Intercultural communication report

This was the project based on studying the Chinese culture which includes their lifestyle, business model, different religions in china etc. It also provide an overview of how to start the business in China and which are the points to be kept in mind for doing business in China.

1. INTERCULTURAL STANDERDS AND DIMENSIONS






Submitted by : Ekant shah
Matriculation number : 11007868

2. Contents

Sr.no. Topics Page number
1 Abstract
2 Introduction
3 Introduction to intercultural
communication

4 China
5 Culture in china
6 Tools of intercultural communication
7 6 Dimensions of Geert Hofstede


8 LEWIS MODEL - DIMENSION OF
BEHAVIOUR


9 Organisational culture and diversity


10 Business model in china


11 Conclusion
12 References

3. Abstract
We all have been thought in our school times that all people are equal. But is
that true? Do we treat each other equally? The answer is NO. We all have been
taught to be good to everyone, by means of different leaders, saints which gave
rise to different cultures in the world. As their teachings were same through
different modes, this studies were modified by some greedy people which could
have turned the way the picture was before. In this paper we will be talking
about a country which had great history and are trying their best to have a great
future. China it is. In this paper we will go through different cultures in china,
their language, their cultural difference and the way business takes place in
china.

Introduction
Intercultural communication is a form of communication which aims to have
sharing of information across different cultures and social groups. The fast
growing of globalization in the world has increased the needs of the people to
be involved in international activities in such fields as education, business,
medicine, religion and even the military. In fact, people with different cultural
backgrounds are becoming more and more interdependent on each other. In
order to educate people to obtain a greater global awareness and supply them
with effective and appropriate communication skills in their intercultural
meeting, the academic research of intercultural communication has grown up
and aroused progressive interest among researchers in this field. Many
scholars and researchers have proceeded deep into the field and produced a
varieties of works on various topics related to intercultural communication It is
a tool used to describe the wide range of communication processes and
problems that may naturally appear within an organization or social context,
which are made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and
educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication deals seeks to
understand how people from different countries act communicate, react and
perceive the world around them. Intercultural communication studies differ from
people to people from different cultural background. Not only in language but
also focus on social attributes, thoughts, patterns and culture of different
groups. Given the variety of existing cultures and the fact that variations might
occur within a national culture, it is very difficult and challenging to define a

4. globally applicable concept. Culture has a large impact in how people do the
business, therefore it is getting very important to understand cultural
implications for succeeding in international context. International
communication is also regarded as the base for international business.

Importance of intercultural communication.
Intercultural communication offers the ability to deal across the different
cultures, which is increasingly important. Being able to understand this diverse
culture of different countries, is becoming a survival issue to thrive in a global
world as a global leader. The important decisions regarding politics business
education health and cultural have and significant effect of one or more country.
To live, work, play in an increasingly interconnected world, we all need to
effectively communicate with the people and understand their diverse culture.


CHINA
History
China, not only famous for its great wall, but is a country which has one of the
strongest consumer markets but also serves as an important and unsurpassed
arena of global production. It is the second largest state land area in accordance
to land. Ranking 1
st
in population, it is interesting to know how things work in
china. Apart from the cultural point of view, China is global hub for
manufacturing and it has the world’s largest exporter goods in the world. It is
also the world’s fastest growing economy.

Culture in China
China has always a multi-religion country since the ancient times. It is famous
all round that Confucianism is an local religion and is the soul of Chinese
culture, which enjoyed popular support from the native people and even
became the guiding ideology for feudalism society, but due to some reason, it
did not develop into a national belief. According to people, It makes the culture
more tolerant to others, and thus, many other religions from all over the world
have been brought into the country in different dynasties, but none of them
became so powerful enough in the past and only provide different people more

5. spiritual support. According to a latest survey, 85% of Chinese people have
religious beliefs or had some religious practices and only 15% of them are real
disbeliever. The real atheists here refer to those person who lack the belief in
the existence of god or goddess and do not join in any religious activities.
According to studies,185 million people believe in Buddhism and 33 million
have faith in Christianity and others believes in the existence of God. Thus, it
is obvious that the Buddhism has the widest influence. The other major religions
are Taoism, Confucianism, Islam and Christianity.

Buddhism
Buddhism was brought into China back in 2,000 years ago, and it was widely
accepted by most Chinese people and developed into three sections, namely
the Han, Tibetan and Southern Buddhism. Buddhism in china not only brought
a different religion, but it also brought a different culture. It effect the local culture
on three main aspects: literature, art and ideology.
Han Buddhism: - according to studies these Buddhism has over 8,400 temples
and 50 thousand monks, it is the largest branch on the mainland of China.
Tibetien Buddhism: - It is the second large sector and has over 3,000 temples
and 120 thousand monks.
Southern Buddhism: - on the 3
rd
place having 8,000 monks and 1,600 temples,
this sect has the smallest scale.

