Managing cross-cultural interchange: interpreting behavior for mutual understanding, the case of China and the United States

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content MANAGING CROSS-CULTURAL INTERCHANGE:
INTERPRETING BEHAVIOR FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING,
THE CASE OF CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES
by
Dan PingMu
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOU1HERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulf" tllm ent of the
Requirements for the Deg ree
DOCTOR OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
December 1993
Copyright 1993 Dan Ping Mu
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089
fJ'fiis dlss ertation, written 6y
........... � P..fl.� .• I?t�� . Mll .... ... ... .. ... ......... .
under tfie direction of fi �F. ••• 'lJiss ertatWn
Committee, and approved 6y a[[ its mem-
6ers, fza.s 6een presented to and accepted 6y
tfie :Jacufty of tfie Scfioo[ of Pubfic
.9lffm inistration, in partia[ fuljiifment of
requirements of tfie ckgree of
DOCTOR OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
•
� ...•...... .••.
c) 1
/
I
• ·
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables iv
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION: BARRIERS TO MUTUAL
UNDERSTANDING 1
Preview Case: A Story of the Purchase
of a Paper-Making Facility 1
Why Should We Be Concerned About
Effective Cross-Cultural Interchange? 10
Purpose 12
Key Factors Interfering With
Cross-Cultural Interchange 13
Overview of Contents 30
Delimitations 33
Summary 34
Chapter 2. 1HEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN CROSS-CULTURAL
INTERCHANGE, AND 1HE LENS PHENOMENON 36
Analyzing Cultural Influences 36
Analyzing Characteristics of Culture 47
Relevant Theoretical Perspectives 59
Theory of Lens 87
Summary 109
iii
Chapter 3. WATClll NG AND FACiliTATING CROSS-CULTURAL
INTERCHANGE: A RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE -
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION 111
The Methodology of Participant Observation 111
The Observer and the Observed 129
Data Collection 146
Self as Lens 156
Summary 158
Chapter 4. CULTURAL SPECIFICS FOR EFFECTIVE CROSS-
CULTURAL INTERCHANGE 160
An American Cultural Perspective 163
A Chinese Cultural Perspective 179
A Comparative Cultural Perspective 211
Summary 234
Chapter 5. CONCLUSION: INTERPRETING BEHAVIOR
FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 236
Implications For Theory 236
Implications For Research 242
Implications For Practice 245
APPENDIX! QUESTIONNAIRE 250
APPENDIX IT A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTHOR AS
THE PARTICIPANT OBSERVER 254
REFERENCES 260
iv
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1-1 Comparison on Johnson and Wang's
Expectations and Behavior 23
Table 2-1 Cultural Influence on Life Issues 62
2-2 General Model of the Attribution
Process 68
2-3 Kelley's Theory of Causal Attributions 72
2-4 Types of Nonverbal Communication 84
2-5 Stewart's Theory of Shared Values 90
2-6 Examples of Basic Five Human Questions 97
Table 3-1 Demonstration of Triangular Structure 136
Table 4-1 Implications of Cultural Influences 162
4-2 American Mythology and Possible Alternatives 171-172
4-3 Comparison of American vs. Chinese
Decision-Making Styles 223
4-4 A Summary of Basic Characteristics
of LCC Conflict and HCC Conflict 234
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION: BARR IERS TO MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
The peopl e of the world are bigote d and
unenl ightened: invar iably they regard
what is like them as right, and what is
different from them as wrong, result ing
in mu tual recrimination .... They do not
real ize that the types of humanity are
not un iform and that their custo ms are
also not one , that it is not only
impossible to force people to beco me
different but also impossible to force
them to bec ome alike .
(Yung-C heng, Emperor of China , 1727)
Preview Case : A Story of the
Purchase of a Paper-Making Facility
1
On a summe r morning in 1992 , Mr . Johnson and his senior
engineer, Mr . Smith, were on their way to China. Mr . Johnson
was the president of a paper-m aking ma chiner y factory in the
mid-west of Ame rica. Two months before , he had recei ved a
letter from the Chamber of Comm erce in his communi ty asking
him whether or not his co mpany was interested in a paper-
making machine purchase requirement from a paper mill in
Hebei Province1 China .
Later, Mr . Johnson learned that China had a great
shortage of paper supply and the Central Planning Commi ttee
approved the budget to purchase some advanced paper-m aking
equipment from the United States or elsewhere . Mr . Johnson
and his colleagues were excited about this opportunity ,
2
because a $15 millio n to $20 millio n purchase would be
involved. They imm ediately responded to the Chinese pa per
mill with the concerned data and specificatio ns. One month
later , Mr. Johnson received an invitation to visit the
Chinese paper mill.
When Mr. Johnson and Mr. Smith arri ved at the Chin ese
airport , they were met by the General Mana ger himself, Mr.
Wang, and other peo ple from the Chin ese paper mi ll. Then
they were taken to a nice hotel . They were told to rest for
a while and there would be a banquet for them in the eveni ng.
At the banquet, the American visitors received a very
warm welco me by several cadres from the Hebei Provincial
governm ent and Mr. Wang, as well as other people from the
Chinese pa per mill . One of the cadres made a toast for
"f riendship and long -term working relati onships " between the
Chin ese and American guests. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Smith
looked at each other quickly and both of them felt a bit
puzzled by the notio ns of "f rie ndship " and "l ong- term working
relatio nships . " As far as they were concerned, their missio n
was to promote the sale of pap er-m aking machines .
The food was delici ous. Both Mr . Johnson and Mr . Smith
were overwhelmed by co urses of dishes, one co urse after
another, most of which they had never seen before. During
the banquet, one sayin g was repeated several times : "T his is
3
your first ti me to visit China. Chin ese have a saying :
first ti me as a stranger, seco nd ti me as an old frien d. "
In the next three days, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Smith were
totally involved with a very busy schedule. They visited the
pa per mill , looked around the workshops, and had a meeting
with Mr. Wang and several engineers for one day. They spent
half a day with seve ral cadres from different government
departm ents . They expected that those meetin gs would focus
on the specific atio ns and data , price , and contract with
regards to the purch ase of the equip ment. However, most of
the ti me was spent on the introductio ns and background of the
Chinese pa per mill and the American co mpany, as well as the
im portance of the purchase of the pa per -making equip ment and
the expa nsio n of pa per production for China.
During the remainin g one and a half days, they were
escorted on sightseeing tours to enjoy the Chinese scener y
and ci vilizatio n. Eve ryday they we re treated with two full
meals; each meal was serv ed with ten or more courses of fo od.
They could not tell the difference between a lunch and a
dinner. Mr. Wang was with them at every dinner . He said he
wanted to make sure his visitors were nicely treated. The
last night before they left for the United States, they were
gi ven a farewell dinner by Mr. Wang, one toast after another,
and one course after another; it see med never ending. The
whole atmosphere was full of hospit ality. Fin ally, the hosts
4
and guests stood togeth er to take several pic tures, thei r
hands filled with beautiful presents , from Chinese silks to
handicrafts .
The next day when Mr . Johnson and Mr . Smith were on the
ai rplane flying back to the United States , they exchanged
opini ons about thei r short tr ip to China. Both of them felt
touched by the kindness and gene rosity demonstrated by thei r
host . However, they felt somehow disa ppointe d because neither
of them could figure out whether or not the Chin ese paper
mill had any intent io n of buying the paper-m aking equipment
fr om them. It was not clea r to them what Mr . Wang and his
people really wanted ; however, the Chin ese side had stressed
several times the importance of this purchase. They had no
clue to the meaning of "f riendship" and "l ong- term workin g
relatio nshi ps" repeated by the Chinese host . As far as they
were concerned, they did not want to waste a lot of ti me on
a relatio nship until they had a contract . In additi on, the
tight schedule had exhausted both of them. On the one ha nd,
they felt they wer e being taken care of ; on the other hand,
they felt constrained . They expected they would have some
free ti me to look around on their own .
After their return, Mr . Johnson and Mr . Smith sent a
"t hank you" note , as well as an invitatio n letter to Mr . Wang
and his colleag ues to visit their company and faciliti es in
the United States. Two weeks late r, they learned that their
5
invi tatio n had been accepted by Mr. Wang. The Chinese visit
was scheduled for early fall.
Meanwhile, the Chinese paper mill also in vited Mr.
Pierre, the President of a pa per-m aking machiner y co mpany in
the suburbs of Paris to visit them in China. Mr. Pierre and
his senior engin eer stayed four days in Chi na, going through
the same schedule as Mr. Johnson did. Three weeks later , Mr.
Pierre sent three peo ple, one engineer , one salesperso n and
their public relatio ns director, to visit the Chinese paper
mill.
Those three peopl e stayed in China for two weeks. They
spent most of their ti me in the workshops, chatting with the
Chinese enginee rs, workers and Mr . Wang, himself. They also
spent some ti me with Mr . Wang's authorities at different
government levels. They were tryin g hard to make frien ds
with the Chin ese peo ple . Through their casual conversatio ns,
they learned what price range and specified features of
equip ment the Chinese were looking for . They also learned
that the Chin ese would like to be provided with trainin g and
other services after the purch ase . They were aware of the
potential competi tor in the United States who had better
technology than their own. Several ti mes, they in vited Mr.
Wang and other senior mana gers and engineers in the factory
to have dinner . On Sundays, they paid visits to Mr. Wang's
family and several other peop le's families, and left those
6
families with some nice presents from Paris. Their friendly
gestures made the Chin ese si de feel quite comfortable.
In early fall, three peopl e from the Chinese pa per mill,
Mr . Wang, a senior engineer , and an inter preter , came to
visit Mr . Johnson's co mpany in the United States. It was a
Sunday. When they arri ved at the air port , they found a taxi ,
sent by Mr . Johnson, waiting for them . It took them to a
nice hotel . After they were settled at the hotel, they were
notifie d that their dinner was arranged for 6:3 0 p.m. in the
hotel . At the dinner , they found they would be dinin g alone,
nobody else would acco mpany them from their host company.
The dinner consiste d of a salad, steak , steamed vegetables
and mas hed potatoes for each of them. The food tasted very
strange and awful to them. They left their dinners
unfinished and quietl y returned to their rooms to rest .
The next morni ng , a taxi pi cked them up at the hotel and
took them to the American company . Mr . Johnson and his
colleag ues waited for the Chin ese visito rs at the gate and
led them to a nice conference room. On the table ready for
the Chinese visito rs there were three piles of mater ials ,
including the American compa ny' s brochure and other related
technical info rmat ion. Mr . Johnson and his colleagues had
prepared full professio nal present atio ns. They used lanter n
slides and a projector to facilit ate their presentatio ns .
However, the meeting went on very slowly due to the diffic ult
7
translatio ns. The lunch was sandwiches serv ed in the
conference room. The three Chinese visitors did not seem
hungry; they left most of their sandwiches untouched.
The whole afternoon went by slowly . Mr. Johnson and his
colleag ues thought they all tried their best to im press their
visitors on their technology and facili ties ; however, they
could not tell from their visitors' facial expres si ons. Mr.
Johnson sounded out the inter preter about his im pression of
the presentat io ns. The answer was, "N ot bad. "
In the eveni ng, Mr. Johnson, on behalf of the company,
held a welco me dinner in a French restaurant. The beautiful
tableware and elaborately prepared French food did not seem
to stim ulate their visitors' appe tite . Mr. Johnson was
concer ned and learned from the inter preter that they were
suffering from the ti me difference so they did not have much
appetite . At the end of dinner , each of the visitors was
given an in k pen and a leather file as presents .
On the seco nd day, the Chinese visito rs were shown
around the factory and watched a demonstratio n of the
operational process . They were very im presse d by the
American technology whic h was considered first class in the
whol e world. They learned the price of the facilit y was
reaso nable and that services after purc hase would be
provided . Howeve r, the trainin g would be at Chinese expens e.
8
By the end of the day, Mr . Johnson asked Mr . Wang what
the next step would be . Mr. Wang answered that they would
report to their authorities and make their decisio n, then he
would respo nd to Mr. Johnson. Before they sai d "g oodbye" to
each other, Mr . Johnson told the visito rs that he guessed
they would like to have one day free ti me to do so me shopping
or go around on their own before they left for China.
Nothin g more was said. The three visitors were then taken
back to the hotel where they had dinner alone again.
The next day, Mr . wang and his colleag ues spent most of
their ti me in the hotel room. They walked around the hotel
for a while but nothin g see med to arouse their inter ests .
As strangers to the area, they didn' t know where to go and
what to do . They considered the whole day was wasted . They
shared their dissatis factio n with each other . "W e are not
respected here , we are not treated well . Why do they leave
us alone? They do not consider us to be im porta nt . It see ms
that their ti me and their work are more valuable than
spendin g some ti me with us . Even though they have good
prices and better facilities , so what! We don' t have to buy
from them. " They left for China with their anger.
One month after Mr . wang went back to China, he and his
senior engin eer, as well as a French inter preter , were flyin g
to Paris. It was a Sunday again . At the air port, they were
surprised to be met by Mr . Pierre and his assis tant . Mr. Wang
9
was very happy and said: "I have learned that the Westerners
prefer to spend time with their families during the weekends.
We feel so honored that you , yourself, have co me to the
airport to meet us . " Mr . Pierre laughed and answered: "I got
permission from my wife. She said that you are very important
people."
Mr . Pierre and his assistant drove their visitors to the
hotel , helped them settle down , then took them to a Chinese
restaurant to have dinner.
together .
They had a pleasant evening
In the next three days, the Chinese visitors had a
couple of meetings with Mr . Pierre , his senior engineers, and
his salespeople . They were shown around the workshops and
watc hed the demonstrations of the operational process. They
real ized that so me specific features of the facility in this
French co mpany were not as advan ced as those in the Americ an
co mpany ; besid es, their price was higher than their
co mpetitor' s in the United States . However, the French
co mpany would like to provide free training and services
after the purchase.
During their four - day visit in Paris, most of their
meals were Chinese. Only once did Mr . Pierre take them to
a French restaurant beca use Mr . Wang said they would like to
taste real French food ; otherwise, they would not have felt
they had been to Fran ce. On their last day , they were
10
escorted to enj oy so me sightseein g and to visit Paris
Mu seums. At their farewell dinner, Mr . Wang told Mr . Pierre
he would send a letter of intent right away after they
returned to China , and then both sides would prepare for
their negotiations . He further expr esse d their appreciatio n
to their host and stated they felt comfortable working with
their French host . They had one toast after another,
toas ting their friendship and long -term working
relationship . 1
Why Should We Be Concerned About
Effective Cross-Cultural Interchange?
The Preview case illustrates that inability to interact
effecti vely in cross-cultural interchange generates negative
impacts on people from different countries. This implies that
we must be aware of the ever-g rowing interdependency and
com plexity of human soci ety in which the contrib utions of all
peoples are needed to sustain the delic ate web of life.
Since peopl e and their cultures can no longer exist
independent of one another, meani ngful intercul tural
This is a true story . Due to the principle of co nf iden
tial ity, I am unable to reveal the identity of people,
co mpanies or locations involved . Fictit ious names are used.
11
inter actio ns should be facilitated among the earth's
inha bitants.
In this fast-p aced world, it is very im porta nt for us
to understand that there is a dynami c need for peo ple of the
world to understand each other better in order to develop our
global co mmunity. Yet , many things get in the way of this.
Since human social and technological advancement are the
legacy of all mankind , when vario us peo ples of diverse
cultures borrow from one another, their inter change pro motes
new levels of human devel opm ent . How this inte rchange can
be understood and enhanced, then, is the rationale for this
dissertatio n , as well as for cross-cultural learnin g in
general.
In today' s worl d with diverse and multiple surroundings
and experie nces , a perso n cannot find his or her self on
their own. Thus , the need for interpers onal relatio nships
in cross- cultural situatio ns is abundant, especially with the
number of peo ple in volved in cro ss-cultural work and
exp erie nce . One' s culture is the essence of bein g . In order
to realize a sense of being and get in touch with one's own
power, one needs to transcend oneself into the glo bal
culture, and in today' s world into the exp erience of other
cultures around the world .
Our planet is now made up of diverse cultures, and the
people of those cultures are incre asin gly dependent on one
12
another . Whether one deals with macrosystems or microsy stems,
we are realizing their inte rdependence . In other words, we
can no longer manage independe ntly without regard to the
im pact of our decisio ns on others and the environm ent . To
progress , to achieve objectives, to solve problems, it is
essential for us to consciously learn to collaborate , to form
coalitio ns and consortia , to synthesize differences , to seek
consensus , to resolve globocentric concerns, and to develop
transn atio nal interfa ces.
Purp ose
The purpose of this disser tatio n is to identify the key
factors whic h interfer e with cross-cultural inte rchange when
peo ple from different cultures try to relate to each other
in business and governmental relationships , using the case
of China and the Unite d States as an exam ple.
This dissertatio n will expl ore cross-cultural
interchange, the idea of inter preting behavior for mutual
understandin g, and illumin ate the point that no particular
culture is inherently better or worse than another--j ust
different and unique.
Every culture provides its members with a sense of
identity, and has a profound influence on their behavior and
life space . Because all cultures differ in some way from
each other , an exp erienc e beyond one's own culture can
13
co nt ribute to a heightened sense of self, or can deeply
threaten the ego. Thus , each individual going into a second
culture can benefit, or suffer through suc h enco unters .
Key Factors Interfering Wi th
Cross-Cul tural Interchange
The Preview Case is useful to make so me ana lysis on
several problems in order to identify the key factors wh ic h
cause misunderstandings and bring negative impacts on cross-
cul tural interchange.
One problem is that it see ms the American co mpany was
the loser, bec au se the American co mpany lost a potential
opportuni ty to obtain an attractive deal . However, the
Chinese co mpany was a loser, too; the Chinese co mpany lost
a potential opportunity to obtain the paper-m aking facility
with the world first-class technology and at a reasonable
price. In order to accel erate the expans ion of paper
production , the Chinese central go vernment modified the
budget to purchase the most advanced facility in the Western
world . Due to ineffecti ve interacti on with each other ,
brought about by not understanding one another, both the
Ame rican co mpany and the Chinese co mpany lost a potential
opportuni ty to achie ve their mu tual goals . It see ms tha t the
French co mpany was the winner. However, they co uld be seen
as a long-t erm loser even though they won the co ntract. This
14
is because the French co mpany sold non-co mpetitive
technology. Had they instead lost this business, they might
real ize that it was neces sary to upgrade their tech nol ogy in
order to beco me more com petitive . In a sense, all three
parties lost in this case for different reasons .
Another problem is with regard to ar ranging the
itinerary in the Preview Case. The Chinese party made a very
busy and tight sc hedule for their American visitors. The
Chinese viewed this as being hospitable, caring for their
visitors and showing respect for huma n dignity. However, the
Americans felt co nstrained and a loss of freedo m . The
Americans preferred having so me free time for themselves.
