Cross-cultural business

A little research into the literature on proxemics soon cleared things up. I found out that the more expressive your culture, the smaller your space bubble tends to be.

Figure 7.3 shows the approximate range of same-gender space-bubble sizes across cultures in a business situation.

Fig. 7.3 Distance Behavior. The Use of Space

CLOSE: 20 to 35 cms (8 to 14 inches) The Arab World, The Mediterranean Region, Latin Europe, Latin America

DISTANT: 40 to 60 cms (16 to 24 inches) Most Asians, Northern, Central and Eastern Europeans, North Americans

Space: When Worlds Collide

Some Arab men show their friendliness to other males by moving in so close you soon know what they had for lunch. If you are a large-bubble person you will probably instinctively step back, which of course signals the Arab you don't like him. Not at all a good way to start a productive business relationship!

On the other hand, a small-bubble business visitor meeting his East Asian or northern European counterpart risks being taken for an ag~ gressive, even hostile person intent on intimidation.

The first few weeks in Italy 1 subconsciously tried to avoid those friendly Latin space invaders by keeping a conference table or desk between us. But our gregarious visitors from various parts of Italy and the Mediterranean basin would either walk right around to my side of the desk or lean towards me way across the table. Which made me feel they were constantly "getting in my face" - a revealing American phrase which connotes aggressive, threatening behavior. However, once I understood why Latins and other Mediterranean peoples like to get so close 1 felt more comfortable during business meetings there.

Expressive people engage in more physical contact in public than men and women from more reserved cultures. Figure 7.4 classifies cultures by the degree to which touch behavior is accepted.

Fig. 7.4

HIGH CONTACT CULTURES The Arab World The Mediterranean Region Latin Europe and Latin America

MODERATE CONTACT Eastern Europe, North America, Australia

LOW CONTACT CULTURES Most of Asia,  UK and Northern Europe

How Touching!

Differences in touch behavior are serious enough for problems to arise even between cultures located fairly close together on the chart. For example, the "moderate" Americans do far too much shoulder-patting, elbow-grabbing and back-slapping to please most British people. But on the other hand Latin Americans often accuse Yanks of being snobbish and stand-offish because we do not engage in enough physical touching.

Similarly, the variation between the British and the French is surprisingly large considering that these two European countries are separated only be a narrow channel of water. Some years ago researchers studied comparative touch behavior in Paris and London cafes by counting the number of times couples touched each other on the hand, arm, shoulder etc. They counted about 100 touches in Paris and ... you probably guessed it ... exactly zero times in London.

Even though the French are known to be a tactile people compared to the Brits, that large a variation between people of neighboring cultures warns us of what to expect when we venture abroad.

Touching: How?

Touch behavior regarded as proper in one culture may be quite inappropriate in another. Shortly after we relocated to New Delhi I was surprised by an incident which occurred during a trip to Bombay (now called Mumbai).

After a very pleasant morning business meeting my Indian counterpart casually took my hand while we were walking to a restaurant for lunch. Now, at that point 1 had to make a quick decision. If a man wants to hold hands with me in Chicago, London or Frankfurt, I know exactly what is going on: In those cultures men who hold hands with other men are sending a clear nonverbal message of sexual interest. But here I was in India. Does same-gender hand-holding mean the same thing in South Asia?

For the next few seconds I was in a bit of a sweat. Then I remembered having seen a couple of our male friends in New Delhi holding hands with other men from time to time. 1 was glad to realize it was nothing more than a gesture of friendship. And even gladder that 1 had not hastily pulled my hand away - that would have been a very rude move indeed in India.

Touch Behavior: Shaking Hands Across Cultures

Among business people the world over the handshake is the most common form of physical contact. Figure 7.5 lists a few of the variations.

Fig. 7.5 The Handshake

Germans Firm, Brisk and Frequent

Arabs Gentle Repeated and lingering

French Light, Quick and Frequent

South Asians Gentle, Often Lingering

British Moderate

Koreans Moderately Firm

Latin Americans Firm and Frequent

Most Asians Very Gentle and Infrequent

North Americans Firm and Infrequent

Most Europeans shake hands each time they meet and again when they take leave. North Americans shake hands less often than Europeans but more firmly than most Asians.

The Eyes Have It

Perhaps the subtlest form of body language is gaze behavior. We are easily confused when people use either stronger or weaker eye contact than we do. Figure 7.6 displays the variations.

