?page no="168"?> similar to medicine (hence the name of ‘Hypodermic Needle Theory’), can infuse audiences with similar ideas and provoke similar reactions. Though this line of thinking about the effects of mass communication was later discarded as too simplistic, media still are assumed to influence (reinforcement of opinions) and persuade (changes in attitudes) audiences today. Table 9 portrays four primary functions of how media work. Agenda Setting Mass media, … • Collect, select, and edit themes; • Determine topics and public debate; • Effects depend on • Medium, • Exposure intensity, • Recipient personality. Reinforcement Mass media, … • Rarely change but reinforce opinions; • As the ‘fourth estate’ thought to be inde‐ pendent; • Interact with • Reference groups discourse, • Opinion leaders, • Recipients’ openness to change. Credibility Mass media, … • Carry expertise and trustworthiness; • Differ in audience credibility percep‐ tion; • Trust in independent and truthful re‐ porting as pillars of democracy (unlike totalitarian states); • But alt-reality is looming. Cultivation Mass media, … • Can distort reality, e.g., • Perceived threat (victim of violence), • Presence of certain professions, • Perceptions of wealth. Table 9: Effects of Mass Communication Source: Nabi & Oliver, 2009. • First, they set a particular agenda in that they collect, select, and edit themes. In turn, the media can determine what is publicly discussed. Indeed, its effects depend on the media channel, the intensity of exposure, and perhaps most importantly, on the personality of its recipient. But it seems plausible to argue that media tonality, for instance, surrounding sensitive issues such as immigration, leaves its audience not untouched. • Second, (quality) mass media carry expertise and, with it, trustworthiness. To gain audience trust, the fourth pillar of democracy should follow cherished ideals of accuracy, objectivity, and transparency. Such principles are thought to ensure informed and meaningful public discourse. This is, of course, easier said than done in a rather politically polarised debate (in many Western democracies) and resurgent authoritarianism (e.g., in Russia and China, where political opponents are suppressed). The rise of social media and, with it, so-called ‘echo chambers’ (a digital ecosystem that amplifies pre-existing beliefs as it shuts out different opinions) make for a rapid spread of fake news. • Third, though media may occasionally sway opinions about a particular issue in one direction or another, their main effects are thought to lie in reinforcing 168 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="169"?> existing beliefs (Schramm & Roberts, 1971). Media messages usually interact with people close to us. In a two-step flow of communication, we receive information from opinion leaders and members of reference groups (Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955). Then, much depends on how open we are to new information, that is, whether we hold firm beliefs about issues or whether something dear to us is at stake or not. Differences in reporting (biased/ unbiased) about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and anti-immigration stances of 2016 have been shown to resonate well with the role of media reinforcement (Kolic, 2018). Try It: Twitter - @realDonaldTrump Online communities are potential places for radicalisation. In the aftermath of the 2020 US presidential election, social media platforms such as Zello or Parler have hosted escalating conversations about challenging the results. Here, users planned and coordinated the storm of the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Ex-president Donald Trump tweeted, ‘To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,’ which was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. As a consequence of inciting violence, Twitter permanently locked the account of ex-president Donald Trump. Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash Visit an online community of your choice. Try and find a discussion on foreign labour in your country. Find out how (de-) globalisation is being discussed here. • What are the key arguments of proponents and critics of immigration? • Can you give examples of what kind of language is being used in this context? • What do the sentiments reveal about your culture? • Fourth, media have a gatekeeper role regarding what narratives, perspectives, or themes they run. They, thus, can cultivate certain issues that may or may not mirror reality. For instance, ‘crime’ is an issue that moves the masses and can easily influence our behaviour (Hirtenlehner & Grafl, 2018) In Germany, media often report the country of origin in conjunction with the perpetrator (but usually not if the person is from Germany) (Ataman, 2019), Such bias can severely distort reality, 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 169 <?page no="170"?> including that of how people of different background are being represented (here perpetuating the idea that foreigners commit more crimes than native Germans). In sum, media both influence and are influenced by prevailing values, preferences, and dynamics in a society. They are the most obvious and accessible canvas of culture and offer a deep look at what makes people tick. As they make conscious and unconscious patterns of emotions, motivations, and attitudes evident and relatable, media and their visualisation of reality are highly instructive for learning about a culture, including how it frames diversity. Think About: Photo Safari Scan the media for images of how cultural diversity is being framed in your society. Photo by Amy Elting on Unsplash How do they showcase ideals (or perhaps conflicts) surrounding otherness Provided one has appropriate language skills, linguistic and semiotic analyses are great tools for unveiling complex structures of meaning. In Japan, collaborations between advertisers and Hollywood are common (have a look at www.japander.com ). The Tommy Lee Jones advert series for Boss Coffee distils the rather complicated Japanese worldviews of otherness. The main character in the science fiction movie ‘Men in Black’ is an ‘alien’ (Uchūjin, 宇宙人 ) who is on an intergalactic visit to Japan. His interactions with local people and observations of social reality mirror all the unique (and often unconscious) Japanese ways of doing things. The strangeness of the situations made the campaign very popular. The ethnicity and look of the actor itself strengthened this ‘outside’ perspective. His look made him instantly identifiable as a ‘Gai(koku)jin’ (or somebody literally from the outside who is not Japanese and does not really belong here). In short, the advertising campaign made Japanese perspectives of group membership (‘us’ and ‘them’) digestible for the audience (have a look at the 170 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="171"?> commercials here https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=39MILG4txBk, which includes English subtitles). Explore: Cinderella in Bogota Telenovelas are a trendy TV format in Latin America. The more successful ones (and there are many) easily attract millions of viewers worldwide. The stories, which most commonly revolve around drama or romance, make them a cultural microcosm of Spanish-speaking life across the globe. The critically acclaimed Colombian soap opera ‘Yo soy Betty, la fea’ has been so successful that it has not only been aired across Latin and South America but has also been brought to more than 16 countries across the globe (its Netflix adaptation ‘Ugly Betty’ perhaps being the most famous one). The comedy heroine is an unattractive but intelligent woman who works as a secretary for a fashion company. She is constantly being ridiculed for not fitting in because of her culturally inadequate appearance. Thus, the telenovela is about femininity and assertiveness in the Latin American world of work, and many female viewers find themselves in this character. By holding up a mirror to a Columbian society and its obsession with good looks, the series offers guidance for discourses about culturally prevailing beauty ideals. Consider the following question: Think about domestic soap operas. Based on this, what can you learn about beauty ideals and emancipation in your country? Media content is more than entertainment. On-screen, on air, or on social platforms, they also provide audiences with role models, i.e., real or imagined individuals embody‐ ing ideals (of a given society). These are important for us, as they and their attributes are a source of inspiration (e.g., for leadership resilience). Observing the behaviour of others and the consequence of that behaviour enriches our own sense-making processes in real life. In today’s time and age, such role models are no longer limited to idols from mass media such as movie theatres, DVDs, or TV. Media habits are changing, and young people are turning to social networks with platforms such as TikTok, Netflix, Instagram, YouTube, or similar. These new media formats reach a narrower and, perhaps more importantly, like-minded audience than conventional media. Because of their immense network of fans and followers, influencers have turned into a new breed of opinion leaders. They let others participate in their life. Though ultimately often part of a marketing campaign for certain products, their outlook on life, savviness, problem-solving skills, etc., resonates with many young people worldwide. Influencers enjoy a high reputation because such content is real-time, easy to understand, and largely outside public control. For today’s adolescents, they are frequently more 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 171 <?page no="172"?> trustworthy than traditional learning platforms. As such, they certainly act both as inspiration and multiplicator of cultural values. Influencers are principally interested in large numbers of followers. As a result, they are likely to tap into shared, if not stereotypical, values. After all, this overlap of the influencer’s values with those of their audience is part of their attraction. The closer the shared identity, the more powerful their messages are. The media specialist Goetz (2019) finds that the staging on social media plays with and perhaps even strengthens specific values. In fact, gender-based clichés appear to work particularly well on social media: Female influencers are strong with beauty, make-up tips, love, handicrafts, food, or fashion. Their male counterparts often focus on music, games, comedy, or politics. Postures and gestures of female influencers tap into a ‘cuteness’ ideal: displaying a skinny, long hair, provocative, erotic, or playful innocent look. Young people, especially pre-teens, see influencers as role models and imitate their poses and looks. They adapt identities from the influencers they follow. Arguably, social media then take on an increasingly important, not-to-be-underestimated role in young people’s lives and value makeup. YouTube, Instagram, and the likes turn into a cultural mirror. You can look at yourself, you can compare yourself to others, and you can be like your idol. Social media are a wonderful tool to connect, both within and outside your culture. Regardless of time and space, we can talk, interact, and exchange ideas with people who are like us or, perhaps, not like us. We can stay in touch with friends around the world or, when living abroad, we can network and socialise with people in our new host culture. Maintaining or establishing relationships has never been so easy. Access to what is going on around us and elsewhere in the world is at our fingertips. Explore: Boy Bands Are so 1990s - Meet the New Idols For a long time, pop star status seemed out of reach for most of us. With the onset of social media, this has changed. Influencers make it look so easy to become an idol overnight. Can everyone become a celebrity? Not so fast: China’s internet community is vast, affluent, and has a high affinity for shopping. Influencers and brands must be crossmarketed to promote new products or services. In line with this, top influencers meticulously plan their online appearances. Many employ full-time staff (some of them up to 30 people). Carefully staged expertise enables them to help sell luxury goods on a scale never seen before. Top influencer Becky Li, for instance, sold 100 Mini Cooper cars on her WeChat channel in just five minutes! As home to new digital professions, Chinese influencer schools now offer training on creating a strategic niche, building a follower base, and performing better as online marketers. 172 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="173"?> Source: https: / / 36kr.com/ p/ 1721708199937 Consider the following questions: • Can you think of a native influencer? Visit their social media platform. Observe the influencer’s body language (facial expressions, gestures, and other body movements). • What kind of ideas and feelings do they convey? • Is there anything you would consider specific to your culture? But social media are also echo chambers, i.e. digital spaces where mostly like-minded people meet. Big data makes finding like-minded people easy. A key feature of these enclaves is that they converge towards similar viewpoints. As a consequence, they polarise and often shut out any contrasting ideas. At the very least, this new ecosystem is likely to amplify pre-existing beliefs, perhaps even more so than mass media. We can voice our opinions while at the same time commenting on those of others. Although largely conversational and informal, let’s not forget that this form of dialogue makes us both publishers and critics. The permanence of what we write online, the anonymity in cyberspace and, perhaps most importantly, our preference for interacting with those who are like us means that social media communication is a double-edged sword: On the one hand, the internet links people across cultural or geographic boundaries, while dividing us on the other. As we tend to steer away from people with different opinions, things can get easily out of hand on social media. Online communities are often rather polarised environments where examples of conflict and incivility are not hard to find. Instead of an ethos of tolerance, respect and enthusiasm for others, finger-pointing, harassment, or trolling are regrettably not all 6.1 Conceptual Considerations: The Roots of Learning About ‘Otherness’ 173 <?page no="174"?> too uncommon. The facelessness of social media communication means we can skip the pleasantries of offline engagement (think of the rituals when meeting someone from another culture for the first time). In fact, we do not need to be tolerant of those who are different from us at all. Does someone not share our opinion? The chemistry just does not feel right? Just unfriend, block, or unfollow them. Wooosh! With a click or a swipe, you gravitate to those who are more similar to you and, in turn, strengthen your sense of who you are and where you belong. Social media, initially thought of as platforms where people seek information and meet others with similar interests, have, sadly, in some cases, turned into opportunities for making extreme ideologies socially acceptable. People are riled up over sensitive or controversial topics. And an atmosphere of division or even anger hangs in the air. Sadly, the internet provides opportunities for people to access racist content, which they would have more difficulty obtaining in real life. With digital communication as a linchpin of the everyday life of young people, extreme ideology can spread very quickly and widely. The effects of ethnicity-based bullying can be devasting for its victims, especially for minorities (Schultze-Krumbholz, Pfetsch, & Lietz, 2022). Our exploration of geography, history, ethics, and media (GHEM) has shown that these macro-level knowledge determinants organise forces that shape behaviour. In many ways, they reflect the essence of cultures. As such, they provide a robust basis for understanding why people might feel, think, and behave the way they do. They unveil the undercurrents of our world: From geographical features and their impact on daily life, historical and religious undercurrents of present preferences on how to see and go about things, to their reflection in media. They, thus, offer rich details that go well beyond the mere data pegs of extant cultural frameworks. But these four aspects can do more than that. They can serve as a sounding board for how we and others respond in and to intercultural encounters. This was the focus of our explorations in this chapter. The effects of culture on human interaction cannot be converted to numbers. For this, culture is far too complex. Also, numbers do not know where they come from and are, thus, not really helpful in getting to the root of everyday intercultural realities. The importance of capturing emotions, attitudes and behaviour in depth cannot be strengthened enough. Table 10 summarises factors for each category (geography, history, ethics, and media) and how these may bring to light the makeup of a society and, by extension, affect intercultural encounters. 6.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Vera F. Birkenbihl’s ‘Island Model’ is a metaphor she developed to describe the process of knowledge and learning. It emphasises the idea that our memories, experiences, and upbringings make us who we are. Resultant habits, ideas, and opinions are organised on islands. Thus, each island represents the ‘world’ of an individual. Birkenbihl points out that we live in an island (and not on it) as we can never flee from it. This explains why 174 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="175"?> conversations between people go smoothly or go wrong. In the former case, there is an overlap between the interlocutors’ islands. They have things in common, e.g., shared interests, similar opinions, and comparable biographies. Under these circumstances, our opposite appears intelligent and sympathetic. Communication, thus, is likely to be straightforward. In the latter case, there is no overlap between the interlocutors’ islands. That is, interlocutors do not have the same memories, ideas, or opinions. The symbolic distance between the two is difficult to overcome. The concept that we need to step back and accept that there are other islands (read different maps of the world, which we also need to respect) is challenging to grasp for many. This distance, then, is the root cause of misunderstanding and miscommunication. Interlocutors talk past each other, adopt a rather negative attitude towards each other or avoid contact altogether. According to Birkenbihl, there are two best ways to create common ground: (i) To overcome the gap, we could build bridges between the islands and their native inhabitants. That is, we have to find one aspect where there is commonality. This ‘bridge’ can be used as a connection. Keep in mind, however, that despite this newly created common ground, we should leave all the remaining diverging viewpoints as they are and respect them. (ii) A second way of overcoming the gap between us and others is to enlarge our islands. We can achieve this by acquiring new knowledge and new experiences. Investing time to learn new things (e.g., Birkenbihl suggests we should spend ten minutes each reading about a topic we do not know about) makes our islands larger. This, in turn, creates chances of generating overlaps with other islands. The GHEM framework could be one way of learning new things about other cultures. It does not only complement the knowledge of extant frameworks but offers a real chance of enlarging and enriching our horizons. We make our islands bigger and, with it, the possibility of finding some new common ground between us and people of different backgrounds. 6.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 175 <?page no="176"?> Exercise 1: GHEM in Action Now it is your turn. Using the GHEM framework, examine the powerful forces that affect intercultural communication! From this analysis, what can you learn - on the basis of your group’s best judgement - about the behaviour, outlook, and values of your allocated culture? What are fundamental assumptions surround‐ ing ‘otherness’? A good starting point to gain cultural knowledge is, of course, your own culture. But you could also consider exploring the geography, history, religion, and media of one of the following countries: Finland, Germany, Japan, Spain, or the United States. - As a first step, consult the well-known cultural frameworks (explained in Chapter 3). Based on these insights, what kind of effects do you expect when communicating with people from your chosen country? Remember, ‘culture’ and ‘cultural differences’ are great ways to break the ice and build bridges between interlocutors! - Next, what can you learn about their respective ways of doing things through GHEM? You might want to split into groups of four. Each of the team members can explore one of the four aspects. Again, ask yourself how your new knowledge complements or contradicts the assumed effects on communication from the first part of this exercise. Exercise 2: Object Bring along an object that represents intercultural competence for you. This can be a real object, but also a photograph or printout. Explain how and to what extent this object mirrors and aligns with your ideas of dealing with people of different cultural backgrounds. Using this book’s ‘tree’ analogy (Chapter 5), distinguish between observable and unobservable aspects in your discussion. 176 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="177"?> Geography Natural barriers: Stable - Unstable Insular: Unconnected - Connected Plains and population density: High - Low Hubs for trade and exchange: Many - Few Climate: Hot - Cold Natural resources: Abundant - Scarce Vegetation: Abundant - Scarce Size: Homogenous - Heterogeneous - History Events and shocks: Stable - Changing Relationships to others: Firm - Fragile Immigration: High - Low Emphasis on past: Important - Unimportant References to own culture in education: Many - Few Colonial past: Active - Passive Values and beliefs: Imported---Local Symbols and icons of past: Many - Few Ethics Religious freedom: Many religions - Few religions Religious rituals: Important - Unimportant Impact on everyday life: Visible - Invisible Role of family: High - Low Attitudes to others: Good - Evil Communitarianism: Important - Unimportant Moral codes: Stable - Flexible Prohibitions and rules: Many - Few Public display of religion in state institutions: Yes - No Media Role of media: Central - Inconsequential International access: Allowed - Banned English proficiency: High - Low Visuals of diversity: Often - Rare News focus: Local - Global Portray of otherness: Open - Closed Cyberbullying: Common - Uncommon Role models: Predominantly local - Predominantly global Public discourse: Cohesive - Polarised - Table 10: GHEM Framework for Cultural Analysis 6.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 177 <?page no="178"?> Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? The Power of Macro-Environments The macro-environment plays a significant role in shaping a country’s traditions, customs, and values. Understanding these perceptual roots is essential for making sense of the intricacies of its cultural landscape and its various cultural expressions. The interplay of these forces is complex, but they deeply influence our feelings and thinking, shaping the many ways we interact with others. What does GHEM Stand for? We can use the macro-environment to analyse and understand the factors that could impact our intercultural experiences and behaviour. GHEM is an acronym for Geography, History, Ethics/ Religion, and Media. Their study provides a rich context through which to explore the viewpoints and worldviews of people from within a culture. A look at the meaning and relevance they attach to each of these factors can give us inside views (everything from daily practices to overarching beliefs) and what these, in turn, may mean for responses to intercultural encoun‐ ters. Geography’s Role in Shaping and Influencing Culture Geography provides a significant context within which cultures develop and evolve. People adapt to their physical surroundings. A wide range of factors, such as the topography, climate, and natural resources of a country or region, have potential influences on their makeup, emotions, thinking, and behaviour. They expose people to other parts of the world, most notably in terms of migration and trade. In turn, this provides an important backdrop to how they see and connect with people of different cultural backgrounds. History’s Role in Shaping and Influencing Culture History and culture are complexly intertwined. What happened in the past, how people at that time experienced these events and what they made of all the changes shape the fabric of a society. Historic developments influence and define everything from daily routines to social structures and customs, rituals, and celebrations. Therefore, a look at the history makes for a rich and nuanced understanding of present-day cultures and their people. Such appreciation and familiarity with history (and its impact on current ways of doing things) will enable more appropriate communication across cultures. Religion’s Role in Shaping and Influencing Culture The influence of religion on culture is profound and multi-layered. Religious beliefs shape how societies deal with ethical dilemmas. They set examples and values for what is right and wrong. With it, they infuse social norms, customs, and practices. Religions can organise the calendar of a society and come to light in festivals and rituals. Its influences on education, social structures, and even law and politics are less obvious but important. By extension, religion is intricately connected to the way people feel, think, and behave. However, its overall impact will vary 178 6 Environment and Everyday Life Experiences <?page no="179"?> depending on the specific religious tradition and its personal relevance to the religious reaching. Media’s Role in Shaping and Influencing Culture Media influence, reflect, and diffuse cultural norms, values, and practices. They reveal what narratives, kinds of characters and ideas are relevant and appropriate in a given society. As a mirror of prevailing ways of doing things, they impact how people see and perceive other cultures. Social media, online enclaves where like-minded people meet, play a compelling role in shaping people’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviour. 6.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 179 <?page no="181"?> 7 Activation Opening Vignette Indigenous shaman (Amazon rainforest) Photo by alejomiranda on istockphoto Nilson Tuwe Huni Kui, the son of the traditional chief of the Huni Kuin Kaxinawa tribes in Brazil, had the chance to go to New York to study English and filmmaking. During his 9-month stay, the 29-year-old worked on a documentary featuring how deforestation and industrial development threaten people’s way of life near the border of Peru and Brazil. In a BBC documentary, he talks about his trip to New York City and his experiences living in the Big Apple (https: / / www.bbc.co m/ news/ av/ magazine-21806193). In the thoughtful interview, Nilson talks about how he felt switching his tribal life in the rainforest, where it would take five days to travel to the nearest town, with living in a true megapolis. As he grappled with adapting to this exotic environment, he had physiological and psychological responses to what was happening around him. He described his experiences with jet lag as ‘first you arrive physically, and you are very tired.’ Upon his arrival, the cold temperature made him feel rather uncomfortable. He observed, ‘Because the plane is very fast, the soul takes longer to arrive.’ Life in New York was overwhelming at first because the size of the city and its diversity make it such a different place. Nilson had to learn how to navigate urban life and transport, such as the subway system. He had to adjust to people from all corners of the world, <?page no="182"?> and the resulting hotchpotch of confusing impressions was difficult to escape. American-style food also needed some getting used to - as were the different norms, values, and behaviours. He observed that ‘people may think that richness is about money, but for us in the rainforest, being rich is something else. We are rich in biodiversity, in culture and spirituality.’ The transition turned out less smooth than he expected, and he referred to all these experiences as a ‘big shock.’ So, for him, it was not just about studying away from home, but he was pushed to gain new, sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant perspectives. Critical Thinking: - Do you think Nilson found it easy adapting to life and living New York? - What kind of physiological and psychological responses do you think Nilson experienced? - Do you think his experiences affected his performance in his studies? - How would you feel living in New York? Can you think of differences between New York and your home country that you would have to get used to? When working across cultures, we like to think of ourselves as rational beings undeterred by unfamiliar terrain. Adaptability and resilience are important skills for us. We might have certain expectations about how people from different cultures behave. Should we come across cultural differences (and notice them as such), we tend to see them as enriching experiences that can satisfy our curiosity. Asked to be mindful, we approach such situations calmly and openly, all the while attending to our sensations, feelings, and thoughts and those of others (Ting-Toomey, 1999). And should we find ourselves in more extreme situations than we imagined, we certainly aim to remain resolute and unemotional. However, in reality, many of us are not perfectly reasonable in an alien and uncertain international environment. We are alarmed by unpredictable or different ways of doing things. Our body responds to culture bumps (Archer & Nickson, 2012), and such alertness triggers all sorts of complex psychological processes. In fact, in the face of unexpected behaviour or ambiguous situations, we differ sharply from assumptions of rationality. We can fall back on a whole repertoire of fast and flexible sense-making heuristics that are infused with virtues and vices. And though we are not irrational about encounters, we can be mindless, tactless, and sometimes even unempathetic to differences in values and behaviour. Seen this way, the behaviour of a person who appears to be rude, to double down on efforts, or to display excessive confidence can still make sense. In short, humans are by no means consistent, rational beings but rather full of fantasies, inner conflicts, and jittery preferences. In short, humans are by no means consistent, rational beings but rather full of fantasies, inner conflicts, and jittery preferences. Intercultural leadership is not something ‘out there’ but starts with us as we respond to external or internal stimuli that trigger arousal. We can feel activated by taking in our 182 7 Activation <?page no="183"?> environment. Outside factors will cause us to respond in one form or the other. Internal factors can trigger activation, too: (i) Metabolic processes such as irritability caused by jet lag, climatic differences, or food intake; (ii) mental images such as a visualisation of an exotic landscape or offbeat experiences which then trigger pleasant or unpleasant sensations; or (iii) cognitions that crop up into our consciousness, for instance when we recall experiences from past intercultural encounters. Any combination of internal and external stimuli activates the autonomic nervous system, which, in turn, results in changes in many physiological parameters (Hagemann, Waldstein, & Thayer, 2003). These, in turn, prepare our body to respond as they recruit resources, boost responsivity, and facilitate appropriate responses and coping behaviour. So, when we think of or interact with people from diverse cultures, behavioural processes, including the interplay of emotions and cognitions in relation to a particular environment, are a good starting point for explaining how we make sense of events and act the way we do. Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein (2019) suggest that they affect the way we process information, how we perform, and what motivates us: Information Processing: Stimuli trigger information intake and processing, most notably in terms of what we make of the people and events around us. Consciously or unconsciously, they alert us and channel what we should pay attention to. As we study ourselves and our environment, they prompt learning and memory processes about other cultures. Performance: Stimuli (and resultant arousal) are responsible for our physical and mental performance as well as our willingness to perform. When engaging with others, stimuli-responses regulate our wakefulness and alertness. In intercultural situations, arousal plays a significant role in how and how much we engage with people and events around us. Motivation: Arousal guides our motivational states - our wishes and preferences - and makes our behaviour goal-oriented. Physiological processes determine, in no small part, what we want to see, what touches us and what pushes our behaviour. This extends to engaging (e.g., curiosity, seeking exciting experiences when abroad) or disengaging activities (e.g., unconcern, when tensions are high, seeking soothing experiences). 7.1 Arousal and Intercultural Sense-Making What do intercultural encounters do to us? How do intercultural encounters affect our behaviour? Research on the impact of culture on communication and management has discussed these questions from a variety of perspectives (Bennett, 1998; Deardorff, 2006; Gudykunst, 2003; Ting-Toomey, 1999; Meyer, 2014). In principle, we permanently scan situations for their emotional relevance to us and our well-being. If there is something going on out there that is dear to us (good or bad), we then ask ourselves how and to what extent this situation is consistent with our expectations and whether it might interfere with what we want. Indeed, we might already feel aroused by our 7.1 Arousal and Intercultural Sense-Making 183 <?page no="184"?> own fantasies or thoughts about intercultural situations. External events then interact with internal arousal (e.g., emotional and motivational processes such as apprehension, grief, curiosity and so forth). Thus, as we assess our environment, each of us creates an inner map of reality if and when external or internal conditions change. Of course, these interpretations of reality differ from person to person. Put differently, our reality is not what we see (or sense) but what we perceive. Intercultural sense-making starts with trigger events (Osland, Bird, & Gundersen, 2007), that is, internal or external stimuli resulting in an arousal reaction. It is especially those events that we interpret as ‘emotional,’ ‘unexpected,’ ‘or intense’ to which we have a physiological response. Evolutionarily, such mental arousal is necessary for effective functioning. ‘Then,’ this fight or flight response to physical danger (think of you seeing a tiger closing in on you) helped us to stay alive. ‘Now,’ such events look, of course, very different, but their anticipation would trigger the same physiological response. Intercultural contexts are full of emotional or unexpected (and sometimes intense) events, like the outlook of giving a speech in a language that is not your mother tongue, the view of toilets that do not match your expected hygiene standards, or perhaps a colleague who you feel comes too close to you (and steps into your personal space). Should we assess those situations as taxing, our body reacts by releasing adrenaline along with other hormones such as cortisol. This, in turn, increases blood pressure and heart rate, opens airways in your lungs (which prepares our physical and mental activities), raises your body temperature (which causes you to sweat), dilates your pupils (so that you can see more), amongst other physiological responses to perceived threats to our well-being (see also Moskowitz, 2010). Note that we can hardly influence how our body responds to appraisals of unexpected situations. Our minds will have a lot of difficulties overruling such physiological responses to cracks in the shelter of cherished routines. This makes them excellent predictors of experiences (see Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). In contrast to socially desirable response behaviour (for instance, interviews and surveys as standard instruments to explore what happens when people of different cultures meet, etc.), body functions offer a direct and largely undistorted glimpse at the experiences of people in imagined or real intercultural interactions. Arousal is important in explaining the sense-making of intercultural encounters and is usually prompted by external, highly emotive stimuli (Niven & Miles, 2013). It provides us with energy, drive, and attentiveness. Changes in internal or external conditions trigger appraisal. Appraisal spurs physical and mental responsiveness, and physical and mental responsiveness brings about behaviour. The intensity and the awareness of psychophysical processes surrounding trigger events determine the degree of arousal. Discrepancies from routines usually set in motion such chain of reactions (Louis & Sutton, 1991), and intercultural encounters, by definition, disrupt how we expect things to go or situations to unfold. 184 7 Activation <?page no="185"?> Think About: Supermarket Many of us feel elated when trying out food from far-flung places. Perhaps only thinking about your next restaurant visit is exciting for you. Discuss in small groups: Go to a supermarket specialised in foreign ingredients (for instance, an Asian supermarket when you are in Europe, or a supermarket that imports Western food when in Asia). Take in the supermarket with all your senses and try to remember as much as possible about the visit. • As you ventured through the supermarket what sensations did you notice? ○ Smell ○ Sight ○ Touch ○ Sound ○ Taste • What was surprising to you? • What attracted you and what turned you off ? • Did you have any conversations with staff ? 7.2 Tonic and Phasic Activation Generally speaking, activation processes are continuous and complex adaptations to internal or external stimuli. To this end, we can distinguish between tonic and phasic forms of activation (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). The former refers to sustained arousal levels, determining long-lasting states of alertness and persistent performance. The latter refers to short endurance arousal, as reactions to sudden real‐ isations of change in our environment (in whatever form or shape). Such spontaneous bursts are closely linked to vigilance and alertness. This increased sensitisation ensures a focus on relevant stimuli while discarding irrelevant ones. Both tonic and phasic activation are of interest for exploring and explaining our reactions to intercultural encounters. Tonic Activation This basic and general activation level initially underlies circadian rhythms (our internal clock). But general baseline arousal also depends on situational requirements. Arguably, longer spells abroad mean more exposure to cultural differences. Especially the beginning phase of such stints is usually full of adventures that can be exciting or anxiety-inducing. Though the succession and intensity of novel events will eventually fade out, the pace of experiences tends to be faster, and emotional upward and 7.2 Tonic and Phasic Activation 185 <?page no="186"?> downward swings are grimmer than in one’s home country (Horn, 2005). As we get our heads around living abroad, we go through the highs and lows of meeting new people, learning the local language, or manoeuvring a new work life. We might simply be missing home and our loved ones. No wonder that we are likely to be more alert and practise more vigilance as we cope with living in a new and different culture. For sure, being away from home adds to the day-to-day stressors. And although it is perfectly possible that we positively cope with acculturative stress after longer periods of time (Bani-Issa, et al., 2020), medium-term foreign assignments of 12 to 24 months duration have been shown to affect arousal levels considerably and, by implication, psychosocial well-being (Anderzén & Arnetz, 1999). Phasic Activation Activation also occurs as a reaction to novelty and surprise. As unfamiliarity fea‐ tures strongly on intercultural journeys, short-term fluctuations in arousal levels are relatively common. As we process ‘strangeness,’ our body responds to specific environmental changes and readies us for ambiguous or potentially threatening settings. Therefore, phasic activation is particularly important when we encounter intercultural situations. It triggers an orienting and attention response. Bursts of arousal ensure that we attend to and take in any newness, plain or complex, in the first place. We turn to unfamiliar stimuli, such as unexpected noises or scents. Or perhaps you are confused by new-to-you greetings rituals or gender segregation in your favourite family restaurant. Such reflective reactions aimed at initial orientation are inseparable from attention processes. When abroad, we usually cannot attend to all the new things that are going on around us. Thus, we concentrate only on a few stimuli. In short, we pay attention. We can think of this need for selective attention as follows. You are on a business trip in the Middle East. As anywhere, meals are good opportunities to get to know your partners and cement relationships. You find yourself in a lavish restaurant, and you know it is of utmost importance to make a good impression on your host. While you ponder about proper etiquette, you find he brought friends in local costumes. While they speak English, it is not easy for you to fully understand what they are saying, not least because of the loud folk music in the background. The menu card is written in Arabic but comes with pictures of the food on offer. The restaurant, it turns out, is very traditional and you cannot recognise many of the dishes. In such multi-sensory environments, it is very difficult to take in everything at once. We are programmed to zoom into only a few of these for us exotic impressions at the same time. Such selections go at the cost of all the other things that go on during this intercultural encounter. Indeed, this selective attention is necessary as we would otherwise have to deal with too much information. If we did not filter out information, we would be unable to respond appropriately and present ourselves in the best possible light to our Middle Eastern business partner. 186 7 Activation <?page no="187"?> 7.3 Culture Bumps and Arousal Process When meeting people of one’s own culture, we know, by and large, what to expect. Culture answers basic issues and questions concerning us and those around us (Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961). By reducing complexity and uncertainty, it guides everyday life. We do not need to think much about how best to interact with others. Each culture has unspoken conventions, and we will likely find people we perceive to be more or less like us. They look like us, dress like us and behave like us. They speak the same language, have the same values, and share similar assumptions about how to go about everyday life. We simply ‘know’ what the correct way to think, feel and behave is. Because there is little to no ambiguity, our own culture is a comparatively low-stress place where we can feel at ease and in control. When we find ourselves in situations involving other cultures, our experiences can be quite different. We go into situations with certain expectations about other people’s behaviour. But these expectations are not unlikely to be upset. How people go about ev‐ eryday life differs from culture to culture. Thus, we lose our sense-making superpower due to moving into a cultural environment that is not our own. Conventions of what and how to eat, social conduct and language, beliefs about privacy, etiquette, and so forth are all unfamiliar. We feel underprepared and perhaps even at a loss for how to go about an intercultural encounter precisely because we find ourselves in unpredictable and ambiguous situations. Under these circumstances, out-of-comfort-zone conditions, we lose our sense of balance with significant implications for mobilising emotions - sometimes negative, sometimes positive (or both simultaneously) - about what will happen. We cannot be sure of our basic, home-grown assumptions about how the world works or should work. In the absence of expected behaviour, we might perceive what is going on out there as taxing, perhaps even exceeding our well-practised routes to coping with threats to our well-being. That being said, it may not be just about just noticing the adverse side effects of intercultural events. Situations involving otherness can be appraised in many different ways, and many good things may happen. It is perfectly possible, then, that such positive arousal, even in the midst of uncertainty and ambiguity, drives happiness and emotional well-being. Negative and positive emotions might even co-occur (Folkman, 1997). The ups and downs of intercultural situations leave plenty of room to experience both. Generally, arousal results from an interaction between a person and the situation. But activation processes are rarely a direct, unfiltered result of any form of culture bumps. There are exceptions, most notably in the form of fixed action patterns (hard-wired sequences of behaviour). But, by and large, we must first roughly decode what is going on around us before any physiological reaction can dovetail. This is particularly true for intercultural encounters, which are both very complex and very ambiguous. We might, internally, carry with us diffuse emotions to such encounters while, at the same time, being confused externally by novel or uncertain events. For sure, when we meet people of different backgrounds, psychological demands are high as we can never be sure how and to what extent our interpretations of the situation serve us in such 7.3 Culture Bumps and Arousal Process 187 <?page no="188"?> circumstances. We are at odds with ourselves with competing notions of curiosity and openness to new experiences on the one side and the need for continuity and the familiar on the other. We might feel overwhelmed by the excessive impressions from a different environment and culture. If and when we recognise differences, we will struggle to process interpretations that flow from them. While we look for ‘objective’ information to gain an understanding of the situation, what we ‘see’ is different from what we ‘perceive,’ so sense-making and interaction are likely to be distorted. What matters is the subjective meaning and personal relevance of a stimulus for us. Only then can activation processes unfold. Explore: Resilience In intercultural situations, it is easy to focus on ‘culture bumps’ and the chronic difficulties that come with them. Although these are natural responses to otherness, we should also look for positive aspects of such encounters. One good way of examining how we adapt to such stressful occasions is to keep daily records of our experiences. Such diaries help you consider what intercultural encounters do to you, including your behaviour and learnings. Consider the following task: • Create a diary during a week in which you track your experiences with culture bumps, i.e. situations that felt strange or people of different cultural backgrounds that made you uncomfortable. You may notice the negative aspects of such encounters and the positive things that make you happy. Review your entries after a week of diary keeping, and summarise your insights to identify patterns you have discovered. This task is particularly effective abroad or for people working in an intercultural context. • Alternatively, think of an exceptionally successful or unsuccessful project you worked on. This project should have had an international scope or involved colleagues from other parts of the world. Please describe a situation when something happened that contributed to the outcome of that project. From this, it follows that imagined or real intercultural interactions set in motion an affective response chain of stimulus → decoding → activation. However, what triggers attentiveness to stimuli and their interpretation is highly subjective. That is, trigger events might be objectively the same, but personal beliefs or feelings influence our assessments. Different forms and levels of activation and, by extension, intercultural sense-making reactions are the result of that. Everyone has triggers that energise and activate us, either physiologically or psychologically. Internal stimuli, feelings inside us, and external stimuli, reactions to our environment, can set in motion certain emotions and behaviours (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). Both are of interest to our explorations of intercultural encounters: 188 7 Activation <?page no="189"?> Internal Stimuli Metabolism: Metabolic processes are a crucial force in regulating our mind and body, including consciousness, attentiveness, or information processing. We respond to chemical or biophysical shifts inside (e.g., caused by drinking coffee) and outside us (e.g., caused by temperature changes). For optimal functioning, our body will offset imbalances, which, in turn, spur emotions such as pain, thirst or fatigue. We are then motivated to do something about this imbalance and to restore balance. In short, met‐ abolic processes enable us to continuously adapt to our environment, including possible disruptions caused by intercultural situations. We must not underestimate the demands on our bodies’ well-being accompanying such encounters, especially when they involve travel to far-flung places. Jet lag, especially when travelling East, is taking its toll (Sica, 2023). As we meet people of different cultural backgrounds, our bodies have to deal with varying types of food and customs. Members of cultures that discourage openness about emotions are prone to experiencing physical symptoms in response to stress (Lippincott, 1997). In the case of long-distance travel, we encounter physical changes, for instance, different climate zones, temperatures, ambience, altitudes and so forth. We might have crossed several time zones, affecting our waking and sleep patterns (‘inner clock’). To all these changes, our body will inevitably respond. We feel unwell or have difficulties staying alert. We might suffer from gastrointestinal problems, weight gain and mood changes. In short, as we physically and mentally adapt to our new surroundings, there will be dents to our usual orientation, comfort, and performance levels (Anderson, 2013). Clearly, body irritability risks our intercultural functioning. Stereotypes: We all have unconscious ‘pictures in our head’ that guide our thinking about ourselves and our surroundings (Lipmann, 1922). In intergroup situations, stereotypes work in two directions. First, we make use of over-simplified assumptions about others whenever we cannot or wish not to think too deeply about them. Second, we might worry that we are part of a stereotyped group. In each direction, stereotypes and emotions interact in specific ways. • If a stereotype is triggered, it does not matter whether we actually interact with others or merely think about them. These stereotypes usually come with negative emotions (even in the case of positive stereotypes; see Czopp, Kay, & Cheryan, 2015). We apply such mental shortcuts and the irritations or praise that go with them to everyone in that population. Specifically, when we meet a person from a stereotyped group (or anticipate such an encounter), such preconceptions then trigger physiological and psychological responses (if they creep into our consciousness). Though potentially harmful and undoubtedly misleading, there is an abundance of cross-cultural stereotypes which may affect us and our emotions. When triggered, these can have pervasive effects on well-being, especially when there are, as part of physiological changes, intense feelings of anger, anxiety, or sadness (in the case of negative stereotypes). For instance, the thought of meeting a person from a culture said to be rude or weird might elicit feelings of uneasiness. 7.3 Culture Bumps and Arousal Process 189 <?page no="190"?> Lamentably, in actual encounters, we are likely to apply this stereotype to members of this cultural group and pay more attention to such preconceived information (and corresponding behaviour). In a thoughtful study, Bodenhausen (1993) finds that heightened emotional states further induce the use of stereotypes. • In any given situation, we are all part of groups that have negatively stereoty‐ ped identities. We care deeply about how others see us, and cues hinting at a devalued social identity have highly emotional effects. Negative stereotypes embody significant threats to self-esteem, turning routine interpretations of social events into vigilance about how much one’s (e.g., professional) identity is valued. Consequently, interactions with one’s immediate social environment hinge on prospects of behaviour being judged by a stereotype relevant to individuals in a specific situation. In their work on stereotype threat, Steele and Aronson (1995) argue that those concerned with ‘being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s group’ (Steele & Aronson, 1995) perform more poorly than those who are less concerned. According to this programme of research, suspicions that one’s behaviour could be interpreted in terms of a negative stereotype (and less so in terms of individual merit) reliably induce a more or less strong sense of discomfort. Worries about unfair judgements add pressure, especially in performance-motivated situations (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999). Instead of concentrating on the task at hand, the mere possibility of being viewed through the lens of a stereotype leads individuals to focus on the symptoms and consequences of their predicaments. Arousal levels play a crucial moderating role (Ben-Zeev, Fein, S., & Inzlicht, M., 2005), making individuals less likely to perform at their best. Such detrimental effects are also relevant at the juncture of stereotype threat and culture, not least because they tap into a rich history of ethnic or national over-generalisations (e.g., ‘people from country x no sense of humour). Sadly, even today, once triggered, beliefs about typical characteristics of members affect behaviour (people tend to behave in stereotype-consistent ways) or impair academic performance (for instance, that of immigrant groups) Mental Imagery: Seeing things with a ‘mind’s eye,’ i.e. perceptual experiences without sensory input, is a further powerful trigger of arousal. We create vivid images in our minds about professional success (or failure). Lang (1987) suggests that mental imagery can initiate biophysiological responses. These elicit emotions, which then jump-start mental activities intermingling with a recollection of past experiences. It is not a far step to our imaginations becoming a reality in our minds as we start rehearsing our behavioural responses to real life. For instance, when we think about the outcomes of international negotiations, it is not uncommon to contemplate all the things that can go wrong. Indeed, we often find it difficult not to conjure images of failure and past mishaps. Thus, we might envision ourselves as unable to show ourselves in the best possible light; we worry that we are not prepared enough or how we respond to cultural differences. Such hypothetical emulations can occupy our minds so much so that they stand in the way of moving forward in real life. Of course, mental imagery 190 7 Activation <?page no="191"?> might also regulate troublesome emotions and induce positive psychological states (Li, Heyes, & MacLeod, 2016). Pictures in our mind of how we succeed in hypothetical future intercultural encounters may ease real-world encounters. They help us predict, plan, and rehearse possible outcomes. Experiences: Our lives are full of emotionally intense experiences. These recollec‐ tions of specific, personally relevant past events interact with our present experiences, including culture bumps. We can call on our autobiographic memory to import past emotions connected to intercultural encounters to events in the here and now. According to Holland & Kensinger (2010), there are three reasons for doing so: First, we need to make sense of ourselves and where we are coming from. Our autobiographic memory helps us ‘being us’ and ‘knowing us’ by putting ourselves into a developmental perspective. Second, sharing experiences is important for social bonding. We can connect with others through past narratives and create common cognitive ground in the present. Third, past experiences and adventures can inform and inspire. We can tap into autobiographic memory for guidance on how to tackle problems and how best to adapt to novel situations. We recall memories (and connected to these emotions) for guidance and future behaviour as we wish to repeat pleasant events and avoid unpleasant ones. All this suggests that past experiences, stored in our autobiographical memory, matter when meeting people of different cultural backgrounds: (i) Memories guide our attention, escort information processing, and provide an understanding of a situation. Just as importantly, they help us step back and recognise some of our own behavioural patterns. As we retrieve and reexperience episodes from past interactions, we can gain helpful heuristics for how we feel about present encounters. When in an intercultural situation, we might feel alert or angered, happy or sad, and our past experiences are a sounding board for such arousals. Recalling personal memories similar to a current situation can modify our intercultural behaviour. As is often the case in international assignments, adverse conditions that require learning and self-change are as emotionally loaded as they are important milestones in our personal or professional development. We are more likely to remember and recall such events with vivid memories then propelling emotional states in similar situations; (ii) Our past experiences and knowledge also provide a social fabric for conversations. Talking about culture and past intercultural experiences makes for a great topic with which we can facilitate interaction. We can remind others about shared past events. Or, we tell colleagues what to expect when on international assignments. Overall, our autobiographical memory makes it easier to empathise and bond with others; (iii) Our experience also drives intercultural learning. A recall of past events, in particular the lessons learned from them, can induce physiological arousal. We are more alert to what is happening around us (Buck, 2003). Fusing memories with present experiences enables us to address challenges, make assumptions about the behaviour of others or predict future outcomes of intercultural encounters. 7.3 Culture Bumps and Arousal Process 191 <?page no="192"?> External Stimuli Collative Stimuli: Complexity and uncertainty are the name of the game of in‐ tercultural encounters. Hence, variety, novelty or surprise are relatively common experiences, for there are tremendous gaps between what we expect and what we come across in real life. At home or in our home community, we pretty much know what is dear to people, how they work or play, and, based on this, how encounters will unfold. Because cultures reduce everyday life’s complexity and uncertainty, we can pretty much switch to autopilot when at home. We do not need to think a lot. When we venture outside, however, things are different. There is a considerable potential for disruptions to our taken-for-granted beliefs. Resultant complexity and uncertainty impose a high demand on the body and mind. We can no longer be sure why and how people behave the way they do (Guddykunst & Kim, 1997). Our hampered ability to predict or explain the behaviour of others induces mental conflicts and, as Berlyne (1966) suggests, biophysical responses. For instance, when Japanese students at a large university in the North-Eastern USA were presented with language and culture-related stressors, they showed high heart rates. Also, their skin temperature increased significantly (Takenaka, 1990). Conflict-arousing contexts such as these are seeped with negative associations. More often than not, they are experienced as stressful. Our bodies respond with arousal and alertness. Once activated, our emotions make navigating intercultural encounters difficult and impair successful adaptation. In an intercultural context, collative stimuli constellations are often created by unfamiliarity, discrepancy, and complexity. Thresholds differ from person to person (depending on experience, expectations and so forth), with constellations ranging from mild to extreme intensity. Unfamiliarity can turn into shock, discrepancies into bewilderment, and complexity into impenetrability: • Unfamiliarity: When exposed to a new culture, we tend to zoom into those tenets that seem familiar to us. We do so to better predict and explain behaviour. Intuitively and by contrast, we consider the unfamiliar challenging to get used to. As creatures of habit, we, thus, may even whitewash anything that looks remotely familiar just so that it fits our own cultural expectations (Selmer, 2006). Noticing similarities can be crucial for our well-being, but, at the same time, it makes cultural differences stand out even more. The more distant cultures are, the more likely and the more frequent is the experience of unfamiliarity and perhaps even taboos. As we now realise what is happening around us, we may experience such differences as novel or surprising. A novelty is simply all those stimuli that we have not yet experienced, while a surprise pertains to all those intercultural experiences that have violated our expectations. Shock, as the most extreme end, refers to all incidents that happen suddenly and unexpectedly while rupturing our trust in how we usually go about things (Horn, Sekiguchi, & Weiss, 2021). All forms of realising unfamiliarity co-occur with varying arousal levels, ranging from minor to intense physiological responses. The higher our arousal, the higher the probability 192 7 Activation <?page no="193"?> of displaying inappropriate behaviour (Matsumoto & Takeuchi, 1998) and, in turn, the higher the likelihood of negative consequences (Black & Mendenhall, 1991). • Discrepancies: Intercultural encounters are full of paradoxes. When abroad or in‐ teracting with people of different cultural backgrounds, we waver between seeing others as very different, not that different at all, or, paradoxically, both. Resultant confusions involve reducing cultural differences to simplistic but oh-so-pervasive bi-polar dimensions (Osland, Bird, Delano, & Jacob, 2000) that nowhere near match real-life experiences. Such dualism is particularly prevalent amongst Western observers who tend to focus on single factors instead of attending to the context in which action occurs (Nisbett, 2003). For example, we may realise that the Swiss-German language can be far more ambiguous than extant models suggest. When it comes to social media, however, low context (saying things as they are) trumps high context (talking around the point). Similarly, not all Japanese are automatically collectivistic, as the saying ‘nail that sticks out is hammered in’ suggests - meaning that the group is more important than the individual. Japan is also the home of visionaries and entrepreneurs who speak their minds and disrupt social order. At the same time, Japanese organisations continue to emphasise group orientation and have morning exercise sessions for their workers. These are the moments where we realise that we may overestimate our intercultural competence and underestimate cultural variability. • Complexity: Making sense of our environment is a permanent activity. People react not only to physical changes but to uncertain situations, too. Ambiguity is a powerful stimulus. Weick (1995) suggests that once we come across unclear or uncertain situations, we try to make them concrete and, thus, look ordinary. Resolving potentially disturbing situations is important for socialisation processes, including intercultural adaptation (Sluss, Ployhart, R. E., Cobb, & Ashforth, 2012). Sense-making efforts and emotions are intimately intertwined. Events or actions that feel off, but we cannot really put our finger on why they do not make sense, send out a clear warning that we better pay attention to our environment. Perhaps our well-being is at stake? These confusions activate our central nervous system and initiate sense-making processes (Maitlis, Vogus, & Lawrence, 2013). Coping with complexity is an unavoidable part of intercultural encounters. Some people are better at handling such situations than others due to differences in buffering emotional reactions. More broadly speaking, one’s ability to normalise the extraordinary through diffusing, reframing, adapting, or ritualising (Ashforth & Kreiner, 2002) helps keeping arousal in check. However, intercultural sense-mak‐ ing is highly fragile. We might make inaccurate assessments, especially when we reduce the complex to the simple (Lévi-Strauss, 1962). Being okay with cultures as essentially unintelligible to outsiders may well modify arousal levels. Affective Stimuli: Because of innate stimulus-response mechanisms or conditioning, affective stimuli capture our attention and elicit pleasant or unpleasant emotions, motivating either approach or avoidance behaviour. These processes are largely 7.3 Culture Bumps and Arousal Process 193 <?page no="194"?> unconscious and unintentional. In terms of emotional stimuli, we primarily think of pre-programmed arousal processes in response to visual clues as cuteness (e.g., baby schema), sex (e.g., waist-to-hip ratio in women, broad shoulders in men), or facial expressions (e.g., large pupils, tears etc.). Which stimuli we perceive, however, as particularly activating depends very much on culture and conventions. For instance, the Japanese ‘kawaii culture’ plays with exaggerated signals of ‘cuteness.’ In real life, kawaii culture draws on childlike mannerisms and looks. Protective instincts can mix with notions of sexiness (which would be considered taboo in many cultures). In Japanese popular culture, such childlike aesthetics (oversized eyes, small mouths, very small or absent noses) are used to provoke interpretations of innocence. In other parts of the world, such baby schema look very different but cause controversy, too (see, e.g., Nirvana cover album lawsuit). Sexual and cultural stimuli can overlap or reinforce each other, the female Asian stereotypical portrayal of obedient, sensual, or erotic women being a case in point. In intercultural marketing, images of exotic landscapes from far-flung locations and actors within them are traditionally very effective in provoking emotions. Try It: Photo Safari Split into small groups and visit a social media platform of your choice (e.g., Instagram). Collect photos taken from your home country. Identify which part of the county these photos represent (use geotagging). Discuss in small groups: • What can you learn about how others see your country? • What about regional differences and traditions, how and to what extent are they being portrayed? • What kind of emotions do you think these pictures trigger? Affective stimuli and their impact on arousal and behaviour are also crucial for understanding intercultural encounters. After all, we care deeply about how others see us. As we crave good relationships, our bodies respond to any affection signal. A look might just be enough for us to feel accepted (Wu, 2017). Meaningful communication is much more than merely relaying facts. We talk (and walk) to build relationships. To do so, we use verbal and non-verbal signals. Apart from what we say, (i) we convey something about ourselves, (ii) what we think and feel about others, and (iii) what our motivations are (Schulz von Thun, 2003). Our body language frames all these affective and cognitive messages. Interplays between visual, acoustic, tactile, and olfactory stimuli are powerful forces shaping intercultural communication. Whatever others say or do, affective stimuli play an important role in what we make of the situation. Sadly, linguistic and cultural barriers make interpreting affective clues arduous and troublesome (Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002). Negative emotions 194 7 Activation <?page no="195"?> are not uncommon and make it difficult to cement trust and build relationships. However, to escape this vicious circle, we may resort to accommodating, flowery or even histrionic forms of communication (Holden, 2016). In order to turn negative emotions into positive ones, we may couch what we say in exaggerated body signals, including eye contact, body posture, nodding etc. (Horn & Takino, 2023). The use of such affective stimuli can help to create a favourable atmosphere. Intensity: Physical stimuli vary in strength. The physiological reaction depends on the degree of intensity (and, again, on the eye of the beholder, namely personal makeup and cultural background). Accordingly, they trigger arousal once they cross a certain threshold. No doubt, the intensity determines how much pressure we experience on our intercultural journey. The stronger the intensity of the stimuli, the stronger the probability of a physiological response and the more likely an intercultural stress reaction. There are manifold types of stimuli to which our body responds: Touch (Skin): Haptics differ significantly from culture to culture. Cheek kissing is common in the Arab World. In the U.S., shoulder-patting or back-slapping are part of friendship rituals. Elsewhere, such contact via touch would be considered inappropriate (e.g., in Asia, especially between genders). Temperature (Skin): Working in different parts of the world involves exposure to seasonal differences and climate variations. This dramatically affects business customs such as working hours, attire, greetings rituals (‘the importance of talking about the weather’) and even gender norms, organisational structures, and performance expectations. Taste (Tongue): Fundamentally, taste helps us decide what is good or bad for us. By the same token, there is also symbolic value to food. Culture induces norms about what we eat (and what not), how we eat things (rituals) and who we eat with. Indeed, in spite of all the changes brought about by globalisation, the national cuisines remain remarkably stable. Smell (Nose): We often forget that scents, even barely perceptible ones, affect what we make of others. We can close our eyes, but not our noses. Olfactory stimuli very quickly trigger emotional responses and colour our behaviour. We can even travel in time and space through smell! Smell intensifies our intercultural experiences, too. Diets and, connected to this, odours are markers of body hygiene. They contribute to likeability and even assessments of trust or morale. Seeing (eyes): Visual stimuli get to our limbic system rapidly. We trust what we see more than what we hear (though socio-cultural differences exist). Colour and brightness perceptions vary from region to region. Even what we see and, as a consequence, think depends on culture (while Western viewers attend to focal objects, East Asian viewers perceive things more holistically, more in context). It is, thus, easy to become overor underwhelmed by how colours and brightness are used in other cultures. Hearing (ears): Sounds are also likely triggers of emotional responses. Depending on the physical qualities of auditive clues, we are startled (e.g., by a scream), annoyed (e.g., by background noise) or soothed (e.g., by birds twittering). Some cultures value 7.3 Culture Bumps and Arousal Process 195 <?page no="196"?> silence, others less so. How people perceive loudness, pitch, and frequency also varies from culture to culture. That there is a relationship between stimulus intensity and the probability of a re‐ sponse seems intuitively true for all our senses. Physical properties provoke activation processes and trigger orientation reactions. Though sensations primarily depend on the stimulus intensity itself, the extent to which we are sensitive to and activated by various stimuli hinges on both our personal makeup and socialisation-related norms. There are also limits to how much intensity people can handle. Once the maximum arousal has been reached, the positive relation between stimulus and activation turns into a negative one. Under excessive arousal, performance declines, if not deteriorates. We might feel utterly overwhelmed by all the new and strange things that we cannot make any sense of. As a consequence, we might feel exposed when things are out of our control. Think About: Sex Sells All sorts of advertisers use sex to gain viewers’ attention. These must not necessarily have to do with specific product categories such as lingerie or condoms. Campaigns featuring clothes (e.g., Calvin Klein), food (e.g., Burger King) or fitness (e.g., Fitinn), to name just a few examples, all use erotic stimuli. Most advertisers have a good sense of what is appropriate for a specific cultural context. Yet, in the social media age, such images travel easily. And this can cause, from time to time, some upsets. That is, erotic imagery is okay in some countries but offensive (or even illegal) in others. Discuss in small groups: • Have you come across graphic sexual media images (in advertising or popular culture) that made you feel uneasy? • Have you noticed cultural differences in how sexuality is used in advertising or popular culture? • Though social media platforms such as Facebook have strict policies about nudity and sexual activity, international advertisers still use this platform with rather explicit portraits. What do you do when you feel offended by such imagery? 7.4 The Effects of Culture Bumps Thus far, we have discussed potential sources of arousal. We have seen that it does not take much for culture bumps to elicit emotional arousal. Changes in our environment (read a ‘new’ or ‘unfamiliar’ stimulus) trigger orienting and attention response and enhance our sensibility to our intercultural surroundings. The question is, how does 196 7 Activation <?page no="197"?> arousal affect our intercultural behaviour? When we venture outside, we can expect individual preferences, the cultural environment, and their interplay to contribute to our sensitivity to differences in physical properties around us. Together, they set off responses to stimuli. For example, when abroad and in an Asian supermarket, we will likely be bombarded with advertising stimuli. These are loud (there are small shelf monitors, and store employees welcome you in high-pitched voices) and colourful. As a Westerner without local language skills, you lack orientation because the displays and product packaging are held in a non-Western script. The food on offer is perhaps unusual from what would be considered tasty or even edible in your home country. There might be a live butcher. The scents are different, too. This has to do with what food is on offer. And you might even feel challenged by the look of toddlers wearing Kaidangku or open-crotch pants (though, I hasten to add, Western-style diapers have become more popular). Such strong multi-sensory signals stack up and are unlikely to go unnoticed by those observers who have grown up elsewhere and are new to such sensations. Resultant arousal will set numerous emotional, cognitive, and behavioural responses in motion. There is a very fine line between curiosity and bewilderment, with the felt intensity depending on personal makeup, cultural background, and personal experiences. The Yerkes-Dodson law, or inverted-U or Lambda arousal model, describes the relationship between activation and behaviour (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). It proposes that the performance of an individual corresponds to arousal levels in particular ways (Figure 15). Initially, performance surges in line with physiological or mental activation. At an optimal level of arousal, performance peaks. When arousal gets too high, performance plummets. In other words, at the extreme end, when arousal is either too low or too high, performance suffers. Only at mid-range arousal levels, we are likely to perform at our best. When transferred to an intercultural context, this relationship feels intuitively right. Think of making a presentation in a language that is not our mother tongue. We know from our own experiences that a certain tension is important to give a good talk. Having little or no arousal is not necessarily suitable for your performance. You might feel bored and not really motivated to give your best. Quite possibly, your actual delivery will be suboptimal. By contrast, you might feel intense distress. You may worry about looking awkward or less competent. The fear that a real or imagined lack of Anglophone agency is a situational predicament quite likely injures your ability to perform at your best. Put differently, appropriate functioning and the willingness to perform in an intercultural context first increases with a sense of orientation and alertness. But this performance-enhancing relationship only works up to a certain point. There is some sort of maximum at which the positive effects of activation of recruiting resources and boosting responsiveness turn into a negative relationship. From then on, arousal works against you and your ability to perform. Boomerang effects are likely when internal and external stimuli are too intense, too emotional, or too shocking. 7.4 The Effects of Culture Bumps 197 <?page no="198"?> Performance Arousal Unconscious Relaxed Attentive Agitated Panic Figure 15: Arousal and Intercultural Performance (Appropriate Functioning) We all experience intercultural encounters differently. Attitudes, skills, and experiences vary from person to person, so that the optimal level of arousal cannot be the same for everyone. However, we assume tasks involving interaction are rather complex, so they are best performed under lower levels of arousal. Otherwise, there is the risk of stalling. It may be useful to break up the relationship between arousal levels and intercultural behaviour into four phases: Minimum Activation: A minimum level of activation seems mandatory to perform and positively engage in intercultural encounters. No curiosity, no appreciation, no sense of otherness does not bode well for satisfying experiences. There is little or no incentive to approach people openly and warmly and show and share their feelings. Normal Activation: With increasing activation, our intercultural performance increases. We are generally curious about others and respect their way of doing things. We realise that there are cultural differences, but they do not throw us out of balance or distract us from the task at hand. Indeed, they fire us up. We want to learn more about what makes the other person tick. Over-Activation: Our ability and willingness to engage positively decrease from a certain level of unfamiliarity with our intercultural surroundings. We think of cultural differences as crass and have difficulties making sense of them. Worries that we are unable to get used to them take over. Instead of clarity and alertness, we have trouble regulating our negative emotions. Extreme Overactivation: At the most extreme end of arousal, we stall. Cultural differences are too much for you and permanently occupy your mind. This loss of focus means adequate performance is no longer possible. Excessively critical or cynical reactions are not uncommon. Signs of extreme activation are, for instance, severe homesickness, hyper-irritability, or outright hostility. I have also seen self-harming behaviour, such as excessive drinking or medication, time and again. The common thread running through these different activation phases is that access to our intercultural reality is always diluted. Arousal initiates and moderates how we feel and think about intercultural encounters. Our emotional states can be good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, relaxed or agitated. But what we make of our intercultural 198 7 Activation <?page no="199"?> journeys depends, in part, on the intensity or strength of emotionally salient stimuli. Personal relevance, urgency and involvement then twist our perceptions, alertness, and reactions. In short, our affective experiences in situations involving unfamiliarity come in two parts: The mode (valence: good or bad) and strength (intensity: high or low) of emotional states. These interact and, together, play an important role in explaining how we make sense of intercultural events and act the way we do. Although how exactly emotional valence and intensity interact is still a matter of debate, the Lambda arousal model resonates with many phenomena and heuristics surrounding activation and performance in intercultural settings, including staff selection, conflict management, or training. Think About: Foreign Language Learning We care deeply about how others see us. The way we make use of English shapes who we are. Proficiency in English can also influence our professional opportunities. There is a gap between the expectation to function in English and the apprehension that one’s language skills are insufficient to present oneself in the best possible light. In a series of experiments, I found that: 1. Poor language skills are a source of stereotypes; 2. Worries about looking linguistically inept for the world of work add extra pressure; 3. Those who worry about looking less competent when using English fall further behind because situations may be so emotionally loaded that their communication effectiveness is reduced. Meanwhile, those less concerned with such predicaments will likely extend their already strong position. Discuss in small groups: • Can you explain the underperformances of those who felt stereotyped in English language tests? • Many of us have a love-hate relationship with learning foreign languages. Imagine you have to present to a group of senior managers in English. How much would you worry, and to what extent could these feelings affect your performance? Use the Yerkes-Dodson law to make your points. • What would be the ideal activation level for foreign language performances at work? When working across cultures, the likelihood of arousal is high. We have to assume that the more unfamiliar we are with events, the higher are our activation levels. Arousal then propels our affective and cognitive states. Such relationships should be relevant for both temporary and sustained periods of engagement. Whether we work 7.4 The Effects of Culture Bumps 199 <?page no="200"?> abroad for some time, are part of multicultural teams at home, or our tasks involve some form of international scope, unfamiliarity is likely to elicit positive and negative arousal. Remember: Positive emotional states promote positive responses to otherness, while negative emotional states hamper or even inhibit engagement. Arousal will have a strong influence on our subjective experiences (emotions), behaviour (motivation), and judgements (attitudes) (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). For the following explanations, let us suppose that we enormously like travelling abroad to clarify this chain of reactions. Emotional: We feel pleased when travelling; perhaps only thinking about the next trip is exciting for us. Though putting our feelings into words is difficult, we feel joy, happiness, and excitement every time we embark on a travel adventure. Motivational: We will likely travel to other countries and meet new people. Travel allows us to learn more about other cultures and languages, we can escape routines, or we want to expand our comfort zones. Motivations might be different, but they compel us to take action. Attitudinal: As we are motivated to travel, we will likely see all things that enable travelling in a positive light. We cherish contact with others or cultural exchanges. When abroad, a positive mindset helps us deal with all the things that do not go our way. In brief, activation plays an important role in predicting what intercultural encoun‐ ters do to us and how we go about unfamiliar terrain. Crucially, there is an optimum activation level that would promise smooth interactions. Ideally, we feel just enough aroused to concentrate on the task at hand. Should the gap between what we expect and perceive grow or become too huge, we will likely be side-tracked by all the things that look strange. And losing our footing is a result of that. All things considered, response styles depend on how and to what extent respective situations are experienced as unfamiliar. What triggers notions of unfamiliarity varies from situation to situation and from individual to individual. Staff Selection: This interplay of personal makeup and situation is of great importance for organisations and actors within them (Maertz, Hassan, & Magnusson, 2009). Accordingly, in the case of expat selection, the extent to which employees are genuinely okay with cultural differences, such as food, climate, housing, etc., should be taken into account (Black & Gregersen, 1991). Only if they are comfortable with, at times, highly unfamiliar situations will they be effective when working abroad. The general belief is that the larger the ‘psychic distance’ (usually measured in terms of cultural, linguistic, religious, educational, or economic differences, see Takeda & Helms, 2010), the higher the potential for discomfort. Intercultural Training and Counselling: Intercultural management is relentless. Realisations of differences can emerge at any time. Stress-free moments are rare. Even if we can cognitively comprehend cultural differences, we cannot predict the affective experience. Highly activating environments can bring about boomerang effects, namely if what we see deviates so much from our expectations that we agonise 200 7 Activation <?page no="201"?> over what to make of stark differences in culture. Sometimes, we can articulate what makes us feel offended; sometimes, we cannot put our finger on what exactly makes us uneasy. Intercultural training is about honing communication skills and preparing people for multicultural experiences. The challenge is that it is nearly impossible to prepare for all eventualities adequately. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) take up arousal as a root cause of conscious or unconscious discomfort with intercultural differences. Personal Development: We tend not to think that our ability to participate effectively in and across cultures is fragile. We think of intercultural competence as something we carry with us from situation to situation. But in my experience, it does not take much to distract it. Different intercultural encounters bring out different things in us. And although our makeup and experiences add to our sensitivity, openness, and resilience (Weick, 1995), nobody is immune to sudden and unexpected realisations of otherness. Modulating such realisations as triggers of inner tension that, ultimately, drive behaviour is helpful for understanding the complexity of our own responses and that of others. We might think we know what intercultural competence is (until asked to define it), but a more precise and objective picture of ourselves can encourage learning processes. 7.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Good contact hinges on whether or not we are comfortable with the unfamiliar. There are different ways of dealing with cultural differences, but many of us would want to make the best out of such situations. Sadly, despite our best intentions, we often lose sight of this. Ambiguity can cause leaders to focus on processes, control, and power. Reasserting one’s point of view and throwing one’s rank into the mix of intercultural interactions are not far off. Resultant top-down decision-making comes with the cost of negative emotions and a reduced willingness to experiment and learn (Cable, 2018). In his ground-breaking book ‘Humble Inquiry,’ organisational psychologist Edgar Schein invites leaders to focus less on control and power than on people (Schein, 2013). Thus, he points us to two very different ways of thinking about leadership: we either ‘tell’ people or ‘ask’ people. When we ‘tell’ them, we tend to explain things to them or even command them. We do so because we essentially do not recognise other people’s knowledge. This approach reflects our obsession with control and power, which, in turn, scuppers other people’s self-esteem easily. By contrast, a humble and people-focussing mindset comes to light whether if - and then how - we ‘ask’ questions. The moment we are prepared to ask questions, we do three things: First, we admit that we do not have all the answers to an issue; second, we signal that we are interested in the opinions and experiences of others; and third, we are okay with making ourselves vulnerable. Instead of asserting dominance, we meet 7.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 201 <?page no="202"?> others with curiosity, trust, and open-mindedness. According to Schein, you activate people when asking them questions to which you do not have an answer. Unsurprisingly, both approaches, advocacy on the one hand and inquiry on the other, result in very different emotional states and, by extension, interaction modes. Leppänen, Hämäläinen, Saarinen, & Viinikainen (2017) show that non-verbal clues align with either telling or asking modes and set complex activation processes in motion. Overall, I see in Schein’s Humble Inquiry postulate a gentle reminder of the importance of open and appreciative communication styles. We can build healthy relationships and genuine trust by asking questions, meeting others at eye level, and appreciating other people’s expertise and insights. Arguably, showing a sincere interest in others and their ways of doing things is especially valuable in intercultural situations. Although we must be careful about cultural variations in the expectations surrounding formality and intimacy, it can push positive engagement in several ways. Humble inquiry (i) is, in essence, all about empathy, learning and understanding different perspectives; (ii) asks us to set aside stereotypes and biases we carry with us; (iii) fosters an inclusive atmosphere in which interlocutors share their ideas and concerns; (iv) helps avoid misunderstandings, simply because we do not need to shy away from asking clarifying questions; and (v) propels positive and respectful interactions. In sum, humble inquiry instils a commitment to cherishing the perspectives and experiences of people of different cultural backgrounds. Exercise 1: Leap of Faith Imagine you work for a large home improvement retailing company. Recently, you have been seconded to its Chinese subsidiary, where you are now in charge of its business operations. Your new role involves regular branch visits. The branch managers have come to understand that these visits are cost-cutting exercises. Branch staff, therefore, are quite anxious about these and, thus, prepare very thoroughly. As the ‘new kid on the block,’ you have two options: Continue with your predecessor’s top-down leadership style or fundamentally change the nature of these visits. In small groups, role-play a branch visit dominated by a ‘telling’ approach to leadership. Choose an ‘executive’ who tries to achieve their goal through control, power, and command. The branch members are merely means to an end. After the role-play, discuss what advocacy did to you. Now, the same ‘executive’ thinks about ways to energise branch members in the best way. You understand that you are essentially dependent on their insights and inputs. Are there perhaps better ways than pulling rank that would motivate them to give their best? Think about questions that help your staff to open up. See Table 11 below for inspiration, which maps the four different modes of inquiry. You may find humble and process-oriented questions beneficial for fostering trust and creating rapport. Role-play the same situation. Instead of telling, try 202 7 Activation <?page no="203"?> out the ‘art of asking.’ After the role-play, discuss what the inquiry did to you. Remember, great questions make great leaders. Question form and Type Examples* Humble Inquiry: Ask questions to which you do not know the answer. You signal curiosity and interest in the ideas and insights of others. Invite them to share their story. S: What brings you here? A: How can I help? M: So… Tell me more… F: Is this too personal? Diagnostic Inquiry: Ask questions that activate mental processes. Focus on aspects that the addressee still needs to talk about. Be helpful. Refrain from being self-indulgent. S: How will your colleagues react? A: What have you tried so far? M: Why did you do that? F: How do you feel about this? Confrontational Inquiry: Ask questions that float your own ideas. You venture into ‘telling’ terrain as you stir the conversation in a specific direction. Addressees might call your bluff. Re‐ sistance is likely. S: Is there a conflict between the two of you? A: Could you try … ? M: Did you try to control the meeting? F: Did that make you angry? Process-oriented Inquiry: Ask questions that shift conversations to a meta-level. You ensure that both party’s interests are met and reaffirm the importance of relationship building. S: Are my questions helpful? A: What are you going to do next? M: Do my questions stimulate you? F: Have I upset you? Table 11: Four Modes of Inquiry * Each question type can be fine-sliced into - Systemic questions (S): Building understanding of the overall situation; - Action questions (A): Focus on what people did, think about doing, or plan doing; - Motive questions (M): Focus on the root causes of the issues they have been talking about; - Feelings questions (F): Focus on emotions and reactions in response to events or problems. Sources: Schein, 2013; Kollerup, 2024. Exercise 2: Asia Through the Kitchen Window This exercise is designed to give you the chance to experience first-hand what cultural differences do to you. This task comes in four parts: First, you should select an Asian dish of your choice that you are unfamiliar with. This can be from any region of the Asian continent, e.g., the Far East or the Middle East. You should find a recipe that introduces you to the cultural 7.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 203 <?page no="204"?> background of the dish (for instance, short anecdotes, heritage, origin) and gives you instructions on what ingredients you need and how to actually prepare it. Ideally, you are unfamiliar with the dish and the ingredients are available only in a specialist Asian supermarket. If you are unsure what dish to choose, I have provided you with a list of dishes that will do a great job of exposing you to intercultural experiences. Now go to the supermarket and find the ingredients (or their nearest equivalent). You should think about this visit in advance. Imagine what kind of things you may experience. How does the supermarket look from the outside? Will it be similar to those supermarkets where you usually shop? What kind of people do you expect to go shopping there? Do they speak your language? Indeed, will the shopkeepers speak your language, and if so, how well? Do you believe finding the specialist ingredients inside the shop will be easy? What does the layout of a (for you) regular supermarket look like? Will you find ingredients in similar spots in the Asian supermarket? Next, actually, visit the supermarket of your choice. You should be equipped with a list of ingredients, some of which will likely have very unfamiliar names. You should not, however, draw attention yourself, go there in large groups, or make all too obvious (let alone derogatory, such as ‘Gosh, do they really eat such things? How gross! ’) comments. As you walk around the supermarket, what do you observe? Take in the surroundings with all your senses (what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch). Make sure you document your learning journey (perhaps even with some photos). Be prepared to report your findings. Try to make as many mental notes as possible about your visit. As some guidance for your trip, you could focus on what kind of behaviour or activities you observed (either from the patrons or the customers). What surprised you? You were likely unable to read all of the labels. What did this do to you? What about the supermarket layout; was it very different from your expectations? How so? Did you engage with the staff ? Or would you rather find the ingredients on your own? What kind of conversations did you have? If you had an exchange, try to capture what happened during the conversation (how and what has been said, the person’s body language, and so forth). Finally, you should write up your experiences as soon as possible after the supermarket visit. Your account should include more than just what you did, saw, and experienced. Have you been able to buy all the ingredients you wanted? If not, why not? How did you feel about your supermarket visit? How unfamiliar was the experience compared to your standard shopping trips? What did these differences do to you? Was there anything you may have thought you did well? What went wrong, perhaps? Were you more hesitant than usual to approach other people within the supermarket (for instance, when asking for help)? 204 7 Activation <?page no="205"?> You can now move forward to actually prepare the dish. We will look at these experiences in one of the subsequent chapters (Culture and Fantastic Ways Were to Find It). Perhaps you can cook the dish together with one of your friends or classmates. Cooking together is a great way to learn more about another culture. If you have friends or acquaintances from Asia, you could invite them to come along. And here is a list of dishes for your inspiration: - Fesendschān: -https: / / de.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Fesendsch%C4%81n - Khoresht-e Gheymeh: -https: / / labsalliebe.com/ blog/ khoresht-e-gheymeh/ - Mapo Tofu: https: / / thewoksoflife.com/ ma-po-tofu-real-deal/ - Okonomiyaki: https: / / www.justonecookbook.com/ okonomiyaki/ - Pho: https: / / thewoksoflife.com/ chicken-pho/ - Tahchin: -https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Tahchin - Tteobokki: https: / / mykoreankitchen.com/ tteokbokki-spicy-rice-cakes/ - Yaprak Sarma: https: / / cookingorgeous.com/ blog/ yaprak-sarma-stuffed-grap e-leaves/ Butcher in a Beijing supermarket Turtles in supermarket fish tanks Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? Culture Bumps We permanently scan situations for their relevance to us and our well-being (good or bad). At home, we are usually on autopilot, as we do not need to think much about different ways of doing things. But when abroad, we lose this superpower. We can no longer be sure about our taken-for-granted assumptions of how things should be done. Culture bumps refer to intercultural situations that stray from our expectations. They can trigger negative and positive experiences. 7.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 205 <?page no="206"?> Incidents interfering with what we want can cause confusion and unease. Such negative emotions can turn into misunderstandings and even conflicts. By contrast, we may be pleasantly surprised by different ways of doing things. Under these circumstances, culture bumps can drive happiness and foster positive relationships even when we are unsure about things. Arousal When we face intercultural situations and encounters, we can stumble over unexpected or ambiguous moments (culture bumps). We then must look for resources that boost responsivity and facilitate appropriate responses and coping behaviour. Arousal refers to a state of responsiveness to what is going on around us (external stimuli) or inside us (internal stimuli). These external or internal stimuli trigger physiological, emotional, or cognitive reactions. Physiologically, our body might react to intercultural interactions, such as increased heart rate, sweat etc. Emotionally, we may have heightened awareness, alertness, and sensitivity. Intercultural experiences can trigger many emotions ranging from surprise and happiness to disgust and fear. Cognitively, arousal refers to what we make of such emotions and how we think about intercultural interactions. It can affect various mental processes, such as attention, attitudes, and learning. Overall, arousal affects (i) information processing (acquisition, perception, learning about other cultures), (ii) performance (alertness when engaging with others) and (iii) motivation (curiosity, seeking exciting activities abroad). Internal and External Stimuli and Their Processing There are internal stimuli. These originate from inside us and can involve physiological changes, notably metabolic changes caused by time differences, climate, or food intake. Mental imagery, pictures in our heads about intercultural encounters, are also powerful triggers of arousal. We might engage in stereotyping or ponder how our interactions with people of different cultural backgrounds might pan out. Both scenarios can bring on intense physiological or psychological arousal reactions. Recalling past experiences, especially culture bumps and how we handled them, can activate various emotional responses. Then, there are external stimuli. We can further distinguish between affective (pleasant or unpleasant), collative (unfamiliar, irritating, or complex) and intense (physical quality) stimuli. Each type follows specific processing routes. Affective stimuli trigger emotional processing: We particularly turn to those stimuli that are more meaningful or attractive to us. This can be a response to certain external stimuli appealing to our five senses (e.g., words, images, smell, sound, touch) or internal stimuli (such as shame, regret or worries about not measuring up). Though more uncommon in intercultural encounters, fixed action patterns, complex and highly structured behaviour sequences, might also demand emotional processing. Collative stimuli refer to those stimuli that have characteristics that make them particularly noticeable. They are unusual and unexpected or stand out because 206 7 Activation <?page no="207"?> of their relevance to an individual. In an intercultural context, collative stimuli might cause irritation over the unexpected (e.g., taboos, contradictions, mental conflicts) or the ambiguous (e.g., uncertain rules, unknown situations, anxiety over what might happen). The quality of a stimulus affects physical experiences and, consequently, arousal processes. Touch (skin: pressure, touch, temperature), taste (tongue: food and safety), smell (nose: odour), vision (eyes: brightness), and hearing (ears: sound waves) cause instant physical activation which, in turn, can set in motion emotional and cognitive processing routes. Relationship Between Arousal and Behaviour The Yerkes-Dodson law, or inverted-U or Lambda arousal model, describes how arousal levels affect performance. It suggests that performance will be poor when arousal is either at a minimum or maximum level. We do not care about intercultural encounters or feel so overwhelmed by them that we feel anxious and stressed. Inappropriate behaviour is the likely result of overactivation. The optimal level of arousal is somewhere in between these two extremes. We detect cultural differences, but they are not so extreme that they throw us off balance or occupy so many resources that our experiences distract us from what we do. Accordingly, our responses to intercultural encounters depend in no small part on the physiological or psychological intensity with which we experience culture bumps. Arousal levels and reactions, therefore, vary from person to person. Tonic and Phasic Activation Intercultural encounters likely disrupt our expectations of how things should be done. Culture bumps can cause long-lasting arousal levels (tonic activation), translating into lasting and heightened states of alertness. Such ongoing activations often occur in the context of medium to long-term abroad spells and ensuing acculturation processes. They become the new baseline of how we respond to oth‐ erness. By contrast, short arousal bursts (phasic activation) are quick reactions to sudden realisations of cultural differences. These intense spurts of arousal usually occur in response to particular things that happen around us that demand rapid adjustments from us. Situational alertness increases attentiveness and information processing, which, in turn, enables efficient and appropriate responses. 7.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 207 <?page no="209"?> 8 Emotion Opening Vignette Irrigation System for Farming Photo by Steve Harbey on Unsplash Matteo Rossi works for a Finnish multinational enterprise (MNE), a specialist in irrigation systems. Headquartered in Helsinki, the firm has production sites in Eastern Europe and North and South America and sales offices in 30 other countries. It has recently acquired an Italian manufacturer of gardening tools based in Milano. Here, Matteo has been managing the HR department, a small team of three, for many years. Since the takeover, he has been tasked with bringing local human resource processes, data, and analytics in line with headquarters practices. His line manager is now a Finnish expat who has thus far been relatively hands-off in monitoring what the HR team does. Matteo likes his job and is good at what he does. Even in awkward situations, he manages to keep smiling, no matter how tricky employee relations can become. This Tuesday, however, despite the cheerful mood he displayed to his team members, Matteo is not having a good day at all. It all began before his workday even started. One of his children fell ill and needed to see a doctor. A dispute with his wife followed over who should stay home and take care of the sick <?page no="210"?> child. When arriving at the office, Matteo learned that one of his colleagues had forgotten to update a job advert that was supposed to be running from today. He would soon receive a phone call from the unhappy department head who was desperately looking to fill a vacancy in her team. Then, there was a rush of enquiries from the Finnish headquarters asking for updates about the new performance appraisal system that would soon be implemented in the now-Italian subsidiary. Matteo knows that his colleagues feel quite uncomfortable with the outlook of yearly evaluations and what these might mean for their career progress. Would the headquarters even send more staff over to Milano? Should they occupy further top positions, the presence of expats would significantly reduce promotion opportunities for local staff. To add insult to injury, two of his team members were off sick the last week, and no work could be done to push this sensitive topic forward. All he could do was ask for an extension. On Zoom, he deflects the demands from Helsinki by being overly polite to his Finnish colleague, but he does not feel brilliant about this delay. Next to worries about looking out of his depth, he feels frustrated for putting his head on the line for his younger colleague, who should have taken care of the situation, whilst the others were off sick. To top it off, Matteo’s boss expresses his dissatisfaction with his work during the jour fixe meeting. And that in front of all the other department heads! While usually being okay with criticism, he feels quite upset and frustrated with this public dressing down. But also shame creeps in. After all, his line manager had a point, and such a faux pas should not have happened. What will his colleagues make of him now? At the end of the day, Matteo really feels ready to quit his job. Previously, work was all demanding but very rewarding and pleasant overall. But now, with the recent takeover, company culture has changed tremendously. He really does not know what to make of his line manager’s sudden change of attitude. But the humiliation clearly is wearing down on Matteo. Before leaving for home, he writes a lengthy and angry e-mail to his line manager. Without beating about the bush, he makes clear that things are done differently in Italy. But before hitting the send button, he reasons there are better ways to let off steam. Matteo stays in a poor mood for the remainder of the week. He does not answer e-mails from his boss and vents his negative feelings with snappy remarks. Critical Thinking: - Why might Matteo find it difficult to manage his feelings at work? - Is there room for emotions at work, such as anger or shame? - Why was Matteo’s supervisor so tactless? - Why did these episodes lead Matteo to behave so passive-aggressively? - Will Matteo’s bad mood eventually affect those around him? - Do cultural differences play a role in triggering negative emotions? 210 8 Emotion <?page no="211"?> Work life is full of daily hassles and frustrations. Perhaps you have found yourself in a similar situation as our fictional character, and distressing job demands or the odd remark of colleagues did not leave you cold. Congratulations, you are human! Organisational life is seeped with emotions, most commonly in the form of joy, fear, or anger. We revel in success, worry about the next assignment, or are annoyed with our colleagues. And there are many reasons why firms should care for emotions at work. Essentially, emotions help us maintain our performance. Whenever something goes wrong, whenever something unexpected happens, or whenever something worrisome is looming, our emotions compel us to act (Frese, 1990). Also, emotions are part of many jobs, most obviously in service-related professions, in which employees create and sell positive emotions to customers or clients (for instance, personal trainers who have to offer cheerful experiences with a smile). ‘Emotional labour,’ or the regulation of emotional expressions at work (Hochschild, 2012), is, of course, not limited to service industries. At work, we are expected to manage our own emotions and those of others. At an organisational level, employers want us to bond and feel pride. At the group level, sensitivity to the emotions of those around us is crucial for navigating success. At the individual level, we better work ‘with a smile.’ Even if we do not feel like it (‘fake it till you make it! ’), we can expect a positive air to make us more likeable. 8.1 Emotions in the International Workplace Then again, and as the saying goes, ‘emotions have no place in business unless you do business with them’ (Duerrenmatt); in some situations, or positions, displaying emotions might be inappropriate. Those in the higher echelons of organisations are more constrained than lower-status workers. After all, being emotional means being non-rational, does it not? And in top positions, irrationality cannot be a good thing. When you get carried away by emotions, you will likely make hit-or-miss decisions. Intense affects, such as envy or jealousy, spill over to how employees interact. Love affairs undermine group cohesion. And greed has led to the downfall of whole corporations. In short, emotions come in many disguises and often lead to adverse outcomes. In spite of widespread beliefs that showing feelings at work is unprofessional, emotions are super-abundant. Although it is often difficult to disentangle everyday work frustrations, emotions permeate intercultural encounters, too. At the intersection of communities and cul‐ tures, ambiguity rules (Cohen, 1985). Thus, we can no longer trust our ‘superpower’ of making sense of our environment to understand what is happening around us. Customs and conventions of everyday life seem out of sync with our expectations, and, as a consequence, we can no longer be sure whether we can trust our readings of situations and people. When realising this unfamiliarity, we will likely experience a range of emotions, from excitement to frustration or even anxiety as extreme poles. That we cannot switch off our own culture potentially magnifies our emotional responses. We want to cling to our inner map (made up of beliefs, perceptions, past experiences and 8.1 Emotions in the International Workplace 211 <?page no="212"?> so forth), all the while pretending that our perception of the world is a good reflection of reality. We believe what we want to believe. Whether that is true or not is ultimately irrelevant. If things make no sense to us, it is a deceptively small step to assume that, since our maps differ, those around you are less capable. Needless to say, at this moment, it is high time to backpedal from one’s own culture for a moment, let the differences sink in, and assume that we have stumbled over a culture bump. The challenge is that emotions often run high at work, and everyday hiccups can mix, at any time, with uncertainty about intercultural relations and being torn between cherished practices, alienation, and valuing differences. In our professional lives, we can never be sure whether we emotionally respond to intrapersonal, interpersonal, or intergroup conflicts (see also previous chapter about internal or external stimuli). All this is readily apparent in the opening vignette. Matteo finds himself working for a foreign firm and suffers significant adverse effects in his role as department head and the expectations tied to this role. Intrapersonal: We might feel underwhelmed by our current job responsibilities and perhaps see little or no growth opportunities. Working for a foreign firm often comes with invisible barriers (‘glass ceilings’) to professional progress. Because expats take up key positions, local employees struggle to rise beyond a certain level in the organisational hierarchy. When realizing such ego-stinging limitations to their roles, people might ponder whether they should stay or go. Matteo is likely to experience emotional conflicts ranging between sadness (leaving the familiar behind), guilt (his colleagues will have to cope with work alone) and excitement (with the prospect of giving his career a new push). By the same token, in this particular case the introduction of a performance appraisal system, he might need to push for some decisions that go against his values. What ‘performance’ is and how it is evaluated is highly dependent on basic cultural assumptions (Fletcher, 2001). Matteo might find it challenging to reconcile divergent cultural values. Interpersonal: At the same time, Matteo, in his role as HR department head, finds himself in the role of a gatekeeper between new policies and processes of the new Finnish owner and the cherished practices of the acquired Italian company. Introducing a performance appraisal system is a high-stakes situation with many stress triggers. Many people with entirely different personalities and makeup will be involved. Diverging viewpoints and disagreements are inevitable. Such sandwich roles that need to balance demands from the headquarters and the sensitivity of the local employees are rather common in international business. Information flows that go through one person (which often is the case in HR, especially for bilingual speakers) can be emotionally draining. Matteo not only has to mediate disagreements between colleagues from headquarters and subsidiaries but also has to manage opposing opinions between him and his colleagues. Tensions and emotions, such as anger, fear, or frustration, are part of such conflicts. 212 8 Emotion <?page no="213"?> Intergroup: Amid all these disturbances, it is tough to isolate the effects of cultural differences on our emotional states. What these do to us can smoulder in the background, be in the face or come as part of a job requirement: • As is the case in our opening vignette, the big picture is that of firms engaging in international takeovers. Whether they like this or not, employees are thrown into intercultural situations. The emotional impact of company takeovers can be high. Worries of reorganisation and wage cuts or even threats of potential job losses are joined by a possible bias against issues that prop up as part of foreign acquisitions (think of the polarising public debates of Chinese firms entering North American and European markets). This is not to say that foreign takeovers are bad. On the contrary, in general, cross-border investments are positive for economies. However, in mergers, corporate cultures inevitably collide. Feelings of being disadvantaged (or even ‘inferior’) add to a general loss of orientation. Our opening vignette featured a Finnish-Italian takeover and power differentials that emerged from that. Finns took over executive posts, and Matteo’s task was to assist in implementing headquarters processes. • More obvious, but not less difficult to pinpoint, is mistrust or misunderstanding from cultural and linguistic differences at the personal level. Failing to say the right thing often happens when we speak in a language and cultural context that is not ours. And miscommunication easily causes emotions to flare up. In our specific case, when his line manager criticised Matteo in front of his peers, he, perhaps unsurprisingly, felt a lack of appreciation. This caused severe problems, including demotivation and passive aggressiveness in the workplace of our case. The problem, of course, is the attribution of what caused that specific behaviour and, connected to this, errors of judgement. Matteo can never be sure whether the rebuke had to do with the line manager’s makeup or with culturally induced ways of giving feedback (in Finland, for instance, management is indeed hands-off but tied to the expectation that things get done). It is most likely to be a mix of both, but should perceptions of being different (because of nationality or personal makeup) pop up (Wiswede, 2012), heightened emotional experiences certainly stand in the way of calming things down. • In international circles, we make use of verbal and non-verbal communication to inspire trust (Child, 2001) and create a conducive atmosphere for interactions (Holden, 2002). By implication, regardless of how we genuinely feel, we might be better off concealing our emotional state. For instance, when abroad, maybe we discover that meetings often take longer than planned and do not follow the agreed agenda. This can make us angry or anxious. In spite of such emotional states, we know that we should be diplomatic in what we say and how we say things. In short, we have to engage in ‘emotional labour,’ that is, we are required to ‘induce or suppress feelings in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others’ (Hochschild, 2012). We can do so in two specific ways: We either engage in ‘surface acting’ (displaying emotions 8.1 Emotions in the International Workplace 213 <?page no="214"?> that we do not really feel or quelling emotions that we feel) or ‘deep acting’ (modifying our feelings in such ways that they align with expected situational norms). In either case, being occupied with such kind of impression management is exhausting. When talking to his colleague about the job advert, Matteo might have felt poorly about his team member’s lapse. But towards his colleagues, he is likely to promote an absolutely trustworthy and competent self. In the same vein, being made, unexpectedly, a representative of one’s culture can be tiring, too. When you become the sole touchpoint to a culture, people put you in a position to speak on behalf of all people of your home culture on basically all topics. Matteo might have felt uncomfortable explaining potential barriers to implementing a Finnish-style performance appraisal system in Italy to his headquarters colleagues. As an insider to the local culture, he might have been forced to lay out what performance means in an Italian context. Clearly, cultural differences and resulting ambiguity appear in various disguises and at different levels of abstraction in everyday work life. Emotions can lurk behind any of these and are likely to flare up when work matters are dear to us. They may unfold because of (i) a certain explosiveness of an intercultural encounter, (ii) a mix of cultural differences, or, over time, (iii) as a result of episodes of disturbing intercultural incidences. First, emotions are a brief, in-the-moment response to an intense experience or realisation of cultural differences. Second, emotions can also result from a combination of different clues. For example, cultural differences show at the interpersonal and intergroup level and, together, make you upset or angry or happy. Third, persistent but similar clues of cultural differences can build up and fester emotions. For example, tensions from repeated signals of dissatisfaction with one’s performance can mount up frustration. Usually, organisations are considered pretty rational places. At work, we frequently dismiss emotions from international encounters. But, as we have seen, there are compelling reasons to look closer at emotions. When people of different cultures meet, emotional ups and downs are common. The reasons for these confusions can be initially found between the poles of familiarity and unfamiliarity, clarity and ambiguity, and closeness and distance. Perceived anomalies set in motion conscious or unconscious reactions. We might feel that cultural differences severely hamper our ability to explain and predict behaviour. As goalposts are moved, we get, every so often, defensive and send messages to those around us that what the other person is saying or doing is inappropriate, problematic, or even wrong. Undoubtedly, such struggles are not conducive to a good and trustworthy atmosphere. Before looking at how emotions pervade intercultural leadership, we should pause here and be clear about different forms of emotional states. With affect as an umbrella term, we usually use feelings, moods, and emotions interchangeably to describe under‐ lying experiences. These then show in outward expressions through facial expressions or body movements. They mean, however, very different things, so distinguishing between them is advisable (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019): 214 8 Emotion <?page no="215"?> Feelings: Feelings refer to subjective but conscious experiences of emotions. Ranging from pleasant to unpleasant, they are independent of specific internal or external stimuli. In contrast to our somewhat diffuse affective states, feelings imply that we are assigning meaning to our experiential world. As our feelings are clear to us, we can easily describe them. In fact, we can tap into many expressions that help us talk and think about our feelings. Because of the essentially internal and subjective nature of feelings, they differ from individual to individual. Emotions: Emotions just happen and prepare us to deal with things or events that matter to us. Triggered by either internal processes or external stimuli, they are intensive and complex responses from interactions between us and our environment. We have biochemical reactions to stimuli (physiological arousal), we temper such sensations (cognitive assessment), and, as we process what is going on around us, we share our interpretations with our environment (behavioural response). Usually, we can put into words what emotions we have. Moods: Moods refer to relatively stable affective states. They are longer-lasting, more diffuse, and milder than emotions. Also, there are usually no specific events that trigger a mood. Although we do not really know why we feel the way we do (e.g., being cheerful or angry), moods can colour our sensory experiences, our information processing abilities, and even our preparedness to learn. Typically, good or bad mood sets off emotional responses to our environment. We find it hard to talk about why we feel the way we do. Dispositions: People differ in the way they deal with positive or negative emotional states. And they do so in very stable, predictable ways. Personality traits shape our emotional experiences in many ways. What we make of situations depends on specific personality traits. They regulate how we adapt to our environment, most notably in terms of what emotions we detect and what tactics we use to control our emotions. The different ways of reacting to situations also show in how we relate our mental world to the environment. Also, our affective lens influences what type of emotions predominate in our lives, which, in turn, potentially impacts our personality (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). On our intercultural journeys, we can experience an entire spectrum of emotions, ranging from fear to excitement. Be they short-lived or enduring, they play a central role in how we experience cultural differences, make sense of ambiguity, and relate to our environment. We need to manage emotions and their effects on us and others. Affective states (and how we experience them), thus, empower intercultural leadership. • At the most basic level, emotional states can be the cause of how we behave in intercultural situations. For instance, a cheerful mood influences how we experience intercultural encounters. It might even immunise us against realisations of cultural differences. We might see others or adverse situations in a more positive light, which leads to more open behaviour. • Realisations of differences can do something to us, too. In this sense, emotional states are a consequence of intercultural encounters. These can be very basic 8.1 Emotions in the International Workplace 215 <?page no="216"?> emotions, such as surprise, happiness, or anger, but there can also be more complex tendencies to act. We could, for instance, respond to cultural differences in appre‐ ciative or considerate ways. Such ‘Cross-Cultural Empathy’ (Mullavey-O’Brian, 1997) is key to intercultural relationships and trust building. • Emotions can also intervene with how we experience intercultural encounters. ‘Tolerance for Ambiguity’ (Furnham & Ribchester, 1995) is the tendency to be comfortable with ambiguous situations, which can moderate the strength and direction of our behaviour in the face of the unknown. The ability to regulate emotions, even when we find it hard to make sense of unfamiliar others or situations, for instance, reflects positively on how we engage in intercultural encounters. • Finally, emotions can also function as a mediating variable and explain how realisations of unfamiliarity shape our responses. People differ in their reactions to cultural dissimilarity. Some experience cultural differences more positively, while others experience them more negatively. ‘Dissimilarity Openness’ (Haertel & Fujimoto, 2000) facilitates both our sense-making of unfamiliar others or situations and our subsequent responses. 8.2 Conceptual Considerations: Emotions as Pass to Intercultural Leadership The question is, what exactly are ‘emotions,’ and why are emotional processes so important for intercultural leadership? Clearly, emotions are highly complex processes. According to Goleman (2005), great leaders manage emotions well. Emotionally ‘intelligent’ leaders are able to ‘read the air’ or sense the feelings of others (empathy). They sense what others are going through and give space to their emotions. At the same time, they recognise their own emotional landscape (self-awareness) and can keep their own emotions in check (self-regulation). They are passionate about what they do (internal motivation) and are able to influence others with their emotions (social skills). This ‘friendliness with a purpose,’ or showing respect and being polite to everyone, is about carefully choosing what emotions we want to show to make an impact on others. Arguably, such emotional leadership skills are highly desirable in intercultural encounters. So, can an understanding of emotions, ours and that of others, help us regulate our inner worlds and build better working relationships? Though rich in theory and controversy, emotions are commonly defined as complex reaction patterns made up of three components: (i) an experiential response, (ii) a physiological response, and (iii) a behavioural response (e.g., Sieb, 2013). Together, they create what we experience as emotions. Experiential Response: We cannot do much about our emotional world. Emotions happen and begin with a stimulus. How we experience these trigger events varies from person to person, regardless of how objective or intense they are. The subjective 216 8 Emotion <?page no="217"?> experience can be either pleasant (lust, arousal, comfort) or unpleasant (reluctance, fear, frustration). For instance, an internal job vacancy involving substantial foreign travel has opened. While you might feel thrilled to go abroad, others might feel less excited about the same outlook. Experiences are highly subjective. We can never be sure others are experiencing the same emotions as us. And we may experience the same trigger event differently from situation to situation. The same job opportunity might affect you differently depending on your life situation (e.g., your younger versus your more seasoned self). Physiological Response: Emotions can elicit vast physical and mental reactions. Our body responds to an experience with side effects such as racing heartbeats (out of fear), getting a lump in your throat (out of sadness), or catching your breath (out of anger). The same physiological response could occur with quite different emotions (for example, one might shiver due to excitement or fear). The amygdala, the core of our neural system, plays a significant role in our emotional responses, especially when it comes to processing aversive stimuli. Physiological responses will interact with our subjective experience and, together, shape what kind of emotions we experience at a specific time. Behavioural Response: Gestures or vocalisation almost always accompany emo‐ tional states, whereby certain emotions go hand in hand with characteristic expres‐ sions. Such expressions of our emotions extend our mental world to the outside world. We may smile, open our mouths, or roll our eyes, to name just a few examples of observable reactions, for instance, when learning that you are seconded to an abroad assignment. In doing so, we signal to others how we feel, what attitude we may have or even what we intend to do. We can make use of the relationship between emotion and expressions, for instance, when we want to encourage, sanction or reward certain behaviours in others. We may roll our eyes to signal disapproval, or we smile to influence specific behaviour in others. Ceremonial performances such as the Maori ‘Haka’ are about showing strength. Bulging eyes, tongue sticking out, feet stomping, and chest slapping are all about intimidating foes. In short, our expressions guide social interactions inside and outside our culture. Although there is broad agreement that we give meaning to the world aro und us through a mix of experiential, physiological, and behavioural responses, exactly how these components interact is unclear. There is no super theory that ultimately explains all emotional phenomena. Here, we will look at those theories that are widely considered the most relevant ones. To begin our exploration, let us assume you are on holiday in a remote Southeast Asian village and need a restroom. You enter the toilet and find that the toilet facilities look very different to what you are used to. The first thing you notice is that the toilet is a mere hole in the floor. There is no button to flush; instead, you see a bucket and a scoop. A sign says you must not put toilet paper into the toilet bowl. The six theories we will zoom into here will explain your likely emotion (‘surprise’) in different ways (for an animated overview with test battery, you can look here: Collin, 2020). 8.2 Conceptual Considerations: Emotions as Pass to Intercultural Leadership 217 <?page no="218"?> James-Lang-Theory This theory argues that you first see the stimuli (‘unfamiliar restroom’). Then, you start to have physiological responses because you see the hole in the floor and notice a lack of amenities. Your heart beats faster, you raise your eyebrows, your eyes open wide, and perhaps even your jaw drops. Note that these involuntary responses will likely last only a fraction of a second. As your body responds to the sight, you realise that you are surprised. The theory suggests that physical changes come first. These then bring about emotions. So, in essence, you feel surprised because of bodily sensations. Cannon-Bard-Theory This theory argues that you first see the stimuli (‘unfamiliar restroom’). Then you feel said physiological responses. At the same time, you also experience emotions (‘surprise’). So, in essence, Cannon-Bard theory claims that bodily sensations and emotions happen simultaneously. In spite of this co-occurrence, physiological changes and subjective experience are separate and independent. Unlike the James-Lang theory, you do not feel surprised when you realise that your body reacts to the unfamiliar sight. Schachter-Two-Factor-Theory Again, you first see a stimulus. Then, your body reacts to the sight of the unfamiliar restroom. Your heart beats faster, you raise your eyebrows, and so forth. At the same time, you think about what is going on. That is, you identify the stimulus, and you assess why you feel these sensations. In our example, you find that the toilet and facilities differ from your expectations. Because of your bodily changes, you are trying to understand what is causing this arousal. So, you reason, ‘My heart is beating faster,’ 218 8 Emotion <?page no="219"?> and the reason for this is that ‘I do not know this kind of toilet and how to use it.’ So, you will attempt to put into words what is going on in this situation of entering the restroom. This leads to an emotional response. Different stimuli will lead to similar bodily sensations but not necessarily lead to similar emotions. Therefore, cognitive appraisal filters and bifurcates how we experience emotions. Lazarus’ Cognitive-Appraisal-Theory In this theory, emotions start with a stimulus. In turn, you cognitively appraise the situation. You explore why it causes a specific subjective experience. In our case, ‘there is a toilet facility that I do not recognise and do not know how to use. Therefore, I am surprised.’ Then, because of your subjective interpretation of the situation, you feel emotions of surprise. Simultaneously, you have a physiological response, too. Because you appraise the situation as surprising, your heart goes faster, your eyes open wider and so forth. So, in essence, you see a new form of the toilet, and you realise that this is unfamiliar to you, feel surprised and have bodily sensations. Zajonc-LeDoux’s-Theory This evolutionary-oriented theory assumes that there are some instant, rather primitive responses. Deeply embedded in human dispositions, these basic or ‘primary emotions’ are independent of any cognitions. Because of their relevance for survival, they fast-track emotional responses. We react to stimuli without exactly knowing why. So, in our case, the sight of unfamiliar hygiene practices might trigger avoidant behaviour. In summary, there is no all-encompassing super theory of emotion. Different theories assign different levels of importance to experiential, physiological, and behavioural responses in the face of trigger events (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). Broadly 8.2 Conceptual Considerations: Emotions as Pass to Intercultural Leadership 219 <?page no="220"?> speaking, they share the distinction between affective and cognitive processes but differ in their emphasis on which process dominates in eliciting emotions. Depending on how affective and cognitive processing interact, emotions hit us sometimes faster or sometimes slower: If a trigger event is processed rather affectively, then we arrive at emotional states more rapidly and automatically. In the more extreme cases, there are biologically pre-programmed and, therefore, largely involuntary emotional states. Specific stimuli, especially those that trigger fight or flight responses, affect us super-fast. Intriguingly, this would explain why individuals across the world respond to certain stimuli in the same way. We can find basic emotions, most notably anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and happiness in all cultures. People, regardless of their cultural background, express these emotions in the same way. If cognitions take over, and we start thinking through what trigger events might mean for us, then processing is much slower. Weighing up what trigger events might mean for us and whether or not they stand in the way of what we are trying to achieve takes time, as do considerations of coping strategies. Applying all this to an intercultural context, we can, as an interim conclusion, assume that • Cultural differences range from rather obvious (‘blatant’) to hidden (‘subtle’) bumps. They are, however, only part of a usually much larger set of a trigger event. Diverging awareness and intensity makes isolating their effects on our emotional states difficult. • Even if culture is not solely responsible for environmental changes, ambiguity mutes our ability to explain and predict behaviour. Such cultural bumps can spark emotional reactions. These complex experiential responses can affect our well-being. • Emotions are part of sense-making processes and come with an interplay of sub‐ jective experiences, physiological responses, and behavioural changes (including facial expressions, postures, or vocalisation). • When we find ourselves in situations involving other cultures, we consciously and unconsciously assess trigger events. Slow or fast, resultant emotions lead to behavioural reactions. Some of them are evolutionarily pre-determined. Other, more complex emotions involve cognitive assessment and, thus, depend on cultural norms and values. 8.3 Are Emotions Universal or Culture-Specific? Great leaders are not only good at managing their own emotions. They are also skilled readers of emotions in others. As already explained, we share our emotional states with the outside world through gestures or vocalisation. While we are usually quite good at concealing our true feelings or emotions from others, we cannot do much about micro-expressions or involuntary facial expressions as outflows of an 220 8 Emotion <?page no="221"?> emotional experience (Ekman, 2024). These only last for fractions of a second, are difficult to suppress and, thus, easily leak our emotional world. They are hard to spot, but they help us interpret the actions and intentions of others. We intuitively respond to them. Emotional intelligence includes the ability to recognise non-verbal signals ( Jacob et al., 2013). As people become attuned to micro-expressions, empathy dovetails. Though surrounded by much speculation, the latest research suggests that we may even unconsciously synchronise facial expressions. So-called mirror neurons (di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese, & Rizzolatti, 1992), certain nerve cells in the brain that fire when you perform, observe, or even think about an action, are believed to be responsible for spotting what others feel. By extension, they are probably involved in empathy and imitation of behaviour. This would also explain why emotions and related behaviours can be contagious. We laugh when others laugh or are compassionate when we see others in pain. In other words, mirror neurons ensure we read other people’s emotions and subtly replicate verbal and non-verbal behaviour. In doing so, we create empathy and relate to others. Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia (2008) suggest they may also facilitate rapport in intercultural communication. If emotions set the tone at work, there will also be emotional elements in intercultural encounters. When emotions surface in such situations, we should, therefore, ask ourselves: (i) Are emotions universal? and (ii) do they show everywhere in the world in similar ways? In his seminal work on evolutionary biology, Darwin assumed already 150 years ago that ‘the young and the old of widely different races, both with man and animals, express the same state of mind by the same movements.’ He reasoned that facial expressions have an innate communicative role. We look at others to learn about their emotional states, including information that would keep us alive and healthy. For a long time, anthropologists disagreed with assumptions of the essentially universal nature of emotional expressions. They believed that cultural norms and values distort how people show their emotional world. The prevailing wisdom was that we learn appropriate facial expressions, gestures, body posture and so forth through our culture. By implication, non-verbal communication varies from culture to culture. This would make it difficult to accurately interpret the emotional states of those not sharing our cultural biographies. In a series of studies, US psychologist Paul Ekman found that emotional expressions are not so different across the world after all. He suggested that humans could possibly read emotional states from people’s expressions. This finding sparked research into the universality of emotions. Today, empirical evidence points towards seven basic emotions that we all feel, regardless of linguistic, cultural, or ethnic differences: Joy, anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, and contempt (though evidence of contempt as the seventh universal emotion is as yet less conclusive). These emotions are considered biologically programmed, fundamental and not learned. As we evolve to adapt to our environment, these emotions make us human. We develop these emotions in early childhood. Each of them comes with discreet facial expressions. Wherever we are and whoever we meet, we should be able to recognise these emotional states on faces. 8.3 Are Emotions Universal or Culture-Specific? 221 <?page no="222"?> But what about more complex emotional states, such as grief, regret, or jealousy? While the six (seven) ‘basic’ or ‘primary’ emotions are assumed to be innate (not learned), pure (i.e. they cannot be traced back to further underlying emotional states), and instant (automatic responses to stimuli), more complex emotions are made up from two or more basic emotions. For instance, the complex emotion ‘hate’ would be a mix of the basic emotions ‘fear,’ ‘anger,’ and ‘disgust.’ Unlike basic emotions, we learn about the appropriateness of having and showing these emotions during our upbringing. As our cultural environment plays a massive role in shaping our mental states over and above basic emotions, complex emotions vary greatly in their appearance from culture to culture or from individual to individual. In contrast to basic emotions, complex emotions involve more careful consideration and are, thus, less automatic and less involuntary. Some complex emotions, such as jealousy, do not come with any facial expression at all. And, of course, emotional expressions can be forged to hide any other emotion or evoke certain reactions in others. We are all liars, for instance. And we are also lied to about 100 to 200 times a day. But we put on our emotional masks, usually with a smile, to pull off our deceits (Ekman, 2009). To make matters even more complex, we find that cultures vary greatly in how and to what extent they communicate emotional states. In other words, while emotions may feel more or less the same, the manner and appropriateness in which we show them varies across cultures. Some cultures value reservedness, while others favour emotional expressiveness. For instance, people from Asian cultures have been shown to be emotionally less expressive than their Western counterparts. These differences have been linked to fundamental assumptions surrounding relationships between individuals and the group. While individualistic cultures consider self-expression as positive and valuable, collectivist cultures place greater value on regulating and suppressing emotions (De Leersnyder, Boiger, & Mesquita, 2013). Such culturally induced display rules may even adversely affect psychological well-being (Soto, Perez, Kim, Lee, & Minnick, 2011). Think About: Cultural Warps of Shame Idol groups are a popular part of the Japanese pop culture and music entertain‐ ment industry (‘J-Pop’). Stars’ looks and personalities often embody cultural virtues. Media presence and (online and offline) fan base are huge, so every step of a star’s growth and development is in the spotlight. The social pressure, both from the media and the fans, must be enormous. AKB-48’s marketing concept of close and intimate interaction made it one of the most successful Japanese music groups ever. It came, however, with strict rules. The pristine and sexualised image was guarded with a strict ‘no romance’ policy. Minami Minegishi, a top-rated idol group member, broke this rule. When news broke that she had spent the night with a member of a boy group, her management demoted her. In an act of penance, she appeared on YouTube, crying and bowing, apologising for her ‘thoughtless and immature’ behaviour. She had also shaved 222 8 Emotion <?page no="223"?> her head to emphasise her contrition (in line with Japan’s traditional hair-cutting culture). Although the extreme form of remorse was publicly criticised for going too far, she was welcomed back into the AKB-48 fold. Consider the following questions: • We are all human and make mistakes. In your culture, how do people in the public spotlight show contrition? • What is the acceptable norm of displaying remorse? Across cultures, not only is the display of emotions differently valued, but it can take on very different meanings and roles. ‘Shame,’ the unpleasant sense of being or having done something dishonourable, makes people in some cultures withdraw for embarrassment, while in others, it propels people to reach out to others. In other words, the very meaning of emotions differs from culture to culture. Taken-for-granted beliefs creep into emotional worlds and also show in our language. According to Bedford (2004), Mandarin speakers, for instance, refer to shame in four different ways, each signifying quite different emotional experiences. There is shame related to transgressions of reputation (Diu lian), ideal (Can kui), personal identity (Xiu kui), and social identity (Xiu chi). They not only vary in their direction but also in their emotional intensity, ranging from nagging thoughts to worries about social reputation (‘losing face’) or to socially crippling sensations (‘stigma’). So, it is not just that there are much more nuanced emotions attached to shame (than in, for instance, the English language, which does not routinely distinguish feelings of shame). Still, they also develop in culture-specific ways and have unique social consequences. Arguably, those who have not been raised in a Chinese-speaking environment would have difficulties recognising these emotions. Think About: Emoticons Gestures do not easily travel from one culture to another (Morris, 1994), Nor do their pictogram equivalents. As one would expect, gesture symbols such as heart, hands, or fingers (e.g., ‘thumbs up’) differ in usage and meanings. When it comes to smiley faces, things are more complex, and not only because of their sheer variety. First used on Japanese mobile phones, emojis infuse our writing with emotions. In today’s fast-paced and snappy parlance, they help enhance our texts, e-mails and so forth. While we might think of them as a modern lingua franca, they take on their own life in intercultural contexts. Across East and West, there are similarities (anger and happiness) and dissimilarities (surprise, disgust, sadness, fear) in users’ expressions of emotions. How they are used also differs greatly, ranging from low-context to high-context expressions of emotional states. Some smileys come with entirely different meanings depending on cultural context. For instance, the slightly smiling face emoji might signal 8.3 Are Emotions Universal or Culture-Specific? 223 <?page no="224"?> joyful emotions in the West. In China, it would come with notions of distrust or disbelief. 🙂 🙂 Western Use: Eastern Use: Expression of Happiness Expression of Distrust, or Ridicule Consider the following questions: • Go to the Chinese messaging App WeChat Emojipedia. Find the following emojis. How are they used in a Chinese context? ○ ‘shy’ ○ ‘scowl’ ○ ‘trick’ • What are ‘Biaoqingbao’? In sum, emotions and their expressions are both universal and culture-specific. Emotions are universal because their biological programming helps us to deal with events without much thinking. They explain why people, regardless of their cul‐ tural background, react in the same way to certain emotional stimuli. Emotions are culture-specific because they are learned and thus intermingle with norms and values. Socio-cultural influences modify how we experience and show emotions. They, therefore, explain why people react differently to certain emotional stimuli. Although there is no generally agreed list of basic emotions and complex emotions, they undoubtedly play a huge role in how we experience ourselves (intrapersonal function), forge relationships (interpersonal function), and deal with our environment at large (intergroup function). Emotions and emotional elements are similar across the world, but culture bends our responses. They feel different, which leads to another follow-up (Mesquita & Frijda, 1992). Table 12 maps the basic distinctions between universal or ‘basic’ emotions and culture-specific or complex emotions. Basic and Universal Emotions Complex and Culture-Specific Emotions • Innate • Universally expressed and recognised in the same way in every culture • Consistent • Discrete • Involuntary • Automatic • Learned • Differ from culture to culture and are thus hard to recognise and interpret • Inconsistent • Mixed • Voluntary • Evaluative and delayed Table 12: Differences Between Universal and Culture-Specific Emotions 224 8 Emotion <?page no="225"?> 8.4 Applications in Intercultural Leadership Turning to emotions in organisational life transforms our understanding of intercul‐ tural encounters. Emotions are of practical concern, and they affect all sorts of intercultural behaviour at work, including decision-making (Fuchs & Horn, 2019), conflict resolution (Ting-Toomey, 2007), negotiating tactics (Kumar, 2004), turnover (Lin, Jiang, & Lam, 2013), team management (Von Glinow, Shapiro, & Brett, 2004), or leadership (Allon & Higgins, 2005). Apparently, emotions do something with us and how we cooperate, compete and, ultimately, perform in intercultural interactions. This warrants a closer look at important emotions and their role in dealing with the ups and downs of navigating work-life involving intercultural situations and people. We start with basic emotions: Fear: This intense emotion results from perceptions of an imminent threat to our physical, emotional, or psychological well-being. The anticipation of pain, danger or mere unfamiliarity mobilises us by triggering physiological changes. Hence, this emotion is not rare in intercultural encounters. The very thought of having to engage with a ‘stranger’ or an ‘unknown surrounding,’ for instance, preparing for personal contact or a trip abroad, can be stressful and testing (Holmes & O’Neill, 2012). Cultural differences per se can become a source of fear. Our brain prioritises fear, and we may find ourselves zooming into adverse events and what they might mean for our self-confidence (Mai, 2020). For instance, we may fear not living up to our expectations when speaking a foreign language. Some regions are more exposed to perceived physical dangers than others. Secondments to regions with reputations as being particularly dangerous (e.g., crime rates or geological vulnerability) can raise fear and stress levels (Faeth & Kittler, 2017). Under such circumstances, people tend to use avoidance strategies. Anger: This unwanted emotion results from feelings that someone or something stands in the way of one’s goals or has done you wrong. Because of its connection to violence, it is considered a dangerous emotion. We show our anger from expressions of mere dissatisfaction to outright threats. In an intercultural encounter, anger occurs when culture or language stands in the way of efficient functioning. For instance, it is quite natural for us to switch back to our mother tongue for social reassurance or when matters become too complex. Wang, Clegg, Gajewska-De Mattos, & Buckley (2020) show that this can cause anger among those who no longer can participate in that communication. When meeting people of different backgrounds, misunderstandings are usually inevitable. Such episodes can turn into angry encounters if tolerance is limited or those involved become impatient (Matsumoto & Takeuchi, 1998). Anger can also flare up when our own way of doing is challenged, as is often the case in intercultural encounters. Disgust: This avoidant emotion is a response to something potentially harmful. In a broader sense, it also arises as feelings of dislike or aversion towards offensive, distasteful, or unpleasant matters. Triggers may be physical, though actions or appear‐ ances of others, even ideas, can be repulsive, too. Disgust ranges from mild (dislike) to 8.4 Applications in Intercultural Leadership 225 <?page no="226"?> intense (repulsion) feelings. In intercultural contexts, the most obvious triggers of this emotion are foreign food and strange eating habits. We eat with our eyes and are often put off by different odours, textures, and appearances. Next to these sensory properties, food can be repulsive because it is deemed dangerous, socially inappropriate or does not follow certain ideals or religious beliefs (Rozin & Fallon, 1987). Diverging ideas of sanitary standards can also be irritating (Curtis, de Barra, & Aungur, 2011), making international marketing of hygiene articles or sanitary goods tricky. Differences in values, attitudes or customs can challenge our feelings, especially when they severely violate our ideals (e.g., obscenities or taboos). Sadness: This emotion occurs when we lose someone or something that is dear to us. Resultant unhappiness can range from mild (disappointment) to intense feelings (grief, sorrow). Sadness is often part of adaptation experiences. Moving away from home can disrupt cherished ways of doing things. We may miss something about home. We may feel disappointed with our new life abroad, And sadness results from that (Thurber & Walton, 2012). Intercultural encounters are full of potential misunderstandings. We might feel let down. When expectations are unmet, disappointing feelings arise, leading to negative evaluations and silent erosions of business relationships (Clark & Hammer, 1995). More intense forms of sadness can come from perceptions of unfair treatment, especially when these overlap with worries of being disliked because of being a ‘foreigner.’ Realisations that one does not belong seriously harm well-being (Allport & Pettigrew, 1954). Surprise: This emotion arises when something sudden or unexpected happens. It is short-lived and alerts us to what we should pay attention to in our environment. In intercultural contexts, novelty is the game’s name as they often involve expecta‐ tion-contradicting incidents. If what we experience differs from what we expected, we can be positively surprised (e.g., ‘I was pleasantly surprised by the welcoming nature and openness of my hosts’) or negatively surprised (e.g., ‘I would have thought my efforts in learning the local language would have received more praises’). Either way, feelings of surprise set in motion sense-making (Louis, 1980) and memory processes (Chiew, Harris, & Adcock, 2022). We will likely remember the surprising ones (so-called ‘flashbulb’ memories) when we look back to past intercultural situations or encounters. People (and cultures) differ in the way they embrace uncertainty. We may love to be surprised and are okay with unexpected twists in intercultural encounters. If you hate surprises, you can do without intercultural suspense. Choi & Nisbett (2000) show that cultural assumptions can interfere with the extent to which we people are surprised. Holistic reasoning and its greater attention to context (prevalent in East Asia) leads to less alarm than specific reasoning and its greater attention to details (prevalent in Western cultures). Enjoyment: This emotion, a feeling of contentment, happiness, and delight, arises from a sense of well-being, success, or satisfaction. Enjoyment comes in many shades, ranging from mild (pleasure) to intense sensations (ecstasy). In an intercultural context, enjoyment can have many causes, including personal achievement (e.g., successfully 226 8 Emotion <?page no="227"?> navigating linguistic or cultural differences), experiences of amazement (e.g., natural beauty in far-flung places), or spiritual and social connectedness (e.g., falling in love with the local cuisine or feeling close to people in a foreign culture). According to Chen & Starosta (1997), embracing cultural differences and finding joy in them positively affects intercultural encounters. However, looking back on past experiences distorts such positive effects. In hindsight, people are more likely to remember the downs of living abroad than happy experiences (Cushner & Brislin, 1996). This creates a paradox, with overall happiness arising from personal growth from intercultural opportunities and disappointment from single negative incidents. Arguably, successfully navigating the emotional ups and downs of living and working in other cultures comes with a satisfying sense of accomplishment. This would explain why people with intercultural experiences frequently recommend engaging in similar activities. Contempt: This negative emotion arises from feelings of superiority and dislike of others and their actions. While this is one of the least understood emotions, it is the most relevant in intercultural encounters. Interactions with people of different backgrounds bring moral judgements and hierarchical differences to the fore (Matsumoto & Hwang, 2015). From this kind of camp thinking it is only a tiny step toward ethnocentric views or seeing the world primarily through the allegedly superior lens of one’s own culture (Triandis, 1990). One way to deal with cultural differences is by taking a moral high ground (‘How can you? My way of doing is better than your way of doing things’). In this way, we assert power and status, all the while reascertaining our worldview. Contempt, thus, turns unpleasantness surrounding ambiguity and uncertainty into pleasant feelings. It can make us feel good (at the cost of others). As a quick fix (instead of getting on with cultural differences), feelings of moral advantage may be a desirable emotion for some. Instead of withdrawing from disagreement, contempt moves us towards contentious situations (Ekman, 2022). This is why having and showing contempt for otherness does not bode well for cooperative behaviour. Self-elevation at the cost of others is a surefire way of breaking up intercultural relationships. In addition to Ekman’s six (plus one) primary emotions and primary, the influential studies of Plutchik (2003) identified two further basic emotions, namely anticipation and trust. As both have been shown to be relevant for intercultural encounters, we add them to our overview here. Anticipation: This emotion is based on experience and information, which together propel exploratory behaviour. Our surrounding constantly feeds us information. This mixes with experience, curiosity and the desire to gain knowledge about certain things. We then create expectations for ourselves about all the things that go on around us. In intercultural encounters, anticipation shows in many ways: The outlook of engagement with otherness can be pleasant or unpleasant. While we can expect people to anticipate happiness (MacLeod & Byrne, 1996), some of us are more apprehensive when awaiting intercultural situations. Even if nothing has happened yet, they are less optimistic about the nature and outcome of these encounters (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). One 8.4 Applications in Intercultural Leadership 227 <?page no="228"?> of the byproducts of such negative future thinking is that it restrains or even rules out interactions with people of different cultures. Trust: This emotion arises from feelings of reliance on the integrity of others. We have confidence that another person bears no ill intentions and, thus, is at least unlikely to harm us (if not help us). Because we feel we can depend on them to do or behave in the way they say they will do, we cooperate. In intercultural interaction, trust is king (Meyer, 2004). However, we tend to have confidence in those we consider similar to us. We are also likely to be more supportive of our own group members (Fukuyama, 1995). A lack of common ground makes trust across cultures more elusive. After all, we take a risk when trusting someone who does not share our norms and values. We are less likely to take off our guards because of worries about opaque and potentially opportunistic behaviour. According to Doney, Cannon, & Mullen (1998), there are cultural differences in whom we trust and how we trust. When we cannot be sure how we give or inspire trust in others, truly serious challenges surrounding credibility or cooperativeness lie ahead. Trust building always takes time, and this is something we rarely have in our fast-paced, interconnected world. Try It: Observation Go to a public space (such as a park, café, or shopping mall). Find a place from which you can observe the people around you. Please pay particular attention to their postures, gestures, mimics etc. Focussing on their body language, what can you learn about their emotional worlds? Relations and Intensity of Emotion Work on interculturally competent leadership generally focuses on cognitive matters. Specifically, knowledge (about us and others), attitudes (respect and openness) and skills (language and communication) are said to make or break intercultural encounters (Deardorff, 2009). However, when people from different cultures come together, emo‐ tional states clearly underpin and precede these components. Intercultural interactions introduce strong emotions. These can easily jeopardise relationships. Try It: The Semiotics of Emotion Cultures differ in the way they read emotions. In Asia, it is common to focus on the eyes to make sense of someone’s emotional expressions. By contrast, Westerners tend to focus rather on the mouth, judge facial expressions and interpret social intentions. These preferences might explain why Japanese manga make ample use of huge eyes (and tiny mouths), as they best represent the mental world of the characters (Heine, 2016). 228 8 Emotion <?page no="229"?> Returning to our discussion on emoji, we can find differences in viewing prefer‐ ences and emoticons’ use. In the West, e-mail and social media communication is garnered with emoticons combining colons and brackets such as : -) (‘happy’) : ( (‘sad’). Asian users tend to zoom into the eyes such as ^.^ (‘happy’) or ; _; (‘sad’) By the same token, the location of emotions is different between East and West. While in the West cognitive processes play an important role in emotions (and are, thus, usually connected to a person’s head), in traditional East Asian teachings, feelings (or ‘ki’ 気 ) are located in the lower abdomen. Maybe this cultural difference can explain why the power of anime characters often runs from the centre of their body. Online communication makes for funny forms of interaction at work. It is both formal and informal. Consider the following questions: • How and when do you use emoticons in your daily communication? • In what ways can they be helpful? Or do you feel they have no place in professional communication? (And if so, why? ) Often, stimuli trigger more than one emotion. Under these circumstances, emotions mix into dyads or combinations of emotions. Plutchik (2003) suggests that basic emotions can be either compatible or in conflict and groups them into four pairs of polar opposites (joy-sadness, anger-fear, trust-distrust, and surprise-anticipation). Each emotion has a function and a physiological reaction (connect-withdraw, hide vs display, go close vs withdraw, reject vs embrace). This, in turn, brings about a circular structure of emotions (Figure 16), expressing the idea that dissimilar primary emotions trigger a conflict while similar emotions complement each other. A ‘primary dyad’ emotion arises when two adjacent primary emotions are combined (e.g., joy & trust = love). A ‘secondary dyad’ occurs when the primary emotion lies between the two combined primary emotions (e.g., fear & sadness = despair). A ‘tertiary’ dyad arises when primary emotions are separated by at least two emotions (e.g., anticipation & fear = anxiety). More complex emotions, such as regret, come from the combination of three or more primary emotions, in this case, a blend of fear, disgust, and sadness. Next to the polarity and (dis)similarity, Plutchik also distinguished emotions in terms of their intensity. From the inner to the outer ring, the intensity of an emotion decreases (e.g., amazement - surprise - distraction). The cone form and the corresponding shade scheme constitute the two fundamental dimensions of emotions: (i) The cross-section shows the valence of the emotions; (ii) the vertical dimension spells out intensity. Although the model does not explicitly address cultural variability, it distinguishes between hard-wired and composite emotions. The more complex emotions are, the more they will vary a lot across people, situations, and cultures. 8.4 Applications in Intercultural Leadership 229 <?page no="230"?> Figure 16: Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion Source: Kołakowska, Landowska, Szwoch, Szwoch, & Wrobel, 2015. By distinguishing between different intensity levels, Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion model captures a further important aspect of emotional states in intercultural encoun‐ ters: Emotions can build up and intensify, if left unchecked, from mild to intense. Cultural differences can be annoying in everyday life. Over time, they can make you angry. Eventually, anger might spiral out of control and turn into vehemently hostile responses. In short, we are not indifferent to intercultural differences. Nor should we. We cannot just switch off our amygdala. Having, showing and regulating emotions are, thus, part of communication at work. However, we have to be aware that there are myriads of unwritten display rules. When, where, how much, and what emotions we can show differs from culture to culture. These are topped up by social expectations that help us get along at work. Ethnicity, gender, and position can push these expectations in different directions (Nathoo, 2021). In any given situation, there is a plausible display rule. You can never get it perfectly right. For instance, when a colleague announces that she is pregnant, informal norms prescribe a happy emotional response (although, in the back of your mind, you may start calculating how much more work might land on your desk). Or you observe a colleague who is clearly not feeling well. Would you approach them and say something? How much empathy would be appropriate in such a situation? Affect Valuation More recent research (e.g., Tsai, Knutson, & Fung, 2006) no longer only deals with the questions of what emotions are and how they show but also considers the interplay between subjective cultural experiences and expression. Although emotions have been shown to have universal qualities, people show them in different ways. Many people of Asian descent appear, for instance, to show little or no emotions. Does this imply they feel less emotions? Certainly not! Their emotional worlds are similar to those of other 230 8 Emotion <?page no="231"?> people, for instance, those with a Western cultural background. Affect valuation theory highlights the adaptive function of culture in the process of emotional responses. First, there is a tension between how people want to feel and how they actually feel. And second, this tension really matters when it comes to cultural differences. While we all may respond similarly to emotional events, the cultural standards we live with appear to guide how we should feel about them. Cultures place, for example, different values on the need for variety and stimulation (see Schwartz in Chapter 4). North American cultures appreciate excitement and enthusiasm in everyday life, while Asian cultures cherish harmony, peacefulness, and serenity. Such diverging ideals can influence how people want to feel and, in turn, drive what they do and what emotions they show to the world. The impact of the interplay between cultural and subjective experiences and expression is twofold: (i) because of different cultural ideals, people do not want to feel the same way, and (ii) cultural values and norms distort - amplify or reduce - our emotional expressiveness. How does this play out in everyday work life? Cultural ideals might encourage either low or high-arousal positive emotions. Accordingly, in social relationships, people should ideally display either calmness or excitement. Such differences in emotional display ideals can easily disrupt intercultural interactions, ranging from misunderstandings to tangible consequences. Through the cultural eyes of people who cherish the experience and display of excitement, low arousal states could be misinterpreted as a signal of disinterest or disengagement. Vice versa, people who favour peacefulness would see in high arousal states childish exaggeration or unprofessionalism. Although unintentional, when we stumble over a gap between the expected and actual emotional display, we are not unlikely to worry about the integrity or trustworthiness of others. While camouflaging our real feelings, the emotions we show can also foster or perpetuate stereotypes, for instance, that of overly optimistic Americans and extremely reserved Asians. Explore: Giving a Presentation - Bewildered in Bangkok John Cave is the marketing director of an influential and worldwide operating FMCG manufacturer. He was born in the USA and is outgoing and confident, making interacting with other people easy and enjoyable. As the company has turned its eyes to Asia as a new growth market, he finds himself speaking at the annual meeting of a local retailing association in Bangkok. This is the first time he addresses Thai delegates. Talking about the product portfolio, he gives his usual enthusiastic and upbeat presentation. But when he tries to establish eye contact with the delegates, which he usually does to gauge how his talk resonates with an audience, he is surprised to see many delegates have somewhat reserved looks on their faces. Some of them even have closed their eyes and appear to be sleeping. Obviously, he fails to connect with his audience. He masks his anguish with smiles. In his opinion, the best way to be more impactful is to pepper his talk with even more vitality and optimism about all the business opportunities. 8.4 Applications in Intercultural Leadership 231 <?page no="232"?> But still no smiles. He feels baffled by his cold reception in Bangkok and wonders why and where things had gone wrong. Consider the following questions: • What sort of emotional responses would you expect from an audience in your country? • In your culture, how do people signal interest in you and what you have to say? • The audience is unresponsive and does not display any emotional connec‐ tion. If you were in Peter’s shoes, what does this do to you? • Why would Peter intuitively smile, although his talk is not as successful as he thought it would be? • What do you think does the audience make of Peter’s display of positive emotions? Emotion Regulation All this makes emotions challenging to dissect, especially when we venture outside our own culture. The impact of intercultural encounters can be profound, especially when we lack our social support network. For some, a change in the rules of the game comes with emotional rollercoasters, oscillating between frustration that things do not go our way and the thrill of trying out new things. As a consequence, we may clam up or embrace our new experiences full-heartedly. Four questions govern our emotional worlds under these circumstances (Figure 17): First, we need to figure out whether or not unfamiliarity is in any way relevant to us. Only if we recognise differences and they alert us can our mind and body spring into action (at the cost of deselecting other stimuli). We are now responsive and watchful to cultural differences and what these might mean for us. Second, such trigger events can be emotionally pleasant, unpleasant or both. Positive emotions are likely to enhance, and negative emotions decrease feelings of connectedness. People will likely avoid situations that make them ill at ease (‘comfort trap’). Third, We can think of intercultural encounters as dynamic adjustment processes (Horn, 2005). Overall, positive interactions with people of different backgrounds might mix with occasions of unpleasant/ negative emotions such as anxiety, shame and so forth. Emotions are signals of what touches us. As situations unfold, our emotional world can initiate, delay, or even choke our willingness to adapt. Fourth, we must reflect on how and to what extent intercultural encounters touch us. Every ‘why’ (things do not feel right) is based on values, which, in turn, ring in emotions. The real risk is that negative emotions shine through in how we communicate. A so-called ‘wolf language’ of defensiveness, disconnection or attack can set in motion more and more alienating interactions (Rosenberg, 2015). This is why self-awareness of our emotional world and why we react the way we do is so important. 232 8 Emotion <?page no="233"?> Instead of automatic responses (usually in the form of moral judgements, comparisons or blame), ‘giraffe language,’ (see Chapter 9) or honest and straightforward ways of communication, makes sincere connections with other persons more likely. Organism "Inner Workings" Activation (To what extent does encounter alert me? ) Direction (Is the encounter pleasant or unpleasant? ) Valence (How do I experience encounter? ) Awareness (How aware am I about my emotions? ) Figure 17: Aspects of Emotions and Intercultural Engagement Explore: Bisht ‘Incident’ - Emotions and Language When the Argentinian national football team won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, its captain, Lionel Messi, was invited to the podium to receive the iconic FIFA trophy. Here, the emir presented him with a bisht, a traditional golf embroidered cloak, as a sign of appreciation and respect for his performance. Western pundits and journalists reacted with malicious comments and violent communication because they felt the football superstar had been ‘robbed’ of his career’s finest moment. This, in turn, triggered a destructive spiral of scorn and counter-accusations - Arab media outlets such as Al Jazeera accused Western observers of racism and Islamophobia. Consider the following questions: • What do celebrations look like in your country? How do people dress for special occasions? • Do you think emotional worlds and language are connected? How so? • How have Western pundits’ and journalists’ ‘jackal language’ intensified the conflict? 8.4 Applications in Intercultural Leadership 233 <?page no="234"?> What is clear is that in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty, we should have or develop the ability to manage our emotions. We need to do so: (i) to fit in and adjust to the situation or circumstances, (ii) to manage our own well-being and take the edge of difficult emotional situations, and (iii) to smooth our relationships with others. Though extremely context-dependent, it is, as a rule of thumb, important to stay calm and collected during work in general and during intercultural interactions in particular. We risk not performing to our full potential when we get hooked on cultural differences. It is easy to get carried away by unfamiliar ways of doing things. We become impatient, irritated or anxious and, at worst, jump towards attributing behaviour to distinct national traits (‘this is so typical for Americans’). Conversely, nobody is immune to feeling at risk of being unfairly treated at work. We might be reading disguised or obvious bias into situations and thus feel alienated. In intercultural encounters, it does not take much to provoke emotions that distract us from important things at hand and, by extension, making contact with business partners. But remember that adverse situations might dampen our ability to react in culturally appropriate ways (Chentsova-Dutton, Tsai, & Gotlib, 2010). At these critical junctures, we should exert control over our emotional downs. We use our cognitive skills to reassess unfamiliar and potentially threatening situations by thinking about cultural differences differently or ignoring or not thinking about them. The two strategies do different things with our minds (see Moskowitz, 2009): Healthy and wise options are about dialling down negative emotions and inducing a more optimistic outlook on intercultural interactions, including (i) we might try to see a situation through the other person’s eyes (perspective taking), (ii) or from a different perspective (reframing); (iii) we reinterpret a challenging situation and try to see cultural differences in a less threatening light (reappraisal); (iv) we remind ourselves that things could always be worse (downward comparison) or that there are positive sides to discomforting encounters (noticing positive events); (v) we give upsetting events less mind space (diverting your attention); (vi) we remind ourselves how we focus on personal strengths or how we successfully dealt with similar situations in the past (focus on personal experience). Less healthy options are about suppressing negative emotions. When there is something emotionally distressing to us, (i) we might want to distract ourselves from unpleasant feelings (diverting attention); (ii) we shun situations that might cause us to feel poorly (avoidance); (iii) we keep to ourselves (isolation); or (iv) we glorify situations or locations in which we felt more comfortable (idealisation); or (v) we stick around like-minded people, preferably to those who speak our mother tongue (e.g., expat bubble). Such deflection strategies are emotionally taxing and can have opposite effects of the intended emotion control. 234 8 Emotion <?page no="235"?> Emotional Labour Regulation Skills Valence Event Encounter Negative Emotion Yes No Positive Emotion No Optimistic Optimistic Pessimistic Figure 18: Intercultural Encounters and Emotion Regulation This is not to say all intercultural encounters automatically trigger negative or even overwhelming emotions, such as sadness, anger, disgust, or fear. These are more likely, but not necessarily inevitable, responses to ambiguity or uncertainty. Whatever emotion regulation path we choose, it is an important tool for protecting our well-being and establishing contact with people of different backgrounds. Clearly, no master just falls from the sky, but we can learn how to respond sensibly to intercultural situations by saying the right thing and showing just the right amount of emotion. Occasionally, we might want to amp up our emotional states, for instance, when we feel underwhelmed or we feel that intercultural interactions could do with an extra dose of excitement. We want to be seen, heard and understood by those around us (Satir, 1988). Expressions of our emotions can set boundaries when people have crossed a certain line. Figure 18 maps different pathways of trigger events, emotion regulation and behavioural responses. How we act out emotions and navigate intercultural conflicts depends in no small part on our emotion regulation skills. 8.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Carl Rogers, the renowned American psychologist and founder of humanistic psychol‐ ogy, has become known for his ‘person-centred approach.’ He saw communication as an existential encounter between persons (for a more extensive overview, see Plate, 2021). At the core of his model is the concept of unconditional positive appreciation of others. Rogers believed that every person is unique both in terms of makeup and worldview. Self-actualisation, an innate power that drives us towards personal growth and life enrichment, gives us the tools to manage how we engage with our environment. Hence, each of us should be trusted and approached with utmost empathy and acceptance of others’ feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. According to Rogers (1961), a safe and nonjudgmental environment is paramount for dialogue. Only when 8.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 235 <?page no="236"?> individuals feel they can freely express themselves and their emotions, will they engage in deep interpersonal relationships. Rogers’ person-centred approach builds on three key principles: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive appreciation of others. Empathy: In Rogers’ reading, empathy is more than merely reflecting another person’s perspectives and feelings. It involves creeping into their mind and, through this, trying to truly understand and appreciate how they see the world, including their emotions and cognitions. This sense for others, in turn, fosters a trusting relationship. Congruence: For Rogers, people strive to exhibit behaviour that is congruent with their ideal self. In other words, they want to be authentic and express their feelings and thoughts frankly. Should they experience a mismatch between their ideal self-concept and behaviour, inner tensions are likely. Maladaptations and difficulties in communication processes follow. Regard: Unconditional positive appreciation is about unwavering respect for the other person regardless of what they do or say. The hope is that people feel valued for who they are through tolerance and openness. There is no longer the need to put up a façade. An atmosphere of safety, trust and esteem, in which people can communicate without fear, can make for meaningful connections. A deeper exploration of what moves interlocutors is the result of such nonjudgemental stances. Exercise 1: Active Listening Active listening is the central driver of Rogers’ communication model. We have to signal unwavering interest in what our opposites have to say. This certainly is not an easy undertaking and warrants a lot of practice. Step back for a moment and ask yourself how you could, in your culture, best signal attentiveness when others share their thoughts and ideas with you. Make a list of verbal, non-verbal, and para-verbal aspects of a person-centred approach to communication. Now, split into groups of two. Person A thinks of a concern that occupies their mind and is emotionally relevant to them. B slips into the role of an active listener. The two persons sit on chairs and face each other. Person A starts to talk about something that is dear to them for 3 to 4 minutes. B says nothing at all and must not interrupt the talk. Instead, person B should try to see and feel the world from A’s point of view. Once the conversation is over, B summarises what A said. A then provides feedback on the extent to which the content is fully understood. You now switch roles. Following Rogers’ person-centred approach, this seemingly easy exercise comes with numerous challenges: (i) the active listener has to deep-dive into the world of the person presenting an emotionally loaded topic. They must not jump to conclusions. (ii) Connected to this, the task is about seeing the world through the presenter’s eyes. (iii) the listener must not interrupt. Instead, the focus should be on sending out non-verbal signals of appreciation. A variant of this active listening exercise is for persons A and B to choose a controversial topic they would like to discuss. Alternatively, you can discuss 236 8 Emotion <?page no="237"?> the question, ‘Should trade with countries be restricted because of human rights issues? ’ Person A begins with a brief explanation of the topic. Person B should now reproduce the content of what was said in their own words. Afterwards, person A decides whether the reproduction of the statement corresponds to what s/ he meant or not. If this is not the case, person B must repeat the statement until person A agrees - questions are, of course, allowed. Then it is person B’s turn, and he can reply to person A’s statement or make his own statement, which person A should then repeat in his own words. Exercise 2: Balance Again, split into groups of two. Each pair should face each other at a distance of about an arm’s length. Now, the two lift one of their legs so that each of them only stands on one leg. Now, attempt to bring the other person out of balance. Repeat the exercise several times. - What strategies have you used to win? - How do these strategies compare to dealing with conflicts at work? Exercise taken from: (Kohrs, 2014) Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Are Emotions? Emotions are intensive and complex psychological and physiological reactions to interactions between us and our environment. They just happen (we cannot do much about when and how they occur) and prepare us to deal with things, for instance, intercultural encounters. We have biochemical responses to stimuli and situations (physiological arousal), we make sense of such sensations (cognitive assessment), and we share our interpretations with our environment (behavioural response). Emotions comprise a range of mental states which influence how we feel, think, and take action. However, they differ from feelings in that emotions are not so clear to us, are less conscious, are more difficult to describe, and are dependent on specific stimuli. They are also different from moods, which would encompass more enduring affective states. Personality traits, relatively stable ways of relating to our environment, are good predictors of what type of emotions prevail in our lives and how we deal with emotional experiences. Significance of Emotions in Intercultural Encounters Intercultural encounters can trigger complex reaction patterns. These are made up of three components: (i) an experiential response, (ii) a physiological response, and (iii) a behavioural response. Together, they make emotions. First, there are 8.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 237 <?page no="238"?> subjective interpretations of mental states (in response to intercultural events or stimuli). The subjective experience can be either pleasant (arousal, joy, comfort) or unpleasant (reluctance, fear, frustration). All these experiences are highly subjective. We can never be sure if others are experiencing the same emotions as us. Second, our body may respond to intercultural experiences. These reactions can show in racing heartbeats (out of fear), getting a lump in your throat (out of sadness) or catching one’s breath (out of anger). Third, emotions come to light in our appearance, especially our facial expressions. At least seven basic emotions are thought to be universal. People across the world show and interpret them in the same way. Other, more complex emotions depend on cultural norms and values. Their detection and assessment are much more difficult to understand for outsiders. Emotions Play a Crucial Role in Intercultural Leadership Skills Understanding emotions and how we and others express, interpret, and manage them can help build better-working relationships across cultures. AI (ChatGPT 3.5 version) gives us many reasons of why we should put emotions (and their regulation) at the centre of intercultural leadership explorations. These I explore below: Communication and Relationship: Emotions travel across linguistic and cultural bar‐ riers. Showing, recognising, and appreciating emotions at work eases intercultural communication and relationship building. Emotions surface in facial expressions, arm and hand gestures, or body movements and give context and meaning to what we say. Empathy: In intercultural encounters, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others is paramount. Attentiveness to our emotions and those of others can nurture empathy. Stepping into their shoes and seeing the world through their eyes makes for more respectful and meaningful contact and deeper relationships. We do not pretend to be someone we are not. Sensitivity to Cultural Differences: Some emotions might be the same across cultures, while others, particularly more complex ones, might be different. Their display, too, may be unlike our expectations. This makes the understanding of emotional expressions difficult. Cherishing these nuances is essential for navigat‐ ing intercultural relationships and avoiding miscommunication. Conflict Resolution: Intercultural encounters create emotionally loaded situations full of misunderstandings, disagreements, and frustrations. Conflicts often dove‐ tail. Reading the ‘air,’ acknowledging their emotional context, and reflecting them back (with empathy) are important first steps towards resolving disagreements. Culturally intelligent leaders are good at managing emotions (their own and those of others) and finding appropriate resolutions. Trust: Emotions are at the core of establishing and developing trust in intercultural relationships. First and foremost, they offer valuable information about how we and others experience what is happening around us. Understanding and accepting 238 8 Emotion <?page no="239"?> how we and others feel in the context of intercultural encounters can lead to positive change. We can adapt our behaviour accordingly. A supportive and non-judgemental environment makes it easier for us to express genuine emotions, which, in turn, can make for more authentic and sincere interactions. Adjustment: When abroad, we come in contact with and have to adapt to unfamiliar environments. As we adapt to the ups and downs of intercultural life, emotions (and their regulation) play an important role in acculturation processes. Our emotions reflect and influence pleasant and unpleasant experiences that come with adjusting to other ways of doing things. Awareness of our emotions and where they come from is important for our well-being and for making sense of the psychological changes we undergo when adapting. Are Emotions Universal? Overall, emotions and their expressions are not so different across the world. Six basic emotions are recognised as culturally invariant. The way we experience and show joy, anger, disgust, fear, sadness, and surprise appears to be similar across cultures. These we are also quite good at picking up when we come into contact with a new culture. However, we must be more careful about complex emotions such as pride, shame, or guilt. They are less automatic and, compared to basic emotions, involve more cognitive processing. Social and cultural influences give them strong local flavours. As cultures differ in these complex emotions, we may find them much more challenging to pick up and interpret when we meet people of different cultural backgrounds. Affect Valuation Cultural values and norms not only affect the quality of emotions. They distort - amplify, or reduce - the way people express emotional states, too. We can distinguish between how people think they should feel (‘ideal affect’) and the way they actually feel (‘actual affect’). Answers to these questions bring about striking cultural differences, particularly when it comes to ideal affects. While people might feel emotion in similar ways across the world, ideals of what kind of emotions they have and should show vary greatly from one culture to another (e.g., reservedness in Asia and excitement in North America). These differences can stifle our ability to react in culturally appropriate ways. Discrepancies between actual and ideal affects can be problematic for mental health, including that of sojourners. Emotion Regulation in Intercultural Encounters Intercultural encounters can provoke all sorts of emotions. Although we cannot do much about them, we must not be carried away by them. So, we should either try to take control over which emotions we have or, should we have them, how we experience and act them out. When in unfamiliar cultural and, by extension, emotional terrain, we have two options for giving meaning to cultural differences. We either think about them differently or we ignore them. The two strategies do different things with us. Reappraising a potentially conflict-laden situation 8.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 239 <?page no="240"?> involves dialling down negative emotions and inducing a more optimistic outlook on intercultural interactions. Ignoring cultural differences can have the opposite effect. Deflecting or avoiding negative emotions takes much more mental resources and can lead to a more negative outlook. 240 8 Emotion <?page no="241"?> 9 Motivation Opening Vignette Makkah, Saudi Arabia Photo by Haidan on Unsplash Michael Williams is a marketing specialist. He has ample managing experience in the Middle Eastern and Arab world. His employer, a leading hotel group, has the ambition to be a world leader in luxury hospitality. It relies on a highly motivated workforce. Staff selection and continuous training not only ensure the highest levels of customer service but also play a crucial role in motivating staff to stay at their best. For this purpose, Michael has been recently seconded to the hotel chain’s flagship resort in downtown Makkah, Saudi Arabia. After one and half years of COVID-19-related travel restrictions, Saudi Arabia had opened its doors to foreign tourists again, so a surge in luxury travellers was to be expected. He was tasked with differentiating the hotel’s customer service from local competitors. This meant to ensure that customers could experience the same warm welcome and delightful experiences they had grown to expect from stays in group-affiliated hotels outside Saudi Arabia. Michael soon learned about the pitfalls of transferring leadership practices from one country to another. <?page no="242"?> The Middle Eastern and Arabic world is geographically huge and culturally highly diverse. Cultural differences in organisational practice between Michael’s past stations in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia abound. What motivates people across the region to give their best at work does not easily travel. For example, bonus systems make rewards tangible and foreseeable. When staff rise to exceptional service performance, they could expect extra remuneration. Surely, Michael thought, this would keep Saudi employees on their toes, so they would strive to offer excellent customer service. However, in an Arabic context, perspectives on salaries and wages are quite different from Michael’s firmly held expectations. Sure, the teachings of the Quran say that salaries and wages should be right and not benevolent. Also, compensation should not be about merely accumulating vast riches but rather ‘Ma’aruf ’ (proper) so that people can cover their basic needs. True and meaningful compensation can only come from Allah. Yet, salaries in Saudi Arabia are rather competitive, and there is always the chance that bonus packages can lure employees to seek employment elsewhere. But what makes compensation locally so tricky to comprehend is how it mixes with feelings of commitment and loyalty to the group. Work atmosphere and social networks can matter more than mere monetary incentives. The idea of a bonus as a shortcut to incentivise performance is alien to many people in the region, not least because spirituality and serving the group matter more than monetary incentives. Teamwork was also tricky to instil amongst service staff. To carry out the hotel’s mission, Michael wants all members to communicate with empathy, offer each other support and work in the context of broader goals. He knows that trust is a key ingredient to building camaraderie and developing a sense of belonging. However, he feels unprepared when he finds out that trust may take on a very different meaning in the Middle Eastern and Arabic worlds. The importance of tribal traditions is still rather prominent and spills over into the workplace. These are vital for developing networks, asserting hierarchies, and cooperativeness. Tribal identity outweighs team loyalty, and employees are ambivalent about giving trust to people beyond their in-group. Information turns into a source of power, and sharing it is rare. All this led to a lack of fit between Michael’s idea of how teamwork should be and how it was practised. A further source of confusion for Michael is the vagueness and evasiveness that comes with the often invoked ‘Inshallah’ (or ‘if God wills’). He feels that his colleagues would not seem to commit to planning and taking responsibility. Instead of giving him straight answers, they are all auspicious about what might happen. He cannot understand how the local employees could be so hesitant about setting and attaining goals. A relaxed attitude towards punctuality adds to his difficulties in making sense of the local work ethic. He feels that his colleagues do not want to share his sense of time management. Deadlines seem not to be set in stone. 242 9 Motivation <?page no="243"?> Critical Thinking: • What do Michael’s impressions and claims about working in Saudi Arabia tell you about local employee motivation? • What challenges does Michael face in motivating the local workforce? • Why is extra remuneration not really a useful motivator in Saudi Arabia? • How does Arab culture interfere with instilling team spirit? • ‘Work ethic has to do with putting one’s fate in higher powers’ hands.’ Do you agree with this statement? • If you were to step into his shoes, how would you keep the hotel employees motivated? • What might you tell him to help him better understand the personal goals of local employees? • When thinking about motivation, why would managers need to take a close look at the cultural background of their employees? Without motivated workers, companies are nothing. Although complex and multiface‐ ted in detail, employee motivation is a must for the success and survival of corporations (e.g., Gallup, 2022). Not so long ago, motivational considerations were deemed all too touchy-feely for the world of work. ‘Then,’ tight rules and precise instructions were felt to best guarantee a smooth organisation of business processes. This left little to no room for individual dispositions, needs or wants, making workers largely interchangeable. In fact, independent thought and individual initiatives beyond a contract were deemed potentially dangerous, not least because they would threaten fine-sliced workflows. In this sense, money would stun any reluctance to work. From ‘then’ to ‘now,’ the focus shifted from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ factors. Companies realised a need for emotionally intelligent employees who are open about others’ emotions whilst being self-reflective of their own feelings. With this humanistic turn in management thought (Melé, 2016), ‘now’ looks very different. Employees are no longer understood to separate role fulfilment at work and need satisfaction outside work. Instead of compartmentalizing private and professional lives, they would seek meaning and a sense of identity in work itself. From this, it follows that people view their jobs as carriers of personal interest pursuits and need satisfaction. For them, money is a poor motivator. Likewise, companies want their employees to do more than just dot the i’s and cross the t’s of their work obligations (Schreyögg & Koch, 2020; Koontz, 1961). In what could be seen as a cat-and-mouse game of implicit expectations, disappointment on both sides is not far off when these (mutually high but largely implicit) expectations are not met. A positive and engaging workplace is more important than ever in an ever-changing, fast-paced, and culturally meshed environment. According to a Harvard Business School study, a positive workplace greatly pushes employee performance and pro‐ ductivity (Seppälä & Cameran, 2015). If you ask about the important factors of leadership, motivation skills are one of the top priorities. In today’s technologically rich, interculturally complex, and linguistically diverse environment, motivating employees 9 Motivation 243 <?page no="244"?> from different cultures is part of day-to-day business for many executives. As Michael of our opening vignette found out, people from different walks of life do not only bring different values and cultural norms to the table. What motivates them might be strikingly different from his (Western) expectations, too. An employee from Saudi Arabia will feel compelled to work harder for other reasons than an employee from the US because it corresponds to the respective cultural norms surrounding money as a source of happiness. There are also fundamental differences in perceptions of teamwork, who to trust, who to involve, or with whom to share information (also see Grossman, Campo, Feitosa, & Salas, 2021). Michael was also surprised by the extent to which spirituality intermixed with planning and responsibility taking. In short, values and cultural norms shape motivation (in line with Schwartz, 1992; but see also Chapter 1 of this book). Should they differ, motivations are likely to differ, too. This is why understanding motivations is vital in intercultural leadership. Here, three aspects stand out: First, understanding people’s motivations means understanding their behaviour. Once we come to grips with people’s motivations, we are less perplexed by their behaviour. Second, this puts us in the position to consider ways in which we can actively influence others’ motivation and, by extension, their behaviour. Third, disentangling intercultural differences in motivations is not easy. Still, we must not ignore the role of motivation to seek out intercultural encounters or experiences and function in different cultural environments. Some people direct more energy than others to learn about cultural differences and other ways of doing things (Ceci, 1996). This may buffer any kind of upsets or misunderstandings from unfamiliar others or situations. Because of their motivation, they may be more prepared to overcome hurdles or setbacks and engage with people of different backgrounds in more positive ways (Hammer, Gudykunst, & Wiseman, 1978). Maarten DeVries, Managing Director Asia of hinge manufacturer Blum GmbH, agrees that curiosity is crucial for navigating intercultural encounters. Intrinsic motivators trump extrinsic incentives. He says, ‘When I select people for intercultural management positions, I am particularly interested in their curiosity. It is not only about their openness to new experiences, whether they are okay with exotic food etc. I want to learn about their desire to discover the world out there, in my case, especially Asian cultures. Do they see it as an opportunity to learn and to grow? ’ In other words, it would appear that those who are motivated to look for intercultural relationships and experiences are more likely to adjust to culturally unfamiliar situations. 9.1 Motivations in the International Workplace Since the inception of cross-cultural management research, people wanted to know what exactly is on the minds of people and what drives them. Our historical overview of cross-cultural framework development, however, made clear that explaining where preferences for how best to go about things are coming from is indeed difficult. A look at internal influences on motivation might do a better job of making intercultural 244 9 Motivation <?page no="245"?> differences more tangible. In particular, self-efficacy, optimism and self-regulation are promising avenues for teasing out the root causes of cultural orientations in workplace contexts (Becker, 2019). Self-esteem and expectancy add further layers of understanding to motivation in intercultural contexts: Self-Efficacy People either feel competent in reaching specific goals or not (Bandura, 1977). As a consequence, they either tackle challenges or setbacks head-on or shy away from them. At work, this translates to how people explain everyday experiences, specifically attributions of success or failure. People might attribute success to themselves and blame failure on the environment or the other way around. North Americans and Japanese inhibit extreme poles of self-efficacy orientations. The former are biased in crediting their own capabilities in case of positive events while deflecting self-blame in case of adverse events. Accordingly, self-efficacy would be considered high. The latter tend not to attribute success to themselves but to group effort while blaming themselves in case things go wrong. Accordingly, self-efficacy is low. Both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages. Organisational psychologists would connect, on the one hand, high self-efficacy with a can-do mentality and the ability to bounce back (or forward) from failure. The all-pervasive American entrepreneurial spirit might be a case in point. However, the same persons would struggle to deal with criticism or learn from failure (Edmondson, 2011). On the other hand, constraints on self-efficacy would imply overthinking of problems and self-doubt (if things fail). On the upside, low self-efficacy probably comes with a higher receptivity to criticism. Think About: Learning from Mistakes The Japanese language has its term for the commitment to making sure mistakes do not happen again: Saihatsu Bōshi ( 再発防止 or ‘preventing repeat’). Instead of deflecting blame (and admitting weaknesses), being frank about one’s errors is seen as a good and proper way to improve things. The well-known Japanese total quality management would be a good example of this spirit. When things go wrong, it is essential to get to the root cause of the problem. Deflections of ‘it was a human error’ do not cut for an explanation. Only when a problem is fully understood can it be addressed (with ‘Taisaku’ or countermeasures. As elsewhere, being forthright about one’s mistakes is not easy. But there is the expectation in Japan to put aside one’s selfishness (of not admitting errors) for the greater good. Discuss in small groups: • Learning from mistakes seems, at first blush, straightforward. But why do so many companies struggle to prevent mistakes from happening again? 9.1 Motivations in the International Workplace 245 <?page no="246"?> • In the 1980s, managers worldwide marvelled at Japanese firms’ competitive‐ ness. They travelled to Japan to find out their secrets to success. Why did they find it so difficult to export famous management principles such as TQM? • Let’s say you have discovered that someone in your company has made a mistake which may taint the future business relationship with an important client. What would you do? Optimism Optimists generally see their environment in a positive light. Good things will happen to them. By contrast, pessimists expect rather undesirable things to happen. Their view of the world and life is negative. Optimism has been shown to promote perform‐ ance, opportunity seeking, problem-solving, and creativity, amongst other positive motivational goals at work. Culture appears to sway expectations and judgements in one direction or the other. Resultant bias about the likelihood of events emerges in various situations: We have learned that individualistic cultures tend to appreciate self-enhancement, i.e. positive feelings about oneself even in the face of adversity. Such motivational repertoires seem to be rarer in collectivist cultures that place value on interdependence. Because individual self-enhancement would be viewed as suspicious here, people shy away from unrealistic optimism (Heine & Lehmann, 1995). Such bias also plays out when thinking about the likelihood or future turn of events. In individualistic cultures, undesirable things are considered to be more likely to happen to others than to oneself (optimistic bias). By contrast, people from collectivist cultures are more likely to expect positive things to happen to others than to themselves (pessimistic bias) (Chang, Asakawa, & Sanna, 2001). Risk perception is a further powerful example of how culture can meddle with motivations. There is substantial variation in tolerance for ambiguity (Horn, Sekiguchi, & Weiss, 2021), with some cultures valuing predictability and others being okay with unstructured environments. These differences then appear to confound with risk perceptions. In a study on risk perceptions of disasters, North Americans felt more immune to risks than their Japanese counterparts (Gierlach, Belsher, & Beutler, 2010). The repercussions for intercultural management can be huge, for instance, when a ‘glass-half-full’ person meets a ‘glass-half-empty’ person. Self-Regulation The ability to override one’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviour has strong motiva‐ tional components. We regulate our emotions in line with expected outcomes (Skinner, 1938). Strategies for delaying gratification differ for people from different cultural backgrounds. While some cultures value forgoing short-term rewards for long-term payoffs, the opposite is true for others. Here, it is okay to follow one’s drive freely. 246 9 Motivation <?page no="247"?> Self-regulatory efforts are functions of consequences and thus have to do with social expectations placed on us. Are we expected to change things according to our needs and wants, or are we expected to fit in according to the social need for harmony? In short, whether or not we are disciplined in delaying gratification has to do with a complex set of cultural considerations (Trommsdorff, 2009). Specifically, a combination of time and self versus relatedness preferences appears to influence the general willingness to wait (Wang, Rieger, & Hens, 2016). On average, people from cultures with high degrees of long-term orientation and individualism appear to be okay with deferring gratification. By contrast, people from cultures with a focus on the present and collectivist orientation find it difficult to defer short-term rewards in place of long-term payoffs. The work-related impact of cultural differences in self-regulation is not to be underestimated. We can expect motivational conflicts when people who place value on planning for the future meet people who see planning as a waste of time (or the other way round), for instance, misunderstandings surrounding processes, scheduling, and commitment. Think About: Entrepreneurs Japanese managers can be quite blunt when being approached about something new. The standard answer (‘no! ’) easily causes frustration to those who hold favourable expectations about the future and pay attention to positive outcomes. While Western companies reward opportunity-seeking behaviour (most notably in terms of awards), Japanese companies take the opposite approach. They rarely reward the unexpected. In spite of this tendency, Japan is home to great entrepreneurs. In groups, choose one business person and find out as much as possible about them: • Fujita Den • Honda Soichiro • Mikitani Hiroshi • Morita Akio • Son Masayoshi • Yanai Tadashi Discuss in small groups: • How would you characterise them? • Did they play it safe? • How do they fit the widespread idea of Japan being a collectivist culture? 9.1 Motivations in the International Workplace 247 <?page no="248"?> Self-Esteem Motivation is also a function of how we value and perceive ourselves. As a buffer for stress, our sense of self-worth influences how much we take care of ourselves. This clearly relates to work motivation (Pierce & Gardner, 2004). There are, however, cultural differences in how people process self-esteem. Previous research has found that ‘selfways’ (or independent or interdependent views of oneself) affect the centrality and roles of positive self-views. People from Western cultures tend to be motivated to maintain and enhance self-esteem. They do so by focusing on their unique and independent self. By contrast, for people from Asian cultures, on average, autonomy and personal control are far less part of the identity fabric. As a consequence, there is a disconnect between feelings of agency and positive self-views. Identity affirmation comes from group belongingness, so self-regard is not required to affirm one’s identity. In the same vein, people from Asian cultures value social adjustment, whereas people from Western cultures tend to see others and themselves through the lens of their actions. You are what you do (Heine, Lehman, Markus, & Kitayama, 1999; Savani, Markus, & Conner, 2008). In the world of work, different assumptions surrounding the location of agency translate, for instance, into differences in support-seeking motivations (Ishii, Mojaverian, Masuno, & Kim, 2017). In stressful situations, people from Western cultures seek social support and reassurance (e.g., advice and emotional comfort) for self-esteem reasons. People from Asian cultures, by contrast, emphasise relationships without necessarily seeking help or disclosing the underlying issue of their discomfort. Likewise, Westerners connect social support as an avenue of regaining self-esteem and pride, whereas Asians foresee feelings of shame and guilt when asking for social support. Differences in empathic motivations and relational motivations in times of need imply that companies need to carefully consider and tailor stress management and support initiatives (Goh, Kim, Wang, & Goh, 2022). Expectancy Why does it differ from culture to culture how people devote their time and energy to work? Fundamentally, expectations can centre on getting jobs done (tasks orientation) or working well with others (relationship orientation). In general, in cultures that value the uniqueness of individuals’ personal needs, self-realisation or competition takes priority over the good of the group. This shifts the task responsibility to the individual. Conversely, cultures that prefer group over individual needs would emphasise in-group harmony, cooperation, or self-control. Personal relationships matter significantly in what has been described as a ‘humane’ orientation. The motivational knock-on effects and the design and process of work life are tremendous. In task-oriented environments, processes tend to follow explicit policies, enabling standardised workflows. The requirement for hard skills and deep expertise defines specialist careers. Performance (and reward) are a function of specialist knowledge and effort. With this outlook, the best way to fill a position is a relatively rigorous selection to match skills with an a priori 248 9 Motivation <?page no="249"?> set of responsibilities. As information can turn into a source of power, communication is compartmentalised. Employee expectations in relationship-orientated environments are very different. Processes are more informal and follow implicit routines. Jobs or tasks are not scrupulously precise and are accomplished collectively. Employees can trust the assistance and guidance of colleagues. Instead of rigorous planning and controlling for performance goals, emphasis is on morale and the duty of care of line managers and organisations. Specialist skills are usually frowned upon. Organisations rather look for generalist knowledge, flexibility, and preparedness to get to grips with new tasks quickly. All this enables employees to hone their skills on the job continuously. As transparency is valued, information is widely shared. All this connotes a very different understanding of pay packages. The idea of performance-based pay is alien to many people in relationship-oriented cultures. Try It: American Factory Imagine you are an executive manager of a Chinese MNE. You have recently acquired a factory in Ohio. Things are going well. There is a lot of optimism among the employees now that their jobs are secured. Productivity and job satisfaction are really high. That being said, the Chinese headquarters is slightly concerned about the product quality of the American factory. You are torn. On the one hand, you want to maintain a great atmosphere and collegiality. On the other hand, changes would be necessary to improve the output quality. Having the motivation of your employees in mind, you assign two working groups: • One group is tasked with possible interventions that further boost morale and enhance motivation, even at the cost of productivity. Headquarter needs to adjust their expectations. • The other group is responsible for productivity gains at all costs, even if these would mean ruining motivation. Let the employees complain. Both groups should consider things they could do or say that either ruin or boost the motivation of American employees. For each intervention, explain why you think it leads to motivational gains or losses. For inspiration and real-life insights into Sino-American intercultural encoun‐ ters, please watch the documentary American Factory, which is available on Netflix. Case adapted from Mills & McKnight, 1988. 9.1 Motivations in the International Workplace 249 <?page no="250"?> 9.2 Conceptual Considerations: Why Do People Behave the Way They Do? Understanding what drives us and others is a great tool for intercultural leaders. We should always try to understand why people prefer doing things in particular ways (while vehemently rejecting others), why they rarely behave rationally (although they will never admit to it), or why some of us are better prepared to adjust to the ups and downs of intercultural experiences than others. A grasp of what motivates people helps us make sense of possible cultural differences. We should not stop observing discrepant ways of doing things. Still, we should always ask ourselves what the probable root cause for such behaviour (e.g., performance orientation, need for respect, intimacy) is. This brings us to motivation and, with it, questions surrounding how and to what extent we can widen or change it. We cannot give meaning to behaviour without making sense of motives and motivations. This is why a sound understanding of what motivation is, including its theoretical grounding, seems crucial. Motivation is a driving force that gives purpose and directs behaviour. It operates consciously or unconsciously and plays a crucial part in setting goals and striving to achieve them. Therefore, behaviour is never random. Motivation energises us to pursue specific goals and always pushes us in a certain direction. As a rule of thumb, people tend to want to feel good about themselves. Hence, they turn to things, situations or people that help them do so, especially what they think rewards them. Conversely, they are likely to steer clear of adverse situations and negative experiences that come with them. Ultimately, motivated behaviour is about ‘affect optimization’ (Tomkins, 1962), processes that help us maintain or increase positive experiences while avoiding or decreasing negative experiences. This might also involve unconsciously increasing the likelihood of things happening (Fuchs & Horn, 2019). For instance, we could make an extra effort to understand better the country and culture we will soon visit. We buy a travel book or learn some basic phrases of the local language. We do so because we want to experience recognition from our negotiating partner for our effort. What is more, we might want to avoid negative experiences that may come from being ill-prepared for intercultural negotiation. Motivation fuses emotions and goal orientation. Together, they result in behaviour. We can recognise motivation in how people talk about issues. Typical linguistic patterns include ‘I want to achieve x’ or ‘I prefer y.’ This definition shows motiva‐ tion as a psychological construct linking emotions and attitudes (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). In the last chapter, we have got to know emotions as inner states of arousal. We may experience these as pleasant or unpleasant, but they do not give us direction. When these feelings combine, however, with cognitive processes (such as wishes and preferences), they induce goal orientation. We now engage in purposeful behaviour; that is, we are pushed towards specific goals. A simple example illustrates how emotional and cognitive processes interact so that we can set goals and act accordingly. As we feel somewhat insecure about our foreign language competence, giving presentations in international work contexts makes us feel uneasy. 250 9 Motivation <?page no="251"?> These worrisome feelings combine with cognitive processes (‘I do not want to look professionally weak’). Together, they may result in elaborate attempts to avoid such fear-inducing situations. Our behaviour may change as orientations, intensity, and direction vary over time. For instance, we may decide to do something about our foreign language anxiety by taking evening classes in English. The next time we have to give a presentation, we will likely be less agitated and less likely compelled to seek exit strategies. Though closely related, motivation is distinct from motives. Motives stand for en‐ during generally invisible dispositions as part of an individual’s makeup. Nevertheless, it provokes action. Then, motivation is about realising said motives. It drives us to take action. Hence, a motive is a necessary but by no means sufficient reason for people to act. Motivation puts motives into action, as it kicks in at the moment, we have the willingness and energy to execute an idea. We can further classify primary, or basic, and secondary, or psychological, motives (Kroeber-Riel & Groeppel-Klein, 2019). Primary motives are biological or physiological needs (e.g., hunger, thirst, sex). Secondary motives are learned and reflect personal or social wants (Anon., 2023h). They are not necessary for survival but are individually of great importance. In other words, some primary motives are innate and secondary motives are biographically acquired. Motives and motivation are important components of intercultural leadership. Though often underutilised, understanding their own motives and motivation (and that of others) helps managers put their own behaviour and that of others into perspective. Also, it is the driving force behind how we approach intercultural encounters. As a rule, once we appreciate that all people have reasons for their actions, we are no longer stunned by what we would perhaps see as exotic or even bizarre behaviour. Motivations per se are always hidden. This makes them difficult to track down. Their origin, direction, intensity, and duration are, thus, still a matter of much controversy. We will now briefly explore different motivation theories with an eye to their applicability to intercultural leadership. They may differ in terms of root, emphasis, and thrust but will, collectively, give us good ideas of who is motivated by what. 9.3 Motivation Theories Each of us has needs and wants. These make us exhibit certain behaviours. The aim of these behaviours is to satisfy our needs and wants. These forces change when our needs and wants are satisfied (or not). It seems, therefore, appropriate to think of motivations as ongoing and circular systems. This makes motivation a very complex process which cannot be explained by only one single theory. There is no ‘super theory’ that attempts to explain motivation. We can, however, group motivation theories into two essential camps. Content theories of motivation look at ‘what’ motivates people, while process theories of motivation look at ‘how’ people are encouraged. More precisely, content theories look at motivation through the lens of people’s needs and aspirations. They 9.3 Motivation Theories 251 <?page no="252"?> explore what internal, emotional forces drive people to fulfil them. In this sense, we can make sense of behaviour by understanding whatever people may feel they need or want in their lives. By contrast, process theories are concerned with the mechanisms of motivation surrounding goal setting and efforts (to reach these goals). By zooming into cognitive processes, we can understand how intentions and actions form in response to what is happening around us. There is a strong rational component to these models, as people are thought to seek optimal choices as they weigh up expectations, outcomes, and causal relationships of intervening factors. In sum, predominantly emotional and predominantly cognitive explanations vie for explaining how needs, wants, and behaviour interact. Because of the large number of motivation theories, we here will focus on the most influential examples of both camps (see Schreyögg & Koch, 2020). After the introduction of each model, we will explore how to put them to work in intercultural contexts. Any review of such models must come with a cautionary note of a significant caveat: These models have all been developed in Western contexts, particularly North American ones. They predominantly represent the point of view of the Western world. Sure, they may build on what all human beings have in common, but as we have seen in Chapter 1, different cultures place value on different concerns. These will likely translate into different ego needs (Matei & Abdrudan, 2016; Iguisi, 2009). For instance, ‘performance’ or ‘safety’ might mean very different things to people. These needs would then probably nurture other goal-motivated behaviour. This makes, once again, very clear how important it is to understand and commit to cultural differences when navigating intercultural encounters. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs One of the most prominent and popular motivation theories is that of psychologist Abraham Maslow (Maslow, 1954). He distinguished between two types of needs: ‘De‐ ficiency needs’ are all those unpleasant feelings (e.g., hunger, security, etc.) that push us to address felt physiological or psychological imbalances. Then there are ‘growth needs’ that arise from our desires for self-actualisation (e.g., curiosity, learning), i.e., all those needs that make up most of our potential. Though they, too, create tension, they do not come from physiological or psychological deficits. Now, Maslow organised these two types of needs then into five classes, each hierarchically positioned in terms of their urgency. Needs at the bottom of the hierarchy, predominantly physiological in nature, must be looked after first before we can move to the next more and more psychologically determined levels. In this way, motivation is set in a network of different forces that dynamically interact (and not one single all-pervasive trigger such as power or sex). Maslow’s five classes of needs can be briefly characterised as follows: 252 9 Motivation <?page no="253"?> Physiological Needs: These include basic needs such as food, water, sleep, and shelter, which are essential for survival. They are a universal part of human nature and take priority over all other types of needs. Safety Needs: We all want to have control of what happens in our lives. At the second level, therefore, we find needs for security and safety, such as having a secure job, being healthy, or safeguarding against events that pose significant challenges (injury, robbery, etc.). If unfulfilled, they will put our physiological needs at risk. Social Needs: At the third level, social connection and emotional ties become primary. Typical needs include family, friendship, or romantic attachment. In other words, people want to feel loved for who they are or belong to groups. Esteem Needs: Our needs then become complex when we realise that we strive for recognition from others when we accomplish things. As we want to feel useful and appreciated, self-esteem and self-confidence begin to motivate our behaviour. Self-Actualization: Ultimately, we want to become our best personal selves, for instance, in our parenting, profession, or spirituality. This means we are less and less concerned with what others may think of us. We crave independence and personal growth. In this ideal perspective, the needs at the bottom of the pyramid (deficit needs of levels one through three and partially esteem needs) must be satisfied first before moving to the next level (growth needs). We are preoccupied with making up for our unfulfilled needs at hand. We cannot concern ourselves with more noble goals (e.g., thinking of being hungry versus being motivated by self-esteem). While Maslow sees self-actualisation needs as insatiable, the deficit needs to lose its motivational effect once we tend to them. In reality, however, a motivation must not be fulfilled entirely before a higher motivation can take effect. Neither can they be fulfilled all the time. We thus may trade a full satisfaction of our basic needs, such as security goals, for at least a partial satisfaction of our esteem or self-actualisation needs. Also, we might find ourselves moving up and down between the different need levels. Finally, not all people will end up pursuing their full potential. Instead, they may comfortably live while tending to lower levels of needs. From an intercultural perspective, the quality, direction, and paths from lower to higher levels of needs appear to follow Western ideals of individualism if they are not somewhat arbitrary altogether (Hofstede, 1984). Maslow himself observed that ‘there are some people in whom, for instance, self-esteem seems to be more important than love’ (Maslow, 2016, p. 16). Rather than self-actualisation applying to any human being as an ultimate goal, we can expect the order and hierarchy of needs to vary from culture to culture (Ivtzan, 2009). While self-actualisation might be a dominant force in highly individualistic cultures such as the United States or the United Kingdom, people from collectivist cultures might be rather motivated by social needs. Likewise, in low-masculinity cultures, the need for belonging probably trumps self-actualisation. In those cultures in which uncertainty avoidance stands out, safety considerations have been shown to be a top motivator (for an overview of cultural need variations, see Adler, 9.3 Motivation Theories 253 <?page no="254"?> 1991). Clearly, the order of needs is not set in stone and managers, such as Michael in our opening vignette, should be attentive to how needs abroad are addressed and how local motivations might differ from their own firmly held beliefs. Next to cultural variations and their impact on the hierarchy of needs, we should exercise caution when it comes to socio-economic factors. Surveys suggest a positive relationship between satisfaction and money (Anon., 2019). On average, wealthier countries tend to have higher happiness levels than poorer countries, with knock-on effects that motivate people. In wealthier countries, social needs have been shown to be a good predictor of life satisfaction. By contrast, people in poorer countries are more concerned about basic needs such as food and shelter. Here, fulfilling safety needs is the primary consideration for life satisfaction (Oishi, Diener, Lucas, & Suh, 1999). As a consequence, the relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction can vary. Huang & van de Vliert (2003) show that, overall, intrinsic aspects of jobs are more important to employees in more affluent than in poorer countries. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are less concerned with deficiency needs. Thus, job satisfaction might depend on satisfying growth needs such as living independently, wielding power, or searching for challenges. In poorer countries, however, power distance appears to have moderating effects on the relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction. In countries with relatively small power distance, employees might value the intrinsic aspects of their jobs in spite of limited security. Arguably, appearance is important in such environments, and one way of challenging inherent inequalities is through self-expression. Finally, we may ask ourselves how our needs and wants may change when we are in touch with situations and people that are - sometimes more, sometimes less - different from our everyday lives. Intercultural encounters, both at home and even more so abroad, interrupt our ordinary flow of life, including the pursuit of our needs. They reveal and test taken-for-granted beliefs. Clearly, it is impossible to prepare adequately for all eventualities. Even if we expect cultural differences, we cannot predict the experience. Cultural differences and their consequences, including misunderstandings, perplexing practices, or perceived bias, may cause us to fluctuate or even downgrade our needs. All too easily, the now unmet needs can come with emotions that we widely consider troublesome, ranging from mild (e.g., irritation) to disruptive feelings (e.g., anger) and harmful reactions (e.g., stereotyping). The feeling that we are doing just fine might, perhaps suddenly and unexpectedly, dwindle. Although disruptions might occur at any stage of the hierarchy, in my experience, challenges to lower-level needs can be particularly unpleasant. This is because we must first satisfy needs lower down in the hierarchy before attending to higher needs: the more basic the unmet need, the more likely the controversies that come with intercultural encounters. Because we consider lower needs to be more urgent than higher needs, threats to basic needs potentially destabilise our entire motivational architecture. In other words, a challenge from an intercultural encounter, especially those located at the lower end of the hierarchy of needs, can drastically change our well-being. A realization of cultural differences can 254 9 Motivation <?page no="255"?