Based on their va lue system, the Americ an party made a loose
and relaxing sc hedule for the Chinese. The Chinese visitors
viewed this sc hedule as a denial of their human dignity and
felt insulted and mistreated . Initially, both sides had
intentions to do each other a favor ; however, this ignorance
of eac h other's va lue sys tems had turned favor into disfavor
for each other .
Moreover, from the Americ an perspective , it see ms to be
based on co mmon sense: the American co mpany had first-class
technology and a reasonable price, the Chinese co mpany should
have decid ed to purchase mac hines from them. However, as
human beings , we do not always make decisio ns on the basis
of eco nomic or professio nal points of view . We are not
15
always that rational . Moreover, the Chinese realized the
facility they wanted to purchase from the French co mpany was
not as advan ced as the one from the American co mpany , and the
price was even higher . However, they dec ided to work with
the French co mpany because they felt co mfortable working with
them. Why is that ? Bec ause the way they were treated made
them feel they were being understood and respec ted on the
basis of the Chinese per specti ve .
This true story dramat ically illustrates problems of
cross-cultural interchange: How can we approp riat ely
interpret cross -cultura l behavior in order to create each
other's mutual understanding? Why is the identical behavior
interpreted or viewed differently by the people from
different cultural backg rounds? The botto m line is : Do we
understand each other? What is the relationship between
"inter preting" behavior and "un derstanding" it? And during
the process of interpreting behaviors , what are the key
factors which cause unders tanding or misunderstanding of
people from a different culture?
Lens of Mythology
How can we interact with each other effecti vely in order
to achieve our mutual goals? Interactio n with others depends
on (1) how we interpret or view another' s behavior, as well
as , (2) how we understand our own behavior is being viewed
16
and interpreted . In view of these factors , a certain co mmon
phenomenon is readily observable: many of the failed
experiences between parties from different co unt ries are not
primarily the result of external factors, suc h as money,
technology, market, product, politic s , eco nomics and
tec hn ical considerations . Rather, they are more often caused
by internal human (or personal ) factors , such as
expe ct at ions , perceptions , va lues and self-a wareness. These
factors are all aff ecte d by the underlying lenses of
mythologies held by people from different cultures .
In this dissertation , the term "l ens of mythology" will
be used frequently. The co ncept behind this term is
attributed to the research and writings of Burke and Stewart
(1992) . Al though the metaphor of a lens is not new , Burke
and Stewart have used it in a partic ular way . They linked
observ ation of behavior and interpretat ion of behavi or
through the concept of sets of beliefs. They saw these sets
of beliefs a lens , and referred to these sets of beliefs as
mythol ogie s . People who hold co mmon mythologies are said to
share a co mmon culture .
This disse rtat ion will expand that concept by defining
the key characteristics of the lens and illustrat ing how use
of the lens functions during the process of interpreting
behaviors . The basis of this expansion is drawn from
reviewing related theoretical perspecti ves and sy nthesizing
17
obser vation, hypo thesis testing and critical analysis . This
will be referred to as the "Theor y of Lens."
Let's next consider the meaning of "lens of mythology."
As Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dict ionary def ines it , a
lens is "a piec e of transparent material (as glass) that ...
is used ... in an optical instrument for forming an image by
focusing rays of light." In a figurative sense , while
observing behaviors, each perso n has a lens in one's mind ,
that is used for determini ng the meaning of behaviors by
interpre ting them . In other words, the meaning of behavior
is formed through a lens in one's mind during the
interpretive process which is inf luenced by one's own
mythology.
It is assu med that the nature of mythology is both a
co nscio us and subconscio us body of what an individual
believes , which is influenced by one's cultural surroundings.
In the conscious realm, it is what an individual believes and
accepts to be true, whether or not it is believed to be true
by other individuals. It also includes what this individual
decides to do on the basis of this .
Yet, it is deeper than this . In the subconscious realm,
it is an individual's set of truth (or beliefs) which shapes
or forms one's basic behaviors even without one's overt
"knowing " about it . This "knowing " and "unknowi ng" behavior
demonstrates the nature of mythology.
18
The cardinal assumptio n of this dissertatio n is that
these underlyin g and culturally conditio ned "l enses of
mythologi es" are the basis of interpretatio n of behaviors
whic h may greatly influence one's understanding of persons
from other cultures and lead to effecti ve or ineffecti ve
interact ion with each other . Thus, the tentati ve solutio ns
(hyp otheses ) to the problems of cross-cultural inte rchange
lie in a greater understanding of two maj or aspects of
behavior inter pretatio n:
1. When we observe and interpret others ' behaviors, we
attribute values or meanings to these behaviors through
our own lens of mythologies.
2. Since we act upon our attri buted values through
co mmu nicatio n ; and since these values are the result of
observatio n and inter pretatio n through our own lens and
attributio n of values; then , inter pretatio n of cross
cultural behavior means that observation ,
interpretatio n, and co mmu nicat io n are inextricably
bound together.
The Preview Case further demonstrates that each perso n
carries his or her own culture and distortio ns when goin g
into a different culture . The cause of disturbances in one' s
experience in a foreign land may be in the visitor's
upbring ing or culture, or in lack of understanding of the
second culture (Spiel bergen and Guerrero, 1976 ) . It is
19
seemed that one also views everything in the host culture
through the uniq ue lens of one' s own cultural backgro und.
And one' s unique lens is reflected through one's cultural
self-a wareness, expe ctati ons, and perce pti ons.
Self-A wareness Factor
When peo ple inter act with one another they make certai n
assu mptions or conjectures about each other's process of
percei vin g, judgi ng, thin king, and reasoning patterns . It
appears that they make these assumptio ns or conjectures
usually out-of-awareness or without realizing they ar e making
them. For exam ple, in the Preview Case , both the Chinese
party and the Ameri can part y assu med that the itin erary made
for the other sid e would be valid and showing respect for
human dig nit y even without questio nin g it. However, the
effects of our cultural conditionin g are so per vasi ve that
peopl e whose exp erience has been limited to the rules of one
culture have difficulty understanding commun icatio n based on
another set of rules (Kraemer , 19 73 ) . When the assumptio ns
are correct there is ease of commu nication--w hen they are
inco rrect, misunderstandings and miscommu nicatio n often
result.
Last year , I inter viewed an American lawyer who went to
China with a legal delegatio n in 19 91 . He shared with me an
exp erie nce he had in China as follows :
I seemed to have some kin d of a
co mmu nic atio n gap with many of the Chines e
I meet . I had a number of talks , for
example, with our inter preter, but we
so meti mes had difficulty getting through to
each other . He spoke excellent English, and
I used ve ry si mple words , but he often
apologi zed and sai d I should get a better
inter preter because 'I just don' t understand
what you are sayin g.' I used words like
'individual ' and 'unique.' They are words
he knows, but he couldn' t relate them to the
idea of doing what you want to do . 'Do what
I want to do? ' one puzzled Chinese asked me .
He looked terri bly confused , as if to say ,
'How do you do that?' I guess in China you
have to do what the Party or your authority
tells you to do and then everything is cool
and happy .
20
A number of comm ents can be made about the above-
described experien ce . But the most im porta nt is that his
appa rently si mple questio n, "B ut what do you want to do ? "
im plies certain assu mptions about the cogniti on of the
Chinese inter preter. That is, that the Chinese interpreter
understood and valued the idea of individual choice .
However, this assumptio n was probably not valid, because
individ ualism , as known and practiced in the Unite d States,
is not well understood or valued by the Chin ese peo ple in the
People's Republic of China.
In this case, the Amer ic an lawyer was not able to see
the outward cultural expr essio n of the Chinese societ y , and
in order to do this, he needed to understand and identif y
what is Chinese about Chinese, what common cultural traits
are shared by Chinese , and what values and assu mptio ns are
21
the foundation for their day-to-day practices. In fact,
one' s "out -o f-awa reness" assumptions are closely related to
one' s expe ctations .
Expectatio nal Factors
Ralph Stogdill (1984) has defined an exp ectation as the
"read iness for reinforce ment." In other words , an
individual 's behavior is influenced by the way he or she
ant ici pates that events will occ ur . People tend to do the
things that they ant icipate as leading to rewards they desire
and avo id doing the things that they ant ici pate as leading
to outco mes they did not desire . If peopl e exp ect that
nothing of sig nific ance regarding their needs and desires
will happen regardless of the amount of time and effort they
devote, this belief can act as a self-fulfilling prophecy .
Tha t is, exp ect ing certain things to happen shapes the
behavi or of the perce iver in such a way that the probability
that the expecte d will actually happen is increased
(Hellrieg el , 1986) . On the other hand , people's expe ctations
so metimes beco me unreal istic ally high , thus creating a
situat ion where unful filled expect ations make matters worse.
To illustrate , let's co mpare the expectat ions and
behaviors both from Mr . Johnson and Mr . Wang of the Preview
Case in Table 1-1 on the next page.
22
This co mparison sugg ests that expect ations can influence
an individual in understanding, conm:t uni cating and interacting
with another . It is observ ed that three kinds of
expectatio ns that hinder us from val id understanding and
effecti ve interactions:
1. We expect other people to know what we know.
2. We expect other people to behave in our way .
3. When we overestimate or underestimate ourselves or
others, we are not aware of the gap between our
expect ations and real ity .
Mr . Johnson and Mr . Wang did not share the same
expectatio ns because both of them assumed their co unt erpart
was aware of the other' s way of doing business. Mr . Johnson
expected that his going to China was to obtain the contract;
he assumed the Chinese side was aware of this . Mr . Wang
expecte d that before any business was established, the
parties must get to know each other first; he assumed the
American side would know this.
Mr . Johnson
Mr . Wang
TABLE 1-1
Compa rison on Johnson and Wang' s Expe ctations and Behaviors
•
•
Expectatio ns
To get the jo b
done .
To obtain the
contract and
close the
deal .
To esta blish a
long- term
relationship
• To obtain the
contract and
confirm that
the relation
ship has been
built in order
to begin the
future working
together .
Expecte d
Conversatio ns
Specific atio ns,
price and
contract term s .
Backg round and
introductio n of
the compan y;
trai nin g , and
services after
the purchase.
Behavior
Professional
and technical
orie nted .
Hospitable and
less technical
orie nted .
When
Exp ectatio ns
Unf ille d
Feel
disa ppoi nted
and confused .
Feel hurt and
not being
respected .
tv
w
24
Mr . Johnson's expectatio n was not fulfilled during his
tri p in China. He was disa ppointed . He came back to Americ a
to create a situatio n where everything was prepared with a
more professio nal and technical appear ance for Mr . Wang's
visit in order to fulfill his expecta tio ns to obtai n the
contract. He assu med that was what Mr . Wang also wanted .
He exp ected Mr . wang would respond or behave the way he
exp ected . On the contrary, Mr . Johnson's unfulfille d
expe ctatio ns made matters worse .
Si milarly, Mr . Wang cam e to the United States and he
exp ected he would be treated in the sam e way as he treated
Mr . Johnson--M r. Johnson would meet hi m at the air port,
accompany him at each dinner, the meals should be one course
after another, and he should be escorted to enjoy
sightseeing. He exp ected Mr . Johnson would behave in his way .
However, Mr . Wang's expe ctatio ns we re not fulfilled , and he
ju mped to the conclusio n that those Americans were not
respectful . His unfulfille d expe ctatio ns made matters
worse-- he decided to gi ve up the first-class technology and
a reasonable price. What a reality!
We often gi ve people advice, "B e more realistic in your
expectatio ns." The questio n is: How realistic is being
realistic? What is the reality? How can we assess the
realit y in order not to build up very high expec tatio ns? It
appears that if we are constantly aware of the gap between
25
expe ctations and real ity, we will try to make an effort in
understanding the reality, and behave in a way to reduce such
a gap . On the other hand , it is assumed that the gap between
expectat ions and real ity is expanded by different perce ptions
of real ity.
Perceptual Factors
Two years ago, I was involved in negotiat ions between
an Americ an busines sman (Bob) and a Chinese silk manufacturer
(Zhang) from China . Bob wanted to buy so me silk from China
based on the condition that he co uld obtain the exclusive
distributorship from the Chinese manufacturer . At the
begin ning , the negotiat ion went smoothly . Bob exp lained what
he wanted and what he could do . Then he asked if he co uld
get sole distributorship. Zhang thought for a wh ile and
answered "yes ." Bob questioned : "Are you au thorized to do
it with me?" Zhang said "Y es." Bob looked puzzled , "How can
you have such an authority to do it right now? Don' t you
need so mebody from the Chinese government to approve it?"
Zhang looked a bit upset , "My author izat ion to work with you
has been approved." Bob paused for a minute , then doubted :
••can your signature be va lid on our contract?" Zhang stood
up , stared at Bob with anger. Then he left the room and
slammed the door behind him .
26
Bob imm ediately said to me : "I perceived that he could
not do it. I am sic k of hearin g those Chin ese telli ng me
they can do such and such with the authorization from the
Chinese government ." I asked "C hin ese? What kind of Chinese
are you talki ng about?" "T he peo ple from Hong Kong, •• he
answered . I laughed, "D id you forget the fact that Mr . Zhang
is from Beijing. Besid es, the Chinese government has issued
a new pol icy to encourage local majo r manufact urers to do
business with foreign busi ness directly. He can do busi ness
with you because he has obtained the consent of his higher
authority. That is why he can si gn the contract with you
based on this decentralize d poli cy. " At that moment , Bob
realized he had made a big mis take.
That evening, I called Zhang at his hotel and explained
what was going on with Bob and that Bob apologized to him.
Zhang told me that those questio ns from Bob made him very
irritated . He percei ved that Bob looked down upon him. He
took those questio ns very perso nally and thought Americans
were arroga nt , perhaps because they were ric h . I told him
his perce ptio ns were not correct . I gave him a little
pict ure about Ameri can culture as well as Ameri can
perso nalities, based on my limite d understanding and
experience.
The next day, both of them apologize d to each other .
27
They disc ussed a couple of iss ues in a frie ndly manner and
finally reached the agre ement .
This story illustrates the im portant role perceptio ns
pla y in understanding the world and also just how wrong these
perce ptio ns can sometimes be . People behave on the basis of
what they percei ve realit y to be , not necessa rily on th e
basis of what really is. As we receive info rmat io n , we
asse mble and incorporate it into a meaning ful experience
unique to ourselves . We paint a pict ure of the "real" world
that expresses our per sonal view, and no two of us paint
exactly the sa me picture . We are all bound by the limits of
our own perce ptual world which is culturally shaped (Heil,
19 83) .
Heil defines perce ptio n as the psychological process
whereby people select info rmat ion from the environment and
organize it to make sense of their world (Heil, 19 83) . It
is considered the key words in the above definition of
perceptio n are selectio n and organi zation. It is disc overed
that indiv iduals selecti vely pay attentio n to some aspects
of their environment and selecti vely igno re other aspects at
any gi ven ti me . And perceptio ns of any situatio n may differ
from perso n to perso n , both in term s of what will be
selecti vely percei ved, and of how those things perceived will
be interpreted . In the percep tual process, once selectio n
has occurred , organizatio n takes over--p eople group sti muli
28
into recogniza ble pat terns . In gener al , peo ple percei ve
things that promise to help satisf y their needs and that they
have found rewarding in the past . Each perso n selects and
organizes sensory stim uli differently through his or her own
lens , and thus has different interpretatio ns and respo nses
(Szilagyi , 19 90) .
In the Preview Case, Mr . Pierre of the French compan y
obtain ed the deal due to his appro priate perce ptio n and
inter pretatio n of the Chinese party' s needs and behavior .
It is assumed he might observe and carefully study Chinese
eti quett e , and that was why he treated Mr . Wang in a
reciprocal way. He even went to the air port to pic k up Mr .
Wang, which was beyond Mr. Wang's exp ectatio ns after his
Americ an experience, and which made hi m happy at the very
begin ning. Moreover, Mr . Pierre sent his three
representat ives to the Chinese pa per mill to learn about the
Chinese needs . He organi zed the inform atio n and perceived
that the Chinese party considered trainin g and services after
purch ase more im portant than the purch ase price per se . Their
concer n was if there were no trained workers operating the
machin e or if any technical problems were left unresolved,
their big investment would beco me a waste . On the basis of
his accurate perceptio n and good understanding of the Chinese
party' s needs, Mr . Pierre turned their compa ny' s disa dvantage
--l ess advanced technology and hig her price than that of
29
their competitors in the United States-- into an advantage by
offerin g free training and servi ces after the purcha se . Mr .
Pierre's inter actio n with the Chinese party was effecti ve
because he achie ved his desired result .
Other Factors
Certainly there are other barrier s which can create
mis understandings while peo ple interact with each other . One
of them is the emotio nal factor . Business situations are
rarely exempt from the perso nal element . People' s feelings
get hurt; or, more positively , peo ple develop strong
emotio nal attachments. When you send messages to people with
strong negative or positive emotions, you can' t expect the
message to sail undisturbed through the heavy emotio nal
weather . When Mr . Wang was hurt in the Preview Case, he was
ve ry much involved in his anger. He did not pay much
attentio n to what was going on while visiting his American
host . In gener al, when peo ple are emotio nally involved ,
their understanding of any situatio n tends to be either
biased for it or prejudiced against it.
Another im portant factor is linguistic s, because
language itself is part of culture . Commu nicat ors who use
vocabulary and sentence structure beyond the limits of their
audiences are not co mmu nicat ors at all . Words are used to
create mental win dows through whic h you and your au dience can
30
see your message cle arly . How can we co mmun ic ate effectively
in a different culture in order to cr eate mutual
understanding and interact effecti vely? Does a word mean the
same thing to two different people? Wha t censors and filters
influence our cross-cultural co mmun ic at ion? Those censors
and filters are all
reflected through
related to lenses
the aspects of
of mythologies
self- awaren ess,
expectatio ns , perceptions , emotions , and languages. The
subse quent chapters will co ntinue exploring these issues and
co ncerns in greater depth . These are not issues that are
easily sorted out .
Ove rvie w of Contents
Having provided so me clues as to the author 's
motivation for writing this dissertat ion, let us consider its
co ntents. The individual chapters differ considerably in
co ntents and objective . Thi s brief overview provides an
understanding of the contribution of each chapter to the
central concerns of the dissertat ion . This dissertat ion
intends to follow Popper's selectionism which descri bes the
fundamental evolutionary sequence of events as follows :
P ..,. TS ..,. BB ..,. P
Here "P" stands for problem, "TS" for tenta tive solutions ,
"BB" for error el iminat ion , and "P" for a problem in a new
situation (Popper , 1972; Munz , 1985) .