Confucianism
Confucianism, basically is not a real religion, but is just an ethical and
philosophical system, which was developed from the people’s thoughts and
later was treated as a kind of belief to educate common people. It has gained
its stable position under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (202BC-
220AD), and then became the ideology of the society in the feudal system since
then. It is based on the Four Books and Five Classics, the traditions and
principles in this religion has played an important role in the formation of
Chinese people’s thinking patterns and teaching methods. For example, belief
of the mean type of behaviour can be seen by communications among people.
Now, to some extent, where Chinese people stay or live, there will always be
Confucianism.

6. Toaism
Taoism, has more than 1,800 years’ history which was originated in the Warring
Period and came into being in Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220). Now there are
about 300 Taoist Temples which are scattered around China, and in which
about 30 thousand Taoists lived in. There are around 5 Taoist schools, which
exist in the country and amongst them two main sections are included in
Taoism. Back in the 1,800 years, Taoism influenced the local culture deeply,
especially on traditional medicine and literature. There are some theories based
on some of alchemists such as Wei Boyang in Eastern Han Dynasty, several
different kinds of medicine prescriptions were created by Sun Simiao and many
other doctors during the time. In literature, there are many fictional characters
which are closely related with Taoism, such as the Jade Emperor. Apart from
the main cities of China, many Taoists live in Hong Kong, Macau and some
foreign countries.

Tools of Intercultural communication
1) Language
2) Graphic/ image
3) Videos/ sounds
These are the ways in which people can communicate. Either by language, by
showing images and graphics or by showing them videos or making them hear
sound. In china the main problem for a new people is the problem of language.
There is a good thing about china tha most of the part of china speaks same
language i.e. Madarin. So if one want to do business or want to go a visit china
it is at most important to have a basic knowledge of Chinese language or may
be people can have some of the pictures or videos to help them understand
what exactly you mean. Below are some of the information over language which
is spoken in china.

7. Language
In total china has 298 languages .All of this languages are spoken in some or
the other part of china. Out of this 274 languages have originated in a particular
region, 24 are not indigenous. Furthermore 23 new languages are developing
and 14 are institutional languages, 126 are in trouble and 32 languages are on
a verge of getting extinct. Chinese compromises of 7 main dialects and they
are, Madarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Wu, Min, Xiang, and Gan. The Madarin is the
official national language of mainland of china. Han Chinese in total represents
92% of the total Chinese population. About 2/3 of the of the han speaking
Chinese people speaks a variant of the madarin language. In china the mother
tongue is mostly used for less formal occasions such as conversations at home,
with family, friends, relatives, entertainment etc.


This figure shows which languages are spoken in which part of china

There is a lot of difference between the Europeans and the Chinese people. For
better understanding, comparing china and European standards.
 Personal space:-
As seen in picture, there is nothing as such
as private space for the people living in china.
The main reason for this is the population.
So if you are going out anywhere in china,
you will find a lot of people around you. But it
opposite in Europe. People have their own

8. personal space and the city or most of the countries in Europe are not
so crowded.

 Umbrella in sunshine
When it’s a sunny day in china, you will find
people having an umbrella in hand. The reason
for this that people in china have desire over the
white skin rather than getting tann. On ther other
hand people of euope will prefer getting tanned.

 Lining up in a circle
In china people never wait in a single line for instance if there is any concert or
tickets for any program etc. there will be people
crowding near the window service or cutting the line
. in Europe people wait patiently for their turn to come
and if there is any one handicapped the preference
are given to them.

 Restaurants Norms
Restaurants norms in china are much more
different from the Europeans and Americans.
Instead of spoon and knife, one may always did a
chopsticks and spoon instead. Restaurants in china
can be a noisy as compared to Europeans and
Americans. People in restaurants order their food
and beer whenever they feel like which Europeans can find a bit rude.


 Time management
In Europe people are very much
punctual and like it when the work is
done on time. They are reserved
type of people. On the contrary
people in china like to spend quality

9. time with their natives or the people around them.
Problem solving techniques
Nature of people in china is very polite. In every case they try to avoid violence.
Below are some of the cases in which help us understand how Chinese people
reacts in a particular situation.

 In the case adjacent, the people of china don’t show
any expression when they are in a meeting or when
they are angry or happy. While there is an obvious
expression on the face of the Europeans. When they
are angry, happy or sad, everything can be read on
their faces

 In china whenever there is a
mistake done by a particular
person, he or she comes forward
and accepts the mistake while on
the other hand it’s not the same
thing in Europe. People will blame
and no one take the
responsibility.


