Intercultural Communication Bridges the Gap Between Global Performance and National Interests

Intercultural communication bridges the gap between global performance and national interests
Marlon Modeste
Caribbean Nazarene College

Presented in partial fulfillment of the course requirements for:
HR330 Intercultural relations
Lecturer: Dabrielle Nurse
Date: 16/02/12

Abstract
In this paper it is demonstrated that intercultural communication - (ICC) - is the vehicle which bridges the gap between global performance and national interests. In looking at its genesis and at its future it can be clearly seen that the future of all nations’ performance and survivability in the global marketplace is hinged upon the development of a common language that would enable them to become partners instead of adversaries. In this new atmosphere of interdependence it is critical that all the players realize that their survival depends upon aligning their national interests to what is taking place in the global arena.
Abbreviations used:
Intercultural communications: - ICC
Human resource management: - HRM

Table of contents
Abstract
Table of contents I. Introduction II. Research questions: a) What is ICC? b) Why ICC? c) How does education affect the study of ICC? d) How does research affect the study of ICC? e) How does business affect the study of ICC? III. Conclusion/recommendations

Intercultural communication bridges the gap between global performance and national interests As mankind marches inexorably towards a future where he is more a creature than a creator, he is desperately seeking ways to find a mean or method to steer a ship that seems forever bound towards rocky shores. It has been the bane of the human race that they have been able to create technological wonders that have transformed the planet, yet they seem unable to find ways to coexist in a necessary harmony that would allow one and all to have a sustainable existence. The specter of insularity, like a hydra headed monster seems to be forever among us, destroying the human community at the most crucial times of its development, even as it tries to stretch a hand out to hold on to a reason that says we are not alone; therefore this world is not for one of us but for all of us. Now that we have reached that future where even the most myopic of nations have begun to realize that their survival could depend on those who were once perhaps their worst enemies. Mankind has entered into a new paradigm where his choices seemed to have already been predetermined by the circumstances of his arrival. Cooperation is no longer a strategy; it has now become a deadly necessity where the odds against survival rise significantly if one dares to try to go it alone. In this global village, nations are learning some hard lessons; that the things that they once cherished and held so dear must now be put aside in the interest of continued existence. Words like; borders, sovereignty, and even nationality have now lost a lot of their former meaning as the pace of change dictates that new instruments be found to access a future that will accept no half measures. Hence we have come to that place where nations must learn, one and all, to talk the same language or be eventually be destroyed by economic forces that none can withstand alone. Thus we enter into the era of ICC which has become the necessary rudder to steer the wayward ship of mankind. Through this vehicle and this vehicle alone can any nation hope to have a sustainable existence as a globally interconnected world demands that we understand one another. But what is this thing called ICC and what are the rules of this new game? As we enter into this voyage of discovery it becomes necessary that we look at its roots and its future because ICC is the bridge between the gap of global performance and national interests.
II. Research questions
a) What is intercultural communication? Hinchcliff-Pelias and Greer (2004) give us a very simple definition when they tell us that “ICC involves the interaction of persons from cultural communities that are different.” With this simple statement they encompass all the elements that ICC is composed of which are; communication, culture and interaction. But bringing these elements together does mean that the interaction will be positive or even helpful to either party, because without an added desire to want to communicate for a reason that is beneficial to both parties, communication will fail at the very outset. The simple statement above does not mirror the difficulties or complexities of true ICC which according to Chen and Starosta (2003) demands that both parties not only understand each others’ culture but have a respect and appreciation for the others’ point of view. ICC which had its genesis in the studies of its founder E.T. Hall was a paradigmatic orientation of human behavior that reversed the natural trend towards cultural ethnocentrism. Hall was able to recognize that before true interaction could take place between peoples of different cultures that there had to be a measure of genuine understanding of each others cultural perspectives. ICC which is composed of two basic components – communication and culture – is best understood when one has a sound grasp of these features. The communication processes in ICC is all about understanding the symbolic creations (speech – both verbal and non-verbal) which different cultures use to define their social existence, as delineated by Chen and Starosta (p. 300, 2003) when they tell us that “language and culture are interdependent.” Thus because culture is the defining focus of a people and is by nature ethnocentric; their communicative experience is therefore bound by this singleness of view. Having understood the major principles that govern the functioning of ICC, we can now go back to that simple statement that was made previously and understand that ICC is learning to communicate so that both parties of different cultures understand and appreciate each others’ point of view by actively assessing what is said and what is meant through each others’ cultural perspective.