Figure 7.6

INTENSE EYE CONTACT The Arab World and the Mediterranean Region Latin Europeans and Latin Americans

FIRM TO MODERATE EYE CONTACT Northern Europe and North America Korea and Thailand

INDIRECT EYE CONTACT Most of Asia

I conduct business with negotiators at both ends of the gaze-behavior spectrum. When meeting with Arabs, Turks and Latin Europeans for example 1 try to look them firmly- in the eye whenever I am speaking to them or they are talking to me. Very expressive cultures seem to value strong, direct eye contact.

Eye Contact in Expressive Cultures

My long assignment in Florence taught me the importance of appropriate gaze behavior. One day I was walking to the train station accompanied by my friend Paolo. It was a only a ten-minute stroll and there was plenty of time - or there would have been had it not been for the southern European concept of proper eye contact.

Every time Paolo had something to say he would grab me by the shoulders and turn me towards him so that we could look directly into each other's eyes. Since talkative Paolo did that every few steps, I actually ended up missing my train. From that day on 1 mentally doubled my estimated walking time when in the company of a Latin European.

Where I grew up you chat with your companions as you walk side by side, automatically scanning the surface in front of you so as to sidestep as many dog droppings as possible. But in the truly expressive societies of this world that kind of walking and talking would be considered cold and impersonal. Expressive people like to read your eyes and your facial expressions as they talk to you: Direct eye contact is a critical element of correct body language.

Italian gaze protocol in an automobile is especially interesting. Our first month in Florence found me on the autostrada headed for Milan at 140 kilometers an hour (over 85 mph) with my colleague Giorgio driving. Giorgio was briefing me on the complex negotiation scheduled for that afternoon and wanted to be sure I understood every single detail. So he kept studying my face intently to see if I was getting it while waving his free arm to emphasize the importance of what he was telling me.

I could not believe it. Here we were hurtling around curves and roaring through dimly-lit tunnels at high speed in a car driven one-handed by a guy whose eyes were focused mainly on the passenger next to him rather than on the road ahead.

About half way to Milan I broke my long silence to croak, "Okay Giorgio, it's my turn to drive now!" And for the next eight years I did most the driving when I was in Italy. I never was able to get used to that particular facet of Italian gaze behavior.

Eye Contact in the Pacific Rim

Business visitors to East and Southeast Asia should prepare themselves to encounter exactly the opposite style of gaze behavior. Here a direct gaze may be interpreted as a hostile act. For instance, with the Japanese I try not to stare them in the eye across the conference table.

Many Japanese and other Asians feel uncomfortable with strong eye contact. Singaporean Chinese have asked me, "X"y are you looking so fierce?" Intense eye contact makes many Asians think you are trying to intimidate them, to 'stare them down.'

Similarly it is a good idea to avoid a direct gaze on the street. In Malaysia and Singapore - both countries with relatively little violent crime - a man staring at another male is assumed to be provoking a fight. And a woman who makes more than fleeting eye contact with a man is assumed to want sex with him right then and there.

Some visitors think to avoid such problems by donning sunglasses. Unfortunately that solution creates another problem: In Southeast Asia it is rude to have your dark glasses on when conversing with someone.

There is one more aspect of gaze behavior of interest to globe-trotting negotiators. In the highly expressive, intense-gaze cultures of the Mediterranean region two men talking to each other will stand practically nose to nose, directly facing each other. This stance allows plenty of opportunity for eye-reading and face-reading.

By way of contrast, in the more moderate-gaze cultures of the UK and North America one often sees two business people conversing at right angles to each other. Anglo-Saxons feel less need for reading each other's expressions. They may even feel uncomfortable with too much face-to-face contact.

Nonverbal Negotiating Behavior: Kinesics

Two aspects of kinesics are of special importance for international negotiators: facial expressions and hand and arm gestures. Expressive people employ plenty of both while their brothers and sisters from the more reserved cultures are famous for 'poker faces' and little bodily movement.

Expressive negotiators gesticulate to add emphasis to what they are saying as well as to send nonverbal messages. Those from reserved cultures value restrained nonverbal behavior and discourage open display of emotion.

Expressive Latins seem to wear their hearts on their sleeves. They trust people who show their feelings openly and distrust those who mask their emotions. In contrast, the tacitum Japanese and Germans may regard such displays as childish and immature.

Facial Expression: Raised Eyebrows

Negotiators are likely to encounter raised eyebrows in many parts of the world. But flashing one's eyebrows sends different signals in different cultures.

Fig. 7.7

North Americans Interest. Surprise

Filipinos "Hello!"

British Skepticism

Arabs "No!"

Germans "You are clever!"

Chinese Disagreement

What this list shows is that the same expression can have a different meaning - sometimes even the opposite meaning - in another culture. The same applies to hand and arm gestures.