> be blatant (especially when it comes to deficiency needs) or subtle (more likely at the growth stages). Still, it nonetheless influences how we see ourselves and others. Try It: Collage Divide into five groups. Each group is assigned a specific level of Maslow’s hierarchy. Now, scan the internet for advertising campaigns (print or video) from your home culture. Explore their contents, including the semiotic appeal of the image, voiceover, text and so forth. Ask yourself how and to what extent they align with your assigned hierarchy level. Discuss in small groups: • Explain why you have chosen a specific advert. • Translate the text (or voiceovers into English). • Describe how and to what extent the advert gives context to the specific need in your culture. • If the participants have different cultural backgrounds, explore whether you find similarities or dissimilarities in how the need is semiotically translated. • Prepare a collage and present your findings to the whole class. Herzberg’s Two-Factor of Motivation In leadership contexts, Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman’s (1959) seminal work on motivation plays a pivotal role. The American psychologists reasoned that we want to feel good about ourselves. In line with Maslow, satisfying lower-level needs is usually not enough. Instead, we reach for higher-level goals. We may not be merely content with certain salary levels or safe conditions at the workplace. Rather, we strive to receive praise, responsibility, status etc. The nature of what we do is also important. His team’s extensive qualitative research involved more than 4,000 participants. Here, he and his team zoomed into reports of critical incidences that made his employees feel good or bad about their jobs. From the data, a candid picture emerged of factors that connect with either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. From this, it follows, so Herzberg’s argument, that job motivation has not one but two separate roots: Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction. These would interact in specific ways (Schreyögg & Koch, 2020): • Dissatisfiers or ‘hygiene factors’ are all those taken-for-granted factors that prevent us from being dissatisfied. Extrinsic elements of work, such as appropriate management styles, administrative processes, job security, remuneration, etc., relate to people’s basic needs. Per se, their presence does not make us feel content. However, if absent, we likely feel dissatisfied. Put differently, hygiene factors do not make us feel good but help us not feel poorly. 9.3 Motivation Theories 255 <?page no="256"?> • Satisfiers or ‘motivators’ are all those work-content-related factors that motivate us to perform. They mirror our psychological needs and are, thus, carriers of personal growth and self-satisfaction. According to Herzberg, motivators may lead us to feel good about ourselves. Their absence, however, does not necessarily mean we feel poorly or dissatisfied. Motivators such as recognition, a sense of achievement, and responsibility are intrinsically rewarding. Dissatisfiers and satisfiers are not only independent. Each factor can have different manifestations, from positive to negative. This creates four different scenarios and brings out different things in us (see also Kujik, 2023): • High hygiene and high motivation: Employees have few reasons for complaints. At the same time, they are likely to be highly motivated. • High hygiene and low motivation: Employees may not have reasons for com‐ plaints, but they are not necessarily motivated to up their game. Under these circumstances, work is about earning money, not more. • Low hygiene and high motivation: Though employees may feel their job is meaningful and satisfying, imperfect work conditions (e.g., pay and processes) are a cause of many complaints. • Low hygiene and low motivation: Perceptions of poor or subpar opportunities pair with complaints about how things are done. People are likely to leave if feelings prevail that they cannot change this unsatisfactory status quo. The distinction between dissatisfiers and satisfiers is important for three reasons: First, what we make of work does not follow one single upward trajectory. Motivation is more complex than satisfying low-level needs before turning to other higher-level needs. Rather, it emerges from a complex interplay of work-related factors that makes one feel good, bad, or both. Motivation does not follow a specific order or hierarchy and is thus dynamic. Second, what drives people is more than tensions that come from unsatisfied needs. Dissatisfaction might go away if we feel that our work environment is adequate to our needs or at least not disruptive. But this does not necessarily mean we are pushed to work harder. According to Herzberg, we react to praise and recognition. Only those factors that relate to work content and offer outlooks of personal growth, i.e. high-level needs, yield motivational power. Third, how well people perform has not only to do with how employers treat them. Rather than rewards and punishment, a good match between work content and personal interest, curiosity and joy in that activity drives behaviour. In other words, we have to distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic forms of motivation. While what happens around us may cause dissatisfaction or unhappiness, doing things that we feel are fun or personally rewarding makes us want to perform well. Thus, the two-factor model sends a clear warning that people are unlikely to work harder merely because of environmental changes (i.e., removing dissatisfiers). When it comes to motivation, work content outdoes the work context. Because of its intuitiveness and straightforwardness, Herzberg’s work has received a lot of attention from business practitioners. It is easy to understand and, at first blush, 256 9 Motivation <?page no="257"?> easy to apply to all sorts of organisations. However, an international extension and universal bearing are well beyond the scope of this line of work. While its theoretical premises and properties might be sound, its applicability in contexts other than its country of origin, the United States, is not so clear. First off, factors that might be considered dissatisfiers in one culture turn out to be motivators in others (or the other way around). For example, relations with peers and job security switch codes in Romania. While the original study saw in both hygiene factors, Matei and Abrudan (2016) found them to be motivators for Romanian staff. In the case of China, personal relationships are a central fabric of work life. While members of many Western cultures would consider cross-overs between private and work lives as unprofessional, Yang (2017) argues that this local need for connecting to others promotes satisfaction. This hygiene factor turns into a motivator for Chinese employees. Also, we have to exercise caution when it comes to remuneration. Herzberg already noted that salaries can, under specific circumstances, have motivating effects. But because such effects can only be short-term, he subsumed them under hygiene factors. Having said that, money may have different meanings in different cultures (Henchoz, 2019). And financial insecurity might play a role that is not unimportant in less affluent cultures such as Malaysia, where employees value money highly (Tan & Waheed, 2011). In the case of China, Zhao and Yang (2017) find that financial rewards would be considered a motivator. This would also explain the job-hopping behaviour of many Chinese employees during the country’s economic take-off period in the 1990s and 2000s. Here, foreign companies, in particular, had difficulties finding good personnel anyway, but if they did not get remuneration right, Chinese employees would easily job-hop to the next, higher-paying organisation. Also, Herzberg’s categories are very abstract. He and his team remained relatively mute when it came to the actual translation of these insights to pragmatic guidelines (Becker, 2019). The breadth, depth and quality of specific categories might differ from one country context to the next as they interact with basic cultural assumptions. Take, for instance, the need for recognition. While in some cultures, this may mean appreciative signals from superiors (Laval, 2010), in other cultures, happiness might be derived from networking or group performance. For leaders, this may mean different ways of showing appreciation or giving praise. Japanese companies, for instance, are strangers to concepts of performance-based pay. Although many companies have been experimenting with it and have tried to import Western-style compensation methods, recognition comes in the form of group bonuses. These are usually paid bi-annually based on the company’s performance and not the individual’s, and they remain a mainstay in Japanese HR processes (Conrad, 2010; Kajimoto, 2022). It, thus, seems reasonable to suggest that Herzberg’s original conceptualisation needs local translation. Such words of caution also apply to management practices that build on insights from the two-factor model of motivation. Ideas of job enrichment, giving employees 9.3 Motivation Theories 257 <?page no="258"?> more challenges and more say over what they do, are only a stone’s throw away from intrinsic, work-related motivation. While originally developed in a US context, many companies apply these principles across different cultural contexts. For instance, a Japanese electronic goods manufacturer would give its Chinese employees in Zhuhai opportunities to constantly learn new skills. The local management hoped such enrich‐ ment and enlargement programs would increase job satisfaction and company loyalty. However, Yan, Peng, & Francesco (2011) found that in China, care should be given as to whom best to address with such initiatives. While job enrichment and enlargement might have worked well for white-collar employees of the Japanese company, manual workers apparently felt stressed with the outlook of more responsibility and variability at work. Finally, we must not forget all those sojourners who move from one culture to another as part of a shorter-term or longer-term secondment. When in our own social environment, we usually have quite a good understanding of what satisfies us and what does not. We can talk about aspirations and troubles. When abroad, our work environment may, however, look very different. Work conditions (such as remuneration, processes, promotion criteria, and holidays, to name just a few examples) can differ greatly from one’s taken-for-granted aspects of our professional life at home. Sure, hiring companies can and do expect foreign staff to be flexible (especially when under local contracts). But this asks quite a lot from sojourners, and adjustment to new work environments can be both bumpy and great. Feelings of awkwardness or uncomfortableness can be strong when one works abroad under different contractual agreements (e.g., in subsidiaries where expats and sojourners from the same country work next to each other but with different remuneration and holiday agreements) or when local work conditions are perceived to be in the way of realising one’s full potential. By contrast, hygiene factors at home (e.g., relationship with one’s superior or colleagues) may turn into motivators, not least because they help us connect with our new social environment. In sum, Herzberg’s conceptualisation of motivation and its translation into man‐ agement tools should not and cannot be generalised. Factors that affect satisfaction or dissatisfaction in one culture do not necessarily do so in another. Similar to his criticism of Maslow’s framework, Hofstede (2001) argued that Herzberg’s model primarily mirrored the dominant values of the American middle class. Satisfiers such as recognition, a sense of achievement, and responsibility resonate particularly well with highly individualistic cultures and their prevailing patterns of self-actualisation and achievement. The importance, meaning and structure of hygiene and motivation factors might change from culture to culture. Basic assumptions can have effects on our actions to achieve goals at work. Differences exist between individualistic cultures and certainly between individualistic and collectivist cultures. Leaning towards inter‐ dependence, goodwill, and conformity results in motivational repertoires that are quite different from independence, competition, and egoism. 258 9 Motivation <?page no="259"?> Think About: Job Postings Go to a local job portal and look for postings that are of interest to you. Explore how employers present themselves, what kind of skills they are looking for and what they offer to the successful candidates. Consider the following questions: • What aspects would motivate your application? • Can you distinguish between dissatisfiers and satisfiers? • What factors are particularly appealing to people from your home culture? Why? Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation (1964) is a prime example of process-orien‐ ted models. It looks at motivation from a very different, a purely cognitive perspective. Its starting point is that many people strive for physiological and psychological ‘comfort.’ Thus, they try to bring about events that they believe will create positive emotions for them. Events that may result in negative emotions are usually shunned. From this line of thinking, it follows that desired goals are the root cause of any behaviour. Achieving these goals involves thinking things through and deciding the best courses of action. From this perspective, motivation flows from a decision process with self-interest, rationality, and the maximisation of self-defined goals at its centre (Schreyögg & Koch, 2020; see also a wonderful video introduction to Vroom’s model here: Koch, 2019). That being the case, Vroom holds that, in essence, people make choices based on (i) the desirability of the outcome, (ii) confidence in achieving said goal, and (iii) belief in getting a satisfying reward. Hence, at the core of the Expectancy Theory of Motivation is reason and rationality and not emotionality. Vroom theorises a chain of motivation: The more we value an outcome, the more motivated we are. The more motivated we are, the more effort we are going to put in. The more effort we put in, the more likely we will be rewarded. Against this backdrop, people base their behaviour on finely calibrated judgements of three motivational variables and their interplay: Expectancy (what outcome do I expect? ), Instrumentality (will my efforts lead to the desired outcome? ), and Valence (how much value do I personally place on the outcome? ). We can calculate the extent to which we jump into action (or Motivational Force ‘F’) by multiplying the value the person places on the outcome (or Valence ‘V’), the efforts needed to achieve these outcomes (or Instrumentality ‘I’) and belief that the efforts are worthwhile to achieve the desired goal (or Expectancy ‘E’). F = V * I * E In other words, people will choose their behaviour based on their expectations of what this behaviour is likely to bring about. According to Vroom, they would calculate 9.3 Motivation Theories 259 <?page no="260"?> possible outcomes of their behaviour by multiplying Valence, Instrumentality, and Expectancy. The higher the result, the higher their motivation to engage in specific behaviour. Think About: Working Hard in India Akash is a talented young professional. He is working in the IT department of a Multinational Enterprise. He is based in Hyderabad and is keen to progress his career. He hopes to be seconded to the firm’s headquarters in the US at some point. One of his friends has been recently promoted. Akash knew she had put a lot of effort into her projects. Consider the following question: • Can you use the three Vroom variables to explain Akash’s work motivation? • Imagine you are his line manager; what would you do to boost his perform‐ ance? So, what exactly motivates people, and how do they arrive at specific behaviour? Let’s look at Vroom’s model in more detail to get some answers. He assumes that decision-making situations trigger motivation. Specifically, there must be at least two alternative courses of action that call for a situation. The decision is linked to assessments of how and to what extent it will bring about desired outcomes. Crucially, the motivation to pursue these goals depends on the fit between choice and individual needs and goals. Against this backdrop, Vroom further distinguishes between first and second-level outcomes. • First-level outcomes reflect different options for action. These result in a specific behaviour (once a decision is taken). In organisational contexts, they are perform‐ ance-related (hence, Vroom refers to first-level outcomes as organisational goals). At the same time, and this is crucial, choice or preference also has to do with assumptions surrounding how well we feel equipped to carry out a course of action. Do we have the capabilities, resources, confidence and so forth to see it through? People, of course, differ in their expectancy about the pursuit, reachability and fulfilment of the envisioned outcomes pertaining to an action alternative. In terms of subjective probability of reaching first-level outcomes, expectancy values can range from ‘0’ (improbable) to ‘1’ (completely probable). • Second-level outcomes are located at the individual level. They are need-related. People may ask how and to what extent first-level choices (organisational goals) are actually suitable for pursuing (or achieving) individual goals. Can I get what I desire from a course of action? Such instrumentality assessments can range from -1 (completely unsuitable) to 1 (completely suitable) and, thus, connect organizational and individual-level needs. Vroom further asserts that individuals attach different 260 9 Motivation <?page no="261"?> importance to the hodgepodge of goals they may have. Different preferences lead to different evaluations in such a way that individuals rank potential personal rewards (that come with a route of action) in order of their priority. Valence can then be understood as a rank-ordered list of preferences for specific outcomes. The values we attach depend, of course, on how fine-tuned an individual’s sense of reward thinking is. In sum, we give values to valence, instrumentality, and expectations of routes of action. First, we want to be clear about our preferences. We weigh valences. Second, we look for matches between routes of action and their expected benefits. Third, probability calculations, involving both subjective and objective considerations, are of great importance for reaching a final choice. The final numerical assessment echoes the likelihood of deciding on a specific alternative. Vroom’s great insight was the distinction and coupling of expectancy and instrumentality (and, by implication, valence). According to him, assuming that only valence would best predict people’s behaviour would be short-sighted. Rather, the suitability of job-associated behaviour for one’s individual goals matters, too. And so do beliefs in one’s self-efficacy to actually achieve assigned tasks and, thus, bring about preferential outcomes. Although heavily criticised for its overly rational approach to motivation, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation is both pragmatic and useful for explaining people’s behaviour in organisations. It is also relevant for exploring intercultural leadership situations, as the following example shows: Assume you work for an internationally operating organisation. You will soon embark on an expat assignment in South America, where you will spend the next years as an executive. Your position includes responsibility for local staff. As a person interested in travelling, of course, you are excited about the prospect of living abroad and getting to know new people and cultures. At the same time, this assignment promises a considerable step up in your career. If you get this right, you can expect even more responsible tasks once you return to the headquarters. To maximise this opportunity, you wonder how best to prepare for your new role. Your organisation has offered you a personal development programme. Before leaving for South America, you can either (i) take Spanish lessons or (ii) do intercultural training with a personal coach. Here are thus two alternative routes of action. You need to opt for one of the choices, which, in turn, results in a specific action and behaviour (i.e. you either brush up your Spanish or learn about intercultural management techniques). Overall, when it comes to your professional considerations, you have three goals that are dear to you. First, you want to be as effective as possible when interacting with Spanish-speaking colleagues. From experience, you know that speaking their mother tongue is the best way to achieve this. Second, this secondment is, however, unlikely to be your last. After returning home, it is not unlikely that you will be asked to go on another assignment abroad, this time to one of the organisation’s key Asian markets. It might be more important to develop general managerial skills for career purposes at this stage. Third, as a father, you appreciate a healthy work-life balance. Ideally, 9.3 Motivation Theories 261 <?page no="262"?> your professional aspirations should not lose sight of your physical and emotional well-being. You value each of these goals differently. Truth be told, you value doing a good job now over balancing private and professional life over future potential job opportunities. Your mental accounting (on a scale from 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) thus ranks these preferences accordingly (effectiveness = 10; work-life balance =7; career = 5). You feel that the two options (Training in Spanish versus Intercultural Management) are suitable in a different way for achieving your individual goals: Learning Spanish would be invaluable to arrive at a better understanding of how your local employees feel and think. This would undoubtedly increase your on-site effectiveness. Learning a language would also help your long-term career prospects. On a scale from -1 to +1, you value both aspects with 1. However, learning a language is hard work and can, thus, be a time-intensive endeavour. Because you would need to take Spanish lessons on top of your regular workload load, you rate this option with -0.7. It stands in the way of a good work-life balance. By contrast, intercultural training with a personal coach is less suited for improving your abroad performance. Honing general management skills can do only so much for getting along well with local employees. You assign a score of 0,1. The outlook that your efforts improve your overall career prospects leads to a slightly better assessment of intercultural management training as a course of action (0,2). From the perspective of work-life balance, taking on board extra management training might not be ideal, but it is certainly a better choice than going full in with studying Spanish. Though not fully compatible with your role as a father, you surely can find some time for this option. You assign a value of 0,8. Overall, you are not new to the game of management and language training. You know quite well that learning a language can be arduous and draining. Your worries do not stop there. Do you really feel that you can learn a foreign tongue to a professional level in very short time? You think this to be unlikely and, thus, rate the subjective probability of reaching a high fluency in Spanish with 0.4. When it comes to the more general intercultural training, you are far more optimistic that you can see it through successfully. You certainly have the confidence and capability to get to grips with the course content. The personal coach will also help you with polishing your intercultural management skills. Because you assume you will ace this course of action alternative, you prognose a 1 for its successful completion. In terms of mental accounting, we can now calculate the motivational force for each option. Spanish lessons: V * I [1 * 10 + (-0.7 * 7) + 1 * 5] * E [0.4] = 10,1 Intercultural training: V * I [0,1 * 10 + 0.8 * 7 + 0,2 * 5] * E [1] = 7,6 262 9 Motivation <?page no="263"?> 10 Effectiveness 7 Work-Life-Balance 5 Career 10,1 7,6 1 -0,7 1 0,2 0,8 0,1 Take Spanish Lessons Intercultural Training 0,4 1 Expectancy Valence Instrumentality Figure 19: Application of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation Vroom would assume that individuals decide on those courses of action that show the highest motivational force or force-to-act score. In our case, we would go for taking Spanish lessons. Figure 19 graphically displays the interrelationships between the three contingencies: Valence, Instrumentality, and Expectancy. Our simple example explains why and how people initiate intercultural behaviour. Though real-life situations are far more complex, it offers insights into mechanisms by which we make choices and the extent, quality, and direction by which we pursue desired goals. Sure, Vroom’s model has been heavily criticised, most notably for its overly rationalistic approach to explaining motivations. Like the models we discussed earlier, the Expectancy Theory heavily focuses on self-actualisation and people’s utilitarian motivations. According to Vroom, people will only put in effort if they get something in return. In my eyes, he is rather quiet about the possibility that people follow other, perhaps more altruistic or group-oriented processes. We need not repeat this critique of Western-centrism here as we have voiced our concerns already in the context of the content theories of motivation. The same would apply here. Despite this critique, I would argue that Vroom’s model offers pragmatic advice on thinking and going about motivation in an intercultural context. It clarifies the key aspects and interplay of the psychological and behavioural processes surrounding motivation. Crucially, it is located at the individual level, and it connects with organizational goals. If we accept its idealised premises, the theory will offer a sound understanding of intercultural encounters in general and motivation of employees from different cultures in particular. To harness its theoretical power, we need to factor in cultural values for the three defining motivational variables. In a comparative study of employee motivation in the Asia Pacific, Pearson and Hui (2001) find that cultural values moderate how valence, instrumentality, and expectancy influence effort. As one would expect, preferences (and their rank order) differ by individualistic orientations and collective orientations. Interestingly, the authors found that though Southeast Asian and Western employees held quite similar beliefs regarding instrumentality, the former were more likely to feel that organizationaland individual-level outcomes were 9.3 Motivation Theories 263 <?page no="264"?> often poorly matched. Expectancy also differed significantly. Malaysian workers, for instance, were far less likely to think of envisioned outcomes as realistically achievable than their Western counterparts. Data suggest that this had to do with performance assumptions being embedded in a group rather than individual achievements. An exploration of international student motivation echoes these findings (Geiger, et al., 1998). Though, overall, this study, too, lends support to Vroom’s conceptualisation, cultural differences exist in how motivation comes about. The attractiveness of the three motivational factors varied greatly across the nine Asian and Western cultures included in this study. Not only did the emphasis on valence, instrumentality, and expectancy differ from culture to culture, but also their interplay. In some cultures, expectancy levels can distort effort, while in others, it does not. Depending on cultural values, effort levels may or may not increase with lower probability levels of expected success. This clearly sends a warning to firms operating internationally that job designs must fit local value systems. The Vroom model offers a structure and conceptualization to explore culturally induced motivational differences in the world of work. Employees are likely to perform well if they feel that (i) efforts advance performance, (ii) perform‐ ance helps achieve individually desired outcomes, and (iii) outcomes are worthwhile. For people in intercultural leadership positions, the framework is useful, as a first step, for sounding out employee expectations, valences, and instrumentalities. They then have to explore how different norms, values and behaviours might affect the three motivational variables and their interplay. 9.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership As we have seen in our opening vignette, intercultural encounters are full of unpre‐ dictable or different ways of doing things. Michael stumbles over such ‘culture bumps’ and needs to find ways to deal with them. While he is aware (reading this chapter perhaps or other more specialised accounts) that the root cause for these occurrences at work is different motivations, his job is to shape teamwork and organizational performance. He must appeal to his local staff about how he sees things in the hope that they understand his point of view, which, in turn, would induce incremental change. There are, of course, many ways of providing feedback, but the iron rule in an intercultural setting is that it has to be delivered subjectively and non-judgementally. Specifically, you should avoid applying moral standards from your home culture. Take responsibility for the kind of feedback you give and how this influences the work environment (see TCI exercise in Chapter 3). Crucially, speak of your own feelings, needs, and perceptions. Do not present them as objective and ultimate truth. You may find Marshall Rosenberg’s model of Nonviolent Communication (NVC; 2015) very useful for practising thoughtful and respectful feedback that fosters mutual understanding. As a student of Carl Rogers, Rosenberg (see person-centred approach 264 9 Motivation <?page no="265"?> in the previous chapter) believed people have needs and wants. If these are not met, we experience negative emotions, which are also reflected in our language. From here, engaging in harmful communication patterns is a small step. This so-called ‘jackal language’ is a reflection of our moral standards (which others do not meet). By way of applying those standards to others and comparing ‘them’ to ‘us,’ we may start attacking their ‘blemished’ qualities and actions. In extreme cases, we can slide into dehumanising language, which, in turn, can cause us to treat others poorly (Smith Galer, 2023). For sure, blame and insults are unlikely to lead to acceptance, let alone change in behaviour. Likewise, the use of power (e.g., ‘you have to do x’), passive aggressiveness (‘it is just so great that x’) or avoiding conflict (‘I better not touch this subject’) will not easily be crowned with success. Under these circumstances, we quickly arrive at dead ends in communication. Rosenberg, thus, emphasised the use of ‘giraffe language.’ We have to have to stretch ourselves and cultivate compassion and empathy metaphorically. Instead of using ‘words like weapons’ (Cher) we should engage in ‘nonviolent’ communication in conflict situations. This makes appreciation and attention the basis of meaningful relationships (which again will be reflected in our language). Rosenberg formulated four key components of more harmonious communication: Observation, feelings, needs, and requests. It encourages individuals to first reflect on what they have observed. When appealing to others, this communication step should come without any personal or moral judgement about what has happened. Such observations often do something to us. Hence, Rosenberg advises us that talking about our emotional landscape is okay. But we should do so in a non-confrontational way. That is, we should zoom into our feelings and use positive expressions that do not automatically lay the blame on others (not even in disguise). Use I-messages instead of you-messages (‘I feel’ instead of ‘you are x’) or verbs that express real sensations instead of accusative verbs (so-called victim verbs). Third, you can talk about your values, needs and expectations. These are either met or unmet and trigger said feelings. Finally, we are now in the position to formulate a request, i.e. an appeal on how others can contribute to meeting our needs more effectively. These requests should be concrete, realistic, and actionable. Observations • ‘When x’ • ‘What I have seen’ Feelings • ‘I feel x’ Avoid, however, victim words Needs/ Values • ‘I need x’ • ‘I value y’ Request • ‘Would you be willing’ • ‘I would like you to’ Figure 20: Addressing Culture Bumps with Nonviolent Communication Similar to Ingham’s experience cube (Smith, 2020), nonviolent communication comes in four parts (see Figure 20): (i) Observation (what we actually experience through our senses), (ii) Emotions (what we subsequently feel), (iii) Thoughts (what we think about 9.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 265 <?page no="266"?> these issues) and (iv) Wants (what we want to happen). In line with this, expressions follow the pattern ‘When <observation>, I feel <feeling> because I’m needing some <universal needs>. Would you be willing to <request>? ’ (Anon., 2023a). Self-awareness, empathy, and the willingness to clearly communicate our needs can help us navigate culture bumps more effectively. Now, applying the NVC model to a real-life situation is your turn. Before trying the four communication steps in the context of intercultural conflicts, you should practise them in your home culture and mother tongue. Exercise 1: Feedback Imagine giving feedback to someone at work. How would you put your feedback into words? Use the four steps of NVC to deliver it to your colleague. Split now up into groups of three. Person A gives feedback. Person B receives it. And Person C observes the situation. Take turns so that each of you has experienced the role play. What have you learned from the feedback process? Is there anything you could make use of in the real world? Source: Adapted from Grobner, 2022; you will find her chapter on ‘Menschen führen - Beziehungskraft’ (Leading people - the power of relationships) particu‐ larly useful (see Grobner, 2016). Exercise 2: Audience Split into groups of two. A & B are managers of a German company. Both come from Germany and have been working in Tokyo for a year. They met at an event organised by the German Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo. Here, the two of them are sitting together over a beer. Manager A complains about the Japanese employees. He cannot understand so many aspects of their behaviour. Manager B has to listen to what A has to say and understand the problem. A & B are managers of a German company. This time, A comes from Germany and B from Japan. They meet at an event organised by the German Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo. Here, the two of them are sitting together over a beer. Manager A complains about the Japanese employees. He cannot understand so many aspects of their behaviour. Manager B has to listen to what A has to say and understand the problem. 266 9 Motivation <?page no="267"?> Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Are Motivations? Motivations combine emotions with cognitive processes (such as wishes and preferences) and refer to reasons why people act and behave the way they do. They may be conscious or unconscious and provide us with drive, direction, and deter‐ mination. Understanding peoples’ motivations gives an idea of why we and others engage in specific behaviour at a particular time. People’s motivations vary greatly, and, by extension, so does their behaviour. At the most fundamental level, we can distinguish between primary, or physiological, and secondary, or psychological, motives. Physiological motives follow biochemical mechanisms such as hunger, thirst, and sexuality. They become effective when organic things are out of sync; for instance, when we have no food, we become hungry. Psychological motives follow social mechanisms such as our need for affiliation, companionship, or balancing personal and group needs. We can further distinguish between internal and external motivating factors. We can either engage in activities because they are dear to us and give us pleasure (intrinsic motivation) or because there are some forms of punishment and reward for them (extrinsic motivation). Goals are powerful motivators. Our willingness to pursue these goals depends on what we feel we get out of these outcomes (satisfaction value) and what we need to do to achieve these goals (means-end-considerations). Significance of Motivations in Intercultural Encounters People rarely behave rationally. Motivations fuse emotions and goal orientation (‘I want to achieve x,’ or ‘I prefer y’) and give us a good glimpse at the root causes of behaviour. Fundamentally, people want to feel good about themselves. This means they are likely to turn to things, people, or situations that help them do so. Likewise, they will likely avoid things, people, or situations that make them feel poorly. These fundamental assumptions of what motivates people help us make sense of cultural differences. At work, people across the world vary greatly in terms of (i) self-efficacy (beliefs in accomplishing performance levels), (ii) optimism (beliefs in the environment to be positive), (iii) self-regulation (beliefs in ability to control one’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviour), (iv) self-esteem (beliefs in self-worth), and (v) expectancy (beliefs in task or social orientation). These orientations have strong motivational components as they affect goal-setting and intercultural behaviour. Motivations Play a Crucial Role in Intercultural Leadership Skills Motivations have a profound impact on intercultural engagement. At the most fundamental level, we want to look for intercultural experiences (or not). Such motivations influence the way we approach and function in different cultural en‐ vironments. A healthy curiosity is a good platform for engagement, including quick adaptation, higher productivity, or ease of trust building. Without motivation, relationship-building across cultures is doomed. 9.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 267 <?page no="268"?> Understanding people’s motivations means understanding their behaviour. Inter‐ culturally skilled leaders can then consider ways in which they can actively influence other’s motivation and, by extension, their behaviour. Cultural Diversity: A culture has strong and lasting effects on norms and values. These, in turn, influence individual motivations, as people usually want to fit in. As a consequence, motivations will vary from one culture to the other. Understanding and appreciating cultural motivational differences brings us closer to making good contact and building positive relationships. Collaboration and Conflict Resolution: When people from diverse cultural back‐ grounds come together, their motivations are likely to differ tremendously. They bring different expectations, goals, and reasons for approaching projects and team members to the table. Understanding and appreciating diverging motivations is essential for smooth collaboration and conflict resolution. Goal Setting: Goal setting is important for employee performance. However, goals and goal-directed behaviour are greatly affected by cultural assumptions: Some cultures prioritise personal performance, while others value group achievements. Leaders have to factor in these cultural differences when setting performance goals and milestones and deciding how to achieve them. Communication: Motivations will, inevitably, shine through in what people talk about at work and how. Awareness and sensitivity to different communication preferences and styles open doors to connect with others at a deeper level. Truly listening to others and aligning what we say with their values and priorities decreases the risk of miscommunication. Respect: People usually appreciate it when we try to understand their motivations. This is particularly true in intercultural situations. Displaying consideration of how others may think or feel about an issue reflects well on how they see us. Mutual appreciation and respect follow and can help foster more inclusive and meaningful work environments. Motivation and Intercultural Engagement Motivation is an essential element in intercultural communication. To better understand what makes people ‘tick’ in encounters, we can further distinguish between their motives and goals. People’s motives can differ: They could look for the prestige that comes with international assignments or the air of professional success and cosmopolitanism that comes with them. Going abroad might, thus, carry a primarily instrumental value, as career stations in other countries are important springboards for profes‐ sional development. Others want to engage more closely with other cultures and learn about different ways of doing things. Success for them might mean a high integration into a local culture. People’s goals can differ: Accordingly, how people act and behave will vary. Integrative motivations will come to light in language learning, trying out new 268 9 Motivation <?page no="269"?> food, travelling, mingling with locals and so forth. Instrumental motivations will show in less interest in local customs and activities. Instead of the intrinsic joy of language and local customs learning people, the focus might be more on practically useable knowledge. Engagement with the local community is likely limited or motivated by mere professional considerations. Motivation Theories and Their Intercultural Application Motivation theories help us explain the driving forces behind behaviour. They expose why people set and pursue goals. Their frameworks enhance and structure our understanding of complex motivational phenomena and allow for predicting human behaviour, including why people behave the way they do in intercultural situations. We can distinguish between two camps of motivation theories: While content theories of motivation emphasise what motivates people (such as their needs and aspirations), process theories explain the psychological dynamics underpin‐ ning human behaviour. Their extension to intercultural context is, however, not straightforward. When abroad, factors that drive motivation can change dramatically. Likewise, research suggests that the various cognitive, emotional, and behavioural processes surrounding goal setting and efforts (to reach these goals) are far less universal than we might think. As motivational mechanisms vary greatly from one culture to another, their practical intercultural application demands extra care. 9.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 269 <?page no="271"?> 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It Opening Vignette Plate of Fish & Chips, UK Photo by Susan Southward on istockphoto Shasha Wei, a Chinese Professor of International Business, has been invited to give a talk at an international symposium in the North of England. His presentation went rather smoothly, and he felt he connected well with his British colleagues. He would only spend a couple of days in Britain. Because it was his first trip to Yorkshire, the conference organisers want to treat him to some local food. Thus, they take him to a famous pub restaurant set in the beautiful Ilkley Moors. He sort of knows what kind of eating experience is waiting for him. Sure enough, once he and his colleagues are sitting down, the waiter rushes to bring them the menu. It does not occur to his caretakers that the seating arrangement of who sits where might have mattered. Alas, the table was not round anyway. Having ordered the first round of pints of beer, each of the guests studies the card. Wei is asked what dish he likes to order. A glance at the potential calorie intake suggests he better stays with one main dish. On the advice of his colleagues, he decides on Fish and Chips with mushy peas, which apparently is the restaurant’s signature dish. The orders arrive hastily, and the food is served on single plates for each <?page no="272"?> guest. The English language does not really know any ritual eating greetings or wishes, so everybody just digs in with any further ado. With everyone eating, communication dies down quickly. Once each of them finishes their meal, the waiter comes along to pick up the plate (although the rest of them are still eating). Wei feels rushed. He does not finish his meal out of consideration for the others who seemed to have gulped down theirs so quickly and were now waiting for him. He is feeling full, and his Chinese table manners would tell him that emptying one’s plate is rude anyway. His colleagues now order a round of desserts (brownies with chocolate ice cream, what else! ) and some coffee. Out of courtesy, Wei follows suit but cannot not think of a way to still eat. While he usually enjoys eating out, he is feeling poorly already. To top his mood off, when the bill arrived, each of his caretakers take out their wallets and pay for their meals individually. Thankfully, his co-host paid for him. Frankly, Shasha was not impressed with the food and the overall eating experience. Oh, how he longs for some nice Chinese food! Of course, he was no stranger to Western cuisine, but he is, as always, surprised about the blandness and calory richness of his meal. Overall, the Western chefs seemed to have little appreciation for eating as an integrated experience, where they would strive for excellence in colour, fragrance, and flavour (Sè xiāng wèi jù quán, 色香 味全 ). Of course, it was pub food, but nevertheless, the chef seemed to have given little thought to the composition of the individual parts and how the fish, chips and veggies would relate to each other. The freshness of the ingredients was, if at all, an afterthought. And so was the texture and mouth feel (or Kougan, 口感 ), which is so much part of enjoying food in China. Talking about poor impressions, his hosts seemed to have a very different cultural understanding of eating out. They apparently had been okay with the hasty and pragmatic service. Neither had they considered sharing a plate, at least for the starters, to create a sense of commonality. Each for their own. Nutritional overkill did not deter them. Meat and gravy galore with even more calories (read sugar) for dessert. All they seemed to care about was filling themselves up as quickly as possible. The idea that there could possibly be a relationship between diet and health or a deep understanding of seasonality, locality, and variations of ingredients apparently did not occur to them. For them, eating was less of a social event or an opportunity to mingle and create a good atmosphere. Wei was surprised by his train of thought. Of course, British cuisine does not have the best image in the world. But eating pub food, albeit in a great location, made him miss Chinese culinary traditions’ great richness, history, and thoughtfulness. Next, to delight in eating itself, he missed the opportunities to connect over food socially. Eating for him is about sharing pleasure. Of course, he appreciated having been invited to give a speech. And up until the dinner invitation, he felt connected to his British colleagues. Now, he is no longer so sure. Critical Thinking: 272 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="273"?> When we meet people of different cultures, we often do so over lunch or dinner. Different food experiences become quickly apparent. • How are British and Chinese eating experiences different? • Why do you think Wei is upset? • How could exploring food and eating help Wei better understand his British colleagues’ motivation and behaviour? We have seen that many behaviours are rooted in conscious, if not rational, consid‐ erations. We are usually quite aware of what we are doing and why we do things. Therefore, there is much to learn from how we and others talk about emotions, needs and wants (Allport, 1958). We observe, notice and reflect on things that happen in our environment. Also, we are aware of our thoughts, experiences and emotions. At the most abstract level, conscious processes, therefore, refer to logic, explicit mental operations that translate into wilful and voluntary behaviour. For conscious processes to occur, we must be alert and wakeful. Kroeber-Riel and Groeppel-Klein (2019) distinguish between external and internal events as consciousness triggers: Sensing Our Environment: We recognise environmental stimuli with our five senses (i.e. touch, taste, odour, images, sounds). For example, when meeting people of different cultures, we pay attention to tactile sensations (e.g., ‘Faire La Bise,’ a French custom to kiss a person’s cheek as part of greeting rituals) or noise (e.g., the portmanteau ‘Nu-hara’ combines the English words of ‘Noodles’ and ‘Harassment’ reflects discomfort with Japanese table manners of loudly slurping noodles). Generally, we want to understand what is happening around us. And verbalising such ‘surface’ sensations as manifestations is quite helpful to understanding our motives or behav‐ iours logically. Inner Listening: We also have access to numerous mental events such as dreams, experiences, cognitions, emotions and so forth. To name just a few examples, we can feel enthusiastic about the prospect of going abroad and meeting new people, we can recall strenuous experiences from past intercultural negotiations, or we can contemplate how best to give feedback in the next round of annual appraisal meetings with our multicultural team members. In terms of consciously processing internal events, we can further distinguish between ‘access consciousness’ and ‘phenomenal consciousness’ (Block, 1995). The former refers to mental states or processes in which we have direct and controlled access to our sensations, emotions and cognitions. The latter refers to rich conscious processes surrounding subjective sensations or experiences. We are aware of having certain sensations or experiences and self-reflect on them. As we think about how and why we feel and think the way we do, we can report our sensations or experiences. 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It 273 <?page no="274"?> 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes However, not all mental processes are consciously available to us. We may not notice or recognise some of our needs, wishes and desires that drive our behaviours. In other words, not all our goals and motivations follow reason. External or internal stimuli might very well bypass cognition and emotions. They nevertheless inspire goal setting. By implication, our behaviour, at least parts of it, might be involuntary and driven by hidden, unconscious impulses. Of course, there is much debate about the unconscious mind, as the history of psychology attests. It is certainly beyond the scope of this book to account for debates spanning hundreds of years and are still ongoing. But I maintain that motivation is never without cultural context, including its unconscious affinities, inspirations and imaginations. The great Gustav Jung (1875-1961) argued that the human psyche can be divided into three interacting systems: (i) the ego, (ii) the personal unconscious, and (iii) the collective unconscious. The ego is basically the conscious mind and comprises all our awareness of emotions and cognitions. It provides us with identity and a sense of our past, present and future selves. The personal unconscious is all mental aspects we are unaware of but potentially could be. There are memories or bits of information we may have forgotten, ignored or repressed (for some reason). The collective unconscious refers to innate and universally shared memory patterns. As the psychic heritage of humanity, it is distinct from any personal experience and emerges in universal themes across cultures. In line with this idea, the collective unconscious may appear in literature, art, music and so forth. However, I must add that while the collective unconscious may have inspired similar themes across the world, these are likely to be peppered with distinct cultural experiences and realities. This way, the overarching theme may be the same, but the concrete translation might differ from country to country. Here, we will focus on the archetypes (and their semiotics), language, and food as potential keys that may help unlock motivational forces. Archetypes Jung identified numerous reoccurring archetypes, innate and inherited ideas or intu‐ itions in human psychology. They touch upon essential relationships with others or nature. Life events such as birth, marriage, and death inspire archetypes of certain universal roles such as child, father, mother etc. Humanity also faces (or has faced in times gone by) many natural or destructive forces. Accordingly, motifs of the apocalypse and the deluge can be found in many parts of the world. These often coincide with themes of judgement, punishment and renewal (Anon., 2023b). An archetype is not a concrete idea but ‘a tendency to generate ideas that are highly variable without losing their basic pattern’ ( Jung, 2011). In the same vein, they model personalities and behaviour that shape ideas of morals, ambitions or behaviour. Jung saw in them a call to arms to act in specific ways. Archetypes are part of an individual’s makeup (usually dominant) or emerge from life experiences. As a consequence, such 274 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="275"?> mythic characters often serve as role models that would motivate us to pursue certain goals, tackle life challenges or live by core, socially expected values. Their cultural translations and manifestations help people to function largely unconsciously but effectively in their respective groups. Although the number of archetypes is constantly evolving (and, therefore, limitless), Jung derived a typology of four higher-order human motivations, namely ‘ego,’ ‘order,’ ‘social,’ and ‘freedom.’ Each type expresses core wishes and desires (Legacy: Leave a mark on the world; Order: Provide structure to the world; Sociability: Connect to others; and Freedom: Spiritual journey). Figure 21 breaks down these four higher-order types into Jung’s twelve defining archetypes. For example, the archetypical ‘hero’ stands for fundamental human experiences surrounding facing and overcoming trials and tribulations. Usually, a hero is masculine, brave, strong, resourceful, courageous and willing to help others at all costs. In some cultures, this involves killing a dragon (the German Siegfried), a spider (the Japanese Yorimitsu) or fire-breathing oxen (Iason, in Greek mythology). In contrast, in others, folklore has it that a hero would rob the rich and give to the poor (the English Robin Hood). Of course, these archetypes can reappear in more modern incarnations. Think of the American superhero Spiderman, who, despite serious setbacks, is always bouncing back as he rises to the challenge of helping others. Film characters like James Bond have saved the world numerous times without losing their countenance. En passant, he often saves women from the clutches of evil. Similarly reductionist but nevertheless powerful are women’s portrayals of youth, innocence and beauty. The ‘Cinderella’ archetype comes in many fairytales and popular culture disguises. In modern parlance, we have, for example, Pretty Woman, a prostitute ( Julia Roberts) who lives life in misery and danger. She is rescued by a ‘prince’ (or in modern parlance ‘business hero,’ Richard Gere) who vows to protect her and offers a wonderful, worry-free life. Her inner strength, genuineness and feminine energy make her an attractive heroine and, by extension, a role model. The Chinese fairytale Ye Xian translates Jung’s archetypes to an Asian context (though these stories appear to be much older than the Brother Grimm’s Cinderella storyline). Ye Xian is beautiful, gentle, and skilled but has to live as a servant to her stepmother). She loses a golden slipper at a local festival. This is later discovered by the king, who will eventually marry her. Her stepmother and step-sister are punished. Likewise, the Malayan folklore Bawang merah dan bawang putih tells of a heroine trial of a beautiful daughter of a wealthy businessman who, after his death, finds herself living with a wicked stepmother and spoiled step-sister. Though culturally adopted, there are archetypical blueprints of karma (she marries a king), greed (excessive desires of her wicked stepmother and spoiled step-sister) or punishment (threat of venomous snakes). 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 275 <?page no="276"?> Organism "Inner Workings" The Caregiver The Ruler The Creator The Everyman The Fool The Lover The Innocent The Sage The Discoverer The Rebel The Wizard The Hero Order Give structure Fulfilment Longing for Paradise Conncetion Relationships with cultivated others Change Leave traces Figure 21: Jung’s Twelve Defining Archetypes Source: Neill, 2018. Figure 22: Semiotics of Femininity (Examples from Italy, Germany, France, China) 276 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="277"?> Jung’s archetypes might tap into ancestral, universal memories, but we are unlikely to see them in raw and blatant forms. Their essence might be the same, but the ebbs and flows of cultures foster adaptation and shape local meaning. Through semiotic analysis, we can explore how these archetypes translate and manifest in cultures. Figure 22 shows adverts from four different countries and cultures: Italy, Germany, France, China. Each discusses motherhood but does so in a culturally palatable way. Jung’s idealised version of motherhood is one of tenderness, love and care. It is a source of life and love and is rooted in empathy, emotionality and wisdom. Perhaps we are all quite familiar with the maternal power to make other people happy and grow. Such collective ideals might be the same across cultures, but their semiotic systems are different. Essential characteristics and aspirational roles of motherhood can vary greatly. The Italian advert shows a woman in the role of the she-wolf, Lupa, who nurtured the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who eventually founded the Roman empire. Arguably, next to themes of tradition and modernity, we find motherhood to be combining nature with beauty and sensuality. The German Kinder Pingu advert ‘Walk Like a Penguin’ has a very different take. Although bombarded with household chores, the mother is characterised as a forgiving, childlike and fun friend. She invents a penguin walk and provides her children with (unhealthy) food. By contrast, French adverts often zoom into the divine nature of femininity. Often, womanhood is celebrated as art, remote from everyday life. And as the Bon Mamman advert shows, motherhood can be conspicuous by its absence. This chimes with French females’ self-understanding of independence and returning to their jobs as soon as possible. In China, parenting is embedded in Confucian ideals of respect, hard work, and striving for excellence. Therefore, brands show motherhood regularly in contexts of educational achievements. Think About: ‘Sisu’ or ‘Ganbarō’ as Mythological Role Models Every culture has some form of idealised masculinity. In many parts of the world, this involves willpower, toughness, and perseverance when adversity strikes. Sometimes, there are even words for such personality types, such as ‘Sisu’ in Finnish or ‘Gambaro’ in Japanese. Intriguingly, both terms are somewhat untranslatable. For Finnish people, ‘Sisu’ is a shorthand for resilience and, as such, has become part of national identity. There is even a liquorice pastille brand named after this aspirational personality trait. Likewise, the Japanese ‘Ganbarō’ is more than what the literal translation ‘let’s do our best’ implies. It means fully committing to a task and seeing things through to the end, against all odds or adversities. The Finnish WWII movie ‘Sisu’ (2023) is set in Nazi-occupied Finland. It is a character study of an ex-soldier who finds gold in Lapland (Northern Finland). He has to overcome hardship to bring his loot home. 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 277 <?page no="278"?> Discuss in small groups: • What is quintessential ‘masculinity’ in your country? • Is there a word for such idealised masculinity? • How is a ‘hero’ portrayed in your country? Can you give examples from popular culture, mythologies, or advertising? Language Language, too, is a wonderful guide to exploring social reality. According to Sapir (1921), language is more than a mechanism that helps us transmit information. Instead, language and perception intermingle. That is, the way we use language (including but not limited to words, grammar, writing system, sounds, and semantic structures) maps our realities. Crucially, through language, every society (and everyone within it) creates its own distinct way of seeing the world. Accordingly, no two languages and, by extension, no two perceptions of reality are the same. This insight subsequently turned into the ‘Hypothesis of Linguistic Relativity,’ or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This theory suggests that language influences, in a broader sense, or even determines, in a narrower sense, thought. The former ‘linguistic influence’ interpretation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis would suggest that though patterns of language may affect our worldviews, we are not confined to or entrapped in them. Most of us can make sense of experiences even if these words or concepts are, at first blush, alien to us in our mother tongue. The latter and stricter ‘linguistic determinism’ interpretation of the same hypothesis would assume people cannot help but operate within the confines of their own language and the inner compass it provides. As long as concepts or ideas do not exist in our language, we are incapable of making sense of alien concepts or ideas. We can find evidence for both lines of argument. In Chapter 1, I offered a list of Vietnamese vocabulary words representing the word ‘I’ in English. Native speakers use specific references to themselves (i.e. the Western ‘I’) depending on the situation and the person involved in an exchange. For instance, they would use a different first-person subject pronoun when talking to younger than they would in the presence of more senior people. We find similar patterns of more nuanced vocabularies express‐ ing relationships in many Asian languages, such as Japanese or Chinese. Arguably, the strong Confucian influence in these societies would help to explain the more expansive and sensitive usage of vocabularies and grammatical structures surrounding interpersonal relationships. This philosophy knows five fundamental relationships (namely between ruler and subject, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend). Each member must have a firm understanding their position for a society to run smoothly. The Japanese metaphor ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered in’ ( 出る釘は打たれる , ‘Deru kui ha utareru’) says as much: People do not exist independently. Egoism and selfishness will invariably be sanctioned. Siding 278 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="279"?> with the ‘linguistic influence’ interpretation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, I would argue that even if we do not speak an Asian language, most of us will be able to grasp such conceptual differences. Think About: Korean Terms for ‘Blue’ • 푸른 (Pureun)---Blue • 파란색 (Paran-saek) - Blue (colour) • 푸른색 (Pureun-saek) - Blue (colour) • 푸르스름한 (Pureuseurumhan)---Bluish • 파랗다 (Parat-ta)---Blue • 푸르스름하다 (Pureuseurumhada)---Bluish • 푸르다 (Pureuda) - Bluish • 희푸르다 (Hui-Pureuda) - White bluish • 시푸르다 (Si-Pureuda) - Dark bluish Judging by the number of words for the word ‘blue,’ there is quite a nuanced understanding of this colour scheme in the Korean language. Discuss in small groups: • How is ‘blue’ framed in your language? • Do you have similar extended world fields for this colour? • Are there idioms containing the word ‘blue’? The ‘linguistic determinism’ interpretation posits that different language use makes for different world perceptions. How people from different cultures experience colour is a case in point. Different seeing patterns are less about physiological makeups (un‐ less, of course, the distribution of retina cells results in vision deficiencies) but about the way our brain makes sense of colour patterns, hues, shades and so forth. Language and its colour vocabularies, then, give us clues about what to make of our environment and how to perceive visible spectrums (Goldstone, 1994). In a series of experiments, he shows that categorial perception, the way people organise their perceptual world, is both innate and learned. While the perception of primary colours appears to be neu‐ rophysiologically universal, colour combinations such as green-blue are not. We tend to label such colour boundaries in line with our practised speech patterns (Harnad, 1987). In other words, if the way we categorise certain colour schemes is learned, then language will play a crucial role in how we recognise and judge colours in our everyday lives. Although most languages and cultural groups know primary colours, their spec‐ trums and saturation are sliced up differently. For example, the distinction between colours is not as fixed in many cultural groups as it would be in the English language. In Chinese, the term ‘Qing’ ( 靑 ) refers to both green and blue. The Russian language does not know a generic term for blue. Instead, Russian speakers would automatically 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 279 <?page no="280"?> differentiate between light blue (голубой, Goluboy) and dark blue (синий, Siniy). In classic Arabic, the sky would be labelled as Al-khaḍrā’ (ءارـــــضخلا), or green. In Japan (Nihon, literally, the ‘rising sun’), many would label the colour of the sun as red 赤 , Akai). This specific perception of the sun may come from mythology (the Sun god Amaterasu Okami), history (the Japanese flag ‘Hinomaru’ dates back as far as the 7 th century), politics (the red circled banner was used to distinguish Japanese ships from foreign ones), nature (the position of the country related to the equator) or physis (darker eye pigments amongst Asians). Whatever the reason, we can safely assume that language stores some sort of sensation, emotion and experience. These are learned and may vary from culture to culture (for more examples, go to: https: / / en.wikipedia.o rg/ wiki/ Blue-green_distinction_in_language). Think About: Dress Meme In the mid-2010s, a ‘Dress’ image went viral on Facebook. The photograph showed a two-coloured dress. People across the world responded to this meme, leaving comments about what colours they would actually see, either black and blue or white and gold. The best explanation we can give for these viewing differences is that perceptions are situated at the juncture of language and culture. 280 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="281"?> Discuss in small groups: • What colours do you see in the above image? • In your language, how would you label these colours? • What can you find out about the symbology of these colours in your language? • Would you argue that your language ‘influences’ or ‘determines’ the way you see these images? Whichever camp, linguistic ‘influence’ or ‘determination,’ one follows, language appears to embody world views, ranging from basic assumptions to values and core beliefs about appropriate behaviour. Culture is language. And language is culture. We store our cultural experiences and expectations in language. This relationship between language, experiences and expectations is sometimes obvious and sometimes not so much. But studying a language can turn into a treasure trove of hidden worlds. Here are some aspects that should get you started to unearth what exactly motivates people and how they arrive at a specific behaviour. Vocabulary: A word can mean the world with single words reflecting assumptions and ‘hidden’ world views. The Japanese word ‘Gaikokujin’ (usually abbreviated to the politically less correct ‘Gaijin’) is a combination of two concepts: ‘Gai’ (outside or other) and ‘Jin’ (person). In a relationship-oriented culture like Japan, there is a finely nuanced understanding of who belongs to a group or network and who does not. With Japan being an island, the word ‘Gai’ also comes with geographic notions of everything outside the Japanese archipelago. From this perspective, ‘Gaijin’ (or people from the outside) would mean much more than mere foreignness. It would imply a meaning of outsiders, those who do not belong to the group, or people who cannot credibly think and feel like a Japanese (see also the repercussions in the national sports ‘Sumo’ we explored in Chapter 6 and Holden, 2015). Similarly, the German word ‘Ordnung’ (or order) hints at the fundamental but hidden fabric of German culture (Baur, 2020). Ordnung is a value which goes far beyond its literal meaning of cleanliness in one’s private life. As social glue, the term eschews ideals such as fulfilling obligations, accepting hierarchies, punctuality, and diligence. The word, thus, creeps into colloquialisms. In each case, there is an additional meaning attached. When someone asks, ‘Alles in Ordnung? ’ it is not only about whether you are okay but also about whether your life is in order and not turned upside down by circumstances. Likewise, if you have been entangling yourself with the law, more minor offences would be referred to as ‘Ordnungswidrigkeit,’ an illegal and blamable act against social ordinance crossing social expectations. Untranslatable Words: Some vocabulary is so ingrained in a culture that it becomes untranslatable. The German concept of ‘Gemütlichkeit’ entails much more than its literal English translation of ‘comfort.’ It stands for feelings of humane warmth, balance, serenity or carelessness. There are aspects of nostalgia, familiarity and sociability 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 281 <?page no="282"?> involved, too. Having a coffee and cake with one’s loved ones, especially elderly family members, on a Sunday afternoon would be considered by many as the pinnacle of Gemütlichkeit. Etymologically, Gemütlichkeit is rooted in the Biedermeier, an interim period between the end of the Napoleonic wars (1815) and the German revolutions of 1848. It stands for a peaceful, calm mood in German history marked by escapism or idyllic lifestyles. Although a bit kitschy in today’s terms, it remains a quintessential part of German mentality. In Japan, the term よろしく (Yoroshiku) is used when meeting someone for the first time. Were it a meeting in an Anglophone environment, we would translate it as ‘nice to meet you.’ However, its literal translation is ‘Please do take care of me’ or ‘Please treat me favourably.’ This may raise some eyebrows in people of more individualistic cultures. The Japanese language has many forms and terms that are about relationship building. Yoroshiku can be understood as a wish to get along well in the future. It thus offers a glimpse at the inner social workings of Japanese culture. Value is placed on group, trust and friendship, which can best be achieved in the long run. Greeting rituals echo these preferences for people’s orientation. Explore: Untranslatable Words We often find ourselves lost in translation. Goethe suggested that ‘when trans‐ lating, one must proceed up to the untranslatable; only then one becomes aware of the foreign nation and the foreign tongue.’ Accordingly, here is a list of words. For each, find an approximate definition in English. For other examples, go to https: / / www.bbc.com/ culture/ article/ 20141216-ten-untranslatable-words • Kolay gelsin• Poronkusema • Ailyak • Kalsarikännit • Guanxi • Bricoleur • Hygge • Fernweh • Uitwaaien • Parea Now think about your mother tongue and consider the following question: • Are there hidden words or ideas that do not exist in other languages and would only be understood by your compatriots? Recontextualised Words: Sometimes, translations from one language to the other do not easily travel. Language, its words and grammar, etc., encapsulates ideas about how things are done in a specific culture. There are rarely perfect translations, but if we want to reflect the mental compass of a language, we have to take extra care when communicating across cultures. Sure, this can be an uphill battle for people who do not share the same native language. They then may resort to foreign language learning and use, with all its pitfalls of spontaneous, ad hoc and improvised translations (Holden & Michailova, 2014). Under these circumstances, operating in bridge languages such as English is quite appealing. They may make communication possible between people speaking different languages, but translations are also often imperfect. We must 282 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="283"?> be cautious when words and ideas come with a specific culture-bound meaning and, eventually, take on new meanings in other cultures (Brannen, 2004). Think of the English term ‘bonus.’ It has its linguistic origin in Latin (‘good’) and, in Anglophone cultures, conveys notions of extra pay as a reward. In short, in work contexts, a ‘bonus’ is thought to encourage workers to step up their performance. This word resonates with a specific view of workers: Money disciplines and motivates workers, a principle at the core of, for instance, Taylor’s scientific management. In this line of thinking, such a relationship is particularly strong when people think of themselves as self-reliant and, thus, solely motivated by personal gains (de Montmollin & Tombelaine, 1975). However, there are limitations to implementing performance-based bonus systems in cultures where the group is more important than the individual, also known as more collectivist societies. In countries such as Korea or Japan, concepts of individual merit are practically and linguistically alien. This is why we find the loanwords ‘Boneoseu’ ( 보너스 ) or ‘Boonasu’ ( ボーナス ) to be used in lieu of Korean or Japanese terminology. Crucially, these terms do not mean the same as the original Anglophone usage would suggest. Though companies in both countries experiment with performance-based salary systems, seniority and group continue to matter more than individual merit. Bonusses are commonly pegged to company and not to individual performance. The word might be the same, but the underlying work motivations in Korea and Japan are very different. Foreign firms rooted in individualistic management cultures might find it challenging to influence employees by individualising salaries. In everyday words slumber taken-for-granted beliefs and motivations, but these will need to be re-negotiated when used outside their original context. Think About: How to Implement ‘Kaizen’ In the 1980s, Western observers were in awe of the competitiveness of Japanese companies. Troves of managers and consultants travelled to the likes of Toyota, Honda, and Sony to learn about their secrets of success. They identified ‘Kaizen’ as a deciding organisational philosophy. This they studied and soon imported the concept to their respective countries. Find out about Kaizen and discuss in small groups: • What does the word Kaizen imply? • What is the meaning of Kaizen in organisational contexts? • What makes Kaizen a uniquely Japanese idea? • What does it take to implement Kaizen outside Japan successfully? Grammar: Grammatical structures, as rules of the game of a language, are also a great hunting ground for identifying and decoding motivational repertoires. Especially structures that are available in one language but not in another may hint at fundamental differences in general customs and beliefs. Often, foreign language learners stumble 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 283 <?page no="284"?> over features that do not exist in their own language. Because of its outlandishness, they find it difficult to comprehend and apply such grammatical structures. First, think of the English language itself. Many non-native speakers of English struggle with all its spelling, pronunciation, and grammar exceptions. Arguably, this has to do with the biography of the English language and its ability to absorb ideas from all over the world and make them their own for thousands of years. It is a story of unruliness, openness, and innovation (Bragg, 2003) and offers many insights into many values that native speakers of English may hold dear. Learning English requires a lot of flexibility and openness to change as we move back and forth between our mother tongue and English. Grammatically, one feature of English is its nuanced understanding of time and how it is used. Like German, for instance, English uses three main verb tenses to express things that happened in the past, present and future. What complicates matters, however, is that each of these can take on simple, perfect, continuous, or perfect continuous forms. Each tense and form are again subdivided into finely nuanced patterns and situational uses. The present perfect tense, for instance, applies to actions or events that (i) took place in the past and continue in the present, (ii) took place in the past but are not yet finished, (iii) repeatedly take place between then and now; (iv) have ‘just’ taken place; or (v) are important themselves. Apparently, the English language conceptualises time in quite a unique manner. As in many Western cultures, time is linear; events happen sequentially. However, it is not static but dynamic. Time (and with it we) continuously moves, and events may be distant, close, or ongoing. Sometimes, events can move closer together or further apart. In short, the English language can be very precise about the sometimes synchronous and sometimes asynchronous movements of time and the contexts in which actions and events occur. This can be easily lost on language learners. In terms of motivations, a better understanding of the time systems and structures represented in the English language offers invaluable insights into how to negotiate schedules, deadlines, and so forth. Explore: In-Group Versus Out-Group Many languages, such as English, feature words expressing transactions, such as ‘to give’ or ‘to receive.’ They are, however, mute about the directions involved, for instance, who does something for the sake of others or from whom we receive something. The Japanese language is grammatically more precise. The verbs Ageru and Kureru (to give) add meaning to an action as they clarify who is involved in providing services to whom. So, if I gave a book to my friend ( 私は友 達に本をあげた . Watashi ha tomodachi ni hon wo ageta.), the syntactical feature would make clear that I would do my friend a favour. At the same time, it helps distinguish between in-groups and out-groups. Remember, Japanese society is about showing courtesy and respect, honouring others (and their group) whilst humbling oneself (or my in-group). In other words, the Japanese language can subtly express relationships between those involved in a transaction and points of view surrounding in-group and out-group membership. 284 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="285"?> -te ageru give -te kureru give Uchi ‘Inner Circle’ -te ageru give -te kureru give -te ageru give -te ageru give Soto ‘Outside Circle’ Assuming you are studying the Japanese language, consider the following questions: • Do you think these grammatical features are easy to grasp for non-native speakers? • Are there grammatical features in your mother tongue that are equally terrific in expressing social order? • When looking at this grammatical feature, what can you learn about the fabric of Japanese culture? Proverbs: Handed down from generation to generation, short and witty sayings, too, are great points of departure for learning about a culture’s deeply rooted assumptions, values and beliefs. Though rarely literal, proverbs are part of everyday speech and come with ancestral authority and wisdom. They are instructive in terms of morals and shared experiences of a given society and may aid in understanding what lies beneath people’s behaviour. Some proverbs are thousands of years old without losing their relevance and recognisability. The Sumerian saying, ‘Don’t pick it now; later it will bear fruit,’ is a timeless reminder of the benefits of delaying gratification. Some proverbs hint at universal values. The English ‘The early bird gets the worm,’ the German ‘Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund’ or the Japanese ‘Hayaoki ha sanmon no toku’ ( 早起きは三文の徳 , or ‘there is some financial gain in getting up early’) all advise us that early risers or those who do things immediately will be successful in life. Having said that, more often than not, understanding the historical or geographical context is important, given that language and culture are so deeply intermingled. In German culture, you want someone to ‘Go where the pepper grows’ (Geh hin wo der Pfeffer wächst! ) as an expression of extreme dissatisfaction and, in many ways, conflict behaviour. This German proverb dates back to the Middle Ages. At this time, pepper was an exotic and rare spice which had to be imported from India. So, by wishing someone away to such a far-flung country, you would, metaphorically speaking, no longer need to deal with that person. The idiom ‘fair play’ is a further example of how proverbs can tell us a great deal about a culture, such as essential elements of British culture. First documented in Shakespeare’s work, fair play became widely known in 19 th century England, when and where a more orderly approach to sports superseded 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 285 <?page no="286"?> the rather ruleless and rough recreational activities of the pre-industrial era. Sports emerged as a quintessential part of shaping personality in elite public schools. The ideal of respect for rules, honour, and equality soon inspired how gentlemen should compete: in good spirits and with style (Renson, 2009). Today, principles of fairness are the epitome of English cultural life. The word ‘fair’ is ubiquitous in everyday language and permeates the social and institutional fabric. According to Wierzbicka (2006), its heritage and social meaning make fairness a uniquely Anglophone concept (with few exceptions, such as Germany, which loaned the idea to expand the local concept of Gerechtigkeit). Finally, what about the Chinese proverb ‘The tongue, like a sharp knife, kills without drawing blood’? If you hear this saying, the speaker will probably make the point that words are like weapons. We cannot unsay things. This is why we should be extra careful, especially when talking to those close to us. After all, Chinese culture revolves around relationships (‘Guanxi’). Harmony, obligation and trust hold these personal bonds together. Still, we may want to calculate the costs and rewards of being part of a network. Saying the right thing at the right moment is considered part of facilitating or smoothing successful relationships. Likewise, thoughtlessness (in what we do or say) can stain social connections. Expatriates often miss the subtle mishmash of language use and Chinese culture. Think About: Proverbs in Action Arguably, studying proverbs and their linguistic permutations is a formidable way of tracking down motivations and, thus, understanding why people behave the way they do. Discuss in small groups: • Can you find sayings in your mother tongue that express ○ Practising and learning ○ Relationships ○ Time ○ Power ○ Uncertainty Now, research the origin and context of these sayings • Do they reveal cherished values in your culture? • What could ‘foreigners’ learn about your culture from these proverbs? • How and to what extent do they reflect cultural assessments of common frameworks such as the Hofstede, Schwartz or Trompenaars dimensions? Compounds: Mark Twain once famously noted that the German compounds are like ‘alphabetic processions … marching majestically across the page.’ In venting his frus‐ tration with learning German, he points to a structural sub-facet of languages that can 286 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="287"?> combine words to create meaning. While this is possible in many languages, including English, German can take this to extremes. As of writing this, the longest-known compound has 63 letters (which somewhat confirms Twain’s lamentation that one can easily get lost when studying German; Connolly, 2013). What is interesting about these ‘tape-worm-words’ is that they can be more than a mere line-up and connection of ideas. They can create entirely new and often surprising meanings. For example, during the 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil, the then-young player Thomas Mueller was coined as a ‘Raumdeuter,’ which roughly translates as ‘space interpreter.’ What is meant by this word creation is that the attacker of the German national team had a unique understanding of free pitch space and what to make of it. He literally saw the game and space differently than his opponents. And this made him a particular threat to the opposing defence lines. In line with the Sapir-Whorf theory, the German language and its inherent playfulness are not only creative but would help its speakers come to surprising perspectives on the world. The English language, by contrast, has five times more words than the German language (Florian, 2019). Thus, it does not need to rely so much on stringing words together to create meaning. It can build layers over layers of meaning and nuances through skilled use of vocabulary. Non-alphabetic languages such as Japanese may use ideograms to convey meaning. They have emerged from a variety of backgrounds, including primitive pictures of how people experienced their environment, a combination of points in lines for abstract ideas or a combination of ideas (see Figure 23). Each ideogram, then, can be combined to create new meaning. For instance, the combination of ‘new’ (Atarashii) and ‘hearing’ (Kiku) converges into the compound of newspaper (or Shinbun). Research suggests that readings of alphabets and ideograms stimulate different parts of the brain (right versus left hemispheres) (Hatta, 1977). There also appears to be a higher and faster visual discriminability of complex stimuli among Japanese native speakers (and readers) than that of Westerners (Leong & Tamaoka, 1998; Lachmann & van Leeuwen, 2008). Learning ideograms and compounds from an early age appears to make for different interpretations of visual objects. Figure 23: Japanese Pictograms and Their Development Source: Kano, Shimizu, Takenaka, & Ishii, 1990. 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 287 <?page no="288"?> Food What we eat (sense of space), how we prepare it (sense of time), and whom we share it with (sense of others) hold many, perhaps surprising, motivational insights into the life people live. While what and how we eat varies greatly, the international spread of cookery schools, online or otherwise, suggests food preparation to be fundamentally the same across the world. Indeed, the ‘culinary triangle’ divides forms of cooking into three basic categories: Roasting, boiling, and smoking (Lévi-Strauss, 2019). There are techniques, and these can be learned. Cookery schools and their curricula stick faithfully to these three modes that mark nature-to-culture transitions. The focus is on single ingredients, and preparation follows orderly, prescribed manners. Because of such precision and artistry, the French cooking style is highly influential: The hospitality and culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, for instance, offers comprehensive training in French cuisine in more than 20 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Here, 20,000 students of more than 130 different nationalities learn the tricks of the trade to cook to a professional standard. Likewise, French cuisine techniques historically influenced the Osaka-based Tsuji Culinary Institute Group’s educational programme. While recognising the huge varieties of cuisines around the world, the school’s ethos focuses on students’ need to understand the fundamental principles, the core of cooking itself. In this vein, the institute has a campus in Southern France, where students develop French cuisine-making skills, techniques, and values. Although the examples of the two world-renowned cookery schools might teach us nothing about vast variations in culinary cultures, French cooking is undoubtedly a source of authority and leadership - no wonder the Intangible Heritage List by UNESCO acknowledges the exceptional role of French gastronomy. The practices of Le Cordon Bleu and Tsuji Culinary Institute Group do, by extension, show the lingering belief in ‘one best way’ of preparing food. In spite of being on two continents and a geographic distance of 10,000 km, the uniform training suggests a certain psychological dependence on Western ideas. General rules surrounding extensive efforts (e.g., a trip to the market, produce selection), preparation techniques (e.g., knife skills, a procession of steps for building of flavours), or food display (e.g., a succession of courses, presentation of dishes) are usually seen to be the foundation for today’s professional chefs - not only in France but throughout the world. All this begs the question of whether food, in spite of all its culinary variants, is universally understood across cultures. As we grow up, food makes us part of our culture’s spiritual and social worlds. Many of us connect food with warm feelings and nostalgia. Regardless of where we are, food can evoke childhood memories and, thus, tie us to our families and upbringing (Le, 2017). As the common saying goes, we are what we eat. Food is part of who each of us is. For this reason, we would perhaps take visitors out to a restaurant that would offer ‘typical’ local cuisine. We hope that our guests feel welcome and learn about us and our culture through the kitchen window. We do so because national cuisines are passed down from generation to generation and, thus, resist change (Barilla, 2020). Food is set in a complex web of rituals and 288 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="289"?> taboos. Similar to language, food is so close to us, so personal, and so interwoven in our everyday lives that we usually do not think about it too much. We just take it for granted. As we will see, all this makes food, finding it, preparing it, and sharing it, a powerful source of cultural reflection and exploration. For in-class discussions and structure, I have found the distinction between (i) what we eat, (ii) how we prepare food and (iii) with whom we share our meals useful. What We Eat: What we eat resonates with territoriality, relationships with the environment, or, more broadly speaking, our sense of space. It is more than the question of what in our immediate environment is free of risk and nutritional enough to eat. Some geographies are inundated with a richness and variety of ingredients, while others are not. Food can instantly connect us to exotic places. Have a go the next time you eat out or take a cookery lesson at the local adult education centre. Likewise, when living abroad, we can deal with our homesickness through food from home, through eating out, through shopping in diaspora supermarkets, through food that we bring with us from home. There are social and religious norms to consider what food we may find disgusting or what food we may find sinful to consume. Many cultures see in fasting a way to higher spirituality. Historically, food (and eating) has been a recipe for conflict and violence, where to find food and fight over scarce resources. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the schemes of escorted grain transports are a grim reminder of times gone by. More mundanely, siblings may be jealous about and bicker over food. Parents may guide them to communicating, sharing, or forming ties. What we eat is also a matter of group membership, social distinction, and power. In medieval England, the nobility was usually quite well-nourished in spite of the scarcity of resources and limited trade, for peasants’ nourishment and survival depended on what came from farms and what could be foraged. Poaching and hunting on someone else’s ground were severely punished, including the death penalty. The English language reminds us of these class distinctions: Nobility would French use vocabulary such as beef, pork, or mutton, while peasants referred to foodstuff with Anglo-Saxon words such as cow, pig, or chicken. Food and Space Food and Topography • What are staple foods in your home country? How are these connected to your country’s geography? • Is there any food you would find disgusting or inedible? • How important is food consumption in everyday life? Is it celebrated? How so? When you have guests from abroad, is it important to you to introduce them to your culinary culture? Food and Religion • According to the Old Testament, what animals should and shouldn’t we eat? 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 289 <?page no="290"?> • What does the Bible has to say about why it is okay to eat certain animals? • What do other religions believe about food? Food and Group Membership • In your country, what food would be considered prestigious? Why? • Are there meal rituals? • Is there food specifically reserved for public festivities? • Are there perhaps gendered differences in what food is consumed? Food and Intergroup Behaviour • How do you rate your ‘home’ culinary culture? Do you miss food from home when abroad? What do you do about this? • What do you make of food from far-flung places? • How do you see the eating habits of such places? For inspiration, see Barilla, 2020. How We Eat: Charles Darwin famously notes that ‘Man… has discovered the art of making fire, by which hard and stringy roots can be rendered digestible, and poisonous roots or herbs innocuous. This discovery of fire, probably the greatest ever made by man, excepting language, dates from before the dawn of history’ (Darwin, 1871). ‘Fire’ brought about many decisive changes, including the manipulation of food, independence from a locality, and the emergence of social networks. Humankind would no longer need to eat raw ingredients. Fire allowed humankind to be more flexible in where to find food and what it would need to eat to survive. Greater food sources also mean that more members could be fed. With it came the need to communicate and form social ties. French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss famously concluded that the invention of fire ‘made human beings human.’ If fire signals a transition from nature to culture (Barilla, 2020), looking at how people prepare food can reveal differences in cultures across countries or regions. In many ways, the different forms of cooking have to do with what we make of time. The subjective experience of time might range from time being a scarce resource to something plentiful and abundantly available. We might find cultures that seem in a rush when it comes to meal preparation (and consumption). Here, we may find preferences for fast food or ready-made meals. Also, it may be about filling ourselves up quickly so that we can go about our daily work more efficiently. In other cultures, a lot of thought can go into readying ingredients, preparing enjoyable meals and considering their compositions. Slow food is about dedicating time and attention to what we eat. How we make use of time when preparing meals and eating them also varies greatly across cultures. Some cultures might prefer following a preset schedule and sequence food in a specific order (for instance, entrée, main dish, dessert). In contrast, others would eat a variety of dishes simultaneously (typically in shared forms, where various dishes are put in the centre of a table, and 290 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="291"?> each eater would take whatever and whenever they want at their own discretion). In some cultures, it is common to stop work at lunchtime to eat with family and friends. These eating habits lay open fundamental differences in how time is understood, with the organisation (monochronic, time sequences events) on the one hand and flexibility (polychronic: time is less important than the social context) on the other. There is also a lot to learn about a culture’s temporal focus: How and to what extent is the past, present or future emphasised in culinary cultures? In some cultures, food and tradition go hand in hand. They may offer a window into a country’s past. You might find that ancient wit and wisdom are cherished, for instance, when it comes to a deep understanding of what ingredients (say herbs) can do for health or preserving the heritage of certain condiments (and how they are made: Chinese soy sauce making in Fujian dates back almost two and half thousand years). You might find the celebration of food traditions particularly revealing (e.g., China’s eight culinary cultures or French cooking as an art form which can be traced back to the 15 th century). By contrast, some cultures are okay with experimenting or trying out novel ways of food preparation. Taiwan's history of colonisation and migration is not only a melting pot of Chinese culinary traditions. When it comes to food, it is creative and inclusive. The focus of time also matters when it comes to whether we want to focus on the here and now or are concerned about what might happen in the future. In this sense, people might eat for the moment (for instance, to satisfy their needs or simply enjoy food). Or because of worries about weight, health, and so on, people choose to control and regulate what they consume. A balanced diet as a primary way for a long and happy life can also intermingle with spirituality (fasting: eating as a context of knowing God) or auspiciousness (Long Life Noodles or Yī miàn, 伊面 as a symbol of longevity). Finally, what we eat has to do with seasonal cycles. In some cultures, these rhythms are quite marked (and celebrated, for instance, eel season in Japan or asparagus season in Germany); in others, less so. These inevitable changes in nature are a gentle reminder of how monochronic and polychronic understandings of time mix and may perhaps simultaneously occur in culture. With Whom We Eat: Eating can be an extremely important aspect of social life. Family, work, romance, or business all revolve around food. There is a saying in China that ‘When Westerners are happy, they dance. In China, we eat.’ In the same vein, when people meet in China, a common greeting is Chī fàn le ma ( 吃飯了嗎 , or ‘Have you eaten yet? ’). As we have seen above, food and eating are central parts of everyday life in some cultures. Private and professional lives mix. People can spend a lot of time on food. The French business lunch, the Chinese banquette, or the Viennese coffee house visit can easily take hours. 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 291 <?page no="292"?> Food and Time Food and Focus of Time • Are there meals that you would find on the menu cards of most restaurants in your country or region? What are they? Can you find out about their history? • Do you agree with Andy Liaw’s comment, ‘Every meal is a story of history and culture’? • What about home cooking? Are there traditional meals many families would regularly cook? • Would your country be considered open to trying out new flavours or ingredients? Give examples. • Do people give a lot of thought to the nutritional value of what they eat? What about the importance of local produce? • Then and now, was or is food perhaps connected to spiritual life in your country? Food and Economicity of Time • On average, how much time and thought goes into food preparation in your culture? • Are there perhaps meals that take more than a day to cook? What about condiments or ingredients? Is there a culture of long-term refinement? • How popular are fast food restaurants in your country? When it comes to ready-made meals, how large are the local supermarket aisles? • Make a list of stove technologies used in your home country. What do they tell you about time culture? Food and Use of Time • Is there a set sequence and line-up of dishes in a meal? Or are all dishes being brought at the same time? • Are you stressed when you cook for other people? • For a regular home meal, how do you ensure that parts are ready at the same time? • When you think of your childhood, were there fixed mealtimes in your family, say for dinner? Food and Continuity of Time • Are there distinct seasons in your country? Are these reflected in the country’s culinary tradition? • Do you and your family celebrate special occasions? How is this reflected in what and where you eat? 292 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="293"?> • Have food companies tried to establish special days or seasons when to consume their products? • Can you give examples of annual festivals in which food is celebrated in your country? All this can create just the right trust and atmosphere to close a deal or come to an agreement (which would, under those circumstances, only take a few minutes). Other cultures are more pragmatic about food. There is no magic in food consumption. Eating is explicit and about nutrition and intake, no more. With food being a means to an end, people would struggle with the human and relational aspects of eating and drinking. They may even feel nervous about dining with people they do not know or about continuously finding topics to talk about. Likewise, the understanding of food can range from conviviality to solitude. We eat for pleasure and entertainment in more or less large groups, or we do so in privacy, in the confines of our home and with people we feel close to. In so-called ‘peach cultures,’ people are usually soft to strangers. Though smiling, chatting, etc., are common, such signs of friendliness do not necessarily equal friendship. Even if we address each other with the first name, this does not automatically imply any kind of feelings of closeness. Nevertheless, in such societies, it would be okay for people to invite such strangers home and even share food. In so-called coconut societies, by contrast, people are more closed. They tend to be more neutral to outsiders and would be reluctant to invite you home. A shared meal would be considered quite intimate (Meyer, 2014). Fundamentally, with whom and how we wine and dine is a question of how we assess others. Some cultures tend to think of unknown people as favourable (human nature is good), while others tend to approach unfamiliar people more reluctantly (human nature is bad). Explore: Food - Friend or Foe? Historically, assassinations through food poisoning were and are common in many parts of the world. Already, the Romans used food tasters, usually slaves, who would check food safety. In medieval times, the so-called cupbearer (or Mundschenk) had a powerful administrative role at courts across Europe. Even today, it is not uncommon for state representatives to rely on food tasters to prevent harm. In Korea, metal chopsticks are popular. Legend has it that the royal families of days gone by used silver chopsticks to detect poisoning attacks. When in contact with a toxic chemical, the silver changes colour. The assassin would be exposed. 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 293 <?page no="294"?> Photo by Clint Bustrillos on Unsplash Consider the following question: • How do you decice if food is safe to eat? • How do you manage feelings of disgust when you are unsure whether the food offered to you is pleasant or unpleasant? This translates, in less extreme cases, into how we eat. In in-group-orientated cultures, food creates bonds. Family dinners or eating together, in close physical contact, with people close to us is important. All members are equal and may communally share plates. In out-group, independence-oriented cultures, individuals are on their own. Members of such cultures would order their own food, which, in a restaurant, arrives on individual plates. At home, this might imply that family members eat whatever they like best (to the detriment of the cook, who has to prepare various meals or be creative about compositions). Sharing or tasting food from others, especially in public, is frowned upon. Eating as a social event is also quite revealing in terms of power and cultural assumptions of its distribution. We have already learned that food itself is a social marker. But how people eat in groups can also come with prominent power structures: Etiquette of who sits where (e.g., seating orders, head of the table versus round table), who cooks and serves (nurturing versus breadwinning roles), how to present food (importance of fine cutlery or tableware) or what table manners are valued (formal 294 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="295"?> versus informal settings, use of tableware or hands, pre-arranged line up of dishes, plate compositions). A trained eye will see how and to what extent eating practices reflect social order, ranging from steep hierarchies to more egalitarian arrangements. Food and Others Centrality of Food in Everyday Life • In your home culture, how important is having fun? Is food part of living a joyful life? • How and to what extent do work and socializing go hand in hand? What is the role of food at work? • What do you make of breakfast? Is this primarily about nutritional intake (the more, the better), or do you see this as a way of easing yourself into the day? • How often do you eat out? Is eating out an important part of everyday life in your country? • Do you speak and socialise over food? Food as Social Act • Peach or Coconut? How quickly would you invite strangers home for a joint meal? • What does a typical restaurant dinner look like in your country? Who orders? Do you share meals and plates? How do you reflect individual eating preferences? • Are food allergies a big thing in your country? How are they dealt with on social occasions? • When eating out, who pays? • At home, how would you deal with children who do not like or outright refuse some foodstuff ? • Is food an element of social differentiation? Are there food rituals around religions or seasons that bring people together? Food and Etiquette • How and to what extent are table manners and accessories symbols of class differences? • When eating, are there specific seating orders? What do you think you can learn from them? • Are there prescribed table manners in your country? What would be consid‐ ered good or bad etiquette? Are there training courses or perhaps books that teach politeness and manners at the (dinner) table? • How has eating etiquette evolved in your country? Today, is it still okay to eat with your hands? Where? 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 295 <?page no="296"?> • Is eating gendered? Are the prescribed roles in who cooks and prepares meals? If there are patterns, are there occasions when role-taking behaviour is broken? Can you imagine why? Food Makes Culture Tangible: We owe it to the seminal work of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961) to understand culture as a response to fundamental human problems. Within this context, three basic assumptions concerning man’s relationship to and perception of reality stand out: (i) space, (ii) time and (iii) people. We have seen that there is an intuitive correlation between the topic of food and answers to these fundamental dilemmas all societies face. I have just demonstrated that human motivation and the behaviour that flows from it manifests in what we eat (sense of space), how we prepare it (sense of time), and whom we share it with (sense of others). And why should there not be such a connection? Our relationship to food and eating is so central to who we are as a group or as individuals within them that its qualitative exploration could offer an important barometer as to why people behave the way they do. Similar to language, sensitivity to and awareness of the structures and grammar surrounding finding, preparing, and sharing food can, in my eyes, help to unearth ‘hidden’ assumptions and world views. Each culture can be amazingly diverse. A single score on a continuum between extremes (in the tradition of seminal cultural frameworks discussed in Chapter 1) might be useful in grasping fundamental differences between countries. But for all their worth, they are notoriously poor in predicting an individual’s makeup or behaviour (Steenkamp, ter Hofstede, & Wedel, 1999), let alone the rich nuances, various meanings and contradictions within cultures. Arguably, the study of food not only makes cultural dimensions more tangible but deepens and contextualises our understanding of them. Try It: Food and Others Here is an example of how extant cultural dimensions could be explored through a culinary lens to decode mental and motivational maps. Differences in the cognitive styles of East Asians and Westerners are well-known. These differences come in no small part from differences in what one pays attention to: objects or fields. Westerners pay more attention to objects than Asians. On the other hand, Asians attend more to the field than Westerners do. A semiotic analysis of Greek and Chinese art portrays such differences. The Greek artisans would usually focus on individuals and gods, whilst Asian portraits usually show individuals as part of a larger group. Find food adverts and consider the following questions: • How are groups and individuals portrayed? • Are there differences between food adverts from your home country and elsewhere? 296 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="297"?> • What does that tell you, if anything, about individualism and collectivism? Sequencing: What about cooking, then? We can define cooking as the ability to prepare a meal in an orderly, prescribed manner. Recipes break the process down into a clear, systematic progression of planning, preparing, and cooking rules. One step must be executed before the other. Likewise, cooks commonly build flavours by combining ingredients step-by-step, layer after layer. A cohesive dish is the result of such sequencing skills. A delicious meal consists of just the right balance of ingredients and condiments, separately prepared and then jointly arranged on a plate. Although cooked in isolation, the idea is that the culinary experience of the individual building blocks (often in a European context a combination of meat, potatoes, and vegetables) should be greater than its parts. It does not stop there. Linear thinking and, connected to this, a sense of orderliness also show in dining manners. French formal dining, or service à la Française, usually involves a place setting and service order choreography. Courses of various dishes arrive at the table one after the other with the usual sequence of entrée (often soup or salad), followed by the main meal, dessert, and coffee. Adopted from Russia at the beginning of the 19 th century, French dining ‘à la Russe’ is a more extreme form of this particularist approach to presenting and eating food. Here, too, dining involves breaking down the meal into multiple courses, which are sequentially served at the table. However, dining Russian-style means a waiter places one dish at a time before a guest. The sequence of entrées and desserts means that such a multi-course dinner makes for a somewhat compartmentalised dining experience. Great care is taken so guests can pay full attention to each dish, one at a time (e.g., by removing empty plates and cleaning the table between each course). Needless to say, today’s standard 3-course meals are nowhere near the then elaborate dinner events (ranging anywhere from six to fourteen courses) when they were first introduced to France in the mid-19 th century. Nevertheless, the much-reduced format continues to follow the same linear thinking: Regardless of whether in a condensed form or not, of a ‘service à la Russe’ or a ‘service à la Française,’ when eating, there is an appropriate time and place for everything. The interconnectedness of various flavours and dishes is usually a mere afterthought. Building Flavour: What has always been fascinating to me is how intercultural variations affect meal preparation approaches. I know from my daily cooking and experimenting with world cuisines that not only what and how we eat differs vastly, but food preparation and techniques, too. These, by no means, always follow a linear and logical procession of steps as the French practice, one if not ‘the’ West’s great culinary tradition, might suggest. When speaking about dietary traditions in the East, meal preparation, for instance, is neither sequential nor linear, nor is there an emphasis on single and independent ingredients. Instead, cooking is related to the entire context in which ingredients are used, their balance, and the interplay between them and the condiments. Arguably, what French cuisine is in the West, Chinese cuisine is in the 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 297 <?page no="298"?> East. Generally considered comparable in regional influence to that of France, balance and harmony of ingredients are stand-out features of China as one of Asia’s great culinary traditions. Cooking techniques come with an array of characteristics that make their approach decidedly more holistic and interdependent than the Western focus on sequencing specific building blocks. In short, Chinese chefs look at the big picture. Their training follows the belief that all parts of the preparation process - cutting, use of heat and pots, categories of ingredients, the interplay between ingredients and condiments and so forth - are intimately intertwined. Appreciation and understanding of how cooking works can come only through fusion and reference to the impact of all contextual influences. This holistic thinking makes Chinese culinary traditions very different from Western approaches in the way cooks perceive and handle ingredients and condiments and, by extension, build flavour: 入味 (Pinyin: Rùwèi) is one of the famous principles of Chinese cooking. It stands for ‘letting the flavours enter the ingredients.’ Usually, as part of stir-frying, it describes how a combination of herbs and spices is used to season the cooking oil. One heats the oil to a very high temperature to bring out the flavour and essence of the aromatics. Then, the herbs and spices are added, which coat the ingredients together with the now-infused oil. That is, oil is not used as much for transferring heat as part and medium of a fixed sequence of food preparation. Instead, the focus is on the surrounding context and how this ‘field’ becomes part of and adds taste to the ingredients. Next to a more elastic and less linear approach to building flavour, Rùwèi is about interconnectedness and interdependence between the many elements when preparing a meal. Thus, the principles of Chinese cooking are very different from Western ideas of food preparation that treat ingredients as separate and somewhat isolated building blocks. That is not to say that Western cuisine is not concerned with the outcome. On the contrary, here and there, the pinnacle of cooking is the careful balance of ingredients that make up a delicious meal. But the way this is achieved is different. In China, there is broad attention to the whole picture of a meal (and the overlap of ingredients and condiments to make this). Such outcome orientation means that preparation moves from the macro to the micro, with chefs emphasising the interplay of elements rather than the sum of the discrete ingredients. In Western cuisine, there is the tendency to first focus on the attributes of each ingredient and the rules on how to prepare them for the best flavour. Cooking, thus, is a finely orchestrated and sequenced composition of discrete ingredients. To Western chefs, there is one best way to get things done, usually through a step-by-step progression of prescribed cooking processes. In other words, they move from the micro to the macro to build texture and flavours. From this, it follows that different thinking patterns make for very different food preparation principles and cooking experiences. Try This: Biang Biang Noodles are a signature dish from the Shaanxi Province of China and comfort food for many locals then and now. Although the origin of this dish is unclear, it is said to have a history of at least 500 years, perhaps even reaching back as far as the Qin Dynasty (221 to 206 BC). The unofficial character, one of the most complex in the Chinese script, allegedly resembles the region of origin (Xi’an), 298 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="299"?