 Europeans are very straight forward i.e. if they
don’t like any work, they will directly say it
while on the other hands the Chinese people
are very gentle. Even if they don’t like any
work they won’t say no on the face, but will find
a reason a possible reason to avid that work.

10. 6 Dimensions of Geert Hofstede
Hofstede dimensional theory is a framework which is designed for intercultural
communication, developed by Geert Hofstede. It describes the effects of
society’s culture on the value of its members, and how this values are related
to ones behaviour using a derived structure from factor analysis.
There are 6 dimensions of national culture. They are as follows.
1. Power distance index
2. Individualism
3. Masculinity
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. Long term orientation
6. Indulgence

Power Distance Index:
Power distance is basically defined as the extent to which less powerful
members of the institutions and organisation within the country except and
accepts that power is distributed unequally. China has the highest PDI
amongst all other countries i.e. the people of china believe that inequalities
among the people are acceptable. They believe that people should not have
aspirations beyond their rank.

11. Individualism:
This is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its
members. In individualism people are supposed to look about themselves
and their family only. Collectivist are those who belong to group and take
care of them in exchange of royalty. China at a score of 20 belong to
collectivist group, where people act in group rather than action alone.
Employee commitment is low while on the other hand relationships with
colleagues is high. Personal relationships prevail over company and task.

Masculinity:
A high score on this factor indicates that the society will be driven by
achievements and success, with success defined by the winner best in the
field. This type of system start in school and continues in organisational life.

Uncertainty avoidance:
It is the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by the
ambiguous the unknown situation and have created beliefs and institutions
that try to avoid these is reflected in this uncertainty avoidance. China has
a low score in this section. At 30 the Chinese are adaptable and
entrepreneurial.

Long term Orientation:
This Long term Oritentation dimension describes how every society has to
maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of
the present and future, and societies prioritise these two existential goals
differently. At 80, Chinese people have a very pragmatic culture. The have
an ability to adapt to changing conditions, a strong propensity to save and
invest and perseverance in achieving results.

Indulgence:
This defines the extent to which people try to control their desires and
impulses, based on the way they are raised. Weak control is called
indulgence and strong control is called restraint. China is a restrained
society as seen from the score which is 24.

12. LEWIS MODEL- dimension of behaviour
The Lewis model was developed in 1990s. He came to the conclusion on this
model after he had visited 135 countries and had worked in more than 20 of
them. He came to the conclusion that humans can be divided into 3 categories,
which is not based on nationality or religion but on the BEHAVIOUR. This 3
category are namely Liner-active, multi active and reactive. The Lewis model is
based on the data which is drawn from 50,000 taking residential courses and
more than 150,000 online questonnaries to 68 different nationalities and has
produced the following results.

Linear-Active:
The people which falls in this type of category do not speak completely, they
speak half. The linear active people does one thing at a time and don’t do
multiple work at a same time. They are very well planned and do their work step
by step. Nature of this people is very polite but they are very direct in terms of
speaking. They are very job oriented and like the facts. They believe in truth
and separates the social and professionals.

Multi-active:
As the name suggests this people do multiple tasks at a given time. They are
talkative and as well as emotional. This type of people cannot hide their feelings
and can display very easily. They are people oriented rather than job oriented.
Unlike the linear active people, this people mixes the social and professional
life.


Reactive:
This people are calm other than others. They are a good listeners. This type of
people obey their principles, are polite and never show up their emotions. They
never lose their face and does interrupt the other people. They believe in
diplomacy rather than truth. This type of people connects both social and
professionals.

13. As shown in above diagram the people of china falls near reactive category.

Organisational culture and diversity
Organisational culture is defined as the shared values and beliefs which helps
members to understand their roles and norms of the organisation including the
below points.
 Observing behaviour in typified by common language, rituals and
terminology.
 Norms which are reflected by the things such as cooperation between
the employees, the amount of work to do.
 Important values which are expected by the participants to share (high
efficiency, low absenteeism etc.)
 Philosophy on how the people and the employees should be treated.
 Rules which define do’s and don’ts of the company.
 Organisational climate in which a good interaction between the
employees and each other and also about how they are treated by high
level management authorities.

14. There are 4 different types of diversity culture
1. Family culture
2. Eiffel tower
3. Guided missile
4. Incubator

1. Family culture:
This type of culture is same as that of the culture in one’s house. There
is a head person in house and everyone listens to him and looks up to
him as a role model. Same is the case in organisational structure. In this
type, there is a head of all employee, and all the employee obeys what
is being ordered by the leader. The leader is the most powerful person
in an organisation. After leader comes the management, which takes
care of the employee and make them sure about their future jobs. This
type of the system can help the organisation grow very fast and bring
the positive energies among everyone. The main disadvantage of this
type of culture is that if the leader is not good or not capable, then he
can damage the capabilities of the employees and also the organisation.

