How to negotiate abroad
‘There was once a Finn who loved his wife so much that he almost told
her.’ It’s a joke, and yet not a joke. Because many Finns are indeed
introverted, taciturn people.
Anyone who has come into contact with other cultures knows that
stereotypes and prejudices can’t always be trusted (the Scots are frugal,
the Swiss are punctual, the Finns are introverted), but that they do often
contain a germ of truth. Or, to put it another way, you might say that while
many clichés are true, the more you get to know a culture, the more black
and white turns to grey.
In order to get to grips with a culture it is not enough to master the
language, as cultural idiosyncrasies are more apparent in the way we
communicate than in what we communicate. What is required is so-called
‘intercultural communication’. The term was coined by the Dutch social
psychologist Geert Hofstede, while its most famous proponent is the
British linguist Richard D. Lewis. In his classic book When Cultures
Collide (2005), he defines three main cultural types: the linear-active, the
multi-active and the reactive:
- The linear-active, who include most of Western Europe and the USA,
talk about as much as they listen, have fairly restrained body language,
are polite but direct, like to deal in facts, and place value on the written
word. They don’t do two things at once.- The multi-active, such as Mediterraneans or Saudi Arabians, are
loquacious, gesticulate a lot, are emotional, juggle with facts, place
value on the spoken word, and do many things at the same time.- The reactive, such as the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans, speak less and
try to get their counterpart to speak first; they have very subtle body
language, are courteous and indirect, are non-confrontational, and place
value on face-to-face communication.But, contrary to what our schematic categorization might suggest, there
are no pure alignments, only spectrums. Indians, for example, are hybrid –