Why intercultural communication? The rapid emergence of ICC tells us that it had been produced by an urgent international need. This happened because of the rapid growth of populations and the now inescapable necessity for communal interaction as the famous saying by Ernest Hemingway indicates that, “No man is an island.” This need to interact and communicate is noted by Chen and Starosta (p. 185, 2003) who postulate that the older ways of existing have been subsumed by the present reality of “seeing things through the eyes of others and adding the knowledge of others to our personal repertoire.” They point out that four emerging global trends have made ICC the virtual status quo modern day progress: (1) technological development, (2) globalization of the economy, (3) widespread population migration, and (4) the development of multiculturism. The study of ICC and its implications for the future has now become a pressing reality as nations struggle to come to grips with the new phenomena of global interdependence. There is an urgent need to find answers to questions that have never been asked before, such as; what are the necessary tools that will help people change their long held view points, and to begin to assimilate this new paradigm of an interconnected world? These are questions that can only be answered by an examination of ICC and its ability to provide solutions for the age old problems of international relations.
How does education affect the study and application of intercultural communication? As the world moves towards that envisioned ideal of becoming a global village, one of the vehicles that will be of critical importance to the study and promotion of ICC as it emerges as a new force in the affairs of mankind is the education system. Drastic changes will have to be made to previous norms and standards which will now be made irrelevant by the unstoppable Juggernaut of change. Chen and Starosta (p. 299, 2003) explains this new reality by telling us that, “colleges and universities, as the institutes of higher education, must endeavor to provide an environment in which students can learn the skills for effectively communicating with people of diverse cultures.” They tell us that new educational processes must be able to adjust to a reality of merging cultures. They point out that ethno relativism (a globally cultured way of understanding things) will be the new standard for academics who will be forced to leave old mindsets behind to seek new truths which will inform their understanding and not produce differences. Hinchcliff-Pelias and Greer (2004) investigated the importance of ICC in international education and concluded that international students face serious challenges because of negative experiences that they have had in the host countries. This had led students to be less receptive to the notion that ICC can become a bridge between cultures. The students delineated the extreme emotional difficulties that they had in dealing with people who are basically ethnocentric and completely unaware of their behavior, causing some of them to leave their programs and adversely affect the mental health of others, as they became very solitary and refused to continur to have interactions with their hosts.. Hinchcliff-Pelias and Greer (2004) was able to point out several ways in which the students could overcome these obstacles, the chief of which was developing cultural empathy. They emphasized that international students must understand that the trauma that they pass through will be well worth their while later on as they will be better able to function in an international community. Esber (2007) explains the new imperative in this field when she tells us that: Since intercultural communication is becoming a part of lives in a multicultural society, the principles and practices of the field of intercultural communication should become part of the educational process and should be included as a major component in the field of multicultural education.”
She tells us that educators must begin to see the value of ICC as a tool in disseminating knowledge and understanding in various related fields because of its multicultural properties which allows people of different backgrounds to be able to understand each other; for example being able to relate subject matter to both Japanese and Americans students in such a way that one is able to value peoples of both high and low context cultures as defined by E. T. Hall. Esber (2007) emphasizes the “importance of the role of intercultural communication and the development of intercultural communicative competence in the process of education and schooling.” She tells us that multicultural societies will depend heavily upon this tool because it ultimately addresses most of their educational needs. She adds that because of its utility it should be used to train the teachers and administrators of the future. She delineates several qualities that the teacher of the future must have to be effective because of the now irreversible trend towards multiculturism:
1. An understanding of the vital role that intercultural communication plays in the culturally diverse classroom
2. An awareness of their own cultural perspective and the extent to which cultural assumptions underlie their values, attitudes, and behaviours
3. An awareness of the process of intercultural communication and the ability to translate this awareness into meaningful and effective communication with people from diverse cultural backgrounds
4. An understanding, appreciation, and respect for cultural diversity in human life
5. The ability to deal with the ambiguity that occurs in the process of building shared meanings as well as the ability to respond to miscommunication
6. A sensitivity towards the feelings of others and the ability to respond to these feelings
7. An understanding of the relationship between language, meaning, and cultural perceptions
8. An understanding of the relationship between culture and cognitive style as manifested in diverse ways of knowing, logical reasoning styles, and learning styles
9. An understanding that variation is a natural occurrence among people in social groups.
10. An understanding that there are multiple cultural realities throughout the world
11. The ability to reach across difference with respect, care, and love in the art of teaching.