31
Chapter One uses th e Preview Case to present the
problems of cross-cultural interchange, to identify the key
factors interfer ing with cross- cultural interchange, and to
sug gest why we should be concer ned about the impo rtance of
facili tating effecti ve cross- cultural interchange. Here the
assu mptio ns (hyp otheses ) of the dissertation are drawn
together to provide tentative solutions to the problems of
cross-cultural inte rchange. In this chapter, the first two
factors , whic h are "p roblem" and "t entative solutio ns" in the
sequence of Popp er' s selectio nism, are enumera ted .
The research literature regarding the im porta nt
contributio ns of others in the field of culture is reviewed
in Chapter Two . A theoretic al analysis is made regarding
cultural influen ces and cultural characteristics whic h are
dimensio ns to the lens through whic h peo ple inter pret
behaviors. In order to elimin ate errors and challenge those
tentative solutio ns , the research is focused on the lens
pheno menon by reviewin g literature pertaini ng to the concept
of shared values and mythologies (Burke and Stewart , 1992),
the anthropological framework (human sets of beliefs-
mythologies ) , attributio n theory , and co mmu nicat ion theory.
These theoretic al persp ectives are synth esize d into the
theory of lens which is used for demonstrating how
individ uals inter pret behaviors and attribute shared or
32
distorted meanings or values to them through their own lenses
of mythologies , then act upon them by commu nicatio n .
Chapter Three describes my research methodology,
utilizing my extensive partici patio n in Chinese and Ameri can
busi ness acti viti es . Thus , this dissertatio n is the product
of my own first-hand exp erie nce as a participant observer .
The literature pertainin g to the theory and methodology of
partici pant observatio n is reviewed . The methods of
observatio n, partici patio n , and data collectio n are fully
described. These inc orporate forma l and info rma l inter views ,
a structured questio nnair e as well as notes and record
making. The reasons for utilizi ng those methods are to test
those hypotheses form ed in Chapter One and further, to
elimin ate errors .
In order to demonstrate the diffic ulty of penetrating
these lenses , Chapter Four artic ulates the research findings
by making some gener alizatio ns about two very large cultures ,
the United States and the People's Republic of China, with
extremely diversifi ed populatio ns . Specia l cultural
differences with regard to governm ent roles in business,
decisio n-making style , commu nicatio n style and conflict
resolutio ns are highlighted. The purpose of making
compariso ns about these two large cult ures is to demonstrate
the poi nt that peo ple often make judgments or attri bute
meanings to other's behaviors without understanding those
33
fundamental differences. These pragmatic observations are
proposed as new co nj ectures whic h illustrate why those shared
values and identic al behaviors are interpreted differently
by people with different lenses of mythologies.
Chap ter Five presents the co nclusion of the research-
those tentat ive solut ions (hypotheses) to the problems of
cross-cultural interchange have survived beca use in this
testing they have not been refuted . It also identifies
research findings and implic ations for theory whic h lead to
proposal s for future research in the area of cross-cultural
co mmu nication . The concerns regarding further research on
cross-cultural co mmun ication is considered as new conject ures
whic h leads to further growth of knowledge (Munz , 1985) . The
chapter ends with a disc ussion of impl ications for practice
which sugges ts cross-cultural aware ness training progr ams be
used .
Delimi tations
This dissertat ion is written for an Ameri can audien ce.
It is meant to help Ameri cans interact with Chinese more
effectively. If the same problems of cross-cul tural
interchange were to be explained to a Chinese audience, it
would have to be done in an entirely different way because
the way of thinking in Chinese is different . In the future ,
the au thor intends to art ic ulate to Chinese audiences what
34
they have missed , and how they may have failed to acco mplish
their goals during the process of cross-cultural inter change.
But that is not the pur pose of this dissertatio n .
When the term "C hinese" is used in this disser tation,
it does not mean overseas Chinese, or American Chin ese; nor
Chinese in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. It means the
Chinese in main land China--t he People's Republic of Chin a .
This dissertatio n neither demonstrates how to do
busi ness in China, or in the United States, nor offers any
business strategies or negotiation tactics. It explores the
iss ues of cross-cultural interchange from the perspect ives
of the elite in the both cultures, such as hig h - rank ing
government offici als , diplo mats, lawyers , bankers, and
business executives .
Moreover, everything used to reveal the pheno menon of
cross-cultural interchange is part of the phenomenon.
Consequently, no matter what is being described about a
culture , there are some in herent problems and some
fundamental inaccuracie s caused by the author's lens itself,
as well as the language used that is part of the phenome non
of a culture .
Summary
This chapter uses the Preview Case to illustrate
problems of cross-cultural interchange, and to offer
35
tentat ive solutions to these problems whic h are : we interpret
or view other's behavior through the lens of our own
mythology; therefore , identic al behaviors are interpreted or
viewed differently by people from different cultural
back grounds . People's lenses are reflected through their
self-a wareness, expec tat ions , perceptions , emotions and
languages wh ic h are al l cul turally conditioned .
It is assumed that the ce ntral issue for cultural
research is not whe ther people do or do not have certain
rites or rituals, use certain metapho rs ,
stories , but how individuals interpret
attribute shared or distorted mean ings
or tell certain
such events and
to them through
co mmu ni cation . If it is assumed that people are active
interpreters of social events , the focus of this research
must be on their interpreta tions , undertaken through the
lenses of mythol ogies whic h people hold onto themselves as
their truth .
Cross-cultural interchange can be satisfying when people
make the effort to understand , to enter into interpersonal
relat ionships, to percei ve and handle differences. In
real ity, our traditional administrat ive and business skills
are no longer sufficient by themselves. We are requ ired to
have a world view , perhaps beyond anything our predeces sors
imagined or dreamed . And our success or failure working in
36
multic ultural environments depen ds upon awareness and
understanding of fundamental differences in cultures .
Thus, in the following chapter , cultural influences as
well as their characteris tic s will be analyzed. And some
relevant theoretic al perspe ctives will be studied in order
to elimin ate errors in the hypotheses formed in this chapter .
The theory of lens will be developed to demonstrate effecti ve
cross-cultural inte rchange.
37
CHAPTER TWO
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN CROSS-CULTURAL
INTERCHANGE, AND THE LENS PHENOMENON
Analyzin g Cultural Influences
Our co nscio usness, our way of perceiving, thinking and
acting can be cultural ly conditioned . Eastern cultures
analyze in ideog rams or visualizat ions , whereas Western
cultures tend to use conce pts. Because a co ncept is a
general notion or idea that co mbines the characteristics
known about a subject, it provides a framework for thinking
about or ana lyzing a part icular topic or expe rience
(Otterbein , 1977) . For exam ple , here are so me excerpts
extracte d from the works of Hellriegel , Slocum, and Woodman
(1986) ; and Szilagyi and Wallace (1990) , which can be
analy zed in a part icular conceptual co ntext :
Beij ing, China - Students had a diffic ult
time exp laining "disc ussion " without
part ici pation in decision making , for the
general co nsensus of the student s was that
they participated in arr1 v1ng at the
decision , but not in decision making . Some
students said that they felt require d to
part ici pate , but were afraid of being too
outspoken. They insisted that strict
patterning of disc ussion was correct, polite
behavi or , an example of right part icipation
which avo ided public co nflict. Avoidance of
co nflict stems from the face- saving rituals
of traditional Chinese culture, which
perceive conflict as co nfusion and
detrimental to soci al well-b eing .
(Hel lriegel , Sloc um and Woodman , 1986)
Tokyo, Japan - The executi ves of McDonald' s
hamburger restaurant realized when they went
into business here eight years ago that they
had to adapt to Japa nese attitudes rather
than merely replicate their Americ an
operatio ns . Therefore, the first McDonald' s
was set up in a prestig ious locatio n in
order to im press the Japa nese , who would
have considered it a second-class enterprise
had it been started in the suburbs .
McDonald' s efforts here have been successful
because they sought to understand Japane se
behavior , and adjusted effecti vely to
Japan's dif ferent way of doing thin gs.
(Szilagyi and Wallace , 1990)
Quin hagak , Alaska - Natives in rural Alaska
are caught in a grinding collisio n between
two worlds, modern and traditio nal .
Increasingly they fear that their
subsiste nce-centered life style , the basis
of their culture, will be crushed by the
advancing technological society .
Subsiste nce for such Eskimos goes beyond the
definitio n pro posed in Congress: "T he
customary and traditio nal uses in Alaska of
wild, renewable resources for direct
perso nal or fam ily consu mptio n as food,
clothing, shelter, fuel, tools,
transport atio n." For the native subsistence
is more than support , it is really an entir e
way of life . It is not just food for the
stomach, it is food for the soul . (Szila gyi
and Wallace , 1990}
New York, N.Y. - The American busi nessman
overseas often operates under demanding
conditions . He suffers the hardship of
gi ving up cold martinis for warm beer as one
way to integrate into the Englis h business
communit y . He must keep his mind on
busi ness during the rounds of Geisha houses
as a prelu de to conclud ing a deal in Japan.
And if he operates in Spain , he must brace
hi mself for the rigors of 11 p.m. dinners
and negotiatio ns that may continue into the
small hours of the mornin g! (Hellriegel ,
Slocum and Woodman, 1986)
38
39
What, then, do all these press accounts have in common
that can make these commen taries more meanin gful? Obviously ,
the conce pt of culture . The abilit y to percei ve and exami ne
cultural elements can be a very useful tool for understanding
human behavior around the world .
Insight s about this conce p t come largely from the
behavioral sciences of anthropol ogy, socio logy, and
psy chology. Such social sciences study and inform us about
how peo ple behave, why they behave as they do, and what the
relatio nshi p is between human behavior and the environmen t.
Each of us tends to view other peo ples' behavior in the
context of our own background, that is , we look at others
from the perspecti ve of our own "l ittle world"-- our own
lens--a nd are thus subjecti ve .
Cultural anthropol ogy is partic ularly helpful in
balancing our perspecti ve by providing objecti ve ways for
analyzing and appreci ating cultural si milari ties and
dissi milarities (Hall, 1977) . Although we all share some
aspects of culture, such as language and process ing food, the
very diversity in human behavior is expla ined somewhat
because we all do not belong to the sam e culture (Otterbein ,
1977). For exam ple, at first it see ms contradictory--w hat
is one man 's food in one culture , is repugnant in another
culture .
As Edgar Schein def ines:
Culture is a pattern of basic assumptio ns-
in vented , disco vered, or developed by a
gi ven group as it le arns to cope with its
problems of external adaptation and internal
integr atio n--t hat has worked well enough to
be considered valid and, there fore, to be
taught to new members as the correct way to
perceive, thin k, and feel in relatio n to
those problems . Thus, culture should be
viewed as a pro perty of an independ ently
defined stable soci al unit (Schein , 1987 ) .
40
That is , if one can demonstrate that a gi ven set of people
have shared a sig nific ant number of im porta nt experi ences in
the process of solvi ng external and inter nal problems, one
can assu me that such common experiences have led them , over
ti me, to a shared view of the world around them and their
place in it. There has to have been enough shared experience
to have led to a shared view , and this shared view has to
have worked for long enough to have come to be taken for
granted and to have dropped out of awareness. Culture, in
this sense , is a learned product of group experience and is ,
therefore, to be found only where there is a de fina bl e group
with a significant histor y (Schein , 1987 ) .
Similarly , in the classical anthropological sense , Hall
has said that culture refers to the cumulative deposit of
knowledge , beliefs , values, religio n, customs, and mores
acquired by a group of people and passed on from generatio n
to generatio n (Hall, 197 7) .
41
Accor ding to Sc hein and Hall's definitions of culture,
four assumptions are proposed as follows : first , huma n beings
develop cultures as an adap tat ion to their physic al , or
biologic al environment , and early soci al experiences.
Custo ms , practic es , and traditions for survival and
development are thus passed al ong from generation to
generat ion among a partic ular people . In time , the group
or race bec ome unconscio us of the origin of this fund of
wisdom . Subsequent generations are co nditioned to accept
such "truths " about life around them, certain taboos and
values are established , and in a multitude of ways people are
inform ed of the "acc epted" behavior for living in that
soc iety . Th is bec omes their culture . Culture influences and
is influenced by every facet of human acti vi ty. Thus ,
individuals are strongly inclin ed to accept and believe wha t
their culture tells them .
Second, humans develop cultures not only as an adap tive
mechanism to their biologic al or geophysic al environme nt , but
as a means of contributing to their social evolution . Our
human her itage is both biological (genetic) and cultural .
Just as the geophysic al environment in which we are reared
influences us , so too our social institutions-- home , sc hool ,
church, and governmen t--p rovide a cultural conte xt that
impacts upon our behavior . The paradox of culture is evident
in the matter of life cycl e--all humans have so me means for
42
designating the different stages of growth and devel opment,
but partic ular cultures interpret these phases differently
(Blair , 1975) .
Thi rd , we are affecte d by the co mmon lore of the
co mm unity in which we are ra ised and reside, regardless of
the objective validity of this input and imprint . We tend
to ignore or block out that which is contrary to the cultural
"trut h" or co nflicts with our beliefs . This is often the
basis for prej udice among members of other groups, for
refusing to change when cherished notions are ch allenged
(Blair , 1975) . It can bec ome a real proble m when a culture
and its way of thinking lag behind new disco veries and
realities . Scientific and technological advan ces, for
instance, have outrun co mmon cultural teachings for mas ses
of people . Industrial ization is not culture free . For
example , we si mply ca n' t have the benefit of aut omat ion
without taking the industrial ized ideas that eventual ly
change working relationships and soc ial structures . This is
one of the byproducts of the accelerat ion of change, and
results in a culture gap .
Fourth , culture is also co mm uni cable knowledge, learned
behavioral traits that are shared by part icipants in a social
group and manifested in their institutions and art ifacts.
Culture is not a choice, we are born into a culture . Unlike
good mann ers , it is not something posses sed by so me and not
43
by others--it is possessed by all human beings and is in that
sense, a uni fyin g factor . Its co mmon understandings are both
learned and absorbed (Brown , 1974) . Each cultural group
produces its own special answers to life chall enges like
birth, growth, soci al relat ions , and even death . As a people
adj ust to the peculiar ci rcumstances in whic h they find
themselves on this earth, a routine of daily living emerges
for bathing , dressing , eat ing, working, playing , and
sleeping. When life is formal ized for humans on space
stat ions or other planets, the species will adapt and new
form s of culture will emerge (Hall , 1959) .
To further understand cultural influences, the
perspective of different contexts and levels of culture
developed by Dr . Hall is disc ussed .
Culture can be analyzed as high co ntext or low conte xt .
This distinction developed by Dr . Hall in his book, Beyond
Cultur e , is useful for us in looking for meaning in cr oss
cultural messages. A high conte xt co mmun ication is one in
whic h most of the informat ion is either in the physic al
conte xt or internalized in the person . A low conte xt
co mmu nicat ion is one in whic h the majority of information is
contain ed in the explicit cod e . Thus , in an organizat ion
within a high co ntext culture, there is a likel ihood that
much of human behavior wil l be co vert or implicit, whereas
in the low co ntext it may tend to be more overt or expl icit.
44
Hall envisio ns, for instance , We st Germany and the
Unite d States as on the lower end of the context scale . Here,
behavior is often characterized by coded inform ation , form al
transmitted messages , li mited in volvement and relatio nships
with fellow workers, fewer distinction s between insiders and
outsiders, and change that is relati vely easy and rapid. On
the other hand, he would suggest that China and Japan would
fit the descri ptio n of high context , and in such cultures
inform atio n is either im plicit in the physical context or
inter nalized withi n peo ple , ra ther than explicit coding and
transmittin g; bonds between peo ple tend to be strong and
there is deeper in volvement with coworkers; greater
distinctio ns are made between those outside or inside the
culture; and cultural patterns are more long-li ved (Hall,
1977) .
These observat io ns from his book, Beyond Culture, remind
us of the management challenges that face multin atio nal
corporatio ns . Representatives from a low context culture can
get into grave business diff iculties when they operate within
a high context culture, or vice ve rsa. For example, when a
Chinese manager and an American manager work together, there
are many possi biliti es for misunderstanding. The American
is looking for meaning and understanding of what is said ; the
Chinese is looking for meaning and understanding in what is
not said--in the sile nces and in the pauses between the
45
silences. The American emphasis is on sending out or gi ving
acc urate messages (being artic ulate) whereas , the Chinese
emphasis is on receiving messages that often do not have to
be stated directly .
Sharon Ruhly, modifying conce pts presented by Hall in
his now classic book, The Silent Language , provides a system
for ana lyzing different levels of culture that are called the
tech ni cal, formal , and informal . This is a useful sc heme for
understanding cultural co ntent and the amount of emotion
attached to the conte nt (Ruhly, 1976) .
Using the anal ogy that culture is like an ic eberg- -p art
of it is seen but most is not--the tech nical level of culture
is the part whic h is in ful l view . The technical aspects of
a culture are often learned , as in a student -teacher
relat ionship . An examp le of a technical aspect of the
American culture is the al phabet . There is little emotion
atta ched to the tec hni cal level and there are few
intercultural misunderstandings at this level , as the reason
for a disagreemen t is usual ly quite easy to determine . For
example , people operate at the tech nical levels of culture
when disc ussing the tolerance points of certain metals;
however, when two people are interacting over a period of
time , it is diffic ult to rema in exclusively at the tech nical
level .
46
Contin uin g with the analogy of the cultural ice berg , the
formal level of culture is partially above and partially
below sea level . We learn aspects of our culture at the
formal leve l usually by trial and error . We may be aware of
the rules for a particular behavior , such as, the rituals of
marria ge, but we do not know why . The emotio n at the formal
leve l of culture is hig h and violatio ns result in negative
feelings about the violato r even though the violatio n is
often unintentio nal . The fact that the violated rule is
local , i.e. , an aspect of one culture and not another and
therefore does not apply to everyone, is diffic ult to admit.
A visiti ng business representative who uses a social occasion
in China to discuss per sonal life with a Chinese go ve rnment
officer is violating a rule at the formal leve l of Chinese
culture .
The infor mal leve l of culture lies below sea level where
actio ns and respo nses are automatic and almost unconscio us .
The rules of behavior are usually not known although we
realize that something is wrong . Informa l rules are learned
through a process called modeling. One example is the role
behavior for males and females that persons are expe cted to
follow in some cultures . Emotio n is usually intense at the
infor mal level when a rule is broken and the relati onship
between the persons involved is affected . Violatio ns are
inter preted perso nally, for example, call ing a perso n by his
47
first name too soon co ul d be interpreted as overly friendly
and offensive (Ruhly , 1976) .
The purpose of the above study is to illustrate the
point that when we operate in multic ul tural settings, we need
to understand what goes into the making of a culture and to
develop skills in deal ing with such differen ces. In that
way, our behavior will be more appropriate, sensitive , and
co nsistent regardless of the cultural group with whom we
interact. To accom plish such a goal , then , it beco mes
important to know the meaning of culture and the ways to
analyze its diverse man ifestations .
