Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2019 - 52

GLOBAL
OUTLOOK

THE ADAPTATION OF
CROSS-CULTURAL COMPETENCE
BY DEBASHREE ROY, PH.D.

Today, a business' reach can span
across the globe with manufacturing
units, support, warehouses, shared
workplaces and distribution centers.
Global interdependence requires a shift
toward team collaboration across cultures
to sustain today's technology-enriched
business environment. However, it takes a
split second to alienate business partners
by unintentionally encroaching on cultural
norms or breaking intercultural protocols.
Culture is a shared pattern of values,
attitudes, beliefs, practices, ideas and
behaviors that define the way of life of a
group (i.e., a country, state, organization
or linguistic assemblage).
Competence is often mistaken for
knowledge or skill. While knowledge is
information processed by the brain - a
theoretical or practical understanding
of a subject - skill is the ability to carry
out a task, with determined results,
within a given span of time and energy.
Competence refers to the ability
to do the same task efficiently and
repeatedly with superior performance.
Hence, cross-cultural competence can
be defined as "the process of exchanging
meaningful and unambiguous information
across cultures in a way that preserves
mutual respect and minimizes conflict."
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN
CROSS-CULTURAL COMPETENCE
Management consultant Peter Drucker
once said, "Culture eats strategy for

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breakfast." This statement is even
more apt for communication across
cultures. Cross-cultural communication
can be defined as "a process of
exchanging, negotiating, and mediating
one's cultural differences through
language, non-verbal gestures, and
space relationships."
The art and science of communication
- both verbal and nonverbal - has
gained a lot of momentum recently.
Organizations are investing millions
in training on speaking properly and
adopting the conversational nuances
of business partners, even mimicking
communication styles.

WITHOUT
UNDERSTANDING
CULTURAL VALUES,
SPEAKING THE SAME
LANGUAGE CANNOT
MITIGATE POTENTIAL
COMMUNICATION
PROBLEMS.
A closer look at the challenges of
achieving cross-cultural competence
reveals that communication is more
than language. It also requires an
understanding of cultural values.
In addition, technology has made
overcoming language barriers easy; just
download an app, insert an earpiece
and receive an instant translation.

Other consequential aspects of
communication that impact crosscultural competence are:
* Body language and gestures: The
implications of gestures and other
body language vary from culture to
culture and include eye contact (some
cultures prefer direct eye contact
when conversing, while it may indicate
a challenge in others), head nodding
(considered "yes" in some cultures
and "no" in others), raising an eyebrow,
pointing a finger, and posture.
* Tone and pace: Tone conveys mood
and attitude in verbal and non-verbal
communication, and tonal variations
can easily lead to misinterpretations,
even within the same cultural group.
"OK" is a widely used English term.
Change your tone while saying
it, and it changes the message
conveyed altogether. Pace is another
aspect of spoken language that
can impact communication across
cultures. Speaking too quickly when
communicating with a non-native
English speaker can lead to gaps
in understanding and adversely
impact communication.
* Word choice: Jargon, idioms and
phrases that are commonly used in
one's cultural group often negatively
affect cross-cultural communication.
Even organizations have their own
lingo. For medical personnel, "stat"
means "immediately." In other
industries, it can be an abbreviated
version of "statistics."
https://www.communispond.com/insights/blog/2016/06/29/82/barriers-to-cross-cultural-business-communication/
Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2019

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