2. Eiffel tower:
This type of organisation has a strong emphasis on hierarchy and
orientation to task. The jobs are well defined from top managers to the
last employee. In this type of organisation the leader in not whole and
sole responsible for the company. There are various managers taking
care of different departments. As the Eifel tower is narrow at bottom and
broader at base, the culture goes on decreasing from the base to the
top. The status of the employee remains with the job and there are very
few off jobs relationships between the managers and employees.
3. Guided missile.
Every organisation needs some specialist for a special type of projects.
When different people from different companies come together for a
special project they come under this category. There is a strong
emphasis on equality in work place and in task. Their culture is oriented
to work. As there are different people with different capabilities they all

15. are treated equal and respect each other .this group is much focused
and task oriented. There is few s=chances of off job relationships.

4. Incubator culture.
It has a strong emphasis on culture and personal orientation. It is a little
more formal structure as compared to others. In this type of culture
everything is mostly done for self-fulfilment. Participants confirm,
criticize, develop find resource for, and help compete development of
innovative product or service.

The overview of the different type of structures for different countries is shown
in figure below.


The red spot in the graph shows the position of china as compared to other
countries. This is so because the people in china are more people oriented as
compared to other things like task or organisation. They believe in developing
relationship with people more than the tasks. In china if you build a good
relationship with them, you can do some great business. Hence china falls
under the group of organisation where people are of most important.
In general, all the big companies have guided missile culture, high tech
companies often have incubator culture and small companies always have a
family culture.

16. Business model in china
Finding out the category in china it is also important to know some of the basics
of their own business model. There are main 2 points which have to be kept in
mind for doing some good business in china. Those are 1) Guanxi and 2) facing.
These 2 are the most important points to be considered while doing the
business in china.

GUANXI
Guanxi is basically a term which is used to describe relationship. This
relationship can be outcome of exchanges of favours or connections that are
beneficial for the parties involves in a relationship or Guanxi. At times it is also
referred to networking. The Guanxi carry a long term tradition in doing business
in china and Chinese communities. If we can maintain a good Guanxi with
chicness people there are good chance of opening a good business and if not,
then there is no chance of doing a good business. A good Guanxi can reduce
obstacles in doing business in china. It take some time and effort to build up a
good relationship with the Chinese people. An important thing to maintain in
Guanxi is that those who are taking part in acceptance of Guanxi are required
to return the equal amount which was previously accepted. In simple terms,
Guanxi refers to an element of trust. As suggested by reports, it is true that most
of the business in china is revolves around the circles of mutual and personal
trust. Business connections made through Guanxi must me be maintained for
a secure positioning for future business.
The main question arises, that how it should be maintained? This type of
relationship is not only based on direct cash exchanges. Today, most of the
Guanxi transactions are hidden and they are not made seen to the casual
observer. Direct giving of gifts is a normal way to maintain Guanxi. Apart from
gift, inviting or hosting dinner for clients or business partners can create an
environment for Guanxi. The figure can explain Guanxi. As shown in below
figure, it clearly show that relationship is most important. First there are several
meetings between the people interested in Guanxi to build a relationship, so
that they develop trust and can do the transactions or the other way round. This
type of relationship is long lasting and helps for good business.

17. Facing
Face is an important aspect of interpersonal communications with Chinese
culture and foreigners must understand if they plan to do the business with the
Chinese. There is a traditional saying in china “a person needs face just as tree
bark”. It is also said that face along with money and power comprise the 3 most
important factors that dictate the personal behaviour of china.
Facing is basically reading of a person’s face in order to understand his interest.
One can view face in terms of shame, conflict, avoid conflict and also promote
respect and flattery for others in both business and social situations. Chinese
people like o be treated with their status and position and are very sensitive to
things which will affect their position. In china face is viewed very much and is
very important. It affects very much in decision making. According to the
Chinese people facing basically create a feeling of shame and embracement
amongst one another. Chinese people will always try to avoid this type of
situation.

18. Conclusion
So it’s clear from the above understanding, if anyone wants to get settled in
China, or on a business trip, then language is the most important thing.
Business in china is always good, once you develop the trust in the Chinese
people. If the trust is develop then it’s easy to do business in china. It’s really
interesting to get to know about such a vast country having such varieties of
different culture and apart from many misunderstanding this country stands
strong enough to make a strong position in global economy. Every country and
people from other countries should take something positive things from a
country like china.

References
https://www.reference.com/business-finance/intercultural-communication-
important-f49fb00e1770498
http://www.chinalanguage.com/
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede's_cultural_dimensions_theory
https://geert-hofstede.com/china.html
http://www.crossculture.com/latest-news/the-lewis-model-dimensions-of-
behaviour/