Analyzing Characteristics of Culture
Culture helps us to make sense out of that part of the
planet or space inhabited by us . The place is foreig n only
to strangers , not to those who inhabit it . Culture
facilitates living by providing ready-m ade solutions to
problems , by establishing pa tterns of relations , and ways for
preserving group coh esion and consensus. There are many road
maps , or di fferent approaches for analyzing and categoriz ing
a culture to make it more unders tandable and less
threatenin g.
Because culture gives a people identity, how can we
ident ify those aspects of it that make a people so disti nct?
One way is by studying the group in terms of certain
48
categories that are dimensions to the lens through which
people interpret behavi ors . Thus , ten general classifications
are developed and described below as a simple model for
assessing a part icular culture in order to examine a people
systemic ally . It is a paradigm, or mental set for evaluat ing
the maj or characteristics of culture . It does not include
eve ry aspect of culture , nor is it the only way to analyze
culture . The breakdown into ten cate gories is a co nven ient
beginning for cul tural understanding that can be used as one
travels around the world and visits different cultures , or
the model can be used to study the microcultures within a
majority nat ional culture .
Values and Nor.ms . The need systems of cultures vary ,
as do the priorities they attach to certain behavior in the
group . Those operating on a survival level value the
gathering of food , adequa te co ver ing and shel ter ; while those
with high security needs value ma terial things, money, job
titles , as wel l as law and order {Rokeach, 1973) .
Values in the United States organization include
co mpetition as a primary method for motivating members of a
group, a stress on the individual as being the most important
identity in American culture , and the form of activity
related to "doing, " "getting things done, " or "it is better
to do something than nothing." These values are a part of
American culture and are not shared by all cultures {Stewart ,
49
1977 ) . The concept of value has been studied by many soci al
scientists , but Florence Kluckhohn and Frederic k St rodtbeck
in their classic study Variatio ns in Value Orientatio ns
provide a definit io n : "a value is a concepti on, exp licit or
im plicit , distincti ve of an individual or characteristic of
a gro up whic h influences the selectio n from availa ble modes,
means, and ends of actio ns." The reference to "e xpl icit or
im plicit " in dicates that many values that we hold may not be
at a conscio us leve l and it is these that cause the greatest
diffic ulty in inter cultural relatio ns (Kluckhohn and
St rodtbeck, 1961 ) .
In any event, from its value system, a culture sets
norms of behavior for that society. These accepta ble
standards for membershi p may range from the work ethic, to
pleasure , to absolute obedience or perm issi veness for
children; from rigid submission of the wife to her husband
to women's total liberatio n . As Ina Brown (1 974 ) reminds us,
"P eople in different cultures are pleased , concerned,
annoyed , or embarrassed about different things be cause they
percei ve sit uatio ns in terms of different sets of premises.11
Because con ventio ns are learned, some of these conventio ns
are expr esse d in gift-gi ving; rituals for birth , death , and
marriage ; gu idelines for privacy , showing respect or
deference , expressing good manners and so forth .
50
Mythologies . Another way of observing a culture is to
study its mythology. Mythology is a ratio nal concept of
broad meaning and wide reference to one' s perso nal world of
reality. As Burke and Stewart define it ,
Mythologies are a set of beliefs whic h allow
us to attribute motive to behavior . While
in today's common usage the term mythology
means false belief, throughout history myths
have been stories which contain within them
a fundame ntal truth . They define heroic and
cowardly behavior , the meaning of human
dig nity , behavior whic h demonstrates love
and carin g for others. They allow us to
assign values and to positio n them on a
positive/negat ive scale in response to a
partic ular observatio n of behavior. (A
behavior may demonstrate several values and
each will be placed on a scale from positi ve
to negative.) Mythologies are used to
explain the meaning of events . (Burke and
Stewart, 1992) .
Burke and Stewart go on to say that from the mythology
of an external viewer , a partic ular mythology held by others
may app ear to be true or false, good or bad . For the
individual who holds the myth, however, it is always true
because it provides predicta bility and safety; and it allows
him or her to survive and prospe r. It gi ves meaning to
events in his or her world (Burke and Stewart, 1992) .
As Campbell exp lains, "M yth helps you put your mind in
touch with this experie nce of bein g alive. It tells you what
the exp erie nce is." Marriage for example. What is marriage ?
The myth tells you what it is. It is the reunio n of the
separated duad . You are now two in the world, but the
51
recog nition of the spiritual identity is wha t marriage is .
It is different from a love affair . It is another
mythological plan of expe rience (Campbell, 1988) .
On another plane of human exper ience, myths serve
several diverse functio ns : Myths explain . Myths expres s.
Myths ma intain solidarity and cohesion . Myths legiti mize .
Myths co mm unicate unconscio us wishes and conflic ts . Myths
mediate contradictions . Myths provide narrat ive to anchor
the present in the past (Cohen , 1969) .
Beliefs and Atti tudes . Possibly the most diffic ult
classific ation is ascertaining the maj or belief themes of a
people , and how these and other factors influence their
attitudes toward themselves , others , and wha t happens in
their world . People in all cultures seem to have a co ncern
for the superna tural tha t is evident in their religio n and
religio us practic es . Primitive cultures , for exam ple , have
a belief in spiritual beings labeled by us as "animism. " In
the history of human development there is an evident
evolution in our spiritual sense until today many moderns use
terms like "cosmic consciousn ess" to indicate their belief
in the trans cendental powers . Between these two extremes in
the spiritual co nt inuum , rel igious traditions in various
cultures cons cio usly or unconscio usly influence our attitudes
toward life, death , and the herea fter (Rokeach, 1973) .
52
Western culture see ms to be largely influ enced by
Judeo -Christian -Islamic traditio ns , while Eastern or Oriental
cultures have been domin ated by Buddhism, Confucianis m,
Taois m, and Hinduis m . Religion , to a degree, expresses the
philoso phy of a people about im portant facets of life--i t is
influenced by culture and vice versa (Parsons , 1977) . It is
see med that religio n is also part of culture . For example,
a peo ple' s religio us belief syste m is somewhat dependent on
their stage of human devel opment : tribes man and primi tives
tend to be superstitio us and the practic e of voodoo is
illustrative of this ; so me religio ns are deeply locked into
the agricultur al stage of devel opment , while many so- called
advanced technologic al people seem to be more irreligio us ,
substituting a belief in scie nce for faith in traditio nal
religio ns and their practices (Harris, 1974) .
Mental Process and Learning . Some cultures emphasize
one aspect of brain devel opm ent over another, so that one may
observe striking differences in the way peo ple thin k and
learn . Anthropologist Edward Hall maintains that the mind
is internalized culture, and the thin kin g process in volves
how peopl e organi ze and process informatio n . Life in a
particular locale defines the rewards and puni shments for
learning or not learnin g certain infor matio n , or for leaning
it in a certain way . This is confirm ed and reinfor ced by the
culture there (Hall , 1977) . Thus , Germ ans stress logic,
53
while logic for a Hopi Indian is based on preser ving the
integrit y of their social system and all the relatio nships
connected with it. Some cultures favor abstract thin kin g and
conceptualizatio n, while the Chinese prefer rote memory and
learni ng. What see ms to be universal is that each culture
has a reasonin g process, but then each manifests the process
in its own distinctive way (Schein, 1987) .
Relat ionships . Cultures fix human and orga nizatio nal
relatio nships by age, sex, status, and degree of kinship , as
well as by wealth, power , and wisdom (Otterbein, 1977) . The
family unit is the most common expres sion of this
characteristic, and the arrangement may go from small to
large--in a Chinese farmer 's household, the family includes
under one roof , mother, father, children, parents, uncles,
aunts , and cousins. In fact, one's physical locatio n in such
houses may also be determined --m ales on one si de , females on
the other--b y culture . There are some places in whic h the
accepted marriage relatio nship is monoga my, while in other
cultures it may be polygamy or polyandry (one wife, several
husbands) . In the Chinese culture , the authoritaria n figure
in the family is the head male, and this fixed relatio nshi p
is then extended from home to commu nity, and explains why
that soci ety prefers to have an emperor head up the national
family.
54
Relatio nshi ps between and among people also may vary by
categor y--i n some cultures, the elderly hold a place of high
honor , whereas in others they are ig nored; in some cultures,
women must wear veils and appear deferential, while in others
the female is co ns idered the equal , if not the superior to
the male. Relationships in subcultures are also disp layed
differently. A subculture, de f ined by Webster's Ni nth New
Collegiate Dictio nary, is an ethnic, regio nal , economic, or
soci al group exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior
sufficient to disting uish it from others within an embra cing
culture or society. For example, the military subculture has
a classic determin atio n of relatio nshi ps by rank or protocol,
such as the relatio nship s between officers and enlisted
personnel . Even off duty, when on base, the recreatio nal
faciliti es are segrega ted for officers , nonco mm issio ned , and
enlisted perso nnel . The form alizatio n of relatio nshi ps is
evident in some religio us subcultures with titles such as
"r everend, " "g uru, " "p astor, " "r abbi," or "bis hop. " (Harris,
19 74)
Sense of Self and Space . The comfort one has with self
can be expressed differently by culture . Self-identit y and
appre ciatio n can be manifested by humbl e bearin g in one
place, while another calls for macho behavior ; a sense of
independence and creativity is countered in other cultures
by group cooper atio n and conform ity (Hall , 1969) .
55
Representat ives of so me cultures , such as Americans, have a
sense of space that requires more distance between the
individual and others , while the Chinese want to get much
closer, almost familiar to American perceptions . Some
cultures are very structured and formal , while others are
more flexible and inform al . Some cultures are very closed
and one' s place is determined very precisely, while others
are more open and changin g . Each culture validates self in
a unique way .
Time and Time Consciousness . Sense of time differs by
culture , so that so me are exact and others are rel at ive .
General ly, Germans are precise about the clock , while many
Latins are more casual-- "Ma nana ." In so me cultures ,
promptness is determined by age or status --t hus , in so me
countries , subordinates are expected on time at staff
meetings, but the boss is the last to ar rive (Hall , 1969} .
Some subcultures , like the mil itary , have their own time
system of twenty-four hours-- one p.m. civilian time, beco mes
1300 hours in military time. In such cultures , promptness
is rewarded , and in battles , the watch es are synchronized .
Yet there are peasants in the Chinese rural culture who do
not bother with hours or minutes , but manage their days by
sunrise and sunset .
Time , in the sense of how the four seasons of the year
are viewed , varies by culture . Some areas of the world think
56
in term s of spring , summer , fall and winter , but for others
the more mean ingful designations may be ra iny or dry seasons .
In the United States , for example, the East and Midwest may
be very conscio us of the four seasons , while those in the
West or Southwest tend to ignore such designat ions-
Cal ifornians are more co ncerned with ra iny months and mu d
slides , or dry months and forest fires (S tewart , 1977) .
The rhythm of life for a people is determined by their
stage of human devel opment; therefore for populat ions in the
pre-industrial co ndition , time is shaped by the natural
cyc les of agric ulture ; whereas in industrial ized na tions , the
artific ial time of the cloc k and the asse mbly line regulat e
workers . In the superindustrial soc iety, time beco mes a
sc arce resource , while in under developed nations time is
abundant . Sociologist Daniel Bel l reminds America n "clock
wat chers" that the co mputer with its nanoseconds is
co nsidered a time saver in organizational cultures of high
technology (Harris , 1983) .
Comm unicat ion and Language. Language is an important
part of culture . Since culture always has a history, it
frequently takes the form of tradition from which that
language co mes (Bellah, Madsen , Sull ivan , Swidler and Tipton ,
19 85) .
Verbal and nonverbal co mmunication systems distinguish
one group from another . Apart from the multitude of
57
"foreign" langua ges, so me nations have fifteen or more maj or
spoken languages (within one language group there are
dialects, accents , slang, jargon, and other such variatio ns).
Further more, the meanings given to gestures , for exam ple,
often differ by culture . So while body language may be
universal , its manifestatio n differs by locality (Hall ,
1959 ) . So me subcultures, such as the military, have
term inology and signals that cut across national boundaries
(such as a salute, or the rank system) .
Food and Feeding Habits . The manner in which food is
selected, prepared, presented, and eaten ofte n differs by
culture . One man's pet is another person's delicacy- -dog
anyo ne? Americans lo ve beef , yet it is for bidden to Hindus ,
while the forbidden food in Mosle m and Jewish culture is
normally por k , eate n extensively by the Chinese and others.
In large cosmopolitan cities , restaur ants often cater to
diverse diets and offer "national " dishes to meet varying
cultural tastes . Feeding habits also differ, and the range
goes from hands and chop sticks to full sets of cutler y .
Even when cultures use a utensil such as a fork, one can, for
the most part, distinguish a European from an American by
which hand holds the imple ment . Subcultures , too, can be
analyzed from this perspective , such as the executive's
dining room, the soldier 's mess, the worker's submarine
58
sandwich, the ladies ' tea room, and the vegetarian's
resta urant (Brown, 1974) .
Dress and Appearance . This includes the outward
garm ents and adornments, or lack thereof , as well as body
decoratio ns that tend to be distinctive by culture
(Otterbein , 1977) . We have been aware of the Japane se
kimono, the African headdress, the Engli shman's bowler and
umbrella ,
headband .
the Poly nesian sarong , and the American Indian
Some tribes smear their faces for battle, while
some women use cosmetic s to manifest beauty. Many
subcultures wear distincti ve clothing --t he "o rgani zation-m an
look" of business, the je ans of the youth culture throughout
the world, and uniforms that segrega te everyone from students
to police . In the military subculture, customs and
regulatio ns determ ine dress of the day, length of hair ,
equipment to be worn, and so forth . In colonial ti mes, the
United States Marines wore long hair , dressed in pantaloons,
and carried muskets-- y es, many aspects of culture eventually
do change (St ewart, 1977) .
In sum , all aspects of culture are interrelat ed, and to
change one part is to change the whole. There is a danger
in tryin g to compartm entalize a comple x concept like culture,
yet retain ing a sense of its whole. To facilit ate
intercultural relatio ns, and limit distortio ns, we must move
beyond our own cultural heritage into the world of the other .
59
That is, if we are so locked into our own lens-- our own
cultural way of thinking, then we will be unable to share
other cultures . Thus , a module of working through lens of
mythology is proposed. It is assumed if we understand how
this lens of mythology works in the proces s of interpreting
behavior , we can get better co nnections to cross-cultural
interchange. It is suggested we look at a people' s culture
the way we view a beautiful jewel--w e hold up different
facets to the light of our co nscio usness, so as to better
appreciate the beauty of human diversity and capabil ity .
Rel evant Theoretical Perspectives
Among the ten categories that are the dimensions to the
lens descri bed in the above section , values , mythologies and
co mmun icatio n are more important in the process of
interpreting and understanding behaviors . Burke and Stewart
assume that all we can obser ve is behavior , and we att ribute
meanings and values to it through the lens of our mythology
(Burke and Stewart , 1992) . Then we act upon it by
co mmu nication .
In order to further understand this lens phenomenon
whic h leads to tentat ive solutions to the problems of cross
cultural interchange, let's first study the important
co ntributions of others with regard to the theoretical
perspectives of values , attribution and co mmu nication .
60
The Anthropo logical Framework
Anthropo logists have , for a long time , used the concept
of values for making co mpari sons between cultures and for
interpreting analyses of differences within cultures . The
purpose is to interpret and understand differences in huma n
behavior . In a sense, all cultural learning ul timately
reflects someone ' s original values, their sense of what
"ought " to be, as distinct from what is (Sc hein , 1987) .
The co ncept of value is important because people from the
same culture tend to have similar va lues and these value
systems influence their interpersonal relat ionship and their
acti vities.
There are three assumptions underlying the framework .
The first is that there are a limited number of co mmon human
questions for which all people at all times must seek so me
answer . Thi s assumption is simply stating that the number
of questions all people expe rience is not unl imited and these
questio ns arise out of the human situation . The seco nd
assumption is that while there is va riability of solutions
for all the questions , it is not limitless or random ; the
var iat ion is within a range of solut ions . The third
assumption is that all the alternatives of all the solutions
are present in all societies at al l times but are preferred
differentially (Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, 1961) .
61
These are basic assumptions from which five questions
have been identified as most crucial and co mmon to all human
groups .
Acco rding to Klu ckhohn and Strodtbeck, the five basic
questions are :
1. Wha t is the character of inna te human natu re?
2. What is the relationship of man to nature?
3. What is the temporal focus of life?
4. What is the modal ity of man' s acti vi ty?
5. What is the relat ionship of a person to other
persons?
The range of solut ions to these questions is illustrated
in the matrix in Table 2-1 . The matr ix sugge sts that , for
each culture , there is a preferred way of responding to each
questio n from among the alternatives presented (DiStefano ,
1972) . Underlying these preferences are valu es, which are
ideas about what is right and wrong, good and bad . Values
not only influence our behavior , but provide us with a focus
for interpreting and understanding our own behavior as well
as the behavior of persons from different cultures .
Table 2-1 is a three- way classifi cation for the sake of
illustration , and undoubtedly further distinctions can be
made . The following analysis of the above five questions are
mainly extracted from the works of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck
Table 2-1*
Cultural Influen ces on Life Issues
Culture Approaches
What is the character of
human nature 7
What is the relationship
of man to nature?
What is the temporal
focus of life 7
What is the modality of
man's activities?
What is the relationship
of a person to other
persons?
A
Man is evil**
Man is subject to nature
To the past
A spontaneous
expression in impulse
and desires
Lineal-group goals are
primary and an
important goal is
continuity through time.
• Exhibit modified from Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, p. 11 ff.
B
Man is a mixture of good
and evil. • •
Man is in harmony with
nature
To the present
Activity that emphasizes as
a goal the development of all
aspects of the self
Collateral-group goals are
primary. But well-regulated
continuity of group
relationships through time
are not critical.
• *This all contains an assumption that human nature is either mutable or immutable .
c
Man is good**
Man is master of
nature
To the future
Activity that is
motivated primarily
toward measurable
accomplishments
Individual-the
individual goals are
most important
0'\
tv
63
(1961) , Rhinesmith (1971) , DiStefano (1972) , and Stewart
(1977) .
What is the Charac ter of Innate Human Nature?
In the United States many agree that the influence of
Pur itan ances tors is strong and many believe that huma n
na ture is basically evil but perfectib le . Control and
discipline are required to achie ve goodness. Some other
societ ies see m to believe that man is a mixture of good and
evil . There is no evidence of a soci ety that is commi tted
to the definition of human nature as imm utably good.
What is the Relationship of Man to Nature?
Most Americans believe that man is master of nature .
The harmony orientation can be observed in Chinese, Japanese,
and many American Indian tribes including the Navaj o and
Hopi . Accept ing the inevitable and the subjugat ion of man
to nature is evident in societ ies that place a high belief
in fate .
What is the Tem poral Pocus of Life?