1 Graf and Mertesacker (2009) in their study of training needs, point to some future requirements for organisations in the global arena. They propose and show that by having accurate measures to assess intercultural training needs for HRM, that businesses will be better able to develop deficient areas of employee’s intercultural competence. They tell us that, “Human resource managers may benefit from gaining knowledge about which measures to use for identifying employee 's weaknesses in intercultural competence in order to create tailor-made training interventions.”

2 These are just a few of the applications for ICC as we look at the general direction that the field is taking in response to the educational needs that are now becoming paramount. Educational styles of the future will definitely have to be adjusted to meet the growing needs of populations that are becoming increasingly diverse and no longer composed of one or two major ethnic groups. In this era of new migrations, when people are transplanted into a host country they do not leave their cultures behind, so it is important that ways of assimilating different peoples together be found. Business and the study of intercultural communication: Definitions of conflict inform us that competition for scarce resources lie at the heart of the conflict event. Many wars and intentional disputes have been brought about because of this, but the new paradigm of international business demands that a solution be found for this problem. No longer can countries seek to satisfy their own selfish needs at the expense of others.

The new business model, which according to Chen and Starosta (p. 302, 2003) is brought about by; The progress of communication and transportation technology which has made markets more accessible and defined business interests more globally. This trend will continue to demand a greater understating between nations and between ethnic groups. The knowledge and skills of ICC will play an increasingly important role in the future business world.
Because of this imperative we must look towards ICC to find solutions to the old problem of self interest. ICC points the way by defining these new attitudinal objectives According to Spinks and Wells (1997) the future of business communication which is employed in global strategies rests heavily upon learning ICC, because the use of communication as a strategy is becoming even more essential than it has been in the past due to the now globally interconnected world; businesses must understand that, Proper and effective communication in one culture may be improper and ineffective in other cultures. Thus, business people who wish to be successful in their global communication must be aware of these differences and must be prepared to deal with these differences. As they elucidate the whole range of cultural differences that may come into play in cultural interaction they emphasize that future business success will depend upon a complete understanding of the nuances that make up the cultural experience and not just it many facets. For example, in Trinidad a foreigner would be at lost to understand that a “night lime” really means an evening out, so what Spinks and Wells (1997) is telling us is that one must be very careful in interpreting situations literally, even in the business world, thus in adopting ICC as a strategy it becomes necessary to consider the next party’s viewpoint first instead of your own. What they are really saying is that is that you must leave your preconceptions and fixed beliefs at home if you wish to have successful intercultural interactions in the business field. Thus we can see that the future application of ICC in business will lean heavily in the direction of creating connections through utilizing an understanding of the culture in which one is operating and not just merely providing goods and services. The importance of this point of view can be readily understood when one looks at the case of Pepsi in China. Winslow (2006) tells us about an advertising mistake that Pepsi made in China. Pepsi 's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese. He says that these things happen “because of translation problems or because the company does not fully understand the culture of the nation in which they are marketing their product into.” Thus businesses of the future must be especially careful in the way they approach doing business in different countries as one size does not fit all.
Research and the study of intercultural communication: Continued research into this field is essential as IC has not yet been truly defined into one whole cogent unity. Scholars are still disputing different methodologies as being the right way to apply IC to various situations. Graf and Mertesacker (2009) identify a critical area of research that needs to be developed as they explain that “Since intercultural competence is regarded to be the key factor for success in intercultural interactions, research calls for methods enabling multinational company staff to enhance their level of this competence.” They tell us that past research indicates that intercultural training is poised to become the major agent in the creation of intercultural competence and that this use of methods will definitely enhance this training process. Moon (1996) looks at this subject from a different angle and envisages in an article that she writes about culture that the old parameters as propounded by the founder of ICC ‘Edward Hall and his followers may not be appropriate in the future. She points out that there may be “Alternate ways in which “culture” might