全屏显示专题章节

“Much of the violence that humanity suffers in our times is rooted in misunderstanding as well as in the rejection of the values and identity of foreign cultures. Tourism improves relationships between individuals and peoples when they are cordial, respectful, and based on solidarity they constitute, as it were, an open door to peace and harmonious coexistence”.

“Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.”

“It’ s like everybody’ s sitting there and they have some kind of veil over their face, and they look at each other through this veil that makes them see each other through some stereotypical kind of viewpoint.If we’ re ever gonna collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we’ re gonna have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.

In the previous three Chapters, we have discussed the meaning of culture, the elements of culture and some cultural differences. Having been equipped with this understanding, we will attempt in this Chapter to explain something about how to cope with cultural differences. This is especially important for people who:

1. Work in an environment which has people of different cultures in their Organizations such as multinational Organizations;

2. Come in contact with people from different countries and/or cultural background, be it in business or for leisure;

3.Have been sent abroad for a period of time for business attachments/orientation, attending conferences and training;

4.Study abroad for undergraduate, postgraduate and research qualifications；

5. Go on vacation in a foreign country.

The purpose is to prevent one from causing inadvertent misunderstanding and being embarrassed for the unintended language, expression and actions.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, has a good definition for Culture Shock, which is defined as“the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture”. It is considered as a subcategory of the more universal Transition Shock. Wikipedia defined it as “a state of loss and disorientation predicated by a change in one’ s familiar environment which requires adjustment”. It has listed a number of symptoms of Transition Shock, of which feelings of helplessness and withdrawal, irritability, anger, homesickness, physiological stress reactions, stereotyping host nationals and hostility towards host nationals are more pertinent in the case of Culture Shock.

There are numerous cases ready to demonstrate these symptoms. There was a Singaporean lady living in Shanghai who always tried to behave that she was superior to the local Chinese. Examples of such behaviours included that she would never try to eat local food nor she ate at any local dining places. She would only mix around with foreigners although majority of her neighbours were local Chinese who used to to welcome her to the community. She ended up being alienated herself and felt loneliness and helpless all the time... Another case is about a Canadian who was sent back home by his company for always humiliating locals at his host country for the reason that the local could not speak native English as he did. The last local whom he humiliated was a humble old man who always served good advice to the board of the company and the incident ended the career of the young Canadian. There are other obviously ridiculous but true cases. Some expatriates who would only eat the food imported from their own countries although they may eventually find that the origin of the“imported”food that they consume is from the host country. Thus, they have to spend a lot of money on imported foodstuffs, or eating at expensive restaurants serving foreign cuisine when they are posted overseas. The same group of people will always have overweight baggage even when they go for a short holiday trip. They would cart along rice, instant noodles, chillies ,etc., and expect the airlines to be“fair”to them by not charging them for their overweight luggage.

Wilkipaedia sees Culture Shock as having many different effects, time spans and degrees of severity, where many people do not recognise the fact. It went further to describe three different phases of Culture Shock of an individual when the person is being sent to live in a foreign country for work, study or other reasons.

This is the initial phase when one first move into a foreign country, especially of a different culture. Most are being fascinated by the new cultural environment such as food, pace of life, customs and etiquettes. It is a period of observation and discovery which will eventually end.

—Negotiation Phase

Depending on the person, anxiety may set in from cultural differences after a period of time of about three months. Differences in languages, expressions and behaviour during interaction, adaptation of gut flora to different bacterial levels and concentrations in food and water, hygiene, traffic and safety, different types of medical treatments and medication, and last but not least, the happening of unfavourable events are just but a few that will eventually give rise to feelings of frustration and anger.

After a longer period of time, usually six to twelve months, one begins to grow accustomed to the cultural differences between one’ s home and host countries. One knows what to expect and starts to develop problem-solving skills to cope with the differences.

Some people will not accept a foreign culture, thus isolating themselves from the new environment and begin to show withdrawal symptoms and seeing the only way out is to return to their own cultural environment. These are what are known as“Rejecters” . Strangely, such people will find it most difficult to re-integrate after they return to the comforts of their home country.

Another group of people will totally integrate themselves till they lose their original identity.They will normally not return to their home country.They are known as the “Adopters”.

Then there is a cosmopolitan group of people who can adapt to what they see as positives in the host culture while keeping some of their own. This group of people will not have any major problems relocating anywhere and returning home.

The Choice and Attitude

For whatever the reason is, as stated at the beginning of this Chapter, when one is given the opportunity to move to a foreign country or work in a multinational and multicultural environment, one has to make decision to go or not to go. The decision depends heavily on one’ s attitude towards being in a foreign environment where cultural difference is a fact of life. If one has the “Rejecter”kind of mindset, it is advisable for this person not to take up the opportunity; otherwise, he will have a miserable life in the new environment.

Generally, some people from a developed country and city tend to have a superiority complex towards people and the culture of the less developed country and city.