The solutions to the questio n (past, present, and
future ) are present in all societ ies but the ordering of one
over ano ther is what differentiates societi es. The majority
of middle class Ameri cans are oriented to the future , whereas
peasants in many societ ies focus on the "now " more than the
past or the future . And the Chinese orientation as well as
some other cultures is very mu ch to the past .
64
What is the Modality of Man ' s Activity?
The spontaneous expressio n of impulses stresses the
release and indulgence of existing desires. An example is
the behavior of peopl e in Brazil at Ma rdi Gras . Activities
that emphasize the development of all aspects of a person can
be seen in Eastern culture and among Westerners influenced
by Eric Fromm and others . The "doing " or acti vity oriented
towards accom plishments is most familiar to Americans in
particular .
Wha t is the Relationship of a Person to Other Persons?
In this question , a key to understanding the
categorizat ion is to ask, "whose welfare is primary? " In the
individual orientation, the individual 's welfare is more
important . Most Americans are in this categor y .
Al ternat ively, the extended fam ilies of many cultures , suc h
as Chinese, would be an example of the collater al group where
the welfare of the group supersedes the welfare of the
individual members. The Englis h aristocr acy would be an
example of a lineal group orientation where the welfare of
the group is important and the social class co ntinues through
time .
The analysis of the above five questions has provided
a basic guideline to those co mmon huma n questions . It is
conc erned, however, the above analysis might have a danger
of over-s implification . In our soc ial life, there is hardly
65
such a clear-c ut as presented in the range of solutio ns to
those questio ns in Table 2-1. For Example, Confucius, one of
the ancient Chinese philosophers, believed that man was good ;
however, his temporal focus of life was orie nted to the past .
It is considered that those human questions si mply cannot be
wrapped up in a neat, packaged scheme, ready to gi ve
universally accepta ble guidance to human groups. How peo ple
view those common human questio ns mainly depends upon how
peo ple make attributions concerning their realiti es perceived
through their own lens .
Attribution Theory From Social Psychol ogy
In this section , the following scholars' works shall be
frequently used: Harold Kelley (1 97 2) , Baron and Byrne
(1 98 1), Jaspars and Fincham (1 983), Mitchell, Green and Wood
(1 98 1), and Tria ndis (1 97 5) .
Last year , at a Pacific Ri m Investment Seminar conducted
for American executives and manag ers in Los Angeles, two
senior manag ers of the aircraft industry from Chin a related
the following incident. Shortly after arri ving in Los
Angeles for a two - week trip in the United States , they were
in vited to a barbecue by the internatio nal vice- president of
an American aircraft compa ny. They arri ved and within one
hour, in their own words, "t hey had been so insulted that
they were ready to go back to their hotel . " What had
66
happ ened? First , from the perspecti ve of the manag ers from
China, they thought they had been invited to a formal dinner
by the inter natio nal vice-p resid ent . Also , their exp ectatio n
was that they would be the only people present with the
family. Second, when they were introduced to the other
guests, so me of the peo ple did not stand . Third, their food
was not serve d, they had to help themselves, like everyone
else standing in the line . They were incensed and "highly
ins ulted . 11
2
From the perspect ive of the Americans, howeve r, the
purpose of the barbecue was to provide an opportu nit y for the
two Chinese to meet several others in the American aircraft
co mpany as well as a few frie nds from the neig hborhood . The
Ameri can family hosted a casual barbecue dinner in order to
create a friendly , warm and hospitable atmosphere to welcome
their friends from China. But the im portant fact is that two
peo ple from China felt in sulted and the pur pose of the event
from the perspect ive of the Chinese was not acco mplished .
What happ ened? What attributio ns did the Chinese make
concerning the casual barbecue dinner? There might be two
possi biliti es . One op tio n is that the American is ignorant
of Chin ese culture and in this case the Chinese should not
be too disturbed . Howeve r, if the Chinese attributed the
2
I learned of this incid ent from the two Chinese senior
managers perso nally.
67
casual barbecue dinner to a personal co nsideration (e.g. , the
Ame rican is arr ogant beca use he does not respect people from
different cultures), then there will be serio us problems in
their interpersonal relationship . If a person from one
culture is offended by a person from another culture and one
believes it is because of culture ignorance, this is usually
forgiven . If one "attributes" the offense or "error " to
arrogance there will be serious problems.
Attribution theory is concerned with how people explain
things that happen . It is a way of explaining to ourselves
why things happen in the world . In the most gener al sense,
attribution refers to the ways in whic h people co me to
understand the causes of others ' {and their own) behavi or .
Attribution, in fact, may be the central process in a
person' s perce ptions . Harold Kelley {1972) , a well-known
researcher in the area of attr ibution theory , made the
following personal statement that eloquently captures both
the importance and meaning of attribution .
In the course of my interaction with other
people, I often wonder why they act as they
do . I may wonder how to interpret a
com pliment a student makes of a lecture I
recently gave, why my friend is so critic al
of a certai n co mmon acq ua intance, or why my
colleague has not done his share of the work
on our joint proj ect. These are questions
about the at tribution of the other person' s
behavior --w hat causes it , what is
responsible for it , to what is it to be
attributed?
68
For example, the two peo ple from China exp ected to be
the only perso ns in vited to the barbecue and once there ,
expected other guests to stand when being introduced as well
as the food being served on their plates. When each one's
exp ectatio ns were not realized they attri buted moti ve s to the
"o ffender" based on their cultural constructs . Then, what
is the relatio nship between attri butio ns and behavior? This
will beco me clearer as we examine the process of attributio n .
The Attribution Process
The basic reaso n peo ple make attributio ns is to
understand the behavior of other peo ple and hence to make
better sense of their environmen t. A basic model of the
attributio n process is shown in Table 2-2. People infer
"c auses" to the behavior they observe in others, and these
inter pretatio ns often pla y a key role in determ inin g their
reactio ns to that behavior .
Table 2- 2
General MOdel of the Attribution Process
Antecedents
Informatio n
Beliefs
Moti vatio n
Attributio ns
Perceived
...
causes
Conseq uences
Behavior
...
Affect
Expe ctancy
(Kelley, 1972)
69
As in dicated in Table 2-2, the percei ved causes of
behavior are a result of seve ral antecedents; (1 ) the amount
of infor matio n the percei ve r has about the people and the
sit uatio n, and how that infor matio n is organize d and
interpreted by the perceiver ; (2 ) the percei ver' s beliefs
(i mplicit personalit y theories , what other peo ple might do
in a si milar sit uatio n, and so on); and (3) the moti vatio n
of the perceiver , inclu ding the im portance to the perceiver
of making an accurate assess ment. What happens during this
process is that peo ple have a strong tendency to evaluate
other's behavior rather than to learn from it.
Based on inform atio n, beliefs , and motives the percei ver
often disting uishes between intern al and external causes of
behavior ; that is , whether people did something because of
a real desir e or because of the pressure of circums tances.
The assig ned cause for the behavior --whether inter nal or
external--helps the perceiver to attach meaning to the event,
and is im portant for understandin g the subsequent
consequences for the percei ver . Among the consequences of
this attributio n process are the behavior of the perceiver
in resp onse to the behavior of others, the leve l of affect
(how the percei ve r feels about events , peo ple , circumstances ,
and so on), and the effects on the percei ver' s expe ctatio ns
of future events or behavior .
70
Internal Versus External Causation of Behavior
Individ uals observing the barbecue dinner scene are
likely to wonder what is going on and to make certain
attributio ns in an atte mpt to understand why the two Chinese
behaved the way that they did and left the barbecue dinner
early. Attributio ns regarding the Chin ese behavior could be
focused on inter nal cause : they were very shy, they were not
used to many Ame rican people around; they were strange
peo ple, they were hard to ple ase; they were not open, they
hardly sai d anything at the party . On the other hand, so me
observers might make external attributio ns : the Chin ese
behaved this way because the Americ an did not know how to
host them, he lacked knowledge of hosting inter national
visitors ; or , the food was not appeal ing to them. Of course,
many individua ls may percei ve more than a si ngle cause for
a comple x cultural inter actio n such as this.
A central questio n in understanding attributio n concerns
how perceivers determin e whether the behavior of another
person stems from inter nal (such things as perso nality
traits, emotio ns, motives, or ability ) or external (other
people, the sit uatio n , or chance ) causes . A widely accepted
model prop osed by Harold Kelley atte mpts to exp lain how
people determine why others behave as they do . This model
is depicte d in Table 2-3. In making causal attri butio ns,
peo ple focus on three major factors :
71
•
Consensus : The extent to which others , faced with the
same situa tion , behave in a mann er similar to the
person percei ved .
•
Consistency: The extent to whic h the person perce ived
behaves in the same manner on other occas ions when
faced with the same situa tion .
• Distinctiveness: The extent to which the person
percei ved acts in the same manne r in different
situa tions .
72
Table 2- 3
Kelley' s Theory of Causal Attribution
High Consensus
(Other people also act "
in the sa me manner in
this sit uatio n.)
Hig h Consiste ncy Attri butio n to External
(This perso n acts in the
-
Causes (This person' s
sa me manner in this behavior stems mainly
situatio n on other from external causes.)
occasions.)
High Disti ncti veness
(This perso n acts
l'
differently in other
situations.)
Low Consensus
(Other peo ple do not act
in th e same manner in "
this sit uation.)
High Consistency Attributio n to Internal
(This person acts in the Causes (This perso n' s
same manner in this
-
behavior stems mainly
sit uatio n on other from internal causes such
occasio ns.) as his or her traits and
moti ves.)
Low Disti ncti veness
(This person acts in the l'
sa me manner in other
situatio ns.)
(Baron and Byrne, 198 1)
As suggested by Table 2-3 , under conditio ns of hig h
consensus, high consiste ncy, and high distincti veness, the
percei ver will tend to attribute the behavior of the perso n
percei ved to external causes . However, when consensus and
distincti veness are low, the percei ver will tend to attribute
73
the behavior of the person to inter nal causes. (Note that
consiste ncy is typic ally high under both attributio n
outcomes . When consiste ncy is mi ssing, observer s will have
trouble makin g any causal attributions at all .)
In the example of the barbecue dinner , observer s would
be likely to attribute causatio n to the two Chinese if other
people from other countries did not leave (low consensus ) ,
and they hardly said anythin g in other occasions either (low
distincti veness) . On the other hand , if other foreig ners
also left the party early (high consensus) , and the two
Chinese appeared to be more expressive on other occasions
(hig h disti ncti veness ) , then observer s may attribute the
Chin ese reaction to external causes (in this case , the
American inter national vice- presi dent) .
Attributions of Succes s and Failure
In term s of task perfor mance in cross-cultural business
activiti es , the attri butio ns that people make regarding
success and failu re are very im porta nt . For example, in the
Preview Case, observer s may offer perce ptio ns of why Mr .
Johnson faile d in obtainin g a good and potential deal , or of
why Mr . Wang failed in obtainin g the first-class technology
and a better purchase price. In gener al , individuals often
attribute their own (and others ) success or failure to four
74
causal factors : ability, effort , task diffic ul ty, or luck.
For example :
• I succeed ed {or failed) because I had the skills to do
the job (or because I did not have the skills to do the
job) . Such statements are ability attributions .
•
I succee ded (or failed) because I worked hard (or
bec ause I did not work hard ) . Such statements are
effort attributions .
• I succee ded {or fail ed) bec ause it was easy (or beca use
it was too ha rd) . Such statements are attributions
about task diffic ul ty .
•
I succee ded (or failed) because I was lu cky (or
unl ucky) . Such statements are attributions about luck
or the circumstances surrounding the task.
At tributions of ability and effort are internal causes and
task diffic ul ty and luck are percei ved causes external to the
person .
General ly speaking, there is a tendency for people in
all soci eties to attribute their succe ss with a task to
internal factors (ability or effort ) and to attribute their
failures to external factors (task diffic ul ty or luck) . This
tendency is known as a self -serving bias . The tendency of
people to accept responsibility for good performance but to
deny responsibility for poor performance can present a major
75
ch allenge for anyone who is involved in cross-cultural
activities.
In sum, individuals from different cultures assume that
their own interpretation of someone else's behavior as well
as what it means to them are valid on the basis of their own
or known expe rience. Then they act upon their own
interpretation and interact with others through
co mmu nicat ion . Commun ic at ion is a fundamental part of
culture . Comm unication produces behaviors that can be
observed and interpreted. Actual ly, co mmu nication is the
expression , verbal or non - verbal , that comes ou t of those
cultural lenses.
The Aspect Of Commun ic at ion From
Organizational Behavior Theory
Comm unication
What happ ens when people of different cultures meet and
beco me involved? In his book The Silent Language , Dr . Hall
suggests that comm unication occ urs simultane ously on
different levels of co nscio usness, ranging from full
awarene ss to out-o f-aware ness (Hall, 1973) . Samovar and
Porter (1976 ) define co mmun ic at ion as
whereby human behavi or , both verbal
perceived and responded to . "
"a dynamic process
and nonverbal, is
76
Definitions can be reveal ing. Commu ni cation makes one' s
thoughts and feelings co mmon to one's audience, and , in turn ,
recei ves the response of one' s audience. True comm uni cators
part icipate in the gi ve and take of ideas and feelings. Even
when they do most of the actual speaking, co mmun icators
rece ive responses from their audiences. A man smiles in the
front row . An older woman leans forward to hear from the
back row . Two teenagers yawn and squirm . Al l of these
responses demonstrate the acti ve part ici pation of others to
create the event called "c ommu nication." The speaker alone
can only utter ; the audience al one can only wait for a
stimulus of so me sort . Together, they can co mmun icate in the
mu tual activity of making thoughts and feelings co mmon to the
group .
We co mmun ic ate our image of self including our system
of needs, va lues and standards ; our expect at ions , ideals, and
perceptions of peoples, things, and situations . We proj ect
this collect ive image through body, bearing , appearance, tone
of voice, choice of words , as well as through the co ntent of
the language in whic h we structure the message (Smith and
Luce, 197 9) .
Language sets us apart form other creatures and
see mingly is characteristic of the more developed brain . But
humans have a wide range of comm unicat ion skills that go
beyond words to include gestures , signs, shapes, color s ,
77
sounds , smells , pict ures and many other commu nic atio ns
symbol s. The diversit y of human culture in this regard may
be demonstrated in the "a rtist" who may comm unicate both
thought and feeling in pai ntin gs, sculpture , music and dance
(Hall , 19 59} . Through such media, the artist projects
hi mself into people, things and surroundin gs. He projects
his way of thin king, his te mperament and perso nalit y , his
jo ys and sorrows into the world around him or one he creates .
But technologic al man has vastly expanded his media facilit y.
Commun icatio n is the most im portant tool we have to
gettin g things done . It is the basis for understanding, for
cooper atio n and for action. In fact , the very vitalit y and
creativity of a societ y or a culture depends upon the content
and character of its commu nic atio ns . Yet , commun icatio n is
both hero and villain . Not only is it the process whic h
transfers information, meets peo ple' s needs , and gets thin gs
done , but far too often it is the pro cess whic h distorts
messa ges , develops frustratio n and renders people and
organi zatio ns ineffecti ve (Schein, 1987} .
The Comm unic ation Process
Commun ication is a process of circular interactio n which
in volve s a sender, recei ver , and message. Humans are
versatile commu nicators; we can co mmu nicate with nature,
anim als, and other huma ns . In human inter action, the sender
78
and recei ver may be a perso n or a group of people, such as
those who make up an organi zatio n . The message con veys
meaning through the medium or sym bol used to send it (the
how) , as well as in its content (the what) (Hall , 1977) . The
diversit y of mankind's capacit ies to co mmu nicate range from
smoke signals and the sound of drums to televisio n and
satellites. As a dyna mic being, man is constantly inventing
new and im proved ways of co mmunicat ing, such as the computer
or videophone. However , regardless of the commun icatio n
symbol, a sender and recei ver are always involved .
Once the sender conveys the message, the receiver
analyzes the message in terms of his particular field of
experience and pattern of ideas. Usually he decodes the
message, interprets it for meaning and enco des or sends back
a respon se . Thus, commu nicatio n is a circular process of
interaction. To this point, the terms of encoding and
decoding should be further de f ined.
Encodin g is the sender's translatio n of meanings into
messages that can be transmitted . Vocabulary and knowl edge
pla y an im porta nt role in the sender' s abilit y to encode
(Penley and Hawkins, 1985) . Professio nals often have
diffic ulty commun icating with the general public because they
tend to encode meanings in a form that can be understood only
by other professio nals in the sa me field . The translatio n
of received messages into inter preted meanings is called
79
deco ding . Through a shared language, people can decode many
messages so that the meanings transmitted are reasonably
close to the meanings recei ved {Penl ey and Hawkins , 19 85) .
Anyone who has tried to co mmun ic ate with a person who speaks
only another language probably al ready appreciates the
importance of shared language in deco ding messages.
Liste ning is a fundamental and active part of the
process of effecti ve co mmu nication . Most often, the active
part of co mmun ic at ion is thought of as only the words ,
emotions , gestures , and other cues provided by the sender .
The most eloquent speaker is doomed to failure if the
receiver does not actively listen . Through active listening ,
the messages intended by the sender are more likely to be
acc urately understood and interpreted by the rece iver
(Szilagyi and Wa llace, 199 0) .
The co mmu nicator , whether as an individual from a
cultural group or as a member of an organization, transmits
many kinds of behavior . First , one co mmu nicates the intended
message on both a verbal and nonverbal level . Seco nd , one
also co mmun ic ates unintended behavior , or subco nsci ous
behavior , on both a verbal and nonverbal level . In other
words , co mmun ic at ion at any level involves a whole co mplex
of proj ectio ns .
There is a "silent language" being used also in the
process of human interaction . It includes suc h aspects as
80
tone of voice and inflection of words , ges tures and facial
expressions . Some of these factors that af fect the real
meaning and co ntent of messages are referred to as "body
language," that is, the positioning of va rious parts of the
sender' s physique co nveys meaning (Hall , 195 9) . The person
himself or herself is both a medium and a message of
co mm uni catio n and the way in which one co mmu nicates is vastly
influenced by many va riables whose values are determ ined to
a great extent by his or her own lens of mythology.
Variables in the Comm unication Process
It is identified that six va riables are perce ived as
important in the co mmun ication process. It is assumed that
each variable influences our perce ptions , whic h in turn
influence the meanings we attribute to behavi or .
•
Atti tudes are psychol ogical states that predispose us to
behave in certain ways . They are organizations of
values , beliefs , emotions and beh avior tendencies
directe d toward specific persons , groups , ideas, or
objects (Hellriegel , Slocum and Woodman, 1986} . An
undesirable attitude for one working in a
multicultural environment is a self reference
criterio n . This is the tendency to judge others by
using one' s own personal or cul tural standar ds . For
example, instead of attempting to understand other
81
people from different cultures within their own
cultural context , a person with a self reference
criterion tends to understand them in one's own term
which is the lens of his or her own mythology.