> its interconnectedness with the world (that is, the Silk Road when Shaanxi’s capital was the bridgehead to China), and its food (length of the Silk Road and the shape of noodles). Perhaps less known than Sichuanese cuisine, Shaanxi Chefs are said to be masters of building complex flavours. This traditional and popular noodle dish is primarily about preparing a simple but delicious meal around the main ingredient, i.e. noodles. The name is a syllabic and repetitive onomatopoeia mimicking the sound of dough being slapped against the kitchen surface while pulling the noodles at the same time. Once boiled, these handmade noodles are then coated with chilli oil or 油泼辣 子 (Pinyin: Yóupō làzi). As the name suggests (the Chinese characters literally stand for ‘oil, splashing, chilli’), the coating base comes from pouring high-temperature oil over condiments: cut spring onions, finely chopped garlic and raw chilli flakes. Instead of building flavour by adding these ingredients one after the other to a frying pan (inside-out), the idea here is to bring out the essence of the ingredients. By moving from the macro (oil) to the meso (searing the ingredients simultaneously) and, in turn, to the micro-level (coating of noodles), Chinese-trained chefs do not so much focus primarily on the ingredients and their attributes, nor do they break up the cooking process into sequences and add flavour step by step. Rather, they approach and perceive tasks ‘holistically,’ that is, they pay attention to the relations between the ingredients and their context and prepare a meal from the outside in. Cooking instructions for Biang Biang Noodles can be found in the online resources for this book. Health: The consideration of the many elements' interdependence does not stop with the ingredients and their preparation. In Chinese cuisine, much attention is also paid to the interconnectedness of local climate and food choice. Sichuan, Shaanxi’s neighbouring province to the South, is in the West perhaps best known for its spicy and numbing food (though I hasten to add that Sichuanese food is highly varied in terms of flavour, or as the saying goes: 一菜一格，百菜百味 Pinyin: ‘Yi cai yi ge, bai cai bai wei’ or ‘each dish is different, hundred dishes have hundred different senses of taste’). It is home to the 麻辣味 sensation (Pinyin: Málà) that comes from a combination of Sichuan peppercorns (Má) and dried chillies (Là). Garlic, ginger, scallion, and other spices add to the Málà’s tingly numbness. Crucially, the landlocked Sichuan basin (with the capital Chengdu) has a humid subtropical climate, which, in turn, also affects the preference for spicy food. The basic idea is simple: Spicy food increases our body temperature. Higher body temperatures make us sweat. Sweating cools our bodies off. From this, it follows that there is more to the intuitive correlation between climate and what we eat. Naturally, climate and seasons dictate the availability and production of food. But they can also affect our food choices. An understanding or emphasis of this interplay between climate, food, and body varies across cultures. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), for instance, divides food into five natures (or Siqi, which are based on the Taoist ‘four energies’): cold, cool, neutral, warm, and hot. Clearly, what and how much we eat affects our health, but TCM practitioners see the right balance between body, 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 299 <?page no="300"?> diet, and climate as a key to harmony, longevity, and well-being. Chinese medicine is about keeping our body ‘neutral’; the only way to achieve this is to put us (and our diet) into a larger field of environmental forces. This shifts attention away from ‘me’ to ‘us’ as part of a world in constant flux. According to TCM, our diet must, therefore, mirror these constant changes in season or weather, not least because we are inseparable from our surroundings. Such holistic considerations are on display in the dietary practice in Sichuan: Spicy food here is said to remove bodily dampness, which is seen as a reflection of the local climate on the one hand and a cause of illness and disharmony on the other. Attention to context, connectedness and change is, thus, part and parcel of Asian preparation principles and eating experiences. Cognitive Styles: Perhaps these differences in ‘field-dependent’ and ‘field-indepen‐ dent’ mental maps of cooking should not come as a surprise. The holistic approach of Chinese cuisine and, related to this, the focus on the fusion of the ingredients arguably stands in the tradition of East Asian beliefs in the world ‘as a collection of overlapping and interpenetrating stuffs or substances…’ (Hansen, 1983, p. 30). Such a ‘field-dependent’ orientation means complexities cannot be solved merely by exclusive and close attention to individual components and their attributes. The Asian worldview says that phenomena are best understood by contextual or situational factors and how these interact with objects. Contrast this to the typical Western beliefs in a world consisting of ‘objects which are understood as individuals or particulars which instantiate or ‘have’ properties.’ (Hansen, 1983, p. 30). Following in the footsteps of Greek philosophers, managing complexities is thought to be possible through rigorous analysis, that is, breaking a complex topic down into its components and, in doing so, working back to what is fundamental. ‘Field-independent’ orientations, thus, come with the belief that the best way to understand phenomena is to isolate objects from their environment. 300 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="301"?> Think About: Cognitive Differences Please have a look at the three objects below. Identify the pair of objects that belong together. • Why do you reason the two objects belong together? • In the original experiment pictures such as these were presented to American and Chinese children. The American children chose the chicken and the cow. They reasoned that ‘both are animals.’ By contrast, the Chinese children selected the cow and the grass. They reasoned that ‘the cow eats the grass.’ Can you explain these differences in terms of field-dependent’ and ‘field-independent’ mental maps? Exercise adapted from Chiu, 1972; further examples can be found in Nisbett & Masuda 2003. Differences in attention to the field or to the object often generate surprise and curi‐ osity. After all, they challenge cherished beliefs about how things are seen and done! Take, for example, a presumably universal principle of mathematics: Multiplication. The standard method, written multiplication, is being taught at schools across the world. Usually, numbers are treated field independently; that is, they are treated for their properties and, based on this, then worked forward. Let’s look at multiplying the numbers 32 and 12: (i) two numbers are written next to each other, and a multiplication sign is written between them. Then we draw a line underneath ; (ii) next, the first number is multiplied by the first digit of the second factor: 32 · 1 = 32. The 32 is written under the 1. We do the same for the last digit: 32 · 2 = 64. This number is written under the 2; (iii) And now we add, digit by digit, from back to front: 3 + 0 = 3; 2 + 6 = 8 and 0 + 4 = 4. So: 32 · 12 = 384. No question, this field-independent way of multiplication works, but performing this kind of arithmetic operation is error-prone. Especially when multiplying numbers of higher order, we easily make mistakes. A much more pragmatic multiplication method comes from a field-dependent culture: Japan. Instead of multiplying all digits step by step and then adding the results, one substitutes numbers with lines. In our example, (i) we draw three straight lines diagonally; (ii) the next digit is 2. We leave space to draw a further two straight lines parallel to the first set of lines; (iii)The multiplier is 10.1 Largely Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes 301 <?page no="302"?> 12. So, we draw one line at a right angle from the other two sets of lines. And parallel to this, two lines at the other end; (iv) next we focus on the three zones where the lines cross, each representing a digit position (hundreds, tens, units); (v) these intersections we simply count (see Figure 24); So: 3, 8, 4 = 384. 3 4 8 Figure 24: Pictorial Multiplication 10.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership In the last chapter, we learned that motivational processes are central to why people behave as they do. We may stumble over culture bumps, but identifying their root cause is complex. In other words, differences in behaviour are observable (to the trained eye) and, thus, easy to detect, but their causes are cloudy. Extant frameworks are, in my eyes, only screens and mirrors that stand in the way of a much deeper understanding of cultural differences. Archetypes, language, and food are great ways to approximate and contextualise what drives people of different backgrounds to display certain types of behaviour. What we can be sure of is that cultures sense, feel, and reason very differently. That being the case, we should finetune our ways of communication in line with interlocutor expectations. As we have just seen, one of the more notorious differences in sense-making of our environment is ‘field-dependent’ vis-à-vis ‘field-independent’ mental map-making. Meyer (2014) translates these fundamentally different forms of reasoning into three motivational processes: (i) principles first, or deductive reason‐ ing, in which general principles are developed first and then applied to day-to-day issues (top-down); (ii) applications first, or inductive reasoning, in which solutions 302 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="303"?> to day-to-day issues take priority of developing general principles (bottom-up); (iii) holistic reasoning, in which the context matters more than the individual pieces making up an overall issue. These very different principles call for very different forms of persuasion. While principles-first cultures demand more or less complex arguments that offer guidance for dealing with practical issues, applications-first cul‐ tures approach issues without such heavy theoretical baggage. For them, pragmatism rules. People from these cultures would prefer a pragmatic look at the nuts and bolts of an issue. Finally, holistic reasoning moves from the macro to the micro. As all is interconnected, isolating and looking at one aspect independently would be impossible. Under holistic conditions, direct persuasion attempts, in which a logical argument is built step-by-step, do not make a lot of sense. The assumption is that such arguments miss out on major interlinkages. Exercise: Give a Persuasive Presentation Your task is to present a concern from your professional life that is dear to you. You have two minutes to convince a group of people of your idea. You may find the slightly adapted version of ‘Monroe’s Motivated Sequence’ or persuasive presentations useful (Figure 25): Get their Attention: People are bombarded with messages throughout the day. Capturing your audience’s attention is, thus, paramount. You have to be clear about what you want to say and how this meets the expectations of the people listening to you. Begin with an observation, a snippet from today’s newspaper, or your own experiences with an issue. Deliver this theme in such ways that the audience wants to learn more about it. Name the Problem: Whatever the topic, you now need to make clear what, in your eyes, the key challenge, problem or goal is: something that needs our attention and, subsequently, action. Perhaps you need to help your audience realise that an issue needs tackling. Or your audience is well aware of the said issue, and you preach to the converted. In this second phase of your speech, making the challenge or problem relevant to your listeners is crucial. Remember, do not blame anyone. Name Your Solution: From here, it is only a small step to present your solution to the problem. Be as vivid as possible and explain to the audience what is in it for them should they follow your line of thought. Convey your ideas in ways that are easy to understand. Be aware, however, that people feel change is often complicated and tiresome. Naturally, your audience will want to resist your calls for action. Hence, you want to pre-empt any potential concerns, for instance, by acknowledging previous attempts or data supporting your solution. Use phrases that would soften the blow sparingly, such as ‘perhaps’ or ‘it could be.’ Visualise the Results: Bruce Springsteen once noted: ‘Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard.’ You now need to make clear in detail what is in it for your audience if they follow and adopt your ideas. Ideally, you should 10.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 303 <?page no="304"?> pitch your ideas in a way that your ideas come across as innovative but not dramatically new. That is, they are consistent with your audience’s core beliefs and aspirations. Real change is not required of them. Call to Arms: Reinforce your ideas and wrap up your speech with an ask. This final part of your speech should spell out what you would like your listeners to do. You have to be unambiguous about how they can make your ideas happen. Do not sandwich your call to arms between the lines but be very direct about your demands. As the saying goes, brevity is the soul of wit; do not be verbose. Lay out your demand in concise and straightforward terms. Attention • Create interest • Encourage listening Problem • Make the issue relevant • Do not blame Solution • Spell out your idea • Be vivid • Pre-empt resistance Results • Do not upset • Tap into audience beliefs Call to Arms • Reinforce your idea • Be brief • Be clear • Be simple Figure 25: Steps for Giving a Convincing Presentation You may find this practical example useful when crafting your presentation: htt ps: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=H3aWbte8DxU Do not underestimate the need for preparation (for any kind of communication). When it comes to effective presentations, there are only a few masters who have fallen from the sky. So, take your time (about 15 minutes). Now, present your speech (2 minutes) in front of a group. Before starting your talk, explain to your audience the context in which your presentation is set. Be as realistic as possible when recreating a setting from your work (e.g., would you sit in a circle or use theatre seating? ). An excellent way to get a feel for how you come across is to have your speech video-recorded. This will help you reflect on how you did in this exercise. Additionally, you can ask your audience for feedback. Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? Hidden Roots of Motivational Processes Motivational theories aim to answer questions concerning the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of human behaviour. Their extension and application across cultures require, however, careful consideration. Cultures vary greatly in values, norms, and beliefs. Motivations, therefore, come in a myriad of forms and shapes. What motivates people in one cultural context is unlikely to encourage people elsewhere. At the same time, intercultural leaders must unlock factors that drive employee behaviour. Extant frameworks are far too abstract to provide practical guidance for why people take action, exert effort, or pursue goals (perhaps even in the face of setbacks). Obviously, they cannot just ask employees what motivates them. If they 304 10 Culture & Fantastic Ways Where to Find It <?page no="305"?> do, they are likely to get half-cooked answers anyway (many of our motivations, especially those embedded in our cultural background, are hidden and almost impossible to talk about). We have, thus, to look for alternative ways to get closer to underlying, hard-to-talk-about but taken-for-granted assumptions. Archetypes (and their semiotics), language, and food are potential keys that might very well help us unlock motivational forces. Their quality and richness allow a deeper connection and comprehension of people’s worldviews. Archetypes According to Carl Jung, archetypes are universal and persistent themes shared by human beings across the world. When they surface, they may look different from culture to culture, but they transcend human experiences and memories. Their universal meanings make them particularly interesting for understanding and interpreting motivational forces. By tapping into archetypal symbols and comparing how they emerge across cultures, we can uncover more profound layers of beliefs and values that shape an individual’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. Language The study of language gives us intimate clues about a culture’s values, norms and beliefs. Through language, every society (and everyone within it) initiates and sustains its own distinct way of interpreting the world. Its syntax (word order and grammar), semantics (meaning), phonetics (sound) and pragmatics (social context) contain deep common meanings and experiences. Hence, learning a language is much more than acquiring skills to communicate and interact with those who may not share our cultural background. It opens the doors to the cultural fabric of a society. Understanding the signs, symbols and experiences embedded in a language provides rich insights into why individuals act in specific ways. Food The study of food is a more playful (and perhaps a very delightful) way of exploring other cultures. What we eat (sense of space), how we prepare it (sense of time), and whom we share it with (sense of others) provide invaluable insights into the underlying forces driving people’s actions. Similar to language, food is a mirror of a culture’s spiritual and social worlds. It is intricately intertwined with society’s geography, history, and religion. It is, thus, a great lens through which to explore cultural identities, most notably daily practices and routines, social and religious activities, or beliefs about health and well-being. Crucially, food makes culture tangible. Cooking and eating food from another culture can trigger reflective processes. 10.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 305 <?page no="307"?> 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence Opening Vignette Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur Photo by bloodua on istockphoto Catalina is very thoughtful. She has an important, perhaps career-defining choice to make. Her company, a manufacturer in the packaging and recycling industry, is reorganising how it wants to serve its global customers. It will fine-slice its global operations into a network of regional headquarters. These will be located in the lead markets of North America, Europe, China, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Each will have a bridge function between local subsidiaries and the Spanish headquarters. As part of the organisational reshuffle, the firm has management positions to fill and is offering Catalina an executive role in Kuala Lumpur. Should she be offered the job, Catalina is to oversee the firm’s Southeast Asian business. The region is, of course, huge, and the post will come with frequent travel across ASEAN, where the firm has representative offices in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The job holder needs to promote sound and effective communication both within the network and with the local customers and stakeholders. With more than 400 employees spread across the Southeast Asian subsidiaries, the role’s responsibilities are substantial. With <?page no="308"?> circular economy goals on everyone’s lips, Catalina would also need to oversee the firm’s recycling initiatives in the region. Should Catalina throw her hat into the ring and apply for this role? She reckons that her chances were not bad. She has worked for her employer for over 15 years and has substantial experience managing multicultural teams. Indeed, she has already been seconded to East Asia in the past. As a major in Asian Studies, her first job was that of a project manager in Korea. During her three-year stint, she earned recognition for her ability to connect and collaborate with local business partners. These experiences then qualified for her next major role in East Asia. She had her first executive role in China and successfully helped set up the firm’s first factory outside Europe. After her return to Spain, she was tasked with managing the Asian operations at arm’s length. Her team was the headquarters hub where all strings for doing business in Asia came together. In short, jobwise, Catalina has all the credentials to fill the criteria the company is looking for in the person who would take up the executive post in Malaysia. She feels the new job has her name written all over it. Nevertheless, she hesitates. Yes, she is certainly a career-oriented woman. And she certainly has a knack for Asia, its people and cultures. She is intrigued by the Eastern way of doing things and has always brought about opportunities to learn more about this fascinating part of the world. She cherishes travel opportunities to Asia, is a keen cook of Asian cuisines and speaks Korean (and some Chinese). But the decision Catalina has to make is a difficult one for all career expats. After the many years she spent abroad, she has just managed to settle back in her home country. Her children are going to a local Spanish school, and after a bumpy start, they are now doing reasonably well in class and made friends. A move to Kuala Lumpur would come with all the ups and downs of uprooting them again and placing them in an alien environment, including international schools, expat communities and so forth. For Catalina, taking up the role would be professionally and financially rewarding. As one of five regional directors, she would have a considerable say in the firm’s direction. At the same time, she is also quite aware of the extra pressures that come with such a secondment. She would need to find ways of balancing the Asian regions’ sentiments with the parent company’s strategies. Living abroad means mental stress, which comes with adapting to living in a foreign culture. Her experience taught her that learning a local language is the best way to build constructive relationships on the ground. Her Korean and Chinese skills had served her well during her earlier career stations. But does she still have it in her to learn a third Asian language? She is thrilled with the prospect of a deep dive into a new culture, but polishing her intercultural management skills would take a substantial chunk of time out of her already over-boarding schedule. She worries that she would not get very far if she could not convince herself that she could go all in with this new post. 308 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="309"?> Critical Thinking: When abroad, especially in countries very different from your home culture, you will likely face many tensions, uncertainties, and contradictions. Think of situations in which you encountered people from other countries and cultural backgrounds. • In which situations did you feel really challenged? • What do you think was the role of motivation in overcoming such challenges? Can you give examples? • What was a typical linguistic pattern (‘I want to achieve x,’ ‘I prefer y’) you used at the time and in this specific moment? • In which situations does intercultural competence show (in professional and private life)? Next, zoom into one of these situations. Now, spotlight the skills and experiences you consider personal strengths and weaknesses in this intercultural situation. My strengths are: My weaknesses are: How did these potentially contribute to your competence in dealing with situa‐ tions that involve people from other cultures? The construct of intercultural competence is closely linked to motivation. Simply put, if we are not interested in learning about other cultures, seeking variety in people or situations, and reflecting on ourselves, any intercultural encounters are doomed from the get-go. A good dose of curiosity for the unfamiliar and a desire for its discovery are key to building competence, which will eventually help us to function effectively across cultures. These drives determine the general direction of our behaviour. A ping-pong between emotional and cognitive processes makes us either turn to or turn away from intercultural encounters. Motivations might be intrinsic or extrinsic: For example, life and living in East Asia appeals to us. We, therefore, may try, consciously or unconsciously, to bring about situations that enable positive emotional experiences, say meeting people from Shanghai, Taipei, or Seoul. We become Manga buffs or may even feel compelled to study an Asian language. As part of our degree programme, we choose an East Asian university for our year abroad or, later, when working, apply for jobs in these countries. In short, intrinsic motivation can turn intercultural engagement into a lifelong and evolving learning opportunity. The effects of extrinsic motivation may look quite similar to the outside observer but work differently. Emotional and cognitive processes tilt towards reward thinking and, based on this, careful interpretations of how to best reach goals such as money, prestige, or professional success. To stay with our example, Asia is widely considered the economic and political powerhouse of the 21 st century. Many firms are strengthening their presence in North-East and Southeast Asia. In this light, it might be a smart choice to study an Asian language or get acquainted with the socio-economic settings of this continent. You would hope that 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence 309 <?page no="310"?> developing region-specific attitudes, knowledge and skills make you look attractive to potential employers. You reason that such intercultural competencies give your career a promising spin. 11.1 Motivation as a Source for Developing Intercultural Abilities and Capacities Indeed, a useful starting point for considering motivations for intercultural skills-up is what companies want and are looking for in candidates and employees. Although complex and multifaceted in detail, employer surveys consistently point to communi‐ cation skills and international experiences as a must for professional and organisational success (e.g., Nesta, 2022; Zety, 2022). No wonder! Previously, business communication was face-to-face and was primarily done in our mother tongue. Today, business communication is different. Cyberspace bridges time and space. We can connect with anyone, anywhere in the world, at the touch of our fingertips. The reach, speed and instantaneousness of the internet mean extra challenges for us. As we flit around from one corner of the globe to the other, we get in touch with people from all walks of life and very different ways of doing things. According to a recent QS Global Employer Survey Report, 60 % of employers around the world value international student experience, whilst 80 % of the same firms seek graduates who have studied abroad. By the same token, the chances of landing a job in an internationally operating firm are not bad: Fortune 100 companies have considerably increased their inclusiveness. Foreigners in top positions are today the new normal (1980: 2 %. 2011: 11 %). In 2008, Peter Loescher, then CEO of multinational Siemens, observed, ‘Our 600 top managers are predominantly white German men. We are too one-dimensional’ (Apfel & Löhr, 2008). German companies appear to have heeded his concerns for more inclusivity. Today, 80 % of top managers have international experience (Davoine & Schmid, 2022). Without intercultural competence, which I here define as the ability to think, act, and communicate effectively and appropriately across cultures (Leung, Ang, & Tan, 2014), organisations are nothing. This is why ‘social skills, strong communication skills and flexibility, as well as motivation and initiative, are decisive factors,’ say Cavadini and Lierow of Oliver Wyman (2023). One of the effects of this is that poor intercultural skills can make us look stupider, less likeable, and less professional than we are. Perhaps Catalina, in our opening vignette, has a point: We need to permanently cultivate how we talk and walk across cultures. And the more curious we are, the more likely we are to successfully build bridges with people of different backgrounds. To do so, however, we should have a good and honest understanding of where we are coming from and what truly motivates us. Intercultural interactions can be great adventures. Apart from being personally awarding, international experiences can boost one’s professional panache. Work might take us to far-away places, where we can explore new food, meet new people, and broaden our horizons. Going places makes us jump into action, switch off our autopilot 310 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="311"?> and break with our routines. In whatever capacity (working abroad, as part of a multicultural team, or for a foreign company at home), international experiences brush up one’s skill set, sometimes tangible, sometimes intangible. When spending intercultural time, a healthy curiosity can improve one’s expertise in all sorts of ways: Communication skills, foreign language skills, and social skills. Looking outward, we learn (perhaps sometimes the hard way) how to resolve disruptions, such as dealing with different interests, conflicts, networking, and all this under difficult conditions. Looking inward, we might be motivated to recognise our own behavioural patterns. Self-reflection can set us on route to more appropriateness in the way we interact with others (Table 13). It is also assumed to be good for one’s self-confidence because it offers opportunities to gain a sense that one can do even surprising or unexpected things one thought impossible. The bottom line is that there is a sense of adventure when working across cultures, which many find exciting. Improved Communication Skills • Linguistic accommodation • Presencing and observing the world around us • Stress communication and feed‐ back-giving • Clear ego-messages • Authenticity Improved Social Skills • Dealing with different opinions or dif‐ ferent ways of doing things • Networking under tough conditions • Rapport building (trust & understand‐ ing) • Respect and appropriateness Foreign Language Skills • Polishing our (Business) English • Learn a new language • Improve knowledge of our own lan‐ guage • Non-verbal behaviour • Appreciation for local customs and tra‐ ditions Improved Self-reflective Skills • Scrutinising our own beliefs and as‐ sumptions • Prejudice and past experiences • Ability to emphasise • Problem and stress-solving • Collaborative, nonviolent dialogue Table 13: Intercultural Encounters and Areas of Skilling-Up Global leadership ‘involves new worldviews, mindsets, perceptual acumen and per‐ spectives that simply do not exist within people who have not gone through a series of experiences in a global context’ (Mendenhall, 2013). Naturally, such learning journeys differ from person to person and from motivation to motivation. It certainly matters where, how and with what purpose we spend time abroad. And whatever our choices are, there are underlying motivations. Location Though often overlooked, where we spend time can intensify intercultural learnings. Crass differences require significant scrutiny and thus inspire steep learning curves. Where have I gathered abroad experiences? Has the new environment, its culture and 11.1 Motivation as a Source for Developing Intercultural Abilities and Capacities 311 <?page no="312"?> language been very different from home, or was it quite similar with no major upsets? How open was the host culture to sojourners? Was it easy to hook up and meet new people or difficult? Were you living in a major conurbation area? Or did you have the chance to stay in a more remote location with fewer chances of meeting ‘foreigners’ such as yourself ? Was returning home easy to organise because it was geographically not that far away? Or could I travel home only every other year because the costs were considerable? Remember: The absolute cultural profile of a host community says nothing about the experiences sojourners will have. Rather, the differences between the host and home cultures are what matters. Say a host country’s high power distance score (e.g., Hofstede scores for Malaysia or the Philippines) matters particularly to people from countries with relatively low power distance scores. For instance, people from Austria or Israel would grapple much more with steep hierarchies or social inequalities that usually come with high power distant countries than people from middle-scoring countries such as Chile or Spain. Length As a rule of thumb, the longer an abroad stay, the more likely the necessity of interacting with people from other cultures, and the higher the chance of honing one’s intercultural competence skills. While even a short, 3-months stay as part of a student exchange can be highly influential for developing intercultural competence (Wolff & Borzikowsky, 2018), stays longer than that can truly foster global mindsets: Develop the ability to live with and embrace contradiction, manage tensions emerging from cultural differences or forge common ground (Chen & van Velsor, 1996). In my personal experience, I find that after 2 to 3 years of staying abroad, many people are confronted with the question of whether to move on to new pastures, return home, or stay. Friendships from home fade, and they may now have settled well into their jobs. Thus, they may feel less and less inclined to leave behind their now established network of friends and financial security. It is not uncommon for firms to seek such deep bi-cultural expertise (that of the home culture and that of the country of residency). Purpose There are various reasons for people to venture abroad. They may do so out of necessity (refugees) or to find education, work or better living conditions (migrants). Under these circumstances, when there is a clear need and support infrastructure in place, the motivation to settle, learn the local language, and integrate into the labour market can be very high (Brücker et al., 2019). Language studies students are another group of sojourners who do well in integrating and learning local ways of doing things. Their love for a land and its people (or, not unlikely, for their partner from this country) makes them very energetic to join and full-heartedly embrace the local community. Expats, by definition, also live for a time outside their home country, but they often do so as 312 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="313"?> part of overseas assignments. Expatriation contracts are not only financially lucrative (e.g., better pay and tax benefits) but, in many cases, come with relocation packages (e.g., schooling and residence) for the time of the assignment. Their contact with the local community can be high or low, but the purpose of their stay is different and perhaps more instrumental or professional than that of the language studies students. Due to their usually short stays, tourists are unlikely to be all too deeply exposed to local cultures. For them, there is less need for acculturative efforts similar to that of refugees, migrants, and sojourners. 11.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation One of the takeaways of distinguishing between location, length, and purpose of stay is that there is some form of correlation between motivation and intercultural learning. The degree to which we are prepared to engage with an alien culture intuitively connects with how motivated we are. If we have little interest in people from other cultures or rather want to play it safe (and do not want to experience the discomfort that comes with living abroad), we are unlikely to be prepared to embark on a learning journey about ourselves and others. The question then becomes, what makes us seek out opportunities that enable international experience in the first place? According to Dornyei (1990), we can distinguish two main motives for engaging and fostering relationships with people from other cultures: (i) we might want to engage deeply or perhaps even learn a second language for very pragmatic reasons. Because of extrinsic benefits, a deep understanding and knowledge of a culture is a means to an end. Or (ii) we feel some emotional bond to a country and its people. Our intrinsic motivation pushes us to learn as much as we can about them so that we understand as best as we possibly can how to make good contact, create rapport and build relationships. Instrumental (Extrinsic) Motivation A sound knowledge of the local business environment through intercultural and (some) language training is certainly helpful in getting the job done. We may hope that learning about local assumptions and beliefs would contribute to our local posture and professional efficiency. Even a sole focus on applied and usable knowledge as a nod to local business customs can go a long way. We may assume that people from the host business community will appreciate such adaptation efforts. Instrumental reasoning often mixes with self-interest and opportunistic behaviour. Together, they make you engage in intercultural encounters not so much because you enjoy it but because you expect certain benefits to flow from your efforts. From this perspective, the individual culture is perhaps less important than our ability to simultaneously work with and learn from people of many cultures. 11.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 313 <?page no="314"?> Integrative (Intrinsic) Motivation Learning about local assumptions and beliefs may come from a genuine interest in the culture of our country of residence. Skill development is not only for professional purposes or employer considerations but also as a springboard to social interaction and blending into local communities. We are curious about local customs beyond those of our immediate work environment. Extensive local travel helps us get to know the country and its people better and better. We are intellectually curious about local art, religious festivals, sports, and cultural events. Our second language and communicative abilities are relatively advanced. We aspire to proficiency levels that allow us to function fully in professional and real-life situations. These help us build extensive social networks. We may have romantic relationships or even be married to someone local. Integration into kinship groups It is often difficult to separate instrumental and integrative motivations for intercul‐ tural engagement. Although people pursue both goals, they usually lean towards one more than the other. They are, thus, either task-oriented or relationship-oriented. Think About: Language and Intercultural Training Half a Century Ago In the world of business, motivations to learn about other cultures and their people ‘now’ are not that dissimilar to those hundreds of years ago (Horn & Holden, 2018). Here, the Augsburg merchant Marx Pfister looks back on his extensive language training as a young apprentice: ‘But when I had been two years with my preceptor, my beloved late father had seen fit and good that I learn foreign languages in my youth, wherefore he sent me with my cousin Hans Pfister to Italy, to Venice, and engaged me with a pious trusted man, named Daniel Doler, with whom I had been for two years, fairly grasping the Italian language, and returned home. Further, having now mastered the Italian language, my dear father sent me with Marx Lauginger to Lyon in France, where I was engaged in the household of one Claudi Clauel, for learning and discipline, and during the same time I learned and saw so much that to this day I have to thank my beloved late father for it, where I stayed for three years. From there, I traveled for the love of languages to Spain, and there in the city of Sangosta [Saragossa'], came to a good man named Guarillart de Gioires, with whom I also grasped the Spanish language in two years, so that I have become fluent in three foreign languages, Italian, French, and Spanish’ Marx Pfister (1550) cited in Glück, Haeberlein, & Schroeder, 2013, p. 56 (original text in German). The autobiographical evidence tell us quite a lot about the reasoning behind the language learning of merchants in medieval Europe. Consider the following questions: • What languages did he study? • Why and where did he study? At about what age did Max Pfister do so? • Seen from today, how intensive do you think these studies were? 314 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="315"?> • Was his motivation primarily instrumental or primarily integrative? • How good was his proficiency? • By today’s standards, how ‘modern’ do you think were his efforts in linguistic and intercultural learning? 11.3 The Importance of Self-Worth Realisations of differences, acceptance of and learning from other cultural frames of reference are central elements of intercultural encounters. The work of Satir was built on two iron rules: (i) Changes are good because they are part of life, and (ii) Change opens up decision paths that could never be found by clinging to the status quo. How we experience change and manage ourselves through it depends to a large extent on our self-worth, which she defined as ‘the ability to value one’s self and to treat oneself with dignity, love, and reality’ (Satir, 1988: p. 22). High levels of self-worth lead to openness to change, whilst low levels of self-worth lead to negative outlooks. Expectations of deceit result in a negative assessment of change (for a summary of Satir’s reasoning, see Plate, 2021). In this light, self-worth turns into the very foundation of motivation, including that for intercultural engagement. How we see ourselves and others is important for how we approach situations involving people and situations unknown to us. A positive sense of self extends to a more open, harmonious, and trusting relationship with our intercultural environment. A negative sense of self dents such motivations. Our intercultural environment appears threatening. We tend to engage in self-protective ways of dealing with differences and change. Our motivations for and expectations of our environment turn into predominantly positive behaviour or predominantly negative behaviour. What others see us do is thus only a small part of what is happening below the surface. Our tendencies to seek out and live intercultural encounters fundamentally influence our adaptability to otherness. 11.3 The Importance of Self-Worth 315 <?page no="316"?> - Communication and Mindfulness Cross-cultural Open‐ ness Sensitivity Tolerance for Ambi‐ guity Flexibility - How aware are we of our own communica‐ tion and its effects on interacting with others? How much do we appre‐ ciate and respect other people’s experiences? How sensitive are we to cultural differences or, more generally, novel ways of doing things? How comfortable are we with uncertainty, incompatible demands and directions? How prepared are we to adapt our behaviour to new people and situa‐ tions? Positive Sense of Self - • Full presence in the here and now • Paying attention to us and our envi‐ ronment • Ability to self-reflect • Awareness that there is more than one view or ideas • Ability to step into another person’s shoes • Awareness that cultures differ and that differences af‐ fect people • Ability to switch what we say and do in response to oth‐ erness • Search for ‘objecti‐ ve’ information to gain an under‐ standing of the sit‐ uation - • Repertoire of re‐ sponses • Possibly knowing more than one lan‐ guage (and aware‐ ness of its limita‐ tions) Negative Sense of Self - • Worries about making a fool of oneself • Pondering how to make a good im‐ pression and say the right thing • Struggles with looking at situa‐ tions from more than one perspec‐ tive • Difficulties with active and mindful listening • Defensiveness • Viewing other eth‐ nicities or ways of doing things as strange • Difficulties with ‘not’ applying own standards • Search for infor‐ mation to support their own beliefs • Habitual and limited response repertoire • Preference to go with the flow Global Leaders • Convey emotions, thoughts, and ideas with clarity • Fluency in bridge language • Know how to say the right thing • Operate under conditions of high complexity • Show emotional attachment to peo‐ ple of different cul‐ tural backgrounds • Recognize cultural differences • Discover what these differences mean • Reflect on experi‐ ences and learn from them • Are okay with un‐ clear situations ‘without’ becom‐ ing overly anxious • Curious about and welcoming contra‐ dictions • Avoid slotting new information into es‐ tablished categories • Create new catego‐ ries • Create more cate‐ gories rather than fewer Table 14: Self-Worth and its Impact on Motivations for Intercultural Engagement. Source: Inspired by Chen & Starosta, 1998; Gudykunst, 2004; Lloyd & Härtel, 2010. 316 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="317"?> Table 14 portrays five key global leadership qualities that, in my view, flow from a personal preparedness for change. For each quality, our self-worth tips our behaviour and its underlying motivation in one direction or the other. Of course, we are not open to learning and adapting all the time, but a positive sense of self can energise interculturally competent leadership. Intercultural differences do not go away, but we are motivated to deal with them reflectively and constructively. A positive sense of self allows us to seriously examine our own beliefs and needs. Based on this, we are highly engaged and take on the responsibility to learn from others. We care for those who are not like us. While we emphasise cooperation, we do not shirk tough decisions or use our power if and when necessary (Neal, 2006). By contrast, negative feelings about ourselves sap energy from attempts to positively engage with new experiences and change. Instead of cherishing intercultural encounters as enriching experiences, we tend to see in them sources of problems, shocks, or even outright conflicts (as is often the case in sensation-seeking headlines such as ‘Clash of Civilisations’ or ‘Culture Wars,’ Holden, 2015c). Of course, it is tempting to conceive culture as an obstacle. This thinking enables us to deny or minimize differences or frame them as hierarchies (superior and inferior) or polarities (right and wrong). As a consequence, you may be forced to think that a good way of handling differences and appeals for change is by evasion, open resistance, or using decision-making power. What Does it Take to Push Us From Ethnocentric to More Ethnorelative Perspectives? Building on Satir’s insight that ‘sameness attracts, and differences help us grow,’ Bennet (1986) invites us to look at intercultural competence from a developmental perspective. He argues that experience with otherness guides us to interculturally competent behaviour. As we figure out what works (and what does not) when interacting with others, we will likely become more sensitive to differences in perspectives and values. Over time, some of us learn how to incorporate our experiences with differences and sameness into our lives. We grow as individuals. We become more sophisticated and creative in dealing with diversity and its contradictions and chaos. Bennet’s Intercultural Competence Model draws attention to two overarching worldviews, with ethnocentric perspectives on the one hand and ethnorelative perspectives on the other. His conceptualisation suggests a continuum on which people move orientations that place one’s own culture at the centre of the reality of others based on their own culture to less judgemental and more appreciative orientations. Instead of judging others based on their own culture, people think of other ways of doing things as not only possible but commendable. Each orientation he subdivides into three progressive stages: Deny: We decide not to recognise differences as such. Other cultures do not matter to us. We take our culture, our own way of doing things, as the centre of the universe. Defend: We may recognise that cultural differences exist, but what we say and do about them follows an us-versus-them mentality. 11.3 The Importance of Self-Worth 317 <?page no="318"?> Minimise: We recognise that cultural differences exist but tend to downplay them. With the assumption of universal human values, we look for similarities as extensions of our own culture. Accept: We recognise that cultural differences exist and accept them as such. There is more than one way of doing things. Different beliefs and values should be respected. Adapt: We recognise that cultural differences exist and can empathise with them. We are curious about how others go about things and adapt our behaviour accordingly in interactions. Integrate: We recognise that cultural differences exist and embrace them. We see the world through other people’s eyes and make some of their perspectives our own. Figure 26 summarises how we learn to leave ethnocentric views behind and turn to ethnorelative understandings of the behaviours and values of other cultures. We can manage and enjoy intercultural differences as we develop more positive views of ourselves and others. Figure 26: Bennet’s Developmental Intercultural Competence Model Source: Bennet, 1986. Pot Fillers and Pot Drillers In hindsight, internationally hardened personal and professional skills look easy to acquire. However, there are strings attached to such personal and professional growth. Shocks and uncertainties are not only possible but common in a progressively intercultural world where sudden losses of meaning pose a considerable threat to confidence and functioning. We tend to overlook (or forget) that we often go through quite difficult situations when faced with otherness. And we have to jump through a good few loops to nurture our personal development. Given the cultural differences and the need to build up new routines, intercultural engagements are riddled with challenges. More often than not, working with people with different backgrounds, 318 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="319"?> especially when immersing ourselves in a different culture, involves an unpleasant roller-coaster ride. Practically, a new environment and its climate, food, and general living conditions may take a physical toll. Emotionally, people rarely do what we expect. We cannot read between the lines and struggle to gauge the atmosphere. Whatever we do takes extra effort, often at higher stakes than at home. As a result of that, feelings of shock, sadness, anger, discouragement, loneliness, and boredom ebb and flow (though, at times, there might be an intermittent sense of joy and pride, too). At home, you may occupy positions of power, status, and importance. When you move outside your home turf, you have to find ways to regain these. All these worries and needs for adjustments cost energy. A crack in the shelter of who we think we are (and also want to be in intercultural encounters) often whirls one’s sense of agency. We often feel unprepared and at a loss for how to go about intercultural situations precisely because we need to give meaning to unknown experiences that rain down on us. When we do not know what to expect around new people and unclear situations, dealing with uncertainty boils down to concerns (or quite likely worries) about our trimmed trust in our judgements and our reduced ability to perform. In new environments, people do not know us. For them, we are a blank sheet. Basically, we have to re-invent and re-tell who we are to our best professional advantage. There is a relationship between ambiguous situations and concerns about how other people might view us in those. Together, these dynamics affect our understanding of our professional strengths and weaknesses and, by extension, frame our expectations to what extent we can expect to achieve our full potential. Though we might have a good sense of self-worth, we need to feel good about ourselves, especially in extreme situations. Yet, these are always in flux, depending on who we meet and what situations we find ourselves in. These very personal feelings are conceivably a decisive factor for what happens and where things might be heading. The extent to which we can feel good about ourselves, and our skills affects the quality of our relationship with the world and the people within it. Positive beliefs about ourselves help us cope better with crises. By contrast, a lack of self-worth is often an obstacle when working across cultures. 11.3 The Importance of Self-Worth 319 <?page no="320"?> Figure 27: Virginia Satir’s Pot Metaphor of Self-Worth Source: Satir, 1972. What happens both within us and between us and others depends to a large extent on how we see and value ourselves as a person. This ‘self-worth’ is closely related to the trust we place in ourselves, that is, the extent to which we accept who we are and what we can do. How good we feel about ourselves depends as much on our self-efficacy beliefs as on the social appreciation from others. Encouragement gives us energy. Discouragement saps our energy. Naturally, people vary in their self-worth assessments, and each individual will vary over time in how they see and act towards themselves. We all move about with sometimes more, sometimes less confidence. Virginia Satir’s pot metaphor visualizes the self-worth we carry with us (Figure 27). A full pot is a shorthand for positive feelings about oneself. One matters in the world. This suggests high trust in one’s capacity for control over growth and transformation. Because of this, we can see and respect those around us. There are good chances of us remaining able to act even in the face of crises. A low pot, by contrast, suggests low self-worth. One does not feel good about oneself. You exercise your mind with questions about your sense of worth and lovability. Resultant self-doubts leave, thus, not much room for positive interaction with our environment. We are likely to feel somewhat powerless against the forces around us. From all this, it follows that intercultural differences are not the problem but how people deal with and cope with them. Suppose our self-worth is at the core of our personality and thus affects our thinking and acting, especially in situations in which we are forced to switch off our autopilot. In that case, we should first explore the roots of such self-evaluations. Whether we make positive contact with ourselves and our surroundings or turn into constant and heavy critics of ourselves and others largely depends on our worldview. In the seminal works of prominent humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers or Virginia Satir, we find two very different conceptions of appreciating ourselves: (i) growth/ contact and (ii) alienation/ loneliness. 320 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="321"?> These significantly affect what happens both inside us and between us and other people: Growth and Contact In our life journey, we have learned to experience the world as a place of personal growth and fulfilment. We flourish in an atmosphere where individual differences are prized, and we can, thus, meet people at eye level. We cherish open communication and flexible rules. We can express ourselves freely and want to experience autonomy. Hence, making mistakes is not something necessarily bad but an opportunity to learn (from failure). Though easier said than done, differences offer valuable new knowledge. Of course, change can cause fear, but this is matched by the awareness that change opens up new possibilities, too. Under these circumstances, we can realise our talents and potential; we grow internally and strive for warm relationships with ourselves and those around us. Alienation and Loneliness We have learned that the best way to make sense of the world is to compare ourselves to those around us. Our self-worth is primarily about how we feel we do measure up (and less about who we are). Because we are locked in a kind of dependency on those around us, we find our self-views to be more fleeting. There are, after all, always people who do things better or are more successful than us. In short, and in the words of artist Taylor Swift, we are ‘intimidated by the fear of being average.’ According to this view, the world is one of hierarchies with individuals of varying power and influence. Higher-ranking individuals reside over how things should be done. Those who follow the rules will be rewarded; others will be penalised. The best way to make do, then, is to toe the line with prevailing norms and expectations. Because change is considered a threat to existing hierarchies, there are limits to communicating freely and becoming who we want to be. Under these conditions imposing conformity, it is not our own needs which provide orientation, but the expectations of others. The attention we give to external forces and people in our environment means we will likely feel poorly when we think what we do (and can do) is out of sync with prevailing norms. Growth and Deficit Models of the World Around Us These two worldviews showcase fundamentally different assumptions about human nature and, in line with these, expectations of how people act. Both reflect views that we have of ourselves in comparison to others. The growth model suggests that we believe in ourselves and our control over events. Basing one’s self-worth on internal factors comes with favourable considerations of people unknown to us. As a consequence, we are inclined to be open-minded, 11.3 The Importance of Self-Worth 321 <?page no="322"?> appreciative of others and relaxed about differences. We are pretty aware of our achievements and are better prepared to take responsibility and trust in our ability to handle setbacks. Because of all that, we meet others with enthusiasm and confidence. By contrast, the deficit model suggests that we consider people unknown to us unfavourably. There is a strong negative belief towards people we do not know. As a consequence of basing our self-worth on external factors, we are inclined to be suspicious and defensive about others, not least because we expect them to take advantage of us. Constant comparison with what others do is a battle one usually cannot win. In order to feel better about ourselves, we put a lot of energy into redefining situations or looking for information that reconfirms our beliefs and priorities. Other ways of handling the enduring discomfort of imperfection are to auto-suggest positive self-views or to stress one’s social identity (not unlikely at the cost of others). Organising the world around us into ‘us’ and ‘them’ might make us feel good about ourselves again. At least we do not need to think too much about uncomfortable values and beliefs that fall outside our salient group. Practising interculturality tests how we make sense of our worlds. If self-worth affects the way we deal with people and situations, it will inevitably shape our interpretations and experiences of intercultural encounters. Moving out of our cultural comfort zone does strange things to us. So much uncertainty usually dents our sense of control and security. In these situations, we often do not feel good about ourselves: We may dwell on our inability to be our best selves. We feel awkward or even anxious when around people from cultures we do not know. We realize that the opinions of others all of a sudden matter to us more than they should or usually do. Worse yet, worries about lack of approval or fear of failure further discourage our engagement. Working across cultures also interferes with our pursuit of feeling liked and taken seriously. More often than not, we find interpreting what other people say or decoding what nonverbal cues they use quite challenging. All these troubles almost always distort our self-esteem. Therefore, I assume that a large part of the discomfort we experience when working across cultures result from low self-esteem. The threshold to poor rapport is often low, which, of course, puts further strain on the atmosphere. In a nutshell, when in touch with an international environment, our ‘pot’ is usually low or at least lower than in our home cultural comfort zone. We are acutely aware that we suddenly lack control and security. The worries that flow from this realisation affect us in one way or the other. The question then becomes, can we move past this ‘fear’ zone? There is, of course, little we can do about what happens around us and what other people do to us, but how we deal with it, we just might influence. Naturally, not all adjustment strategies are created equal. Some are healthier for us than others. And how we see ourselves and others matters greatly in how we shape our ways of problem-solving. Our behaviours in the face of cultural ambiguities, then, depend on our ‘Weltanschauung’: When ways of living are incompatible, we may experience cultural differences as unpleasant. Not only are our usual practices tested, but because we fear we lose control, 322 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="323"?> we might mute differences or avoid coming to terms with them. Our own culture remains central to our reality and acts firmly as an inner compass. In such demanding environments, we might, however, solve cultural differences in a more future-oriented way. We may want to stay positive, value differences, and focus on what we can learn from these experiences. We find there is value in rising above one’s cherished way of doing things. Hence, changes can be experienced either as threatening (model of Alienation and Loneliness) or as a regular part of everyday life (model of Growth and Contact). Though change, seen from this perspective, can induce worries, it also offers new ways of viewing and handling situations. That is, it is up to our worldviews to shape intercultural engagement both in negative and positive ways. To put it differently: Working across cultures means change, and we are either compelled to recover our self-worth as quickly as possible, or we are prepared to look forward and learn so that we can bounce forward and grow, even at the cost of a temporary hampered self-worth. 11.4 Two Pathways of Sense-Making: High and Low Pot of Practising Interculturality People vary in their capacity to deal with worldviews that are so unlike theirs. The best way to understand how people manage their well-being in the face of persisting cultural differences is to think of two influential factors: First, there are all sorts of negative emotions surrounding change that come from worries about the unknown. Second, there are positive emotions during the course of practising interculturality. In spite of the stress of what might happen, we also look for positive meaning in intercultural encounters. When we find ourselves in stressful situations associated with working across cultures, we commonly try to make lemonade out of lemons: We look for silver linings, refocus on our strengths or look for good things that may come out of these experiences. In other words, with an eye to the future, we tend to do something about our negative well-being. It is not just about people reducing negative emotions but being optimistic about meeting people of different cultural backgrounds. This can-do mentality helps to overcome challenges and, in the long run, grow one’s self-worth. Though negative and positive emotions co-occur, they are two quite separate routes to making sense of what is going on around us. Not only are assumptions of loss and growth separate domains, but we tend to move to and fro between the two ways of dealing with cultural differences. Let’s be clear: Each of us experiences working across cultures differently. Different situations and different people do different things to us. We go with varying levels of worries and capabilities into these largely uncontrollable encounters. On top of that, the severity of stress also depends on numerous other factors. The location and the perceived exoticness matter, as do our past experiences and the personal relevance we attach to the specific situation. But the commonality of working across different cultural contexts is the loss of comfort, companionship, and control. In 11.4 Two Pathways of Sense-Making: High and Low Pot of Practising Interculturality 323 <?page no="324"?> addition, we often must deal with feelings of distrust or, sometimes, even distress associated with xenophobia. Riding the ups and downs of intercultural encounters is about employing two strategies: Deflecting negative emotions and managing positive emotions, whereby a focus on negative social interactions dents self-worth (or drills a hole into one’s ‘pot’), and a focus on cooperative social interactions encourages self-worth (or fills one’s ‘pot’). The two strategies do very different things with our minds. Managing negative emotions is primarily about reducing unwanted effects and regulating our emotions. This involves reducing our commitment and effort. Arguably, it does not take as much cognitive energy to pull such disengagement off. We may simply seek refuge in our own culture as a central and unwavering frame of reality. But sometimes, such avoidant coping backfires. Once you deflect or even suppress negative emotions around intercultural encounters, they are likely to come right back again. So, growing a thicker skin and trying to be less sensitive about our surroundings might be the more promising strategy. But be warned: The mere focus on positive emotions does not automatically imply plain sailing when in touch with an international environment. Next to accepting and honouring difficult emotions (which are quite natural in the face of adversity), developing and maintaining self-worth is also about searching and finding positive meaning in intercultural encounters. We are often preoccupied with problems and zoom into everything that goes wrong. But there will always be something that makes you feel calm and happy. That is, infusing potentially distressing events with positive meaning decidedly contributes to intercultural growth. Reinterpreting people and situations more positively increases one’s appreciation of cultural differences and sets you on a path to respect other cultures and learn from their way of doing things. This progress towards a more profound understanding can make you ‘flourish’ in adverse environments. As a result of that, you are more likely to enter into cooperative intercultural relationships. Whether or not we are prepared to move past our fear zone or prefer to return to our comfort zone as quickly as possible is conditional on our worldview. Deficit and growth models are platforms that help predict the way we adapt to other cultures. We may feel compelled to avoid confusion and chaos, or our life journey spurs the need for further growth and self-actualisation. There is, however, room for both ways of managing the intercultural demands of situations. In fact, we often seek to simultaneously make sense of our loss while trying to figure out what will happen in the future. We oscillate between worries around harm and loss on the one hand and hope for transformative experiences on the other. So, coping usually occurs in tandem with negative and positive appraisals, each with its own routes to adjustment. Therefore, it is not only about making distress from intercultural encounters disappear but also about remaining positive during hard times because of the outlook of acquiring new knowledge and skills. 324 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="325"?> Tiptoeing Back to One’s Comfort Zone When something is troubling us, we have tried and tested ways of avoiding or distracting ourselves from unpleasant experiences. We are so preoccupied with worries about how and to what extent we measure up that we curl up and hide behind a wall of suspicion, expecting nasty things to happen to us. Instead of tackling our pesky inner critical voice heads on, we tend to drift away from the people around us. And long for a less demanding environment, most notably one with which we are more familiar with: home. Though we might be polite to one another, the atmosphere is spoiled. In the worst case, we even become indifferent about ourselves and others. Stopping cooperation and running the risk of hurting others is then not far off our defence repertoire. Explore: Low Pot and Practising Interculturality People vary in their capacity to deal with cultural differences. Consider the following question: Can you recognize some of the following attributes? • Disinterest in differences - Negative feelings towards those who are not like us. • Regaining control - Meeting likeminded people, for instance, those who speak your mother tongue, indulging in one’s culture of origin (especially when abroad). • Lability - Continuous demands of adapting are draining and can lead to emotional ups and downs. • Insufficient self-care - Psychological engagement across cultures, especially in the form of work abroad assignments, can induce stress-related struggles with addiction, for instance, drinking too much alcohol or substance abuse. • Relationship building - Low frustration tolerance may lead to lashing out in anger or resorting to denigrating language. • Perfectionism - The difficulty in projecting one’s best self may result in over-adjustment, for instance, pushing yourself to learn a new language, socialize with locals. • Escapism - Searching for relief by sidestepping negative thoughts around how things should be done, protecting one’s worldviews. • Avoidance - Shunning taxing situations that involve people from other cultures, that are feared to come with feelings of powerlessness and vulnera‐ bility. • Romanticise all things ‘home’ - Carry over familiar routines, including lifelines such as hooking up with friends, eating comfort food that reminds you of home. 11.4 Two Pathways of Sense-Making: High and Low Pot of Practising Interculturality 325 <?page no="326"?> Room to Grow Pains and misfortunes are virtually inseparable from practising interculturality. Work‐ ing across cultures is hard work, a 24-hours-7-day job, often full of stressful occasions and unforeseeable twists and turns. But there is also plenty of room for experiencing positive emotions that lead to high confidence or, by extension, our so-called filled ‘pot.’ In other words, we grow from hardships. We should, therefore, not underestimate the possibility of experiencing positive emotions even in the midst of change. Although few of us are born with the ability to stay strong in the face of significant adversity, it is not uncommon to sustain positive engagements. Uncertainty dampens our self-worth. Because the consequences can be severe, we need to find ways to positively adjust (or even grow) from breaches to our sense of agency. A worldview of independence and pursuit of personal fulfilment can help to see challenges to how we go about things at home in a positive light. Instead of seeing oneself essentially as a passive victim of hierarchical forces, focusing on one’s power of choice can significantly affect the ability to grow from adversity and move forward with engaging experiences in intercultural settings. As we learn and, hopefully, get used to our new reality, we might be able to bounce back or forward from worrying uncertainty. This shift from external to internal change propels us to a higher degree of agency, empowering us to accept cultural differences and move forward with engaging experiences even though in pain or stress. Explore: Full Pot and Practising Interculturality It is not just that people who positively adapt to cultural differences have fewer negative emotions. They seem to cherish diversity and trust their ability to function in these settings. Positive emotions, in spite of distress, seem to be driving this self-worth. Though practising interculturality can take a great deal of energy, each of us can learn how to connect with the world around us (also see Moskowitz, 2009). Consider the following question: Can you recognize some of the following attributes? • Reappraisal - Looking for silver linings or bright side of diversity. • Interest in differences - Though we feel more secure when around like‐ minded people, we believe that change is possible (‘in our sameness we connect, in our differences we grow’ V. Satir). • Positive refocusing - Ups and downs are inevitable, but we can focus on pleasant aspects even of negative events. Savouring the positive effects of intercultural encounters and talking about them with others might boost self-esteem. • Putting into perspective - Cultural encounters can sting our ego, but we can change the way we think about stressful situations. • Initiative taking - While we cannot control what happens around us, we can manage our response to others and our environment. 326 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="327"?> • Self-reflection - It does not take much to distract our self-esteem. Giving thought to these experiences and learning from them improves our intercul‐ tural sophistication. • Getting to know yourself - There is no safety net when in touch with another culture (especially when living abroad for some time). Taking on responsibility helps us grow at all levels. • Gratitude - International assignments are a sign of professional progress. Even in the face of difficulties, one should appreciate that others trust you to deliver good results. 11.5 Navigating Fear Zones From these two accounts follows, that the worldviews we carry with us will lead to differences in self-worth and, in turn, differences in the way we adapt to situations involving people from other countries and other cultural backgrounds. Though distress due to change is not inevitable, it is a constant companion when moving about in an international environment. Loss (past-oriented, ethnocentric) or growth strategies (future-oriented, ethnorelative) are, however, only two extreme poles of intercultural dialogue. Both have to do with negative and positive emotions and, together, have restorative power over our self-worth. Voluntarily dropping out on the one hand or obsessing with acculturation on the other can lead to seeing oneself in a positive light and feeling good about oneself (which, of course, is very different from an outsider’s perspective who might see in this maladaptive behavioural shifts). However, our self-worth is in constant flux. Unwanted consequences of practising interculturality can always pop up. In the world of work, we cannot always withdraw from international situations. There will always be occasions during which we are, for instance, forced to use English as a bridge language (which might make us feel rather uncomfortable). Equally, when abroad, there will always be hiccups, and our encounters are rarely all flawless. Think of foreign language learning. We are constantly torn between how well we think we make use of that new language and what kind of response we get from native speakers when we apply these skills. Accordingly, we must continuously balance negative and positive emotions, with our self-worth sometimes being low and sometimes high. So, like sliding scales, we respond to internal and external demands of intercultural situations on a continuum. This we can dial up and down in line with the direction in which our worldview will take us. When in touch with an international environment, you can never be neutral. Eldridge Cleaver, human rights activist and author of ‘Soul on Ice,’ once said, ‘If you are not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem.’ Exposure to other cultures usually raises experiences of differences and disrupts our feelings of comfort. Naturally, not everyone experiences differences as such. Some may either trivialise differences or be uninterested in them altogether. For them, all is just as it should be, and this 11.5 Navigating Fear Zones 327 <?page no="328"?> confidence gives them a sense of security. But underappreciating cultural differences or overestimating one’s ability to deal with people of different backgrounds often backfires - the comfort which we think we get from confidence is often all too shallow. We cannot really mask our emotional responses. While action might not always be required, at the very least, there are challenges to what we think is important, good, and right in the world. Just wait and see, i.e., doing nothing is not helpful (neither to you, others, or the situation). For better or worse, when in touch with others, we will find ourselves in the fear zone where we will have to navigate our low pot of lack of control and confidence. Though uncertainty is part of our intercultural life, we cannot live with alarm and anxiety for long. Eventually, our evolutionary response system kicks in. Figure 28 summarises passages from the fear zone. Both routes to adjustment are about reducing our uncertainty and, thus, restoring our self-worth. This attempt to refill our ‘pot’ is linked to our worldview. We do so in specific ways: (i) Rebelling against the situation. (ii) Withdrawing from the situation, or (iii) Embracing the situation. Think of foreign language use when working across cultures. We usually care deeply about how others see us. At the same time, in the contemporary business environment, it is widely considered imperative to have high levels of English proficiency. The way we make use of English, then, shapes who we are at work. Many people, however, experience intense distress when communicating in a language other than their own. One reason for such heightened apprehension is that less-fluent individuals worry about looking awkward or less competent. In other words, in these situations, our pot is often lower than in those situations in which we use our mother tongue. What are our options? We may simply refuse to speak English (for instance, by pointing out rules and regulations of the corporate language). Instead of lamenting the hegemony of English in the world of work, we might choose to withdraw ourselves from the situation (for instance, by asking for assignments that do not bring us in international contact). Last but not least, we can embrace what we are not so good at and try to polish our English language skills as best as possible. Changing, leaving, or accepting the challenges posed by uncertainty are prototypical responses to navigating fear zones. Try It: Giving a Speech English is the working horse of the global economy. You are a team leader of mainly German native speakers at an automotive supplier headquartered in the Munich area with a substantial corporate history. This company is about to introduce English as a common corporate language. Naturally, your team’s English proficiency skills vary greatly, and you can expect resistance to this plan. • Prepare a speech in which you convey the executive board decision: From next month, your team’s language will be English. • Your talk should anticipate positive and negative emotions from your team members. 328 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="329"?> • Preparation time: 15 minutes • Execution: 3 minutes Photo by Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash You may find this text useful when fleshing out your speech: Neeley, T. (2012). Global Business Speaks English. Harvard Business Review. htt ps: / / hbr.org/ 2012/ 05/ global-business-speaks-english Whatever option we prefer, our efforts to leave the fear zone take us back to our comfort zone. Alternatively, we move past our fear zone. We do this to reduce uncertainty and increase our personal well-being. In short, we adapt to intercultural encounters in manifold ways. There is no one best way of practising interculturality, nor is it a unidirectional endeavour during which we become more and more competent as we accumulate experience from interaction with others (as many developmental models of intercultural competence would suggest). That is, it is not about some of us adapting very well to intercultural differences while others do not. Rather, different worldviews lead to different outcomes in line with the need to recover our sense of self-worth. Within these behavioural shifts, and this is important, there is not only one defining emotion but two: Loss or growth considerations. Together, they drive what you think of yourself, others, and the situation (Zautra, 2010). And there is plenty of room to care for both emotions when working across cultures. We oscillate between past and future orientation, between ethnocentric and ethnorelative views. 11.5 Navigating Fear Zones 329 <?page no="330"?> Figure 28: Passages from the Fear Zone Accordingly, we have ups and downs in what we make of intercultural encounters, affecting our motivation and engagement. But the dynamic interplay of negative and positive emotions drives us towards a more confident, manageable understanding of the situation in which things might turn out well. Ultimately, whichever way we navigate our fear zone, self-worth has great effects on our lives and how we interact with others. Only a healthy, optimistic view of ourselves enables us to take on intercultural challenges at work and beyond. Explore: How Prepared Are You to Handle Change? Think about your strengths and weaknesses. Make a list of your qualities at work. Add to each item an emoji expressing whether you feel these qualities are good, neutral, or bad for your professional growth. Now, create a second column. For each of your qualities, consider what these could mean for practising interculturality. Discuss these questions with a close friend of yours: • Can I see how my strengths (or weaknesses) pan out when working across cultures? • Could a strength at home turn into a weakness when dealing with people who do not share your cultural or linguistic background? • On the other hand, perhaps there are some weaknesses that transform into real strengths when in touch with an international environment? 330 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="331"?> 11.6 The Risk of Incongruence When Practising Interculturality Like a muscle, the more we practise interculturality, the more competent we get in social interactions. However, we usually consider uncertainty as stressful. When we fear change or pressure, we tend to opt for comfort over discomfort, familiarity over novelty. In order to turn into an adjustment direction of growth, we have to navigate our fear zone, including the overpowering lure of comfort, i.e. that it would be better, if nothing changed. When our pot is low, we typically adopt, quite predictably, somewhat defensive responses. These we draw from basic coping patterns that we have acquired in our childhood. As these reactions and roles are often hardwired into our stress responses, we repeatedly slip into them at home and when in touch with otherness. Because social acceptance is dear to us, we attach all sorts of beliefs and expectations to our interactions with others. Manifold worries might exercise our mind, for example: • Fear of conflict/ need for harmony: What happens if disagreement results in the break-up of a relationship? • Tit for tat: What happens if what I say or do provokes vengeance? • Burden: What happens if I get on other peoples’ nerves? Feeling different from others is painful. Worries about not being likeable or easy to work with have potent influences on our thoughts and feelings. According to communication experts Satir, Bandler and Grinder (the latter two would later create the Neurolinguistic Programming approach), the best way to deal with these worries is to strike a balance between how we experience ourselves, others, and the social setting in which we interact. We usually only focus on one of these spheres, which, in turn, governs our behaviour. In our response styles, we miss out on ourselves, others, or the context. We become incongruent in the way we deal with hurt feelings and dented self-worth. Because of this collateral imbalance, we quite often find ourselves unable to cope with uncertainty in practical ways. The emphasis on one of these spheres of experience leads to four overarching ways in which we try to protect our self-worth. These styles come, of course, in countless combinations and permutations. But the commonality is that they all cloak insecurities and are in the way of practising interculturality: Placating: Our focus is on others. We neglect our needs and wants from the equation by neglecting us and the setting. We shy away from conflict, want to please and are eager to look appealing. At the very minimum, we do not want to upset others. Out of fear of rejection (and disagreement), we do all we can to create a harmonious atmosphere, even at the cost of our own needs. Our self-worth links to the recognition of others. As a consequence, we are fishing for compliments and signals of approval. Blaming: Our focus is us. We push others and the setting into the background. By nature, we are suspicious of others. Because we believe that people are essentially evil, we stay alert to what they might do to us. Looking for mistakes raises our self-worth. We act out power by preventive attacks on others to inflict damage and destroy perceived 11.6 The Risk of Incongruence When Practising Interculturality 331 <?page no="332"?> threats. Accusations and scorn are our weapons of choice. Intimidation, anger, and frustration come easily in the wake of such disrespectful behaviour. Computing: Our focus is the situation. Emotions of us and others have no place in this overly rational world. Our world is a world without deep feelings. In our eyes, everybody always acts rationally. We, thus, deflect uncertainty by thinking things through, searching for information, and weighing up potential outcomes. We want to leave no margin for mistakes. We consider cognitions and emotions as touchy-feely. These are better left in a black box, as they make us feel vulnerable. As we distrust our own bounded rationality, we better keep our feelings under control. Distracting: Our focus is unfocus. Neither we, others, nor the situation really matters. We ping-pong between these three spheres as we see fit. This ambivalence comes with seesawing between contact and isolation. Slippery, like a fish, we shift context when we feel uncomfortable. Diversion is our name of the game. Jumping from one topic to the other or telling jokes to lighten up an otherwise heated atmosphere helps us disconnect. These strategies help us not to reveal too much about ourselves. When in touch with an international environment, whether at home or abroad, we often experience relationships as tricky. And the way from emerging problems to outright conflict can be short. Table 15 explores behaviour patterns when we interact with people of other cultures. Each style builds on typical ways of coping when under emotional stress: Think About: Culture Bumps - Blatant or Subtle Things become more complicated when people send mixed or even disconnected messages, specifically when they say one thing but feel differently. The true meaning of such two-sided messages is hard to pick up in your mother tongue and even harder to deal with outside your home culture. Visit: https: / / www.homeknowledge.com/ hilarious-passive-aggressive-notes-th at-will-leave-you-laugh-ing/ ? utm_source=facebook&; utm_content=feed&utm_ campaign=YG_FB_WW_HK_ALL_LC_PassiveAggressive_yg_V1_UV5_0608_ui &utm_term=23854946615210781&utm_medi-um=23854946613480781&fbclid=I wAR3dRIpuUfuoZbzDYCTgJEdgbcBNFVsb4eKG3x5FTVNm0aBkUqW0YGxKV9 E Have a look through these notes and pick two or three examples. Discuss in small groups: • What is being communicated? And what is truly being communicated? • Is the open display of unhappiness common in your culture? • Do you think passive aggressiveness is a universal or culture-specific phe‐ nomenon? 332 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="333"?> Coping Style Placating Blaming Computing Distracting Emotion & Sensemaking Apologetic, appeasing (at the expense of our self-worth) Self-righteous, accusatory (at the expense of hiding shortcom‐ ings) Correct, cold, unemotional (at the expense of social detach‐ ment) Talkative, irrelevant (at the expense of being all over the place) Focus on S(elf), O(ther), C(ontext) Motivation Fear of harming relationship Sense of helplessness Fear of losing control Sense of loneliness Fear of feeling trapped Sense of isolation Fear of inability to measure up Sense of inadequacy Typical Approach to Intercultural Interac‐ tion Over-adjustment (going local) • Learning host language • Emphasizing local norms • Hoping for acceptance • Enhancing or recapturing one’s status Avoiding open confrontations • Fear of modesty & shyness • Poor confidence • Own opinions, feelings etc. are of little value Self-preservation (separation) • Disinterest in learning about other cultures • Emphasizing home culture • Cultural differences as a scapegoat for mistakes Seeking to take back control • Initiative taking • Resent looking weak or underperforming • Manipulative behaviour No people, no problem • Belief in universal rules, information, and logic • Super-rational about cul‐ tural differences • Context trumps people Things do not make sense • Survival mode, falling back to rules and processes • Avoid making mistakes • Must not show emotions Diversion, creating a new real‐ ity • Head-in-thesand • Hoping that cultural dif‐ ferences go away • Shifting context, changing subject, erratic Disconnecting from complexity • Worrying feelings to be out of one’s depth • Attention seeking • Disruptive Dangers • Self-image as pushover • Unclear wants and needs • Self-sacrifice (even at the cost of health is‐ sues) • My way or the highway approach scares people off • Lack of diplomacy • Destroys atmosphere • Relationship building is not their cup of tea • Dealing with super-ratio‐ nal people can be exhaust‐ ing • Avoids or deflects critical issues • Untrustworthy • Difficult to pin down Table 15: Satir’s 4 Stances and Their Impact on Intercultural Interaction 11.6 The Risk of Incongruence When Practising Interculturality 333 <?page no="334"?> Coping Style Placating Blaming Computing Distracting - Language used Language of interlocutor Bridge language, English (but preference for mother tongue) English Mix of English and attempt to speak the language of the interlocutor Typical Passive, resentful, looking for reassurance, expressions of doubt, hedging Dominant, humiliating, insult‐ ing, impulsive, ‘You’ statements Passive aggressive, subtle, ab‐ stract, sarcastic, know-it-all, lec‐ turing Unclear, bubbly, silly, counter-questions, no direction, searching for distractions Examples of Verbal Cues • ‘Couldn’t, shouldn’t we? ’ • ‘Perhaps, maybe’ • ‘Do you understand what I mean? ’ • ‘I apologise …’ • ‘Whatever you say …’ • ‘I am not really sure …’ • ‘At home, we would do things differently’ • ‘What you say or do does not make any sense! ’ • ‘I cannot believe what is happening in this place! ’ • ‘You do not have a clue! ’ • ‘The way your bureauc‐ racy operates really is mad! ’ • ‘According to the statis‐ tics…’ • ‘Let’s define …’ • ‘There are rules and regu‐ lations for this, and these are …’ • ‘We have to consider …’ • ‘Recent data suggest…’ • ‘Look, there is something shiny! ’ • ‘Pick me! ’ • ‘Can we switch to English, please? ’ • ‘Sorry, can you repeat that? I just haven’t been listen‐ ing to you.’ • ‘Funny that you say this.’ Nonverbal Cues Body posture: Slumped Voice: Soft Gesture: Restrained Facial expressions: Little to no eye contact Body posture: Aggressive Voice: Loud Gesture: Intimidating Facial expressions: Anger Body posture: Controlled Voice: Considered and quiet Gesture: Tense Facial expressions: Reserved Body posture: Off-task Voice: Affective Gesture: Outgoing Facial expressions: Exaggerated Table 16: Virginia Satir’s 4 Stances and their Impact on Foreign Language Use 334 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="335"?> 11.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Virginia Satir once noted that people ‘use their past to contaminate their present, which, in turn, creates a future that replicates their past, a stuck place, and often a hopeless quagmire.’ In other words, our past informs the present and helps to explain how we deal with uncertain situations we find ourselves in. Though we might use a mix of these approaches (depending on the situation), we tend to have a dominant way of dealing with emotional stress. We usually find ourselves in similar situations over and over again in our lives. What matters here is that awareness of these behavioural patterns sharpens our senses for how we (and others) are likely to think and act in intercultural encounters. Based on that, we might then be able to find better or alternative ways of adjusting to these situations. Once we notice a specific response pattern, we can think about why we think, feel, and behave the way we do. As a consequence, we might try out different coping styles. The three basic elements of intercultural encounters are a platform for considering alternatives for engagement: Self, Others, and Context. Our interaction patterns basically ignore one or more aspects of these elements. Thus, they provide clues for thinking about making contact differently: • Placaters tend to neglect their own needs and wants. Refocusing on what we feel about and what we want to get out of intercultural encounters betters our interaction with those around us. • Blamers tend not to see how others experience intercultural encounters. There are two ways to refocus. First, expectation management might be key to regaining control. Second, perspective-taking, putting ourselves into the shoes of our coun‐ terparts, helps us to see where they are coming from and how they approach us. • Computers embrace rules, regulations and processes and are, thus, poorly con‐ nected to themselves and others. A good way to refocus on the human side of things is to pay more attention to our expectations about ourselves and others. • Distracters are frustrated that they are not good enough and seek a way out of this intercultural situation. A refocus on one’s professional strengths and exploration of how they could possibly extend to an international environment helps keep our fluttery behaviour in check. The bottom line of all this is that many of us are overwhelmed with challenges posed by cultural differences. Although we expect things not to run smoothly, we are not very skilled in anticipating what form these challenges might take. When we realise a gap between the expected and actual impact of cultural differences, we resort to well-rehearsed ways of dealing with uncertainty. Arguably, working with people from other cultural backgrounds might even amplify our stress responses. However, deeper emotional needs, longings, and expectations are at the core of these coping approaches. Naturally, culture’s multifarious ways do not only affect us but others, too. We all want to restore our dented self-worth. So, having or gaining a greater sense of what makes 11.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 335 <?page no="336"?> people tick when breaking with cherished routines enables us to watch out for any kind of maladjustments that might occur (because of our coping repertoire). Should things go pear-shaped, we might want to step back, assess underlying motivations, and based on this, rethink or reboot our interactions. There is a relationship between unexpected events and how people make use of language to process information associated with these events. Whenever we face inconceivable behaviour or events which we cannot cope with through standard routines, we struggle with a loss of meaning and wonder what this ambiguity might mean for us. Putting things into words allows us to negotiate and perhaps even change how we feel about disorder. We often respond to uncertainty without words (i.e. postures, facial expressions, gestures, etc.). The problem is that what we say and how we feel often do not match. Then, our body language is at odds with our message. Such incongruency sends a clear warning that something is off. When working with other people, alertness to verbal and non-verbal cues, especially when they are not aligned, helps us spot stress patterns. Appraising what concerns others might, in turn, allow us to make better contact. Although there are, of course, variations by culture, each of the four overarching ways of protecting emotions surfaces with more or less easy-to-detect prompts (Table 16). Put differently, underneath any conversation, there is always a human being with emotions. The four response patterns, in any combination, inoculate us against an international environment that we experience as overly complex and thus intimidating. One of the iron rules in international business is to conceal what we really feel. Many of us are just not very good at it. A hostile atmosphere of miscommunication and mistrust often ensues. So, how can we get intercultural encounters back in the right direction again? The key to a more levelled approach is to let stress and insecurity from different ways of doing things do not get to you. Accepting cultural differences for what they are leads to fewer threats to one’s self-worth, which, in turn, leads to a better match of words and body language. Instead of resorting to potentially conflictual defence mechanisms, we could approach otherness with more empathy. Of course, this is easier said than done, but one of the best ways to solve problems and bring people together is to express ourselves without placating, blaming, computing, or distracting. By implication, we should not ignore one or more pillars of successful interaction, that is, us, them, and the context. When we communicate in a way that other people understand who we are, what we stand for and how we feel, we just might move through intercultural life with more integrity and authenticity. Psychiatrist Thomas Harris’s famous maxim ‘I am okay, you are okay’ (1976) offers guidance for creating a level of experience for everyone. Neither we nor others have severe flaws in our beliefs and behaviours. Such commitment to mutual respect can help build bridges and make ground for open, heartfelt discussions. 336 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="337"?> Exercise 1: Coping Stances We are now in the position to try out and experience Virginia Satir’s four coping stances. Find below three sample scenarios of intercultural encounters. How would you feel about these stressful situations? Now, slip into the role of the main characters and respond to these incidences using the four patterns of communication: placating, blaming, computing, and distracting. Try them out in groups of two. Take turns. • Barbara is an international project manager. She is not pleased with her team as it is repeatedly missing deadlines. In some instances, they failed to deliver data in time. She had repeatedly addressed the importance of reliability for the group’s clients. Mario, her team head, assured her that they understood that this time, i.e. in the most recent project, everything was going according to plan. They would meet the deadline. Yet, once again, Barbara had to chase the team. On the day of the deadline, Mario revealed that they were running late with the report. Barbara calls Mario for a meeting. • Sakamoto-san is responsible for a production line in a Japanese photocopier manufacturing plant located in China. His team had to halt the line when one of the machines broke down. In spite of his clear guidance that the maintenance company should be called in, one of his colleagues tried to fix it on their own. Sadly, they used exchange parts that did not meet Japanese specification standards. He now called his Chinese colleague for a meeting. • Olaf is working for a Swedish group specialising in luxury fashion. His group’s strategy is to buy up other luxury brands and, thus, expand their business in Europe. Their most recent target was a German sportswear manufacturer. He is now sent over to Germany to manage the transition. He felt confident with his new role as the local staff warmly welcomed him. But, when he announced in the board meeting that significant changes were necessary, the local managers were upset. His deputy was very angry and, in no uncertain words, questioned Olaf ’s competency. Olaf sets up a meeting with him to set things straight. Once you have practised the four coping stances, you could decide to continue the role-play. After Person A responds (using one of the four stances), Person B (instead of just listening) can engage in the communication, too. They could re‐ spond using one of Satir’s patterns. Plate (2021) suggests that Person B could reply symmetrically (meeting a blamer with a blaming response) or complementarily (meeting a blamer with a placating reaction). 11.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 337 <?page no="338"?> Exercise 2: Cultural Extensions Cheung & Chan (2002) contend that care should be taken when applying the Satir Model to cultural contexts outside the US. They argue that while Satir was sensitive to cultural issues, she emphasised individuality, equality and freedom. These aspects may align well with her home country’s egalitarian individualist values but not necessarily those elsewhere. Discuss in small groups: How and to what extent must we be careful when applying the four coping stances in the following culture typologies? • High context versus low context • Collectivism versus Individualism • Power Distance • Masculinity versus Femininity Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? Need for Intercultural Competence Workplaces today are international in scope and scale. Intercultural competence, the ability to think, act and communicate effectively and appropriately across cultures, is what employers look for in applicants. This begs the question of how to develop and hone those sought-after skills. From my definition, there are four areas that we can focus on: First, we can consider ways to improve our communication skills. We can, of course, all do with better communication (inside and outside our home culture). So, where to start? This book, especially the end-of-chapter exercises, offers food for thought and hands-on techniques with which readers can cultivate their intercultural communication skills. Practising presencing, feedback giving, creating rapport, and so forth will help you arrive at more authentic ways of sharing your ideas and engaging in dialogue. Second, foreign language skills, especially proficiency in English, are a must-have in today’s world of business. Firms adopt it as a common language so that they can do business without geographic restrictions. English enables communication among people who do not have a common language. My advice is: Never be satisfied with your ability to use English. Grow it! Stretch it! Again, this book challenges the reader to first reflect on communication skills in general and then apply these lessons learned to English as the workhorse of the international business community. Third, we must find ways to effectively and appropriately interact with others in professional settings. Social skills are crucial for making and maintaining contact with all sorts of stakeholders, including working with colleagues or engaging 338 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="339"?> with customers. As we have to navigate social situations increasingly across cultures, we have to see about dealing with different opinions and different ways of doing things. Networking and rapport-building are much tougher. Outside our home culture and in intercultural situations, we lose our superpower of cultural sense-making. Considering social skills opens doors to more meaningful relationships. Fourth, self-reflexivity is a crucial stepping stone to improved communication, language, and social skills. Recognising and exploring how we relate to our environment is an invaluable skill for developing intercultural competence. Ideally, efforts of introspection translate into a deeper understanding of underlying assumptions and motivations (ours and those of others). By extension, reflecting on past experiences, beliefs, and biases can instil greater empathy and adaptability when in touch with people of different cultural backgrounds. The practice of nonviolent dialogue can be effective in stimulating self-reflectivity. Location, Length and Purpose of International Experiences Motivation prepares us for international experiences and, by extension, intercul‐ tural learning opportunities. These are a function of location, length, and purpose of interaction. Where we have stayed (near or far from our home, including cultural differences that come with these geographies) substantially influences our learning opportunities. Likewise, how long and often we have been exposed to other ways of doing things can make a big difference. The more often we are in touch with people of different cultural backgrounds, the greater are our learning opportunities. Finally, the reasons why we travel or seek contact with others also influence the depth and breadth of our learning journeys. Intrinsically motivated interactions infuse relationship orientation. They create many opportunities for exploring different ways of doing things. Extrinsically motivated interactions, by contrast, show in task orientation. They may push us far less in challenging situations. Intercultural Leadership and the Preparedness for Change How we see ourselves influences how we see others. Feeling positive about our‐ selves stimulates open, harmonious, and trusting relationships. A negative sense of self does the opposite. Others appear untrustworthy, which strains communication and relationships. By implication, our self-worth affects our preparedness for change and adaptability. Our sense of self-value sets the tone for intercultural engagement. It either fires up or hinders competent leadership: Communication and Mindfulness: How aware are we of our own communication and its effects on interacting with others? Global leaders convey their feelings and thinking with care and clarity. Openness: How much do we appreciate and respect other people’s experiences? Global leaders are okay with highly complex situations. They care for people who do things differently and learn from them. 11.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 339 <?page no="340"?> Sensitivity: How sensitive are we to appreciating cultural differences or, more generally, novel ways of doing things? Global leaders recognise cultural differences and understand what they might mean for groups working together. Tolerance for Ambiguity: How comfortable are we with uncertainty, incompatible demands, and directions? Global leaders stay calm when on unfamiliar terrain. They are curious and may even embrace different ways of doing things. Flexibility: How prepared are we to adapt our behaviour to new people and situa‐ tions? Global leaders handle intercultural impressions with care. They create new categories instead of comparing and making new information fit with established ways of thinking. Bennet’s Developmental Mode of Intercultural Sensitivity According to Bennet, intercultural sensitivity is not something we have or have not. He suggests a developmental perspective. Individuals go through phases of stepwise expansion of their ability to think, act, and communicate effectively and appropriately across cultures. As we learn and grow, we move from ethnocentric to ethnorelative worldviews. In the initial stages, we use our own culture as a benchmark for how things should be done. In the latter stages, we more and more appreciate that applying external schemes to another culture is futile. They are better understood from within. That said, people do not necessarily progress from one phase to the other linearly. Depending on their upbringing, context, and experiences, they may very well move back and forth between the stages. Also, there is no automatism that we all develop the highest levels of cultural sensitivity. Growth and Vulnerability The complexities of how people deal with intercultural encounters are often underappreciated. That we experience both positive and negative emotions when in touch with people of different cultural backgrounds is quite a common phenom‐ enon. We simultaneously experience intercultural contact as opportunities for personal growth, fulfilment, and moments of vulnerability. These experiences push us in very different directions: We find ways to positively adjust to an intercultural environment (even amid chronic challenges) or seek comfort in tried and tested ways of doing things. Both growth strategies (future-oriented, ethnorelative perspectives) and loss (past-oriented, ethnocentric perspectives) play a role in how we cope with unfamiliar experiences: Growth predicts positive intercultural interactions. Loss predicts negative intercultural interactions. These two factors are independent and, together, make for the ups and downs of intercultural encounters. That is, positive adjustment and achieving high levels of intercultural competence do not mean the absence of negative emotions that can come with intercultural stressors. Challenging experiences are a mainstay of intercultural life and will not go away. However, people who engage comfortably in intercultural interactions have found a way of accepting difficult emotions and moving forward. To identify 340 11 Motivation and Intercultural Competence <?page no="341"?> intercultural leadership qualities, we have to look at both factors: growth and vulnerability. Protecting Our Self-Worth In intercultural encounters, there is plenty of room for experiencing positive and negative emotions. These simultaneously pose opportunities for growth and risks of alienation. The best way to strike a balance between these competing experiences is to make ourselves aware of how we experience ourselves, others, and the social setting in which we interact. According to Virginia Satir, we tend to focus on one of these spheres. And this focus governs our response style. When we apply this thinking to intercultural scenarios, we arrive at four prototypical ways of dealing with otherness: Placating: In intercultural situations, we focus primarily on others. Our own needs and wants to become less important. As a consequence, the strong desire to please others makes us avoid conflict. Blaming: In intercultural situations, we focus primarily on our own needs and wants. We deal with feelings of alienation and vulnerability by finding fault in others. They do not accept self-responsibility and quickly initiate conflict, for instance, by using violent forms of communication. Computing: In intercultural situations, we focus primarily on the situation. There is no room for irrational and emotional behaviour. We mask our feelings of vulnerability by staying calm and logical. Distracting: In intercultural situations, we try to divert attention from simmering conflicts and miscommunication. We use a range of tactics to avoid disagreements or make others feel differently about them. Distracting is the counterpart of the overly rational computing approach. ‘Levelling’ plays a special role in Satir’s stress communication patterns. In contrast to these ‘unhealthy’ and, in many ways, dysfunctional ways of thinking and reacting to intercultural encounters, levellers engage with people of different backgrounds in much more balanced ways. They are okay with ambiguity and are comfortable with themselves, others, and the situation. And this prepares them to speak and act from their heart and, thus, create rapport. 11.7 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 341 <?page no="343"?> 12 Attitudes Opening Vignette Interstate Signs in California, USA Photxo by Ana Pieters on Flickr The 1930s saw a profound social divide in the United States. Experiences with the 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent economic downturn (‘Great Depres‐ sion’) left the American public unsettled. The outlook for ritually disadvantaged sections of the population was particularly bleak. Non-whites were the first to be laid off, and unemployment rates skyrocketed. Poverty amongst ethnic minorities was rampant. For sure, their economic hardship was already debilitating but made worse by a legacy of oppression and exclusion. Sadly, racially motivated discrimination and even violence resurfaced, especially in the Southern US states. <?page no="344"?> Like many non-white American groups, Asian Americans had to live with being seen as ‘inferior’ to whites or simply ‘un-American’ (Daniels, 1990). Though well-educated and eager, many were barred from office jobs and, thus, had to resort to low-wage physical labour. Such race-based job discrimination was, of course, not new. Restrictions against the inflow of workers from Asia date back to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1924 Immigration Act that made Asians de facto the only group in US history to experience a race-based immigration ban (Ranganathan, 2013). Against a backdrop of racial hostility against Asian minorities, sociologist Richard LaPiere, beginning in 1930, embarked on a series of road trips with a couple of Chinese ethnicity. Recently graduated from Stanford, LaPiere had made friends with them and was a great fan of driving. The young student and his wife were outgoing and amiable. Nevertheless, LaPiere worried how the two would be treated in lodging establishments. Of course, he knew about substantial anti-Chi‐ nese sentiment. A ‘Social Distance Study’ (1926) conceived by colleague Emery Bogardus suggested a clear unwillingness to seek out contact with ‘foreign-born Asians.’ In spite of his worries about poor treatment, the thrill of exploring the continent by car took the upper hand, and the three were to travel thousands of miles up and down the Pacific Coast for more than two years. One trip even took them all the way across the United States to Chicago and New York. Of course, the couple could do little about their Oriental look, and the question was how and to what extent they would face hostility. Across the country, LaPiere diligently recorded their group’s reception in 67 hotels, auto camps and tourist homes and how they were served in 184 restaurants and cafes. In the spirit of sociological research, he did not inform the couple about his study (to prevent overt self-consciousness), varied the situations (in the way they presented themselves) and factored himself out (by finding excuses so that the Chinese couple had to negotiate their lodging themselves). In his summative article (which, 30 years later, was to become a seminal work in the field of social psychology), he noted that the three ‘met definite rejection from those asked to serve us just once’ (LaPiere, 1934). In all other instances he considered the couple’s overall treatment as more or less ordinary, even if the clerks and patrons reacted with surprise and mild disapproval. He concluded that not so much the apparent ethnic descent but their overall appearance (clothes, baggage) and looks (cleanliness, neatness) decided over how the couple was received. The real and, for our purposes, most interesting and relevant story, however, unfolded upon his return. LaPiere would send a questionnaire to the lodging establishment six months after each road trip. To juxtapose the real social situation with symbolic interaction, he asked: ‘Will you accept members of the Chinese race as guests in your establishment? ’ He obtained answers from 128 establishments. Only one answer was positive (accompanied by an account of the positive experience the patron had had with a sweet Chinese couple). The 344 12 Attitudes <?page no="345"?> overwhelming answer was, however, a resounding ‘No! ’ More than 90 per cent of those surveyed negated LaPiere’s enquiry outright, and the remainder signalled to be unsure whether or not to welcome Chinese guests. In short, social and symbolic interaction brought about very different versions of prejudice. The question was why the respondents’ words (attitudes) contradicted their actions (behaviour). Of course, the experimental setup was far from ideal. He could not control who answered his questionnaire. In between the six months, the clerks and patrons could have had new experiences or simply changed their minds. LaPiere acknowledged all this. Nonetheless, the findings very powerfully tackle the fundamental and often unquestioned assumption that behaviour connects with attitudes. In fact, the study does not stop with inconsistencies between attitude and behaviour but makes clear that what we do or say can be diametrically different to how we feel about persons or events. Could attitudes (and their measurements) be possibly poor predictors of real-life behaviour? Critical Thinking: • What do attitudes towards people of different backgrounds tell us about real-life behaviour? • How can we square LaPiere’s findings with how we feel about persons or events consistent with what we do or say? • Do attitudes about otherness inform behaviour or the other way around? • How can we predict behaviour if we cannot trust judgements of attitude so easily? • Can we change our attitudes towards otherness? LaPiere’s seminal study into racial attitudes is as relevant then as it is now. Our opening vignette sets out three fundamental aspects of intercultural leadership: First, what do people think, and how do they feel about otherness? These questions might refer to opinions about people of different cultures, their preparedness to use a language other than their mother tongue, or whether immigration should be regulated. We have to assume that many of us know virtually nothing about other cultures. Nonetheless, they have strong feelings about them. Only when we appreciate such personal evaluations can we grasp how people are likely to respond in various intercultural situations. Second, if attitudes determine our emotional, cognitive, and behavioural worlds, we must ask ourselves where they come from and how and why they are formed. The inconsistent behaviour La Piere observed could have emerged from changes in attitudes. Between serving the Chinese couple and receiving the questionnaire, the respondents could have, for instance, had new experiences with people of Asian descent. So the question is, how are attitudes learned, and to what extent are they stable? Then again, we cannot rule out the possibility that people form attitudes on the spot and when needed. Following this line of thought, leaders better know whether attitudes, once established, can be changed. The question, then, is under 12 Attitudes 345 <?page no="346"?