Ambiguous Gestures

Use of Left Hand. The left hand is considered unclean in Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Avoid touching people or handing them objects such as your business card with the left hand. An American expatriate manager in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, learned that while he could sign letters and documents with his left hand he had to hand them to people with his right.

A participant in one of our "Negotiating in the Pacific Rim" seminars- at the University of Wisconsin's Management Institute asked what to do in Thailand. He had traveled to Bangkok enough to know that the left hand is considered unclean there. But he also knew that to show respect to high-status persons you have to hand them a gift or a business card with both hands.

We explained that the Thais and some other Asians have found a neat way to dodge the horns of the two-hand dilemma. The approved procedure is to offer the object in your right hand cupping your right elbow with the left hand. Thus both arms are involved, showing respect, while only the (clean) right hand actually touches the object being passed.

Showing the Sole of Your Shoe. The bottom of your shoe or of your foot is also regarded as unclean in the same cultures. Foreign visitors should avoid crossing their legs in such a way that the sole of their shoe is visible to anyone.

Patting a Child on the Head. The Buddhist-influenced cultures of Southeast Asia believe that a child's soul resides in his or her head. To touch the head risks damaging the soul. This taboo is a bit frustrating for me. At the Bangkok airport Thai children often come up to me, fascinated by this strange-looking farang. I have to constantly restrain myself from patting them on the head.

Fist in Palm. Giving my first presentation in Southeast Asia I emphasized the key point by pounding the palm of my left hand with my right fist. When several people in the audience gasped or tittered I knew right away I had committed a faux pas. After the talk two local people kindly came forward to tell me that bit of body language is similar to an obscene sexual gesture.

Index Finger.. Pointing. Throughout East and Southeast Asia it is very rude to point at anyone with your forefinger. Instead, use your whole hand - flat with the palm down in Japan, clenched with the thumb on top in most of the ASEAN countries. You may also jerk your chin in the direction you wish to indicate. The most subtle way is simply glance in the direction you wish to indicate.

Index Finger.. Beckoning. During one of my seminars at the Niels Brock Business College in Copenhagen a professor opened the lecture room door and signaled to a colleague by crooking her index finger in the familiar Euro-American beckoning motion. Which provided me with a perfect opportunity to explain that all over Asia that particular gesture is reserved for calling dogs and prostitutes. A repeated scooping motion of the right hand is the polite way to beckon those who happen to be neither canines nor ladies of the night.

Tapping Your Head. Non-Europeans are constantly amazed that body language can vary so widely within this tiny appendage of the Eurasian land mass.

A good example is the head tap.

In France, Italy and Germany if you tap your forehead or temple with your finger while looking at someone you are saying nonverbally, "Hey, you are stupid!"

Be particularly careful using that sign in Germany where it is called Vogelzeigen and will cost you a DM 75 fine if the Polizei catch you doing it

In Spain or Great Britain that same gesture is self-referential and means, "I am so clever!"

In the Netherlands, watch carefully. If a Dutchman taps the right side of his head with the index finger vertical it translates "You are a very smart person." But if he taps his forehead with the finger horizontal he is saying "You are an idiot!"

The 'Thumbs Up' Sign. Be careful with this one too. While the raised thumb is slowly becoming a universal sign for "Great!" it isn't quite there yet. In Germany and other parts of Europe for example it signifies the numeral one. But to many Europeans and Muslim peoples it is a very rude sexual sign.

The 'Peace" Sign. The two-fingered V gesture - the first two fingers extended with palm facing outwards - meant V for victory during World War II. But if you accidentally reverse your hand and flash the sign with your palm facing inwards, you have really done it. Should that happen you had better be bigger than the person you just insulted, because the peace sign reversed means roughly the same thing as 'flipping the bird' - raising your middle finger with the palm in.

The 'A-OK' Sign. The thumb-and-forefinger circle is easily the most dangerous and ambiguous of gestures. Of course most of its multiple meanings are harmless enough:

American astronauts: "Everything OK. All systems go!"

For the Japanese the circular shape looks like a coin, so it means "Now we are talking about money."

In the south of France that shape symbolizes the zero, so it indicates quite the opposite - "nothing" or "worthless."

But in the Iberian peninsula, much of Latin America, parts of Europe and Russia, LOOK OUT! In those cultures it is used as a vulgar sexual suggestion - extremely insulting. The risk of giving offense is so great that I have stopped using the A-OK sign entirely for fear of flashing that sign in the wrong place.

The Cultural Relativity of Business Behavior

The susceptibility of nonverbal language gestures to misinterpretation underlines a major challenge for people trying to do business across cultures: Behavior which is polite and quite proper in our culture may be rude and highly offensive in another.

To help international business travelers avoid damaging blunders our next chapter focuses on global business protocol.