Rather, it is sugge sted that we seek to understand
other people in the context of their unique
historical, politic al , ec onomic, soci al , and cultural
back grounds . In that way it is possible for one to
beco me a more effecti ve comm unicator.
• Social organization of cultures is also a va riable that
influences one's perce ptions . Michael Flack has made
a useful distinction in describing two societ al
co mpositions : the geogr aphi c society, whic h is
com posed of members of a nat ion, tribe, or re ligio us
sect ; and the role soc iety, whic h is com posed of
members of a professio n or the elite of a group
{Flack, 1966) . Managers and administrators are
members of the same role societ y, i.e. , the business
and government environme nt , but they are often
members of different geogr aphic societies. At one
level co mm unication between man agers and
administrators from two different cultures should be
relatively smooth . On another level , significant
differences in values, approa ch, pace, priorities,
and other factors may cause diffic ul ties.
82
•
Thought patterns or form s of reasonin g may differ from
culture to culture . The Aristotelia n mode of
reasonin g prevalent in the West is not shared by
peo ple in Asia. What is reasonable, logical, and
self- evident to an American adminis trator may be
unreasonable, illogi cal, and not self- evident to an
Asian administr ator. Each may often sound illo gical
to the other .
•
Rol e behaviors in a society and expe ctatio ns of a culture
concernin g role behavior affect co mmu nicatio n . When
behavior is inco mprehens ible , it is very often
because the roles concernin g how a perso n in that
positio n should act are unknown to us . The name card
of a Chin ese government officer or co mpany manager is
im portant because it identifies his positio n in that
society and therefore, the amount of respect that is
appro priate. The length of ti me he
has been in the government or co mpany and his ability
to make decisio ns can be deduced from his name card .
• Language skill in a host country is acknowledged as
im portant by anyone involved in cross-cultural
acti vities, but many belie ve that a competent
inter preter who is equipped with far more than
knowledge of words is all that is necess ary. Samovar
and Porter developed an hypo thesis that states that
83
language functions not si mply as a method for
reporting expe riences, but al so as a way of defining
experiences for its speakers (Samova r and Porter,
1976) . Bec au se culture and language are inseparab ly
related, it is wise to rely heavi ly on co mpetent
interpreters to bridge cultural gaps .
• Nonverbal co mmun ic ation includes nonword human responses
(such as gestures, facial expres sions) and the
perce ived characteristics of the envi ronment through
which the human verbal and nonverbal messages are
transmitted. Even a person who is sile nt or inactive
in the presence of others may be sending a message,
whic h may or may not be the intended message (for
example, boredom, fear , anger, or depression)
(Hellriegel, Slocu m and Woodm an , 19 86) . Table 2- 4
outlines the basic types of nonverbal co mmu nication
and illustrates the numerous ways people can and do
co mmun ic ate without saying a word .
84
Table 2- 4
Types of Nonverbal Comm unic ation
Basic Types
Body motion, or
kinesic behavior
Physic al
characteristics
Paralanguage
Proxemics
Environment
(territor y}
Ti me
Expla natio n and Examples
Gestures, facial expressio ns, eye
behavior , touchi ng, and any other
movement of the li mbs and body .
Body shape, ph ysiq ue, postur e,
body or breath odors, heig ht,
we ight, hair color , and skin
color .
Voice qualities , volume, speech
rate, pit ch, nonfluencies (sayin g
"a h, " "urn, 11 or "uh" } , laughin g,
yawni ng, and so on.
Ways peo ple use and perceive
space , inclu ding seating
arrangem ents , con versatio nal
distance , and the "t erritoria l "
tendency of humans to stake out a
perso nal space.
Building and room desig n,
furniture and other objects ,
interior decorati ng, cleanlin ess ,
lightin g, and noise.
Being late or early , keepin g
others waiti ng, cultural
differences in ti me perceptio n,
and the relatio nship between ti me
and status .
(Hellriegel , Slocum and Woodman, 1986}
Non verbal commu nicatio n is closely related to verbal
commu nication. Neither is adequate by itself for effecti ve
communi catio n . Verbal and nonverbal signals can be
interrelated in the following ways:
85
• By repeat ing, as when verbal directio ns to so me
location are acco mpanied by pointing.
• By contradicting, as in the case of the person who
says, "What , me nervous ?" while fidgeting and
perspiring anxiously before taking a test . This is a
good example of how the nonverbal message can be more
believable when verbal and nonverbal signals disagree.
• By substituting nonverbal for verbal messages, as when
one returns to the office with a har ried expression
that says, "I've had a horrible meeting with my boss, ••
without a word being spoken.
• By co mpl ementing the verbal message with nonverbal
signals, as when a worker blushes with embarras sment
while disc ussing poor work performance with a manager .
• By acce nt ing a ve rbal message through nonverbal
"underl ining," as when one pounds the table , places a
hand on the shoulder of a co-w orker, or uses a tone of
voice indicatin g the importance atta ched to the message
(Harper , Wiens , and Matarzzo, 197 8) .
Nonverbal co mm unication also differs
across cultures and determ ines meanings .
signific antly
The left hand
doesn't have any part icular signific ance in the West , but in
Mosle m co untries it is the "toilet hand " and should not be
used for eating or giving or rece iving gifts. The American
OK nonverba l gesture is an obscene gesture in Brazil .
86
Desmond Morris in his book Manwatchin g identifi es many of the
nonverbal gestures that have a meaning in one culture , but
in another are either not understood , have no meanin g , or,
in some cases, have an obscene meanin g (Morris, 19 78) .
In short , commu nication is the life blood of our social
life . Each of us has been socialize d in a uniq ue environm ent .
Important asp ects of the en vironment are shared and these
constitute a partic ular culture . However, culture poses
comm unicatio n problems because ther e are so many varia bles
not known to the commun icators due to the hidden lens through
which peo ple view the world . As the cultural varia bles and
differences increas e, the number of co mmu nic atio n
misunderstandings increa se .
Thus , individu als' abilit y to engage in effecti ve cross
cultural commun icatio n plays an im porta nt part in determining
their own sense of well-b eing, as well as the probability of
their bein g viewed by others as honest, trustworthy , and
courageous human bein gs. Generally speaking , peopl e feel good
about themselves if they are bein g viewed by others as good
and honest human beings. But what makes peo ple view each
other as either bein g good and honest or being bad or
dishonest? Is there any universal standard to make such a
ju dgement? Are "g ood " and "h onest" considered as values,
behaviors, or inter pretatio ns of behaviors ? In order to
87
explore these iss ues, let's try to reveal the hidden lens
through whic h people view the world .
Theory of Lens
Central to this sect ion will be the theory of lens that
is expanded from the metaphor of lens taken from the work of
Burke and Stewart (1992 }. This theory de fines the key
characteristics of the lens from the aspects of shared va lues
and attributed va lues . And it illustrates how use of the
lens functions during the proces s of interpreting behavi ors .
In surveying the literature , most definitions of culture
involve the conc ept of shared values and meanings . When we
deal with those shared va lues and meanings which are so basic
that they produce the gener al ideas controlling or guiding
the thoughts and actions of people in a given culture , we
work at the level of mythol ogy. When mythologies are
collecti vely shared and function ste adily in the language of
any people , they beco me accepted as having their own real ity .
In this way , those shared mythologies hold huma n societ ies
together . Wi thout them societ ies beco me fragmented and may
fal l apa rt .
Each soci al group shares its own mythol ogy which
co nstitutes its own culture , and distinguishes it from other
cultures. Sharing is a co mplex mul tifaceted process that
rests on many kinds of mythological lenses through which
88
people view the world . To understand these iss ues , it may
be useful to examine shared va lues. Underlying any
implications about what co nstitutes effecti ve interaction and
ineffecti ve interaction are certain shared valu es.
It is assumed that certain values, such as honesty,
trust worthiness or courage, are shared by all human
societ ies. However, what specific behavi or is viewed as
honesty, trustworthiness and courage involves different
interpretations . Thus , identic al behaviors can be viewed very
differently due to different lenses of mythol ogies through
whic h people attribute different meanings to those behaviors .
In other words , even though we hold shared va lues, it does
not mean we attribute the same meanings or va lues to
identic al behaviors . That is, we judge other peopl e in our
own terms .
Shared Values and Attributed Values
As Burke and Stewart state :
Values are our classific at ions of our
behavior toward our fellows . They are
the means by which we assess our own
worth and the worth of others . They are
also the basis on whic h others assess
our worth . To understand the importance
of values as a classificatio n of
behavi or , we need to start from an
appreci ation that huma ns are soc ial
animals . Huma ns have evolved as social
animals, and we therefore need
mech ani sms to allow us to function as
productive members of a soci al group .
Without such mechanisms , the spec ies
will fail . The operating mechanism for
human soc ial groups is our valu es. We
believe there is a co mmon set of va lues
whic h we all share bec au se we are social
animal s. As suc h , we are dependent for
our survival on the coherence and
ma intenance of soc ial groups .
Therefore , the values which are
fundamental to the existence of human
socia l groups are esse ntial to human
survival . (Burke and Stewart , 1992 )
89
Karl Stewart has identified six va lues which he belie ves
make up the set of shared values whic h are neces sary for the
existence of huma n soc ial groups . He says that al l cultures
share these values each in their own co mbinations or mixes.
These six va lues are identified as honesty , trust , courage,
respect for huma n dignity, fai rness and love ; and eac h of
these va lues can be expressed in a range of behavior, from
more to less. This range can be expressed on a sc ale from
positive to negative (See Table 2-5). Behavior at the
positive end of the sc ale strengthens the social group ,
behavior at the negative end weakens it (Burke and Stewart ,
199 2) . Thus we assess the behavior of an individual and his
or her identity with the group .
TABLE 2- 5
Stew art's Theory of Shared Values
+
Honesty
Trus t
Courage
Respect for
Human Dignity
Fairness
Love
(Burke and Stewart ,
Burke and Stewart further explain :
Most of the va lues must be at the
positive end of the sc ale in order for
us to rely on the behavior of others .
Withou t such positive reliability soci al
groups must fail . Simply predictin g
behavior is not enough . It is possible
to predic t that an individua l will
behave in a cowardly way , but such
behavior cannot be relied upon as
strengthening the group . (Burke, 1992 )
90
1992 )
Burke and Stewart believe that all human beings share
these values . However, these va lues cannot be obse rved or
determ ined directl y . They state that what we observ e is
behavi or , and from that we interpret the va lues that are
being expre ssed. The concer n of the au thor is that si mply
studying those shared va lues is not suffici ent to answer the
questio n of why people behave so differently and interpret
91
behaviors so differently. This conc ern leads to the next
step, examining attributed va lues.
It is observed, the concept of the above shared values
are interpreted di fferently by people in different cultures .
That one behaves honestly in one culture may be attributed
or co nsidered as behaving dishonestly in another culture ,
bec au se peo ple from different cultures do not hold onto or
interpret those va lues with a universal standard . Thus , since
one interprets other's behaviors through one' s own lens of
mythol ogy, attributed va lues are the values that one
attributes when one observes another' s behavior .
For example, Brown states that so me cultures demand
honesty with members of one' s own group , but acce pt a more
relaxed standard with strangers (Brown , 1974) . What is a more
relaxed standard? We assume that we have some underlying
standard which def ines what honesty is, but how can we define
what behavior demonstrates this "honesty"? We all va lue
honesty , but how is that "honesty" expresse d in one's
behavior? And how honest is being honest? If we assume being
honest is being straightforward , generally speaking, how
straightforward we can be depends on the kind of people-
family, friends , or strangers-- with whic h we are assoc iated.
For example, if I am not straightforward with a stranger, he
or she might think I am not honest; but I think I am simply
being diplomatic or being cautious .
92
What is missing in Brown' s analysis is that "honesty"
is an interpretation--o ne' s attributed value . The issue here
is not about being honest with members of one' s own group and
accepting a more relaxed standard with strangers . What real ly
goes on here is that different behaviors are interpreted as
"honesty" or "dishonesty" depending upon which mythologic al
lens one is looking through. In other words , all human
societ ies value honesty; the issue is how each socie ty
interprets what constit utes honest behavior , and this rests
on the shared mythol ogy in that societ y .
We all share these valu es, but the behavior which
exemplifies them is subject to our interpretations . For
example , in the Preview Case, Mr . Johnson did not go to the
airport to meet with Mr . Wang' s group , nor did he spend some
time in showing his Chinese visitors around his city. Mr .
Wang and his colleagues interpreted Mr . Johnson's behavior
as demonstrat ing a lack of respect for them and this made
them very unhappy . They acted upon their at tributed value and
decid ed not to do business with Mr . Johnson's co mpany .
Perhaps Mr . Johnson did respect his Chinese visitors ;
however, he simply did not know how to express it in the
Chinese way . If one behaves in a cer tain way, and that
behavior is interpreted through other people's lens , is he
or she showing respect for human dignity in their eyes? The
answer is maybe, or maybe not .
93
The above analysis illustrates that , in cross cultural
interactions , we often assume that our interpretat ion of
other' s behavior is true . We take our attributed values and
meanings for granted because we are so much locked into our
own lens of mythology that we do not even real ize that our
interpretation is si mply one conject ure whic h should be open
to alternative interpretations .
The cor e of the theory of lens reveals that people
cannot cond uct cross cultural interchange effecti vely unless
they are will ing to challenge their own conjectures, bec au se
there is no obj ecti ve or universal truth . The theory of lens
helps us reco gnize that when people with different lenses of
mythologie s interact, they cannot build shared meanings and
understandings out of their attributed values unless they are
will ing to make efforts to suspend judging and co ndemning
others' behavi ors . As long as we understand how this lens
works , our awareness and sensitivity of cultural differences
will be incre ased, and we will beco me more tentat ive and less
absolute in our evaluat ion of be havi or .
The theory of lens is also a synthesis of the
anthropologic al framework , attribution theory and
co mmun ic at ion theory . These four theoretic al frameworks
reenforce the conce pts of shared va lues and attributed va lues
from different perspecti ves . And they are useful in different
ways when we apply them to the problems of cross cultural
94
inte rchange , so that they will enable us to build a
comm unicatio n system in whic h all peo ple have more or less
the sa me sense of the "m eanin g " of events.
The Anthropologic al Framework
The analys is of the fi ve common human questio ns in the
previous sectio n demonstrates different mythologies whic h
control or guide the thoughts and actio ns of people in
societ y . The framework will be useful if we are able to apply
it to some of the problems we experie nce when working with
peo ple from different cultures . The conceptual scheme can
be used to antici pate problems before they occur or to
analyze pr oblems once they exist .
For example , an American manager has been appo inted to
conduct a joint venture with a Chinese State- run compa ny, his
or her assignment is to selec t skilled workers for
employment. This is related to one of the fi ve questions
which is about the relationship of a perso n to other persons.
American managem ent theory is based on the premise that each
perso n in the organizatio n will perfor m one's tasks in a way
which will pro mote the organizatio n . Therefore, the American
manager prefers to have the best peopl e on the basis of
shared American mythology. Helping or hirin g one' s friends
or relatives will be subordinated to the devel opment of
organizatio nal objecti ves . Howeve r, in the Chinese culture,
95
interpersonal relationships depend a great deal on the value
of trust, and greater distinctions are made between outsiders
and insiders. To hire one' s friends or relat ives is a co mmon
practice in most of Chinese organizat ions on the basis of
shared Chinese mythology.
Thus , to minimize the number of cultural
misunderstandings, the manager can exam ine the different
solutions to all management questions that are being
co nsidered. Where differences exist, the manager can
determine , in adva nce, when to modify a management practic e
to fit the situation . The manager can also know where the
difference exists and will be able to intervene at that point
ra ther than in another area .
In order to further illustrate the applic at ion of the
framework , more examples are contained in Table 2-6. These
examples only ser ve as a guideline whic h does not include
every aspect of the five co mmon huma n questio ns , nor is it
the only way to display the application of the framework .
The maj or benefit of the anthrop ological app roa ch is to
begin with a conc eptual framework and deduce from it where
specific proble ms might occ ur . This is acco mpl ished by an
awareness of mythol ogies between different cultures at an
abstract level and then generating specific and concrete
problems that might occ ur or have oc curred as a result of the
cul tural differences. If the framework is used as sugge sted,
96
it will help us avoid quic k and erroneous inter pretatio ns and
conclusions about the causes and solutions to cross- cultural
problems .
Table 2-6
Exam ples of Basic Five Human Questions
What is the character of innate human nature?
Example of problems affected by
question: What goals should the or ganization have?
Present-the goals should reflect the Future-the goals should be Examples reflecting the range of
solutions:
Past-the goals of the past are
sufficient. present demands. directed toward trends and the
situation of the future.
What is the relationship of man to nature?
Example of problems affected by
question: How will method s of controlling the birth rate be accepted?
Examples reflecting the range of
solutions:
Subjection to nature-no methods Harmony with nature. Master of nature. Any method
will be accepte d. If one is to will be okay if medically safe.
become pregnant it will happen.
What is the temporal focus of life7
Example of problems affected by
question:
What goals should the or ganization have?
Examples reflecting the range of
solutions:
Past-the goals of the past are
sufficient.
What is the modality of man' s activity?
Example of problems affected by
question:
Examples reflecting the range of
solutions:
Work only as much as is necessary
for the day.
What is the relationship of man to other men7
Example of problems affected by
question:
Examples reflecting the range of Hire a close relative.
solutions:
Present-the goals should reflect the
present demands.
What motivates peo ple to work?
A balance between work and
non work.
How to sel ect people for emplo yment?
Future-the goals should be
directed toward trends and the
situation of the future.
Work to accomplish and to
demonstrate hard work and
competence.
Hire a relative or friend of someone Hire the best person.
in the organization.
\0
...J
98
Attribution Theory
Attribution theory helps to explain what happ ens and is
appl ic able to cross- cultural interch ange situat ions for the
following reasons :
1. Al l behavior is ra tional and logic al from the
perspective of the beh aver .
2. Persons from different cultures perce ive and organize
their environment in different ways, so that it beco mes
meaningful to them .
There are many ways of perce iving the world , and gi ven
the many possibilities we all take cer tain cues from the
environment and interpret them in meaningful ways to each of
us . There are too many cues for any person to pay attention
to al l of them at the same time . Thus , each person has many
ways of reducing the numb er of sti muli and organiz ing them
into meaningful pieces of informa tion through one' s own lens
of mythology. The ways that we take information from the
environment beco me subconsc ious and habitual .
Let's study the following example whic h emerged from my
con versation with a Chinese st udent , who earned a Master 's
Degree in Electr onic Engineering and used to work for a
co mputer co mpany in San Francisco. As backgro und information
it is important to remember that Chinese percei ve supervisory
roles as more authoritar ian than Americans who prefer
participatory decision-ma king . Read the verbal con versation
99
first , then the attributions being made by the American and
the Chinese.