John Stuart Mill FRSE (20 May 1806-8 May 1873), a British philosopher, political economist and civil servant had the following advice for all of us who are going to make a decision to go abroad. He said, “It is hardly possible to overrate the value, for the improvement of human beings, of things which bring them into contact with persons dissimilar to themselves and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar... It is indispensable to be perpetually comparing (one’ s) own notions and customs with the experience and example of persons in different circumstances... There is no nation which does not need to borrow from others. ”

Once the decision is made to go international, one needs to make some preparation to ensure that he will not suffer cultural shock for lack of knowledge of the new environment.

There are two distinct tasks, namely, to understand the way people from different cultures manifests the cultural differences and to determine similarities across cultures to formulate strategies for positive interactions between people of different cultures.

The very first step is to accept that there are cultural differences in the new environment and try to gain cultural knowledge about it. Recognition of the other party’ s culture is the first and foremost condition to create mutual understanding. One should make serious attempts to research for information via the following channels:

—Objective and Factual

The easiest thing to do this is to visit the embassy and consulate of the host country. Diplomatic Missions would have information of their countries to help any potential traveler. To obtain contact details of the foreign diplomatic missions in China, the reader is recommended to visit the website—http://www.embassiesinchina. com.In fact, from this website, the reader can even get contact details of diplomatic mission of any country in the world.

There is also a series of books entitled “Culture Shock (Name of Country)” that is available in bookshops, or on the internet which offers a good knowledge of the customs, traditions, etiquettes of the country concerned.

The readers can also surf the internet and visit websites of the country that he is interested in. Normally, countries would have their official websites with a rich source of information about themselves.

This means to learn from one’ s own and/or other’ s experience of a particular cultural environment.

The person can gain the experience by being involved in various business and social activities with the participation of people from different countries. Clubs, Churches, Charities, NGOs ,etc. are the best avenues to gain some experiential knowledge.

One can of course gain first-hand experience by visiting the country which he is interested in. During the visit, be it for business or for leisure, one must be open-minded enough to immerse himself in the local cuisine, travel as the locals would, and interact with the locals to find out as much as possible.

The other way of gaining experiential knowledge is to learn from colleagues, friends and relatives who have had the experience.

When interacting with people of different culture, one must not be afraid to ask about the meaning of the words used, the body language used by these people.

Take for example the fact that when a Chinese from China says“还可以” ( hai ke yi), if one does not ask, one will go away happily thinking that the Chinese is in agreement or like the idea, which is actually not so.

Another example is“马上到”(ma shang dao) which can be mistakenly taken that the person will arrive almost immediately. One should ask the exact time of arrival, otherwise one can have a very long wait before the other party arrives.

By asking, one can, through experience, appreciate and interpret the nuances of different cultural traits and patterns.

Respecting Cultural Differences

To admit and recognise the existence of cultural differences between cultures is just but the first step towards mutual understanding and good cooperation. The next step is to respect the foreign culture by accepting it without any judgement. There is no such thing about which culture is more superior. It is just a representation of the optimum way for the people of a particular culture to manage their respective life situations in the conditions they have been living in all their lives.

Acculturation is the process to adjust and adapt oneself to a specific culture other than his owns. It is the key to success in international operations.

One should try to seek common solution, mutual understanding and simplifying the process of behaving in a different cultural environment. It means one needs to give up something of his unimportant cultural practices which may mean a lot to people of another culture. A simple example will be to take off one’ s footwear when entering the home of some Asian families unless being told not to do so. To these families, it is a show of respect. This is by no means to suggest that one should give up his own cultural background.

The process of acculturation can be in four phases according to Weber et al. Inputs from real life experience will be added to elaborate on these phases.

This phase starts when one arrives in a host country. One starts to make new contacts with people from the same as well as those from the host country in work and social activities. The new contacts from the host country may be from work, neighbourhood and other community organization. The person shall also attempt to make contacts with people of his own country and culture through the diplomatic missions and other clubs and societies of one’ s own home country.

The organization where the person is posted shall also make special arrangement to let him settle in as comfortable as possible. As a result, one will feel very positive, as in the honeymoon phase mentioned in the earlier section on“Culture Shock”.

After the initial phase of learning and trying to understand the culture of the host country, conflicts will inevitably occur when problems arise. At work in the Asian environment, people are usually indirect, afraid of hurting the opposite party. They will either nod their head or say yes to whatever proposal that has been put forward by a Westerner. The latter whose culture is more direct will go away with thinking that the proposal was accepted. Then when he finds later on that it is not the case, Westerner will be very upset to know that the nodding and saying yes actually only mean that“we understand and we will give it some consideration”. On the other hand, Asian will consider it most impolite of the Westerner to be direct in their remarks and impatiently pushing for immediate decision. There was once an American born Chinese who was sent by a multinational consumer product manufacturer and brand owner to Asia as the Sales Manager of its Asian Regional Headquarter in Singapore. After 2 weeks’ of orientation, he started showing his arrogant behaviour of Americans being more superior to Asians. He would only want to deal with the No. 1 of the local Company. He did not last for long (only 4 months) as the locals boycotted him, and the Managing Director of the local Company told him to liaise with the manager of equivalent level. There are also cases of people wanting to keep to their own culture, their food and their way of doing things. As such, they offended the locals and ending up miserable throughout their whole period of stay in the host country.