be conceptualized are then discussed and the consequences that this might have for ICC scholarship are explored.” She looks at this aspect of ICC as an emerging field for interpreting motives and action of the different players in the field in a more accurate and individualized fashion as she does not believe that all the members of a cultural group share a homogenous cultural behavior just because the are within the same borders and should not be treated as being the same. She says that “reconceptualizations would entail substantive rethinking of the field and attendant goals, desires, needs, and visions of our work.” She proposes that research be concentrated in this area to bring new perspectives into play. Of particular importance is Yunxia (2008) study in language which adds to the field of ICC as he posits that while there are studies that “focus on the relationship between language and thought patterns, agreeing that there are culturally-defined differences which are also shown in the use of rhetorical structure. However, they mainly differ in the use of approaches examining in the cultural differences.” He points out that all round approach will be needed in evaluating language and ICC because errors can be made when examining intent and purpose when one uses one investigative tool exclusively. The importance of this particular facet of ICC study lies in the fact that different cultures have different ways of dealing with the same subject and this can only be deduced by analyzing the structure and phrasing of the language to find the intent.
For example a man from China who wishes to make a request will state the problem first expecting that you will understand that he is making a request. For instance if he wants to take a day off to carry his wife to the hospital; instead of asking, “Can I have Tuesday off to carry my wife to the hospital because she is ill.” He would say “My wife has to go the hospital on Tuesday because she is ill.” Then he would expect you to ask, how she is going to get there. The field of research in ICC is an ever-increasing phenomenon as different studies are being done every day, but as described above the main directions are in the areas of intercultural competence, culture, and language construction as related to formation of culturally created thought patterns which then produce observable behavior. Chen and Starosta (2005) tells that present field of study is inclusive of methodological pluralism, cultural diversity and ethical complexity, the last of which I believe to the most significant because it informs the standards and values that will be relevant in this new paradigm. Casmir (1997) tells us about this subject. He says in his book that there are many ”challenges affecting ethical behavior in various intercultural and international interactions.” He suggests that this problem cannot be easily solved because ethics across cultures is a relative thing and even the very researchers of this subject are prone to internal bias because of their own socialization processes. So we can see that arriving at a place wher4e an acceptable standard of ethics can prevail is a difficult feat to accomplish because what is perfectly acceptable in one culture may be completely rejected by another. For example in certain countries like India, paying bribes to get contracts or services is normal, while in many other countries like Trinidad and Tobago there are laws against these kinds of practices.
Conclusion/recommendations:
Having looked at the preceding evidence of the future directions that ICC is heading to, I can only reiterate that ICC is the bridge between the gap of global performance and national interests. I say this because ICC has the ability to bring peoples of different cultures to a forum where a common conversation could propel peoples of diverse visions to come together for a common purpose with the understanding that what is good for one is good for all. I say this in the context of international interests beginning to out weigh narrow parochial goals that are conflicting and ultimately counterproductive. That the sustainability of life on the planet Earth is dependent upon all of its occupiers is now self evident; thus making it imperative that all the players on the global stage begin to speak the same language. Thus the direction of the study and application of ICC as seen through the perspectives of education, business and research appears to be pointing towards the formation of a new social reality that will be bounded by all peoples having a greater understanding of each other.
Recommendations: To those countries that have not yet understood the importance of ICC and also those groups and ethnic enclaves that have not yet understood the dynamics of the coming future; I believe that it is imperative that they begin to practice some of the tenets of ICC or face the possibility of imminent extinction. To them I would recommend that: ❖ They adopt a global mindset where they can begin to understand that other people’s point of view matters. ❖ They become sensitive to the cultural perspective of others. ❖ That they learn to adjust to the norms and standard of others in a reciprocal fashion. ❖ That they learn to question the validity of their norms and standards as they interact with other in the global village. ❖ That they learn to understand that differences need not be an obstacle but a challenge to their ingenuity and ability to compromise. ❖ And most of all that they begin to understand that being first does not necessarily mean being in front, because being together does not mean being above.