Verbal Conversation*
Americ an : How long will it
take you to finish this
report?
Chinese: I do not know .
How long should it take?
Americ an : You are in the
best position to ana lyze
time requirements.
Chinese: 10 days.
American : Take 15 . Is it
agreed you will do it in 15
days?
Attribution**
Americ an : I asked him to
partici pate.
Chinese: His behavior makes
no sense. He is the boss.
Why doesn't he tell me?
Americ an : He refuses to
take responsibility.
Chinese: I asked him for an
order .
American : I press him to
take responsibility for own
actions .
Chinese: Wha t nonsense! I
better gi ve him an answer .
American: He lacks the
ability to estimate time ;
this time estimate is
totally inadequate .
American : I offer a
contract.
Chinese: These are my
orders : 15 days.
* This is the spoken dial ogue between the Americ an and
the Chinese. It co uld be tape recor ded, written , or
videotaped. It can be measured .
** The "attributions" made by the American and the Chinese
are not external ized and cannot be recor ded .
100
In fact , the report needed 30 days of regular work . So
the Chinese worked day and night, but at the end of the 15th
day, he still needed one more day' s work .
Behav ior
American:
report?
Chin ese:
tomorrow .
America n :
agreed it
today .
Where is the
It will be ready
But we had
would be ready
The Chinese hands in his
resignation.
Attribution
American: I am making sure
he fulfills his co ntract.
Chin ese: He is asking for
the report.
Chin ese: I am working very
hard and cooperating with my
superior .
American: I must teach him
to fulfill a contr act .
Chin ese: The stupid,
inco mpetent boss ! Not only
did he gi ve me wrong orders ,
but he does not even
appre ciate that I did a 30 -
day jo b in 16 days.
The Americ an is surprised .
Chin ese: I can' t work for
such a man.
The above example ill ustrates that at almost every place
in the inter cultural con versatio n , the state ment of one
person leads to an in t im ation that does not match the
attri bution of the other that causes the detriment of the
relationship .
The inte rcultural skill to work with perso ns from
another culture is the ability to correctly infer the meaning
10 1
of the other's behavior (verbal or non verbal) from the
perspective of the other; that is to be able to infer or
attribute the same meaning to the verbal or nonverbal
behavior that the other person does . Thus , the attribution
paradig m will assist us in puttin g the same meaning s,
infer ences , or attributio ns to a verbal or nonverbal
comm unicatio n that the other perso n inten ds to convey.
Commu nicatio n Theory
The author's theoretical interest in commu nic atio ns has
centered on intended messages and interp reted meanings
transmi tted between a sender and a receiver during the
commu nicatio n process.
Both sender and recei ver occupy a unique field of
experience . Essentiall y , it is a private world of perce ption
-- one's own lens of mythology-- through whic h all expe rience
is filtered , organi zed and inter preted; it is what
psycholo gists call the individual's life space . Every
individ ual commu nicates a unique perspecti ve of the world and
realit y . Every culture reflects that gro up of peo ple' s view
of the world (Hall , 1969).
This life space consists of the perso n' s psychol ogical
environment as it exists for him or her . Bach and every
person experiences life in a unique way and psychol ogic ally
structures his or her own distincti ve perceptual field
102
(Ruhly, 19 76 ) . Among the factors that com prise one' s field
of experience are one's family, educat ional , rel igious and
soc ial backg round that is cultural ly conditioned The
individual 's percep tual field affects the way he recei ves and
dispenses all new inform at ion . It influences both the
content and the media used in co mmu nicating .
An individual 's self -image, needs, va lues, expect at ions,
goals, standards , cultural norms and perception have an
affect on the way input is recei ved and interpreted.
Esse nt ially, persons select ively perce ive al l new data ,
determining that whic h is relevant to, and co nsistent with ,
their own perce ptual needs (Hall, 1977) . Literally, two
people can thus recei ve the same message and derive from it
two entirely different meanings. They actually perce ive the
same object or informat ion differently. Commun ic ation , then ,
is a com plex process of linking up or shar ing perceptual
fields between sender and recei ver.
The sender hopes the interpreted meanings of these
messages are as close as possible to the original and
intended meanings. To understand the difference between the
original meaning and the received message, think about an
occ asion when you tried to co nvey your inner thoughts and
feelings of love , rage, or fear to another person . Did you
find it diffic ul t or impossible to transmit your true "inner
mean ing?" The greater the difference is between the
103
interpreted meanings and the intended messages transmitted,
the poorer is the interpersonal co mmu nicat ion . For
co mmun icatio n to occ ur at all , the sender and rece iver must
share something on the same level . Words or nonve rbal
sym bols have no meanings in and of themselves; their mean ings
are created by the sender and the recei ver {Penley and
Hawkins , 19 85) .
It is observed that we clearly do not impart "new
thoughts" by means of the words we send ; rather we use words
to jog and massage patterns of meaning al ready in process
within the minds of our hearers . The process of
co mmu nicatio n can be hindered by "noise" and by the presence
or absence of soc ial co ntexts and bases of shared knowledge.
Huma n co mmu nication is more akin to the process of com parin g
notes. We send out a co nfiguration of thoughts for purposes
of stimulation and co mparison with similar thoughts al ready
brewing in the minds of our audience. It is assumed what we
mean by "understanding" is not the rece ption of new signals
and resultant new thoughts , but instead the sensat ion of
"likeness" as we find our internal thoughts in harmony with
the pattern of thoughts sugg este d by the signals co ming to
us .
Based upon the above analysis, the author offers the
following observat ions about the process of cross-cultural
co mmu nication . These assumptions might also ser ve as
104
practical guid elines for developin g skills to become a more
effecti ve intercultural commu nicator.
1. No matter how hard one tries. one cannot avoid
commun icatin g. Internatio nal managers may say they are
restraining themselves and let the host nation als take the
lead in negotiatio n sit uatio ns in order to get a sense of
what is happen ing. This may be an effecti ve strategy.
However, all behavior in human inter actio n has a message
value and is commun icating somethin g to the perso ns prese nt .
While sile nt with words , body language is commu nicating. We
commu nicate by our acti vity or our in acti vity, by the color
of our skin, as well as, the color or our clothes and by the
gift we gi ve or decide not to gi ve . All behavior is
commu nic atio n because all behavior contains a messa ge,
whether inten ded or not .
2. Comm unicat ion does not necessa rily mean understandin g .
Even when two individ uals agree that they are commu nicating
or talkin g to each other, it does not mean that they have
understood each other . Understanding takes place when the
two in dividuals have the sa me interpretatio n of the sym bols
being used in the commu nication process whether the sym bols
be words or gestures .
From time to ti me , people have exp erienced co mmu nicatio n
breakdowns in cross-cultural inter actio ns . Instead of seeing
communicatio n breakdowns as the result of lack of clarity ,
10 5
defensiveness, or semantics, we might recognize that such
breakdowns often result from real differences in how peopl e
perceive and understand thin gs through their different lenses
of mythologies. Instead of seeing sema ntic problems as
"n oise" in the system, we might recog nize that such problems
are ine vitable when members of different cultures try to
comm unicate with each other (Schein, 19 87 ) . Hence,
misu nderstanding at the cross- cultural leve l should always
be treated initially as a cultural issue rather than an issue
of individual perso nalit y (Hall , 1959) .
For example, an American manager who gi ves a clock as
a gift in China has comm unicate d somethin g but probably not
that which was intended . In the Chinese langua ge, to gi ve
a clock as a gift pronounces as "S ong Zhong" whic h can be
meant as "b urying one' s parent." Moreove r previous learni ng
or experiences in the sa me sit uatio n may lead to habits of
inter pretatio n . Thus , for example, two people raise d in
different cultures may react quite differently to the same
political message. An individual raised in an environment
that places a great value on the pronouncement of respected
politic al figures may take an elected official's
pronouncement very serio usly. However, a perso n encouraged
to be critic al of politici ans and to have little faith in
their word may cyni cally discount the sa me pronounce ment .
106
We simply cannot exp ect other people to know what we know and
to behave in the same way as we do .
3. Comm uni cation is irrevers ible .
one' s co mmu nication . It can be
wiped
One cannot take back
exp lained, clarified,
out al though we may restated, but it cannot be
sometimes wish that it co uld . Once we have partici pated in
a co mmu nication event , it is part of our experience and it
influences present and future meanings. Once the
transmission is in operation , the co mmu nicat ion process moves
beyond the co mplete control of the sender; a message that has
been transmitted cannot be brought back. How may times have
you thought to yourself , "I wish I hadn' t said that?" The
American mana ger who has sharply disagreed with a Chinese
go ve rnment offic er in the presence of others has commi tted
an "impol iteness" in the Chinese world that is diffic ul t to
remedy .
4. Comm unication occ urs in a conte xt . One cannot ignore
the co ntext of co mm unicat ion whic h takes place at a certain
time , in some place, us ing cer tain mediums . Such fact ors
have message value and give meaning to the co mmu nicators.
The co ntext within whic h co mmun ication takes place must be
established and accepted by both part ies before they can
comm unicate . Before one can respo nd to co mmu nicatio n , he or
she has to evaluate the source of the co mmu nication . Prior
to this evaluation , one will neither rece ive nor be
10 7
influenced by the communi catio n . It is observ ed that the
sa me message will be inter preted in entirely different ways
depending on the source of the message. Commu nicatio n by an
American in China is within a context that affects the
inter action in contrast to a domestic exchan ge.
5. Commu nicat ion is a dynamic process . Comm unicatio n is
a prime dyna mic that determ ines the kin d and rate of change
in societ y . Mass co mmu nicatio n and its te chnology is one
factor contrib utin g to the acceleratio n in the rate of
change. Communic ation involves the establishin g of
relatio nships , while change causes an altering of such
relatio nships . Commu nic atio n is an energy exchange , whereas
change requires the shifting of energy prior iti es . Change
challen ges leadership to deal more effecti vely with
differences , whic h occur when the status quo has been
unfrozen because of new in ventions, new insig hts, new
attitudes, new peo ple {Schein , 19 87) . Communicatio n is not
static and passive, but rather it is a contin uous and active
process without beginning or end . A commun icator is not
si mply a sender or a recei ver of messages but can be both at
the same ti me .
6. Communicatio n requi res effecti ve listenin g . Effecti ve
listening is necess ary to encour age maxim um levels of
feedback and openne ss to others . Listenin g is "a n
intellectual and emotio nal process that integr ates physical,
108
emotio nal, and intellectual inpu ts in a search for meaning
and understandin g . 11 (Chartier, 19 84) Listenin g is effecti ve
when the recei ver understands the sender' s intended message.
Listening skills affect the quality and effecti veness of
cross- cultural relati onships. The following guidelines are
in tended for incr easing listenin g skills :
• We should have a reaso n or purpose for listenin g. Good
listeners tend to search for value and meaning in what
is being said , even if they are not predispose d to be
interested in the particular iss ue or topic. Poor
listeners tend to ratio nalize any or all inattentio n on
the basis of ini tial interest.
• We should suspe nd ju dgment, at least init ially. Good
listenin g requires concentrating on the sender' s whole
message rather than forming evaluatio ns on the basis of
the first few ideas prese nted.
•
We should resist distractio ns, such as noises, sights,
and other peo ple , and focus on the sender .
• When the message is emotio nal or unclear , we should
rephrase in our own words the content and feeling of
what the sender appears to be sayin g .
•
We should seek the sender' s im porta nt themes by
listening for the overall content and feeling of the
message.
109
These state ments briefly outline a number of im portant
characteristics of intercultural co mmu nic atio n . Some are
obvious , others not, but all if inter nalized and understood
would result in more effecti ve co mmu nicat io n .
Thus, the point for the co mmun icator is clear : powerful
cultural forces , mythologi cal lenses , operate to distort the
message we intend to sen d . Knowing what these lenses are can
be a first step in pl anning our messages so they cannot be
filtered beyond recognitio n . It is not enough to mean well
in se nding a message. We must design messages well to counter
the effects of powerful, subconscio us and often hidden lenses
acti ve in our readers and hearers . This im plies a continuing
effort to enhance one' s skills in intercultural interactio n .
The effecti ve co mmu nicator builds a bridge to the world of
the recei ver .
Summary
This chapter argues that when we operate in
multic ultural settings, we need to understand what goes into
the making of a culture , and to know the meaning of culture
and the ways to analyze its diverse manife stations. When
this is coupled with so me formal study of the theoretic al
perspectives of culture, we not only gain new insight s for
improving our human relati ons, but we beco me aware of the
impa ct of our native culture upon us .
11 0
In this chapter, the research focus is on lens
phenomenon whic h is related to the hypotheses in cross
cultural interchange by reviewing literature on the
anthropo logic al framework , attri bution theory and
commu nicatio n theory . And these three perspecti ve s are
synthesized into a model of working through lenses of
mythologies. The theory of lens is expanded from Burke and
Stewart ' metaphor of lens as well as being built on the
concepts of shared values and attri buted values . It is used
for demonstrating how indiv iduals inter pret behaviors and
attribute shared or distorted meanings or values to them
through their own lenses of mythologies, then act upon them
by commu nicatio n .
The primary technique used in this research is
participant observ ation, whic h in volve s partici patio n in the
1 i ve s of the people one is observ ing. This research procedure
pro vides the means for form ulating the theory of lens . For
the purpose of testing the hypoth eses form ed in Chapter One,
in the following chapter, the author will examine the
princ iples , features and theoretic al perspecti ves of the
method of partici pant observ ation; reveal the relatio nship
between the observ er and the observ ed ; and demonstrate how
she organizes the informatio n through her own lens of
mythology.
CHAPTER THREE
WATCHING AND FACILITATING CROSS-CUL TURAL
INTERCHANGE : A RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE
PAR TICIPANT OBSERVATION
The Methodology of Participant Observation
111
The begin ning of the participant observer approach to
research can be traced back through the many early
anthropo logic al field studies produced just before , and ever
since, the turn of the twentieth cen tury to Frederick LePla y
(Bruyn , 19 62) . It is not my purpose to trace the history of
this approach, but I must indic ate that soc ial and cultural
studies, in which participant observation plays a central
role, have played an important part in sociol ogic al research
since the turn of the centur y (Znaniecki, 1934 ) . By social
and cultural studies, I mean qual itat ive , systemat ic al ly
conce ived desc riptions and explanat ions of the symb olic modes
of life among distinct huma n groups .
Principles
What is espec ial ly distinctive about the method of
participant observat ion is the manner by whic h the researcher
gains knowledge. By taking the role of the subjects the
researcher recreates in his or her own imagination and
experience the thoughts and feelin gs whi ch are in the minds
11 2
of those studied . It is through a process of symbol ic
inter pretatio n of the "e xperie nced culture" that the observer
works with his or her data and disco vers meanings in them
{Warner and Lunt, 194 1) . The perspe cti ve of the sym bolic
inter actioni st in socia l theory is per haps best suite d to
describe the init ial im portance of this process in gainin g
accurate knowledge in research. Herbert Blumer per haps best
brin gs this point into sharp focus :
To catch the process , the student must
take the role of the acting unit whose
behavior he is studying . Since the
inter pretatio n is being made by the
acting unit in term s of objects
desig nated and appra ised, meanings
acqui red, and decisio ns made, the
process has to be seen from the
standpoint of the acting unit .... To
try to catch the interpretive process by
remain ing aloof as a so- called
'objecti ve ' observ er and refusing to
take the role of the acting unit is to
risk the worst kind of subjectivism--t he
objecti ve observ er is likely to fill in
the process of inter pretatio n with his
own surmises in place of catchin g the
process as it occurs in the experience
of the acting unit whic h uses it.
{Blumer, 1962)
The intent of the partici pant observer is to "c atch the
process as it occurs in the experien ce" of those he or she
studies. With this in mind, let us now examine the following
princ iples which define participant observ atio n as developed
in the experience of researchers .
113
1. The participant observer shares in the world of
everyday life and sentim ents of peo ple in face- to-face
relatio nship (Bruyn, 1963) .
Florence Kluckhohn (1940) has provided the origin al and
now somewhat classic statement on this fact about participant
obser vatio n, derived from her fieldwork in a Mexican village.
She describes part icipant observation as : "· .. conscio us
and systematic sharing, inso far as circumstances perm it, in
the life acti vities , and on occasion, in the interests and
affects of a group of persons."
The world of everyday life is for the methodology of
participant obser vatio n the ordin ary, usual, typical routine,
or natural environment of human existe nce. This world stands
in contrast to environments created and manip ulated by
researchers, as illustrated by expe riments and surveys. In
compariso n with their natural habitat , anim als are known to
behave and interact differently in environments (such as a
zoo or a laboratory) constructed and manip ulated by
researchers .
Human beings likewise behave differently when they know
they are bein g studied, especially when the researcher is
ve ry obtrusively manip ulating the environment (Douglas,
1980) . Thus, we may observe at the outset that while the
traditio nal role of the scientist is that of a neutral
observer who remain s unmoved, unchan ged, and untouched in his
11 4
or her examination of phenomena , the role of the participant
observer requires sharing the sentiments of people in soci al
situations ; as a co nsequence oneself is changed as well as
changing to some degree the sit ua tion in which he or she is
a part icipant .
The here and now of everyday life is important to the
methodology of participant observation in at least two
fundamental ways . One , is where the researcher beg ins with
the process of defining and refining issues and problems for
study. Secondly, is where the researcher partici pates . No
ma tter the original source of the study problem (abstract
theory, practic al expe rience, coincid ence, or whatever) ,
preci sely wha t will be studied and how it will be regarded
as problematic must be clarified and refined by reference to
huma n existence in everyday life situations (Douglas, 198 0) .
Sanders (1988) , for instance, particip ated directly in
four tattoo parl ors as a "regular" while obser ving this
To study the social world of
(1988) partici pated with and
everyday life environme nt .
preschool children , Mande ll
observed children on playgrounds, in class rooms , hal lways,
bathrooms , and lunchrooms of two day-c are centers . Hockey
(1986) studied the culture of enlisted men in the British
Army from the conc rete situations and settings of initial
recruitment and basic training, to daily life in an infantry
battalion , pa trol in Northern Ireland , and rambunctious off -
115
duty social li fe . To study stress and men tal health as well
as design an appropriate interventio n strategy in a southern
Black co mmu nit y , Dressler (1 987) partic ipated in and observed
this envi ronm ent, gathered informat ion from key inf ormant s,
and recruited research assis tants and consultants from the
co mmun it y being studi ed .
In seeking to share some thing of the expe rie nce of th e
observed the researcher mu st not only beco me perso nally
involv ed, but mu st also acquir e a role which can function
wi thin the culture of the observed . There is no standard
role whi ch he or she can as sume , but th e gene ral requi remen ts
for th e role have beco me evident from the experi ence of
researcher s .
2. The partic ipant observer is a normal part of the
culture and the li fe of the peo ple under observatio n .