Definitely there are people who are adaptive immediately or recover after an initial period of conflict. With better knowledge of the foreign language (spoken and body), customs and traditions and an attitude change to accommodate other cultural practices, life in the host country would then be more livable, so to speak.

Towards the end of stay in a host country, one has to readjust to the culture of the home country, especially when the overseas posting was for a long period of time. The person may have acquainted with the foreign habits and behavior, so much that this person may undergo what Weber et al termed as contracultural shock. It is not easy to generalise this phase, as it is dependent on the many work-life experience and length of stay of the individual’ s stay abroad .

With the tremendous pace of development in many countries and the ease of travelling, the world is getting smaller. There are much more chances of having interaction with people of different cultural background. As such, we would suggest a few tips in this concluding section of our book.

We have to be sensitive towards the religious, beliefs, traditions, etiquettes of people who are culturally different from us. We should refrain ourselves from imposing our own standard and what we consider being acceptable practices to others. It is just a“win some, lose some”situation. We have to be sensitive and respectful of other people before they would do likewise towards us. Simple gestures such as being respectful of the practices when we enter the places of abode and worship of other culture, not to criticize those practices which may seem unacceptable in our native country. In particular, people from better developed societies must be patient and tolerant of the practices of the less developed societies even if they have very good reasons to believe the practices may not be sensible ones. We must bear in mind that our ancestors might have gone through the same “evolution”journey much earlier on before we can have the foundation now we have to proceed further.

Do ask for clarification politely if we do not understand what is being said and practiced, so as to avoid embarrassment to both parties due to misunderstanding. It is not a shame to ask something we don’ t understand. Most of the problems that we have nowadays is that people just ignore and neglect what they don’t understand or try to force to change everything which are not in line with what they think or simply they don’ t understand to the stage which they consider acceptable.

—Embrace Local Culture

Without forgetting one’ s own roots, one must have the attitude of“In Rome Do as the Romans Do” . Try to learn, understand and join in local activities as the locals do. We can then be more ready for　the locals to accept us and co-operate with us. Otherwise, the“them”and“us”situation will definitely give rise to endless misunderstanding and conflicts.

There are many ways that we can do this: in wearing local costumes sometimes, enjoy local cuisine and cultural activities. Say it honestly, my own experience tells there will be lots of funs for you to do so. So, do set free yourself to embrace new experience in different culture and you will certainly find the experience rewarding.

—Build Relationships

In a foreign country, one should try to have as many local friends as possible.　We find that “guan xi” (good relationship) in the positive context is of utmost importance, as it entails certain degree of flexibility on the part of both parties to see each other’ s points of view and reach a “Win-Win” conclusion, beneficial to both. We just need to be aware, as mentioned in the section of “Be Sensitive” of the acceptable and “taboos” of the other party.

One of my friends who came from Singapore to work in Shanghai and he tried to join the local community. There were cases during the interactions between my friend and the local people which caused embarrassment to the locals because they sometimes found out that they were “less” developed in many ways as reflected in their interaction with my Singaporean friend. In response to such situation, the Singaporean would always let the locals know that Singapore, being a much smaller country than China, also took at least 3 generations to reach their current standards. By being humble and willing to accept and adapt, this Singaporean has gained the acceptance and respect of many locals and most of them became his very good friends in China, so much so that he could get things done in China much easier with their help.

Perhaps it is the biggest mistake of anyone who is posted to a foreign country to have a herd instinct to just employ people of one’ s own kind instead of the locals. Firstly the approach will not be welcomed and acceptable by the local authorities because it is always the mission of the local government to create job opportunities to their people. Secondly, the locals are definitely more familiar with the local laws, rules, regulations and practices etc., and how to get things done effectively. Discrimination towards local employees is certainly not advisable and may cause damage in the long run.

—Help Locals to Understand You

While one is making efforts to adapt to local practices, it is equally important to help the locals to understand your own culture and practices. We must impart this knowledge in a humble manner. Most misunderstanding and conflicts can be avoided if one understands where the other party is coming from, so to speak. Again, we would like to bring up the case of wearing a headgear in a place of worship mentioned much earlier in this book. The “conflict” was resolved by letting both parties understand their way of respecting the place of worship in their own respective culture.

—Adaptive Business Practices

To be successful in any market, the business concerned must adapt its products and practices to suit local culture. There are many cases on this point. Beverage companies will adjust the level of ingredients like sugar content to suit local taste. McDonald’ s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut have adopted the practice of introducing products that suit the local palate. Kentucky Fried Chicken went one step further by starting another chain of restaurants serving popular local cuisine.

In most of the countries outside their home base, the multinationals would manage their businesses by grouping a number of countries under a Regional Headquarters in a country that they see as most advantages to them. However, in China, though one country, by virtue of its size managed on a regional basis, with a Greater China Head Office, either in Beijing or Shanghai.

Shall end this book with the following quotations:

“We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”

“When you’ re finally up on the moon, looking back at the earth, all these differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend and you’ re going to get a concept that maybe this is really one world and why the hell can’ t we learn to live together like decent people?”

“A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest —a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.”