> what circumstances can we bring about attitude change or alter attitudes towards intercultural encounters? Third, as we have seen, the link between how people express attitudes about otherness and their actual behaviour is far from straightforward. One would think that those favouring intercultural exchanges are more likely to seek out or positively engage with people of different backgrounds. They might even have travelled extensively or have taken the time to learn languages. Nonetheless, their real-life behaviour might be a far cry from their polyglot aura. That attitudes and behaviour can sometimes fall apart is a severe problem for those in leadership positions. If attitudes profoundly impact intercultural engagement, how can we be sure how we and others respond to and accept differences? Against the backdrop of these three prominent issues, it is unsurprising that the exploration of attitudes features strongly in intercultural management. This is so because attitudes ascertain (i) what we value or not (degree of importance of an object or an action), (ii) what we appreciate (desirable end-states), and how curious and tolerant we are when faced with otherness (preparedness to accept differences and value diversity; see Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). Though a note of caution is warranted at the outset of this chapter: While there is general agreement about the key role of attitudes in intercultural competence, our understanding of what they are, where they come from and how they link to behaviour is, as yet, not conclusive. Answers to these three fundamental questions depend very much on different conceptualisations of the attitude construct. 12.1 Attitudes in the International Workplace This book is committed to the idea that we can use ‘activation,’ ‘emotion,’ ‘motivation,’ and ‘attitude’ and their interplay to determine the way we work across cultures. We have learned that culture bumps are potential sources of arousal, which, in turn, set an affective response chain in motion. The complexity of mental processes increases from emotion to motivation and attitude because more and more cognitive processes kick in and influence our behaviour (Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). In this context, we got to know attitudes, at the most abstract level, as ‘judgements’ or appraisals. These cognitive processes combine with motivational states, not least because we have to have certain preferences, in the first place, which have pushed us to engage, pursue and deal with intercultural issues. Psychologists define attitudes as ‘relatively enduring and general evaluations’ (Anon., 2023 g). These include objects, persons, groups, issues, or concepts in our environment. Our assessments are often deemed to be based on a set of trigger events (arousal), emotions, and motivations. We ask ourselves whether an issue is suitable to satisfy a need or want (means-end-analysis) and, thus, is worthy of our attention and time. Crucially, basic assumptions, values and beliefs in intercultural contexts provide the basis for how attitudes form and how strongly they serve as anchors for our behaviour (Hall, 1976). Attitudes range from negative to positive reac‐ tions, each suggesting different routes to intercultural adjustments. The former would 346 12 Attitudes <?page no="347"?> set the tone for fragile encounters (e.g., clamming up), and the latter would enrich encounters (e.g., remaining upbeat even in challenging situations). Of course, people rarely have single or isolated opinions about important things. Rather, evaluations are usually part of a wider network of sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting attitudes. Based on this observation, a combination of negative and positive reactions is a helpful way of thinking about the complexity of attitudinal interactions (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2017). For conceptual purposes, Figure 29 treats reactions towards intercultural encounters as dichotomous. Both ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ reactions can be either low or high. These then combine into four overall evaluative options and outcomes: Positive Attitudes, Negative Attitudes, Indifference and Ambivalence. Figure 29: Interplay Between Positive and Negative Reactions to Intercultural Encounters Source: Inspired by Baek, 2010. Positive Attitudes: You have high positive reactions to intercultural encounters, all the while having low negative reactions. For instance, you like travelling to foreign countries, you love all kinds of food from foreign countries, and you see meeting people from different countries as refreshing. You have really nothing negative to say about otherness. Negative Attitudes: You have high negative reactions to intercultural encounters and a relatively low positive reaction. If you have nothing positive to say in this context, the evaluative outcomes are straightforward, too. You may find situations involving people of different backgrounds straining and frustrating. Speaking English makes you uncomfortable, let alone learning a second foreign language. 12.1 Attitudes in the International Workplace 347 <?page no="348"?> Indifference: Both positive and negative reactions to intercultural encounters are relatively low. You neither love nor hate situations or exchanges with people of different backgrounds. Such indifferent attitudes quickly spin into non-caring assessments of how other people do. The danger is that a lack of concern makes people on the receiving end feel not seen, if not unwanted or insignificant. Ambivalence: You have high negative reactions but, at the same time, high positive reactions, too. There might be all kinds of positive aspects of intercultural encounters that appeal to you, while other aspects just put you off. You may like, at least theoretically, to get to know new people but find actual encounters emotionally quite stressful. Ambivalent attitudes can translate into inconsistent assessments, with people alternating between empathic and antagonistic behaviour. 12.2 Attitudes and Intercultural Competence Conceptualisations Since their theoretical inception in the 1960s, ‘attitude’ has been central in concep‐ tualising intercultural competence. Experiences of the Peace Corps operations in Africa and later in Polynesia spurred interest in what made individuals effective in navigating and adapting to differences across cultural boundaries (e.g., Smith, 1966). Attitudes determine much of the way we see and approach others and, thus, make or break intercultural interaction. Typically defined as ‘the appropriate and effective management of interaction between people who, to some degree or another, represent different affective, cognitive, and behavioural orientations to the world’ (Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009), attitudes affect our behaviour, which, in turn, affect the attitudes of our interlocutors, which again affect their behaviour, and so forth (Figure 30). Figure 30: Intercultural Communication as Circular and Interactive Interplay of Attitudes Source: Brogden, 2017. 348 12 Attitudes <?page no="349"?> In spite of the vast advances in theoretical exploration since then, ‘attitudes’ are widely considered the most basic and indispensable ingredient in dealing with cultural diversity. In her past to present review, Deardorff (2009) charts five phases in the development of intercultural competence conceptualisations: compositional, co-orien‐ tational, developmental, adaptational and causal. They capture different aspects of the phenomenon but, overall, do not yield a consistent picture of what makes people sometimes more, sometimes less competent in international encounters. Although a ‘super-theory’ (that comprises all aspects) is not available, attitudes appear to bind all these conceptualisations together. Compositional Models These models point us to contingent components of intercultural competence. These are largely independent but together underpin skilful and tactful interactions with individuals and groups from other cultures. They usually come in the form of a list of relevant traits and skills, for instance, empathy, ambiguity tolerance, openness, flexi‐ bility and so forth. For example, attitudes feature strongly in this theoretical category in Deardorff ’s Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence. Here, she identifies attitudes as key building blocks from which feelings towards others and, ultimately, behaviour flows. Motivations of respect, openness, and curiosity prepare us to cognitively engage with how things are done at home and elsewhere (knowledge and comprehension) and our ambition to acquire commensurate skills (especially awareness and appraisal). Together, these filter how we see ourselves and how we relate to the world around us. Our interpretations lead to our visible behaviour in intercultural situations. In short, according to this compositional model, intercultural competence starts with attitudes which prepare us (or not) to navigate unfamiliar environments. Co-Orientational Models These models focus on interactional processes and intercultural achievements (such as resultant empathy, perspective-taking, and clarity). Though many of them are grounded in compositional ideas, they see intercultural competence as shared under‐ standings that reside not in individuals but emerge from exchanges. Simply put, we can only figure out what is going on if we are prepared to reveal things to each other. But, paradoxically, we will only do so if we trust that the other person has what it takes to make sense of what we are about to reveal (Middlelton, 2015). Only then and over time will the interactants increasingly share common ground. Attitudes facilitate such conducive atmospheres. Byram’s Intercultural Competence Model illustrates such co-orientational conceptualisations. He assumes that effective intercultural communication depends on one’s ability to appreciate the cultural norms and values of the other person or group. Co-orientation occurs when we adapt our behaviour to how we believe others might view us or a topic of concern. However, 12.2 Attitudes and Intercultural Competence Conceptualisations 349 <?page no="350"?> the ‘foundation of intercultural competence is in the attitudes of the intercultural speaker and mediator’ (Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2003). There are likely to be incompatibilities or even tensions between the values and identities of interlocutors. Curiosity, openness, and the readiness to suspend self-reference and beliefs about other cultures help bridge these gaps of understanding. Put differently, attitudes drive interactions and communication between interlocutors. As they continuously guide mutual interaction, attitudes prepare us for ongoing learning and adaptation. Developmental Models These models emphasise the time dimension of intercultural interaction. They zoom into the affective, cognitive, and behavioural changes that occur as individuals adapt. With the focus on attitudes, knowledge, and skills, they are conceptually rooted in compositional research streams; however, they assume a progression of feeling, thinking, and behaving to be taking place across the course of our lives. Tapping into the rich insights of developmental psychology, these models hypothesise that the more experience with unfamiliar situations we gather, the more likely we will become competent in handling such situations. Overall, developmental models capture intercultural competence as a growth and learning process. Bennet’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) suggests, for example, that people, over time, are likely to move from ethnocentric to more appreciative, ethnorelative views. They develop intercultural competence in six progressive phases: (i) Denial (individuals fail to recognise cultural differences or render them irrelevant); Defence (individuals recognise cultural differences but do so in polarising camp-thinking ways); (iii) Minimisation (individuals recognise cultural differences but reduce resultant threats by emphasizing similarities); (iv) Acceptance (individuals acknowledge and respect cultural difference and more curiosity about different patterns of behaviour is the result of that); (v) Adaptation (individuals empathise with varying ways of doing things. Shifting to new cultural perspectives often means more positive reactions to intercultural encounters); and (vi) Integration (individuals cherish cultural differences and the impulses that come with them. They make these new cultural perspectives their own). As people mature, they become more authentic in navigating cultural differences and more competent in building positive relationships. Bennett draws our attention to the central role of attitudes in arguing that ‘knowledge, attitude, and behaviour must work together for development to occur’ (Bennett & Bennett, J., 2004, p. 149; see also previous chapter). Thus, ‘attitudes’ are said to propel any learning and adaptation journeys. Adaptational Models These models follow three fundamental lines of thinking: First, they assume that intercultural competence evolves from real or imagined interactions between multiple 350 12 Attitudes <?page no="351"?> interactants. Second, based on this interaction, some form of change should occur. The degree of adaptation is at the heart of intercultural competence. The assumption is that functioning effectively across cultures is a dynamic process with ups and downs. Third, building on developmental ideas, these models presuppose that intercultural competence intermingles with ethnorelative views. There is an appreciation of cultural differences and overall preparedness to see things through the eyes of others. Again, attitudes (and attitude change) determine the quality and direction of intercultural engagement and its outcomes. A prime example of adaptational models is that of Berry and colleagues (Berry, Kim, Power, Young, & Bujaki, M., 1989). Their Acculturation Theory describes the social, psychological, and cultural changes that occur when people of different backgrounds meet. The model assumes a tension between two competing desires: (i) What value do we attach to maintaining our cultural identity and characteristics? (ii) What value do we attach to establishing relationships with other cultural groups? For conceptual purposes, they dichotomise each question (‘yes’ or ‘no’) and arrive at a 2x2 matrix representing four fundamental ways of adapting to cultural contacts, namely: Integration: When maintaining one’s own cultural identity is important while be‐ ing okay with adopting some aspects of another new culture, we would expect mutual efforts for an appreciative interaction between people of different backgrounds. Both sides would continuously negotiate common ground, where sometimes differences and sometimes overlaps come to the fore. Assimilation: When people are prepared to give up their own cultural identity in favour of adopting a new culture, we would expect substantial changes in attitudes and behaviour to occur. It takes some energy to shed cherished practices and fully absorb into a new environment. Resembling the values and beliefs of another group might help everyday life, including employability or social standing. Separation: When people strive to maintain their cultural identity while not particularly valuing other ways of doing things, we would expect them to avoid contact with different cultural groups. As people show little interest in otherness, little change or learning takes place. The preference for cherished practices means intercultural engagement can be quite a stressful experience. Marginalisation: When people discard both their own cultural identity and show no interest in building relationships with other cultural groups, we would expect them to feel rejected and confused and experience substantial acculturative stress. Though rare, these people might have been unsuccessful in reaching out to other cultures and are likely to struggle in their daily lives due to that. In sum, whatever direction change takes, attitudes are important in adjusting one’s behaviour to different cultural contexts. According to Berry (1992), ‘much depends on the policies and attitudes held by the dominant society, and whether acculturating individuals prefer strategies that correspond to these views in the larger society.’ Attitudes can change and develop as people interact. 12.2 Attitudes and Intercultural Competence Conceptualisations 351 <?page no="352"?> Think About: Cultural Adaptation The Berry Model of Acculturation describes different phases of cultural adapta‐ tion that we go through when we contact and live with people of different cultural backgrounds. The theory assumes three phases of cultural adaptation. Positive feelings towards otherness usually dominate the initial or ‘honeymoon’ phase. We feel excited and enthusiastic about our new environment. As we engage with those around us, we will likely seek out and cherish the opportunities that present themselves. As these exceptional situations become part of everyday life, the novelty of the situations gradually wanes. More and more, we realise that things are indeed done differently. It is not uncommon that this loss of cultural superpower leads to indifference towards the host country if not inner withdrawal or more or less open rejection of the peculiarities of a country. This second phase is commonly referred to as ‘culture shock.’ A stabilisation of our relationship with the host country characterises the third phase. Which course of cultural adaptation we take (Uor S-shaped), depends on what value we attach to maintaining our cultural identity or to building relationships within our new environment. Pragmatically, we can assume some form of ‘accommodation.’ We learn to live with and within the new environment. Over time, pendulum-like, we have sometimes more positive and sometimes more negative experiences. Acculturation, in this sense, should be understood as a permanent learning process (see Horn, 2005). The phases and levels of cultural adaptation affect the way people interact with each other. A better understanding of acculturation can help explain and resolve conflict. 352 12 Attitudes <?page no="353"?> Discuss in small groups: • How does awareness of levels of acculturation help us make sense of what we see in people trying to adapt to a new cultural environment? • How is sensitivity to variations in cultural adaptation helpful in bringing people of different cultural backgrounds together? Causal Process Models These models consider the fact that intercultural competence development is a complex process. They approach these processes with an eye to academic exploration and, thus, break down intercultural encounters into measurable components. Based on this, relationships are hypothesised and then tested, for instance, how people see through intercultural interactions or what makeup people need to have to navigate such encounters successfully. A widely recognised model is that of Deardorff (2006). Her Process Model of Intercultural Competence suggests attitudes, most notably respect, openness, and curiosity, facilitate knowledge and awareness about ourselves and others. Likewise, they help us hone our abilities to engage in dialogue and adapt to different cultural situations. Together, attitudes, knowledge, and skills shape how flexible, adaptable, and empathic we are (Internal Outcome) and possibly show in intercultural encounters. Then, others will pick up on the way we engage with them (External Outcome). How people get along with each other, therefore, depends to a large extent on what attitudes they have. Our (relatively enduring) evaluations of otherness shape our behavioural orientations, which will, in turn, make us create intercultural opportunities and, inevitably, take care of how we deal with the demands of intercultural encounters. Try It: Check Your Knowledge and Understanding Choose a model of intercultural competence from the list below. In groups, research this framework. Prepare a presentation (approx. five slides) of what they do and do not do. Your presentation should explain the core perspective, underlying assumptions and dimensions. Specifically, you should explore what role attitudinal compo‐ nents play in your allocated framework. Collectively, these presentations will become a learning resource for all. • Deardorff (2006): Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence • Byram (1997): Intercultural Competence Model • Bennett (1986): Developmental Intercultural Competence Model • Berry et al. (1989): Attitude Acculturation Model • Gulahorn and Gullahorn (1962): U-Curve Model of Intercultural Adjustment • Earley and Ang (2003): Cultural Intelligence 12.2 Attitudes and Intercultural Competence Conceptualisations 353 <?page no="354"?> • Imahori and Lanigan (1989): Relational Model of Intercultural Competence Our brief historical overview of intercultural competence models makes the funda‐ mental role of attitude concepts obvious. Although no across-the-board theory maps motivations for intercultural engagement or explains why some people effectively work across cultures while others do not, attitudes infer what you make of intercultural encounters. Their study offers a rich conceptual and theoretical landscape for how we perceive and think about otherness as well as how we behave in situations involving people of different backgrounds: • At the most abstract level, attitudes help us to extend our boundaries. Attitudes determine the willingness to gain a deeper understanding of another culture, in‐ cluding developing foreign language skills or ‘thick’ knowledge about a country’s history, society, economy and so forth (e.g., Gardner, 1983). Due to our efforts, we may be better equipped to ‘read’ what is happening and what is going on. • Also, attitudes hold significant power over the way we communicate and socialise. Attitudes of openness towards ‘strangers’ or valuing ‘diversity’ are likely to translate into efforts of rapport building or networking (Isabelli-García, 2006). They prepare us to slip into other people’s shoes. New insights can change our attitudes as we learn to see things differently. • Attitudes figure prominently in resolving intercultural conflict. Adopting positive attitudes such as responsibility, respect, and fairness helps in dealing with opposing opinions (Kriaučiūnienė, 2014). The right mindset can make us more mindful and less reproachful in cases of conflict. In this sense, attitudes have been shown to moderate, suppress or encourage self-reflection (Stein & Grant, 2012). • Working across cultures, especially living abroad, can be, at times, tough. However, as Bram Stoker (‘Dracula’) famously noted, ‘It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature.’ Resilience predicts optimism and positive social interaction (Zautra, 2006). The right mindset might help self-confidence and, by extension, seeing things through. Although the effects of attitudes on intercultural competence are manifold and intuitively obvious, we still need to learn much more about how exactly attitudes shape the quality, intensity, and direction of encounters with culturally different others. A better grasp of attitudes might help us explain differences in real-world experiences with communicating and interacting across cultures. Following the exploration of Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein (2019), answers to the following questions might be particularly useful in equipping us with a more nuanced understanding of how and why we relate to and navigate otherness. • Where do attitudes come from? • How and to what extent are they part of our mental makeup and thus stable? Or are they more temporary and fickle as we react to intercultural situations? 354 12 Attitudes <?page no="355"?> • How are attitudes structured? How are its affective, cognitive, and behavioural components related, and how do they, together, influence what we make of intercultural encounters? • How are attitudes and behaviour interlinked? • Can attitudes towards otherness change? And if so, under what conditions? 12.3 A-B-C Model of Attitude Attitudes are grounded in motivations. These relate to specific people, things, or events in our environment. The way people speak gives us good ideas about their attitudes concerning otherness (‘I like travelling’). These are likely explanations of specific behaviours or even intentions. That is, attitudes guide how we act or want to act. The intention to study a language (‘I am going to study Chinese so that I can be more effective when working in Shanghai’), for instance, reveals not only an attitude towards another culture but a subjective evaluation of the entire context, including an instrumental assessment of how language learning can help navigate intercultural situations. Put differently, an attitude emerges from assessing how good (or bad) an opinion helps us attain certain goals. To stay with our example of language learning: We have a positive attitude towards learning Chinese. This is based on (i) wanting to interact with local employees (motivation) and (ii) thinking that language learning fosters understanding of other cultures (assessment). Clearly, there are both affective and cognitive components at play that influence what we do about intercultural situations. In some cases, emotions dominate attitudes (and, by extension, behaviour) and, in others, thoughts. The ABC model of attitude is a model that explains how attitudes form from the interplay of affective (A), behavioural (B) and cognitive (C) orientations: Affective Attitudes: How do we feel about people, things, or events? This com‐ ponent refers to our emotional reactions. Attitudes are based on assumptions and values, for instance, morals or religion. Rather than looking at things in the cold light of day, intuitions or gut feelings can underpin attitudes without much conscious reasoning (Maglio & Reich, 2017). They may not give us an accurate picture of our environment, but they help us make sense of otherness. For instance, we have feelings about corruption, health care, and lies. Affective attitudes may come from sensory experiences that make us enthusiastic (or not) about what we see, hear, taste and so forth (see Chapter 7 on activation). Our positive or negative emotional reactions may, however, come from learning processes, too, most notably (i) ‘classic’ and (ii) ‘operant’ conditioning. These we will cover in the next chapter. In sum, affective attitudes reflect involuntary impressions of what is going on around us. They do not necessarily follow a certain logic and are often linked to taken-for-granted assumptions about how the world around us works (or should work). We rarely second-guess such ‘hidden’ worldviews. 12.3 A-B-C Model of Attitude 355 <?page no="356"?> Behavioural Attitudes: Sometimes, we have no firm convictions or opinions about things that happen around us. Nevertheless, our behaviour or intention might be skewed in one way or the other. For instance, we like travelling but cannot really explain why we do so. But when asked on one of our trips, we might reason that we do like travelling as we find ourselves in a situation where we experience a foreign culture (‘I guess I like it, because I do find myself travelling quite a lot’). In other words, rather than through emotions and logic, we make sense of our behaviour and intentions by observing our behaviour (self-perception theory, Bem, 1972). Behavioural attitudes particularly matter when we have no fixed opinion about objects, persons, or situations, in our case, intercultural encounters. We only form attitudes once we gain experiences with them. What we make of them bifurcates encounters into positive or negative assessments, which we either further pursue (rewarding experiences) or try to avoid in the future (punishing experiences). Our line manager might have asked us to represent the company at a Trade fair in South America. We are ambivalent about this trip. But while being in South America, we had several enjoyable encounters. These make us feel more and more optimistic about representing our firm internationally. Think About: Inviting Mr Wu (A True Story) You are attending an international trade fair in Beijing, China. Your task is to test the local waters for your company’s products in North-East Asia. On the last day, Mr Wu, a local businessperson, approaches you. He is keen to learn more about your company and what products you could bring to China. In your preparation for the trip to China, you learned that eating out is essential to establishing trust. You, therefore, ask Mr Wu whether he would be interested in meeting you after the end of the day. Why not meet in your hotel? It has exquisite food and would create a great atmosphere that impresses your potential business contact. You agree to meet at 7 pm in the lobby of the 5-star hotel in downtown Beijing. You waited in the lobby at 7 pm that evening, and sure enough, Mr Wu showed up. To your surprise, however, he brought ten more Chinese colleagues! They all know each other. Naturally, you have some discretion in spending company money on your trip to China. You make some mental accounting; how can you explain to your boss that you had splashed an extraordinary amount of money for dining in one of the finest restaurants in Beijing with ten unknown Chinese? With kind consent of Nigel Holden who presented this case in one of my modules at LMU on intercultural communication. Discuss in small groups: • Can you solve the riddle of why Mr Wu brought along 10 of his colleagues? • How would you go about this situation? • Is there a chance of losing face? For whom? • An ambiguous situation (having dinner in a professional setting) suddenly turned into a high-stake event (the dinner will cost more than your company 356 12 Attitudes <?page no="357"?> credit card allows you to spend). What experiences are you likely to encoun‐ ter? Cognitive Attitudes: Attitudes can be rooted in extensive fact-finding efforts, and when we have made up our minds, we follow a certain logic. For instance, before committing to an expat assignment, we may want to first inform ourselves very carefully about the pros and cons of such a career-changing move. Where do we go? What are the additional responsibilities of such an assignment? Is it lucrative? Can I bring along my family? What about schooling for my children in such a remote place? Is it safe to be there? We devise a list of plusses and minuses, which we, in turn, weigh up to arrive at a persuasive argument about why we would accept the offer (or not). The resultant preference will lead us to behave in certain ways. In short, we form our attitudes in line with careful considerations of objects, persons, or situations. This does not mean we fully forfeit our emotions. They may be part of our mental accounting, but ultimately, logic and reason will guide our attitude formation. Eagerness or defiance of intercultural issues, e.g., intercultural assignments and international projects, primarily arises after assessing whether they help us satisfy our needs. The ABC model integrates the three orientations and explains how attitudes form. The assumption is that the components align in specific ways and, thus, predict atti‐ tudinal strength and consistency. Some attitudes form more from cognitive processes, while others lean towards affective attitudes. Figure 31 charts different pathways of attitude formation. These ‘hierarchies of effects’ mirror which orientation (A, B, C) dominates evaluation processes (Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). • A ‘standard learning hierarchy’ pathway predicts that we first seek and establish facts surrounding an object, person, or situation. Reasoning helps us to firm up our beliefs. Only then do emotional considerations kick in. These affective associations may moderate our attitudes. Resultant preferences will then translate into expressions of intent and behaviour. Because of the considerable effort and complexity, such attitudinal pathways usually grow from high degrees of interest and emotional relevance (‘high involvement’). Intercultural encounters per se typically carry a higher risk of failure. We will likely engage in more complex preparations when they are relevant to us. • Not all attitude formations must undergo such extensive efforts. More often than not, objects are either not truly relevant to us, or we simply do not hold firm beliefs about them (‘low involvement’). In such cases, we may initially engage in some fact-finding, but, overall, our attitudes are somewhat loose and based on very little information. Only when we experience the effect our behaviour has on others (reward or punishment) do we learn what an intercultural encounter does to us. Consequently, our attitudes intensify. Whether or not we disengage or continue making contact depends on the resultant emotions. 12.3 A-B-C Model of Attitude 357 <?page no="358"?> • When affections dominate attitude formation processes (‘experiential hierarch‐ ies’), feelings take over sense-making processes (of otherness). What we make of intercultural encounters has to do with trust, and we do not necessarily calculate their costs and rewards all the time. Many intangible attributes and hedonistic motivations (e.g., learning new skills and going to exotic locations) elude any objective evaluation. For instance, before embarking on language training, we cannot really know what skills we are likely to pick up over time. Nevertheless, our emotions surrounding such outlooks might shape our attitudes. Emotional contagion, when we adopt the emotional states of others, might also play a role (Hatfield, Paige, & Rapson, 2020). Intercultural situations can be high stakes, and because of that, we want to present ourselves in the best possible light. We are overly friendly and diplomatic. Such positive emotions can jump over us and affect the way we feel about others. Figure 31: ABC Model and Its Hierarchies of Effects Source: Applied from Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, & Hogg, 2006. We will look at issues of involvement in more detail later in this chapter. The way the three orientations align also influences the strengths of attitudes. When they complement each other, attitudes are usually quite strong. We may have positive feelings about a specific country, its people, and its culture. Many facts surrounding the country make it quite appealing to us, e.g., the language is relatively easy to pick up, local people are open and easy-going, and the landscape is beautiful and steeped in history. We travelled often this country and cherished opportunities at home to practise our language skills. As a result, we are quite likely to continue in the same vein, and should the opportunity reveal itself, we wouldn’t say no to an overseas assignment. By contrast, the three orientations might conflict with each other. Under these circumstances, attitudes weaken. Say, it makes complete business sense to study a certain foreign language. As far as you know, very few are able to speak it, and opportunities to learn it in your home country are rare. We understand that the country 358 12 Attitudes <?page no="359"?> will become very important economically, and speaking the local language will give you a professional edge. In short, you can think of a lot of reasons why you should spend time learning the language. However, emotionally, you are more distant to this idea. Proficiency does not come overnight, and it takes a lot of effort to master a language at a reasonable level. Indeed, you are interested in more immediate effects. Consequently, you start learning the language but do not do so full-heartedly. You practise it irregularly, and success materialises less quickly than you would have hoped. Had the three orientations positively aligned, your intent (and perhaps commitment) to study would have been stronger. 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters Attitudes are powerful forces that shape our emotions, thinking and behaviour. Involvement may be consequential for attitude formation but has little to say about its direction, strength and, connected to this, persistence. When it comes to intercultural encounters, some attitudes are insignificant, while others have a great impact on how interactions unfold. So, we may wonder, when and how do attitudes become conse‐ quential when working across cultures? According to Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein (2019), four questions help explore the circumstances under which attitudinal influen‐ ces take effect: • What situations? • Predict what attitudes? • Of what persons? • What behaviour? These can be used to explore how attitudes affect how we make sense of and interact with people of different cultural backgrounds. Situational Effects First of all, experiences with intercultural encounters are affected by prevailing social norms and beliefs and their effect on assumed appropriateness. The following examples portray how these can guide behaviour: • You have applied for a position in a large, internationally operating company. During the job interview, you are asked how open you are to working with people of different cultural backgrounds and how fluent you are in English. Frankly speaking, you are unsure about how to respond to these questions. You have worked in international teams before, and your experiences have not always been pleasant. Decision-taking was slow, and misunderstandings were not uncommon. You are okay with speaking English, but truth be told, you do not quite see the point in doing so all the time. Communicating in English can be tiresome. But in 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 359 <?page no="360"?> the current climate of multiculturalism and diversity, you better respond with a white lie. You cannot afford to be seen as someone who is backwards-looking or even xenophobic. • You are fond of Spain and have spent considerable time travelling across the Iberian Peninsula. You feel that your knowledge of Spanish culture is pretty advanced. Your language skills and cultural insights will surely give you a professional edge. You have spotted a vacancy in a large Spanish company and are pondering what chances you have of landing this job. Ultimately, you decide against applying. Although you feel your chances are quite good as you could easily liaise with the Spanish colleagues, and the payment would be above average, you worry that some invisible barriers prevent you from pursuing your career goals. The first example illustrates how social norms guide thinking and behaviour. We want to be seen favourably and worry about negative judgements by others. Job norms sug‐ gest a certain desirability for having and showing interculturally competent behaviour. Thus, we may overstate how ‘good’ behaviour (while hiding poor adaptation) and how ‘open’ we are towards otherness, speaking and learning languages, and so forth. In the second example, personal norms surrounding career aspirations determine whether or not we let intercultural opportunities pass. Explore: Foreign Liabilities Turned Upside Down Hercule Poirot, perhaps one of the most notorious sleuths in literature, knew how to turn the negative relationship between foreignness and social exclusion into something positive. Agatha Christie introduces the character as someone for whom (British) class barriers do not apply. His dandy-like appearance paired with vanity makes him subject to ridicule. This turns into scorn when he is onto something. Looking and behaving ‘foreign’ serves him well in his hunt for villains: ‘It is true that I can speak the exact, the idiomatic English. But, my friend, to speak the broken English is an enormous asset. It leads people to despise you. They say - a foreigner - he can’t even speak English properly. … Also, I boast! An Englishman, he says often, ‘A fellow who thinks as much of himself as that cannot be worth much.’ … And so, you see, I put people off their guard’ (in Agatha Christie’s Three Acty Tragedy). Consider the following questions: • What are your attitudes towards people speaking ‘broken’ English? • Do you agree with Poirot that ‘foreignness’ can be an asset rather than a shortcoming? • Have you ever used your status as a foreign to gain an advantage? How so? Instead of fitting in, managers cannot align business practices with local ways of doing things (Caprar, Kim, Walker, & Caligiuri, 2022). 360 12 Attitudes <?page no="361"?> • Can you think of the benefits of such a countercultural approach? Second, the setup in which we find ourselves itself can colour one’s attitudes. The ABC model suggests that attitude formation follows two types of mental processes. We may rely on logic and systematic analysis of attitudinal objects on the one hand or intuition and affection on the other. Kahneman (2011) refers to these two processes as either ‘unconscious’ (System 1) or ‘conscious’ (System 2). The nature of the situation may have systematic effects on the extent to which emotions and cognitions fire up and exert influence on our behaviour. As the following example shows, what language we use can have a major impact on what road, conscious or unconscious, we take and, by extension, what we make of intercultural encounters: The American physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes once noted that ‘language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.’ Accordingly, language not only reflects our fundamental worldviews but reveals to a great extent our true and often unconscious intentions and how we relate to our environment. Beliefs that it does not really matter with which language, our mother tongue or a foreign one, we express these intentions might be short-sighted. Research suggests that we do not necessarily arrive at similar choices or behaviours. When we speak a foreign tongue, we are less likely to let emotions moderate decision-making. By contrast, when using our native language, our judgements and decision-making will likely be more flawed. We engage in more risky behaviour (Keysar, Hayakawa, & An, 2012). Likewise, it appears to be easier to broach embarrassing topics in a foreign than in our native language (Bond & Lai, 1986). Stereotypes about inadequate language proficiency can complicate professional lives. When language learners dread unequal opportunities, they are behaving less systematically and may not perform to the best of their abilities (Horn, 2019). Third, the setting per se can shape our affective and cognitive behavioural orienta‐ tions, too. We may become irritable or even anti-social (Sandi & Haller, 2015). Even simple tasks can turn into tedious chores, which, in turn, can further augment stress levels. However, when we let go and feel relaxed, we tend to deal with hiccups quite differently. An optimistic outlook can take the sting out of potentially stressful situations. The following examples portray how involvement guides intercultural behaviour: • You are on holiday. Your stress levels are usually lower when spending time abroad, and you are more likely to take risks. So, when meeting local people, you tend to be relatively open to trying out new things. Even if you disagree with some of the things or people you encounter, you go with the flow. • You are a marketing executive and take part in an international group project. Usually, you like interacting with colleagues from abroad. However, amid your hectic schedule, they get on your nerves today. They go on and on about a new social media strategy they have successfully introduced for their subsidiary. After 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 361 <?page no="362"?> a while of listening to their ramblings, you burst out, saying point-blank that their suggestion just would not fly with local customer expectations (‘Not invented here’ tendency). Fourth, the psychic distance we feel between ourselves and others (Vahlne & Wieder‐ sheim-Paul, 1973) also dramatically affects how we experience intercultural encoun‐ ters. As a rule of thumb, we can assume that the greater the relative similarity and familiarity, the less likely we will trip over cultural differences. Country-level differences appear to be especially persuasive in forming attitudes towards otherness (Ambos, Leicht-Dobald, & Leinemann, 2019). Our home culture decidedly affects how we see the world and others within it. With our own culture as an attitudinal benchmark for comparison, we assess economic (i.e. living standards) and cultural (e.g., manners, rituals, norms) and institutional (e.g., law, education, medical systems) differences. The further we stray from our home turf and cherished way of doing things, the more we lose our superpower to give meaning to the rules of the game around us. Remember that felt discrepancies are always a function of where we are from and in which location we find ourselves in. For instance, for Europeans, the psychic distance to China is something different than for people from other parts of Asia. We may intuitively think of geographies as solid indicators of psychic distance (Dow & Karunaratna, 2006). Paradoxically, proximity can make for even more distance, as the following case illustrates: You work for a German, family-owned SME. This gastro and baking equipment manufacturer has identified Austria as a major growth market. The owner-manager does not see many differences in how business is done in these two countries. ‘They are both German-speaking, after all! ’ he observes. Could the owner-manager´s argument be possibly flawed? How could you convince the owner-manager that the Austrian market indeed warrants special attention? Attitudinal Effects The idea of some form of relationship between attitudes and behaviour seems to be intuitively true (Zanna, Olson, & Fazio, 1980). However, our opening vignette suggests that we should exercise caution when explaining and making predictions, especially in intercultural situations: • Different behaviours might be caused by the same attitudes. For instance, respect for age is an attitude that is shared by many cultures. Yet, it will show in different shades. In many Western European societies, where there is a certain fetish around being young, respect for age shows in very banal disguises, such as offering older people a seat in public spaces. In North American tribal communities, it is custom‐ ary for older people to pass down knowledge and wisdom to younger people. In Korea, Confucian values suggest that children should wait for their parents to start eating before digging in themselves. Shinto, the Japanese indigenous religion, sees 362 12 Attitudes <?page no="363"?> linkages between the past and the present in elderly people. During Keiro no Hi (or Respect for the Aged Day), young people are to formally pay respect to elderly people. • By contrast, similar behaviours might be caused by very different, perhaps even opposing attitudes. For example, one evening in the office, you see somebody working relatively late. Depending on where you are from, your assessments might be very different. In individualistic countries, you might make assumptions about the person’s makeup. They might have forgotten to complete a task or are keen to polish their career further. In collectivist cultures, the same behaviour would be interpreted very differently. That they work late not only suggests a high work ethic but also a strong commitment to the company. From this, it follows that the relationship between attitudes and behaviour is not straightforward. For a better understanding of how attitudes might affect intercultural behaviour, Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein’s (2019) differentiation is helpful. • (a) general vs. specific attitudes, • (b) direct experience vs. vicarious observation, • (c) automatic vs. spontaneously available attitudes, • (d) stable vs. unstable attitudes. General vs Specific Attitudes: Attitudes come at various levels of abstraction. They can be general on the one side and specific on the other. As abstract ideals, the former serve as mere directives for intercultural behaviour. For that reason, general attitudes have weak predictive power for specific behaviour. The latter, by contrast, are more strongly correlated to actual behaviour. For instance, we could ask about a person’s openness to otherness in multicultural teams. But regardless of the answer we get, one should not expect such a general attitude to lead to specific behaviour in group settings. We will be more successful at predicting behaviours if we ask much more precisely about possible outcomes, e.g., ‘As a group leader, would you listen to your team’s impulses even if the ideas sound strange? ’ ‘Will you speak English? ’ ‘Would you be okay with colleagues not adhering to agreed plans? ’ Direct Experience vs Vicarious Observation: Attitudes formed through direct experience are better predictors of later behaviour than attitudes formed through vi‐ carious observation (Fazio, Zanna, & Cooper, 1978). From this perspective, international experience is crucial for intercultural adjustment (Takeuchi, Tesluk, Yun, & Lepak, 2005). Through first-hand experience, individuals develop skills in various personal, social, and communicative domains. Merely watching and listening to others will be less beneficial in developing intercultural competence. Educational programmes, both at university and in industry, build on this premise. Exposure to direct experiences, for instance, studying abroad or international job secondments, can greatly contribute to developing ethnorelative attitudes or reducing prejudices. Automatic vs Spontaneous Attitudes: Reactions to cultural bumps happen more or less quickly. The speediness of our responses depends on how much access we 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 363 <?page no="364"?> have to our attitudes. Automatic activation is likely in cases of strong associative links between an attitude object and its evaluation. Such attitudes will come to mind quickly and are, in turn, more consistent predictors of subsequent behaviour (Fazio, Sanbonmatsu, Powell, & Kardes, 1986). We all want to belong, and automatic assumptions about in-groups (favourable) and out-groups (less favourable) are part of processes of categorisation (Tajfel & Turner, J. C., 1979). Sadly, visible characteristics such as race and ethnicity are not mere ‘threats in the air’ but can turn into outright discrimination. Racial clues have been shown over and over again to prime automatic bias (e.g., Payne, 2001; Olson, 2019; Hugenberg & Bodenhausen, 2003). Stable vs Unstable Attitudes: We have defined attitudes as enduring evaluations. This long-term character would indicate a strong relationship between attitudes and later behaviour. However, research suggests that attitudes could also be formed on the spot (Schwartz, 1978). This would mean that, under certain circumstances, attitudes are context-sensitive, temporary, and dynamic. In this line of thinking, they would be formed when necessary. Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein (2019) take a reconciliatory view of these two perspectives. Within a complex web of psychological tendencies, attitudes are sometimes more, sometimes less deeply anchored, emotionally loaded, isolated or part of a wider network of evaluations. Such an integrative view logically implies that how we see others and what we make of them is not necessarily fixed forever. While intercultural competence is widely conceived as a stable personality trait, things are not as easy (see Schnabel, Kelava, & van de Vijver, 2015). Consider this: Intercultural communication skills at work improve when practised (Brislin & Yoshida, 1994) but can vary from one social context to another (Byram, 1997; Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Anxiety and uncertainty hurt intercultural performance (e.g., Logan, Steel, & Hunt, 2015), whereas a favourable social positioning can strengthen communication across cultures (Canagarajah, 2013). All of this suggests that it may not be enough to boil down variations in professional functioning merely to different personality traits. If it does not take much to upset or enhance appropriate communication in intercultural contexts, we should instead consider how stable attitudes towards others truly are. They may fade over time or pop up in response to specific situations. Personal Effects An individual’s personality significantly explains attitudes and their impact on behav‐ iour towards others. Historically, answers to the question ‘What makes an intercultural competent person? ’ focussed, in particular, on personality patterns. Spitzberg & Changnon (2009), for instance, report findings from 1960s and 1970s Peace Corps op‐ erations. Successful volunteers in Ghana were shown to be self-confident, committed, energetic, responsible, autonomous, flexible, and realistic. In terms of character, the study pointed to sensitivity, maturity, openness, nurturance (‘Zuwendung’), empathy and self-involvement as standout personal features. The 1970s follow-up study added to this attribute pool of competent volunteers a person’s wide range of interests, intel‐ 364 12 Attitudes <?page no="365"?> lectuality, autonomy, high aspirations, upbeat attitude, and communicative abilities. By contrast, less competent volunteers were shown to be thin-skinned, uncomfortable with uncertainty and complexities, sensitive to criticism, fickle, distrustful, self-defeat‐ ing, and inclined to give up or withdraw. Table 17 shows the findings of teacher evaluations of volunteers in the South Pacific. The overall thrust of these studies is that the makeup of a person affects how they see people of different backgrounds, interact with them, and how they adapt to intercultural encounters. • Facility with language • Adaptability • Responsibility • Cultural sensitivity • Interest in locals • Realism in goals • Agreement and compromise • Inner strength • Self-reliance • Patience/ tolerance • Perseverance • Initiative • Reliability • Argumentativeness • Courteousness • Friendliness • Maturity Table 17: Characteristics of Competent Teaching Volunteers in Tonga Source: Harris 1977, cited in Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009. Intercultural Dispositions: When we step back from this list of variables, it becomes clear that they can be reduced to five key dimensions contributing to a person’s intercultural competence (see also Table 14: Self-worth and its impact on motivations for intercultural engagement, in Chapter 11). Communication: Communicative ability and intercultural competence go hand in hand (e.g., Ilie, 2019). No doubt, the way we convey emotions, thoughts and ideas is crucial for impactful interactions with people of different backgrounds. This often means doing so in a bridge language, usually English. By implication, we must be good listeners and talkers to create rapport even if we do not share a common language. Importantly, the way we interact with others in that bridge language is a function of personality traits. Extrovert individuals are more okay with making contact and do so by talking a lot (often at the cost of listing). Introverted individuals, by contrast, tend to hold back from approaching others directly. Their communication style (what and how they say things) is less expressive. Such variations can influence the effectiveness of communicating with people from different cultures (especially when factoring in new forms of professional communication, such as virtual environments, see Horn & Takino, 2023), most notably the level of engagement as well as making and staying in contact. Openness (to Experience): Openness, i.e. the receptivity to new ideas, viewpoints and experiences, closely intermingles with intercultural competence (e.g., Poort, Jansen, & Hofman, 2021). This personal makeup tends to show in curiosity, initiative-taking, and open-mindedness. People are then more likely to display interest in what is going on in their environment and in other people, including those with a different cultural 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 365 <?page no="366"?> background. As they take the initiative, they are more receptive to appreciating, understanding, and perhaps embracing different cultural norms and practices. Because of their inherent interest in other ways of doing things, more open people tend to see things through, even in the face of difficulties. As a side-effect, openness has been shown to spur ethnorelative worldviews (all the while pushing back ethnocentric perspectives; e.g., Dollwet & Reichard, 2014). As a result, more open individuals are well-equipped to build positive relationships in intercultural encounters. Sensitivity: Intercultural sensitivity, also known as cultural sensitivity or intercul‐ tural awareness, has been defined as ‘an individual’s ability to develop emotion to wards understanding and appreciating cultural differences that promote appropriate and effective behaviour in intercultural communication’ (Chen & Starosta, 1997, p. 5). The awareness that cultures differ and that these differences affect the way people talk and relate to each other pre-empts ethnocentric worries. Instead of viewing other ethnicities or ways of doing things as strange and the resultant culture bumps as disturbing, intercultural sensitivity can push us towards more ethnorelative views. As we no longer superimpose our culture over others, we adopt more positive views of other cultures. Developing sensitivity and empathy, thus, means appreciating and tuning into the complexities of cultural norms, values, and beliefs other than our own. According to Bennett & Bennett (2004), intercultural sensitivity is a dynamic and malleable personality trait. We can grow our sensitivity through experiencing different cultures, self-reflection, and, perhaps most importantly, a genuine willingness to learn about different ways of doing things. Tolerance for Ambiguity: Tolerance for ambiguity has been described as an ‘emotional and perceptual personality variable’ (Frenkel-Brunswik, 1949) that captures capabilities of dealing with uncertain, unclear, or unstructured situations. Some people are more comfortable with such unfamiliar situations than others. People with a high tolerance for ambiguity do not feel easily stressed under complex conditions. Indeed, they ‘perceive ambiguous situations as desirable’ (Budner, 1962). They are aware that there are multiple interpretations and perspectives on an issue and are, thus, likely to rush to judgements. By contrast, for people with a low tolerance for ambiguity, such complex conditions are troublesome, not least because they prefer predictability, straightforwardness, and structure. Intercultural encounters, per definition, challenge cherished practices. As they force us to navigate unfamiliar terrain, (in)tolerance for ambiguity and intercultural competence are closely interrelated. When abroad or in touch with people of different backgrounds, we often face norms, values, and behaviours that are different from ours. Thus, our personal makeup makes (if tolerance is high) or breaks (if tolerance is low) intercultural engagement. Flexibility: Emotional, cognitive, and behavioural flexibility is a further key to navigating the challenges of intercultural encounters. Some individuals are okay with trying out new things (or alternative ways of doing things), while others look for conventional, tried-and-tested answers to novel situations. In intercultural situations, we have to ask ourselves what to do about our cherished practices. We either want to 366 12 Attitudes <?page no="367"?> let go or hold on to them. Flexibility, then, is about how we adapt to different ways of doing things so that we can create common ground with others: (i) Emotional flexibility refers to our ability to regulate our feelings in face of intercultural encounters (that have the potential to turn into emotional rollercoaster rides); (ii) Cognitive flexibility refers to our ability to reflect, revise and rethink cherished practises. Highly flexible people tend to avoid slotting new information into established categories. Less flexible people stick to established routines and worldviews. New information is put into established categories (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012; Gudykunst, 2004); (iii) Behavioural flexibility refers to the spectrum of behaviours we can tap into when faced with intercultural challenges. This is either broad or narrow. And we are either ready to make use of these repertoires or not. Five-Factor Model: Relationships between the ‘Big Five,’ a prominent catalogue of personality traits, and intercultural competence echo how the personal makeup can affect our interactions with others. The impact of the five factors can be understood as follows: Openness: This domain captures a person’s adventurousness, curiosity, and open-mindedness. Open people are receptive to new ideas and experiences. Closed people tend to be more down-to-earth. Openness to experiences has been shown to correlate positively with Intercultural Sensitivity (Chen & Starosta, 2005). Those scoring high on this dimension enjoy making intercultural contact and are willing to expand their perspectives through these experiences. By contrast, those scoring lower on this dimension are more sceptical about such opportunities or trying out new ideas. Matsumoto et al. (2006) find that open people are more flexible when adapting to new experiences. Extraversion: This dimension refers to a person’s pro-sociability. Extroverted people are outgoing, talkative, and energetic. They are okay with approaching other people. Introverted people, by contrast, look inward and tend to shy away from social situations. They are less enthusiastic about approaching others. These differences have also been shown to affect intercultural encounters. Novikova et al. (2017) find that extrovert people lean towards ethnorelative attitudes, whereas introverted people tend to judge cultural differences more negatively. According to Wilson, Ward, & Fischer (2013), this personality trait relates to sociocultural adaptability, which, by extension, also affects people’s willingness to approach people of different cultural backgrounds. Conscientiousness: This dimension is defined as being rigid, responsible, and reliable. People scoring high on this dimension tend to think things through before they act. They feel obliged to do tasks well, and they would do so with careful planning, self-discipline, and diligence. People scoring low on this dimension go about tasks with a can-do mentality. They are spontaneous and easy-going. Their approach may come across as unsystematic and unorderly. Wilson et al. (2013) argue that these traits are associated with better learning and performance outcomes and, by extension, in‐ tercultural adaptability. Empirical results are, however, as yet inconclusive. Matsumoto 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 367 <?page no="368"?> et al. (2006) find conscientiousness to be negatively related to intercultural flexibility, while Aksin (2023) reports positive correlations with intercultural sensitivity. Neuroticism: This dimension reflects a person’s ability to regulate emotion. We have, thus far, learned that keeping emotional experiences is a crucial element in navigating intercultural encounters. People scoring high on this dimension tend to be quickly aroused and are likely to respond with a range of negative affects to potential stressors (e.g., worry, anger, frustration). People scoring low on this dimension are less temperamental and tend to display more balanced responses. Neuroticism has been repeatedly shown to be negatively related to intercultural competence (e.g., Rings & Allehyani, 2021; Wilson, Ward, & Fischer, 2013). It seems reasonable to argue that staying calm in the face of adversity (low neuroticism) is helpful when dealing with culture bumps. When we cannot keep our composure under stressful circumstances (high neuroticism), things can easily spin out of control. Agreeableness: This dimension is about a person’s cooperativeness and empathy. Agreeable people tend to be there for others and are warm and considerate. Unagree‐ able people, by contrast, would put their own interests above those of others. As they selfishly pursue their own needs and wants, harmony is not so interesting for them. In intercultural contexts, we would expect agreeableness to play an important role, not least because we would like to show ourselves in a positive light and create positive relationships with people of different backgrounds. By implication, we may be inclined to prevent misunderstandings, cacophony, or conflict. Wilson, Ward, & Fischer (2013) report positive findings for this relationship, as do Rings & Allehyani (2021). Novikova et al. (2017) see this personality trait as a facilitator of ethnorelative views. In sum, the Big Five personality traits appear to influence intercultural encounters in specific ways. They help to explain, at least in part, why and how people behave the way they do. The more pronounced a trait is, the more likely it will either facilitate (Openness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness) or hinder (Neuroticism) intercultural relationship building. Cultural Intelligence: Earley and Ang’s (2003) Cultural Intelligence (CQ) frame‐ work is a further construct central to intercultural communication and competence. Its cognitive, motivational, and behavioural aspects intermingle with personality and are thought to be stable in intercultural situations. Because of this, CQ helps to explain why some people are good at functioning across a wide range of diverse cultural contexts while others are not (Ang, Rockstuhl, & Tan, 2015). This is important because today, global leaders must be able to work with people of many cultures at the same time (instead of focusing on one culture and developing deep expertise for it). CQ is different from Emotional Intelligence (EQ). EQ refers to the ability to manage interactions between one’s own emotions and that of those around us. Highly emotionally intelligent people can grasp why people feel, think, and behave the way they do and their underlying processes. Highly cultural intelligent people do more than that. They can (somehow) match a person’s behaviour with the specific context of their reference group. Based on this, they can locate cultural influences and make 368 12 Attitudes <?page no="369"?> sense of what is unique to a person and what influence group-level variables have over and above the mental makeup of that person (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). CQ encompasses four interrelated dimensions, with individuals being different on each of them (see Van Dyne et al., 2012): Motivational CQ: This dimension is seen as a source of drive, triggering effort and energy aimed at learning and functioning in novel cultural environments. People differ in their interest in unfamiliar issues. This is because they differ in their (i) intrinsic interest (in exploring other cultures), (ii) extrinsic interest (in gaining value from intercultural experiences), and (iii) self-efficacy (in having the necessary means to see the intercultural situations through). Cognitive CQ: This dimension reflects the knowledge of norms, practices, and conventions that people have about other cultures. Such knowledge consists of under‐ standing the nationaland sub-national cultural context. Culture-general knowledge comprises geographical, historical, and ethical traditions as well as social and com‐ munication norms. Context-specific knowledge is about understanding the cultural variations that exist within a country, e.g., geographical or gender differences. Metacognitive CQ: The question is, what do people do with that knowledge? This dimension refers to people’s ability to self-reflect (where they come from in terms of their own makeup and culture) and what this means for their interaction with others. Balancing such self-reflection and the input from intercultural experiences, they continuously finetune their thinking. Metacognitive CQ is made from the processes: (i) before an encounter, individuals with high metacognitive CQ carefully consider what they expect and what they would like to achieve from an intercultural interaction (Planning); (ii) during the interaction, they are watchful of cultural influences on emotions, thinking and behaviour that might occur in them and others (Awareness); and (iii) after an encounter they review their experiences and learnings (Checking). Behavioural IQ: This dimension entails a person’s ability to make effective use of this knowledge. People with a high behavioural IQ can create rapport through the extensive and practical application of verbal and non-verbal behaviours. They are rhetorically skilled and very proficient, and they understand what, when, and how to say things. Appropriate non-verbal behaviour is their constant companion (which they adjust to local expectations), all the while reading (and understanding) the body language of others. They are quite aware of the semantics of culture, i.e. how to appropriately give feedback, draw boundaries, express gratitude, etc. For those working across cultures: Your attitudes and behaviour can be explained by CQ. The four dimensions are critical aspects of promoting personal growth and meaningful relationships. Behavioural Effects We would like to think of ourselves as being always in control of our actions and destiny. Rather than reflexes, involuntary and consistent reactions to happenings in 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 369 <?page no="370"?> our environment, we are masters of what we decide and what we do. The human mind distinguishes us from other creatures. Our mental makeup allows self-reflection and considerations of cause and effect. The S-O-R modelling driving the structure of this book suggests as much. When faced with intercultural encounters, our responses may follow certain routines. Without much thinking, we might run pre-programmed patterns of what we should do in such situations. Think of food when invited to a business meeting at a far-flung location. Food is a quintessence of culture (see Chapter 10). What is considered a delicacy for some evokes disgust in others. During a business lunch, our body and mind may react to these sensations more or less automatically. We can politely decline to have a try. Of course, we may also give it a go as our mental processes kick in, considering what impact an open aversion would have on our business relationship. More likely, however, our response may lie somewhere in between these two extremes. This simple example illustrates a key question in intercultural encounters: How much control do we really have over our behaviour when meeting people of other backgrounds? Under certain conditions, our behaviour in intercultural situations can be explained by learned attitudes towards others. These attitudes are permanently stored; we can access them at any time of our choosing and let them come to the fore when there is an (internal or external) trigger (see Chapter 7). As a consequence, we select a measured response to a culture bump. However, Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein (2019) suggest that we rarely have such mental control over our reactions. Intercultural encounters today are routine events. For many of us, it is quite normal, for instance, to be part of a multicultural team or negotiate with people from other cultures. Under such circumstances, especially when nothing major is at stake, intercultural differences may not matter at all. Culture bumps may be mere quirks if we notice them at all. In short, we go about our professional lives without strong emotional or mental processes. Things look very different, however, when an issue is dear to us (e.g., promotions) or we have strong feelings about it (e.g., disagreements). The more things matter to us, the more likely we will zoom into cultural differences as possible explanations for what makes us feel uncomfortable - automatic or extensive mental envelopment dovetails. Two constructs help us predict behaviour in intercultural contexts: Involvement and Volition. Involvement: Involvement describes the affective and cognitive relevance of an attitude object (Dorsch Lexikon). These follow a person’s needs, values and interests (Zaichkowsky, 1985). Though unobservable, involvement describes a state of activation concerning physical objects, other people, or abstract concepts. Extant literature discusses three different combinations of emotional and cognitive involvement: (i) a high level of involvement is associated with significant emotional and cognitive processes. By implication, if we feel involved, we are willing to deal extensively with a matter at hand. We do not easily let go. In the case of low involvement, we need to further distinguish between strong and weak emotional ego stings. That is, we may consider (cognitively) an issue irrelevant, but emotionally, it either matters to 370 12 Attitudes <?page no="371"?> us or not. (ii) Excessive mental processes are unlikely if an object is emotionally and cognitively unimportant. We go with the flow and more or less involuntarily react to environmental stimuli. (iii) If low cognitive involvement pairs with strong emotions, we will likely react impulsively to culture bumps. I will here apply Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein’s (2019) discussion surrounding involvement levels to an intercultural context: High Levels of Cognitive and Emotional Involvement (High Involvement): At work, we may find ourselves having a high degree of interest and attachment to an issue, for instance, a project we have worked on for a considerable time. We are intrinsically motivated to see the project through and know that our professional standing (aka promotion prospects) intertwines with its success. Under these circumstances, disrup‐ tions, including culture bumps (wherever they may come from), pose a high risk. We are likely to be more sensitive to different ways of doing things. Low Levels of Cognitive and Emotional Involvement (Low Involvement, Proper): Commitment and experiential learning are essential in intercultural encounters. We may, for instance, have little to no prior experience with a specific culture. It may be the first time we work with someone from another continent. We carry certain stereotypes with us, but we think they do not matter that much in a professional environment. Only after the collaborative experience, through dealing with that person face-to-face, we gradually acquire an idea of what it is like to work with them. Feelings and thoughts result in an attitude, which, in turn, affects future involvement patterns. Low Levels of Cognitive and High Emotional Involvement (Low Involvement): This is an interesting case of mixed involvement signals. There is little cognitive control on the one side and impulsive responses to intercultural encounters on the other. Such spontaneous reactions can hint at and reveal prejudices. Many experiments have identified automatically activated attitudes surrounding racial stereotypes. Implicit association tests allow for measuring attitudes that people cannot reveal (because they do not have access to this introspection) or do not want to reveal (because of social desirability). A simple video game simulated the shooting decisions of police officers. African Americans were more likely to be shot at than white targets (Correll, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2002). In this and other experiments, cognitive supervision and control are apparently not working. Volition: We do not always do what we actually want to do. We most certainly do not go about decisions purely rationally; instead, ‘human virtues and vices’ (Devinney, 2011) are part of this process. As a consequence, what we say and do can be unreliable and uncertain. Put differently, more often than not, we do not activate self-control. If we could, we would see ourselves as rational. There is now extensive research under the heading ‘bounded rationality,’ which deals with the unrealistic picture of decision-making in isolation of emotions (Kahneman, 2003). A more recent approach posited by Fuchs and Horn (2019) applies an evolutionary lens to international decision-making. Arguably, an evolutionary perspective can tackle and explain intercultural encounters’ often irrational and unpredictable nature. Their very 12.4 Behaviour Predictability in Intercultural Encounters 371 <?page no="372"?> nature is, by definition, constantly evolving. Even if we gain some familiarity with different ways of doing things, there will always be new culture bumps (see Horn, 2005). Seen through this lens, an evolutionary perspective, intercultural encounters open up in front of our eyes: We have to constantly make sense of and adapt to new unfamiliarities. Crucially, as we adapt, we produce new outcomes, which, in turn, are unpredictable and need tackling. These outcomes can be either good or poor. It is on us to figure out the consequences of our behaviour and learn from our successes and failures (Edmonson, 2011). By implication, the way we deal with people of different backgrounds is never pre-determined; it is in constant flux. What complicates matters is that the intercultural environment in which we find ourselves is never standing still either. As our communication partner responds to our behaviour, the context is constantly changing, too. By implication, rather than stable ground, we build fickle bridges. These eventually emerge from a series of impulsive choices made by each interlocutor. Crucially, if interactions unfold unorderly, the question becomes, how much control do we have over our behaviour when meeting people of other backgrounds? We try to build bridges and improve our situation. ‘Us’ and ‘them’ continually adapt to decisions we have made earlier in our encounters. Essentially, their context is always evolving and thus unpredictable (Frith, 2013). But by expanding our minds and skill sets through making contact with people of different backgrounds, we can aspire to create new contingencies that could result, over time, in common cognitive ground. 12.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership The German psychologist Friedemann Schulz von Thun tried to figure out why communication is so error-prone. Though communication without misunderstandings would be ideal, he observed that this is far from the norm. His ‘communication square’ model illustrates that every act of communication contains at least four levels: the factual level, the self-disclosure level, the relational level, and the appeal level. Schulz von Thun portrays these four levels as a square, making clear that communication involves emotional, cognitive, and behavioural worlds. Both sender and receiver use these four levels when they engage in dialogue. He uses the metaphor ‘four mouths,’ by which he means that the sender speaks not with one voice but sends out four different messages. Likewise, the receiver hears the message metaphorically with ‘four ears,’ that is, they make sense of whatever is being communicated based on four different levels of interpretation. In short, how someone speaks and hears depends on their respective attitudes. Factual Level: The factual level refers to the content or information, i.e. the mere data, facts, or aspects we want others to know. Conveying facts in ways that cannot be misunderstood or misinterpreted is very challenging (or more challenging than one usually thinks). Schulz von Thun, thus, further distinguishes three criteria: is what I 372 12 Attitudes <?page no="373"?> say (i) true or false (accurate/ inaccurate); (ii) relevant or irrelevant (are issues related to the topic at hand? ); and (iii) sufficient or insufficient (are the references delivered in such a way that no other issues also have to be considered? ). Ideally, the factual level of communication is true and relevant, as well as encompassing all necessary information. Self-disclosure Level: Every message provides insights into the sender’s mental world. We consciously or unconsciously express our attitudes and personality when we say something. We could, however, deliberately use communication to tell others how we see ourselves (self-portrayal). In intercultural situations, it is not unwise to talk more about how we see the world (‘I-messages’) than focussing on what others have done or not (‘You-messages’). This simple shift in perspective can create openness (see Gordon, 2022). The receivers hear and scan each message with their ‘self-revelation ear.’ This filter helps us make sense of what the other person is like or what kind of mood they are in. Relationship level: The relationship level mirrors the rapport between sender and receiver, how they see each other. This is about the way the communication affects the receiver and what attitude or assessment the sender expresses towards the receiver. We cannot but convey our attitudes towards other persons through our verbal, non-verbal or para-verbal expressions. The sender is, of course, not unaffected by what relationship orientation shines through. We may feel valued or devalued, respected or disrespected and so forth. Appeal level: The appeal level is about requests. We always communicate with a purpose. When we communicate our needs and wants, we do so in the hope that others respond or act. People usually shy away from open or direct requests. Instead, they package their appeals in between the lines. The receiver, with the appeal ear, has to look out for more or less hidden asks. Schulz von Thun’s ‘communication square’ model makes clear that, ultimately, both sender and receiver are responsible for the quality and direction of the communication. It makes the point that interpersonal behaviour can be learned and practised (Plate, 2021). We can polish and expand our communication repertoire based on careful analysis and reflection. Misunderstandings are even more common in intercultural communication (some people argue that it can take up to one hour to clear up or undo miscommunication). I believe that this model holds many keys to making fewer errors when communicating with people of different backgrounds or in a language that is not our mother tongue. In line with (Mayr, 2010), it seems reasonable to suggest that we should take care of the relationship level first before considering how we put forward our arguments (factual, self-disclosure and appeal levels). This gives our communication partners the opportunity to make sense of our points of view. 12.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 373 <?page no="374"?> Exercise 1: Statements Below, you can find numerous statements, all related to scenarios you are likely to come across in professional and intercultural environments. Use the ‘communication square’ model to analyse each statement: Message Meaning ‘You have been saying this for weeks now.’ - ‘I do not get the feeling that you understood what I want you to do.’ - ‘You are always late to our meetings.’ - ‘You have been taking a rather long lunch break.’ - ‘Why do you never prepare properly? ’ - ‘I wanted to ask you a question, but you did not give me a chance.’ - ‘Our meetings always go longer than plan‐ ned.’ - ‘Staff, though polite, does not speak their mind.’ - ‘Your suggestion sounds interesting.’ - Source: Adapted from Drescher, 2016. 374 12 Attitudes <?page no="375"?> Exercise 2: Killer Arguments So-called ‘killer arguments’ or ‘thought stoppers’ are common in the world of work. They are often used in conjunction with critique or taking control over the direction of a conversation. Such phrases are often hurtful and even more often unsettling. We often struggle with finding the right words and tone when on the receiving end. Here are some examples: Killer Argument Meaning ‘Your idea is really ridiculous.’ - ‘I cannot understand why you have said that.’ - ‘We have done this before. It did not work.’ - ‘It is often better to think before you say something.’ - ‘I am paid to think. And you are paid to execute what I say.’ - ‘That’s typical of you.’ - ‘Can’t you see that I am busy? ’ - Now, choose any one thought stopper from the above list. Look at it from each side of the communication square model. What does the sender convey? What does the receiver hear? Exercise 3: Dealing With Killer Arguments Based on your analysis, what are possible reactions to such a thought stopper? According to Mayr (2010), you could try to bring the conversation back to the factual level by (i) formulating an I-message that de-escalates the situation, (ii) asking questions with the purpose of factual clarification, or (iii) engaging in meta-communication - addressing the killer argument as such. Practise all three response patterns. 12.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 375 <?page no="376"?> Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Are Attitudes? Attitudes refer to relatively enduring evaluations or feelings. They are directed at objects, persons, or situations. These we assess more closely, based on a set of experiences, emotions, motivations, and beliefs. They play a crucial role in determining how and to what our environment can help us attain our goals. Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral emerge from the interplay of affective (A), behavioural (B) and cognitive (C) orientations (ABC-Model): (i) Affective components involve emotions or feelings (How do we feel about people, things or events? ); (ii) Behavioural components involve tendencies to act in specific ways (Why do you do things the way you do? ); and (iii) Cognitive components involve thoughts and beliefs (What do you think about people, things or events? ). Together, they shape our perceptions and influence our observable behaviour. Significance of Attitudes in Intercultural Encounters Attitudes have a dominant position in intercultural engagement. They relate to the information (what we know or not), importance (what we value or not), and desirable end-states (what we want or not) of intercultural encounters. This makes attitudes a crucial attribute of behaviour transcending respect, curiosity, tolerance, empathy, openness and so forth. Attitudes are thus a good predictor for what is likely to happen in intercultural encounters, namely how we adjust and what abilities we will acquire, Positive attitudes will bring about positive interactions: We remain upbeat even in challenging situations, are willing to explore new things, or embrace contradic‐ tions. By contrast, negative attitudes make intercultural interactions more fragile: We clam up in challenging situations, tend to be more impatient or engage in stereotyping. For these reasons, attitudes are at the core of many intercultural competence models. Attitude and Intercultural Competence Models Attitudes are at the core of the pragmatic and theoretical landscape surrounding intercultural competence. Our past-to-present overview distinguished composi‐ tional, co-orientational, developmental, adaptational and causal frameworks. In each, attitudes feature strongly: Compositional Models: These break down intercultural competence into compo‐ nents. They involve lists of relevant elements or characteristics (usually surround‐ ing knowledge, skills, and attitudes) contributing to an appropriate interaction between people from different cultural backgrounds. Co-orientational Models: These models posit that successful intercultural interac‐ tion does not depend on the characteristics of one individual. Instead, they focus on the dynamics of interactions between people who, to some degree or another, differ in their cultural grounding. In particular, these models ask how good communication and shared meanings establish mutual understanding. 376 12 Attitudes <?page no="377"?> Developmental Models: These models emphasise that intercultural competence is not a fixed trait that some people have and others do not. Instead, they assume that individuals, as they experience otherness, can grow and stretch their ability to navigate intercultural encounters. Adaptational Models: These models ask how people from different cultural back‐ grounds adjust to each other. They, thus, zoom into the dynamic and fluid nature of intercultural encounters. Intercultural competence involves change and learning processes as the interlocutors adapt their communication styles, attitudes, and, ultimately, behaviours. Causal Models: These models look analytically at cause-and-effect relationships between components of intercultural competence. They attempt to highlight factors or mechanisms that may contribute to developing intercultural competent behaviour. How Do Situations Affect Behaviour? Situations fundamentally guide intercultural behaviour. We have to distinguish between individual norms (personal beliefs) or social norms (reference groups) on the one hand and the immediate circumstances of the situation on the other. How Do Attitudes Affect Behaviour? We should exercise caution on what to make of attitudes and their effects on intercultural behaviour. For a better understanding of this relationship, we must distinguish between (i) general vs. specific attitudes, (ii) direct experience vs. vicarious observation, (iii) automatic vs. spontaneously available attitudes, and (iv) stable vs. unstable attitudes. General vs. Specific Attitudes: We can have rather general attitudes towards ‘oth‐ erness’ (e.g., Germans, international travel). Their predictive power for particular behaviour is, however, relatively weak. Concrete attitudes towards specific others (e.g., a German colleague), by contrast, are much more influential in predicting behaviour. Direct Experience vs. Vicarious Observation: Direct experience with otherness is usually a good predictor of intercultural behaviour. We can draw on skills we have developed from first-hand experiences much more easily than from indirect experiences. Hearsay or reading up, for instance, on intercultural leadership, are weak predictors for actual behaviour. Automatic vs. Spontaneously Available Attitudes: Responses to culture bumps can be fast or slow. Our response speed depends on our access to our attitudes. If there are strong associative links, quick attitude retrieval will be likely. Such instantaneousness makes for good predictability. By contrast, if these associations are weak and, by extension, mental processes are slow, the predictive quality of attitudes is usually poor. Stable vs. Unstable Attitudes: Attitudes are, by and large, relatively stable evalua‐ tions. They are learned and stored in our long-term memory and, thus, hard to 12.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 377 <?page no="378"?> change. Permanent and stringent reactions are the result of that. But sometimes, especially in novel situations or when things are simply not dear to us, we form attitudes on the spot. These are then highly context-specific. Their fickleness, then, makes behaviour much harder to predict. How Does the Personal Makeup Affect Behaviour? We can assess personal makeup through the Big Five personality model (also known as the Five-Factor Model). The Big Five traits comprise (i) Openness to Ex‐ periences (level of curiosity and imagination), (ii) Extraversion (level of sociability), (iii) Conscientiousness (level of self-control, carefulness, and responsibility), (iv) Neuroticism (emotional instability and vulnerability), and (v) Agreeableness (level of cooperativeness and empathy). Here are how these five factors stack up with intercultural competence: Openness to experiences is positively associated with intercultural sensitivity. The more this trait is pronounced, the more likely people will explore and engage with different cultures (and the other way around). In intercultural contexts, extraversion translates into comfort when making contact, building relationships, and adaptability. People scoring high on this personality trait lean towards ethnorelative attitudes, whereas those who do not tend to judge cultural differences more negatively. The results for the relationship between conscientiousness and intercultural competence are mixed. All too serious approaches to intercultural encounters may come with a lack of spontaneity. The careful consideration of cultural norms and etiquette may, however, also translate into better adaptability to local ways of doing things. Neuroticism and intercultural competence are negatively related. This has to do with the sub-optimal stress regulation of those who score highly on this personality trait. They may find unfamiliarity and ambiguity (that so often come with intercultural encounters) stressful. This, in turn, makes accommodation difficult. However, learning how to cope with intercultural encounters can help mitigate these challenges. Agreeableness has been shown to be positively associated with intercultural competence. Agreeable individuals are more likely to seek positive relationships with others, including those of different cultural backgrounds. They are inclined to look for opportunities for common ground and are more diplomatic about conflict. Note, however, that intercultural competence is not only affected by a person’s makeup. Many aspects covered in this book contribute to what, how and why people approach and deal with otherness. The macro-environment, group-level variables, and life biographies have substantial relevance in explaining how people navigate intercultural encounters. 378 12 Attitudes <?page no="379"?> What Is Cultural Intelligence and How Does It Square up With Intercul‐ tural Competence? Cultural Intelligence is another important concept that explains how the makeup of a person can affect the interaction of people with different cultural backgrounds. The concept refers to a person’s capability to make sense of cultural differences and, based on that, adapt their behaviour accordingly. Cultural Intelligence is composed of four interrelated dimensions: Motivational CQ: The extent to which people are motivated to engage with different cultures. We would expect those with a high Motivational CQ to be curious and prepared to learn about other cultures. Cognitive CQ: The extent to which people understand cultural differences in norms, practices, and conventions. We would expect those with a high Cognitive CQ to make use of this knowledge in intercultural encounters. Metacognitive CQ: Extent to which people engage in self-reflection, including what their makeup may mean for their interaction with others. We would expect those with a high Metacognitive CQ to be good at employing appropriate communication strategies and navigating intercultural encounters. Behavioural IQ: The extent to which people adapt their actual behaviour in intercultural contexts. We would expect those with a high Behavioural CQ to think on their feet, quickly respond to cultural differences and create rapport. Involvement and Volition Attitudes explain, under certain conditions, our behaviour in an intercultural context. They are stable, permanently stored, and ready to be retrieved when necessary. We follow these behavioural routines without much thinking, even in the face of culture bumps. However, we do not always have so much mental control over what we do, especially when culture bumps turn out to be more serious for us and our well-being. Involvement and volition are helpful constructs for making behaviour more transparent. Involvement: The involvement construct refers to mental states reflecting the personal relevance and engagement with things in our environment. The more they are dear to us, the more likely we will spend affective and cognitive effort dealing with them (high involvement). By contrast, if we feel the stakes of a culture bump are not so high, we are less likely to spend much energy resolving this issue. We, then, might just go with the flow of social or professional activities. Volition: The volition construct refers to the ability to decide on a route of action and stick with it even in the face of difficulties. When we apply this concept to intercultural situations, the question becomes how much (self-)control we have over our actions. This makes volition highly relevant for how appropriately and effectively we think and act across cultures. 12.5 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 379 <?page no="381"?> 13 Attitude Change & Learning Opening Vignette Street vendor in Cairo Photo by FG Trade on istockphoto Nour, a graduate student from Kairo, Egypt, has enrolled in a Master’s programme in Paris, France. She had always been curious about the French lifestyle, its relaxed elegance, the warm-heartedness of its people and, of course, the natural beauty and vastness of the French countryside. When she received the acceptance letter from the university, she was so excited! Now, she would not only be able to pursue her dream of studying International Business at a prestigious university, but she would also discover what savoir vivre is all about first-hand and that in Paris, the city of love. She would work hard to successfully complete her degree. This should give her great job opportunities once she returns to Egypt. At the same time, she feels a little bit timid, too. Studying abroad means that she will be away from her parents and extended family for a longer spell. Of course, she would return home during the summer break, and she would not want to miss out on Eid celebrations, but overall, she would need to stand on her own feet now. Nevertheless, she would surely miss her loved ones, the emotional comfort, and intimate conversations over dinner. On top of that, it will be her first visit to a <?page no="382"?> Western country. While she has already had some travel experiences, these were mainly to destinations in the Arabic world. Should she be concerned about cultural differences? Although her family has raised Nour to be a confident and out‐ ward-looking woman, her parents believe in a good parenting balance between modernity and cultural traditions. For their daughters (Nour had two sisters), this means that they should embrace Haya (ءايح), or the sense of shyness, modesty, and decency, as the Qur’an would suggest. Sure, she would cover her hair (but not her face). Although touching men who are not her immediate family is not off limits in her culture, Nour does not question that shaking hands, hugging, or kissing on the cheek for greetings should be reserved for intimate relationships. Her parents would certainly not approve of any indecency with strangers. Hugs and kisses on cheeks before marriage are haram. Nour would not want to disappoint her family and friends, even in their absence. Shortly after the University notification, Nour is invited to a welcome reception at the French embassy in Kairo. Sure enough, she attends and meets other Egyptian students but also French members of the embassy and support staff from Paris. She is greeted with over-boarding friendliness. She, reluctantly, engages in handshakes and hugs. She would have expected local staff to know better than that. Would the same happen when in France? Her parents and family would certainly condemn her for such misbehaviour at home. But she understands that French people tend to be less reserved about touching. In business, handshakes, even between men and women, are not only ‘okay’ but expected. Failing to do so would certainly raise some eyebrows. In private situations, a friendly hug is not so much about intimacy or courtship but a signal of care and empathy. Pulling away from such a warm gesture could easily destroy trust. Nour is torn. When in France, she does not want to be different. The experiences during the embassy reception are discomforting enough. Student life will be challenging for her, so she does not want to have additional social worries. At home, the question of Haya among compatriots looks after itself, as it is widely shared and respected. At the embassy and later in France, however, strangers will approach her, hold out their hands, or move towards, embrace, or even attempt to kiss her. She could be honest and upfront about her discomfort with the situation. She could tell the other person that such behaviour would be considered inappropriate in her culture. However, nobody likes to hear that their behaviour is indecent. But she worries that throwing the cultural difference angle could also be quite polarising (as it would perhaps prompt notions of superiority, i.e., my culture is better than yours). So why provoke a potentially upsetting scene? Nour wants to be liked and make a good impression on her hosts. Would it do much harm to slightly bend the rules and return a hug, which would be considered an ordinary, friendly gesture in France? And hasn’t the first Imam ‘Ali once said: ‘Don’t force your children to follow your footsteps, as they were created for a 382 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="383"?> time other than yours’? Nour could justify touching strangers by not wanting to upset local expectations. Her emotional world, however, looks quite different. How could she explain such behaviour to herself ? She knows quite well what is right and what is haram in Islam. Her need to display modesty on the one hand and her behaviour of accepting hugs on the other are at odds and instil a high level of discomfort. She certainly does not want to be seen as shrill, attention-seeking, or unvirtuous. As Nour goes over what will happen when in France, she wonders how she could reconcile what she thinks and actually does. Could she learn how to adapt to her new life, all the while honouring her moral compass? Adapted from: Maertz Jr., Hassan, & Magnusson, 2009. Critical Thinking: • As Nour crosses boundaries, she gets confused. Conflicts occur surrounding taken-for-granted beliefs about how women should behave and the appropri‐ ateness of non-verbal behaviour. Have you had similar experiences? • People seek psychological consistency. What options does Nour have to reduce her discomfort from competing beliefs, i.e. not wanting to upset her French hosts and holding on to Haya? • As Nour ponders how she should react, her escape routes are both external and internal justification. What is the difference between the two reasoning processes? Give examples. • In bringing attitudes and behaviour closer together, could Nour develop her intercultural competence skills and, thus, learn? Attitudes are central to our emotional and cognitive worlds and exert a powerful influence over our behaviour. In the last chapter, we have seen that they intermingle with our personal makeup and are thought to develop from our biographies and experiences. They can powerfully impact why and how we engage with people of different backgrounds. Although we usually think of attitudes as enduring evaluations that are constant over time and from situation to situation, they can sometimes change. They grow or stretch from new personal experiences, direct or indirect, from social influence, observation, reflection and attempts to balance our inner and outer mental worlds. In short, we adjust to what is going on around us. We alter how we interpret and make sense of our environment and change how we interact with persons or events. Indeed, suppose we follow Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein’s (2019) definition of learning as an extension of behavioural repertoires. In that case, it seems reasonable to suggest attitude changes are part of such adjustments. As we learn, we change our attitudes, and a change in attitudes may result in a behaviour change. We find ourselves in a new situation. We went into this situation with certain preconceptions. As we now gain experience and learn further information, we may (or may not) alter the way we think about this situation (or the people involved). As a 13 Attitude Change & Learning 383 <?page no="384"?> consequence of such attitudinal changes, we may behave differently in the future than before. And even if these changes are not observable to the outside world, we have perhaps expanded our behavioural repertoire. Changes in attitudes are the root cause of that. Such changes can occur anytime and can take on different directions. We may have held positive attitudes about a person or an event that turns negative or the other way around. We often go into situations with little to no firm attitudes at all. Changes in usual behaviour may also come from building some form of attitude. This is not to imply that attitudinal change and learning are the same. They are not. But, it seems plausible to argue that behavioural changes come from learning (or unlearning) certain responses, requiring some meaningful degree of attitudinal changes. Of course, such attitudinal changes then can open up new avenues for learning. For instance, Morgan (1993) finds that shifts in attitudes can encourage students to engage more positively in foreign language learning. Learning and changing attitudes are at the very core of developing intercultural competence. Spitzberg & Changnon (2009) suggest that intercultural leadership is not something that we just naturally have but an acquired skill. We have to grasp how deeply culture affects attitudes and behaviour. There is a gap between relationships with others and how they could develop. It takes little to suppress, twist, or even harm intercultural interaction. Based on this, we need to explore how to bridge these differences. In short, we must learn to be interculturally competent. For these learning processes to unfold, we need to be prepared to make the familiar unfamiliar (Bauman, Haffner, P., & Steuer, D., 2020). That is, we need to leave the safety of our comfort zone and challenge our taken-for-granted beliefs. Once we encounter and recognise differences (which is often more complex than it sounds), we can consider what to make of them. As we scan problematic interactions, we must take back our culture and learn how to explore things through different cultural lenses (Ting-Toomey, 2007). From these experiences, new ways of relating to us and others emerge (Brake, 1997). We may, of course, choose not to do anything about cultural differences or see them as an opportunity to expand our behavioural repertoire. Sometimes, this involves unlearning firmly held beliefs. And for some of us, these efforts can be tiresome. We can see that we can grow our intercultural competence through practice and through trial and error. Sometimes, attitudinal changes are implicit and automatic. Sometimes, these changes occur with explicit and elaborate effort: Brake’s intercultural learning cycle (Figure 32), for instance, suggests that once we have understood where frustrations come from, we can decide what adaptations we could possibly make to smooth the waters. This usually involves some attitudinal changes. Once we have chosen an appropriate adjustment we want to go for, we can put our plans into practice and test the waters to see whether our adjustment efforts work out. If we feel these have worked out and our adjustments have been successful, that's fine. If not, we may need to decide whether some minor tweaks are sufficient or whether we would need to go back to the analysis stage and start from scratch. 384 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="385"?> Analyse Recognise Differences and their Impact Decide Choose how to Adapt Apply Make Adaptations Process Assess Effectiveness Tune Make Adjustments Figure 32: ADAPT Cycle of Intercultural Learning Source: Brake, 2021. 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace How much effort we spend on adjustment and learning processes depends, of course, on a variety of factors, most notably how relevant the intercultural issues are for us, how strongly we feel about them, and what is potentially at stake if we resist (or do not show) change. We have seen above that attitudes are usually part of a more extensive network of related considerations. In intercultural contexts, in particular, it is improbable that there is one isolated attitude towards otherness. We can assume that the more embedded and complex attitudes are, the less ambivalent we are about intercultural situations (which, of course, can go in both directions, embark on adjustment and learning processes or neglect them). Strong attitudes usually come quickly to our minds. This has to do with how attitudes are stored in our memory. The stronger and deeper the links between an issue or situation and our evaluations, the more readily the attitude will surface (Anon., 2023c). Attitudes that are strong and, thus, top-of-mind, are good predictors of our behaviour (Kallgren & Wood, 1986). The context and presence of persuasive messages might also take their toll and make us feel obliged to reconsider our attitudes. Developing interculturally competent behaviour is certainly about constant and dynamic change. We become more competent through 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 385 <?page no="386"?> interaction with others. But for this path to more maturity to materialise, we need to be prepared to learn and be flexible about our attitudes. Taken together, the strength of attitudes bears on our commitment to seek out and see through international encounters. Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein (2019) point us to three different commitment levels that would predict attitude change towards others, that is, letting go of firmly held beliefs and open to new experiences (see Figure 33): Compliance: There are many normative influences surrounding intercultural encounters. A positive attitude towards people of different cultural backgrounds is simply expected from us. At work, we are usually part of a multicultural team, and we have to use English as a corporate language. Assignments bring us in contact with people from all over the world. Compliance with these issues is considered the lowest level of commitment. We just do what we are being tasked with. And if this means, for instance, that we have to bow to different ways of doing things, so be it. When we are, for example, working for a foreign company, likely, things are just done differently. This may cause some frustration, but we may choose to go with the flow to avoid punishment or because we hope for social rewards. In Tokyo, a German manufacturer implemented new promotion processes to bring more female employees into executive positions. To prevent any hiccups, the board asked the predominantly male employees how they felt about the idea. Although this was, at the time, quite a spectacular HR move, all bar one sat quietly and complied with the change request. This does not imply that we are hooked and full of enthusiasm for intercultural encounters. We are quite willing to drop this behaviour, and perhaps look for an alternative job. While we cannot know what the Japanese employees felt, we can easily imagine that a more heated debate would have helped identify potential resentments. In fact, the board congratulated the person who voiced his concerns for having spoken his mind (as a German employee might have in the same situation). Identification: As we all want to belong, we likely want to oblige to the norms and expectations of a salient reference group or person. Identification processes kick in not necessarily because we share certain beliefs and values but because we want to feel part of this group or be liked by that person. In fact, the reciprocal relationship is so meaningful that the matter of attitude change is a minor step to build trust and gain rapport. As we care about making relationships, identification is a deeper form of commitment than compliance. When at work you are asked to take on a new assignment that brings you abroad, you may feel, at first, irritated. While there are many things to consider, one critical angle is what you believe about how your employer sees you. You may not be particularly keen to go abroad, but relationship considerations (e.g., your commitment to do a good job for your employer) make you warm up to the idea. Internalisation: If you agree with the ideas and actions of another person or group, you are likely to accept and embrace influences wholeheartedly. We do so because we feel these to be intrinsically rewarding, and changing our attitudes satisfies us. Rational arguments are often a stepping stone to internalising an idea and making it part of 386 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="387"?> our personal makeup and actions. We will likely accept another person’s arguments if they are backed up with statistics or good reasoning. It may make, for instance, a lot of sense to accept the invitation to go on that abroad assignment if your line manager explains to you in great detail what the benefits are for you. They could back up their argument with a number of facts about why you should be the person to go. Based on these arguments, you may change your attitude and decide to accept the offer. The drawback of internalised attitudes is that they are tough to change. They are hard-wired to our emotional worlds and, thus, represent the highest level of commitment. Nour in our opening vignette brings deeply anchored assumptions and values with her into intercultural encounters. She is convinced of them and connects her experiences at the French embassy to them. The conflict in values forces her to reflect on beliefs she has been taken for granted. Figure 33: Commitment Levels and Potential Change in Attitudes Source: Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019. In intercultural encounters, we often stumble over different and to us new ways of doing things. We may have expectations of what we would consider appropriate behaviour in our own culture, but these expectations may be disappointed when being together with someone from a different culture. Archer (2023) describes such incidences as ‘culture bumps’ (see Chapter 7). How much energy do we spend engaging with these impulses? We have seen that commitment levels are an excellent source to look at when thinking about the potential for attitude change and expansion of behavioural repertoire. But intercultural encounters are usually very complex. We cannot boil these down to singular attitudes that would then guide more or less consistent behaviour. Instead, attitudes and attitude change are part of a system of interactions between attitudes, behaviour and our social environment. A selection of theories can give us a much bigger picture of how and why we learn to adapt to intercultural encounters (see also theories of attitudinal change in Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 387 <?page no="388"?> Cognitive Dissonance People strive for coherence, compatibility, or harmony in their mental world. We experience discomfort the moment our thoughts and acts contradict and clash. Few of us can live with such ‘cognitive dissonance’ as long as we strive for congruent emotions, cognitions, and behaviour. We will try to avoid or reduce any inconsistencies (Festinger, 1957), especially when they challenge deeply held beliefs. We would then engage either in changing our beliefs or our behaviour to somehow resolve the issue and (hopefully) restore consonance: • Change the attitude: We could choose to change how we assess the issue. As we bring our attitudes in line with our behaviour, we can find consistency; • Change the behaviour: We could also choose to change how we act. To regain emotional equilibrium, we can refine our behaviour so that it better fits with our new attitudinal system; • Searching for consonant information: We could also look for new information that would reconfirm our cherished beliefs (and, thus, defy any new dissonant impulses) • Trivialising inconsistency: We could opt to reassess the whole situation and see the conflict in a new, less ego-stinging light. When we venture across cultures, there are many culture bump situations that give rise to cognitive dissonance: (i) new information, (ii) forced compliance, and (iii) decision-making (Cherry, 2022). First and foremost, intercultural situations can bring about new information. Disso‐ nance emerges from experiences with ‘otherness,’ which make us realise that things are done differently (e.g., when low-context communication styles meet high-context communication styles). We might feel surprised by a rush of emotions (e.g., shock) or sentiments that suddenly pop up that are unknown to us in our regular home-grown environments (e.g., prejudice). When abroad, it is not uncommon to lose our efficiency, perhaps because of language barriers, jet lag and so forth. These experiences can be quite irritating. When abroad, we can be in awe of many rules and regulations. Seen through our cultural glasses, these may seem odd or contradicts our supposedly better judgement. Forced compliance into an attitude we might not share can be mentally upsetting. For instance, Japan is well known for its many dos and don’ts. One notorious rule is beach etiquette. Umi no hi (‘Sea Day’), a public holiday usually in mid-July, marks the official start of the beach season. Swimming is not allowed before that day, and it can be quite hot in Japan from June. This upsets some of us and they feel compelled to break the rules. Finally, decision-making can cause cognitive dissonance, as one can never be sure whether or not one has arrived at the right choice. When abroad, information is even scarcer, which, in turn, can exacerbate ill feelings in coming to a decision and judging it. 388 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="389"?