Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

Individualism VS Collectivism 

Not too long ago, one of my friends shared a story regarding a business deal between a German firm and a Chinese firm with me. At first, it did not strike me as anything out of the ordinary. It was only during the lesson on the importance of fostering intercultural communication that the significance of the story struck me. I realized how ineffective intercultural communication could lead to failure in business in our globalized world. The story goes like this:

Several years ago, a German company found a profitable project that was being outsourced by a Chinese company and they were interested in investing in the project. The German company then sent a team over to China to explore the possibility of collaboration. The large state-owned Chinese company also wished to collaborate with the Germans. Once they knew that the German company was sending over a team, the Chinese company engaged in a lot of preparatory work to make the Germans’ business trip as hospitable as possible.

On the first day of the Germans’ arrival, the Chinese company hosted a very grand dinner to welcome the Germans. Following that, the Germans were brought to watch a famous traditional Chinese play. On their second day in China, the Chinese company arranged a one-day tour of the city for the Germans, including visits to some historical sites. The day ended with yet another big dinner which was presided over by some local government officials. It was on the third day, that the Chinese company finally showcased their project to the Germans. They pulled off the presentation very well and were successful in making their project seem as impressive as it was.

At the end of the business trip however, the Germans gave up on their plans of investing in the project. They felt that the Chinese company had spent too much time and other valuable resources on irrelevant activities, such as the extravagant dinners and the city tour. They were left with the impression that the Chinese company merely wanted to secure investment funds from the German side without really caring about the project itself. This led to their decision to back out from the business deal.

The decision on the part of the Germans came as a huge shock to the Chinese company, however, as they were sincere in their desire to collaborate with the Germans on the project. They were clueless as to what had gone wrong.

What can we learn from this story? It was ineffective intercultural communication that caused the business deal to fall through. Coming from a collectivistic culture, the Chinese always regard relationships amongst people as one of the most important aspects of communication. This often results in them treating people as more important than the business deal itself. However, the Germans hail from the other end of the spectrum. They are extremely task-oriented when it comes to work, and keeping business and pleasure strictly separate is of utmost importance to them. As such, when they observed that the Chinese were placing too much emphasis on cultivating relationships and much less emphasis on the project itself, they misinterpreted it to mean that the Chinese lacked task-focus and that they were unmotivated with the regards to the project.

Such cultural barriers due to ignorance do indeed hinder effective intercultural communication. Thus, it is important to make an effort to learn about and understand the cultural backgrounds of those whom we are dealing with so as to attain intercultural competence. This would definitely go a long way in allowing us to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunication.