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Knowing basic greetings in a foreign language is a great way to be polite when communicating interculturally. However, to fully communicate across cultures you need to be aware of the differences between each culture represented. Culture is much more than simply art or music; it is a deeply held set of beliefs, values, and expectations within a group that differentiates it from other groups. Culture impacts many of the tasks we undertake every day, and many actions that we do out of habit in the United States are conducted differently elsewhere. For example, in an American business meeting it is considered efficient and polite to get right to business. Taking ten minutes to see how everyone is doing may be seen as a waste of time. Meanwhile, in Pakistan it is considered impolite to begin this way, and meetings are opened with brief conversations asking about people’s family, friends, etc.

Culture and Intercultural Communication

Culture consists of the common beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, values, and assumptions shared by an identified group of people.

• Culture is learned. Geert Hofstede views culture as consisting of mental programs, calling it “softwares of the mind,” meaning each person “carries within him or herself patterns of thinking, feeling, and potential acting which were learned throughout their lifetime.” Similarly, Peter Senge argues that mental models lock individuals and groups into a specific perception about the world. Like a computer, we are programmed to act or behave in certain ways. The conscious and unconscious learning we undergo, over time, turns into beliefs that we consider to be valid. We then teach each other that these beliefs are cultural norms, and we express them in our daily lives as behaviors and actions.^[1]
• Culture is shared. Although you may think of yourself as an individual, you share beliefs, rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and assumptions with people who grew up or live in similar cultural backgrounds. It is usually easier for you to relate to someone who has shared value systems and ways of doing things than someone who doesn’t.

• Culture is dynamic. Culture is fluid rather than static, which means that culture changes every day, in subtle and tangible ways. Because humans communicate and express their cultural systems in a variety of ways, it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what cultural dynamics are at play. It’s important to pay attention to the cultural context of a communication to understand the depths of its dynamic properties.
• Culture is systemic. In systems theory, systems are interrelated, interconnected parts that create a whole. There are patterns of behavior, deeply rooted structural systems, which lie beneath the surface of behaviors and actions. We don’t always understand what contributes to those behaviors. To understand the system, you need some understanding of its underlining patterns, if possible.
• Culture is symbolic. Symbols are both verbal and nonverbal in form within cultural systems, and they have a unique way of linking human beings to each other. Humans create meaning between symbols and what they represent; as a result, different interpretations of a symbol can occur in different cultural contexts.

Understanding the nature of culture can help you communicate interculturally. Intercultural Communication (IC) is concerned with the ways individuals, organizations, and groups interact across cultural differences. We work in a world where corporate and non-profit organizations are moving toward transnational status at an ever-increasing pace. IC is a sub-field of technical communication focusing on how we can communicate between culturally varied groups while still adhering to each one’s social nuances and expectations. As a technical communicator, your responsibility includes acknowledging easy-to-see cultural differences (e.g., do I bow or shake hands?) as well as those that are more subtle (e.g., how do I work on an intercultural team in a way that doesn’t offend someone’s values?).

Since so many of the decisions made in IC emphasize cultural values, writers dealing with IC often encounter matters of ethics. Two very important pitfalls that writers need to overcome are ethnocentrism and xenophobia. Ethnocentrism occurs when we consider our own culture to be of the highest importance and in turn, judge all other groups in relation to our own standards.^[2] Comparing all other cultural norms to our own devalues the other culture instead of appreciating it. Xenophobia takes this a step further, as a person is actually fearful of a new or unknown culture. Such reactions to cultures can lead to stereotyping and alienation. When working on a cross-cultural team or with an international client, it’s important that all involved acknowledge each other’s cultural differences and work respectfully within those parameters. Being ethnocentric or xenophobic in our communication makes us unable to build strong relationships or work cohesively within a cross-cultural group.

Cultural Characteristics

While it is important to acknowledge and respect the variances of culture in the workplace, your own culture should be respected as well. You can understand other cultures more fully by thinking through aspects of your own culture.