References
Casmir, F. L. (1997) Ethics In Intercultural And International Communication. Retrieved 03 April 2012, from: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/
Chen, G.M., & Starosta, W.J. (2005). Foundations of intercultural communication. New York: university press of America, Inc.
Esber, B. C. (2007). Intercultural Communication and EducationIn Multicultural Societies. Retrieved 03 April 2012, from:www.sietar-europa.org/.../files/c

3 Graf, A, & Mertesacker, M. (2009). Intercultural training: six measures assessing training needs. European Journal of Training and Development[pic]33. 6[pic] (2009): 539-558.

Hinchcliff-Pelias, M. & Greer, N. S. (2004). The importance of intercultural communication in international education. Retrieved 03 April 2012, from: http://search.proquest.

4 Moon, D. G. (1996). Concepts of "culture": Implications for intercultural communication research. Communication Quarterly[pic]44. 1[pic] 70.

5 Spinks, N., & Wells, B. (1997). Intercultural communication: a key element in global strategies. Career Development International[pic]2. 6[pic] 287-292.

Winslow, L. (2006). Advertising Mistakes: A Look at Soft Drinks. Retrieved 03 April 2012, from: http://ezinearticles.com

6 Yunxia, Z. (2008). Revisiting Relevant Approaches for the Study of Language and

7 Intercultural Communication. International Journal of English Studies[pic]8. 2[pic] 25-42.

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References: Casmir, F. L. (1997) Ethics In Intercultural And International Communication. Retrieved 03 April 2012, from: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/ Chen, G.M., & Starosta, W.J. (2005). Foundations of intercultural communication. New York: university press of America, Inc. Esber, B. C. (2007). Intercultural Communication and EducationIn Multicultural Societies 3 Graf, A, & Mertesacker, M. (2009). Intercultural training: six measures assessing training needs. European Journal of Training and Development[pic]33. 6[pic] (2009): 539-558. Hinchcliff-Pelias, M. & Greer, N. S. (2004). The importance of intercultural communication in international education 4 Moon, D. G. (1996). Concepts of "culture": Implications for intercultural communication research. Communication Quarterly[pic]44. 1[pic] 70. 5 Spinks, N., & Wells, B. (1997). Intercultural communication: a key element in global strategies. Career Development International[pic]2. 6[pic] 287-292. Winslow, L. (2006). Advertising Mistakes: A Look at Soft Drinks. Retrieved 03 April 2012, from: http://ezinearticles.com 6 Yunxia, Z. (2008). Revisiting Relevant Approaches for the Study of Language and 7 Intercultural Communication