> Explore: An Invitation to a Local Shrine You are visiting Japan, where you are staying with friends. They are quite eager to introduce you to proper local customs and take you to a Japanese shrine. They joke that the best way to understand Japanese culture is by practising it. What could be wrong with following their example: • Would you pay your respects as locals do? ○ Dress up in a Kimono or Yukata? ○ Bow in front of the Tori gate? ○ Take part in a purification ritual? ○ Ring the shrine bell (to call the deities)? ○ Offer a prayer? • Would you do the same in a Muslim Mosque? • What about a Sikh Temple? Photo by taka4332 on istockphoto Conditioning Attitudes form from affective behavioural and cognitive orientations (ABC Model, see previous chapter). It seems reasonable to suggest that cultural values are primarily affectively based. We cannot really explain why we do things the way we do. Without much thinking, it just feels ‘right.’ Such positive or negative emotional reactions may come from learning processes, most notably (1) ‘classic’ and (2) ‘operant’ conditioning: 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 389 <?page no="390"?> 1. Classic conditioning refers to learning processes where a physiological and a neutral stimulus are paired. Over time, a neutral stimulus can elicit similar reactions as a physiological stimulus. Food, for instance, can be a fabulous way of travelling through time and space. When abroad, we can connect to home (and our childhood) through the food we eat. This can make us comfortable and feel safe (emotion), albeit feeling uneasy or unhappy when surrounded by otherness. 2. Operant conditioning refers to learning processes driven by social feedback. When we do something that affects those around us, we are likely to observe some form of response, usually a reward or a punishment. As we like to be liked (especially by those who are dear to us), we tend to repeat rewarded behaviour whilst avoiding punished behaviour. For example, we may have learned that careful listening and turn-taking are attributes of appropriate communication in our home culture. When abroad or interacting with people of different backgrounds, we will likely apply and expect similar principles to what makes a dialogue. Clearly, it is complicated to ‘unlearn’ things, especially when it comes to everyday behaviour. But opening up to different ways of doing things requires, at least to some extent, letting go of cherished practices. Interculturally competent leaders tend to avoid slotting new experiences into existing categories. They make room for new attitudinal categories that may result in changed behaviour. Conditioning theories do offer some impulses for disconnecting stimuli (classic conditioning) or discontinuing responding to socially reinforcing signals (operant conditioning). In classical conditioning, extinction of the conditioned reaction occurs if the pairing of stimuli comes to an end. Our behaviour will likely change in operant conditioning if reactions fail to materialise. In both cases, the conditioned behaviour weakens and disappears over time (Felser, 2015). Imagine you have learned that a firm handshake is central to greeting rituals. In your culture, this demonstrates trust and peace. Whenever you meet new colleagues or business partners, you grasp their hands and move them briefly up and down. Greeting rituals are, however, culture-specific. When in a country that does not share this custom (for instance, India, Japan, or Morocco) or it is performed differently (preference for weak handshakes such as in China), you may feel insecure about how to start a conversation. As handshake and greeting situations are no longer paired (extinction in classic conditioning), you learn, over time, to adjust to new ways of establishing trust when meeting other people. Likewise, you will stop grasping other people’s hands if they signal you their reluctance to return this gesture (extinction in operant conditioning). Incidentally, if insecure, one good way of adjustment is to let the other person initiate the greeting (handshake or not). Either way, when abroad, you expand your repertoire of establishing trust, which you may want to bring back home. 390 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="391"?> Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy Changing attitudes and learning can also occur when we say and do things that would contradict our current beliefs. As we have just seen, cognitive dissonance is likely to happen when we do this. First, we will look for external justification. We look for reasons outside our immediate control. When we find none, we turn to internal justification. We look for reasons why we voluntarily changed our behaviour or said things that go against our own set of attitudes. This could result in changing our beliefs, especially when we have done so publicly or in writing (e.g., DiBello, Carey, K. B., & Cushing, 2018; Miller, Wozniak, Rust, Miller, & Slezak, 1975). In multicultural settings, we can use counter-attitudinal advocacy to learn about other people’s perspectives: Start with one side and ask them to tell us what the other wants to accomplish. As this group now tries to look at the problem from another perspective, they set aside their own needs and desires. By focusing on different points of view, attitudes do change. Now, do the same with the other group. Together, both sides can embark on seeing the problem from different perspectives, which increases self-awareness and offers direction for learning and changing behaviour. Self-Perception We can also deduce attitudes from our own behaviour, especially in unclear, ambiguous, or low-involvement situations. Based on such observations, we guess what kind of attitudes must have caused us to do so. In this sense, behaviour determines attitudes (Bem, 1967). The Self-Perception theory has two direct implications for developing intercultural leadership skills: (i) Changing emotional experiences and (ii) Incremental changes. Changing Emotional Experiences: Emotions and behaviour intermingle. This realisation leads Laird (1974) to conclude that ‘as if ’ acting can result in evoking certain feelings. In short, we can manipulate our emotional world through surface acting. Changes in posture or gesture can induce changes in our minds. In this sense, body language does not only say a lot about how we see others but also about ourselves. For instance, in the presence of others, we may feel timid, and our body language will reflect this. We may make ourselves tiny, look to the ground etc. Expansive postures (‘power posing’) can change our thoughts and feelings about ourselves. Cudy, Wilmuth, & Carney (2012) find that high-power postures make us feel more powerful and change our body chemistry, too. We can use these insights in intercultural encounters. Some of us may feel shy when meeting people, especially from different cultural backgrounds, or when using a foreign language. So, the next time you have these high-stakes situations, you may want to consider the effects of your body language not only on others but also on your emotions. 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 391 <?page no="392"?> Try It: Can You Fake It Until You Make it? Watch Amy Cuddy’s presentation, one of the most watched TED Talk speeches. https: / / www.ted.com/ talks/ amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who _you_are/ c Discuss in small groups: • What is power posing? • Give examples of highand low-posing postures from the talk. • How do these postures compare to those in your own culture? • In fact, what are typical postures in your cultures? • What kind of gender differences are there, if any? Incremental Changes: People are, by and large, unreceptive to change. But the so-called ‘Foot-in-the-Door’ technique makes use of the self-perception of our behav‐ iour when we face fuzzy situations that are difficult to interpret, or when we do not think much about an issue. Under these circumstances, we gradually form our attitudes by interpreting our own emotions, thoughts, and behaviours. Changes in attitudes can, thus, be triggered by initially small appeals to others (Sternthal, Scott, & Dholakia, 1976). If they comply, they observe and make sense of their subsequent behaviour. Due to self-interpretations, they may agree to more gradual changes in the future. In intercultural scenarios, such step-by-step adjustments could be useful in acquainting staff with other ways of doing things. Initial light touch exposures to other, not-too-distant cultures could give them a flavour of what it means to work with people of different backgrounds. They possibly would have dismissed such requests if we asked them to be part of an assignment leading them to an emotionally distant culture. Social Judgement We rarely go into intercultural encounters without any preconceptions. There may be prejudices in the air, or we may have had experiences in the past that now overshadow our sense-making of others in the here and now. For instance, others remind us of someone we did not get along with in the past. Such considerations may make us dislike them without them being able to do anything about it. We may add meanings to a situation based on select observations of our environment. These, in turn, affect our assumptions about what is going on around us. 392 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="393"?> Think About: Ladder of Inference You have been seconded to Istanbul, Turkey, to negotiate a new deal for sourcing garments for dress shirts. You have set up a meeting with a prestigious supplier and have prepared well. However, your business partner arrives 15 minutes late to the scheduled meeting. Although apologising for this delay, he says: ‘I have a further meeting scheduled in an hour. As we do not have much time, can you quickly tell me what brought you here? ’ Discuss in small groups: • What crosses your mind? • What assumptions do you make about your Turkish business contact? • What conclusions do you draw? We weigh up and sort out new information about an event, issue, or person. Our past experiences serve as a judgemental anchor. What we make of new information depends on their fit with that anchor. The further away these stimuli are from our experiences, the less open and positive our reactions are. By contrast, the closer these stimuli are to our experiences, the more likely we will integrate them into our set of attitudes and make them our own (O’Keefe, 1990). In other words, dealing with coherent information is much easier than discrepant information. But intercultural leadership is often about taking a broad view and shifting our taken-for-granted boundaries. We have to embrace and navigate contradiction. While Social Judgement Theory suggests that we are likely to lament the oppo‐ sitional forces of the strange and unfamiliar, skilled leaders find ways to rethink these boundaries and find new meanings. Boundary spanning, the ‘ability to bring things together across walls and fences in order to be able to innovate’ (Ernst & Chrobot-Mason, 2011), is about accommodating new ideas. Initially conceived in the context of innovation research, boundary spanning helps fuse cultural differences and attitude shifts. It comes in three consecutive steps: First, and in line with our judgemental anchor, we need to reassure ourselves of our own taken-for-granted beliefs. By strengthening boundaries, we build an emotional safety net (manage boundaries). Next, and in spite of the strangeness of new information, we look for aspects that we might share with others. By identifying universal attitudes and values, we look for common ground. We may find that the strangeness is not so strange after all. This realisation can be the basis for developing more positive attitudes in intercultural situations and building trust (forging common ground). Finally, we want to find spaces where we collide or connect with others. The tensions might not go away, but we learn from merging contrast and accommodation strategies (discovering new frontiers). These three overarching steps of shifting judgemental anchors and broadening mindsets can be fine-tuned into six practices (Lee, Horth, & Ernst, 2014, Figure 34): 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 393 <?page no="394"?> Buffering: First, we need to reaffirm who we are. We do so in two ways: (i) By establishing links to those similar to us and (ii) by inoculating us from external, differentiating influences. When facing otherness, buffering gives us a sense of security. Reflecting: Now that we have clearly defined boundaries of ‘us’ and ‘them,’ curiosity can inspire us to look across the boundaries. With our boundaries and judgemental anchor intact, we warm to new ideas and perspectives. Connecting: We are now prepared to step out of our boundaries. Here, we ‘meet’ others mentally, virtually or in person. This requires us to put on hold our beliefs about how best to go about things. Our judgemental anchor and mental compass relax. Mobilising: We leave the troublesome in-group (‘us’) and out-group (‘them’) mentality behind and venture into a new and now shared boundary. There is a sense of common purpose, and our once-fixed set of attitudes expands as we forge common ground. Weaving: We are motivated to observe and learn from the people around us. The differences and similarities are a refreshing pool for new ways of looking at things. We form new insights, perspectives and, perhaps, even expertise. Transforming: Finally, we occupy a new space full of possibilities and alternatives. We have incorporated new values and attitudes. These are now the springboard for exploring alternative ways of doing things that travel across old and new worldviews. Figure 34: Boundary Spanning Practices Source: Lee, Horth, D. M., & Ernst, 2014. When we come across different ways of doing things, we have two basic options: we can either moan about or comply with this new information, depending on how strong our attitudes are. The stronger our attitudes about maintaining one’s home culture distinctiveness, the less tolerant we are likely to be (Berry, 1992) and the more likely we are to moan about cultural differences. As our worldviews are likely to be narrow and positions tight, sudden attitudinal changes are rare. We do not become boundary 394 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="395"?> spanners overnight. It is a learning journey of incrementally changing attitudes. Where we embark on this journey depends on how far the stimuli are from previous affective or cognitive experiences. Reactance Saint Ambrose once famously noted, ‘When you are in Rome, live in the Roman style. When you are elsewhere, live as they live elsewhere.’ This implies that when abroad, one better adjusts to local customs. This adage has become an iron rule for international business (Gesteland, 2001). Intercultural encounters usually involve calls for behaving diplomatically and in a friendly manner. But playing by local rules and regulations is a key part of all that. Obeying customs can lead, however, to unpleasant feelings, especially when they are being perceived as limiting one’s usual ways of doing things. This can take on simple and in-the-face forms, such as being unable to find food you like or navigating local bureaucracy. Or come in more complex disguises, such as being reminded to be more attentive to local sentiments in business situations. Such reminders can be brutal and direct or be packaged in quite gentle, high-contextual ways (‘I am not sure whether I like the tone of your email’). Either way, the message is, more or less, clear: one better adjusts to local expectations. We may even observe others being reprimanded, and anticipating that we might follow in their wake makes us feel uneasy (Sittentaler & Jonas, 2012). The question is, what is on our mind when we are barred from our usual ways of doing things or being reminded, in no uncertain ways, of the local rules of the game? Many of us would feel annoyed if not restricted in our autonomy and freedom. Reactance theory suggests that such perceived threats can, under certain circumstances, trigger resistance (Brehm, 1966). In the face of restrictions or persuasive pressures, we want to restore our autonomy and freedom. Motivations to regain control also include appeals of how we should think and feel. For instance, those travelling from low-context to high-context environments may find interaction irritating. Even a colleague’s well-intended advice that one better not give negative feedback so directly can cause reactance. We may get the impression that the colleague narrows down our alternatives of how we want to engage with others. Simply put, there is a good chance of psychological reactance to occur in intercultural encounters. As a rule of thumb, we can expect unpleasant motivations: (i) the more pressure we feel others want us to comply, (ii) the more different these expectations are from our own values, (iii) the stronger our attitudes are regarding the effects of coercion (Kroeber-Riel & Gröppel-Klein, 2019). Feeling, thinking, or doing things against our will can make us clam up. Instead of gradually changing our attitudes or embarking on a learning journey, we may do the exact opposite. We hold on to or even idealise cherished ways of doing things, disengage, or challenge cultural differences. In extant literature, reactance and its effects in intercultural encounters are well documented. For instance, compliance to prevailing norms when living abroad (‘ac‐ 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 395 <?page no="396"?> culturation pressure’) can impact health (Steffen, Smith, Larson, & Butler, 2006), expectations to use a lingua franca as corporate language can cause anxiety (Neeley, Hinds, & Cramton, 2012), ethnocentric assignment practices can affect local staff turnover (Reiche, 2009), or threats to become involved in unethical behaviour (e.g., bribery) puts people off and makes them less compliant (Argyle, 1981). Balance According to Heider (1922), there is a mental toll when we receive contradictory information. Originally developed to explore interpersonal relationships of likes and dislikes, the Balance theory assumes that as we examine relations, we look for similar‐ ities and maintenance of our values and beliefs. A balanced, harmonious relationship motivates us. If we share similar ideas with others, tensions in that relationship are unlikely. But, contrasting attitudes result in complications. Consequently, we are likely to like people with similar attitudes and unlikely to like people who do not display such similarity. The basic idea of a balanced and imbalanced relationship can be transformed into the so-called P-(Person), O (Other Person), X (Object, Issue, Event) model. The relationship between the triadic elements can be either in sync (comfortable) or not (uncomfortable), depending on how the elements add up. This can lead to assumptions such as my friend's friends are my friends, or I keep friends close and my enemies closer. For instance, we could look at two persons’ attitudes towards international travelling. Feelings of consistency occur if the two are both fond of travelling. By contrast, feelings of inconsistency occur if one person likes travelling while the other does not. Resultant uncomfortableness can trigger attitude change. If person A likes person B, even if they do not share the fondness of travelling, one or the other could change their attitude (‘well, travelling is not so bad after all’) so that conflicts would disappear. Our preparedness to change our attitudes depends on how much we like (or dislike) the other person or how close that person’s attitude is to ours. Balance theory is also relevant in intercultural contexts, as the following example shows: It takes us to a Japanese MNE subsidiary in Budapest. A Hungarian middle-aged woman has been recently promoted to be head of the accountancy department. The Japanese executive is quite impressed with her performance and feels he can rely on her advice. Then, he discovers that the woman sports a tattoo. He cannot stand tattoos. In Japan, tattooing is a mainstay of members of the Japanese mafia (‘Yakuza’). And, as such, it is taboo for regular employees. This intercultural situation takes a new spin, as it suddenly interrupts the perceived consistency. Risk comes from the imbalance between experience working with the woman, discovery of the tattoo, and attitude towards the tattoo. The Japanese executive could resolve this mental inconsistency by learning that tattoos have different meanings across cultures and that such physical features have no impact on work performance. 396 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="397"?> Think About: Kayne West Controversy The American rapper and songwriter’s popularity spurred global sponsorship tie-ups with brands such as the Gap and Balenciaga. The German sportswear company Adidas also wanted to tap into the appeal of one of the world’s best-selling music artists. It developed ‘Yeezy,’ a Kayne West branded fashion line. The collaboration turned into a huge commercial success, with sales generating 1.3 billion USD annually (Alexander & Bashin, 2020). However, Adidas termina‐ ted this partnership in 2022 after West made several anti-semitic and racist statements. Adidas will donate a significant amount of the proceeds from the 2023 ‘Yeezy’ line sales to organisations working against anti-semitism, discrimination, and hate (Anon., 2023j). Photo by noah boisclair on Unsplash Discuss in small groups: • Why did Adidas cut ties with Kayne West? Use Balance Theory for your arguments. • Do you think this case is different from Kate Moss losing her advertising contracts with likes of Chanel and H&M in 2005 amid drug use reports? https: / / www.nytimes.com/ 2005/ 09/ 22/ business/ media/ amid-drug-use-repor ts-2-more-brands-drop-kate-moss.html Functionality Attitudes serve a range of psychological needs. Their functions can vary from individ‐ ual to individual. But they may also vary for one individual from situation to situation. Attitude changes only occur if they meet psychological needs and, by extension, their function. According to Katz (1960), there are four personality functions: 13.1 Attitude Change and Learning in the International Workplace 397 <?page no="398"?> Utility: We want to gain rewards and avoid punishments. Attitudes reflect these operant conditions. They help us strive for positive outcomes while preventing nega‐ tive ones. For instance, we may develop positive attitudes towards foreign language learning in the hope that proficiency will give us a competitive edge in the job market. Knowledge: Knowledge helps us organise and simplify our complex environment. Attitudes are our compass and help us not to overthink events, issues, or people. For example, if people’s attitudes towards international projects are positive, they do not go through extensive deliberation when asked about whether or not a foreign assignment is for them. Ego-Defence: Attitudes can inoculate us against unpleasant emotions. They can justify actions that either protect or enhance our self-esteem. For instance, we may worry about looking poorly when speaking in a foreign tongue. We may thus adopt negative attitudes towards language learning or situations involving foreign language use. Value-Expression: Attitudes mirror one’s core values and self-concept. They help us demonstrate to us and others who we are. For instance, we may have studied an exotic language. We are proud to have mastered it and draw self-esteem from using it publicly. Put differently, attitudes and their function provide a frame of reference for social behaviour. For attitudes to change (and learning to occur), we need to identify their motivational basis: what function they serve (utilitarian, knowledge, ego-defence, value-expressive). Then, there needs to be a gap between what is and could be so that attitudinal adjustment can better fulfil our psychological needs: Executives could stress the benefits of working abroad for some time (e.g., ‘you should consider committing to the assignment in India; it will greatly benefit your professional development’) and, thus, appeal to the utilitarian function of attitudes. An employee commits to an expatriate assignment not only because of its utilitarian value but also because of how it positions them as a person (e.g., ‘only the most gifted colleagues will be offered such a job’). Some products project a cosmopolitan image (e.g., jet set brands such as Rolex or BMW that help present us as a man of the world). They appeal to those who feel somewhat insecure about being active at an international level. Intercultural encounters can be quite ambiguous experiences. A personal trainer can change the knowledge function of attitudes by providing facts and real-life examples of what to expect from meeting people of different backgrounds. 13.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a pragmatic communication and personal growth approach. Its founding fathers, consultant Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder (1975), believed that there is a link between neurological, linguistic, and 398 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="399"?> behavioural processes. Our experiences make us connect these processes. The basic idea of NLP is that once we understand these connections, we can manipulate them. And better and more effective communication is the result of that. The echo of Bandler’s and Grinder’s approach has been mixed. The model has been of substantial and widespread interest, especially among communication practitioners. But I should also point out that it has also attracted substantial criticism from the scientific community. The now famous adage ‘The map is not the territory’ aptly describes the NLP premise that the language we use helps us make sense (‘map’) of our reality (‘territory’). According to Bandler and Grinder, we have no direct and pure access to reality. Our senses, beliefs, and experiences distort views of the world around us. This mental map propels our behaviour. Our actions come from the range of possibilities on this map. Behaviour, even a strange one, makes ‘sense’ within such repertoires. Each of us carries, however, a different map. People interpret the same situations differently, as no mental maps are the same. There are two consequences of acting as if our maps are accurate representations of reality directly: First, we allow our perceptions (of how we believe something works or should work) to limit our feelings, thinking and behaviour. Second, we attack others because their maps are different from ours. For these two caveats, NLP opens new pathways to problem-solving, change, and, ultimately, personal development. A key insight of Bandler and Grinder is that people do not grapple with the world per se so much but with their mental map of the world. And this struggle hides in the language they use. Hence, in NLP terms, language, i.e. the way we frame things through the way we speak, is the key to understanding (and subsequently changing) our worldviews. The two authors have identified three linguistic categories that give us access to our perceptions and communication: Deletion: Our environment is overly complex. We cannot process all the informa‐ tion that bombards us. We, thus, have to decide what aspects we want to focus on. When we leave out or omit possibly important details in a statement, our communication remains vague, and meaning is lost. This lack of a complete and clear picture can result in misunderstanding and miscommunication. Distortion: In our mind, we can play around with information about the world. We may want to alter the way we refer to our environment (for instance, when we want to motivate us or manipulate others). Typically, we may exaggerate, beautify, or spin facts. Such inaccuracies may make our surroundings more pleasing and digestible to us but easily lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication. Generalisation: Broad and indiscriminate statements (based on little or limited evidence) reduce reality to manageable chunks of action. Applying experiences to other contexts and presuming these rules to be universally true can help us navigate different or similar situations. Ignorance of alternative ways of doing things can make our lives a lot easier and less complex. At the same time, oversimplification can, again, cause misunderstanding and miscommunication. 13.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 399 <?page no="400"?> NLP distinguishes between what is being said (read visible) and what lies beneath (read invisible). The idea is that through language, unconscious and much deeper assumptions surface. Experiences of deletion, distortion, and generalisations are deep structures (that happen unconsciously) and surface in the way we express ourselves. That being the case, the analysis of language gives us access to persons’ mental maps. Careful listening to how issues are framed gives us clues about how people feel, think, and behave. Questioning why people speak the way they do (e.g., why they have omitted an issue or why they use linguistic markers that would indicate a penchant for generalisations) lays bare their operating maps. This, in turn, is a potential starting point for personal development. NLP techniques have grown substantially since their inception. For our purposes, the concept of reframing is arguably of particular importance. Together with Bandler, Robert Dilts (2017; 1982), one of his pupils, applied NLP to how people see and deal with problems. According to them, a problem is only a problem if it is interpreted as such. The ‘frame’ or ‘context’ of the problem corresponds to our mental maps and, based on this, the way we put our feelings and thinking into words. We usually do this with generalisations in terms of how we perceive an issue or an event. Such deep and surface structures are usually rather unhelpful, and NLP invites us to replace their conceptual and emotional frames. Seeing a challenging issue or an event from a different perspective changes our overall interpretation of them. Once we change our interpretation, the problem appears in a new light. This we can now leave behind us. As a consequence, our response and behaviour to the issue or event will also change. In short, an alternative perception and interpretation allow for letting go of negative and limiting mindsets. Bandler and Dilts suggest two reframing strategies: We can either reframe the context or the content of an issue or event. • Context reframing looks at the overall context which we perceive as problematic. The question ‘In what context can a behaviour be valuable? ’ challenges us to identify a different context in which the same issue could appear in a more positive light. In other words, we tackle generalisations. For instance, we could think of an upcoming intercultural negotiation as stressful. We can picture all the pitfalls of haggling in a language that is not our own in great detail. Reframing could help us to think about this event more positively. We could shift our attention to the opportunities for growth. Or think about an employee who often voices his opinions loudly (even in meetings, he challenges your ideas). At first blush, we could label him as a troublemaker. An NLP practitioner could, however, help us see his behaviour in quite a different light. He could emphasise different contexts in which the same behaviour comes with very different attributes. In leadership positions, openly voicing one’s concerns would be seen as assertiveness. • Content reframing is about changing the way we label a challenging issue or event. We could ask ourselves, ‘Could a certain behaviour have a different meaning? ’ We can, thus, look for alternative expressions or words through which we describe 400 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="401"?> them. NLP assumes that new labels give issues or events new meanings. These new labels give them a new emotional and motivational spin. A different course of action might be the result of a changed attitude towards this challenging issue or event. Imagine a colleague feeling anxious about a project that brings him or her to far-flung places. They are worried about not knowing their way around. With you, they use words such as ‘unfamiliar’ or ‘scary’ when talking about going abroad. As an NLP buff, you could point out that such trips can be ‘exciting’ and ‘stimulating.’ Surely, they will bring home many new perspectives and connections. You could encourage them to describe the upcoming trip with more positive expressions. This could lead them to interpret it in more motivating ways. Exercise 1: Prejudices A good starting point for practising NLP in an intercultural context are our own prejudices. We all have ‘pictures in our heads’ of people of different cultural backgrounds. We (all too) easily label people's behaviour according to these pictures. These labels rarely come from first-hand experiences but come from talking about or reading about other cultures. Generalisations are often the result of this. Think about which pictures you have in mind when thinking about the following groups: People of your own culture? Americans? Scandinavians? You may then move to a group discussion. Consider: Do you have the same pictures in your mind? Where do these come from? Have they changed over time? Exercise 2: Reframing Now apply reframing processes as per above. Thinking of the behaviour of said groups, you may have applied the moral and behavioural standards of your own culture. - Context reframe: Could this behaviour be useful or effective in different cultural contexts? - Content reframe: Is there perhaps a different meaning attached to this behaviour? For inspiration, you may want to revisit the opening vignette of Chapter 2, in which the protagonists Klaus and Stefano have very different conceptualisations 13.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 401 <?page no="402"?> of time and others. How could an NLP expert help them reframe content or context to deal with each other more effectively? Exercise 3: Sense-Making Processes Moving about in our own culture, we take many things for granted. We stumble over different ways of doing things only when we venture outside. Intercultural encounters are, thus, often tainted by firmly held beliefs about how things should be done. NLP techniques are a great way to broaden our horizons and challenge cherished convictions. Read through the sample sentences below. For each phrase, think about what automatic conclusion you would draw. - Klaus does not respond immediately to my calls. - This product is very cheap. - Stefano is always late to our meetings. - Sean never listens to my advice. - Hannah cannot be trusted. The following questions are useful for getting to the bottom of our intuitive sense-making processes, ‘Is there an alternative explanation …….? ’ (e.g., for people not responding) ‘How do you recognise …..? ’ (e.g., good quality) ‘How do you know that……? ’ (e.g., someone is not trustworthy) Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? Attitude Change and Learning Intercultural competence is a continuous learning process. We have to learn about different ways of doing things; we develop our foreign language skills (at the very least, in English); we need to become more skilled at building relationships, and so forth. In short, intercultural encounters, especially when they involve culture bumps, challenge existing beliefs in how we should go about things. Attitudes play a pivotal role in these learning processes. They might be enduring, but they are certainly not set in stone. Intercultural encounters test our attitudes in manifold ways and, by extension, provide learning opportunities. Changes can occur through new (positive or negative) experiences. Likewise, we might gain further information that alters our perception of otherness. Or, we may glean insights from merely observing how others deal with intercultural situations. Of course, our environment is always a sounding board. Through practice and through trial and error, we can explore what kind of behaviour is appropriate or not. Based on feedback, we either increase (reinforcement) or decrease certain behaviours (punishment). Arguably, attitude changes are closely connected to these processes. 402 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="403"?> If and when we make room for new ideas, shifts in attitude can bring about openness to new experiences and perspectives, which are, of course, important stepping stones towards developing intercultural competence. Commitment and Attitude Change Because of their powerful effects on intercultural behaviour, we must ask ourselves when and how attitude changes occur. Commitment, i.e., our attachment to an attitude, moderates these shifts. We can distinguish between three levels of commitment. Each differs in how strongly we feel bound by an attitude. In descending order, these are: Compliance: The lowest level of commitment. We do not feel strongly about inter‐ cultural issues. We readily change our behaviour when we think it is opportune (for instance, because of reward or punishment signals from our environment). Identification: A deeper form of commitment than compliance. We develop a particular attachment to their ideas because of the norms and expectations of a salient reference group or person. We make their take on intercultural issues our own, just so that we meet their values and norms. Internalisation: The highest level of commitment. These attitudes make up an individual’s value system and are central to how we see ourselves and others. They are emotionally and cognitively so deeply anchored inside us that they are tough to change. Learning How to Adapt to Intercultural Encounters Attitudes can change in a variety of ways, sometimes easily and sometimes not so easily. They mainly do so if they are isolated, one-off outlooks on objects, persons, groups, issues, or concepts in our environment. But attitudes usually come as a complex web of evaluations. Under these conditions, looking at extant theories can be very useful in explaining how people (learn to) change their attitudes as they adapt to intercultural situations: Cognitive Dissonance: When we hold two or more conflicting attitudes or our behaviour deviates from our beliefs, we are likely to feel discomfort. Resultant ‘cognitive dissonance’ often occurs in the context of culture bumps. We are then motivated to reduce such tensions. We do so by changing our attitudes and behaviour. Classic Conditioning: Learning processes unfold when a physiological and a neutral stimulus are paired. As we learn about the relationship between the two, we show similar reactions regardless of what stimuli we face. Consider how food helps us travel through time and space or how advertising campaigns try to put travel destinations in just the right light. Operant Conditioning: This type of learning and attitude change is driven by social feedback. Behaviour strengthens or weakens depending on the kind of feedback (usually in the form of a reward or a punishment). The relationship between actions 13.2 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 403 <?page no="404"?> and their consequences is highly relevant in intercultural settings as unfamiliarity makes us sound out appropriate behaviour. Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy: This psychological technique invites advocating a position or opinion that does not match firmly held beliefs. Learning occurs through expressing ideas that contradict things that we hold dear. Counter-atti‐ tudinal advocacy could be used for perspective-taking in multicultural settings, namely challenging erroneous beliefs about other cultures. Self-Perception: A further way of changing attitudes is through observing one’s own behaviour. Especially in ambiguous situations, we are likely to try to make sense of what attitudes might have brought about our behaviour. Step-by-step adjustments and surface acting induce change. Both are potent applications in intercultural contexts. Social Judgement: Our existing beliefs are anchor points that help us understand what is happening around us. Based on these, we find cultural differences accept‐ able or unacceptable. Accordingly, if we want to change attitudes (for instance, as boundary spanners), we must have a very clear idea about the range within which we can place our messages to make them just about palatable. Reactance: People do not like being told what they can or cannot do. Such calls for adaptation are easily seen as a threat to our autonomy. Regaining our freedom is important to us; we respond with defensiveness or opposition. Intercultural encounters are full of occasions asking for compliance. Thus, we have to avoid overstepping marks that would trigger reactant responses. Balance: People value consistency in how they see and think about others. This preference for psychological balance makes people want to reduce eventual inconsistencies. Accordingly, we look for like-minded people and avoid those who do not share our attitudes. By implication, we prefer people around us who share our fundamental beliefs when abroad. When around people who all too obviously differ in their stance, we can restore cognitive consistency by either changing our attitudes or opting out of the relationship. Functionality: Attitudes help us navigate our social environments. They are more than a function of our preferences. Changes in attitudes occur in line with their motivational basis. We distinguish between utilitarian, knowledge, ego-defence, or value expression motives. Each serves specific psychological functions. This makes attitudes highly personal. In an intercultural context, we should listen to an individual’s goals and motivations and tailor our responses accordingly. 404 13 Attitude Change & Learning <?page no="405"?> 14 Awareness Opening Vignette Night Revellers in Shinjuku, Tokyo Photo by Yoav Aziz on Unsplash Thomas was excited. He had been recently seconded to Tokyo, where he will manage the local subsidiary of his company. As an engineer by training, he had risen through the ranks, and it was now his turn to take care of the most important market for the metal-processing firm in Asia. Of course, this was not his first leadership role abroad, and he was quite aware that intercultural knowledge could make or break his stint in Japan. Consulting extant frameworks, he knew that, seen from a German perspective, he could expect a more hierarchy-oriented work culture. An emphasis on planning and slower-than-usual decision-making processes would also be quite different from Germany. He anticipated that masculinity would translate into high competitiveness (between groups) and, overall, a more male-dominated environment. So far, so good, but how would these abstractions play out in real business life? In terms of understanding what is going on on the ground, he better listened to <?page no="406"?> what his local staff had to say. He was even prepared to share executive power with his local staff. Okay, delegating decisions might make him look weak, but he firmly believes that he does not have all the answers for all the challenges of local leadership that he may encounter. For best preparation, he chose to ‘work shadow’ the Japanese colleague whom he would soon replace. This idea was not driven by preparing a mere handover. They would focus on that later. No, he wanted to experience the daily life of a top manager in Japan first-hand. He would follow Nakamura-san for a full day and immerse himself in his daily routines. Similar to a researcher, he would just observe how his Japanese predecessor would handle daily managerial tasks, how he would conduct meetings, and how he would handle one-on-one with staff. Though Thomas knew some Japanese from his student’s times, the corporate language was English anyway, so communication should not be a real issue (well, as it turned out, these would be famous last words…). Overall, his shadowing initiative would be an excellent opportunity to connect with his future role in the local subsidiary and how he would want to shape it. Although he firmly intended to put aside prejudices and preconceptions about how things should be done as a leader, he is amazed at how Nakamura-san inter‐ prets his executive function differently. It all started with seating arrangements. Thomas expected to meet him for the first informal interview, during which they would define the day’s goals. Instead, he was led to an open-plan office, where his future predecessor shared a table with colleagues in the very centre of the room. Thomas found it very difficult not to compare this with the importance of ‘space’ in German business culture. Since he joined the management ranks, he always had a single office. And as his career advanced, this office became larger and larger; its fittings and location (windows, floor, anteroom, etc.) airing in no uncertain terms power. So, this is how differences in power distance would translate in real life, he thought to himself. In the morning, he joined a meeting where annual promotion rounds were to be discussed. Again, Thomas found it difficult to hide his surprise at how Nakamura-san handled the team meeting. Not much thought was given to promotion criteria nor to the extent certain colleagues have managed to achieve them. Instead, the HR manager reported the names of all colleagues reaching a certain age, which, by extension, meant that they had spent a certain amount of time in the local subsidiary. Though permanent employment ( 終身雇用 , or Shūshin koyō) and promotion by age ( 年功序列 , or Nenkō joretsu) did not play such an important role in foreign subsidiaries in Japan, colleagues seemed to expect the application of Japanese management principles. Thomas made a mental note to pick up on these local deviations from German headquarters’ promotion and remuneration principles later with Nakamura-san. More surprises were lined up for Thomas in the afternoon. Here, he had the chance to look Nakamura-san over the shoulder as he responded to a young employee’s query about what to do about an important upcoming trade fair. The 406 14 Awareness <?page no="407"?> employee was sent over from Germany as part of his apprenticeship programme and was tasked with representing the firm in Makuhari Messe. Clearly, the young man was only looking for unambiguous and spelt-out guidance on preparing the exhibition stand. All that Nakamura-san had to offer was ‘Atarimae,’ which Thomas understood to be interpreted as an ‘obvious’ or ‘natural’ way of doing things. The executive expected the trainee to read between the lines to catch the (to Nakamura-san) very obvious hints at how to manage the trade fair. At the end of the day, Thomas sees his role as future manager of the Japanese subsidiary with fresh eyes. Sure, there are many, even quite profound, differences in management styles, but he feels grateful to Nakamura for his invaluable openness to sharing first-hand practices. Case adapted from Scharmer, 2016. Critical Thinking: • Do you consider work shadowing a good way to watch and listen how things are done locally? Why? • What were Thomas’ most important observations of the day? • Were there moments when Thomas felt uncomfortable with Nakamura-san’s management style? • Do you think there were instances in which Thomas discovered something new about himself ? • How do these surprises affect how he fills out his new role? • When abroad, how could becoming ‘present,’ that is, listening to others and our inner voice, raise our game? It should be clear by now that our cultural environment is a powerful force shaping our emotions, cognitions, and behaviours. What we learn very early in life especially shapes our worldview. Our dispositions and how we practise them are very dependent on the basic assumptions specified by the interplays of our upbringing and the cultural noise in its background. These we usually do not challenge later in life. We see what people are doing in a wide range of situations and contexts. We learn why these practices are of value. Based on this, we develop an understanding of what is right, what is wrong, what is just, what is unjust, what is good, what is bad and so forth. We copy, enact, and maintain these behavioural patterns in line with this inner compass. As they become our make and mind, these internalised norms and beliefs bring meaning to our world and its people. What lingers from one’s cultural environment becomes part of who we think we are and want to be. This, in turn, shapes how we interpret and drive events, including those involving people from other cultures. In Chapter 11, we defined intercultural competence as the ability ‘to think, act and communicate effectively and appropriately,’ which is rooted, and this is crucial, to a large extent in our individual past and upbringing. Intercultural engagement, then, i.e. the way we approach people, experience something together, or create a conducive 14 Awareness 407 <?page no="408"?> atmosphere, is not so much about how we see others or otherness. Instead, it is about how we see ourselves: Why do we experience the world around us the way we do? What intercultural differences are relevant to us? And, ultimately, how flexible are we in making the most of these intercultural differences? Of course, it is quite easy to think of culture as a culture bump, i.e. as an irritation, as a hurdle, or even as a source of problems. When communicating and working with people from different backgrounds, cultural differences are, however, rarely the real issue. In my more than 20 years of teaching and consulting experience, the real question is, how do we cope when things are not how they should be? We can only really figure things out when we think about cultural differences in a self-reflective way. 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace From this perspective, intercultural competence turns into a measure of one’s ability to deeply consider what and why we do things the way we do. The importance of awareness, the perception or knowledge of events (APA, 2023), is a call to arms, to pause, step back and observe ourselves in action when meeting people from other cultures and things possibly turn pear-shaped. After all, if we keep doing things in exactly the same way, if we replay the same situations over and over again if we rush into action, we will inevitably stand still, if not regress. Already 2,500 years ago, the great Greek philosopher Plato asked us to look inward as a source of change and growth: ‘…why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are? ’ Practising interculturality means paying attention to other people and situations, considering what otherness does to us and how we feel about it. It involves the relatively complex process of relating these reflections back to ourselves and querying our usual way of going about things. A deeper understanding of who we are opens up opportunities to see us, others, situations, and the interaction between them in new ways. In addition, the complexity of topics must be placed in a temporal context because intercultural experiences and learning processes are neither linearly transferable nor unbound by time and space. As we have seen in Chapter 12, intercultural encounters unfold as a matter of involvement, that is, how dear people, events, or activities are to us. These are, however, not significant to us all the time. We may shy away from international experiences from the get-go and, consequently, find ourselves in predominantly mono-cultural environments. Even if we find ourselves in mixed situations, we first need to realise that there is something unfamiliar in the air. For better or worse, this is often the case. Perhaps otherness does not really matter in the situation per se, or we fail to recognise that cultural differences and expectations indeed do intrude on interactions. For instance, at work, we are accustomed to liaising with each other in the local language. The company introduces English as a common corporate language as the workforce internationalises. This does not prevent us from speaking our native 408 14 Awareness <?page no="409"?> language with our colleagues, at least in informal situations, e.g., before and after staff meetings. As this makes communication more accessible, it would not occur to us that new and international colleagues would feel excluded from the team or, worse, discriminated against (as they might feel pressured to adjust to local customs and language expectations). In short, many intercultural encounters do not always involve significant mental involvement or strong emotional processes. On the contrary, cultural differences are only part of an overall package of social interaction at work. They are hard to isolate and, thus, easy to overlook. This is why they often appear less significant than all the other things that go on around us, especially likeability and competence. This makes either us, them, or both of us blind to potential misunderstandings. The four quadrants of the Johari Window are an excellent way to structure and think about how we relate to us and others in intercultural contexts (Figure 35): Open: We are aware of what we do and say. Like the figurative open book, our attitudes, behaviours, and emotions are for everybody to see. Blind: We can never be sure how others see us (they may have very different readings of what you say and do than yourself! ). Hidden: We do not want to share all of our affections and attitudes with others. Others will remain unaware of all the personal things you keep to yourself. Unknown: Everything that is unknown to both you and others. It covers hidden or unconscious affections and attitudes. - What I see What I do not see What they see - Open for discussion - My blind spot What they do not see - Their blind spot - Shared blind spot Figure 35: Johari Window Source: Luft, 1961. Try It: Uncover Your Blind Spots! Go to https: / / kevan.org/ johari to find a list of adjectives that can help with self-discovery. • From this list of adjectives, select those that you think best describe your strengths and personality; • Let another person, perhaps from another culture, do the same. They should choose those adjectives that they feel describe you best; • Now, compare the lists of adjectives. • Those adjectives that you both use to describe your personality you put in the ‘open for discussion’ quadrant; 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 409 <?page no="410"?> • Those adjectives that you think describe you but your partner does not, you put in the quadrant ‘their blind spot.’ • Likewise, those adjectives that your partner thinks describe you but you do not, you put in the ‘my blind spot’ quadrant; • Adjectives that neither of you chose to describe you can go in the remaining ‘shared blind spot’ quadrant. These might be aspects you like to look at for inspiration. This exercise is useful for building self-awareness, which, in turn, is the funda‐ ment for effective intercultural communication. Sadly, such blindness, especially at an early stage of encounters, may constrain later events or interactions. When we first meet someone, there might be little involvement. Cultural differences are not so apparent. Or, showing us or seeing others in a positive possible light, we do not pay much attention to culture bumps. Without much thinking (little cognitive control), we engage with others as always. Over time, our curiosity and openness vanish. As cognitive components might gain the upper hand, situations suddenly feel strange, if not outright uncomfortable. As things make less and less sense to you and situations become so loaded, insecurity creeps in about whether or not cultural issues are at play. A seesaw of mutual misunderstandings might be the result of that, as the following case shows: A Mexican subsidiary of an internationally operating firm has been having technical issues introducing a company-wide resource planning software package. For this reason, Bernhard, a German engineer, travels there to solve the issue together. Although he reckons re-training might be necessary, Bernhard does not expect a lot of hiccups. He is enthusiastic about his short trip. He speaks some Spanish but expects to liaise with his local colleagues in English. 410 14 Awareness <?page no="411"?> Behaviour What is actually going on Bernhard What is actually going on Mexican Colleagues Bernhard: Looking at his watch, he kindly says: ‘Are we ready to begin? ’ • Though Bernhard antici‐ pated that punctuality has a different meaning for his Mexican colleagues than for him, he feels a 15-minute delay should be ample time for all to settle into the meeting. He is unfazed. • The Mexicans, too, some‐ what expected impatience from their German collea‐ gue. Other colleagues from headquarters have visited before. They sit down. The discussion begins. While the speakers, tak‐ ing turns, speak to him in English, they use Spanish when talking to each other. Bernhard says: ‘Please allow me to re‐ mind you that the corpo‐ rate language is English.’ • Though he speaks some Spanish, his proficiency is not good enough to fol‐ low the fast exchanges in Spanish between his Mex‐ ican colleagues. But he sees this as a good sign. They appear all very keen on solving the technical issue. • Some Mexicans, on the other hand, are concerned. They have so much to say but feel that the Eng‐ lish language stands in their way. They neverthe‐ less want to engage posi‐ tively. If this means speak‐ ing English, so be it. But worries remain that Bern‐ hard does not really get their concerns. He later adds: ‘Look, guys, I hear you loud and clear. I understand that there are teething problems with the ERP system on your side. But can we move to the next agenda point, please? ’ • Although everybody is very polite and open, Bernhard starts to worry about his planning. There are many more issues to discuss, and they should not get hooked up on some minor issues. • At this stage, the Mexi‐ can colleagues start to feel uncomfortable about the situation. How can Bern‐ hard rush things through? He first must understand where the problems are be‐ fore moving on. Lunchtime: His Mexican colleagues have invited him to an exquisite Tav‐ erna. Bernhard rapidly de‐ cides what he wants to eat and blurts out in Spanish, ‘I would like to have the Quesadillas! ’ • Bernhard understands the role of food when making business relationships. He also wants to signal that he is pretty capable of speaking Spanish. Also, why not share his interest in Mexican culture with his colleagues? Truth be told, he is also a bit hun‐ gry after three hours of discussion. • The Mexicans are taken aback. Eating out is about taking time and relaxing. Why would the German be so impatient now? Surely, he could have waited for all of them to make a choice. They would have liked to introduce him to more local dishes and enjoy the atmosphere of Oaxaca (which is so famous for its food). And why would he want to continue talking about business over lunch? By the end of the day, after a lot of back and forth in negotiating how to get to grips with the EPR sys‐ tem in the Mexican sub‐ sidiary, an agreement is in the air. But suddenly, a • Bernhard is at the end of his tethers. It all star‐ ted so well. His colleagues seemed nice and profes‐ sional this morning and made a real effort. Yes, he knew of cultural differen‐ • The Mexican colleagues are shocked by this sud‐ den emotional outburst. Saving face is important in Mexican business cul‐ ture, and with his latest show of impatience, Bern‐ 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 411 <?page no="412"?> Mexican colleague recal‐ led a point he had made (in Spanish) the morn‐ ing. The solution would undoubtedly need to be adapted. Bernhard cannot withhold his frustration as he lashes out: ‘Gosh, this must stop! Why, in God’s name, didn’t you tell us before? ’ ces, but they did not play a role. And why should they? Even their coming late seemed charming. But now, after so many disruptions during the day, enough is enough. hard trampled all over this cherished custom. He does not even appreciate their continued efforts to pin‐ point problems when im‐ plementing the EPR. How very rude and incompe‐ tent. They cannot work with such a man! Of course, intercultural encounters can be full of emotions, too. They do not necessarily need to build over time. When, for instance, a Japanese company introduced English as a corporate lingua franca, emotions among staff ran high from the moment of announcement. The outlook of not fully functioning in a language resulted in fears of power loss and made Japanese staff members dread unequal opportunities. Native speakers of English, by contrast, felt very differently. They sensed new chances of career opportunities, which would have been near impossible under normal circum‐ stances (Neeley & Dumas, 2016). High degrees of interest and emotional relevance (‘high involvement’) can sideline cognitive control. We may tend not to think that how we approach others is open to change. But different people and situations can bring out different things in us. Under certain circumstances, we act more impulsively than we usually would. As Figure 36 suggests, three basic assumptions can be used to characterise guidelines for awareness in intercultural contexts (Horn, 2005). When in touch with people of different backgrounds, we have to realise that intercultural competence … • … is an interactive phenomenon. We can only act competently if others play their part, too. This requires trust that others are (or see in us) interculturally skilled persons (see co-orientational models in Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009, or the wonderful introduction to cultural intelligence at TED by Julia Middleton, 2015). • … is an individual phenomenon. Our personal makeup, vices, experiences, skills and so forth are part of any interaction process. We have extensively looked at how affective and cognitive components, as well as our learning journey since childhood, influence the outcomes of intercultural encounters. • … takes place under specific situational conditions. To name just a few obvious examples: A task itself can be either highly complex or straightforward; position power can be high or low; group cohesion strong or weak. Situations also take on a different meaning depending on what kind of relationship expectations we have. Inevitably, such situational conditions have an influence on how intercultural interactions unfold. 412 14 Awareness <?page no="413"?> Intercultural Leadership Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Sense of Space (Situational Conditions) Dynamic vs. Stable Favourable vs. Unfavourable Sense of Others (Social Field) Realising co-orientation Creating common ground Sense of Us (Self-Reflectivity) Feelings, thinking & behaviour Makeup, experiences & skills Awareness Figure 36: Awareness of Intercultural Competence Aspects Awareness of us, others, and the situation is conducive to making sense of intercultural encounters. There is, however, no way to reliably predict the extent and direction of such intercultural dynamics. The ability to listen to oneself and pay attention to one’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviour varies greatly from one person to another. As we have seen in the previous chapters, our social upbringing sets us on our path of thinking and practice. There are always shadows from the past, and the way we see and interact with others dovetails these experiences. Likewise, we have characterised intercultural competence as an attitudinal change and learning process. Naturally, these are tied to personal experiences. No doubt, the development of intercultural sensitivity (in the spirit of Bennett’s model, see Chapter 12) is also a product of chance. Successful interaction processes depend to a large extent on who and what we encounter, how long we spend time abroad, and how psychologically distant cultures are from ours. In addition, there is always a temporal component to intercultural competence. If we see intercultural experiences as triggers for learning processes (as I do in this book), then, over time, a linear relationship between exposure to people or situations of different backgrounds and skill development is unlikely. At times, we may be required to make a spurt just so that we adapt appropriately to new encounters. In other instances, making sense of what we see, feel, and think takes tremendous time. We may even unlearn aspects once we no longer find ourselves exposed to intercultural encounters. All this makes intercultural competence a highly personal set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes. There cannot be a ready-made ‘recipe’ for developing abilities to really cultivate self-reflectivity and apply those insights in intercultural encounters. Yet, we can only embark on a learning journey when we refrain from digging our heels in. 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 413 <?page no="414"?> Explore: Making Ourselves Priority in Intercultural Engagements Consider the following questions: • How much am I in contact with myself ? • How well can I reflect on my actions when engaging with people with different cultural backgrounds? • Am I good at learning from these actions? • What do I ask of myself when crossing cultural boundaries? • At what point do I feel I stop being myself when engaging with others? In a world where organisational life means embracing working with people who are not like us, there cannot be a one-size-fits-all strategy for people who walk between cultures. In my experience, there is no super-hero, no super-heroine who effortlessly slips into high-performing intercultural leadership roles. Not only are worldviews and behaviour strongly influenced by our cultural origin, but managing relationships in today’s time and age demands an expansive view to begin with. There might be unique gifts and skills that work in one culture but would not work in another. In building intercultural relationships, one cannot use one approach all the time and expect positive outcomes. Likewise, we cannot expect a high degree of flexibility to be always crowned with success. No doubt, the familiarity with another culture, including perhaps the ability to communicate with people in their own language, is great. We live, however, in such a diverse world that deep knowledge about one other culture is no longer enough. Especially in large cities, in big companies, and in digital communities, a multilingual and multicultural world is more and more of a reality for more and more people. That is, one must no longer just travel to experience otherness. For many of us, globalisation takes place at home. Our neighbourhoods are already quite culturally diverse. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed every aspect of our lives and has brought about a further sizable shift towards breaking with one’s physical environment. Virtually meeting people is the new normal, which means, more often than not, dissolving our social and cultural bubbles. Our new borderless realities might have even de-sensitised some of us for cultural variations. Cultural group thinking is, after all, messier than ever. Clear-cut distinctions between ‘us’ and ‘them’ have never been easy, but such schematics are ultimately useless in a virtual-first world. Explore: Virtual Teams Whether Zoom, Teams, or Pine, online conference calls are here to stay. Here, we meet people from different parts of the world, often simultaneously. Once the meeting is over, we move to the next virtual team event. Crucially, there is no time for conversion, that is, preparing oneself for intercultural encounters. 414 14 Awareness <?page no="415"?> Consider the following questions and discuss them in a small group: • How do you establish relationships online? • How do you maintain trust? • Do you truly understand your own culture’s critical areas? • How can you develop an understanding of the lives of others? • How can you bring mindfulness to the moment? Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash Try this ‘virtual team meeting from hell’: https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=J MOOG7rWTPg What could the organiser of this meeting do to create better rapport amongst the meeting’s participants? As a consequence of all this, we cannot simply rely on deep expertise in one country or one language, certainly not that of our own (although I hasten to add that this is the quintessential platform). According to Adler & Bartholomew (1992), the key to success is a much more fluid approach to working simultaneously with people from different parts of the world: We need to understand the worldwide business environment from a global perspective. Let’s not forget that working online means jumping from one intercultural setting to another at ever-shorter intervals. Whether online or not, we must simultaneously adapt to ‘living’ in many foreign cultures. We 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 415 <?page no="416"?> need to use intercultural interaction skills on a daily basis and that throughout our career. This makes developing and sharpening these business competencies so critical. For an overview of the changing demands on international leadership, see Briscoe & Schuler, 2004, p.-293). Being interculturally competent is much more complicated than becoming an expert on cultures, let alone one culture. Instead of (i) sticking to the sediments of the culture within us, (ii) trying to figure out what works and (iii) recreating the same situations over and over again, effective leadership calls for a commitment to learning. Change starts with awareness. As we have seen, learning about others means learning about ourselves and trying to see things in new ways. According to Chandna, Sharma, & Moosath (2022), mindfulness and self-esteem are crucial for well-being as they, together, propel our ability to cope with stressors. Mindfulness By extension, this makes awareness of us, who we are, how we experience otherness, and what we bring to the situation, of great value. Becoming ‘present,’ genuinely listening to others (which is difficult enough! ) and our inner voice (where we come from, who we want to be), raises our learning game. Such preparedness, in turn, shapes how we make contact with others. Some of us have quite a good sense of situations and people and what happens between them and us. Mindfulness, a keen eye for what is happening around us, and learning from these reflections are important qualities for developing intercultural leadership competence. These can be strengthened through valuing ourselves and others, envisioning what we, together, are capable of, and appreciating the opportunity to see the magic in the unknown. Explore: Lost in Seoul You are on a business trip in South Korea. Tomorrow, you will return home from Incheon Airport. As you have successfully completed your assignment, you have decided to take a day off and, finally, do some sightseeing in Seoul. After all, this is the first time that you had the chance to travel to East Asia. Your day off was great and full of delightful visits to temples and other cultural heritage sights. But now you need to find your way home. You stayed near the company of your business partner, which means your hotel is two hours from Seoul Main Station ( 서울역 ). It is not connected by one of the major train lines. In contrast to trains, busses do without English. In fact, there are very few English signs, and you find that people are not so easily approachable. If they are, their English (and your Korean) proficiency makes conversation rather tricky. All your necessary possessions are in the hotel; your mobile phone does not work with Korean operators, and your plane leaves early the following day. How to find ‘home’? 416 14 Awareness <?page no="417"?> Consider the following questions: • Have you experienced a similar situation? • What would this situation do to you? Sense of Us: Self-awareness is an important aspect of mindfulness. It is often the first step to connecting with us and others, and the ability to take in the outside world with all our senses, to connect these impressions with our own experience, and give meaning to what we feel. It is this awareness that plays a pivotal role in looking at possibilities, creating learning opportunities, and based on this, choosing one’s way forward in one direction or the other. In essence, self-awareness makes the difference in how we cope and grow. Event (‘Culture Bump’) Arousal (positive/ negative) Resistance Chaos Transforming Idea Integration Old Status Quo (‘Comfort Zone’) New Status Quo Figure 37: Intercultural Coping and Learning Process Model Source: Satir, Banmen, Gerber, & Gomori, 1991. Indeed, exploring and coming to terms with different cultures broadens one’s scope of attentiveness, thinking, and action. As we have seen in earlier chapters, leaving one’s comfort zone helps build intellectual, personal, and social resources. You might start ‘reading the air,’ that is, you have the ability to make quiet sense of the thoughts, feelings, and needs of the people around you. How, then, do we get from here to there? How do we move from reducing the negative to creating positive engagements surrounding intercultural encounters? There are five basic emotional phases in the 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 417 <?page no="418"?> context of this process, each corresponding to the change process model of family therapist Virginia Satir (Figure 37). Change is challenging and stressful. No wonder that many people hate change. They tend to cling to tried and tested life hacks. In all likelihood, there will be resistance to accepting that things indeed can be done differently. If you feel like this and you find yourself in uncharted territory, your old sense-making habits no longer serve you. Having no answers to looming intercultural challenges means you are thrown back to your resources. This often comes with feelings of anxiousness and tension. As these emotions of unpredictability and estrangement intensify, your usual life goes into chaos. How you go about things now looks very different from what you are used to. Negative feelings and experiences, perhaps even prejudices, expose one’s difficulties in adjusting to new situations. The realisation of discomfort (and your reaction to the unknown) can easily stress you out. What follows is a phase of trial and error. In the more extreme cases of living abroad (especially when being there for a prolonged period of time), it is not uncommon to regress to a childlike state and, with it, to have feelings of frustration. For instance, in the early stages of learning the local language, your communication skills might be that of a six-year-old! But the digitalising and globalising society brings intercultural encounters home to you, too. You may feel that people around you act in undecipherable ways. You do not understand what is behind your colleagues’ actions. Your habitual explanation of why people behave as they do (e.g., write that mail or comment on your work in the presence of others) no longer holds. There is a good chance that you may feel that your usual performance drops in this new role. You feel the need to tame that chaos in you and around you. One way out of this chaotic state is to reorganise things and consider new ideas (how to deal with the things happening around you). Naturally, it is tough to predict which adjustments will work and which will not. But as you look for good ideas, you accumulate skills and knowledge and, eventually, make progress. In other words, you learn, and with it, you become more resourceful and hopeful. As you live through challenging situations that you wouldn’t have had in the comfort zone of your own social bubble, you sense that you are on the path to a new you. You grow by seeing things with fresh eyes, ideally infused with new ideas. Occasionally, you might even crack the most complex culture of them all: Your own! Explore: Virginia Satir’s 5 Freedoms The five freedoms are a powerful compass that helps unleash our inner resources and make the most of creative choices. They allow us to recognise intercultural variation and thrive in a rapidly interconnected world. 418 14 Awareness <?page no="419"?> Consider the following question: • How often do you practise these five freedoms in your life? ○ The freedom to see and hear what is here, instead of what ‘should’ be, was, or will be. ○ The freedom to say what you feel and think, instead of what you ‘should’ feel and think. ○ The freedom to feel what you feel, instead of what you ‘ought’ to feel. ○ The freedom to ask for what you want, instead of always waiting for permission. ○ The freedom to take risks on your own behalf, instead of choosing to be only ‘secure.’ According to Satir, it is up to us to ‘reflect and decide and become aware of the responsibility for choosing the way we live and thus influence one’s destiny.’ In other words, it is not so much the shock of the ‘otherness’ that is the problem but the way we deal with it. While we might have been able to adapt our leadership style to a new situation, there might also be quite a strong pull to return to your old version. After all, it is always easier to hold on to cherished practices. You may find what your life used to be more attractive. Or it is simply complicated for you to modify your basic beliefs and behaviours. You might even demand that the other side should change to your way of doing things. They should learn to function better in your environment, not you! Whatever your answer to otherness, one key to setting the pace of working with people from other cultures is to appreciate that coming in contact with diversity is now routine in organisational life. There are many ways to skin a cat, but whether we find adjusting to otherness easy or difficult, it is the resilience and willingness to change that is fast advancing to top professional skills to workplace success today. At least theoretically we should get better and better at dealing with cultural differences as we practise interculturality. However, pragmatically, one does not shift only in one direction and automatically becomes more and more culturally savvy. One can shift forward and backwards as cultural differences become more complex or confusing. One might even choose to unlearn skills acquired in contact with others because one’s social environment rejects such new ways of doing things. Also, never underestimate the role of age. As we grow older, some of us become more conservative about ethnorelative worldviews. This, in turn, might offset our potential for exercising intercultural competence. Preserving one’s ways might be seen as more important than getting along nicely in the face of cross-cultural dissimilarities. It is, ultimately, our own choice of how we react to doing things that are new and different. We should not feel obliged to live up to rigid beliefs and norms that have been dropped onto us. Anything that injures our self-esteem reduces opportunities to be mindful, make good contact with us and others, and, thus, foster our authenticity. It is up to us to give our 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 419 <?page no="420"?> values the time and energy they deserve. We can reach others only if we experience ourselves as coherent in our environment and are at peace with ourselves. Sense of Space: Let’s not forget that for most of us, intercultural encounters mean being in touch with situations and people that are - sometimes more, sometimes less - different from us. Resultant feelings of awkwardness or uncomfortableness can come from any number of things. In my experience, the dearer things are to us (typically basic aspects of life such as food, health, and money we, by and large, take for granted), the more disturbing we feel the differences are. These needs are usually met in our own social environment, and we go about our lives and aspirations as usual. They may not all be satisfied to 100 % at the same time, all the time, but they allow us, overall, to become who we are. The great psychologist Abraham Maslow referred to this innate drive as self-actualisation. According to him (and Chapter 8), five fundamental needs are arranged in order of their potency (Figure 38). In general, our lower-level needs should be taken care of before we can look for satisfying higher-level motivations. It is easy to see that our motivations (and their hierarchies), by and large, reflect our home culture life experiences. Interpretations of certain needs and their relationship are ultimately by-products of a particular social environment. Arguably, these affect all stages of psychological development, both in terms of deficiency and growth. Figure 38: Challenges to Hierarchy of Needs When Abroad Exercise: At work, what intercultural disruptions could occur at each need stage? Think About: Sightseeing in Mexico City Julius works for an Austrian automotive company with customers in Asia, the Middle East and North America. He has been recently assigned to head up the regional team in Mexico, with most of his clients based in the United States. After 420 14 Awareness <?page no="421"?> a few weeks on the ground, he is very excited about visiting the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Mexico City. His colleagues warn him that local sightseeing is not totally safe and that he should take extra care of his belongings. On the day, he visits Teotihuacan, the cradle of Aztec civilisation, an hour’s drive with public transport. Julius is so taken away by the sun pyramid that he cannot help but get out his mobile phone to take pictures. One of his teammates, who kindly accompanied him on this day out, tells him instantly off. He’d better put the camera back into his pocket before pickpockets snatch it! Julius is taken aback. The sights are incredible, and the police are everywhere. Surely, they would protect him and his belongings, wouldn’t they? Link his experience with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model and consider the following question: • Can you explain why Julius is so shaken? Intuitively, these context-specific dispositions then stimulate what we want or ought to do. Intercultural encounters, both at home and even more so abroad, interrupt our ordinary flow of life, including the pursuit of our needs. They reveal and test taken-for-granted beliefs. Clearly, it is impossible to prepare adequately for all even‐ tualities. Even if we expect cultural differences, we cannot predict the experience. Cultural differences and their consequences, including misunderstandings, perplexing practices, or perceived bias, may cause us to fluctuate or even downgrade our needs. All too easily, the now unmet needs can come with emotions that we widely consider troublesome, ranging from mild (e.g., irritation) to disruptive feelings (e.g., anger) and harmful reactions (e.g., stereotyping). The extent to which we feel we are doing just fine might, perhaps suddenly and unexpectedly, dwindle. Although disruptions might occur at any stage of the hierarchy, in our experience, challenges to lower-level needs can be particularly unpleasant. This is because we must first satisfy needs lower down in the hierarchy before we can attend to higher needs: the more basic the unmet need, the more likely the controversies that come with intercultural encounters. Because we consider lower needs as more urgent than higher needs, threats to basic needs potentially destabilise our entire motivational architecture. In other words, a challenge from an intercultural encounter, especially one located at the lower end of the hierarchy of needs, can drastically change our well-being. A realisation of cultural differences can be blatant (especially when it comes to deficiency needs) or subtle (more likely at the growth stages). Still, it nonetheless influences how we see ourselves and others. 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 421 <?page no="422"?> Typical Areas of Conflict Level of Intercul‐ tural Encounter Examples of Stressors Organisation How do organisations affect me? Structures of tasks and performance control - • Organisational culture (How do employ‐ ees experience their organisation? How influential are values for their thinking and behaviour? ) • Functions (How do people relate to each other in terms of ranks and positions? Are operations primarily local or not? ) • Control and power (What do man‐ ager-subordinate relationships look like? What are the salary levels like? ) • Organisational culture: Do you find mesh‐ ing with the foreign culture difficult? Do social norms not match your working style? • Functions: Do you feel there is a bias towards managerialand executive-level positions being filled with HQ staff ? • Control and power: Does the distribution of power make sense to you? Do your relationships suffer because of this? Are you unsure whether your remuneration is correct in comparison to others? Group How we interact with others: Processes that impact group forma‐ tion and task perform‐ ance • Decision-making processes (Who de‐ cides, what, and how? ) • Leadership (What makes a good leader? Do they have the ability to influence and motivate others? ) • Interpersonal communication (How is in‐ formation shared? How are ideas cre‐ ated? How do we interact with others? What technologies are used? ) • Social conflicts (How are disagreements, incompatible goals, or divergent per‐ ceptions solved? How are they preven‐ ted? ) • Inter-group conflicts (How are informa‐ tion flows between departments man‐ aged? ) • Decision-making processes: Are there sub‐ stantial cultural differences in how deci‐ sions are brought about? • Leadership: Does the leadership behav‐ iour of your line manager make sense to you? • Interpersonal communication: Do infor‐ mation flows depend on HQ language proficiency? Do creative processes differ? • Social conflicts: Is there a clash of conflict styles? Can you define what the conten‐ tious issue is? Are you confused about how to handle the conflict? • Inter-group conflicts: Are you being drawn to people who are more like you (e.g., language, ethnic origin, religion)? Does this create tensions, especially when resources are scarce? 422 14 Awareness <?page no="423"?> Individual Who we are and how we fit in: Our experi‐ ences when fulfilling tasks -- • Relationship (What motivates me? What do employees see in an organisation or job? Can they identify with their work? What about the mission of an organisation? ) • Personnel selection (How are people hired? On what grounds are people se‐ lected? What does the onboarding proc‐ ess look like? ) • People development (How is education and training managed? Can employees develop and polish their skills? How is staff retained? ) • Relationship: Does the job or the organi‐ sation you work for define who you are? How keen are you to have a go at over‐ seas assignments? Do you keep pushing even if your heart is not in international assignments? • Personnel selection: How do companies find and select suitable personnel for abroad assignments? Is there an emphasis on deep or more general expertise? • People development: Is intercultural train‐ ing available? Is staying abroad an im‐ portant stepping stone for career devel‐ opment? Task What we do: Assign‐ ment that we need to complete within a spe‐ cific time • Roles (How are roles designed and pos‐ sible overlaps managed? How clear are employees about their objectives? ) • Workload (To what extent are tasks fine-sliced? How are they distributed amongst employees? How is stress caused by work managed? ) • Workplace design (Does well-being mat‐ ter? How and to what extent do so‐ cial and physical environment consider‐ ations feature? ) • Roles: Are roles split across borders (cross-function, cross-groups)? Are em‐ ployees aware of goals? How do they feel about feedback and monetary rewards? • Workload: What is included in the regular work hours? Is working overtime expec‐ ted? What kind of tasks are assigned to a certain role or level? Do roles differ across countries? • Workplace design: What does an office look like? What does the design of indi‐ vidual workplaces say about status? What facilities are considered essential for em‐ ployees? Table 18: Intercultural Tensions at Different Levels of Abstraction 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 423 <?page no="424"?> Sense of Others: So, it all starts with being alert to cultural differences. Something ‘out there’ is suddenly different to how we would go about things. Tensions between organisations and people within them are a natural part of our work life. Often, jobs mesh with who we are. Clashes of interests, personality differences or miscommuni‐ cation at work are ubiquitous. Realising that something is ‘off ’ can occur at any level: organisation, group, individual, or task (Table 18). Cultural differences might accentuate these sensations. Figure 39: Dealing with Cultural Differences We cannot escape conflict. Experiences of unfamiliarity can be appraised in lots of different ways. Our interpretations of culturally induced differences spark some sort of response. We can use three different ways to address glitches in our intercultural work life (Figure 39). • One way of resolving or at least reducing ambiguity is by sustaining positive emotions, even in the face of difficulties. You might feel fascinated with meeting new people and seeing their ways. Even minor hiccups can make you feel happy. Even if things look, at first blush, perhaps troublesome, now you can look for silver linings. In sum, positive emotions may have important adaptational significance when engaging with people unlike us. Roman poet Horace suggests that some of us are really good at rebounding from setbacks: ‘Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.’ • Differences might not register. You are either unaware that cultural variations provide context and dynamics to how interactions unfold, or you are aware of disagreements but choose to ignore them. They might not be taxing enough or simply do not matter to you in the here and now. • They might, however, also be troubling us. Many things can upset our well-being, both big and small. The key is to note when these experiences become taxing. What 424 14 Awareness <?page no="425"?> then? All is about reducing, tolerating, or perhaps even mastering the negative. In us, there is a natural tendency to get over tension and regain emotional equilibrium. In short, we cope. Self-Esteem It doesn’t matter what the nature of intercultural encounters is, whether they are face-to-face or remote; all these experiences are highly individual. We have just seen that the problem is not the experience of otherness. The problem is how we deal with otherness. How seriously do we take diversity in our social and cultural practices? How great do we let issues become? While we cannot change our environment, we can change our attitude towards it. Intercultural competence, then, is to take responsibility for how much we live inside our world and how we project this to the external world. The common assumption is that the better we know ourselves, the better we can engage across cultures. Self-esteem, the overall evaluation of ourselves (Bandura, 1986), has been shown to lead to more satisfied intercultural encounters (Dong, Koper, & Collaco, 2008). Interacting with strangers can heighten emotions and create uncertainty. For sure, there are benefits of having a good sense of who you are when relating with people who do not share your culture. • Assertiveness: Knowing what you want is a crucial step in making contact. People appreciate clarity about who they are dealing with. Being upfront about who you think you are and what you want to achieve helps others position themselves (e.g., Kim, 1997). Also, the energy with which you voice how you intend to get from point A to point B can inspire trust and create commitment. • Better Communication: It is easy to alienate people, especially when they believe that you challenge what they take for granted (e.g., what food they eat and what gods they pray to). But perhaps you simply feel uncomfortable with certain aspects of their daily life. That being the case, signalling your concerns or expressing your emotions is as important as being clear about what you want. Better communication prevents misunderstandings, but clearly, you should do so tactfully. Professional negotiators will tell you that ‘cleaning up’ misunderstandings in intercultural arenas takes an awful lot of time. • Less Psychological Stress: It is important to act according to your thinking. If your actions are incongruent with your feelings and values, you will experience dissonance. Such inner conflicts are rather uncomfortable and may hinder you from performing well. A sound knowledge of yourself includes understanding what motivates you. This helps you avoid inner conflicts. • Self-Control: Exposure to doing things differently can be liberating. But intercul‐ tural encounters might also involve struggles with what you think and how things should be done to be your true self. When visiting another country, for instance, it is tempting for some of us to shed our home culture shackles. We might do things that we would not do at home. The inherent opposition creates inconsistency between 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 425 <?page no="426"?> thought and action. Self-awareness gives you the willpower to resist poor choices and social pressure. • Decision Making: Self-awareness pre-empts poor choices. A clear inner compass helps you make better choices. Feelings of insecurity are a natural companion of intercultural encounters. We may feel misunderstood, surprised, or confused. In these circumstances, experiencing unfamiliar ways of life, a good knowledge of ourselves gives us understanding, stability, and guidelines on how to respond to what is happening. • Tolerance: People make mistakes. The awareness of one’s own vices, quirks and shortcomings makes you more empathetic for situations others might find themselves in. Putting oneself into their shoes, imagining their feelings, or simply showing that we care is a precious quality in intercultural encounters. • Personal Growth: Typically, we think of ourselves as experts of who we are. Who else but us is able to recognise what we do well? However, how do you fix a problem that you might be unaware of ? Seeing more clearly how you affect others is a very useful starting point for shedding light on some of your blind spots. Sensitivity to feedback from your environment improves your personal development and enriches your life skills. In short, self-esteem is our springboard into intercultural action. Self-awareness and self-esteem mix and together are important steps towards more confident communi‐ cation (Unal, 2012), including interactions across cultures. They help us make sense of ourselves and what is going on around us. There are two parts to self-reflection, which, together, are incredibly valuable in navigating otherness: Internal and external awareness. The dynamics between the two, how we see ourselves and how others see us, pave the way for passion and compassion. This care for ourselves and others can bring overlaps between cultures to life and unlock knowledge that arises from understanding our own culture as well as that of other people. Internal Awareness: Are we clear about our own wants and needs? Having a good understanding of what drives us, what we value in life and what goals we want to reach; External Awareness: Are we clear about how others see our wants and needs? Having a good awareness of our values, passions, and aspirations and how these might impact others. 426 14 Awareness <?page no="427"?> External Awareness (How well do you understand how others see you? ) - - Low High Internal Awareness -(How well do you know yourself? ) High Introspectors • You know who you are, where you come from and what you value in life; • You are okay with reflecting on your values; • You are not really looking for engagement or input from others who are not like you; • You think you are okay with receiving feedback but usually do not take it well; • You are curious about what others might think of you. This stands in the way of personal growth; • You display limited interest in entering coopera‐ tive, intercultural relationships. High Flex • You know who you are, where you come from and what you value in life and watch out for feedback; • Your culture is not a role model. You have heart-felt respect for otherness; • You know your limitations and respect those of others; • You know what you want to achieve, but you are not ahead of all your co-workers all the time; • You take ownership of your decisions; • You realise that making something out of cultural differences is key to growth. Low Blindfold • You struggle being in contact with yourself; • You struggle to make sense of what others do and how they react to you; • Self-reflection concerning your behaviour is not your strong point; • You are insecure when interacting with others; • You tend to experience negative emotions when in contact with people from other cultures; • You get defensive when people do things differ‐ ently from your expectations; • Patterns of negative interactions reoccur. Consoler • Respect for other people and their views is para‐ mount to you; • You are always alert to what is happening around you; • You are concerned with how others see you; • You are out to please others at all costs (including aspects that are usually dear to you); • When engaging with people of different cultural backgrounds, you tend not to rock the boat; • You shy away from conflicts and want to be appreciated for making the effort to fit in. Table 19: Internal and External Self-Awareness Source: Applied from Eurich, 2018. 14.1 Awareness in the International Workplace 427 <?page no="428"?> Organisational psychologist Tasha Eurich (2017) suggests that these two awareness types operate independently from each other. Table 19 puts these squarely into the domain of practising interculturality. The resultant 2x2 matrix describes four very different ways of dealing with cultural differences. Each quadrant represents a distinct adjustment based on the concurrence of external and internal awareness. Some have quite a good understanding of who they are and how others see them. Others lack self-awareness, both in terms of failing to explore what matters to them in life and failing to show interest in how others might see them. The Chinese proverb ‘When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills’ suggests as much. Although complex in detail, internal and external self-awareness affects our experiences of intercultural encounters, namely the extent to which we feel in control of situations involving people from other cultures and how skilled we are in making the most of such situations. Table 20: Core or Flex Exercise: How Do You Deal With Cultural Differences? Source: Applied from Middleton, 2015. These two fundamental awareness types also influence the extent to which (i) we feel aspects of life are core to us (and inflexible about) and (ii) we are prepared to experiment with other aspects (Table 20, Middleton, 2015). Some people might have a good sense of who they are and what they want to achieve whilst exerting substantial effort to find answers outside themselves. They are good at figuring out what is important to them and in what aspects they are prepared to learn and grow (upper right-hand quadrant: High Flex). Others might be incredibly insecure about what values are truly dear to them. They can live without these core beliefs. At the same time, they are really flexible about absorbing how things are done elsewhere. Their inner peace comes from pleasing others. Their way out of the insecurity that comes from intercultural encounters is recognition, which, in turn, props up their self-esteem. (lower right-hand quadrant: Consoler). We find people who avoid internal self-reflection and ignore clues 428 14 Awareness <?page no="429"?> as to who they are in the lower left-hand quadrant (Rigid). The lack of internal and external self-awareness makes them somewhat vulnerable to the forces of intercultural encounters. They tend not to take responsibility, are easily overwhelmed, or display strong emotional reactions in the face of challenges to cherished practices. Finally, the introspector (upper left-hand quadrant) is pretty much concerned with himself or herself. Self-confidence paired with blindness to what people of other cultures can bring to the table seriously limits their ability to act appropriately. Each of us has a unique makeup, but the bottom line is that self-awareness pushes us in two distinct directions to develop intercultural proficiency. How well we know ourselves and our impact on others has profound effects on our willingness to learn and our ability to manage contacts across cultures: • A lack of self-awareness discourages serious reflexivity of otherness. Both our imagined social expectations and biography can be helpful in pushing unpleasant disruptions into the background. We love to keep doing things as they have always been! Practical constraints of life make it so easy to see in otherness potential dangers. Cultural differences, then, are obstacles or sources of ‘their’ problems and not ‘ours.’ • Self-awareness can be a key component in cultural intelligence: Should we limit ourselves to cherished practises? Certainly not! We might be well aware of what is socially acceptable or not, but change is recurring, and we should embrace it positively and acceptably. Diversity is beautiful. The realisation that there might be learning opportunities out there might turn a negative relationship into a positive one. Instead of perpetuating the belief that culture is a source of conflict, something that puts people at odds with each other, we may succeed in seeing the creative power inherent to cultural differences. This qualitative leap opens up new paths for personal growth. 14.2 Managing and Responding to Culture Bumps In Chapter 8, we have already looked at emotions and the importance of managing them. If we think of cultural differences as challenges to our wants and needs, especially when we feel there is a gap between cherished practices and how others go about things, the question becomes how do we best deal with these differences. In their seminal work on how people manage to maintain their psychological well-being, American psychologists Richard Lazarus and Folkman (1984) identified two broad purposes of coping behaviours: (i) regulating emotions or (ii) managing problems. Let’s label these behaviours as emotion-focused and problem-focused coping modes. When we employ these two strategies, we do very different things in dealing with cultural differences: Emotion Regulation: Emotion-focused coping modes seek to improve well-being by altering how one thinks about a conflict brought about by cultural differences, 14.2 Managing and Responding to Culture Bumps 429 <?page no="430"?> including, for instance, distancing (or reassessing the significance of this issue) or self-controlling (manipulating impulses, avoiding unpleasant thoughts). In short, emotion regulation comprises efforts that seek to reduce the intensity of stressful experiences associated with a situation. When encounters are seen beyond individuals’ control and unchangeable, i.e. they whirl our sense of agency, individuals tend to in‐ volve more emotion-focused coping modes. We have seen that culture assumes largely stable ways of thinking and acting. This complicates addressing taken-for-granted beliefs (ours and that of others). We might think that we cannot do anything about differences in perceptions. As a consequence, we often resort to emotion-focused coping to alleviate potential distress. Problem Regulation: While we might be reluctant to acknowledge intercultural differences at work, putting one’s head into the proverbial sand might not be the best way of handling conflicts at work. If things are ‘off,’ always assume that culture does play a role. The ability to recognise conflicts (while not overemphasising them), not to beat about the bush about cultural differences, and to tackle issues head-on might turn out to be crucial to moving forward. Problem-focused coping modes aim to address the root of stress directly through action. We employ such coping modes when we feel stressful encounters across cultures are essentially manageable and changeable. Those who employ problem-focused coping modes try to alter or eliminate elements of a stressful event. They have sufficient agency to engage in planning (analysing a situation, identifying solutions) or to obtain social support (turning to friends, seeking advice). We cannot always prevent conflicts. Experience and intuition will tell us at which point to take action and name, frame, and tame culturally induced conflicts. It is easy to feel pessimistic about cultural differences. They will find us whether we look for them or not. We need to adapt to dealing with them. This means having or developing a sixth sense of the situation, context, people involved etc. This mix of experience and gut feeling makes you diplomatic, quiet, bold, or assertive (or all at the same time) in your interactions with people from different cultures. We usually seek to take control of emotions and problems simultaneously. Thus, problemand emotion-focused coping usually occurs in tandem. While our efforts are about making us less anxious and less confused, we should not forget that there are also positive aspects of getting one’s head around intercultural encounters. There is plenty of room for experiencing positive outcomes. 14.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Theory U is a concept capturing profound change and transformative growth in individuals, organisations, and society. The economist Otto Scharmer (2007), senior lecturer and action researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), believed that we often pursue ineffective courses of action because of habitual patterns of approaching trigger events. In the context of this book, we are likely to respond 430 14 Awareness <?page no="431"?> to occasions of intercultural differences in (to us) familiar ways. By not letting go of dominant past patterns, we cannot empathise with others and their perspectives. Thus, according to Scharmer, we forfeit the chances of embarking on a learning journey. ‘Theory U’ refers to, nomen est omen, a ‘U’ shaped process of sense-making. We first move down the left side of the U if and when we want to connect with things outside our personal, social, and institutional bubble. We then move across the bottom (Figure 40). This is the very heart of Scharmer’s framework. We ‘presence’ (a portmanteau of ‘present’ and ‘sensing’) when we get a feel for an emerging future and allow this to guide our emotions, thinking, and behaviour. Being present in the here and now pushes co-creation, social contact, and empathy. We now can move up the right side of the U, which is making the new happen. Farmer fine-slices this co-sensing, co-creating and presencing process into five different phases (Scharmer, 2023): Figure 40: Theory U Framework Source: Scharmer, 2016. 1. Co-Initiating: The process begins with a diverse group of individuals who come together in the spirit of a common challenge. Only if we stop and listen to others and ourselves, we can identify the root of an issue and create shared intent. 2. Co-Sensing: For this process to unfold, we must have an open mind and a willingness to listen with our hearts. As we move from facts and cognitions (such as judgements, preconceptions, etc.) to (positive) feelings (especially emotional expe‐ riences and perspectives of others), we expand our attention to and understanding of an issue. 3. Presencing: At this stage, we sense the past, present, and future. We tap into our inner energies and wisdom while allowing our intuition and creativity to make sense of what the future may hold. ‘Presencing’ is about innovative solutions and vision creation. 14.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 431 <?page no="432"?> 4. Co-Creating: We can now move into the co-creating phase. Here, ideas are pro‐ totyped, experiments are carried out, and new solutions are piloted. Being in this together promotes a collaborative approach to problem-solving and innovation. 5. Co-Evolving: The final phase of ‘Theory U’ deals with reviewing what is and is not working and deciding which idea or solution to go ahead with. Often, ideas look very different from the ones originally dreamt up. An ecosystem that allows for continuous learning and adaptation is important. Scharmer identifies five key concepts that make Theory U happen: Deep Listening: There are four types of listening: In what Scharmer calls ‘down‐ loading,’ we usually respond to new ideas by slotting them into existing mental boxes, often in conjunction with suspicion (‘I know this already’). We then look at issues through a fact-finding lens. We look at what is before us and compare new and pre-existing knowledge (‘Oh, look at that! ’). We arrive at a much deeper level of lis‐ tening once we emotionally engage with others and what they say. Empathic listening (‘I hear you! I know how you feel.’) signals a profound shift towards connecting with others and dialogue. Finally, here is generative listening, which Scharmer defines as the deepest level of listening and understanding. The individual ideas and worries take a back seat. Dialogues move to enabling the best possible outcomes. Suspending Judgement: We should be prepared to put aside prejudices and conceive pearls of wisdom. Looking at a situation with fresh eyes requires us to let go of Voices of Judgement (VoJ), Cynicism (VoC) and Fear (VoF). Only then can we let go of our habitual responses. Systemic Thinking: We must not isolate matters but instead should look at issues from a system perspective, that is, putting perceptions and actions squarely into a system of complex interactions. Such a holistic exploration comes with six basic communicative stances (Terhardt, 2023): (i) Invite dialogue instead of harming the self-esteem of others; (ii) Create an atmosphere of mutual appreciation by showing real interest in the feelings and thinking of others; (iii) Chose your words carefully and refrain from weaponizing your communication patterns; (iv) make your points in such ways that they are easy to understand; (v) Arrogance and irony are a sure way to silence people; (vi) Excessive self-confidence often translates into cheeky communication. Yet, such behaviour is often rooted in insecurity. Be kind. Leading From the Emerging Future: According to Theory U, there are two different sources of leading: The past and the emerging future. The former is about routines and the belief that they work best. But sometimes, past experiences are not particularly helpful. Indeed, they are actually an obstacle to tackling problems in new ways. Instead, Scharmer invites us to think about leadership in terms of ‘learning from the future as it emerges.’ We should strive to develop a feeling for the future potential and then enter into a process of realizing this potential. Sensing the Social Field: Groups of people contribute to a more or less tangible atmosphere or ‘texture of a social field.’ These experiences, in turn, shape their actions. Yet, most of us find putting these perceptions into words challenging. We think of 432 14 Awareness <?page no="433"?> atmospheric aspects or mood of relationships as something ‘out there.’ But we are part of it, and this very atmosphere, how we relate to each other, to our environment and ourselves, shapes our attention, intention, and action. This is why we should be mindful of these interdependencies (see Scharmer, 2017). Exercise 1: Let Pictures Do the Talking Pictures are a great way to create open and positive atmospheres in group settings. Suppliers for coaching materials offer card sets on different topics, e.g., emotions, strengths, and real situations. The images provide high interpretative power and make speaking about sensitive issues easier. They can help to break the ice in intercultural situations. You can use them for various purposes, for instance, feedback, relationship clarification, or conflict resolution. I have found them helpful for self-reflection when looking at intercultural encounters: - Explanation: ‘What does my situation look like? ’ - ‘What is the bone of conten‐ tion, and how do I feel about it? ’ to prepare for situations involving people of different cultural backgrounds and clarify possible conflict areas. Implementation: (i) Spread out the cards on a table; (ii) have participants choose a card that best represents their feelings and thoughts about the topic; and (iii) let them take turns to explain why they have picked a particular card. Clarification: Such self-reflections offer numerous impulses to speak with each other. They can kick off perspective-taking, discuss common themes, and find possible solutions. Participants can select additional cards to expand on their points. Wrap up: After the dialogue, you want to close with the main insights, usually two to three points from the discussion. Depending on what has been discussed, there may also be action points or decisions that can be summarised. Exercise 2: Expert Interviews Dialogue interviews (see https: / / www.u-school.org/ dialogue-interview) are a great way to implement Theory U. Your task is to prepare a workshop about ‘intercultural leadership.’ Of course, much has been written about the dos and don’ts of navigating intercultural encounters. So, you want to approach the topic in a novel way. For this purpose, you have arranged for interviews with seasoned leaders. You want to get an idea of their current challenges, questions, and expectations in managing intercultural groups. These insights will help you deliver a great workshop. You should aim for a generative conversation (see Figure 41). Your approach should allow for reflection and joint thinking. Try to create an atmosphere of shared creativity. Listen carefully to what your interview partner is saying (and not saying) by moving from downloading to generative listening styles. You may 14.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 433 <?page no="434"?> want to do so by going for a walk with your interview partner. You should take your time to take in what they have to say, including what and how things are communicated (e.g., voice, volume, inflexion, energy, silence, body language, speaking and walking speed, conversational overlaps). Figure 41: Presencing and Listening Styles Source: Scharmer, 2016. Of course, you should be well prepared for the interview. So here are some questions that should get you going in developing an interview guideline (see also: Trobisch, Schurbohm, & Abstreiter, 2023): Can you describe your journey and your story as a leader? When and how did this involve intercultural encounters? Can you talk me through specific challenges with a multicultural group of colleagues? Can you think of a specific example which you found particularly challenging? What are the qualities of good intercultural leaders? 434 14 Awareness <?page no="435"?> Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Is Awareness? Awareness refers to the mental state of being alert to what is happening in us and around us, including our feelings, thinking, and the environment. This makes awareness essential to emotional and cognitive functioning in intercultural situations. When we are aware, we pause, step back and observe ourselves in action when meeting people from other cultures. Such reflections open doors to see us, others, situations, and their interplay in different lights. Awareness in intercultural contexts comes in three parts: Individual phenomenon: When interacting with people of different backgrounds, it is on us as individuals to understand, appreciate and adapt. We need to have or develop the ability to make sense of where we come from and how our makeup and experiences relate to our feelings, thinking, and behaviour in intercultural encounters. Interactive phenomenon: Intercultural encounters are social occasions. Our ability to listen to, recognise, and empathise with their emotions and thinking is crucial as we interact with others. This makes people more likely to reveal things to us. By implication, we can only be interculturally competent if others allow us to be so. Situational phenomenon: While intercultural awareness starts as interaction be‐ tween individuals of different cultural backgrounds, the broader situational context also plays a significant role. External, institutional, and contextual factors can make favourable or unfavourable dynamics. They substantially impact how individuals engage and communicate with each other. Five Emotional Phases of Intercultural Learning The development of intercultural competence cannot do without learning pro‐ cesses. These are never easy and straightforward. This is why we have to explicitly recognise emotional resistance and turmoil as a normal part of change processes. We can distinguish five different emotional phases. Status quo (‘Comfort Zone’): In this initial state, we feel at ease and secure in intercultural encounters. Issues and challenges might loom, but we are not fully aware of them or unwilling to openly address them. Resistance (‘Fear Zone’): Our awareness of cultural differences grows. Such reali‐ sations can happen suddenly or build up slowly over time. However, awareness often pairs with resistance to change, even if one realises the current situation is complicated. We may experience fear or discomfort about making changes. Unfamiliarity (‘Chaos Zone’): Cultural differences are now in the open. Their impact becomes apparent. This stage may involve intense emotional experiences. Depending on the quality of these culture bumps, these can be positive and negative. This creates space for learning. Questioning our cherished practises, we now have the opportunity for personal growth. 14.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 435 <?page no="436"?> Integration (‘Learning Zone’): In this stage, feelings of anxiety and apprehension recede. We realise that something good is happening to us. As we work through our experiences of discomfort and uncertainty, we start to see that intercultural encounters can give us new insights and perspectives. Reinterpreting these events in more positive ways is certainly healthier for us. New Status Quo (‘Growth Zone’): We have found ways to adapt. We stop focussing on the negative consequences of cultural differences. We realise there are good things in them (perhaps even an aspect we are not yet seeing). The new perspectives enrich our lives, giving us more positive experiences. As we integrate these new insights into our lives, we function better. Intercultural Tensions at Work Work brings together individuals from all walks of life. Their backgrounds, makeup and skills vary greatly. These differences, combined with pressures from workload, tight deadlines, or organisational changes, can easily bring about tensions. From this perspective, it is important to note that cultural differences are never isolated events but are part of much larger workplace dynamics. They may, however, augment or accentuate already existing conflicts. When we throw intercultural issues into the mix, tensions can occur at any level: organisation, group, individual, or task. At the organisational level, tensions may mount from different value systems. These can transcend organisational designs, value creation, hierarchies, power, and control etc. Although quite abstract and intangible, these macro-level cultural differences affect people’s perceptions and experiences. At the group level, intercultural differences become much more tangible. They can interfere with group formation and task performance processes, including decision-making, leadership, interpersonal communication, or inter-group rela‐ tionships. At the individual level, who we are and how we as persons fit in make for typical tensions. Cultural differences interact with how people relate to an organisation and its mission, on what grounds people are hired or what opportunities for staff development are available. At the task level, organisations across the world systematically differ in how they fine-slice workflows. There will be substantial variations in how cultures design roles, workloads, or workplaces. These differences influence intercultural dynamics. Mindfulness and Intercultural Encounters Mindfulness refers to the mental state of being present in the here and now. This means we are fully attuned to what is happening without judgement and distraction. Cultivating mindfulness intertwines with greater self-awareness. Amid challenges of unfamiliarity, attention to how we relate to ourselves, others, and 436 14 Awareness <?page no="437"?> the world around us opens paths for learning about and developing intercultural leadership competencies.- Self-Esteem and Intercultural Encounters Self-esteem refers to how we view ourselves. It reflects our feelings and beliefs about our accomplishments, capabilities, and values (and how we live up to them). High self-esteem usually involves positive self-evaluations, whereas negative self-evaluations connect with low self-esteem. Such evaluations have tremendous effects on how we engage with people of different cultural backgrounds. People with high self-esteem are less likely to experience intercultural encounters as stressful. Also, they are more resilient in the face of setbacks and confusion (which often happens in unfamiliar terrain). Self-esteem intertwines with making good contact, including with what panache we communicate, how open we are to otherness, how prepared we are to learn from different ways of doing things or how we deal with feedback. In short, self-esteem and self-awareness mix, and, together, contribute to positively engaging in intercultural communication. Internal and External Awareness There are two elements to self-reflection: (i) the extent to which we are clear about our own wants and needs (internal awareness) and (ii) the extent to which we observe others and understand how they respond to our actions (external awareness). Both are interconnected and result in four different approaches to navigating otherness. High Flex: People with high internal and external awareness are usually quite good at building meaningful intercultural relationships. They are approachable and communicative on the one hand and clear and consistent on the other. Within reason, they are flexible in trying out new things. Blindfold: People low in internal and external awareness usually struggle to be at peace with themselves and the world. They tend to be unsure of who they are and how others see them. This insecurity then extends to fragile relationship-building across cultures. Introspectors: People high in internal but low in external awareness might have a pretty good idea of who they are. But, at the same time, they are less interested in what others might make of them. By implication, their potential to grow in intercultural competence is usually quite limited. Consoler: People low in internal but high in external awareness prioritise how others see them over their own needs and wants. They often want to please others, shy away from conflict, and, thus, may not act in their own best interests. Their struggle with authenticity hinders relationship building. Coping with Culture Bumps When moving into a cultural environment that is not our own, we often lose our sense-making superpower. The (for us) unpredictable and ambiguous situations can bring about substantial emotional and cognitive upheaval. Our environment is 14.3 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 437 <?page no="438"?> taxing, and we may need to find ways to maintain our well-being. We can distin‐ guish between two main approaches in coping behaviour: Emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping. They serve different purposes and, by extension, take us in different directions in dealing with intercultural tensions. Regulating Emotions (Emotion-focused Coping): We seek to manage our emotional response to culture bumps instead of addressing the issue itself. Typical examples of emotion regulation include relaxation techniques (such as meditation) or looking for social support (from family or friends). We will likely use this strategy when we feel that cultural differences (and what they do to us) are beyond our control and unchangeable. Managing Problems (Problem-focused Coping): We tackle an issue causing us distress heads on. We do so when we feel we have some form of control over stressful encounters. Then, we may isolate the problem (and ask ourselves how and to what extent cultural differences might be truly responsible), seek advice, or, after careful analysis, take steps that would change the situation. Instead of distracting us, this strategy is about regaining a sense of power. 438 14 Awareness <?page no="439"?> 15 Trust Creation Opening Vignette New York Photo by Vladimir Kudinov on Unsplash Harry has been seconded to the US as a project manager. He is working for a British civil aerospace company and is coordinating the purchases from North American suppliers. Because the US is one of the leading markets in aircraft equipment, his firm recently opened a representative office in New York. Living in the Big Apple has been a steep learning curve. At first blush, language should not be an issue, as Harry, a British national, is a native English speaker. For sure, British and American English are nearly identical and share the same grammar and vocabulary. But he has noticed, over and over again, that his British accent and the way he expresses himself causes confusion. Even specialist vocabulary could be quite different. For instance, petrol is gas, a bonnet a hood, and so forth. The pronunciations and spellings, of course, could be very different, too. In short, speaking the same language does not automatically smooth the edges of business negotiations. On the contrary, Harry feels that his line managers’ claim that there are no big differences between the two countries (‘They are both English-speaking after all! ’) is flawed. Next to language, he has found that culture and lifestyles vary <?page no="440"?> tremendously, too. He has to say that his American colleagues could be very lovely people, but their inclination for directness (‘How are they hanging! ’), cheerfulness (‘Julia Roberts smile! ’), and casualness (oh, these casual Fridays! ) irritate him. Of course, life in New York also comes with its challenges. Harry likes to think about it as American culture on steroids. People there are very patriotic (New York surely must be the centre of the universe), polyglot (apparently, more than 200 different languages are spoken on a daily) and stunningly fast-paced (which can easily turn into rudeness if you slow things down, for instance when buying stuff or when commuting by train). Perhaps Sting had a point when producing his hit ‘Englishman in New York,’ a song about the struggles of the British gay icon Quentin Crisp navigating daily life in the Big City (for an interview with Sting about this song, see: https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=8mZgbIRUiNk&t=73s). At least it resonates very well with Harry’s experiences: He indeed prefers tea over coffee, is more reserved than the locals, and dresses decidedly European. In short, he often does feel like an alien! Despite or perhaps because of his outsider status, Harry wants to be himself ‘no matter what they say.’ Sting’s motto is a good inspiration for Harry when navigating business in the US. Negotiations with managers from the aviation industry are a central part of his job, and he has to deal with American business people almost on a daily basis. Though negotiation styles evidently vary by personality, he feels, overall, US negotiators are quite energetic, explicit, straightforward, and result-oriented (Geesteland, 2001). His ‘British’ approach to negotiation is somewhat different. He prefers a calm, implicit, polite, and relationship-oriented style (see Anon., 2023d). Instead of speaking all the time, he was trained in London to listen carefully to what others had to say. He understands that fostering trust is one of the most crucial aspects of negotiations, especially when these cross cultures (Harvard Law School, 2023). But how could he achieve this, given these vast but, at the same time, not so obvious, cultural differences? He feels that the best way to establish a trustworthy negotiation atmosphere is to send out a clear message of commitment. But this means balancing awareness to local sensitivities (in line with Gesteland’s iron rules in international business, that visitors are expected to observe local customs, habits and traditions) on the one hand while not making a fool out of himself by overadaptation on the other. Harry finds inspiration in Sting’s ‘Englishman in New York’ song. By quoting the bishop of Winchester and chancellor of England William of Wykeham (1324- 1404, ‘Manners maketh the man,’ Oxford University Press, 2005), Sting makes the important point that in intercultural situations, etiquette, conventions of politeness and reliability are crucial. The song also advocates accepting cultural differences and challenging cherished ways of doing or being, for instance, what it means to be a man. In this sense, we should make use of our intuitions when living abroad. A fine grasp of the invisible rules that make up intercultural encounters can help us navigate relationships (or, in Sting’s words, ‘avoid enemies if you 440 15 Trust Creation <?page no="441"?> can’). The song’s most obvious and urgent call to arms is that of authenticity. The refrain ‘Be yourself no matter what they say’ asks us to be proud of our roots, to be comfortable in our skin and to avoid adjusting too much to local behaviour. Authenticity, that is, sincerity, truthfulness, or genuineness, is, however, a double-edged sword: It polarises (or as the song suggests, ‘Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety. You could end up as the only one.’) Critical Thinking: • Find the lyrics of ‘Englishman in New York’ online, for instance, here: https: / / www.azlyrics.com/ lyrics/ sting/ englishmaninnewyork.html • Who is Quentin Crisp, and do you think he had it easy when emigrating to New York in his eighties? • According to Quentin Crisp, what are the differences between English and American culture? What do the lyrics say about his experiences? • Define the following terms in your own language: (i) ‘etiquette,’ (ii) ‘intuition,’ and (iii) ‘authenticity.’ • How do you think these three aspects can be helpful to Harry when navigating intercultural encounters in New York? • Why do you think ‘trust’ is such an important intercultural element, for instance, when negotiating? ‘No man is an island’ ( John Donne). People are social beings. It is impossible for us to be physically, psychologically, or spiritually on our own. Social situations shape our emotional connections to the world around us. Shakespeare’s beleaguered Hamlet recognised as much: ‘Why then … there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison.’ Of course, we cannot always choose who we work with or in what far-flung locations we end up doing business. The question then is how to strike a balance between internal and external awareness, how loyal we should be to our own values on the one hand, and how attuned we should be to other ways of looking at things on the other hand (see previous chapter). Harry, the protagonist in this chapter’s opening vignette, was overwhelmed by the surprising cultural differences between Britain and the US. His balance and well-being change from situation to situation, especially in those that involve exposure to novel ways of doing things he might have never experienced before. In these situations, intercultural situations, some of us are very confident and hopeful while others feel like the proverbial fish out of the water, i.e. awkward and unhappy. As we have seen in Chapter 7, such emotions, positive or negative, are very hard, if not impossible, to hide. What we say (or do not), our body language, our facial expressions, all this makes our inner world visible. Emotions are contagious and will inevitably affect how we connect with ourselves and others. Harry seeks consolation in a song composed by Sting. With it, he contemplates creating trust as a crucial element to make sense of what is happening within and around him. Arguably, these considerations will also show in how he consciously and 15 Trust Creation 441 <?page no="442"?> unconsciously carries himself, including verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal behaviour. His environment will react to him by granting him trust or not. In line with Berry et al. (1989, see also Chapter 11), we would suggest that such trust dynamics emerge from two fundamental questions: (i) How important are the reference groups in New York for Harry? (ii) How secure does he feel about his own identity, including Englishness? Resultant ego-strength and confidence will inevitably show in his emotion, thinking and behaviour (Bandura, 1977; Bandura, 1982). By extension, he may (or may not) act appropriately, follow his intuition or be his authentic self. For us, finding answers to these questions affects our flexibility to ‘adjust’ and empathise with others, namely, dealing creatively and effectively with challenges or risks in unfamiliar environments (Peltokorpi, 2008). In short, the degree to which we feel secure in our skin (read one’s own identity) inspires trust and confidence. An inner sense of security, thus, is a resource which aids effectiveness in intercultural situations, both at work and at play. 15.1 Trust Creation in the International Workplace Ultimately, when people of different cultures meet, we constantly ask ourselves: Is this person I am dealing with trustworthy? How can I earn credibility? Only when we feel safe and respected are we prepared to gel with others. It is all about facilitating a favourable, psychologically safe atmosphere for engagement. We sound out our environment and need to find clues to very basic but, at the same time, complex questions. These reach from the here and now (Do I feel safe? Can I possibly trust him or her with my physical or psychological wellbeing? ) to more future-oriented considerations (Will this stranger act in predictable ways? Will he or she live up to their promises? ). In other words, trust is a crucial ingredient in creating a sense of respect and, by extension, in creating beliefs about the possibility of bridging differences (Rousseau, Sitkin, Burt, & Camerer, 1998). Mistrust, its counterpart, and how to overcome it has always been part of human history. It does not take much to distort positive outlooks on others. Think of events in your professional past, and I am sure that negative experiences (perhaps even with people you have had good working relationships with) linger in your mind. Think About: Making Contact With the Asháninca Community According to the UN, there are about 100 to 200 isolated tribes unfamiliar with the world community. In June 2014, Brazil’s National Authority for Indigenous Peoples made its first contact with members of the Asháninca tribe near the Brazilian-Peruvian border. You can watch this intercultural contact here: https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=cnJjGmljUmw&t=197s Watch the video and pay particular attention to how trust is built. Discuss in small groups: 442 15 Trust Creation <?page no="443"?> • How do the men greet the scientists? How about the scientists? What do they do? • Put yourself into the scientist’s shoes. Would you trust these men to be peaceful? • Are these greeting rituals between scientists and tribesmen significantly different from those of business practitioners? According to Hofstede (2009), trust emerges from ‘shared standards of moral rules.’ Beliefs that others follow the same moral standards (e.g., honesty, competence) make relationships and, by extension, collaboration predictable. Sources of shared morale, assumptions that others are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ can be manifold as Social Identity Theory (SIT, Tajfel & Turner, 1979) would suggest: We could, for instance, expect those who have the same religion as us to follow the same cardinal virtues as us (e.g., justice, prudence) and, by implication, to hold the same moral standards. But clothing, gender, and education levels (to name just a few group-forming identities) can inspire trust, too. What trust is varies, however, greatly from one culture to the other. At the most general level, trust drives relationships (If A believes B is acting in A’s best interests and accepts the vulnerability to B’s actions, A trusts B, Hofstede, 2009). But the question is: Do we place trust in other people when we meet them first (because others are essentially ‘good’ and as social beings we want to socialise), or do they need to act in certain ways so that they build up trust over time (because others are essentially ‘bad’ and they need to prove themselves to us (see Usunier & Lee, 2000). This distinction between ‘voluntary’ and ‘calculative’ beliefs in others and their actions branches into a multitude of trust-building processes (Doney & Cannon, 1997). These vary across cultures, as the different anchors with cultural dimensions suggest (for instance, the seminal Hofstede framework, Table 21). We can distinguish between five different forms of trust-building processes (Doney, Cannon, & Mullen, 1998): Explore: Trust How do you go about trust when meeting other people? Consider the following questions: • Do you trust others ‘just like that,’ or do you prefer others to show certain behaviours so that you can start trusting them? • How about disappointing experiences? Do they undermine trust? How so? • In business, do you feel past experiences (e.g., a failed negotiation) affect future ones? Calculative Trust: People are assumed to behave primarily opportunistically. They consider what they will get from a relationship and what they need to give. As a 15.1 Trust Creation in the International Workplace 443 <?page no="444"?> consequence, they will calculate the cost and benefits of failing to meet the trust placed in them. If the costs of being caught outweigh the benefits of cheating, it does not make sense to cheat. Under these conditions, people can be trusted. Predictive Trust: People’s behaviour is generally assumed to be consistent and thus predictable. This is usually the case when dealing with people from our own culture. Shared norms and values make deviations (that would undermine trust) less likely. The more we know a person and the culture he or she is from, the more confident we are in placing trust in them. Intentional Trust: People judge others by way of their intention (in word and deed). Their assessment can be either positive or negative. Assessments of benevolence (others are fair and are interested in doing good for me) usually lead to trust. Assessments of malevolence (others are selfish and not interested in my well-being) usually lead to mistrust. Capability-Based Trust: We can also ask ourselves how likely others are able to deliver on their promises. If we believe they live up to their promises and meet our expectations, we will likely place trust in them. Capability-based trust routes are prevalent in cultures with respect for deep expertise. These often pair with specific semiotic translations (that cultivate and present skills to the outside world, for instance, white coats of the medical profession as symbols of respect and trust). Transference: People can also choose to extend trust from one person (or object) to another. Even if we have no prior experience with a person, their relationship with someone we already know (and trust) makes them trustworthy. Transference trust, thus, often leads to a network of relationships entailing mutual obligations and exchange of favours (prevalent in many collectivist cultures). Despite its importance in international business, the concept of trust remains elusive, so much so that Hofstede questions the use of a single all-encompassing definition. Trust Building Process Underlying Assumptions Dimension Relation‐ ship Calculative • Calculating costs and rewards of cheating (and being found out). • Opportunistic behaviour • Maximising self-interest IND + MAS + PD + UA - Predictive Assuming that behaviour is consistent and, therefore, predictable. • Consistent • Predictable IND - MAS - PD + UA + • Intentional • Interpretation of other’s behaviour IND - MAS - 444 15 Trust Creation <?page no="445"?> Evaluating other persons’ intentions, benevolence in‐ duces trust, selfishness, and distrust. • Identification of joint gains PD - UA + • Capability-based Assessing other’s ability to live up to their promises and expectations. • Hierarchies of competen‐ cies • Identification and respect for expertise IND + MAS + PD + UA - Transference Moving and expanding trust, even to those un‐ known, based on network. • Social connections as launchpad • Relationships are strong and reliable IND - MAS - PD - UA + Table 21: Different Disguises of Trust and Their Cultural Variations Source: Doney, Cannon, & Mullen, 1998; Hofstede, 2009. Notes: IND (Individualism); MAS (Masculinity); PD (Power Distance); UA (Uncertainty Avoidance) +: positive relationship; ---negative relationship Think About: Courtesy Courtesy opens a lot of doors. Being polite means you know how to adhere to social norms and expectations. At the most abstract level, courtesy is an offer of friendliness to create a harmonious atmosphere. But there are also instrumental considerations involved. In being polite, we aim to achieve personal goals. We show awareness for another person’s face, and in return, we might expect some form of goodwill. But be careful: In intercultural situations, there is a fine line between reciprocity (‘my seashells for your sheep’) and outright flattery. Discuss in small groups: • In your own culture, what do you associate with ‘courtesy’? Think, for instance, of ○ Greeting and farewell rituals ○ How to address other persons ○ Privacy and perhaps taboos • What about observations in an international context? ○ Do these easily translate to intercultural situations? 15.1 Trust Creation in the International Workplace 445 <?page no="446"?> ○ In your experiences, how do these ways of doing things pan out when meeting people of another cultural background? People have, over time, become very apt at relationship-building rituals and the reciprocal obligations that come with trust-building efforts (or, as Virgil’s Aeneas declares, ‘I fear Greeks, even those bearing gifts’). We do not need to time-travel to archaic societies to see that pretence and social deception (Maus, 1960) are pretty much alive and kicking in today’s world of work. Then and now, trust is at the heart of relationship building in business. Invitations to business lunches, the art of a ‘proper’ handshake (or bow in Asia), proffering of gifts, sending greeting cards to show appreciation, and exchanging business cards (to name just a few examples) are all part and parcel of trust building processes. These signals of care are there to seduce people into liking you, cement trust and navigate encounters, intercultural or otherwise. A crucial element for creating trust, especially when facing unfamiliarity, is psycho‐ logical safety. In simple terms, only when we feel safe are we prepared to fully engage with others, including speaking up, sharing concerns, showing disagreement and so forth, without fear of reprimanding. Edmondson (1999) defines psychological safety in work situations as ‘a belief shared by members of a team that it is safe to take interpersonal risks in a team.’ According to McKinsey Research (2023), psychological safety nurtures an engaging environment in which people are prepared to offer feedback or admit mistakes. And innovation, mistake reporting and knowledge sharing flow from feelings of psychological safety (Edmondson, 2018). Clearly, when in unfamiliar situations or working with people of different backgrounds, creating an atmosphere of psychological safety is imperative but very difficult to achieve. Reisen’s (2021) expert tips on psychological safety could be handy for such contexts: Make Clear What You Are Dealing With: Describe the uncertainty and com‐ plexity you face and explain why the voice of others, especially those of different backgrounds, is important. Be Mindful of the Johari Window: We all have biases and preferred ways of looking at things. Unluckily, this makes us blind to other perspectives. Together, you might notice something that you or others overlook. Make It Difficult for People to Keep Silent: Many of us will respond to unfamiliar situations with silence. We tend to want to observe things first. Hence, you may want to ask others, best face to face, what is on their minds, what they observe, what their concerns are. Do Not Kill the Messenger: It is not easy to respond to different ways of doing things, ‘strange’ ideas, or uncomfortable news. In the heat of battle, processing such inputs and responding appropriately is often tricky. Especially when ego-stings are involved, you should not rush for responses. You may just want to say, ‘Thank you.’ This gives you vital processing time. 446 15 Trust Creation <?page no="447"?> Speak About Your Situational Perceptions: Talking openly and honestly about how you feel about an intercultural encounter makes it safe for others to do the same. Remember, psychological safety in intercultural encounters begins on a small scale: with you! Use Technology to Your Advantage: Business is no longer imaginable without virtual environments. Many platforms have polls and comment functions, which make engagement relatively easy. Talking about culture always makes for a great icebreaker. 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability So, we have left our comfort zone. We stop going about our routines. What other people do or think is now much less predictable. As a result, we ask ourselves whether we can trust others. They may follow entirely different cardinal virtues than us (e.g., what they consider honest or benevolent). Because we worry about our ability to influence taxing experiences in our favour, we probably feel less safe and may lack self-confidence. We want to move forward and to do so, we have to figure out whether or how to trust others whilst at the same time projecting an absolutely trustworthy self. A good mix of internal and external self-awareness empowers you to adopt an appreciative mindset towards yourself and the world around you. You use all your senses (heart, ears, and eyes) to really learn and grow from experience. And all this you use to make a good impression and seduce other people into trusting you. Knowing who you are and allowing others to see you translates into three crucial skills of practising interculturality (Figure 42): Etiquette, intuition, and authenticity. Figure 42: The Three Arrows of Practising Interculturality All are closely interrelated and largely biography-dependent. We can compare them to the three arrows’ folklore of Mōri Motonari of Yamaguchi (16 th century Japan). He wanted his three sons to work together. To encourage this collaborative behaviour, he handed each of them a single arrow. To no surprise, each brother could easily snap the 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability 447 <?page no="448"?> arrow into half. Legend has it that he then gave them three arrows. Held together, they could no longer crack this bundle. The moral of that story is that one arrow can be easily broken, but three arrows cannot. Likewise, our intercultural skill set of etiquette, intuition, and authenticity best works together. They interact and together create a coherent approach to engaging with people other than us. These we can practise and learn. Before exploring how these interact and, together, affect the way we experience intercultural encounters, let’s look at what each of these skills does: Etiquette Our first ‘arrow’ is etiquette, the way we carry ourselves when we find ourselves in situations that severely challenge our beliefs about how things should be. Meeting strangers, especially for the first time and face-to-face, is a daunting idea to many people. There is no universal agreement about how to behave, especially when in touch with an international environment. At the same time, we all want to feel safe and strive to be liked. Usually, we operate through a set of conventions of politeness. We do so because good manners are a means of mitigating cultural differences and projecting reliability. This often comes with exaggerating the social rules of your home culture. You will likely be extra attentive, considerate, and polite or use refined language and gestures. This courtesy you mix with mirroring the behaviour and non-verbal signals of others in the hope of building rapport. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get gestures and body postures right (e.g., for Westerners, bowing instead of handshaking as a greeting ritual), which, in turn, might add feelings of embarrassment. Etiquette is, however, a much deeper, broader, and more mysterious thing in intercultural encounters. Manners of courtesy and culture are about promoting an absolutely trustworthy self. We make a choice in the way we present ourselves. We want to tell others a story of who we are. We want them to pause and absorb what we are trying to say to them. All this we do in the hope of creating a comforting atmosphere, leaving a lasting impression in the hope of building a relationship. In short, we are using etiquette as a springboard for trustworthiness. But watch out! Every country has its own code of accepted or expected behaviour. And there is no rule for hard and fast international business etiquette. Hence, we feel ourselves forward, one step at a time. If you think about your average intercultural encounter, then sense-making is often difficult. As we interact, we are alert to the consequences of our social behaviour. We worry that others might misinterpret what we do or say. We fear that we are less captivating or convincing when using a language that is not ours. We worry about sounding unprofessional or even downright rude. When things do not go the way we want or expect, it is easy to become defensive (although people are far more forgiving in these situations than we might think). When insecure, some follow the impulse of guarding against a possible attack on their ego. Others start to project ideas of what they feel is appropriate in that situation only to elicit some form of positive response. They exaggerate gestures or body movements, 448 15 Trust Creation <?page no="449"?> use overly charming language or are too mindful. They might even mimic the behaviour of their counterpart. There is always the danger that all these efforts might, however, come across as strange or even histrionic. When in touch with an international environment, etiquette is much more than the narrow sense of good manners or rituals of politeness. It is both knowledge and skill at the same time: (i) You know the unspoken social rules governing the situation or setting; (ii) you can creep into the minds of others to find out what they want and give it to them. When we unpack intercultural encounters, etiquette, especially when meeting other people for the first time, turns out to be all about getting to grips with what one is trying to tell and seduce them into liking and trusting you. It is about cultivating a sixth sense of finding just the right tone of warmth and friendliness (without crossing the line to intrusiveness). There is, of course, no one rule for how to inspire trust and reliability. Each of us has our own roots, gravitas, and ability to read the air. Etiquette brings sense-making of your inner and outer world to light and is, in our eyes, at the heart of successfully navigating business relationships across cultures. Intuition Our second arrow is a fine grasp of the invisible rules that make up intercultural encounters. In business contexts, these are full of unknowns. Perhaps you have already experienced this or a similar situation: You met someone from a different culture, and you instantly sensed that, in spite of all the obvious differences, you ‘clicked.’ You will get along well with that person and can trust them to deliver outstanding results. By contrast, there might have been occasions when others felt awkward, or projects were challenging to get off the ground. You might even have reached a point where you have felt so uneasy, that your gut told you to count your losses and better move on. More often than not, we rely on our intuition. In fact, we are pretty adept at acting on our gut feelings. Based on this flash of realisation, we even make predictions about what is going to happen (without any proof). Impressions of trustworthiness are largely irreversible (you cannot just tip-ex a first impression), rather costly (as they make or break knowledge sharing and relationship building) and highly dynamic (settings, people are usually in constant flux). All this makes intercultural encounters far too complex to really get to the bottom of what is going on around us. Under these circumstances, rational thinking is often not the best option: You have too little information about why people act the way they do. Their behaviour often does not make sense (to you, at least), as it comes across as inconsistent with your experiences or expectations. Sometimes, things are too complicated, and logically thinking things through takes just too long. Even if ambiguity abounds, we need to keep our ability to take action. In these cases, we seek pragmatic solutions that reduce said complexity and time. We can trust no one else but us. This means making use of our sixth sense. That is, we get in touch with our inner voice. Knowing 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability 449 <?page no="450"?> intuitively what to do or say and sensing what is appropriate or not when meeting people with different backgrounds is a sign of skilled intercultural practice. What, then, is intuition, and what makes it so worthwhile when one is in touch with an international environment? German Psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer (2008) sees in intuition ‘gut feelings, hunches, or heuristics that suddenly pop up in our mind but whose deeper meaning are largely hidden from us.’ We know what to do, but not why. Despite this, they most certainly guide our actions. And we might even feel uncomfortable when our voice of reason kicks in, which tells us perhaps not to trust and follow our inner voice. All that we know, all that we have consciously or subconsciously learned at some point, we have stored in our archive of intuition. And uncertainty is the vehicle that brings our inner voice to the fore. In important and complex situations, our intuition provides us with what we feel is exactly the right piece of information. We concentrate on little but relevant pieces of information while ignoring others. These simple heuristics or ‘intelligent rules of thumb’ make for a compelling way of grasping the essence of a situation. We no longer think all too complicated or too long about our present reality. Often, intuition makes for an excellent advisor not only in the here and now (especially in situations that we see as risky or threatening) but also when it comes to predicting what comes next. By implication, intuition is not an antidote to rational thinking. It certainly is not about dumbing down (our ever-so-smart and analytical thinking) or praising the supernatural. Some might fear that intuition is fallible, especially in business contexts where rationality rules (or common sense tells us it should rule). But in my experience, it complements our interpretations of the intercultural world and, ultimately, brings about a good understanding of what moves other people and makes them tick. We often forget how important intuition is and how important simple rules (heuris‐ tics) are. We cannot just switch off our hunches, especially in international contexts when complexities, uncertainties and personal relevance are high. When we feel there is little to no grip on what is going on around us - through routines, through experience, through sagacity - our motivation or ability to process information systematically is dented. The likelihood of negative sensations, such as feelings of inadequateness or an inability to measure up, is high (at least when the initial excitement wears off). Indeed, muddling through further magnifies worrying feelings of possibly boxing above our weight. Nevertheless, we are aware of the need to make judgements quickly and efficiently. When you come down to it, we must remain capable of acting even if our sense-making efforts of the alien world around us are fuzzy, perhaps even flawed, at best. Table 22 offers an overview of the five most common forms of heuristics and how they occur when interacting with people of different backgrounds: Representativeness, Availability, Anchoring and Adjustment, Affect, and Social Environment. All can and do have effects on how we make sense of interculturally taxing situations. The need to listen to one’s inner voice due to complexity, uncertainty and time pressure from intercultural encounters can occur at any level: organisation, team, individual and task (see previous chapter). Ultimately, sense-making in any of these contexts is almost 450 15 Trust Creation <?page no="451"?> always chaotic, but trusting our gut helps us to come up with creative solutions, often as part of a trial-and-error process. It is especially useful when (i) a situation is in the here and now, (ii) involves a high degree of uncertainty, and (iii) one’s knowledge of how to deal with it is very narrow. General Purpose Heuristic Scope Relevant Application to Inter‐ cultural Context Example Representa‐ tive heuris‐ tics Judge‐ ments mediated by as‐ sess‐ ments of similar‐ ity Spill-over effects: If we feel we can trust another person in one domain, we assume this is also to be true in other domains. Similarity: We may trust people because of their perceived simi‐ larity to others. You got to know a Chinese busi‐ ness person at a trade fair in Shanghai. Our gut instinct tells us he is likeable. When he intro‐ duces us to his friends at an eve‐ ning reception, we are inclined to trust them, too. Availability of informa‐ tion heuris‐ tics Judge‐ ments based on ease of access to informa‐ tion Bias: We group people or events together and come to judgements; we increase the extent of stereo‐ typing. Recall: Memorable moments (good or bad) with people from other cultures distort how we see them. Gain vs Loss: Our fear of being hurt is greater than looking for‐ ward to gains from learning from engagement with people of differ‐ ent cultural backgrounds. Go with what you know: We consider only those alternatives (read people, organisations, etc.) we recognise (forfeiting other op‐ portunities). Fast-and-Frugal: Sometimes, we ignore relevant information. For better or worse, we usu‐ ally use mental shortcuts to predict the behaviour of peo‐ ple from other cultures. For in‐ stance, when you travel to Ger‐ many for a business meeting, quite a few stereotypes might pop into your mind (e.g., seri‐ ousness, order, punctuality). On your flight to Berlin, you might read up on business etiquette that even reinforces these im‐ pressions. When meeting your German business partners, you wait for clues that are in line with these generalisations (dis‐ carding any other clues that might disprove these anticipa‐ tions). - Anchoring and adjust‐ ment heu‐ ristic Judge‐ ments and ad‐ just‐ ments based on an initial idea or starting point First impressions: We are quick to form opinions about other peo‐ ple; we then get attached to this initial idea or impression. Appropriateness: It is important to consider how we want to come across during a first meeting; people zoom in on non-verbal in‐ formation (looks, gestures, etc.) more than what we actually say. Eating out is a great way to give others a flavour of one’s culture and to get to know you. How we present ourselves when we are invited to a business lunch sets the tone for any relationships that might follow. In these situa‐ tions, can we decline food, espe‐ cially traditional meals, that we might find repulsive? Your part‐ ner might form an opinion about how you see their culture and how open you are to embracing this and other aspects of it. Affect heu‐ ristics Judge‐ ments Like vs. Dislike: How we feel about a person or activity (often Our mood significantly affects the way we deal with people 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability 451 <?page no="452"?> based on current arousal, feeling or mood as simple as ‘good’ or ‘bad’) af‐ fects what we make of that situa‐ tion. Emotions: Emotions in intercul‐ tural contexts are often rawer; our state of mind, such as fear, pleasure, surprise etc. frames how we sense people and situations. Regret matching: Past experi‐ ences jumpstart interactions; we strive to reduce the possibility of regret for poor past choices or behaviours. from other cultures. We just arrived in Bogota (Columbia). Our intercontinental flight was delayed. Next to feeling exhaus‐ ted from the 12-hour trip, the time difference of seven hours means your internal clock is out of sync. Is this the best moment to engage in significant nego‐ tiations or discussions? Perhaps not! Your self-protective shields are down, and your mood might seriously impair your cross-cul‐ tural judgements. Social heu‐ ristics Judge‐ ments based on social consid‐ erations Imitate-the-Majority: Imitation is crucial for social learning; Mir‐ roring others reduces our uncer‐ tainty. Imitate-the-Successful: Fol‐ lowing the lead of a seasoned colleague and how they interact with people with different back‐ grounds. Tit-for-Tat: Reciprocity princi‐ ple; they are observing and repli‐ cating how other people treat you (friendly or hostile). Familiarity: When meeting other people, we follow the same set of behaviours that we have successfully used in the past. You find yourself visiting Fushimi-Inari-Taisha, the most famous Shinto shrine in Kyoto, Japan. Before entering, there is a communal water basin. Your host encourages you to drink from it so that you can spiritu‐ ally cleanse your body and mind. As a Christian, you feel some‐ what strange. Should you emu‐ late the behaviour of your host? Are you perhaps even betraying your own faith? After some con‐ templation, you decide to follow the lead of a compatriot collea‐ gue who accompanies you. He has more experience with the local customs and is known to be a skilled negotiator with the Japanese. - Table 22: Heuristics in Intercultural Encounters Source: Inspired by Kahneman, Slovic, & Tversky, 1982; Gigerenzer, 2007; For a summary of examples of affect and social heuristics, see Anon., 2023e. 452 15 Trust Creation <?page no="453"?> Figure 43: Intuition at the Interface of Inner and Outer Worlds Intuition manifests when our inner and outer worlds intersect. When we fathom what will happen next, and even more so when we try to anticipate what might happen in the more and more distant future, we assign meaning to incidences in our intercultural environment. Figure 43 distinguishes between these two worlds. Our inner world, the enablement zone, represents how we see ourselves, our vir‐ tues, and vices, and, based on this, how we interpret the world around us. Idiosyncrasies (our makeup and dispositions) and knowledge (our familiarity with the situation) make up this inner world. Each of us has a unique capability to self-reflect and learn from past experiences. Our makeup and dispositions affect the way we pick up and handle sudden hunches. Intentionality, the extent to which (i) we are alert to shifting realities that cause controversy about routes to adjustment and (ii) determined to enact our intuition, allows us to take action as necessary. Our outer world, the engagement zone, represents our intercultural environment. Oliver Ahel (2020) suggests that information, time, and communication together frame when and how we make use of our sixth sense. • When we are in touch with the international world, lack of information is the rule and not the exception. Decision-making with little or incomplete information is a really tough nut to crack. One can face such unknown or uncertain situations both near and far. Real challenges occur when we exercise our minds with geographically remote regions on the one hand or when we are face-to-face with someone who does not share our culture and upbringing. Oh, how we would wish to replace a complex question with a fairly simple or even better binary one (e.g., invest in remote country A? Yes or no; Trust a person? Yes or no). Either way, information is the quintessential starting point that sets intuition processes in motion. We might feel out of our depth or overwhelmed, sense that our information is inadequate, or realise that our knowledge and experience are not helpful at all. 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability 453 <?page no="454"?> • When in touch with the international world, time can be of essence, too. Some‐ times, decision-making about going international can be slow and fast. Managers have been shown to embark on engagement in foreign markets in the blink of an eye. Others go to great lengths to collect data over a long period until they eventually reach an often emotional tipping point. In both cases, they ultimately do what their gut tells them. This is also true when we meet people from other cultures: First, the proverbial ‘no second chance for a first impression’ tells us we better get our act together quickly. Next, the timing of ambiguous situations also affects when and how intuitions surface. Clearly, we cannot prepare for all eventualities. Even if we expect cultural differences, we cannot predict what they will do to us. Then, intuition plays an important role under time pressure. All too often, we simply do not have the time to get to know the warp and weft of team members or negotiation partners. In intercultural encounters, time is even more precious: Meetings tend to follow certain protocols, interpreters halve the time of communication (when there is no lingua franca), or, on an abroad assignment, you just have limited time on the ground. • When we do not know what the future holds, dealing with uncertainty boils down to intuition and the use of language. Putting things into words allows us to weigh up and perhaps even regain control over uncertainty: We collect information, we make ourselves understood, we voice concerns or share worries with others, and we render, through observation and reflection, judgements of unstable situations surrounding shocks. In short, language provides a backdrop for rebounding from the breakdown of routines, in that making sense of our experiences through language offers power over an event over which we initially may have felt powerless. Not seldom, this might take the form of inner dialogues: We ask ourselves questions and try to find answers to them. We do so until we intuitively feel we have found the right answer. We cannot ‘unmake’ disorientating worlds, and whenever we face unfamiliar situations, building inner narratives helps us organise our thoughts and get some ideas about what the future might hold. In a nutshell, how we use intuition is inseparable from how we practise interculturality. In uncertain and unfamiliar environments, mindfulness is the best way of bridging the gap of what we do not know but wish to know. Presence and self-awareness prepare one for intercultural situations and the people within them. Those who have or develop the ability to sense what makes and moves a person: • Understand the nuances of culture; • Are more attentive to the mood of a situation and can react to it quickly; • Are good at hearing what other people are really saying and quickly assessing their moods; • Know to say and do the right thing at the right time; • Are more fully engaged in intercultural situations; 454 15 Trust Creation <?page no="455"?> • Have a greater capacity to deal with feelings of alienation; • Have a better connection with the people around them; • Are more flexible and calm even if they do not know what will happen next; • Find novel solutions to a problem. Practising interculturality usually unfolds in an unorderly manner and whirls one’s sense of agency. We do not know how to go about a situation precisely because we lack previous experiences. Intuitions spring up automatically and might distort our efforts to see intercultural situations as they really are. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps we have to accept that decisions can only be rational to a limited extent. When we are confused, intuition kicks in as a filter for all irrelevant impressions. It helps us focus on important patterns. Having or developing the ability to make use of one’s intuition, thus, offers many advantages over purely analytical processes. Most of our intelligence is unconscious and based on longstanding experience. The more experienced we are, the better our intuition. This does not mean we are always right when trusting our sixth sense; on the contrary. But a blind trust in data and rational thinking might stand in the way of making deeper connections to oneself and others that might be, at first blush, not immediately apparent. Or, as the 19 th -century philosopher Carveth Read pointed out, ‘It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.’ Intuition starts with being mindful of oneself and our environment, and this awareness propels our preparedness to practise interculturality. Figure 44: Sense-Making Channels The prominent Japanese scholar and ethnologist Yanagita Kunio (1875-1962) offered a useful framework for finding inspiration about us and others. Originally documenting folktales and everyday practices of Japanese rural communities, he advises us to be aware of what is happening in and around us, specifically what we observe, hear, and 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability 455 <?page no="456"?> feel. To him, there is no such thing as ‘objective’ fieldwork. Context and intuition matter. Hence, it is okay for us to develop and show sympathy with unfamiliar environments (Meshcheryakov, 2018). Accordingly, he distinguishes between three inner and outer sense-making channels and their interplay (Figure 44). First, we should make use of our eyes (knowledge of the traveller). Being open and observant is crucial for noticing what is going on. Likewise, we should be attentive to what we say and do. There is a reason for this. Second, we should make use of our ears and mouth (knowledge of the guest). Listening carefully and participating in exchanges are important steps to understand ourselves and others better. Finally, Yanagita emphasised the heart and mind for the best sense-making (knowledge of the native). Such intuitive knowledge is a way of knowing what is happening around us gained from experience (and not much thinking). Such knowledge is (to us) self-evident, immediate and, as a consequence, difficult to talk about. Our gut feeling tells us it just makes sense to do and say things in certain ways. Authenticity Keeping both feet firmly on the ground, being comfortable in one’s skin and remaining positive is the third arrow in your intercultural skill quiver. In everyday language, authenticity comes with connotations such as sincerity (non-falseness), truthfulness, or genuineness. In the world of work, coming across as our true selves turbo-charges our intercultural business acumen. That is, we know ourselves. We trust our thoughts, motives, and values. Our inner compass guides what we say and what we actually do. At the same time, we are aware of our limits, what we are comfortable with, and what not. We have a good idea of what others think of us. These reflections sharpen and, most importantly, sync our thinking and behaviour. We act according to what we believe and do so in an unbiased, honest, and un-manipulative way. According to Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, & Walumbwa (2005), authentic managers are those who have achieved all these virtues, namely: (i) self-awareness including the appreciation of one’s strengths and weaknesses, (ii) self-regulation and self-control, (iii) relational transparency involving bonds based on ‘unfaked’ intimacy and trust, and (iv) imparting positivity surrounding values, emotions, or goal setting. No wonder that there is a huge appetite for developing an authentic skillset when working with people who might not share our background. It is an energy source that positively impacts followers’ commitment, happiness, and satisfaction at the workplace. Can we all tap into it? And if so, is there a recipe? The short answer is ‘not really.’ Having a knack for authentic behaviour emerges from one’s real-world experiences, life stories, and engagement with them. By implication, there cannot be a recipe for being or becoming an authentic ‘you.’ Actually, within our own cultures, we are quite skilled at spotting who is authentic or not: If You Cannot Make It, Fake It! There is much to gain from being seen as authentic by others. Some of us are aware of that and tailor our behaviour accordingly. We want 456 15 Trust Creation <?page no="457"?> to create a desirable impression. We put on an act to come across as ‘our true self ’ and go to great lengths to control what others should see in us. The focus on coming across as ‘authentic’ often becomes a battle for looking smart, controlled, and efficient, even at the cost of deception. Style becomes more important than substance when authenticity is a means to an end and not an end in itself. In fair weather, projections of authenticity are easy. But we can only pretend for so long before those around us begin to discover our charade. When others realise we are less authentic than they thought, some may feel they have been tricked. Sooner or later, goodwill inevitably crumbles. Look After Number 1! Some mistake authenticity for a freeride of obnoxiousness. Just being our unfiltered, uncensored, uninhibited self can have equally disastrous effects. At work, not caring about social expectations, including the feelings of others, can get us quickly into trouble. Being a straight shooter, i.e., saying what you think, endangers you and prevents you from missing the tone of the subtle complexities of office politics. Authenticity turns toxic when we do not keep our egoistic tendencies in check. An obsession with selfish interests, regardless of the consequences, can all too easily spoil the work atmosphere. Whether loud screaming or insulting colleagues (of course, in the disguise of just being authentic), brazenness makes working with us very unpleasurable. The price of making those around us defensive is high. Resultant antipathy demotivates, damages the cohesiveness of the whole team, and reduces performance. No doubt, there is a fine line between being authentic and trying too hard. Too much effort to make an authentic impression can, as we have just seen, be brutally ineffective. Establishing authenticity indeed comes with two challenges. First, you need to know where you come from and what life story made you the person you are. What are your preferences, motives, and capabilities? Practise what you preach and ensure that your words are consistent with your experiences and deeds! Curiously, however, authenticity is not only about us. So, second, you have to have others relate to you. Building rapport is, however, very different from empathy or the ability to read different people and situations. Authenticity is a quality that others must attribute to us. You can start building positive relationships only when others appreciate your history and the deep-rooted qualities and practices that sprung from it. Explore: What Does It Mean to be ‘Authentic’ in Your Culture? Honesty and transparency are cornerstones of authenticity. There is no pretence. Consider the following questions: • In your culture, what public figure would be considered as being ‘authentic’? • Can you give examples? How did these people achieve this status? • Finally, think about the extent to which these characteristics possibly fly across different cultures. Do the same people have the same status of credibility and integrity in other cultures, too? 15.2 The Importance of Projecting Trust and Reliability 457 <?page no="458"?> All this is easier said than done, especially in intercultural, often uncertain and, thus, emotionally charged situations. Acting according to one’s values, motives, and needs (as opposed to acting merely to please others) is already challenging in one’s familiar surroundings. Here, you can play to the strength of a shared and deep-rooted understanding of what makes one appear authentic in the eyes of others. Credibility, combined with the ability to find the right tone in words and action, is very powerful. Yet, authenticity is, first and foremost, about how local people think and make sense of the world. What would convey authenticity in one culture does not necessarily do so in another. For instance, confidence and stubbornness are prized or despised depending on which culture we engage with. And even within one culture, there are likely to be huge variations on what attributes underpin assessments of authenticity. Language, especially analogies, metaphors, or onomatopoeia, often gives good clues about cherished sub-domestic traits. Cultural insiders and outsiders of Bavaria will likely come to very different attributions of someone who would come across as ‘bockbeinig’ (or ‘buck-legged’). Here, ‘defiance,’ ‘pig-headedness,’ with a touch of ‘folklore-romance’ that swings with this colloquialism, is certainly an important ingredient of authenticity. Elsewhere in Germany, such a ‘bockbeinig’ person would, at best, be met with a healthy portion of scepticism. As one would expect, such particularism complicates matters even further. Context matters, and we, thus, should be cautious about making simple generalisations about what makes a person authentic and what does not. Expressions of authenticity are not isolated from cultural influences. People frame their authentic selves in different ways. Because of this, there are differences among and within cultures. Though we want others to trust us, creating, maintaining, or perhaps even re-establishing it under these quite opaque circumstances can never be straightforward. 15.3 Trustworthy Leadership So, is leadership that inspires trust across borders pure happenstance? Certainly not. In the practical realities of globalisation, an inner compass of appropriate and diplomatic behaviour (Etiquette), making sense through one’s heart (Intuition) and knowing who one is (Authenticity) are important predictors of how people approach intercultural encounters. Together, these three arrows of practising interculturality enable adjustments (or even empowerment) in unfamiliar settings. In my daily work, I found that overcoming adversities through etiquette, intuition, and authenticity is possible and probable when interests collide. Though they might not fly easily from one cultural setting to the next (see the juxtaposing case studies of Carlos Ghosn and Matthias Mueller), the three arrows are meaningful and critical to ‘real world’ inter-cultural effectiveness. They ensure that life does not just happen to us. Instead, they help us co-create, if not shape, the outcomes of events. As we find ourselves pretty much dependent on relationships with the world around us, what we say and how we say things are key to resonate with others in an intercultural context. No one wants 458 15 Trust Creation <?page no="459"?> to feel duped. Care with role-playing and insincerity and the irritation that this may cause is even more relevant here than at home. Think About: Two Cases of Intercultural Leadership Carlos Ghosn: ‘If you have not been a villain at a certain point in time, you will be a hero. And the day you are a hero, you may become a villain the next day.‛ The Brazilian-born businessman was, until 2018, one of the most powerful men in the global auto industry. Many of us are well acquainted with the wild story of his arrest, court drama and James Bond-type escape from Japan in December 2019. Before his downfall, Carlos Ghosn was considered a superhero by Japanese audiences and even made it to Manga cult status. He came to the rescue of the ailing Nissan Motors and orchestrated its turnaround. He did so aggressively, including closures, lay-offs or cutting keiretsu affiliated firms. In spite of his Un-Japaneseness, the public fell in love with him, even to the extent of becoming a sex symbol (five years into his tenure, Japanese women named him the country’s most desirable husband). The Japanese media awarded him a Japanese nickname (‘ セブンイレブン ’ or ‘Seven Eleven’). Consider the following question: • In spite of his aggressive and uncompromising leadership style, Carlos Ghosn was seen as a highly charismatic and authentic manager in Japan. Can you figure out why? Matthias Mueller: ‘We did not lie! ’ A damaging crisis hit Volkswagen when US authorities learned that the German car manufacturer had manipulated the emission readings of its Diesel range. The so-called Dieselgate scandal of 2015 resulted in an estimated loss of 30 Billion USD. Clearly, the successful handling of the crisis was of utmost importance to the organisation’s success and, indeed, the survival of the German industrial flagship company. Listen to what Matthias Mueller, then CEO of Volkswagen, had to say about the firm’s take on the issue at the Detroit Motor Show in 2016 when it began to unravel. https: / / www.npr.org/ sections/ thetwo-way/ 2016/ 01/ 11/ 462682378/ we-didnt-lievolkswagen-ceo-says-of-emissions-scandal? t=1636094573717 Now consider the following questions: • How do you think this interview was received by an American audience? • What makes it difficult for Matthias Mueller to came across as an authentic person in a different cultural context? AutoExperts Mr. Thomas Mueller, CEO of Volkswagen AG (September 2015-April 2018) 15.3 Trustworthy Leadership 459 <?page no="460"?> I believe that we all can do a better intercultural job when we keep in mind the three arrows of trust-creating leadership. At first sight, they may come across as too abstract, but I find they do translate well to realistic and more pragmatic approaches to inspiring trust in intercultural encounters. Etiquette, in many ways, underpins people’s expectation that you are a reliable person. Intuition is rooted in experiences and expertise. The deeper they are, the more likely you and others can trust your hunches. And authenticity will surface in consistency and credibility. Put differently: • Etiquette projects Reliability: Anticipate how others might feel about inappropriate behaviour; • Intuition projects Expertise: Prepare and know what you are talking about; • Authenticity projects Consistency: Walk the talk, but dial back on smugness. Reliability and Trust Building No doubt, international engagement makes life more colourful and exciting. But it also comes with tensions and contradictions. When things do not go your way, as is often the case when in touch with an international environment, fair-weather management can take you only that far. When practising interculturality, you need to be, more than anything, who you are. You want to be congruent with your own values on the one hand and conform to social expectations on the other. Either way, you should certainly not overdo your awesome or stoic self, let alone attempt to deceive others. We have already explored and learned that trust-building is the bedrock of intercultural management. The key ingredient for trust to build and grow over time is positive interaction. As people trust you when you are genuine and not fake, it is blatantly clear that you should ensure that you can deliver on your promises. In simple terms: Never lie! Effective intercultural communication is fragile at the best of times. Because of our insecurity, we will likely be more sensitive to spotting deception. Regardless of how trust between people of different backgrounds gradually emerges (there are, as we have seen, vast cultural differences when it comes to how people develop trust! ), deceiving others about you or your intentions handicaps relationships. When others call your bluff, distrust can come with substantial social sanctions. Let’s not forget doing business is not about making friends. Friends may be inclined to forgive, while business partners are less likely to forget mishaps (unless, of course, they are really eager to do business with you! ). For them, the only way to predict your trustworthiness is to consider your past behaviour. So, even minor hiccups in the past might reach deep into the present. Naturally, there is a tension between outright lying and bending the truth to avoid hurting others. Most of us lie several times a day, mostly out of politeness, and deceptions are part of our social skill set. On the whole, we want others to think well of us in the hope of smooth business relationships. And compelling honesty is not very helpful in situations that call for diplomacy. How would you react to this not untypical example of international business negotiation: 460 15 Trust Creation <?page no="461"?> Explore: Business Dinner Eating out is an excellent way of bringing people together wherever you are. You are in Oslo, Norway, and your local business partner has invited you to join him for dinner. Next to getting to know each other a bit better, his idea is to introduce you to the Norwegian culture. He treats you in a fancy restaurant to one of the national dishes, Elgtunge. Consider this question: • What would you do and say to your business partner when the fried elk tongue (with blueberry and parsley sauce) is served at your table? Clearly, practising interculturality often involves dealing with the gap between one’s true feelings, wants and needs and what demands our surroundings place on us. International environments are often unwieldy. Here, we cannot act and exert control over whether and to what extent others see us in the same way as we do at home. Social expectations, people skills, and our professional status might make it necessary to keep our true feelings hidden. Instead, we say and do whatever we think the circumstances dictate. Resolving these contradictions and, thus, at least sometimes, living with the incongruence of thinking and behaviour is part of intercultural and perhaps more mature authenticity. It is in these cases that our ability to transcend our authenticity from here to there, from our comfort zone to non-routine environments, makes or breaks successful dealing with situations and people. Unluckily, when we would need authenticity most, it is in short supply. How, then, can we project an authentic self so that others think of us as trustworthy? Expertise and Trust Building Many of us appreciate true competence; that is, we cherish skills and expertise to ac‐ complish things and act appropriately in demanding situations. Competencies involve both explicit (science-based) and tacit (experiential) knowledge. Their development never stands still, and we have to prove them over and over again (to us and others) as we professionally develop. What complicates matters, however, is that self-monitoring, i.e. the ability to gauge how well one does in a specific domain, is extraordinarily difficult. There is always a risk of mis-calibrating one’s skills (Dunning, 2011). Some overestimate and some underestimate their abilities. At the same time, we know that radiating deep intellectual, technical-methodological, or social-communicative qualities makes one very attractive to business contacts. In the real world of work, a healthy dose of self-confidence true to the motto ‘keeping up appearances’ is, thus, often indispensable. We tend to pepper our professional skills. However, the international mobility of skilled workers is accelerating, and with it, there is pressure to hone one’s competencies. Unsurprisingly, working across cultures exposes your strengths and weaknesses rather quickly. Arrogance, ignorance, or plain narcissism sets us up for failure. There is no safety net for things that might go wrong: More often 15.3 Trustworthy Leadership 461 <?page no="462"?> than not, known or unknown unknowns interfere with projects. When operating in an unfamiliar environment, perhaps for reasons of self-preservation, we tend to be over-confident in our abilities. Distorted views of one’s own educational background and career experiences might result in not seeing or underestimating the abilities of others. These few examples are a gentle reminder that pride often comes before a fall, and we better not be too self-confident when practising interculturality at work. Daredevils are always in danger of sowing doubts in their actions, opinions and promises. Sincerity, honesty, and integrity are always king, but in intercultural situations, even more so. People want to engage with someone who knows what they are talking about. They certainly do not want to waste time with impostors. Therefore, thinking ahead and managing what others see in you is crucial. Think About: Highly Qualified Workers A job advert for a London-based hospital has caught your interest. You just graduated from Budapest University of Medicine. In your discipline, UK profes‐ sional training is world-leading. You have always been interested in gathering international experience in an Anglophone work environment. This job would be an excellent springboard for moving your career forward! You already called their HR department and inquired whether applications from abroad would generally be welcome. Admin’s positive response made you sit down and translate your CV into English. But now you face a dilemma almost all applicants have. Your Hungarian qualifiactions do not fully match UK standards. You desperately want this job. Discuss in small groups: • What is the best way to explain your educational background and work experience to an audience unacquainted with Hungarian medical training? Consistency and Trust Building Navigating in unfamiliar environments often leads to insecurity and, in some cases, even tenseness, worry, or outright paralysis. At the same time (or because of this), we care deeply about how others see us. In the tug of professional demands, making just the right impression when insecure with exposure to otherness is necessary. How can we stay calm, remain ourselves, and radiate joviality and serenity? While these aspects might fall into the realm of skills, let us keep in mind that attributions of authenticity emerge from competent interaction. We cannot be authentic on our own. What other people make of you defines such engagement. Creating or maintaining intercultural relationships, therefore, is about reciprocity. It thus depends on a not-so-small part of finding a good balance between directness and indirectness and an understanding of misunderstandings, clarity, and ambiguity. Table 23 looks at how trustworthy 462 15 Trust Creation <?page no="463"?> leadership can improve dealing with cultural differences at the group or team level. First and foremost, the four dimensions of intercultural leadership can, together, be an important resource for enabling us to take a broader view of ourselves, of others and our interactions. It does so in very specific ways (Figure 45): 1. Although, ostensibly, somewhat counter-intuitive, relationship building starts with setting boundaries. Ownership and appreciation of one’s experiences (values, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs) ground us. Knowing who we truly are inoculates us against mounting uncertainty. Also, self-awareness and self-acceptance sharpen our senses for those who are not like us. There lies a certain power in clearly seeing the differences (and similarities) between ‘them’ and ‘us’ and making these, where appropriate, clear. Making boundaries clear serves many functions in intercultural situations: They protect us from feeling overwhelmed or uncomfortable. They sharpen how we see us and, by extension, empower our behaviour in a given context. Based on this, they create trust. 2. Once we are clear about how we see ourselves in intercultural situations, we can start forging common ground. Self-regulation is thinking about our role when working across cultures. For the authentic self, international contexts are a sounding board for living up to one’s potential. There are fundamental needs for autonomy (self-direction in thought, feeling, and action), competence (one’s ability to do what one is supposed to do) and relatedness (appreciation for who one is). How well we connect to other people depends on the extent to which we feel our most basic needs are met rather than compliance with outside influences or demands. That being the case, we can move to open up and seek a more nuanced understanding of others. We start taking notice of why others do things the way they do and react to us. Our ability to scale our emotions and adapt to our environment heightens levels of trust and engagement. 3. When we start looking across our set boundaries, we inevitably ask ourselves whether we are prepared, at least for a moment, to reveal our true feelings to others. Perhaps even more importantly, we have to consider to whom we reveal ourselves. We want others to relate to us. So, we anticipate their need to assess how consistent we are in terms of what we say and what we do. For this to happen, we need to be open about our values, share what the situation does to us, or possibly disclose not-so-brilliant parts of our inner selves. No doubt, this is tricky terrain. Not only does such disclosure give others power over us, but admitting flaws makes us potentially vulnerable to negative judgements, too. When moving in international circles, we are already on shaky ground. Everyone has prejudices. As people usually zoom in on negative information, we are in danger of either confirming or adding to their preconceptions. The right balance of showing one’s best intercultural competent self and revealing just enough sensitive information can go a long way in establishing precious intimacy and trust. 4. Intercultural leaders are passionate about setting aside divisive differences and embracing contradictions. A sense of intimacy can help to build bridges. Only a 15.3 Trustworthy Leadership 463 <?page no="464"?> common reference world enables them and others to grow and get results. At this stage, we have created a space where connections between them and us become tangible. Authenticity is now malleable. We recognise what others see or want to see in us. They will likely respond positively to our energy, flexibility, and optimism. They might even want to emulate these positive values of intercultural engagement. Based on this psychological capital, we can embark on a joint learning and self-development journey. New directions emerge from their confidence in our moral standards, commitment and sacrifice to crossing over boundaries. Self-Awareness Self-Regulation Self-Disclosure Positivity Forging Common Ground Managing Boundaries Creating Bonds Breaking Ground Figure 45: Four Levels of Leadership Inspiring Trust Across Cultures Source: Inspired by Lee, Horth, D. M., & Ernst, 2014. 464 15 Trust Creation <?page no="465"?> Dimen‐ sions of Authentic‐ ity Scope Relevant Application to Intercultural Con‐ text Examples Self-awareness Awareness of • one’s identity, emotions, motives and goals; • one’s effect on others; • need for feedback from one’s surroundings to en‐ sure continuous personal growth. • Unshakable self-clarity and self-certainty despite looming uncertainty; • Fairness and willingness to accept respon‐ sibility for one’s actions when dealing with people from different cultures; • Ability to recognise, evaluate and alter one’s own feelings and those of others; • Innate energy and curiosity in novel cul‐ tural environments. You are Austrian and graduated from univer‐ sity with a PhD in engineering. Originally hired for your deep expertise, the senior management swiftly spotted your manage‐ rial talent. Your work quickly involved man‐ aging projects, including initially leading small teams and then increasingly larger ones. Your down-to-earth personality and direct way of addressing even uncomfortable issues brought you a lot of kudos among your colleagues. You now find yourself managing the company’s plant in Brazil. You sense that you just do not have the same kind of rapport with local staff. Whatever you say just does not seem to hit the right tone. - Self-regulation Self-discipline, through • setting internal standards; • assessing discrepancies between these standards and outcomes; • resolving potential dis‐ crepancies. • Commitment to radiating internalised val‐ ues, identity, and goals; • We must not let ourselves be carried away by our emotions even when we simply do not know what lies ahead; • Attempt to see the world as clearly as possible, engaged in balanced information processing; • Self-reflection during interactions; • Manage tensions that emerge from cul‐ tural diversity or the pursuit of different goals; • Willingness to adapt to novel situations and go with the flow when engaging with people from different cultures. You are Dutch and recently started working at a Korean subsidiary in Amsterdam, Neth‐ erlands. Here, you head up the accounting team. All team members are Dutch but every‐ thing has to be aligned with the headquarters in Korea. As a matter of introducing yourself, you decided to invite your team members for an evening out. After a few drinks, one junior accountant confided, ‘If you are not Korean, you will find promotion difficult.’ - 15.3 Trustworthy Leadership 465 <?page no="466"?> Self-disclosure(Relational transparency) Commitment to • achieving openness and truthfulness in one’s rela‐ tionships; • being and disclosing one’s genuine self; • encouraging others to be‐ ing and disclosing their true selves. • Sincere interest in other people; • Preparedness to learn from others and to take care of those who are not like you; • Transparency in communicating one’s values, identity, emotions, goals, and mo‐ tives; • Respect for and appreciation of otherness, including norms, practices, and conven‐ tions in different cultures; • Preparedness to see things through the eyes of others; • Consideration of different perspectives and experiences. You are a member of a Chinese automo‐ tive parts manufacturer that has acquired a Detroit-based company. Workplace health and safety are always thorny issues, but as you can see, they are especially so in the US. Workers complain about the severe work conditions. In no uncertain terms, they threaten to inform local authorities about the poor safety of the shop floor. Your task is to not let this happen. You do not under‐ stand their complaints. According to your headquarters standards, health and safety measures at the US plant are top-notch. What can you do to engage both sides in a more constructive communication? Positivity Nurturing one’s own skills and those of others through • Expressing high moral standards, commitment and self-sacrifice; • Modelling positive values, psychological states, and behaviours; • Motivating learning and self-development; • Imparting confidence, hope and optimism. • Seeing opportunities in cultural diversity (for instance, for relationship building); • Cherishing the creativity of intercultural encounters; • Ability to act in different cultural contexts and to thrive in them; • Inspiring others to try out new things in spite of potentially feeling threatened; • Being kind to others, even if they do not agree with what we have to say; • Being diplomatic and finding the right words; • Leading by example in non-manipulative ways. The effective management of business meet‐ ings is dear to you. When preparing for a business trip to Columbia, you learn that meetings usually go longer than planned. Often, one cannot achieve the goals on the agenda. Indeed, when you participate in the first business meeting in downtown Bogota, everything you have read comes true. What bugs you most, however, is that your busi‐ ness partners do not seem to mind punctual‐ ity at all. From their point of view, being late is perfectly acceptable. What do you say to your Columbian colleagues? Table 23: Authenticity and Intercultural Leadership 466 15 Trust Creation <?page no="467"?> Source: Avolio, Gardner, Walumba, Luthand, & May, 2004; Gardner, Avolio, B. J., Luthans, May, & Walumbwa, 2005; Wesche & Feig, 2016. Authenticity in an intercultural context means cutting across cherished norms, practices, and identities. Both in terms of how we protect and project our ‘real self ’ and, reciprocally, the extent to which others are prepared to give us authenticity. Together, we can only figure things out if we reveal things to each other. The four characteristics of trustworthy leadership - self-awareness, self-regulation, relational transparency, and positivity - are interwoven. Moving across cultures means moving from personal to more interdependent forms of engagement. Trust-Building and Trust-Giving Now that we have a clearer picture of what our three arrows, etiquette, intuition, and authenticity (and their real-world equivalents, reliability, expertise, and consistency), can do in intercultural contexts, let’s return to the question of trust-building and giving. Experienced managers recognise that trust does two things: First, people who trust us see reliable, experienced, and stable persons in us. Second, trust fosters more open and more conversant behaviour on their part. There are, thus, good reasons for reliability, expertise, and consistency being at the centre of our trust-building efforts. However, working abroad or with people of different cultural backgrounds shakes up the primarily local parlance of etiquette, intuition, authenticity, and their interplay. Although there is no cookie-cutter recipe for trust-creating leadership, still less when operating internationally, understanding our three arrows furthers trust and, in turn, helps build positive relationships. Consider these questions: Reliability: The extent to which we can create positive relationships with others. When abroad or working with people who might not share our background • How good is the contact with myself ? • How well can I reflect on my actions and experiences? • How good am I at anticipating how others might feel? • How are my feedback-giving skills? Can I appropriately give feedback? • How do I deal with disagreement? Expertise: The extent to which we are knowledgeable, prepared, and skilful. When abroad or working with people who might not share our background • How realistic am I about what I can or cannot do? • Do I show good judgement in an unfamiliar environment? • Do others seek out my ideas? Does my opinion matter? • Am I open to the ideas of others? • Do I have an intuitive understanding of the situation? Can I respond quickly? Consistency: The extent to which we do what we say. When abroad or working with people who might not share our background 15.3 Trustworthy Leadership 467 <?page no="468"?> • Even in difficult situations, do I say things as they are and follow through by practising what I preach? • Is what I say and do an act or an expression of my inner self ? • Do I, from time to time, consider that I might be wrong or that others might have a point? • Do I set a good example and conduct myself appropriately? • Do I only make promises I can keep? Do I follow through on my commitment? Can I apologise, and how? 15.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Negotiations across cultures are the bread and butter of management assignments. Roger Fisher and William Ury’s ground-breaking work (‘Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In’) is an excellent starting point to explore the princi‐ ples and strategies of negotiations. Negotiations are conflict-prone, especially when resources are fixed or limited. That being the case, agents are after maximising their gains (‘distributive’ negotiation). The gains of one agent come at the expense of the other. This view turns negotiators into adversaries. It is much easier for managers to conceive of negotiations as an obstacle or clash of conflict because they do not need to think about it more positively and collaboratively. But this is exactly what the founders of the Harvard Negotiation Project proposed. They favoured two-way approaches to negotiations, in which agents develop common ground intending to reach mutually beneficial agreements based on their respective interests. They should do so by moving from a single-issue (or ‘zero-sum game’) to a multi-issue setting. This seminal idea of ‘interest-based’ or ‘integrative’ negotiations turns win-lose situations into win-win situations. Hard-bargaining tactics can make way for more softer, tolerant, and fairer interaction. Fisher and Ury advocated four main principles: Separating People From the Problem: When negotiating, we often lose distance from the issues at hand. The step from personal involvement to ego-stings is small. This is why the authors want negotiators to strive to build a respectful rapport with each other. We should not allow problems that may occur during negotiations to damage a relationship. They, thus, argue that it is essential for successful negotiation to understand and address emotions (such as anger or fear), communication problems (such as the way we frame issues) or individual differences in perceptions about an issue. Focussing on Interests, Not Positions: Skilled negotiators tend to move beyond their specific demands and positions. When negotiating, parties often retreat into opposition and, as a consequence, mutually reject each other. This makes finding common ground near impossible. According to Fisher and Ury, looking at each other’s underlying needs, wants, and concerns is much more beneficial. With these interests 468 15 Trust Creation <?page no="469"?> in focus, negotiators can unearth common ground, which, in turn, is the springboard for overcoming conflicts. Inventing Options for Mutual Gain: Single-issue negotiations are difficult to navigate. They narrow down options and thus frame negotiations in win-lose terms. Under these circumstances, it is easy to blame each other for failure. Instead, parties should try to broaden their scope and look for alternatives. By redefining the problem or throwing related issues into the mix, they can identify common interests, which, in turn, can lead to mutual benefits. In short, the authors encourage flexibility and creativity as vehicles for finding win-win solutions. Insisting on Using Objective Criteria: Measuring the outcomes of negotiations is always a bone of contention. If parties do not use the same evaluation criteria, egos will likely come to the fore. Resultant disputes often threaten potential agreements or even destroy working relationships. Fisher and Ury suggest finding fair, relevant, and objective criteria and agreeing on them upfront. Crucially, these should not be skewed by the interests of the parties in the negotiation. That being the case, negotiations stand a good chance of discussions following rational rules. Of particular interest to us and this book is how Fisher and Ury frame the human factor of negotiations, especially how ideas, emotions and communication take influ‐ ence (see Plate, 2021). Ideas: First, negotiations are usually contentious and make people easily become adversaries. The authors want us, however, to think about the other party as partners. It takes two to tango, after all. Each side cannot help but feel and think based on their respective worldviews (here, we can see some overlap with the NLP conceptual framework we have covered in Chapter 12). They act as if this inner map represents reality. There is, however, not one direct or undistorted reality. Each side is selective about information and tends to choose those bits that slot into their respective worldview or convictions (at the cost of a broader and more objective issue assessment). In choosing information that suits them, they protect their self-worth (or at least avoid cognitive dissonance). Fisher and Ury challenge us to defer our own views and to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes. And we should do so without any reservation. While we must not necessarily agree with the other person’s viewpoint, such perspective-taking helps us grasp why our opponents see, say, or do things the way they do. In turn, as negotiations continue, we can anticipate other viewpoints and take them into account. Emotions: Second, negotiations are social exchanges and, naturally, involve resour‐ ces and people. The topic (especially in existential situations such as job or demotion interviews) or the often-confusing overlap between cooperation and competition sce‐ narios in negotiations usually evokes emotions. These can fuel or scupper relationship building and, by extension, influence the outcomes of any negotiation. Shirli Kopelman (2014) sees in emotions resources and encourages us to ask ourselves who we are when negotiating. Our genuine selves can contribute to the success of negotiations. To tap into these resources, we must move beyond the constraining role of thinking about us 15.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 469 <?page no="470"?> merely as negotiators. Instead, she encourages us to think about all the different roles in our lives (and the experiences and emotional repertoires that come with them) we could bring to the negotiation table. Such toolboxes include foreign language skills, the emotional experiences we gained from staying abroad, or other intercultural situations. All this matters when we negotiate as it enables us to connect with others and together explore innovative ways of looking at issues. Emotions, positive or negative, certainly strengthen our messages. Likewise, we should be mindful of the emotional display of our opponents. In this way, according to Kopelman, we can lead negotiations with emotional intelligence. Communication: Third, good negotiators are good communicators (but not nec‐ essarily the other way around). Put differently, poor communication results in poor negotiation. Unsurprisingly, Fisher and Ury stress that effective communication skills are a decisive prerequisite for successful negotiations. However, they propose three challenges when negotiators search for common ground: (i) people do not communicate well enough; (ii) people do not listen; and (iii) people do not talk to each other appreciatingly (Plate, 2021). These mistakes make negotiations all too easily turn sour. In their book, the authors offer four suggestions to better your communication skills (Shonk, 2020): Perspective-taking helps you see a problem through the eyes of another individual. In this way, you can explore the reasons why people say or do things (think of the audacity of American negotiators in our opening vignette). Managing emotions is crucial, too, as they find their way into how we talk (e.g., what vocabulary we use, how fast we speak, etc.) and the way we present ourselves (e.g., body posture or gestures when we are angry or sad). Monitoring our emotions (and that of others) can act like a proverbial canary in the coal mine and warn us of the direction negotiations are taking. Fisher and Ury also suggest that a positive attitude goes a long way when negotiating. The two recognise that language can be hurtful and that we should use it wisely (e.g., not attacking or discriminating against others, framing proposals in appealing ways). Finally, they advise us to avoid reactions that could provoke counter-actions, as such negative cycles quickly escalate (see Watzlawick’s third axiom on cause-and-effect loops). Exercise 1: Next. Barbarians! (Role-Play) It is 1900 BC. You are a Minoan merchant. You trade in olive oil, which at the time was an essential product for personal hygiene (of course, soap was not yet known). As such, it is in high demand throughout the Mediterranean. You find yourself for the first time in Byblos, an important trade hub of the Hittite empire (today Turkey). It is in your interest to establish good contact with local business people. The relationship between the Minoan and the Hittite empire was not too good in the past, but you would like to change that in the future. Good business means prosperity for all. You need to make a good, i.e trustworthy impression. Your life might depend on it! 470 15 Trust Creation <?page no="471"?> Before the role-play, consider the following aspects: • How would you introduce yourself ? • How would you inspire trust and a positive atmosphere? • What can you reasonably expect if you cannot make a good impression? • How do you imagine talking to the Hittite? Would you be motivated to learn the local language? • How good are you at explaining your needs and concerns? What about language, gesticulation, and facial expressions? • If you were invited to visit a Hittite temple, would you pray to the gods of your business partner? • Would you be aware of his intentions, interests, values, etc.? • What would you do if the discussion became passionate and you felt the outcome was on a razor’s edge? • Role-play instructions can be found in the online resources for this book. Exercise 2: Bamboo Rod Divide into groups of 6 or 8: Your task is slowly placing a bamboo rod on the ground. Line up so that an equal number of participants are facing each other. The distance should be about an arm’s length); Now, bend your arm and extend your index finger. All fingers should be at the same height so that a bamboo rod can be placed on your fingers; You now have to lower the rod to the floor; Your fingers must touch the rod at all times; You must not talk to each other. Source: Inspired from https: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=HzHYmDAa6Bw. Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Is Trust and Why Is It Important in Intercultural Encounters? Trust is a fundamental concept that involves belief in the ability, reliability, and integrity of someone or something. We rely on others to act honestly, coherently and in line with one’s expectations. Trust is key to building relationships, both in private and professional situations. In intercultural encounters, it becomes a crucial element responsible for forming beliefs about whether or not bridging differences is possible. Confidence that others share the same moral standards (e.g., honesty, competence) makes relationships and, by extension, collaboration more predictable and likely. By contrast, we cannot trust people with different ideas about honesty, benevolence etc. In other words, trust is important to psychological safety in intercultural situations. Its impact is significant: The sense of connection 15.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 471 <?page no="472"?> and understanding allows us to speak from our hearts and share ideas (without lingering worries that this will have negative consequences). Is the Concept of Trust the Same Across the World? The short answer is: No! Although there is general agreement that trust is the foundation for cooperation and collaboration, there are substantial variations in what trust is and how it comes about across cultures. What we see in others ranges from good to evil. These basic assessments decide whether we place trust in others from the get-go or whether we eye others critically until they have proven their reliability and trustworthiness. In other words, trust can be intrinsic (because of the basic human need to connect). It happens ‘just like that.’ Alternatively, it can be incentive-driven. We place trust in others, and they benefit from living up to this endorsement. From this interplay, numerous nuances of trust-building processes across the world emerge: • Calculation (we establish trust based on cost-benefit calculations of cheating). • Prediction (we establish trust based on how consistent and, with it, how predictable we think other people’s behaviour is). • Intentionality (we establish trust based on what we make of other’s intentions). • Capability (we establish trust based on what expertise we attribute to others). • Transference (we establish trust based on social considerations). How Can We Project Trust? Without trust, private and professional relationships are nothing. When we cannot say what we think and feel, share our ideas, or confide in others our potential mistakes, intercultural relationships are doomed. This makes the projection of our most trustworthy self so important. Perceptions of reliability, sincerity, and consistency break ground for psychological safety. Trust projections boil down to making a credible impression, which, in turn, paves the way for meaningful relationships. This is even more important in intercultural situations and the need for creating positive interactions. When there is trust, openness and honesty will follow. I have identified three crucial skills for bridging cultural differences: Etiquette, intuition, and authenticity. Etiquette refers, in principle, to polite behaviour and courtesy. At home, we all know (or should know) the customs and conventions of how to carry ourselves in social situations. The challenge is, of course, that in contrast to our home culture, there are no generally agreed codes of practices in intercultural encounters. When people of different cultures meet, they have to decide on which rules apply. In search of common good manners, etiquette has a decisive role. Attention to what and how we say things, mindfulness of our body language, and care for our para-verbal behaviour (e.g., tone, turn-taking, etc.) are sure-fire ways to show respect and create rapport across cultures. 472 15 Trust Creation <?page no="473"?> Intuition refers to gut feelings or hunches. We ‘know’ things without ‘knowing,’ that is, we instinctively understand without much thinking. In intercultural situations, logic and reasoning do not help us much. They are far too complex and fast-moving to rely on rational thought. Indeed, they constrain us to our usual worlds and perspectives. We are, thus, likely to miss out on the invisible and arbitrary rules that so often make up intercultural encounters. Hence, we have to turn to our intuition, or ‘inner voice,’ for sense-making and relationship-building. It plays a key role in picking up subtle clues, coming up with creative solutions, and predicting the behaviour of people of different backgrounds. Crucially, we sense whether others are likeable and trustworthy (or not). Authenticity involves sincerity (non-falseness), truthfulness, or genuineness. We know who we are and what we value, and we act accordingly. Such congruence is an important sign of personal development and maturity. In intercultural contexts, authenticity plays a significant role. Authentic individuals have a deep and reflective understanding of themselves (including their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations). High levels of self-regulation and self-control make their behav‐ iour consistent and predictable. Honesty, curiosity, and transparency prepare the ground for trustful and intimate relationships across cultures. What Is Trustworthy Leadership? Etiquette (our inner compass of appropriate and diplomatic behaviour), intuition (making sense through one’s heart), and authenticity (knowing who one is) enable adjustments to different cultural norms and expectations. They translate into reliable, informed, and consistent communication and are, thus, cornerstones of intercultural leadership. They make other people trust you. Trust inspires psychological safety, propelling collaboration, innovation, well-being, and so forth. Because of the lack of hard-and-fast rules when abroad or working with people who do not share our background, we should earnestly reflect on what reliability, expertise, and consistency might mean for us and others in intercultural situations. Reliability helps us create positive and lasting relationships with people of different backgrounds. We can do so through (i) clear and consistent communication, (ii) living up to local rules of the game (e.g., levels of formality or punctuality), and (iii) professionalism (e.g., fulfilling roles with integrity), (iv) sound ethical conduct (e.g., principles of a given business environment), and (v) foreign language use (e.g., proficiency in English). Expertise refers to the extent to which we are knowledgeable, prepared, and skilful. A deep, technical understanding of a particular aspect of work can outweigh the need for the ability to communicate at the same level as we would in our mother tongue. Competencies involve explicit and tacit knowledge and showing that in intercultural encounters inspires confidence. Consistency refers to the extent to which we do what we say and, thus, is essential for trust-building across cultures. Behaving in a predictable and reliable manner 15.4 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 473 <?page no="474"?> helps manage expectations, fosters a sense of fairness and reduces chances of misunderstandings. In short, interculturally competent leaders find a good balance between consistency and responsiveness to evolving situations. Four Levels of Inspiring Trust Across Cultures Our journey to establishing trustworthy relationships comes in four steps. Breaking Ground: We first must set boundaries. There is a lot of power in differentiation. Clarifying where we come from and what role we intend to take sharpens how we see ourselves and those who are not like us. Creating Bonds: Next, we can look for a more nuanced understanding of others. When our needs for autonomy and relatedness are met, we start noticing why others do things the way they do and react to us. Forging Common Ground: We want to understand better what is happening around us. For this to happen, we must look for universal and shared places. Although we have to listen more (and talk less), we disclose more of our inner feelings to create trust. Managing Boundaries: At this stage, we have created a space of tangible connec‐ tions. We recognise the effect we have on others and how they see us. While setting aside divisive differences, we are mindful not to intrude on personal space and respect communication preferences. 474 15 Trust Creation <?page no="475"?> 16 Facework Opening Vignette Japanese Tea Ceremony Photo by Pablo Fernández on Flickr Leonora was flabbergasted. Frankly, she had never been to a more nerve-wracking meeting. She felt really uncomfortable with how the meeting had gone and what kind of contributions she had had to witness. Earlier that day, she still had been quite cheerful. Mr. Sakamoto, the newly assigned HR director, had been in touch inviting her to come along this afternoon to a meeting where new promotion criteria were to be discussed. Leonora, a Japanese studies graduate, had lived in the country of the rising sun for some years now. Her first work experience was that of an internship at Japanese elementary school in a remote place in the southern part of Honshu, Japan’s main island. Here, she had had a first taste of how male-dominated Japan’s world of work was. She still remembered how the team had made it clear to her in no uncertain terms that it was her duty to arrive first in the office and prepare morning tea for them. Of course, she had to do the next rounds of tea, too, including serving it to the head teacher throughout the day. She had discarded these first work experiences as a woman in Japan with the <?page no="476"?> rural setting of her first work stint. Surely, working in Tokyo and for a European car manufacturer at that would make a big difference, or so she had hoped. Of course, things had been very exciting. In the beginning, she had felt like a fish in the water. Not only was she living in one of the world’s most exciting cities, but she had also landed her dream job. She worked in the marketing department, where she helped with below-the-line advertising. She had come up with the idea of showcasing the firm’s flagship cars throughout the city, including product placements in front of their competitor’s offices. She had made quite some waves in Tokyo’s marketing community. That she was well versed in Japanese (thanks to her degree and first job experiences) really helped her connect with the Japanese staff. There were only a few expats working for the subsidiary. But those who did usually worked in the higher echelons of the firm. So, all in all, she enjoyed the benefits of working for a foreign firm (such as regular work hours, above-average holiday entitlement, benefits packages, etc.) while spending time in Japan. How great was that! However, it did not take her long to notice again the male-dominated atmosphere of her new workplace. Though Leonora was spared from tea-making chores, she feared for her career progress in that firm. Almost all positions with some form of executive power were taken up by Japanese men (apart from the top positions held by headquarters delegates and all men). Those positions that were in women’s hands only had operative functions with limited say over the direction of their team. She also noticed that most of her Japanese female colleagues were relatively young. She had read about it before, but it seemed that female employees were primarily OLs (or office ladies) who would drop out of work when they got married. The meeting to which Mr Sakamoto invited her excited her when she read the agenda. The main topic was women in the workplace. And indeed, the HR director came quickly to the point. The company had to go with the times. To stay competitive and attract more and better personnel, the European car manufacturer should become more flexible when it came to hiring (or promoting) women into executive positions. This surely should have been great news. After all, a work-life below the glass ceiling was not for her. After some more remarks about the legal aspects of gender equality and some internal statistics on how the Japanese subsidiary lagged behind in promoting women (in contrast to the rest of the corporate network), Mr Sakamoto went on to ask the attendees how they felt about this initiative. And sure enough, male colleague after male colleague (the majority of those present were men) greeted the outlook of more women in their ranks with enthusiasm. Yes, the industry culture was rather on the conservative side, but the general consensus was that of a timely and fair initiative. Of course, how this was to be implemented was a different matter and would be discussed in future meetings, but Leonora’s future looked bright - until a more senior salaryman raised his hand. He had, thus far, been quiet during the meeting. But now, in a firm voice, he said, ‘I am not in favour of promoting more women to senior positions. 476 16 Facework <?page no="477"?> Indeed, I reject gender equality at work. If we were to have more women in our ranks, I am sure this would poison our work atmosphere. Think about it: We could no longer go out for after-work drinks. Or invite clients from abroad to bars in Shinjuku. We would …’ And so, he went on ranting about Japanese work life being masculine and that that was a good thing. Leonora could not believe what she heard. She knew all of this, of course. After all, this was a country in which senior politicians would remind women of their roles as mothers and caregivers and even ‘birth-giving machines’ (see McCurry, 2007). But having someone so openly say so in a Western company was completely unexpected and took her by surprise. But it did not stop there. After the senior salaryman came to the end of his exclamation, the room turned dead quiet. And Leonora expected an outcry and fierce opposition from all the colleagues who had, up to that point, so fervently been speaking in favour of changes to the hiring and promotion system. But nothing. Mr Sakamoto took the word instead. Surely, he would reprimand him. But Leonora could not trust her ears when she heard Sakamoto-san praising, even congratulating the colleague. He made the point how important it was to speak from the heart. He had made his position very clear. Sakamoto felt that although colleagues welcomed the new policies on the outside (Tatemae), they were likely to feel different on the inside (Honne). That being the case, there was a need for further discussion. (a true story) If you want to learn more about Japanese workplaces, you may find these articles of interest: • Kriska, L. (2011). The Accidental Office Lady: An American Woman in Corporate Japan. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing. • Matanle, P., McCann, L. & Ashmore, A. (2007). Men under pressure: Rep‐ resentations of the ‘salaryman’ and his organization in Japanese manga. Organization,15(5), 639-664. Critical Thinking: • Why was Leonora flabbergasted? • Why, do you think, did the Japanese colleagues, at least initially, welcome the idea of tackling the issue of women being underrepresented in executive function? • What was Leonora’s role in all this? Why do you think she was invited to the meeting? • Find out what the words ‘Tatemae’ and ‘Honne’ stand for. Does facework play a similar role in your culture? How so? • Why was the colleague speaking out against equal opportunities lauded for his input? Were you surprised by this? 16 Facework 477 <?page no="478"?> The quintessential message of the chapters thus far, and the overall call to arms of the book you hold in your hands, is that communication is the pivotal point of all interactions, both in private and professional life. When interacting across borders, we quickly find how imperfect our communication skills really are. Thus, each chapter introduces you to a basic but seminal communication model, hoping you contextualise its key theme and practise the intercultural application that flows from it. Language holds together sense-making and sense-giving processes and enables us to operate in intercultural environments. We create rapport with people of different backgrounds through language and its conversion into verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal communi‐ cation. The present chapter is dedicated to looking more closely at what communication does to you and how your communication affects others. It is the most observable aspect of intercultural interaction. My exploration of language across cultures comes in five parts. First of all, we need to step back and look at what business communication actually is and, importantly, what role ‘facework’ plays in day-to-day interaction at work. Our opening vignette made clear the many layers of what we say in public and how we truly feel. That all this now often happens in English makes things even more complicated. Communication is, in today’s time and age, in most cases international, as forces of cultural flows (see Appadurai’s ‘scapes’ of globalisation, i.e. ethnoscapes, technoscapes, ideoscapes, financescapes, and mediascapes, Chapter 1) have rendered mono-cultural environments the exception to the rule. Next, we need to look at the role of English in international business communication. By now, we have firmly established that if people from all parts of the world interact with each other, they need to find a common or ‘bridge’ language through which they are able to navigate day-to-day encounters. English today has, no doubt, a unique role in how people communicate at work. There have, of course, been many so-called lingua francae before. Think of Latin and Italian in the Ancient or, respectively, Medieval European World. Or Hausa as the trade lingo in Western Africa, or Tok Pisin, a Creole language in Oceania. But, as we will see, there are many reasons why English stands out as a language that connects businesspeople around the globe. This brings us to the next part. In the world of work, naturally, there will be more non-native speakers of English than native speakers. And this imbalance begs the question of how good our English really needs to be and whether we should engage in more foreign language learning than English. We are going to conclude this chapter with hands-on advice on how you could work on and polish your business English skills to make your communication perhaps more heartful, mindful and appreciative. 16.1 The Role of Facework in the International Workplace Muddy thinking makes for muddy communication. Intuitively, we might think of strong communication skills as how we get our point across, and that means (at least in many Western cultures) talking straight and without ambiguity. However, it is much more than that. Communication is rooted in language skills, which reflect one’s ability 478 16 Facework <?page no="479"?