Cultural characteristics include such things as the following:

• Amount of Detail Expected – High-context cultures such as Japan, China, and France provide little details in their writing. A high-context culture is based on fewer, deeper relations with people; there are many unspoken social rules and understandings within the culture. People in these cultures expect readers to have enough knowledge about the communication before they begin reading. In areas such as instructions, for example, it is assumed that readers have enough background knowledge or experience that there is no need to explain different tools used or walk the reader through complicated background information. People in low-context cultures such as the United States, Great Britain, and Germany assume readers know very little before they begin reading. Low-context cultures have a greater number of surface-level relations; rules are more explicitly defined so others know how to behave. People in low-context cultures expect detailed writing that explains the entire process. Writers should consider the cultural audience of their writing so that readers are not insulted by an excess or lack of information.

• Distance Between the Top and Bottom of Organizational Hierarchies – Many organizations in the United States and Western Europe have great distances with many layers between top-level management and low-level workers. When the distance is large, writing to employees above and below tends to be more formal. In cultures where companies are more flatly organized, communication between layers tends to be less formal.

• Individual versus Group Orientation – Many Asian and South American cultures are collectivist, meaning people pursue group goals and pay attention to the needs of the group. In individualistic cultures such as the United States and Northern Europe, people are more interested in personal achievement. Writers should know if they are writing to an audience that is “me-oriented” or one that is “we-oriented.”

• Preference for Direct or Indirect Statements – People in the United States and Northern Europe prefer direct communications, while people in Japan and Korea typically prefer indirect communications. When denying a request in the U.S., a writer will typically apologize, but firmly state that request was denied. In Japan, that directness may seem rude. A Japanese writer may instead write that the decision has not yet been made, delaying the answer with the expectation that the requester will not ask again. In Japan, this is viewed as more polite than flatly denying someone; however, in the United States this may give false hope to the requester, and the requester may ask again.

• Basis of Business Decisions – In the United States and Europe, business decisions are typically made objectively with consideration given to cost, feasibility, timeliness, etc. In Arab cultures, business decisions are often made on the basis of personal relationships. Writers should know if a goal-oriented approach is best, or if a more personable communication would be preferred.

• Interpretation of Images, Gestures, and Words – Words, images, and gestures can mean different things in different cultures. Knowing how images will be interpreted in another culture is crucial before sending documents to unfamiliar audiences. For example, hand gestures are interpreted differently around the world, and graphics showing hands should generally be avoided. Also, religiously affiliated wording can offend some readers, so avoid religious references in business communications.
• Recognizing Authorship when Conducting Research – In the United States and many other Western countries, it is important to recognize authorship when conducting research. We do this through a variety of citation styles and consider intellectual property important enough to be written into law. Copyright law and the elements associated with it (plagiarism, piracy, etc.), however, do not translate into all cultures. In gift cultures, common in Asian and African societies, the role of copyright differs from that of the West. Some Asian cultures have traditionally viewed plagiarism in a much different light, and in China, for example, it’s not uncommon for published work to be considered free to use at will.^[3] While not adhering to Western cultural norms like citations can cause ethical problems, it can also lead the Western-based technical communicator into legal issues.

Culture is More Than Nationality

Although it’s instructive to consider culture in terms of nationality, because it’s relatively easy to identify similarities and differences in a cultural context, know that culture can also refer to your workplace culture, the culture of your professional affiliation, or the beliefs, values, and behaviors of any group to which you belong.

Every business or organization has a culture, and within what may be considered a global culture, there are many subcultures or co-cultures. For example, consider the difference between the sales and accounting departments in a corporation. We can quickly see two distinct groups with their own symbols, vocabulary, and values. Within each group, there may also be smaller groups, and each member of each department comes from a distinct background that in itself influences behavior and interaction. Now, change that context to a piece of communication leaving your computer. Who will read it? Who could read it? What will your colleagues or readers of another culture take from it, intended or not?

Sometimes, the focus of technical communication is quite easy; the primary reader is clearly targeted through demographic research. But think about how much more effective and dynamic a communication can be if you consider the potential cultural perspectives at work when the document is read. Keep relevant cultural characteristics in mind when you create technical communications to maximize their effectiveness.

^[1] Hofstede, G. (1991).Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.

^[2] Dong, Q., Day, K., & Collaco, C. (2008) Overcoming Ethnocentrism through Developing Intercultural Communication Sensitivity and Multiculturalism. Human Communication,11, 27-38.

^[3] Wan, C. (2008). Creative Commons License: An Alternative Solution to Copyright in the New Media Arena. Trans. Array Copyright Law, Digital Content and the Internet in the Asia-Pacific(). Sydney, AU: Sydney University Press.