> to give meaning to our experiences, to put these into words and to share what we feel and think with others. This makes language skills a powerful competency that cuts across almost all walks of corporate life, most notably in terms of how we forge relationships, what we think the world of work looks like, and, as an anchor, our emotions, how we deal with matters that are important to us: • Language sets the tone for work-related relationships. Good communication gels collaboration and is, thus, crucial for team building and teamwork (Leonard, Gra‐ ham, & Bonacum, 2004). It is also the basis for how we deal with cultural diversity. When working abroad, in a foreign firm or in multicultural teams, we move about - sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously - in multilingual realities. As we are in contact with people of different backgrounds, communication skills help us make sense of contexts and engage appropriately. • Language filters the world around us and affects what we value and the way we think. From this perspective, through a Whorfian lens, communication skills are a constant companion to us efficiently functioning in the workplace. They channel our planning and organisation efforts (including, cloud-based or not, retrieving and interpreting information). Language is also a ‘programme’ of our mind that directs our attention and helps us solve problems (Bandler & Grinder, 1975). By the same token, how we approach time management is also greatly influenced by the way we think of time more generally (Hall, 1959). And this differs from language to language and from culture to culture. • Language shapes our experiential world and gives meaning to our sensations. On the other hand, the way we communicate gives away how we feel about matters, how we see ourselves and others, and so forth (Schulz von Thun, 2008). As a consequence, language underpins our emotions and intuitions and serves all sorts of valuable functions in our professional lives: When we need to regulate our emotions, as we often do in the face of the ups and downs in the world of work, labelling disturbing experiences can make them less (or more) unpleasant (Kassam & Mendes, 2013). Similarly, how we put things into words governs initiative-taking and even our decision-making (Keysar, Hayakawa & An, 2012). Quick and flexible adaptation to change, mirrored in the way we frame situations, is certainly helpful for carrying out our job (for an overview of how language and emotion interact, see Linquist, 2021). Language and communication skills go hand in hand. Language skills set effective communication with others in motion, which is a much-priced asset in organisational settings. If language is the vehicle of communication, then communication skills are set in a much broader context than merely transferring information. Language charts our social, cognitive and emotional worlds and, in turn, shapes the way we do things at work. Social-communicative skills comprise one’s knack for relationship building, cooperativeness, teamwork, and conflict resolution. These we need to show and apply in an increasingly diverse workplace. Cognitive-communicative skills show in one’s 16.1 The Role of Facework in the International Workplace 479 <?page no="480"?> abilities to organise and plan complex tasks, deal with disruptions and difficulties, and critically judge matters. Arguably, thinking and communicating about time is part of this skill set. Affective-communicative skills cover the extent to which we can regulate our emotions verbally and non-verbally, including initiative taking, resilience, and flexibility. Against this backdrop, language and communication are quintessential to many desirable work skills. From this, it follows that we cannot think of intercultural communication without the social world. We have, thus far, seen that a lot is going on inside us when we face culture bumps. But what we make of our surroundings, how people around us respond to what we say and do, is the prism through which our mental world surfaces. There is always a real or imagined audience. One of the most fundamental aspects of how communication works and how the social world works is the metaphor of the stage. According to sociologist Erving Goffman, we are all performers on that stage. Already, Shakespeare let Macbeth mention that ‘Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.’ So, in every social situation, we metaphorically engage in a performance as we act out a specific role. This role depends on the situation and usually comes with idealised versions of how this role should look like. This per se simple observation has many implications: First, although we think of ourselves as having a specific situationally fixed identity (or a core identity of who we think we are), our roles change from situation to situation. Second, in whatever situations we find ourselves in, the role we play is associated by us and others with idealised performances of how a person in that situation should be. Third, as we do not want to embarrass ourselves and others, we make assumptions about how we should ideally fill this assigned role. Fourth, our actual performances may or may not live up to these idealised versions of ourselves and these roles. Fifth, we are quite wary of our performances and will likely scan our environment for how well they are being received. We are tuned into our audience’s verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal signs. As we act out our roles, we look for signs whether our audience likes or dislikes our performance. Sixth, our well-being and self-esteem ebb and flow depending on our interpretation of the feedback signs. We will continue on our set path in case of positive feedback signs. As we apparently play our part well, we feel good about ourselves and our identity. We feel poorly in case of negative signs and will eventually disengage or take corrective measures. As we seek social approval through our performances, we will enact our roles to adjust our image and, thus, gain support. Like in the theatre, communication, regardless of which mode, is at the very core of how we connect to the social world or ‘stage.’ Through the way we speak, through our body, and through our voice quality, we create an image through which we connect to our surroundings. Naturally, it is not only us performing. Our audiences, too, behave in line with their imagined roles. Ultimately, we all walk through the world managing and protecting our social identity and, by extension, self-esteem. By implication, our true mental world of feelings, desires and attitudes is different from the behaviour we show. Borrowing from the Chinese concept of ‘Mianzi’ ( 面子 , as a short form of 480 16 Facework <?page no="481"?> reputation, self-respect, honour, social standing), Goffman defines face as ‘the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact.’ He distinguishes between people’s inner faces (how we want to see us, our moral compass) and their outer faces (how we want to be seen by others in line with expected behaviour). In short, our ‘face’ turns into a social currency. When self-esteem depends to a great degree on how good we are at projecting a role-appropriate image (e.g., a person of value, trust, etc.), we engage in facework. Doing and saying the ‘right’ things at the ‘right’ time helps us to maintain a positive social identity. On ‘stage,’ interactions (or, to use Goffman’s words, ‘social drama’) play out with people engaging in immense acts of keeping and giving ‘face.’ Of course, such communication efforts are quite sensitive to disruptions. Breaking with expected role behaviour or saying the wrong thing all too easily damages someone’s face and, by extension, scuppers a favourable atmosphere. As we usually want facework to be non-threatening, we act with tact, politeness and even white lies (deviating from the truth just so that we do not hurt other people’s feelings). As sensitive topics are a surefire way of upsetting others, we have quite a good sense of when to better manoeuvre around them. Facework is particularly relevant when making sense of intercultural interactions, the conflicts that may occur and the social roles we need to negotiate. Similar to the play of beach football, where all players juggle to keep a ball in the air, intercultural business communication is about social deception and pretence (Maus, 1960). Interlocutors are collectively trying to preserve and pretend socially desirable faces. They do so in the way of what they say (verbal communication), how they carry themselves (non-verbal communication) and how they say things (para-verbal communication). Even in our mother tongue, such social dramas of impression management are difficult to navigate at the best of times. Facework takes a lot of skills and a lifetime of experience. After all, losing face and breaking out of character means failing in our performance. Remember, outside our culture, we will likely lose our sense-making superpowers (Chapter 7). Our ability to face-saving and face-giving suffers as a result of that. Social interaction is, overall, seen as risky or even riskier (than in our mother tongue). Though we try to maintain order (using and applying our home rules), our understanding of what is really going on around us can crumble at any moment. As we are unable ‘to read the air,’ insecurity becomes a constant companion. We may find ourselves breaking conventions and, thus, breaching harmony. The roles we play can fall apart, as we cannot project ourselves appropriately and live up to the idealised performances. Also, people around us may behave unexpectedly. As we cannot maintain a desired social image, we cannot give them ‘face,’ i.e. treat them with the desired respect so that they can create the impression they want to make. From all this, it should be clear that facework and communication across cultures are intricately interconnected. The outcome of intercultural encounters hinges on our ability to balance our mental and social worlds. How we communicate and present ourselves flows from these forces. 16.1 The Role of Facework in the International Workplace 481 <?page no="482"?> From all this, it follows that face is a core communication fabric in a global world. Holden and Gilsby (2010) make the important point that ‘Every day in the domain of worldwide business, millions of cross-cultural interactions take place, linking buyers with suppliers and suppliers with customers and an array of stakeholders.’ So, on a daily basis, people create personal networks, tap into or pass on knowledge, and forge relationships. And they do all this through facework and the way they communicate. Whatever, wherever and whenever you work, you make use of language to blend information and impressions to make good contact. Let’s look at these zones of international business communication - networking, knowledge sharing, and relationship management - in some more detail (see Holden, 2002; Kemppainen & Holden, 2020): Networks and Networking: Companies are nothing without their employees’ networks. Liaising with others, in one form or the other, is part of most job descriptions. It does not stop there. Companies hire people with the sole purpose of getting in touch with other people, especially when working abroad. Their job is to find talents, please stakeholders, gather knowledge on competitors, learn about their latest innovations etc. But networks are surely more than an employee’s stack of business cards. So, think of an executive expat in Poland. Headquarters has sent him there three years ago. He was to liaise with the local community and build up business contacts. Over the course of his secondment, he got to know many people. Crucially, he is likely to know more than just the names of these persons he has been in touch with. And these kinds of insights are hardly expendable. He’s been going out with these people, and together, they share a mutual history of exchanges. Such a kind of networking experience gets easily lost in the process of repatriation. So, companies are well advised to manage networking contacts carefully. It would be virtually impossible for someone else to take over the expat’s role, get hold of his business contacts, and just dial them up. In short, there is much more to networking than mere business contacts, and communication is a key part of this. Knowledge: Language and knowledge are closely intertwined in two ways. First, the way we speak contains knowledge. Second, language helps accessing and sharing knowledge. In terms of language as a container of knowledge, we explain our world by putting things into words. Without language, we cannot give or share meaning to what is happening around us. It has been famously argued that language defines our thoughts. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis goes as far as to posit that language encapsulates the lived experiences of a society, including its beliefs, norms, and values. An excellent example of this line of thinking is how the German language works. Through the combination of single words (read single thoughts or ideas), completely new meanings can be created. For example, the word ‘Eselsbrücke’ consists of the German words ‘Esel’ (donkey) and ‘Brücke’ (bridge). Together, they take on an entirely new meaning, namely a ‘mnemonic.’ English, by contrast, works very differently through the power of its vocabulary. It may not be able to connect ideas as easily as the German language. Still, the power of its vocabulary (five times more than the German language and 482 16 Facework <?page no="483"?> continuing to grow every year) means it can create meaning through delicate nuances. One does not need to go as far as Sapir and Whorf ’s radical linguistic determinism (humans cannot think about things they cannot put into words), but language remains, in my eyes, an important and often overlooked carrier of culture. Connected to this is a language’s role in facilitating transfers of knowledge. Speaking another language, for instance, English, gives us access to explicit knowledge in that language, such as data, facts, or figures. Next to such ‘hard’ elements of knowledge, there are also soft factors of knowledge, which relate to feelings, intuitions, assumptions, and, in short, how things are or should be done. Such tacit aspects of knowledge are much more challenging to share and transfer. Though ‘we know more than we can tell’ (Polyani, 1966), a sophisticated mix of verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal clues can help elucidate or detect practical knowledge. But this takes a lot of practice, and it is easy to see that knowledge transfer can be thrown out of whack, especially when using language other than our own. In sum, knowledge can be both loud (explicit) and quiet (tacit). Language acts as a listening post; it builds and shares important knowledge. Relationship: Without communication (in any form or shape), a relationship can‐ not exist. Without a relationship, economic transactions cannot occur. Unsurprisingly, there is much ritual behaviour in business, ranging from how we carry ourselves (e.g., body language, gestures, mimic), how we make use of language (e.g., what we say, how carefully we choose our words, how formal or informal we communicate), and how we convey messages (e.g., how we say things or not, silence, pronunciation, melody, intonation). Gift-giving often accompanies these relationship-building processes. This may range from an invitation to lunch to filling one’s suitcase with souvenirs when visiting a business contact abroad. All these processes are much more than the mere exchange of information, compliments, or outright flatteries. We want our business partners to think about us (and what we have to offer) in a positive way. We have to be resourceful to build rapport and trust, ideally in such ways that they are prepared to do business with us. In Nigel Holden’s words (2015c), the language of business is ‘variously accommodating, evasive, high-flown, and ever geared to the promotion of one’s absolutely trustworthy self …. associated with histrionic effusion and ever preoccupied with impression management.’ Put differently, businesspeople must become experts in communication. Only then can they forge common cognitive ground and, by extension, secure a mutually beneficial deal. They have to be able to listen carefully, communicate clearly, be both persuasive and tactful, save and give face, manage disagreement, make and maintain good contact with others, work well in and with teams, give feedback, cement trust, create a favourable atmosphere (to name only a few examples what role language plays in business), and all this across cultures, quite likely in a language that is not their own. 16.1 The Role of Facework in the International Workplace 483 <?page no="484"?> 4 In Germany, young people now use the hashtag #Gerne per Du (#Gladly on a first name basis) as part of their e-mail signature. They do so to invite others for more personal communication styles at work (and overcome the traditional and impersonal surname address). 16.2 Verbal-, Non-Verbal and Para-Verbal Communication From all this, it follows that the three zones of international business communication - networking, knowledge sharing, and relationship management - bond organisations and their globe-spanning activities together, making facework an indispensable and noteworthy management tool. As we have seen above, language is the principal vehicle through which individuals do facework with modes of business communication across cultures comprising verbal, nonverbal, and para-verbal communication. We may focus most of the time on the content of what we want to communicate. However, how we frame things (in terms of proxemics, haptics, oculesics, kinesics and so forth) usually trumps what we have to say. Mehrabian suggests that a small part of the content determines what we make of another person’s messages. When interpreting messages, we rather pay attention to vocal and visual clues (Mehrabian, 2009; but see Novak, 2020). By implication and ideally, what we say (content) and how we say things (frame) are in sync (Marteney, 2023). Keeping that in mind, we can further distinguish between language being used for creating relationships (social function) or for explaining things (clarifying function), as Watzlawick, Beavin-Bavelas, & Jackson (1967) would suggest. This useful distinction is relevant for each of the three modes of communication: Verbal Communication: A prime mode of communication is the spoken language. This we use primarily to build and navigate relationships. Through speaking, we can create a favourable atmosphere so that others feel we care for them and what they have to say. In the business world, spoken language is foremost about presenting our most trustworthy selves. The written language has, by and large, much more formal and permanent attributes. We put offers into writing. We give details about an agreement. We structure our conversations and arrangements. The clarifying function of commu‐ nication is in the foreground. Then there is virtual language (e-mails, in particular), which has been with us already for at least a quarter of a century. Such languages are ‘strange’ because they have social and clarifying communication functions. We use them for relationship building (it is much easier to offer the first name use or, in German, the informal ‘Du’ than in the other modes of verbal communication) 4 . We use it frequently for spontaneous outbursts (we ‘shoot an e-mail’) of contact-making or staying. However, the function of virtual communication is slowly changing. Because it has acquired a legal force (including institutional exchanges with authorities such as tax offices) and online security is becoming a significant issue, its informal character is more and more fading out (Holden, 2015b). Non-Verbal Communication: We build relationships and exchange information not only through spoken or written words. As Watzlawick so famously noted, ‘We cannot not communicate.’ That is, in this context, communication involves many more forms than mere oral and written cues. Our body language, facial expressions, physical 484 16 Facework <?page no="485"?> contact with others (e.g., touching or proximity), to name only a few examples, say more than a thousand words. All these have social functions as they provide context to good contact, including our emotions, motivations, and attitudes. But in many ways, they also frame and explain quickly and clearly what information or intentions we would like to relay. Non-verbal communication can convey emotions, attitudes, intentions, and other important information without the use of words. And in many ways, it speaks loudest. Explore: Seating Arrangements Seating arrangements are powerful ways of communication at work (Grobner, 2022). They can facilitate or hinder communication flows. But they also send out clear relationship signals (think of the large table Putin has used when meeting Western dignitaries in the run-up to the Ukraine war). All these are typical for the world of work. For each of these seating orders, guess what kind of communication you would expect from a meeting of two persons. As a hint: The round table was an 18th-century innovation of the French Revolution. This seating arrangement does not know any hierarchies. It was seen as an ideal of participant equality. Ideally, what we say matches the non-verbal signals we send (Satir). Otherwise, we create incongruent communication, which will easily raise questions among interlocutors. Facial Expressions: Our face is a mirror of our emotional world. Facial expressions reveal especially primary emotions, such as anger, disgust, fear, or surprise. More complex emotions are culture-bound and, by implication, more difficult to read. Body posture: The way a person uses their body is an important part of communi‐ cation. We can signal openness or defensiveness, nervousness or confidence, and so 16.2 Verbal-, Non-Verbal and Para-Verbal Communication 485 <?page no="486"?> forth, merely through our body (e.g., leaning forwards or backwards). We usually do so unconsciously. Gestures: Hand movements and gestures often underline what we want to get across. They can clarify our spoken words or convey specific messages on their own. The form and shape of gestures vary, however, greatly by culture (Morris, 1994), so we should be cautious in their use. Eye Contact: Gaze behaviour, too, is of special importance. We can look others directly in the eyes or avert their looks. We can hold eye contact or not. Through eye contact and the level of duration, we convey our mental world, including signalling interest, attentiveness and so forth. Gesteland (2012) states that eye contact customs have huge cultural variations. Proximity: Special behaviour, i.e. the distance between individuals, conveys social and cultural norms. Depending on the occasion (moving about in public, meeting friends), we move closer or further away. Our ‘space bubble’ sends out signals of intimacy or reservedness. Try It: Practise in Pairs of Two Face each other. Then, walk slowly towards each other. Observe with what distance you feel most comfortable. How about the other person? What happens when they come too close to you? How do you respond? Ask yourself what role eye contact plays in this exercise. Haptics: Physical contact is a compelling way of communication. We (usually uncon‐ sciously) communicate what we make of relationships through our touch behaviour (e.g., strong or weak handshake, clap on the shoulder). Substantial cultural variations apply. Clothing: As the proverb ‘clothes make the man’ suggests, our appearance is an extension of our personality and (social) identity. With what we wear, we send out powerful statements about how we see ourselves and how we want to be seen. Para-Verbal Communication: Para-verbal language, which is the auditory aspect of what we say, is a further critical mode of communication. A speaker’s voice quality (such as tone, modulation, pitch, volume, speed, or rhythm) and utterances that accompany the spoken word (such as sighs, pauses, and gasps) significantly influence how messages get across. Vocal characteristics and speaking behaviour have a social function in that they give what we say a certain spin. Without the use of words, we can create a certain atmosphere. As with the other modes of communication, we reveal, willingly or unwillingly, the relationship between us and others. This may range from active listening and turn-taking efforts to interruptions. The way we modulate our voice can emphasise certain aspects of our talk or how we want them to be interpreted. When we raise or lower our voice, we appeal to the attentiveness of interlocutors. Vocal characteristics and speaking behaviour have a clarifying function, too, in that 486 16 Facework <?page no="487"?> they both structure the delivery of information from one person to another and give meaning to a message. Here are some para-verbal modes of communication and their possible influence on interactions: Tone: The tone of voice refers to how we sound when we speak. In essence, this largely depends on what language we speak. Some languages can sound harsh or guttural depending on our mother tongue, whereas others may be more melodic. The modulation of our voice may also depend on the occasion. In Spanish, for instance, a soft voice may indicate genuine attentiveness. Pitch: We can speak with a high or a low voice. We can add meaning to what we say with the pitch of our voice. For instance, we can convey excitement through higher-pitched voices or uncertainty by modulating our talk in specific ways (e.g., raising the voice pitch at the end of a sentence). Volume: The volume of our voice can reveal our emotional worlds. When we speak very loud, we not only want to be heard, but it often signals anger and frustration (especially when we start yelling). Likewise, we can signal confidence or shyness merely through the volume of our voice. Pauses and Silences: Pauses and silences add meaning to what we want to say and how we say it in many ways. Fundamentally, they offer our listeners the chance to digest our talk. But we can play with pauses and silences to create emphasis or suspense. Some people are uncomfortable with silence, so we can expect certain reactions when we stop talking. 16.3 What Language Should We Use in the International Workplace? The answer to the question of what kind of language we should be using when doing facework across cultures appears, at first blush, easy and straightforward. Of course, what comes to most minds is that we all should be well-versed in English and that at a high level. In fact, many would argue that facework in English in today’s time and age is a must-have professional requirement. Anyone can and should speak it! And indeed, English, with more than 1.5 billion people speaking it either as a native or as a second language, has become one of the world’s most widely used and understood languages (Anon., 2023i). A business world without English is hardly conceivable. It is much more than the language of business, which smooths communication between and across cultures. It is the paramount language of the three interlocking zones of business communication: networking, knowledge, and relationship management (Holden, 2002). Companies use it to create a common ground for employees and their globe-spanning activities. It is used in intercultural teams for better cooperation and project execution. Individuals use it to project a competent and professional self. There are several interconnected reasons why English is unlikely to share the fate of so many other dominant lingua francae before it: 16.3 What Language Should We Use in the International Workplace? 487 <?page no="488"?> History: One of the most prominent features of English as a global language is that it piggybacked on geopolitical expansion first of the British Empire, then on the cultural and economic might and cultural attractiveness of the United States, and now on the world-spanning networks of multinational enterprises. Many companies around the world have adopted English as a corporate language (Neeley & Dumas, 2016). Its incredible ability to absorb local ways of thinking (by way of making local vocabulary its own) has contributed significantly to its global presence. English, perhaps more so than any other language, can truly claim to be global (Bragg, 2009). Education: It is also, of course, the leading language of business education, not only in terms of in what language subjects are being taught but also what is being taught. US and English universities have been at the forefront of teaching about modern business. Most textbooks are in English, and many universities across the world have now adopted English as the primary language for their courses and programmes. English, being the language of academia, also extends to publication processes. Peer-reviewed journals rely predominantly on English. As a consequence, English has to be considered the language of international business and innovation (Horn, Tietze, & Lecomte, 2021) Media: Although there are challenges from East Asia (especially Japan, Korea, and China), popular culture, including movies, music, and television shows, is an English language powerhouse. The American dream and way of life have never quite lost appeal, but now they come in new disguises. The modern equivalent of the cultural icons chewing gum and Coca-Cola are social media platforms (‘Facebook’ or ‘X’), communication technology (Apple’s ‘iPhone’) or shopping opportunities (‘Amazon’). All this exposes a worldwide audience to Anglophone ideas, narratives, and the English language. Technology: Companies from English-speaking countries like the United States and the UK (as well as Japan and Germany, who had to adopt English as a compulsory sec‐ ond language in the aftermath of WW2) have pioneered technological developments. Prime examples of the influence of the English language on international business and innovation are the computer, the internet, and the mobile phone. Their success stories (e.g., about 60 % of all internet sites are in English, Petrosyan, 2023) have greatly contributed to the spread of English across the world. Political Institutions: English has become the most significant language for polit‐ ical collaboration. Although translations happen in all member languages when nations speak to other nations, organisations like the United Nations and the European Union use English as their working horse. English is most commonly used in meetings, and final documents are drafted in English. After the Brexit referendum, France imagined, in theory, a revival of the French language as the EU parliament’s lingua franca. Yet, pragmatically, English continues to be the language of law-making (Keating, 2020). The business world needs a common language with which to communicate. Such a lingua franca, a language facilitating intercultural interactions, is usually based on one of the main languages of their time. There have been numerous bridge languages before, but most of them died out or lost their relevance and business potency. Will 488 16 Facework <?page no="489"?> English perhaps share the fate of the likes of Latin or Italian? I doubt that English will be made redundant as a global business language any time soon. English is spoken more widely than any other language in history. But how many people speak English across the globe is only part of its success story. In the English language lies an enormous regenerative power. As the language spread, it has borrowed vocabulary from all over the world and made the inherent ideas these words represent its very own. The English grammar also mirrors this flexibility. Over time, English has dropped many of its quirks, such as verb endings, articles, or noun inflexions. This makes it a comparatively easy language to learn and develop a reasonable level of proficiency. A further factor is the ease with which it co-exists with other languages. English may be the official language of many countries, but here, children learn the local languages first before they move on to study English. In many cases, language learners use two languages next to each other and intermix words and grammar. And new Englishes such as Singlish (English spoken in Singapore, slotting in elements of Chinese and Malay) or the infusion of foreign words from ethnic minorities living in English-speaking countries (e.g., ‘pyjama’ from Urdu, or the contraction ‘innit’ from the British Caribbean community) are the result of that. While this may ensue in a language with many local variations (hardly intelligible from one region to another), there are, unlike Italian jargon in the 16 th and 17 th century, written forms and, with it, agreed grammatical structures that bind these varieties together (Horn & Holden, 2018). The English language has shown over and over again how it embraces variety and dynamism (the ITV documentary ‘The Adventure of English,’ 2003, is a case in point and offers a fantastic learning journey about the English language). Finally, I currently see no ‘new’ world that could match the cultural, political, and economic lure of the Anglophone world. All this suggests that English is not going to go away as lingua franca anytime soon. It is a hugely important business language as it ties together our networking, knowledge-sharing, and relationship management efforts. If (American) English remains a significant reference point for global business, what will be the implications for foreign language learners? Throughout this book, I have pointed out that communication is more than merely exchanging information. Facework in English enables intercultural interactions, including communicating ideas, building relationships, and creating rapport and trust. Therefore, proficiency in English is much more than a nice-to-have item on one’s CV, a signal of professionalism or a vehicle for more effectiveness at the workplace. As in our usual communication environment, there are complex processes of facework, i.e. negotiations about who we are for each other or smoothing the waters of conflict resolutions behind all messages we send out, be they verbal, non-verbal or para-verbal. And all of that (i) in English, i.e. in a language that for many of us is not their mother tongue; (ii) with Anglo-Saxon tainted expectations surrounding proxemics, haptics, oculesics, kinesics and so forth, and (iii) framed by auditory aspects (voice quality and utterances) that follow English language conventions that are not necessarily our own. If communication is about explaining things and creating relationships, then these clarifying and social functions 16.3 What Language Should We Use in the International Workplace? 489 <?page no="490"?> must hold for bridge languages such as English, too. Perhaps these functions, especially our efforts to create a favourable atmosphere through skilled facework, will be even more important once we can no longer rely on our ‘superpower’ of cultural sense-making. 16.4 Proficiency in English as a Driver of Intercultural Competence From this perspective, ‘fluency’ using a bridge language such as English is difficult to achieve, as it is more than merely speaking or writing it in technically correct ways. True proficiency in intercultural situations flows from how we see ourselves and others, i.e. our self-image and world views. Our emotions, motivations or attitudes may be largely unobservable but influence a great deal in how we get in touch with us and approach others. Awareness of the psychological processes taking place in intercultural encounters is a good starting point for reflection on how we experience and realise communication. Our intercultural skills in English gain more effectiveness if we are clear about how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world. The seminal communi‐ cation frameworks at the end of each chapter are intended to give practical impulses for the transfer of these insights into facework across cultures. Each of them may send out powerful messages about (re-)thinking and polishing our communication styles. But, together, they have to say something even more powerful about intercultural communication: We assume that agency in international business communication, i.e., the capacity to act and exert control in a given environment, is realised through inter‐ cultural competence. This involves developing a set of skills, attitudes, and knowledge to navigate and thrive in multicultural environments. But we also have to assume that language and intercultural competence are intricately interlinked. The better my bridge language proficiency, the more I am able to put my intercultural competence into practice. Linguistic capacities in English propel efficient communication and interaction with people of different cultures. Theoretically, therefore, all three drivers of intercultural competence - skills, attitudes, and knowledge - have a linguistic element (Figure 46). 490 16 Facework <?page no="491"?> Figure 46: The Influence of Language on Intercultural Competence Components The intriguing question is about the nature of the relationship between intercultural competence and facework, which have previously been seen (artificially) in isolation. If my reasoning is correct, then the degree to which people have linguistic capacities in English pushes them in different directions in how to adjust to intercultural encounters. The seminal communication frameworks are, thus, a useful context in which to examine the potential alignment between intercultural competence and facework. Individually and collectively, the models (i) offer practical guidance and orientation on how to navigate intercultural situations skilfully; (ii) propose a communicate ‘stance’ or ‘attitude’ with which skills unfold their effects; and (iii) impart knowledge about basic interpersonal communication processes, including intercultural encounters. Let’s look at the models’ potential alignment with the three intercultural competence components: English Language and Skills Skills are an essential component of intercultural competence. Without them, we would be unable to navigate intercultural encounters effectively. A core part of this skill set are linguistic capabilities. All models relate to the practice of intercultural communication, i.e., what exactly can we do to improve our effectiveness? They provide practical instructions as regards the interaction with people from a wide range of cultural back‐ grounds. Through self-reflection, users can weigh up their communication patterns and, if necessary, expand their interaction repertoire. Understanding the importance of humanistic, i.e. appreciative and cooperative communication, should encourage not only more interculturally flexible behaviour. Users can also apply these skills to potentially more disruptive situations, namely when communicating in English. Good 16.4 Proficiency in English as a Driver of Intercultural Competence 491 <?page no="492"?> English skills open doors, both personally and professionally. In essence, they inspire trust as well as efficiency and, thus, facilitate intercultural collaboration. However, there is a gap between the expectation to simply function in English and the application of the native language patterns when communicating in the world of work. We lose the effortless language use of our mother tongue and cannot easily draw upon our native facework repertoire. As a consequence, our intercultural communication experiences are rawer. Saying the ‘right’ thing at the ‘right’ time is much more difficult when we move outside our native language. We are often unable to deal with situations and people in a diplomatic way. Careful observation of the models and their blueprints for communicative action can inspire awareness and a deeper understanding of cultural differences in approaching facework. Buber and Bohm’s work, for instance, emphasises dialogue as a means of building meaningful relationships and understanding between people. They invite us to free ourselves from postulates of results (in learning settings), to slow down when communicating (to sync physical, cognitive, and emotional pro‐ cesses), and to set aside assumptions and preconceptions (to really engage in listening). Rosenberg’s ‘Four Step’ or ‘Nonviolent Communication’ (NVC) model encourages us to formulate our needs and wishes in more honest and empathic ways. His ideas are great for giving feedback and conflict resolution. Bandler’s Meta-Model also offers practical tips for making us aware of what words we use and how they constrain our mental maps. Simple questioning techniques guide us in bringing to light our basic assumptions and generalisations. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) might be particularly useful for exploring (and bridging) cultural differences when speaking a language that is not ours. Otto Scharmer’s Theory U asks us to sharpen and strengthen our listening skills. Carl Rogers, too, makes clear the importance of unconditional positive regard and active listening. The best way to show respect to other people and signal that you have genuinely listened to what they have said is through paraphrasing. Ruth Cohn’s Theme-Centred Interaction (TCI) approach enables group learning and personal growth by inviting participants to share their experiences and, based on that, formulate their own theories and exchange ideas about them (Hagleitner, 2023). Schultz von Thun’s communication, value and development squares sensitise us to the many possibilities for disruptions and irritations in communication in general and intercultural communication in particular. His models enable us to identify and discuss the root causes of misunderstandings. At the very core of Berne’s Transaction Analysis are the ego states with which people engage with one another. Once these patterns are identified, it can greatly improve communication quality and effectiveness. Meyer offers insights into how structuring your argument in line with cultural expectations can strengthen your rapport. In short, these models offer plenty of hands-on advice on improving our English language skills and, by extension, intercultural communication. Most of them have been developed in Anglophone environments (or have been inspired by them). So, it seems reasonable to suggest that their study enables us to reflect on our own communicative actions and, for non-native speakers, make them more palatable to English ears, minds, and hearts. 492 16 Facework <?page no="493"?> English Language and Attitudes Attitudes shape one’s behaviour and are, thus, considered a principal component of intercultural competence. The communication models covered in this book build on and elaborate our mental world. Individually and collectively, they rally an empathic stance towards us and others (see also summary in the concluding chapter of this book). The responsibility for successful interaction lies with us and not with others. Their systemic view reveals sources of misunderstanding (Watzlawick) and possible cures. They invite us to meet others at eye level (Satir) and take on appreciative and positive attitudes towards people who are not like us (Rogers). Conflicts might be natural, but we should think about them positively and constructively (Cohn). Even if we are unsure about our behaviour and their behaviour (Berne), the models ask for unconditional acceptance, tolerance, and cooperation (Rosenberg). They want us to question firmly held beliefs (Bandler). This may go as far as challenging our taken-for-granted reasoning assumptions (Meyer). We can expand our cherished ways of doing things through listening without arguing (Scharmer), dialogue (Buber and Bohm), commitment to learning (Birkenbihl), or perspective-taking (Schultz von Thun). Of course, this book can only give readers a first impression of the authors’ work on more humanistic, i.e., appreciative and cooperative approaches to communication. But when we apply their work to intercultural situations, they all say the same thing: We would do well to polish our communication skills in English, especially when in touch with people of different backgrounds. Such a call to arms in itself is not a bad thing. Some of us may feel uncomfortable with its bluntness. It is easy to step on other people’s toes (Smith Galer, 2023). We might even feel unfairly attacked. But when we feel uncomfortable, we can ask ourselves why. And this could set us on a path of learning about ourselves, others, or the world. Speaking a language that is not our own can be a stressful experience (Horn, 2016), so we might want to start applying the models first in more familiar surroundings before practising them in English. Developing a heartful, mindful, and appreciative communication style is an arduous task, but with practice, we can more easily apply more empathetic stances to other sociocultural contexts, too. English Language and Knowledge Awareness and understanding of a culture, its history, customs and so forth make for a much-improved interaction. This makes knowledge the third core component of intercultural competence. As we have seen above, language and knowledge mingle. First, language is the key to explicit and tacit knowledge of a culture. Speaking a local language gives us access to local facts, figures and so forth. It also is of great help for relationship-building and making sense of what others say and do. The most important atmosphere in business also depends on our communication skills. Certainly, signalling that one made the effort to learn a local language leaves a positive impression. Second, language skills also drive knowledge about how people use and think about communication. How to give feedback, develop a persuasive 16.4 Proficiency in English as a Driver of Intercultural Competence 493 <?page no="494"?> line of argument, and manoeuvre hierarchies are all embedded in a local language. Like the Rosetta stone, learning and speaking helps you read a local culture. Third, and at a more abstract level, language learning inspires us to think more carefully about communication itself. Such knowledge is a good starting point for understanding communication processes. In our private and professional lives, we often talk away and interact with others without giving it much thought. All models help us structure intercultural encounters and picture difficult-to-see communication and behaviour patterns in our minds. Based on them, we can look into the past and why interactions panned out the way they did. But they also help us make predictions of likely future behaviour (ours and that of others). Here are some of the insights of my end-of-chapter applications: Watzlawick’s five axioms of communication point us, for instance, to the root causes of misunderstanding and conflict. Virginia Satir’s stress communication model is invaluable for understanding how people react to threats to their self-esteem. Prototypical responses (blame, placate, compute, distract) provide explanations for why we and others behave the way we do. Rosenberg suggests that such responses are also reflected in the language we use. We talk like jackals (judgemental, accusing, moralising language) when we feel threatened or unfairly treated and like giraffes (compassionate, heartful, non-blaming language) when we are at ease with ourselves and others. Schultz von Thun’s insight that each message has four sides sensitises us to all the things that go on between us and others beyond the mere content of a message. Knowledge about NLP (Bandler and Grinder) makes the dynamics of communication and misunderstandings clear. Understanding its techniques is helpful to visualise how people make contact and develop rapport. Fisher and Ury’s work on negotiations gives us a structured approach to understanding why disputes occur and how they could possibly be solved. Birkenbihl’s island metaphor gives us an easy-to-understand picture of why people talk past each other. However, a word of caution is warranted at this point: Today, the English language has a special place amongst world languages. As with other languages, it allows direct access to Anglophone worlds, such as interpreting English, American, Australian, etc., ways of doing things. But as a bridge language, English can do much more. It gives us at least indirect access to all sorts of cultures where English might not be the first language. Using English, we can simultaneously learn from and work with people from many cultures. In doing so, English fosters some kind of homogeneous global culture and, with it, through the backdoor, so to say, Anglophone ways of doing things (Graddol, 1996), including knowledge creation (Horn, 2017). In many ways, so do the communication models of this book. Communication in English (and in line with it, the patterns proposed by many of them) might - sometimes more, sometimes less - deviate from local preferences. For instance, Buber and Bohm’s dialogue might chime less with cultures that emphasise discussion and arguing as a central part of democracy and decision-making (the German ‘Diskussionskultur’ being a case in point). Nevertheless, as we all have to mingle competently and confidently 494 16 Facework <?page no="495"?> in international business environments, the models provide essential clues on how to prepare for such situations. 16.5 Business English (in a Nutshell) If we think about communication in very simple terms, we have on the one hand the sender, who sends out messages through verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal signals. On the other hand, we have the receiver or our audience, whose role is to make sense of what kind of message has been sent. From here, we must consider where the responsibility for successful communication lies. Though the answer might at first look self-evident, things are not as straightforward. Pragmatically, cultures find very different answers to this apparently simple question. In many cultures, especially Anglophone cultures, the responsibility for successful communication lies first and foremost with the sender. What this means is that the sender needs to communicate so that the receiver can make sense of the message that has been sent. So, the responsibility of getting through to my audience ultimately lies with how I say or write things. If my audience cannot make sense of my message, it is my fault, and I need to make more effort to create some form of rapport. Other cultures might on the surface subscribe to the same ideal, but the reality is that the result of successful communication lies with the receiver. It is the audience’s responsibility to make sense of what has been said in those cultures. It will be your fault if you cannot understand what has been said. And because of that, there is the implicit assumption that one should make a better effort at sense-making. This might include more focus (the sentences in some languages, such as German, can be rather long, the grammar complex and so forth) and even brushing up one’s vocabulary (some speakers love to use words and phrases that are technical or complex). In short, audience orientation or obfuscation is part of the communication game and reveals quite a lot about how senders see themselves and others. Overall, however, we live in a time of over-exposure to information. The amount of time we spend online challenges our information processing capabilities (for which Toffler, already in 1970, popularised the adage ‘Information Overload’). Over the last ten years, the time spent on our mobile phones has almost doubled. As of 2023, on average, we spend four and a half hours on mobile phones each day (Laricchia, 2023). In its heyday, Twitter recorded more than 500 million tweets per day. In 2022, a staggering 333 billion e-mails were sent worldwide (Ceci, 2023). This would equate to 78 e-mails we send or receive, on average, every day. With more and more people having internet access, further growth in this figure seems inevitable. Our digital lifestyles have, apparently, also effects on our brains. A catchy study by Microsoft from 2015 suggests that online habits weaken our attention spans. Although our brains may not suffer as much as the famous gold-fish analogy (the report indicated that the average human attention span is now close to that of gold-fish; Snow, 2023), the information exposure does enough to often make us feel overwhelmed by the bombardment of 16.5 Business English (in a Nutshell) 495 <?page no="496"?> online and offline messages, where it is difficult to filter important to less important information. Against this backdrop, there is (for some of us) an inconvenient truth: More than perhaps ever before, the responsibility of successful communication is on us as senders. We have to up our game in our ability to make ourselves heard and understood by our audience. Successful communication is about cutting through the clutter of everything going on in the minds of our listeners or readers. Here are some tips you might find useful for making more impact: Make Your Point Quickly: Whether creating relationships or explaining things, we have to communicate in ways that demand their attention. As the journalist mantra ‘do not bury the lede’ advises us, we should avoid warming our audiences up: (i) figure out the essential piece of your message; (ii) quickly come to the point by starting your message with this essential part; (iii) do not chew over points if fewer words can do. In short, make whatever you have to say worth your audience’s while. So, be clear about what you want to say. Beating around the bush may do more harm than good. Surprise your audience and cut to the chase by coming to the point quickly. Simplicity is King: Most important, especially when using English, is to be simple in words (but not in mind). In your own language, you might get away with complicated and convoluted messages (in the hope of perhaps projecting superior knowledge, if not intelligence). For English communication, however, whether oral or written, it is more important than ever to be concise: The best English is simple English. The plainer we express ourselves, the more meaningfully we communicate with each other. You must not, however, mistake plain English for dumbing things down. On the contrary, do not lower the bar. But try to say the same thing in simpler words, with simpler grammar and more straightforward sentence structure. You may find indexes such as Gunning-Fog (h ttp: / / gunning-fog-index.com) very useful to assess how easy (or difficult) it really is to understand your text. By measuring word choice, count and length, they measure how educated your readers should be to make sense of what you are saying. Online tools such as Hemingway Editor (https: / / hemingwayapp.com) are great ways to improve your English. Think About: ‘Tweet’ your Bachelor Thesis X forces you to relay messages quickly. One ‘Tweet’ consists of no more than 140 characters. The point is to get your idea across in as few words as possible. Can you do the same for your Bachelor’s Thesis? Start With Your Audience’s Needs and Wants: Communication is an interaction between you and your audience. In doing so, we usually want to make an impact. We appeal to our audience to do or not do something. We often underestimate, however, our audience’s preparedness to open up to what we have to say, let alone change their cherished way of doing things. Change is always tiresome! One way of dealing with the 496 16 Facework <?page no="497"?> assumed passivity of who is listening to us is to shift our focus from what we believe to what they likely want to hear. Start building your argumentation by considering your audience’s needs and wants. Why should they be taking in what you have to say? You will not connect with your audience if you do not care about them. So, refrain from making your talk about you but make it about your audience instead (SAGE, 2023). Make a Noteworthy Impression: Who has not experienced poor speakers or writers? They may have forgotten that communication is not one-way but ideally interactive. Good narrators speak with the audience instead of talking to an audi‐ ence or merely delivering a message. They do so using short sentences, choosing easy-to-understand vocabulary, and holding back with obfuscating grammar. Most importantly, their language is vivid and personal, ideally making plenty of use of metaphors. Unusual points (‘dog was bitten by man’) have more impact when formulated in more active ways (‘man bites dog’). The key to noteworthy impressions is hard work, I am afraid. And this means shifting your attention from writing to editing. Many English speakers, in my experience, are quite adept at spending more time polishing their work than merely being happy with the first or second draft. The result is often more accessible and enjoyable texts and speeches, as they more easily connect with the audience. In Table 24 you may find some practical advice on how to up your writing in English. You may also find the Youtube Channel of Clare Lynch (h ttps: / / www.youtube.com/ c/ DrClareLynch) very instructive. ‘Muted’ English - ‘Vivid’ English Padded overlong sentences - Short sentences (as a rule of thumb, 15-18 words per sen‐ tence). Multiple messages per sentence - - One idea or thought, one sen‐ tence. Use of passive voice Use active voice to make clear who has done what. Do not hide! Warm up your audience and slowly build up your points - Cut to the chase and make your points quickly. Direct and explicit (let alone vul‐ gar) language - Bluntness kills your message. Tone it down and hedge. Use of nouns - Verbs need less cognitive work and speed things up. Use of synonyms - Stick with one terminology. Cut out needless or repetitive words. Table 24: From Dull to More Colourful Language Use 16.5 Business English (in a Nutshell) 497 <?page no="498"?> Conciseness: Grammatical correctness and clarity of wording are the bread and butter of any good communication. Ineffective usage can make your audience edgy and confused. From here, it is only a short way to disengagement. No doubt, this can be very demanding for non-native speakers. When writing, appropriate word-processing software and online correction packages are highly recommended. Do not rush; deliver presentations with clear intonation and proper pace when speaking. Allow your ideas and messages to sink in. Though you are unlikely to fully rid yourself of your foreign accent, listening to how correctly spoken English sounds can go a long way to improving your speaking. Perhaps turning to a role model (in the UK on BBC, as a relatively accent-free form of English) can greatly help school your ears and mouth. Do not be sloppy. Show appreciation for your audience by taking extra care with spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Do not use social media speak or jargon. Also, show respect by refraining from the use of acronyms, slang, and abbreviations. Making and Staying in Contact: The Turkish proverb ‘Bir dil bir insan, iki dil iki insan.’ (one language, one person; two languages, two persons) makes the point that we operate in ‘multilingual realities,’ sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously. The moment we engage in a language that is not our mother tongue, we have to align our communication patterns with those of the target language so that we can make sense of local contexts. For many industries and companies, globalisation will not go away. By implication, we have to turn to English ‘to say the right thing’ and present ourselves in the best professional light. Figure 47 distils important communication advice from Meyer’s work. It places English language use squarely into the four most relevant dimensions of communication, most notably in terms of style (high versus low context), criticism (direct versus indirect negative feedback giving), persuasion (holistic versus specific thinking) and disagreement (amicable versus confrontational). The resultant scale profile provides clues on how to use English confidently. Figure 47: A Communication Profile for Making Contact in English Source: Meyer, 2014. 498 16 Facework <?page no="499"?> Try It: E-mailing a Difficult Colleague Recently, your company has been increasingly subject to a cyber attack. There is this overall dread of hackers in the air. The leadership team has created a task force that should look into the matter. You have been invited to lead a team of five. Apart from analysing the problem, your team should develop contingency plans that help your firm become immune to future cyber attacks. Although under a lot of pressure, your team is making good progress, but for this one colleague who really gets on your nerves. When coming home, you often complain to your wife: ‘I’m fed up with this guy. Such a difficult person! He is constantly provoking me and holding up the whole team. We just can’t get on with it! Through obnoxiousness, he blocks new projects. Today, he even dared to lecture me in front of the whole team. He complained about defects in the software, always small stuff. He held up the whole team with his concerns.’ Your wife asks you whether you already talked to this colleague. Sure, you have: ‘I gave him a telling-off several times. But he doesn’t give a damn; he keeps harping on about his bloody details. He just does not see the big picture and the tremendousness of the task that lies ahead of my team.’ • Write your colleague an e-mail, providing feedback on how you see his performance. • First, write this message in your mother tongue. • Next, write the same message in English. 16.6 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership Psychologist Bruce Tuckman was keen on exploring group dynamics. His group development model points out different phases groups typically go through as they work towards a common goal. These phases are useful for understanding the dynamics as groups grow together. Arguably, we can also expect four distinct ways of interaction in line with the various challenges that go with group development phases (Figure 48). Although real-life group situations are far more complex, groups should form, storm, norm and perform as they develop: Forming: In this initial stage, group members come together but do not know each other. Team members might be polite on the outside but think independently on the inside. Yet, unfamiliar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, their actions focus on themselves, not the team’s greater good. We would expect their communication styles to be cautious and reserved. Storming: In this second phase of group development, team members get to know each other better. This prepares them to voice their opinions and ideas on how to achieve group goals more openly. Naturally, these can differ, and increased conflict and 16.6 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 499 <?page no="500"?> competition within the group are the result. We would expect more confrontational language in this phase, which is full of upsets. Norming: In this third phase, team members realise that there is a bigger picture to their group’s goals. The pressure is on to lie aside smouldering conflicts and find commonalities. As group members start to tolerate each other’s personalities and vices, a sense of (comm)unity forms. They find their roles within and move on. We would expect communication to take on more empathetic notes. Performing: The group is fully functional in this phase. Group norms and roles are established. Together, they focus on achieving the group’s common goals. They feel competent and confident in handling the work and decision processes autonomously. Conflict might occur here and there. But as it is widely accepted to be positive, things are said openly and discussed without fear. Figure 48: Tuckman’s Group Development Model and Corresponding Language Patterns Exercise 1: Tower Team-building exercises are a great way of experiencing Tuckman’s phases of group development. For this purpose, please divide into two groups. Your task is to build a tower. For this, you are only allowed to use the available resources. The team with the highest tower wins! Each group splits into a ‘leadership’ and a ‘builders’ team. Each builders’ team is in one room, and the leaders in another. The leaders develop ideas on how best to build the tower. They must not see the builders' room. They only know that the materials they can design the tower with are a package of spaghetti and tape. The builders, on the other side, actually build the tower according to the instructions from the leaders. They can send a messenger to the leaders to learn how they should construct the tower. They then have to inform their own team about the instructions. May the best team win! 500 16 Facework <?page no="501"?> Exercise 2: Chinese Whispers Two people, person B and person C, leave the room. Now, the following story is read out loud in class. Person A has to listen carefully so that they can retell the story. Indeed, person B is now asked to return to the classroom. Person A tells the story to person B. Now, person C is asked to return to the class and person B repeats the story to them. Finally, person C should tell the story to the whole group. ‘On July 19 of this year, I, Isabel Hoffmann, got on the S-Bahn at the Pasing train station in the direction of Laim. Due to the daily rush hour, the train was packed. Since I had just been to the Pasing Arcaden, I was carrying a heavy shopping basket full of vegetables, eggs, and milk products. I also had a backpack containing my study materials. I was really happy when a young woman in her mid-20s offered me her place. Shortly after the train departed, a well-built gentleman pushed past us. He wore a dark blue jumper with a large red star on its back. As he was moving through the aisle, he bumped into an Asian-looking woman who was holding a large book in one hand. Suddenly, I heard a very shrill cry. I looked outside the window. We were now at Hackerbrücke train station. An old gentleman sank to the floor. And next to him, a young lady continued to cry, ‘Help! Please call the ambulance! It seems this man suffered a heart attack.’ A few moments later, I heard the sirens of an ambulance. I was so shaken by all of these events that I almost forgot about getting off at Munich Central Station.’ Story adapted from Regionale Arbeitsstellen für Bildung, n.d. • How much of the original story remains as the story is told over and over again? • What details did persons A, B, and C remember? • Are there reasons for this? • Based on your answers, how do you think misunderstandings occur? Key Takeaways: What Have We Learned in This Chapter? What Is Facework, and Why Is It Important in Intercultural Encounters? Facework is a critical concept of social interaction. It refers to people’s commu‐ nication strategies to manage their self-image (how they see themselves) and influence perceptions (how they want others to see them). They do so to maintain or obtain a preferred public image or ‘face.’ This helps them navigate relationships, manage conflicts, or achieve their goals. To realise this, they present themselves in ways that align with their motivations and social expectations. This can involve verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal communication, but it also extends to personal appearance and conduct. Doing and saying the ‘right’ things at the ‘right’ time helps them manage the image they want to give others. Facework can take on 16.6 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 501 <?page no="502"?> various forms. We may use facework to shape desired images (usually in line with social expectations and our role in interactions). When our public image is threatened, we will try to minimise the fallout of ‘losing face’ (for instance, through explanations or apologies). Facework is also crucial in keeping up social harmony. So, it is not only about us but reading social situations. Through tact and politeness, we can help others out of threats to their face. We may, for instance, soften what we say or use humour to diffuse a hostile atmosphere. Evidently, facework is highly relevant in intercultural encounters. Awareness of the importance of face (ours and that of others) inspires more appropriate communication strategies. These, in turn, can smooth the edges of culture bumps (i.e. activation caused by moments of surprise or discomfort) and shape positive relationships: (i) good facework buffers conflict or disagreements stemming from different communication styles and cultural norms; (ii) in the same way, sensitivity to issues of face helps to establish rapport and trust across cultures. Playing along local rules of face and aligning with cultural expectations can be very impactful; (iii) Power, authority, hierarchy, and respect are very much shown in the way people communicate. This may differ from one culture to another, and facework skill comes in handy when navigating these dynamics. Cultural Variations in Facework It would be a mistake to locate the concept of face-saving and face-giving primarily in Asian cultures (most notably China and its deeply rooted appreciation for social interactions). Facework is relevant whenever and wherever we have to manage social interactions. But it will show differently. In cultures emphasising autonomy and independence, facework practices focus on personal boundaries. In cultures that emphasise group and interdependence, by contrast, facework aims at maintaining social harmony and dodging discomfort. The Role of Language in Facework Facework and communication go hand in hand. Language connects the two. Through language, we give meaning to our experiences and share what we feel and think with others. This makes the way we use language a powerful leadership skill. Obviously, language is more than merely sending messages. For facework, language is about engaging in dialogue, creating rapport, and building relationships. It helps us influence and adapt to what is happening around us. Language sets the tone for intercultural relationships. When in contact with people of different backgrounds, linguistic awareness helps us understand and connect with others. This often means using a language that is not our own. Leadership skills then depend on the skilful use of foreign languages (oftentimes English, but from time to time also a local language). What we think the world of work looks like also emerges from language. According to the ‘Hypothesis of Linguistic Relativity,’ or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, language influences, in a broader sense, or even determines thought in a narrower sense. 502 16 Facework <?page no="503"?> This intricate relationship has substantial implications for intercultural leadership: Linguistic sensitivity gives us glimpses of team members’ assumptions and values. Such understanding enhances effectiveness in communication. Language is an anchor of our emotions. The words we choose, how we speak and how we structure our sentences are all reflections of our emotional states. As a consequence, language serves numerous valuable functions in our professional lives. Leaders who are attuned to the emotional dimensions of language can communicate more empathically and, thus, create stronger connections. Sensitivity to emotions in language is critical for cooperativeness, teamwork, and conflict resolution across diverse cultural contexts. Facework and International Business Communication From a knowledge management perspective, international business communica‐ tion is an ‘organisational learning process, based on intercultural sense-making and the search for common cognitive ground among interplays of languages, cultures and competing interests.’ (Holden, 2002). It is made up of networking, knowledge sharing, and relationship management. As foundational element of effective international business communication, facework brings these three elements to life. Networking: Making connections, gaining insights, and cultivating collaborations across cultures are crucial for international business. All this requires a combina‐ tion of linguistic, interpersonal, and communicative awareness. Knowledge sharing: Conveying ideas, sharing information, and collaborating with each other is a further facework dimension of international business. The skilful use of language augments collective learning of expertise and experience. Relationship management: Building, maintaining, and enhancing relationships between individuals and organisations can only be done with facework. Its practical use adds to a sense of trust and connection whilst keeping disagreements or embarrassments in check. The Three Modes of Facework Language is the main way of faceworking across cultures. We explain things, convey emotions, and create relationships on three levels: Verbal, non-verbal, and para-verbal communication. Verbal communication: We speak and write to get our intended messages across. In the business world, speaking and writing have different purposes. The former is good for connecting with others, and the latter is primarily used to provide details or explain concepts (for instance, a business offer). Non-verbal communication: We do not necessarily need to rely on words to communicate. We send strong messages through facial expressions, body postures, gestures, eye contact, proximity, haptics (touch), and so forth. Our personal appearance (e.g., clothes we wear, grooming, etc.) also sends much information about us and how we relate to others. 16.6 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 503 <?page no="504"?> Para-verbal communication: The way people speak gives away information about how we feel and what we mean. This might involve tone of voice, pitch, volume, pauses, and silences. They add emotional and contextual layers to verbal messages and contribute to our overall understanding of what we want to convey to other people. The Role of English in the International Workplace English is the workhorse of international business communication. People of different cultural backgrounds need a common means of communication when they meet. For several interrelated reasons, English has emerged as a bridge language that helps them to interact and understand each other: History: English became a global language due to the geopolitical influences of the British Empire (19 th century) and the United States (20 th century). Today, companies around the world are adopting English as a corporate language. Education: English is the chief language in academia. It is the primary language for sharing knowledge and findings. This and the dominant role of business schools from the Anglophone world have made English the main language for preparing students' careers. Media: The appeal of the Anglophone way of life is not (yet) waning. The global flow of images, information, and music is firmly in English-speaking hands. Technology: Many companies from English-speaking countries (or those that have adopted English as an important second language) are market leaders. Their success helped set industry standards, which, in turn, strengthened the spread of the English language. Political Institutions: English is the main language in international politics and diplomacy. The official language of many supranational organisations, such as the United Nations, European Union, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is English. Need for English Proficiency Agency in International Business Communication involves not only intercultural competence but also facework skills in English and that a high level. The better one’s proficiency in the bridge language of global business, English, the more effective one’s intercultural skill set. It is, thus, more than a common business language. But do not despair. Speaking and listening to other people with empathy can more than make up for gaps in proficiency. Facework in English and Intercultural Competence Proficiency in English augments the three defining elements of intercultural com‐ petence - skills, attitudes, and knowledge. An intricate understanding of English springs our skills into action and provides practical guidance and orientation on how to navigate international business situations. Attitudes shape the way in which individuals approach intercultural situations. English is a global language that facilitates mutual understanding of people, which signals openness, curiosity, and 504 16 Facework <?page no="505"?> respect. Knowledge, awareness, and a broad understanding of cultural contexts are key components of intercultural competence. English language skills give us access to culture-specific information. Intercultural and linguistic competence are intricately intertwined. Here are some aspects of the English language that may promote rapport and trust across cultures: Take Responsibility: Successful communication requires meaningful interaction between the sender and the audience. However, in Anglophone cultures, the responsibility of getting a message across lies primarily with the sender. They, thus, must communicate with the audience in mind. Come to the Point: Get to the point quickly by (i) identifying the essence of your message; (ii) starting with the core of your message; and (iii) skipping redundant details if brevity suffices. In short, make listening to you rewarding. Be Simple in Words But Not in Mind: Aim for clarity and simplicity in your communication. The best English is simple English. The simpler we can express ourselves (without dumbing down what we want to say), the more effectively we will communicate. Start With the Audience’s Needs and Wants: We often overestimate our audience’s readiness to embrace new ideas. Making contact with your audiences hinges on how seriously you are concerned about their interests. Tailor your message in such ways that they fit with what they want to hear. Make a Noteworthy Impression: Good communicators engage with their audience. They understand that good communication means a lot of work and are prepared to put a lot of effort into polishing their work. They are never blunt and speak so that others like to listen to them. Be Concise: Good communicators are never careless. They understand that correct grammar and skilled use of words are signs of respect for the audience. For non-native speakers of English, this need for precision is incredibly demanding. But practice makes perfect! 16.6 Communications Skills Matter! Practical Applications in Intercultural Leadership 505 <?page no="507"?> Final Thoughts This book started with the forewarning that intercultural leadership is a complex, fickle, and almost impossible-to-define phenomenon. If we see in intercultural competence the skilful design of communication processes across cultures, then psychologist and philosopher Josef Rattner has disappointing news for us: ‘Man might have overcome the distance to the moon but still fails to reach his fellow human beings.’ (Rattner, 1990). Our upbringing and whereabouts influence us. We can never be objective. We are always biased in some way or another. But we can make ourselves aware of all that. This book’s primary purpose was to uncover these biographical, psychological, and social processes so that we more consciously include them in how we see ourselves and others and, by extension, how we want to deal with possible differences. That being so, it puts you - the reader - centre stage. I invited you to self-reflect and adopt apprecia‐ tive perspectives in your everyday communication. The humanistic route this book proposes comes from a deep empathy for people. Borrowing from great humanistic thinkers and pioneers, the book wants to explore ‘recipes’ of communication and how you can possibly open and use them. As Virginia Satir suggests, consistency between our feelings, thoughts, and behaviours is at the heart of meaningful contact. What we say, feel and do should be aligned. Intercultural Leadership skills are like muscles. We better train them; Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash. <?page no="508"?> The question, of course, that will exercise your mind is where we should go from here. The book does not offer any ready-made solutions, let alone any simplistic blueprints with which to navigate intercultural encounters. It was not meant to provide ‘how to’ leadership style guidance for a specific region or country. At an abstract and academic level, this may be possible (but at the likely cost of fuzziness, impracticality, and, most likely, confusion). At a concrete, individual level, the heavy veneer of country culture comparisons often stands in the way of explaining what is happening on the ground. After all, we can quickly get lost in the myriad ways culture can impact things. Remember that cultural differences are only part of the overall picture that moves us, adding to all the communication challenges we face in our daily lives anyway. In short, intercultural leadership is far too multi-faceted, peculiar, and personal to squeeze into any template. In the preface, I made the point that anybody can develop intercultural leadership skills, but then as now, I cannot promise that just by reading this book, you can become as good as you hope to be. More than a mere theoretical knowledge of intercultural encounters is necessary. While certainly an important step, we all must practise intercultural competence. And this means actively engaging with the learning materials offered in this book and reflecting on them. The more you do to cultivate intercultural leadership skills, the more you will take away from the book’s learning experiences. Nevertheless, I do not want to imply that intercultural leadership should have no theoretical grounding. On the contrary, we need more theoretical understanding of it, not less. However, this should be at the individual level, not the global one. And looking at the overall development of the field of cross-cultural management research, the time seems ripe for this. To assess the intricate character of intercultural encounters, I fused humanistic and neo-behavioural principles to progress the practice and theory of leadership across cultures. The holistic character of this book allows us to draw from biographical, psychological, and social insights to explain behaviour at the individual level. Something happens between what is happening outside us and what we make of culture bumps. The step-by-step exploration of all the affective and cognitive processes taking place inside us and their interplay contain a lot of systematic information about what happens to us when we find ourselves in unfamiliar situations. The humanistic focus adds to these subjective experiences and personal growth perspectives. Throughout the book, I have invited you to self-reflect and engage with your own experiences with otherness. This theoretical grounding, together with its practical application, undoubtedly helps us understand why people walk and talk the way they do. Beyond its practical relevance, this book considers affective, cognitive, and behavioural processes. I hope it opens a theoretical door to explaining and predicting (i) why the same person may react differently in different situations or (ii) why different persons may react similarly in the same situations. There is no doubt, that the humanistic perspectives offered in this book have the potential to add to the exploration of intercultural leadership in the same way they have done in other disciplines. Finally, communication and language are dear to me. Listening to other people with empathy and presenting our most trustworthy selves are key competencies in professional 508 Final Thoughts <?page no="509"?> as well as private life. The book introduces you to well-known communication models. In my mind, they complement the book´s humanistic perspectives on leadership across cul‐ tures very well, namely human-centric, appreciative, and respectful approaches to others. The idea of infusing the focus on subjective experiences and personal growth with the neo-behavioural emphasis on characteristics of the person and attributes of the situation was threefold: First, it applied and extended each chapter’s biographical, psychological, and social insights to real-life intercultural behaviour. Second, and connected with this, it proposed a systematic interaction with your past and present intercultural experiences. Third, as a reflection of this book’s pragmatic character and humanistic approach, the exercises offered to build new and applied skills. I have no doubt that communication is at the very core of leadership. Ultimately, human interaction is always messy, and we must figure out how to navigate it. Of course, one way to manage this complexity is by dividing the world into ‘leaders’ and ‘losers.’ While ‘energy and persistence’ (Benjamin Franklin) as dominant values in the Western world seem to be good advice for leadership journeys, real lives look very different. Few people successfully pursue their goals by steamrolling and thinking of themselves as more powerful than others. Such approaches nurture a culture of top-down management, which is, in intercultural situations, unrealistic and, quite likely, demotivating (Pearce & Conger, 2003; Bloom, 2023). Leadership, especially leadership across cultures, is by no means only about power, ranking and hierarchy. Even without far-reaching decision-making power, you can be an intercultural leader. It is, and this is the quintessential message of this book, about reliability, expertise, and consistent behaviour. This helps us establish trust and turn chaos into structured and purposeful interaction. From this perspective, good intercultural leadership boils down to how well we meet others at eye level. How we use language (in any shape or form) is of decisive importance for creating a lively and safe learning environment and supporting people to work effectively across cultures.- What could be more natural than to explore the insights of great systemic and humanistic scholars to find answers to the question: What makes communication and, by extension, leadership across cultures more successful? When we apply their thinking to intercultural leadership, they all say the same thing: We should stop seeing the world in black-and-white, either-or terms. Instead of pushing for opposing or contrasting elements, we should see cultural differences as unifying forces. Referring to insights from the seminal works of humanistic thinkers and communication experts, thus, allows us to better understand how to navigate situations involving people from various cultural backgrounds. Table 25 summarises what I have learned from the intercultural application of their thinking. Clearly, the seminal works emphasise different aspects of communication, but overall, the authors all invite us to raise our game in intercultural encounters. They do so in terms of the awareness of ourselves (Sense of Us), interaction with people of different cultural backgrounds (Sense of Others), and the situational conditions in which these encounters take place (Sense of Space) (see also Chapter 14): Final Thoughts 509 <?page no="510"?> Sense of Us: The humanistic scholars covered in this book all send out a clear warning that we are challenged to fully understand the complexities and nuances of what is going on around us. We, thus, construct our own intercultural reality. All our memories and experiences (past), our feelings in the here and now (present) and hopes and fears (future) affect how we feel about ourselves and others. How biased are we really when interacting with people of different cultural backgrounds? Are intercultural encounters a challenge or a chance for growth for us? Do we tend to judge others for deviating from our cherished values? Do we worry about looking weak when communicating in a language other than our own? And how does all this affect the way we communicate? Collectively, the models make clear that intercultural leadership starts with us (and is not something ‘out there’). This underscores the importance of self-reflection as the initial step toward positive transformation. And I firmly believe that we all have the power of compassion and empathy to change and to communicate with genuine curiosity and appreciation for people and the world around us to make this transformation to intercultural leadership. The communication models ask us to suspend our judgements and biases, be aware of our needs and wants, and, ultimately, accept who we are. This makes, and this is crucial, each of us responsible for our thoughts, feelings, and actions toward people unlike ourselves. Sense of Others: Intercultural competence might start with us, but it always takes two to tango. We can only be interculturally competent if others allow us to be so. But only if they feel understood and appreciated will they open up to us and reveal their genuine selves. This is why our perceptions of others, and the world are so important in intercultural encounters. These perceptions accompany what kind of impact we might have on others, how much they feel respected and, by extension, how prepared they are to reveal themselves to us (see also Middleton, 2015). Others’ responses to us are a good reflection of how they see and experience us. We would do well to fully engage with others, concentrate, try to understand, and respond to what they have to say. Across the board, the models, thus, advise appreciative, non-judgemental attitudes, compassion, empathy, open-mindedness, and unconditional respect. Others, like us, are human beings who love how they do things as much as we do our cherished practices. Our values and worldviews are not better or more meaningful than those of others. By implication, people of different cultural backgrounds offer valuable contributions to expanding our horizons. The key to rapport building is dialogue, i.e. open, intuitive, and authentic communication.- Sense of Space: The models provide starting points to understand what culture bumps do to us and what we can do about them. They help us either in terms of anticipating misunderstandings or doing a post-mortem of what has possibly gone wrong. All models point towards communication and language as focal points of intercultural relationship building. Though they are silent on bridge languages (such as English) or foreign language learning, they at least implicitly raise the issue of how well-versed we should be in the language of communication. Although the authors, overall, advise us that we should make sure to convey our messages as precisely and 510 Final Thoughts <?page no="511"?> clearly as possible, they also point out that how we say things is more important than what we say when communicating across cultures. I take from this that we all adapt to foreign language use in multifarious ways. No single proficiency approach dominates. Nor should it. What matters more is to speak and listen from the heart. For how to do this, I invite you to discover the breadth and depth of their work by going over the end-of-chapter introductions of their models and exercises (or even referring to their original work). But a few overarching aspects stand out for me when we apply the authors’ insights to intercultural situations: The seminal models collectively call for a commitment to learning, joint thinking, creating an honest, lively, and psychologically safe environment, slowing down (to give us space for reflection), and touching others at a deep emotional level. In short, we should strive to understand the perspectives and emotional worlds of others. We should never look back but to the future. And What Now? So, in conclusion, if we take humanistic perspectives seriously, they offer ample orientation for making intercultural leadership more successful. How we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we see relationships matters greatly when with people of different cultural backgrounds: • We must take ownership of our feelings, thoughts, and actions and what they do to us and others. Questioning taken-for-granted ways of doing things is central to self-reflection, adaptability, and self-growth. • Others do not necessarily share our opinions. Thinking in grey tones (rather than black and white) smooths the sometimes rough edges of intercultural encounters. Radical respect helps us navigate differences and disagreements, leading to more meaningful interactions. • How we see ourselves and others affects the direction relationships across cul‐ tures take. Successful intercultural leadership is always collaborative and never hierarchical, let alone oppositional. Listen carefully to what others say. Express your own feelings and thoughts genuinely and authentically. Our learning journey started and will end with a call for commitment to practice, mutual appreciation and resilience. I hope the book has imparted some new knowledge, perspectives, and inspiration for rearranging your original repertoires, which reflected many of your experiences with otherness. Perhaps it has even made you review some of your firmly held beliefs. But ultimately, I want to leave it to you to take the ideas of this book forward. We all can grow our intercultural leadership skills. As the German saying ‘no master ever just ‘fell out of the sky’’ goes, however, intercultural leadership is about daily practice. Personally, I try out this book’s principles and practises every day. Perhaps, like me, you would like to train your intercultural muscles, too. I am sure they will help you find your way. That would make me happy. And What Now? 511 <?page no="512"?> Sense of Us Self-reflectivity Sense of Others Social Field Sense of Space Situational Conditions (influence on how IC un‐ folds) Paul Watzla‐ wick -5 Axioms - Systemic-constructivist perspectives on communi‐ cation - • Awareness of intention (what was meant) • How we say things is more important than what we say • We all construct our own reality • Test for self-reflection • Recognition of biases • Awareness of impact (what others make of what we communicate) • Responses of others as a reflection of how they see and experience us • Communication and lan‐ guage as focal points of relationships • Interaction is dynamic and ongoing • Exploring new norms and forms of interaction • Upskill in bridge lan‐ guages • Be watchful of the setting • Solutions (our usual way of doing things) are often the problem • Change of perspective may make problems dis‐ appear • Do not look back. Focus on how to take things for‐ ward Friedemann Schulz von Thun -Value Square - Humanistic-systemic per‐ spectives on communica‐ tion - • Awareness of biased view of ourselves • Simplified perceptions of qualities (bifurcation into good or bad) • Exploration of good qual‐ ities • Exploration of weak‐ nesses • Awareness of biased views of others • Thinking in grey tones (rather than black and white) • Identification of value dif‐ ferences as a source of misunderstandings • Balancing values helps cultural differences ap‐ pear in a new and perhaps fruitful light 512 Final Thoughts <?page no="513"?> Friedemann Schulz von Thun -Four sides Model - Humanistic-systemic per‐ spectives on communica‐ tion - • Awareness of the four di‐ mensions of what we say • Awareness of the four di‐ mensions of what others hear • Identifying sources of possible misunderstand‐ ings • Coherence of us, relation‐ ship, situation, and ex‐ pression • Talking about pitfalls of communication on a meta-level • Make sure to convey your messages as precisely and clearly as possible (espe‐ cially in bridge languages) Ruth Cohn -Themecentred Inter‐ action (TCI) --- Humanistic perspectives on communication - • Awareness of one’s wants and needs • Acceptance of who we are • Need for authenticity • Self-determination, indi‐ vidual responsibility, and self-confidence • Awareness of others’ wants and needs • Respect for people who think differently • Appreciative attitude • Active listening • Considering different per‐ spectives and concerns • Learning from others’ perspectives • Creating a lively environ‐ ment Martin Buber & David Bohm -Dialogue -- Religious and theosophic perspectives on communi‐ cation - • Encouragement of self-reflection • Search for the divine • Admission of ‘not kno‐ wing’ • Suspension of one’s per‐ spectives and assump‐ tions for the moment • Openness • Non-judgemental attitude • Radical respect • Joint thinking and deci‐ sion making • Search for a common un‐ derstanding • Slowing down gives us space for reflection (e.g., which emotions and thoughts are evoked in us by others) • Turn-taking in conversa‐ tions • Engaging in meaningful and sincere conversation And What Now? 513 <?page no="514"?> • Listening with empathy and a desire to understand • Talking so that others care • Creating space for new in‐ sights • Creating a sense of con‐ nection and common cog‐ nitive ground Eric Berne -Transaction Analysis (TA) - Humanistic perspectives on communication - • Our ego is sliced into different states (parent, adult, child) • We seek recognition for our transactions (‘stro‐ kes’) • We can be satisfied with who we are (‘I am okay’) • We can be dissatisfied with ourselves (‘I am not okay’) • Others’ egos are sliced into different states (pa‐ rent, adult, child) • Others seek recognition for their transactions (‘strokes’) • We can feel good about others (‘You are okay’) • We can feel negatively about others (‘You are not okay’) • Variations in expectations at the juncture of ego states (showing author‐ ity, logical reasoning and compromise, spontaneity, and emotionality) and communication • Variations in signs of ap‐ proval and disapproval • Interactions flow from the combination of the four life positions (I-You / Okay- Not okay) • Transaction patterns (parallel or crossed lines) define communication flows Vera Birken‐ bihl -Island Model - Learning Strategies - • We all live ‘in’ islands. These contain all our memories and experien‐ ces (past), our feelings in the here and now (pres‐ ence) and hopes and fears (future) • We have not learned to respect that others may have a different opinion from ours • Others love their islands as much as we do ours • Islands can have overlaps (others agree with us on an issue) • Active listening to and understanding of other people’s perspectives • Identifying common ground (instead of fight or flight) • Learning from different cultural viewpoints 514 Final Thoughts <?page no="515"?> • Islands can have no over‐ laps (others do not agree with us) • Common ground makes communication easy. We find others likeable • Distance makes commu‐ nication difficult. Others are less likeable • Expanding our socio-cul‐ tural knowledge • Being flexible and adapta‐ ble in the face of culture bumps • Refraining from unfair strategies in the event of disagreement • Creating unity over dis‐ agreement (via ‘Zweini‐ gung’) Edgar Schein --Humble in‐ quiry - Humanistic perspectives on communication - • Awareness of our stereo‐ types • Worries about looking weak when asking ques‐ tions • We have to take responsi‐ bility for setting the tone for interactions • Reflection of underlying assumptions regarding what makes appropriate communication • Openness • People of different cul‐ tural backgrounds offer valuable contributions • We should invite others into a dialogue • Approach others and con‐ versations with genuine appreciation • Adapt to others’ commu‐ nication style • Intercultural communica‐ tion is collaborative and not hierarchical • Practising three commu‐ nication steps: (i) talk less, (ii) ask more, and (iii) lis‐ ten carefully • Signalling care, curiosity, and interest • Inviting others to open up and share their ideas • Building relationships carefully • It is okay to look weak (by asking questions) • People will trust you more for admitting you have doubts Carl Rogers -Personcentred Ap‐ proach - Humanistic perspectives on communication - • Awareness of one’s own cultural biases • Congruence (between self-concept and their ex‐ periences) • Empathy • Non-judgemental attitude • Unconditional respect for others (regardless of what they do or say) • Active listening • Paraphrasing and reflect‐ ing • Mirroring (as a way of un‐ derstanding others’ per‐ And What Now? 515 <?page no="516"?> • Self-actualisation (want‐ ing to become the best version of oneself) • Openness to experience • Willingness to trust our feelings • Inner harmony as a plat‐ form for engagement • Genuine appreciation of how others see the world • Our cultural values and worldviews are not better or more meaningful than those of others spectives and reflecting it back to them) • Attempting to understand other peoples’ cultural backgrounds • Intercultural encounters as a chance for personal growth and self-discovery • Frankly expressing one’s feelings and thoughts • Transparency creates trust and a supportive and empathetic environment • Refrain from imposing values on others Marshall Rosenberg -Nonviolent Communica‐ tion (NVC) - Humanistic perspectives on communication - • Being authentic • Each of us is responsible for our own thoughts, feelings and actions • We tend to compare our‐ selves to others • We have the capacity for compassion and empathy • We tend to condemn and attack others when they do not conform to our mo‐ ral standards • Demands (cushioned in requests), use of posi‐ tional power, or rewards and punishment as sour‐ ces of disconnect • Empathy • Compassion • People are inherently good • Human needs are univer‐ sal • Conflicts arise from un‐ met needs • Adopting the four NVC principles creates space for dialogue and under‐ standing: (i) Observe; (ii) Express your feelings; (iii) Identify the universal need that connects with those feelings; and (iv) Make an explicit request. • Creating harmonious and fulfilling relationships • Active and empathetic lis‐ tening • Paraphrasing (making sure you understand what was said) • Signalling that you are genuinely engaging with others • Expressing yourself hon‐ estly 516 Final Thoughts <?page no="517"?> Erin Meyer -Culture Map - Culture comparisons • Awareness of our own cultural background • Awareness of biases • Willingness to learn from different ways of doing things • Reflection of own com‐ munication patterns • People are neither good nor bad • People feel, think and act based on their cultural background • Open-mindedness • Respect for cultural differ‐ ences • Genuine curiosity • Cultural context signif‐ icantly affects how in‐ dividuals perceive and respond to different situa‐ tions • Building trust through transparent communica‐ tion • Comprehensive frame‐ work provides pragmatic strategies how to over‐ come intercultural differ‐ ences Virginia Satir -5 Freedoms - Humanistic perspectives on communication - • Acceptance and under‐ standing of who we are • Greater self-awareness leads to positive transfor‐ mation • Importance of biogra‐ phies: Early family experi‐ ences affect how we relate to others • We have the capacity to grow, change, and develop healthy ways of connecting with our‐ selves and others • Incongruent behaviour likely in the face of culture bumps • People are basically good, creative, productive and caring • Significance of under‐ standing others within their broader social sys‐ tem • Recognising and valuing cultural differences • Cultivating empathy • Importance of relation‐ ships • Expressing emotions and thoughts candidly and honestly • Striving to understand the perspectives and emo‐ tional worlds of others • Clear and congruent com‐ munication is crucial for intercultural encounters • Need to touch people on a deep emotional level • Intercultural encounters as triggers of change pro‐ cesses • Self-worth levels moder‐ ate how we cope with in‐ tercultural experiences • Non-verbal communica‐ tion trumps verbal com‐ munication in intercul‐ tural encounters • Under duress, four forms of communication (pla‐ And What Now? 517 <?page no="518"?> cating, blaming, comput‐ ing, distracting) augment experiences with culture bumps Richard Ban‐ dler, John Grinder and Robert Dilts -Neuro-Lin‐ guistic Pro‐ gramming (NLP) - Unclear where to locate as borrowing from many strands of linguistics and psychology -Ultimately, a relatively mechanistic view of hu‐ man reflection - • We are resourceful and capable of change • Subjectivity: language and communication shape our perceptions and experiences of the world • Deletion, distortion, and generalisations affect our worldviews and commu‐ nication styles • Self-responsibility: Tak‐ ing control over our life (by shaping the way we use language and, by ex‐ tension, think) • Emphasis on harmony, mutual understanding, and trust between in‐ dividuals (‘building rap‐ port’) • Paying close attention to subtle cues of communi‐ cation • Matching and mirroring (imitating the other per‐ son’s nonverbal behav‐ iour) • Pacing (initially imitating the other person’s behav‐ iour but then gradually and subtly changing it) • Calibration (being at‐ tuned to non-verbal sig‐ nals of others helps you to keep up rapport) • Verbal mirroring (using other people’s choice of words, intonation, dialect, etc, creates feelings of closeness) • Eye contact (makes peo‐ ple feel more connected as long as they do not overdo it) • Shared interests (identify‐ ing everyday experiences can build a sense of com‐ monality) • Active listening (being alert and fully present in a conversation enhances rapport) 518 Final Thoughts <?page no="519"?> • Reframing (changing how we look at a culture bump) ------ Otto Scharmer -Theory U - Humanistic-systemic per‐ spectives on communica‐ tion - • We usually look into the past for inspiration on how best to shape the fu‐ ture • Confidence in data, facts, and past experiences as predictors of what might happen • Rigidity and resistance to change: Inner voi‐ ces (judgement, cynicism, fear) hold us back • Presence: Being mind‐ ful of one’s emotions, thoughts, and intentions • Sensing: Pause and think • Letting go of precon‐ ceived ideas • Inner dialogue and intu‐ ition (trusting our gut feelings and inner voices) • Mindset rooted in separa‐ tion and conflict (focus‐ sing on the familiar and differences) • Authenticity • Non-judgemental attitude • Empathy: Putting oneself into the shoes of others • Compassion (focussing on others and trying to understand their feelings) • Extending kindness and offering support • Open-mindedness • Courage • Curiosity • Intuition • Turning our attention to the future • Unfamiliar worlds are a chance to initiate mental change processes • Deep listening (gaining a deeper understanding of others’ perspectives and needs) • Engaging in dialogue • Co-creation and collabo‐ ration (sharing ideas and working towards com‐ mon goals) • Creativity as a joint expe‐ rience • Letting go of cherished practices without exactly knowing what might come instead • Communication as key to unearthing new worlds • Focussing on the un‐ known • Focussing on what unites and not what divides And What Now? 519 <?page no="520"?> Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton -Harvard Ne‐ gotiation Project (HNP) - Dispute resolution - • Hard bargaining: We are constantly on our guard and basically do not trust others • Soft bargaining: We do not let differences get in the way of friendship • There is no objectivity in intercultural encounters. Each of us constructs our own reality • We all want to see our‐ selves (or want to be seen) in the best possible light • Suspending our judge‐ ments and biases • Never underestimate the ‘human factor’ in inter‐ cultural situations • People might do things differently from us, but they, too, have feelings, values and biographical backgrounds • Dispute resolution should follow four interdepend‐ ent principles: (i) ‘sepa‐ rate the people from the problem,’ (ii) ‘focus on in‐ terests, not positions,’ (iii) ‘invent options for mutual gain,’ and (iv) ‘insist on using objective criteria.’ • Willingness to learn • Curiosity • Respect both the culture and the person you are negotiating with • Intercultural encounters usually involve some form of negotiation • Observe and respect the local ways of doing busi‐ ness • Separate culture from people. There are signifi‐ cant variations of values, dispositions, and behav‐ iour across one culture • Finding mutually benefi‐ cial outcomes • Communication skills make or break intercul‐ tural encounters • Four strategies can help address misunderstand‐ ings: (i) Treat the prob‐ lem and not the people (try to see the problem from your counterpart’s point of view); (ii) Learn how to manage emotions (express your emotions frankly and truthfully); (iii) Try a positive spin (use the ‘I’ form and speak only about your own per‐ spective); (iv) Escape the cycle of action and reac‐ tion (bend with the nego‐ tiation flow and use the energy to explore options for mutual gains) 520 Final Thoughts <?page no="521"?> Bruce Tuck‐ man -Stages of Group Devel‐ opment - Educational Psychology - • Awareness of biases which may otherwise re‐ sult in intergroup conflict • There might be differen‐ ces in how people deal with ambiguity, conflict, and low trust levels • There is the real danger of sub-groups forming (along fault lines of com‐ mon values) • Conflict as a natural part of group dynamics • Need for understanding each other's perspectives • There are four (five) stages of group devel‐ opment: Forming, Storm‐ ing, Norming, Perform‐ ing, (and Adjourning) • Intercultural leadership is about guiding groups through these stages • Although universally ap‐ plicable, cultural varia‐ tions might affect each phase • Effective communication as key to resolving con‐ flicts and achieving com‐ mon goals Table 25: What I have Learned from Extant Communication Models and Their Intercultural Application And What Now? 521 <?page no="523"?> Bibliography Abegglen, J. 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Bibliography 549 <?page no="550"?> List of Figures Figure 1: Themes and Structure of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Figure 2: Why Are Intercultural Leadership Skills Important for You? . . . 27 Figure 3: The Three Interlocking Zones of Leadership Across Cultures . . 32 Figure 4: Contact Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Figure 5: Punctuation as Cause and Effect in Business Communication . 43 Figure 6: Epochs of Cross-Cultural Management Research . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Figure 7: Schulz von Thun’s Value Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Figure 8: Intercultural Encounters as Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Figure 9: Culture Comparisons as Overlaps of Similarities Between Normally Distributed Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Figure 10: Dilemma Reconciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Figure 11: Cultural Dimensions as Integrated and Circular System . . . . . . 113 Figure 12: How Did We Get Here? Tree Model of Personal Growth . . . . . . 127 Figure 13: Formative Layers of Influence on Learning About Otherness . . 130 Figure 14: Perceptual Roots of Otherness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Figure 15: Arousal and Intercultural Performance (Appropriate Functioning) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Figure 16: Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Figure 17: Aspects of Emotions and Intercultural Engagement . . . . . . . . . . 233 Figure 18: Intercultural Encounters and Emotion Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Figure 19: Application of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation . . . . 263 Figure 20: Addressing Culture Bumps with Nonviolent Communication . . 265 Figure 21: Jung’s Twelve Defining Archetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Figure 22: Semiotics of Femininity (Examples from Italy, Germany, France, China) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Figure 23: Japanese Pictograms and Their Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Figure 24: Pictorial Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 Figure 25: Steps for Giving a Convincing Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Figure 26: Bennet’s Developmental Intercultural Competence Model . . . . 318 Figure 27: Virginia Satir’s Pot Metaphor of Self-Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Figure 29: Interplay Between Positive and Negative Reactions to Intercultural Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Figure 30: Intercultural Communication as Circular and Interactive Interplay of Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Figure 31: ABC Model and Its Hierarchies of Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Figure 32: ADAPT Cycle of Intercultural Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385 Figure 33: Commitment Levels and Potential Change in Attitudes . . . . . . . 387 Figure 34: Boundary Spanning Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 <?page no="551"?> Figure 35: Johari Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Figure 36: Awareness of Intercultural Competence Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Figure 37: Intercultural Coping and Learning Process Model . . . . . . . . . . . 417 Figure 38: Challenges to Hierarchy of Needs When Abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 Figure 39: Dealing with Cultural Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 Figure 40: Theory U Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 Figure 41: Presencing and Listening Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Figure 42: The Three Arrows of Practising Interculturality . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447 Figure 43: Intuition at the Interface of Inner and Outer Worlds . . . . . . . . . . 453 Figure 44: Sense-Making Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 Figure 45: Four Levels of Leadership Inspiring Trust Across Cultures . . . . 464 Figure 46: The Influence of Language on Intercultural Competence Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Figure 47: A Communication Profile for Making Contact in English . . . . . 498 Figure 48: Tuckman’s Group Development Model and Corresponding Language Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 List of Figures 551 <?page no="552"?> List of Tables Table 1: Vietnamese Expressions of ‘I’ as Signifiers of Relationships . . . . . . 40 Table 2: Observable und Unobservable Business Communication . . . . . . . . 77 Table 3: Imagining Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Table 4: Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Cultural Dimensions and Their Manifestations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Table 5: Conceptual Overlaps and Differences to the Hofstede Dimensions 115 Table 6: Associations Between GLOBE Dimensions and Leadership Style . 118 Table 7: Points of Contact to Secondary Reference Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Table 8: Impact of Reference Groups in Professional Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Table 9: Effects of Mass Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Table 10: GHEM Framework for Cultural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Table 11: Four Modes of Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Table 12: Differences Between Universal and Culture-Specific Emotions . . . 224 Table 13: Intercultural Encounters and Areas of Skilling-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Table 14: Self-Worth and its Impact on Motivations for Intercultural Engagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Table 15: Satir’s 4 Stances and Their Impact on Intercultural Interaction . . . 333 Table 16: Virginia Satir’s 4 Stances and their Impact on Foreign Language Use 334 Table 17: Characteristics of Competent Teaching Volunteers in Tonga . . . . . 365 Table 18: Intercultural Tensions at Different Levels of Abstraction . . . . . . . . 422 Table 19: Internal and External Self-Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 Table 20: Core or Flex Exercise: How Do You Deal With Cultural Differences? 428 Table 21: Different Disguises of Trust and Their Cultural Variations . . . . . . . 444 Table 22: Heuristics in Intercultural Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451 Table 23: Authenticity and Intercultural Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465 Table 24: From Dull to More Colourful Language Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497 Table 25: What I have Learned from Extant Communication Models and Their Intercultural Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512 <?page no="553"?> Sierk A. Horn Intercultural Leadership Humanistic Perspectives For many of us, connecting with people across the world is now easy and commonplace. But coming into contact with different ways of doing things means losing our superpower of-giving meaning to what is happening around us, interacting skilfully and building rapport. In the first part of this book, Sierk Horn shows how intercultural interactions set in motion psychological processes. The second part deals with the behavioural determinants of-intercultural communication. The third part examines our social environment and how we deal with cultural differences. The book wants to make you curious about intercultural leadership. It invites you to explore humanistic perspectives in everyday communication. A wealth of exercises will accompany you on your learning journey. Management ISBN 978-3-8252-6186-3 This is a utb volume from UVK. utb is a cooperation of publishing houses with one common goal: to publish textbooks and learning media for successful studies. utb.de Scan this QR-Code for further information. Intercultural Leadership Horn 2024-09-05_6186-3_Horn_L_6186_PRINT.indd Alle Seiten 2024-09-05_6186-3_Horn_L_6186_PRINT.indd Alle Seiten 05.09.24 15: 12 05.09.24 15: 12