The role of the partici pant observer may take many forms
but in any case it is desi gned to be a normal part of the
lif e of the peo ple being studied . It has not bee n the intent
of partic ipant observers to create roles which are "force d "
on or consid ered artifici al to the ways of the peo ple under
study (Junker, 1960) . The type of role whic h is taken is
affecte d by the research design , th e framework of the culture
to be studied and the abi li ti es of particular res earchers to
assume tasks whi ch can be acce pte d as a natural part of a
culture . Buford Junker (1 960) , in his review of fieldwork
11 6
me thods, descri bes four dif ferent kinds of roles which the
partic ipant observer may as sume accordin g to the design and
purpose of his study . Portio ns of this very useful typology
of partic ipant observation are described below :
a. Complete Participant . In this role, the observer' s
activities as such are wholly concealed . The fi eldworker is
or beco mes a co m plete memb er of an in - group, thus sharin g
ins ide inf orm atio n whic h may be guarded from outsid ers . The
fi eldworker' s freedom to observe outsid e the in- group system
of relatio nships may be severely li mi ted, and in such a role
tends to block perce ption of the workings of the reciprocal
relatio ns between the in - gro up and the larger social system,
nor is it easy to swi tch from thi s to another role perm itt ing
observ atio n of the details of th e larger system.
b. Participant as Observer . In thi s role, the
fi eldworker's observer activit ies ar e not wholly concealed,
but are "kept under wraps " as it were , or subordin ated to
activi ti es as partic ipant , acti vit ies whic h give the peopl e
in the sit uat io n their main bases for evaluat ing the
fi eldworker in his or her role . This role may li mit access
to some kin ds of infor m ation, per haps especially at the
secret level ; precisely how he "rates" as a pseudo will
af fect the fi eldworker' s abil ity to co mmun ic ate below the
level of public inf ormat io n .
117
c. Observer as Participant . This is the role in which
the observer' s activ iti es as such are made publi cly known at
the outset, are more or less publicly sponsored by peo ple in
th e si tuatio n studied , and are int enti onal ly not "kept under
wraps . " The role may provid e access to a wid e range of
informat io n and even secrets may be given to the fi eldworker
when he beco mes known for keep in g them , as well as for
guarding confident ial infor mat io n . In this role the soc ial
scientist might conceivab ly achieve maxim um freedom to gather
inf orm atio n but only at th e price of accept in g maximum
constrai nts upon his or her reporting .
d. Complete Observer . This describes a range of roles
in which, at one extreme , the observer hides behind a one- way
mirr or, perhaps equ ipped with sound fil m facil ities , and at
the other extreme , his or her activi ti es are co m pletely
public in a speci al kin d of th eoretical group whe re there
are , by consensus , "no secrets" and "nothing sacred."
(Junker, 1960)
The types of roles chiefly reviewed here are th e
"observer as partic ipant " and th e "partic ipant as obser ver"
types , which are jointl y referred to as the participant
observer. However, it mu st be reco gnized that researchers
are al l to some degree both observers and partici pants in all
sit uations .
11 8
It is observed that the kin d of role which is as sumed
by the researche r is also determined by one' s abili ti es
(i.e. , whether one is able to speak the language, socially
adj ust to the environs , etc. ) and by the norms of the culture
itself . The partic ipant observer mu st be able to fi nd a
satis factory entree, develop and ma intain a role adequate to
me et his or her scientific needs, and fi nally be able to
term inate relatio nships in a way reasonably consistent with
cultural expectations (Spradley , 1980) . These requi rem ents
have of course varie d markedly from case to case; for
ins tance, an Am eri can busi ness firm poses consider ably
di fferent req ui rem ents from a governm ental institutio n in
Chin a .
3. The Methodology of partic ipant observat io n focuses
on the mean ings of huma n existence as seen from the
standpoint of insid ers (Znaniecki , 19 34 ; Spradley, 1980) .
In the course of daily lif e , peo ple make sense of the
world around them ; they give it meaning and they int eract on
the basis of these meanings (Denzin , 19 78) . If peo ple defi ne
a si tuatio n as real , it is real in its conseque nces . People,
of course, may be "mis taken" about what some thing means , yet
even erroneous beliefs have real conseque nces. The world of
everyday life constitutes real it y for its inha bi tants ,
nati ves , ins id ers , or mem bers (Lyman and Scott, 19 75) . The
ins iders ' conce ption of real it y is not dir ectl y accessible
11 9
to alie ns , outsiders , or nonmem bers , al l of whom necessaril y
exp erience it ini ti al ly as a stranger (Schultz, 1967) .
It is not possible to acquir e more than a very crude
notio n of the ins id ers ' world, for in s tance, until you
co mp rehend the culture and language that is used to
co mmun ic ate its meanings (Hall , 1969) . Greater com prehensio n
requires that you understand the words of a language as they
are used in particular si tuatio ns (Hall , 1977) . Ins iders
mana ge, man ipulate , and negotiate meanings in partic ular
sit uatio ns , int entio nally and uninte ntio nal ly obscurin g ,
hid ing , or concealing these meanings further from th e
vi ewpoint of outsid ers (Douglas , 1980) .
The world of everyday life as vi ewed from the standpoint
of ins iders is the fundam ental realit y to be describ ed by
partic ipant observation. Put still differ ently, the
me thodology of partic ipant observati on seeks to uncover, make
accessi ble, and reveal the meanings (realit ies ) peo ple use
to make sense out of their da il y li ves . In placing the
meaning of everyday li fe fi rst , th e met hodology of
partic ipant observatio n differ s from approaches that begin
with conce pts defined by way of exi sting theories and
hypotheses .
Partic ipant observation,
speci al strategy and me thod
in other words , is a very
for gainin g access to the
interior , see ming ly subj ective aspects of huma n existence
120
(Krie ger, 1985) . Through partici pation, the researcher is
able to observe and experience the meanings and interactions
of peo ple from the rol e of an ins id er . The researcher' s
in volvement may be overt (with the knowledge of ins ider s) ,
covert (wi thout the knowledge of ins iders ), or , mo st li kely,
insiders selectively wi ll be provided with knowledge of the
researcher' s in terests and purposes (Adler and Adl er, 1987) .
It is highly desir able for the partic ipant observer to
perform mu ltiple roles during the co urse of a proj ect, and
gain at least a comf ortable degree of rapport, even int im acy ,
with the peo ple, sit uations , and settings of research.
As a partic ipant , the researcher mu st sustain access
once it has been granted, and ma intain relatio nships with
peo ple in the fi eld (Johnson, 19 75) . The relatio nship
between the partic ipant as observ er, peo ple in the fi eld
setting, and the larger context of huma n interaction is one
of the key co mponen ts of this me thodology. The character of
fi eld relatio ns heavily inf luences the researcher' s abil it y
to collect acc urate, truthful info rm atio n (Smith and
Kornblum, 1989) .
Latour and Woolgar (1 979) and Lynch (1 985) descri bed the
insiders ' conception of laboratory science us in g participant
observ atio nal methods . Chernitz and Swanson (1 986) advocated
partic ipant observatio n for developing theories grounded in
practi ce that are useful for nurs in g . Gall im eier (1 987)
12 1
focuse d on meanings and expe riences of professional hockey
players on the basis of partic ipant observa tio n of this
sport. In short , then, the me thodology of partici pant
observa tion provides direct expe rie ntia l and observational
access to the insiders ' world of meaning .
Features
The me thodology of partici pant observation is
appropriate for studi es of alm ost every aspect of human
exi stence. Through partici pant observation, it is possi ble
to describe what goes on, who or what is involv ed , when and
where things happen, how they occur, and why- -a t least from
the standpoint of partici pants-- things happen as they do in
particular sit ua tions . The me thodology of partic ipant
observati on is except io na l for studying processes,
relatio nships among peo ple and events, the organizat ion of
peo ple and events, continuities over ti me , and patterns , as
well as the imm ediate sociocul tural contexts in whic h human
exi stence unfolds (Krieger, 1985) . Thus , partic ipant
observa tio n is defined here in term s of seven basic features :
1. a special in terest in huma n meanings and interactio n as
viewed from the perspective of peo ple who are ins iders
or members of partic ular sit ua tions and settings
(Kluckhohn, 194 0) ;
122
2. location in the here and now of everyday life
situa tions and settings as the foundation of inquiry
and method (Douglas, 19 80) ;
3. a form of theory and theorizing stressing
interpretation and understanding of huma n existence
(Spradl ey, 19 80) ;
4. a logic and process of inquiry that is open-ended,
flexible , opportunistic , and requires co nstant
redefinition of what is problematic, based on facts
gathered in co ncrete settings of human existence
(Spradley, 19 80) ;
5. an in-depth , qual itative, case study approach and
design (Spradl ey, 198 0) ;
6. the performance of a participant rol e or roles that
involves establishing and ma intain ing rela tionships
with natives in the field (Krieger, 198 5) ; and
7. the use of direct observation al ong with other methods
of gathering informat ion .
Accor ding to the above defined features, it see ms that
part icipant observat ion is most appropriate when the
following co nditions are present :
•
the research proble m is conce rned with human meanings
and interactions viewed from the insiders ' perspecti ve;
• the phenomenon of investigation is observ able within an
everyday life situat ion or setti ng;
123
•
the researche r is able to gain access to an appropriate
setting;
• the phenomenon is suffic iently li mi ted in si ze and
locatio n to be studied as a case;
• study questio ns are appropriate for a case study ; and
• the research problem can be addressed by qualitati ve
data gathe red by direct observ ation and other me ans
pertin ent to the fi eld setting (Spradl ey, 19 80) .
Ulti m ately, the me thodology of partic ipant observatio n
ai ms to gener ate practical and theor etic al truths about human
li fe grounded in the realiti es of da ily exi stence.
Interpretative Theor y and Theori zing
Once observ atio n is co mpl eted, the resea rcher mu st sort ,
sift , arrange, and rearrange the data and anal ytic labels and
co mme nts about them . Then it is necessary to beco me more
dir ectl y and explicit ly invo lved in theor y and theoriz ing .
The methodol ogy of partic ipant observat ion ai ms to provide
practical and theor etical truths about huma n existence. From
this standpoint , a "theory11 may be defined as a set of
concepts and gener al izatio ns . Theories provide a
perspect ive , a way of seeing, or an interpretatio n ai med at
understandin g some phenomenon (Agar , 19 86} . The me thodology
of partic ipant observ atio n provokes co ncepts and
gene ral izations formu lated as int erpretat ive theories . These
124
co nce pts and general izat ions may be used to examine
critic ally existing hypo theses and theories. Conce pts,
gener al izations , and interpretat ions inspired through
part ic ipant observation are useful for making practic al
decisions (Williams , 19 86 ) .
As a distinctly qualitat ive approa ch to soc ial research,
interpretive theory at tempts to make the world of lived
experience directl y access ible to the reader. The focus of
interpretive research is on those life experiences that
radic ally alter and shape the meanings persons gi ve to
themselves and their life proj ects (Will iams , 198 6) . The
interpretive approach involves the collection of qualitative
data and personal experience stories of proble matic human
interactions . These materials are then interpreted .
Interpretive researc h begins and ends with the biography
and the self of the researcher. The events and troubles that
are written about are ones the writer has al ready experienced
or witnesse d firsthand . As Parid Sudnow argues, the
individual perspect ive is "definitiona lly critical for
establishing the 'what' " and , I add , the "how" of problematic
social experience. The task is to produce "ric hly detailed"
descri ptions and accounts of such experiences (Sudnow , 1978) .
The basic thesis of interpretive theory rests on the
importance of interpretation and understanding as key
features of soci al life. It is assumed that , in soci al life,
12 5
there is only interpretation . That is , everyday life
revolves around perso ns interpretin g and mak ing judgm ents
about their own and others' behaviors and exp eriences through
their own lenses of my thologies . Many times these
interpretations and judgm ents are based on faulty, or
incorrect, understandin gs . Persons , for ins tance, mi stake
their own experiences for the expe rie nces of other s . As a
consequence, there is gap or fail ure in understanding . Then,
what is the relationship between interpretatio n and
understanding ?
Interpretation is the process of setting forth the
meaning of an event or expe rience . Meaning is defined in
terms of th e intentions and actio ns of a perso n . It refers
to the int ended int erpretatio n (and interpretant ) of a symb ol
(Peir ce, 19 63) . Meaning is triad ic . It involves in teraction
betw een (1 ) a person ; (2) an object, event, or process; and
(3) the action taken toward that object, event, or process
(Blum er, 19 69) . Meaning is interactional and interpretive .
Interpretation is the clari fication of meaning .
Understanding is th e process of int erpreti ng, knowing , and
co mp rehending the meaning that is felt, int ended, and
expr esse d by another (Denzin , 198 4) . Interpretation precede s
understandin g . It has its meaning in the descri ptio n of
another' s actio ns within a framework that is me anin gful to
the perso n . Interpretatio n dissects uni ts of exp erience into
126
relevant segmen ts (statements, sequences, actions) that have
meaning for the other . Interpretation is a never-ending
search for understanding and enlightenment .
Just as desc ript ion provides the framework
interpretation , so too does interpretat ion create
for
the
conditions for understanding. Understanding is an
interactional process . It requires that one person enter
into the experience of another and expe rience for himself or
herself the same or similar experiences experienced by
another . Denzin (1 984) stated, "The subjecti ve
interpretation of another' s emotional experience from one' s
own standpoint is centr al to emotional understanding." This
means that shared and sharable emotional ity lie at the center
of the process of understanding . At this point , "shared
experience" is basic to understanding . A brief disc ussion
of it is nece ssary .
Understanding, as sugge sted above , requires that one be
able to enter into , or take the point of view of , another' s
experience. Mead (1 934) calle d this "taking the att itude
of the other . " Various other terms have bee n used to
describe this process: "sympathy, " "empathy, " "imagination,"
"Verstehen," "sympathetic understanding." (Denzin , 19 84)
Wha tever term is used, the meaning is essent ially the same :
proj ecting oneself into the expe riences of another. This
means that the other's experience must call out in the person
127
exp eriences similar to those of the other . One must be able
to see the other's expe rience from their point of view . This
is what is meant by the phrase "living one' s way into and
through the life of the other." (Denzin , 1984) One must
share , if only indirectl y, in the emotional experiences of
the other . If this is not done, shallow, empty, spurious ,
one-s ided interpretation and understanding are produced.
Thus , the interpret ive researcher, such as a participant
observ er, attempts to live hi s or her way into the lives of
those being investig ated . He or she attempts to see the
world and its problems as they are seen by the peopl e who
live inside them . As a strat egy , this method throws the
researcher directl y into the social world under
investigation . It requires the careful recor ding through
field notes of the proble matic and routine features of that
world . Recurring structural , interactional , and meaning
patterns are sought .
To illustrate , Altheide (1 976) cond ucte d a study of
tele vision news through participant observ at ion . He was
interes ted in bias or distortions in news making . Having
reviewed relevant sc holarly literatur e , Altheide was aware
of several different perspectives on this issue , as well as
specific contentions (hypotheses) exp laining why or how news
is biased. He suspected that bias was somehow related to how
news workers put together tele visio n news programs . With
12 8
this gener al idea, but without spec ific hypotheses
(operational definit ions or measures), Al theide set out to
descri be news workers' images of their jobs and how they
act ual ly did their work . His findings describe in
qual itative detail how practic al and organizational features
of doing news work promote ways of looking at events that
distort them . The emergent , interpretative theory of the
news perspective as bias provided a solid, emp irical basis
for questio ning the accur acy of so me previous clai ms (if not
the co mplete rej ectio n of these hypotheses) and
reinterpreting other theoretic al claims . This study,
furtherm ore , resulted in subsequent research and re finement
of Al theide ' s interpretative theory of news makin g (Altheide,
19 85) .
In so me cases , the part icipant observer is a known
observer . In others, the observer attempts to enter the
worl d as a part icipant without disclos ing observational
intentions . In all cases, the researcher attempts to share
in the subject's world, to part icipate directl y in the rounds
of activities that make up that world, and to see the world
as the subjects see it . The part icipant obser ver' s goals
revolve around the attempt to render that world meaningful
from the perspect ive of those studied (Will iams , 1986) .
129
The Observer and the Observed
The Author's Experience
This dis sertation is the product of the au thor's fir st
hand experience as a participant observer, as a na tive of the
Peo ple's Repu blic of China and having li ved and worked in the
United States si nce 19 85 .
The data was gather ed for this diss ertatio n through a
num ber of avenues , inclu din g a trip to Chin a in March of
199 3, and extensive participat io n in busi ness activi ti es and
seminars between 1987 and 199 3 regarding Si no-Ame rica n
government and non-government bus in ess relatio ns .
Approxim ately 100 Chinese were info rmal ly intervi ewed,
inclu din g the Chin ese Comm ercial Councils of the Peo ple's
Repu blic of China in Los Angeles and representat ives of
va rio us Chin ese State-run co mpan ies operating in Souther n
Cal if ornia , as well as senior mana gers, eco nomi sts , lawyers
and government offici al s at vario us levels and indus tries
while vi sit ing Chin a . Approxim ately 100 Ameri cans were al so
forma lly and inf orm ally intervi ewed, inc ludin g lawyers ,
accountants, busi ness executiv es , bankers and univ ersit y
professo rs , as well as a prog ram dir ector of the Los Angeles
Area Chamber of Comm erce, and a former executive consul tant
of internatio nal trade for the former Los Angeles Mayor Tom
Bradl ey .
130
One exam ple may serve to demonstrate how the research
was cond ucte d through observ ation and part icipation .
One day in Au gust of 19 88, I was requested by one of my
lawyer friends to assist in a negotiation between an American
carbon co mpany and a Chinese state-r un coal factory. I was
inform ed that both parties had an intent ion to establish a
joint venture proj ect in China . The Chinese co al factor y
produced high qual ity co al whic h could be co nverted into a
certain kind of carbon that would be environmentally safe .
Initially, the American co mpany si mply purchased the carbon
from the Chinese factory . However, supply problems occurred
a couple of times due to the insuffic ient production scale
and delayed shipments. The American co mpany began to expl ore
the idea of a joint venture--t o invest in Chinese technology
to expand the productio n and utilize the low cos t of good
quality co al and Chinese labor . The Chinese party welco med
the idea beca use of the access to the interna tional market.
The American co mpany hired a loc al co nsultant in Hong Kong
to facilitate this proj ect. During six months of
negotiations , the American represe ntat ives went to China five
times, and no agreement was reached. Both sides felt
frustrated . Finally, four Chinese represe ntat ives came to
Los Angeles to co nduct further negotiations . Both parties
agreed that this would be their last chance--e ither go
forward with the proj ect or no proj ect.
131
When I came to the negotiat ion meeting, I learned that
this was their fourth day of meetings and they had reached
some consensus on the maj ority of items in the agreement .
However, they were still stuck on several conditions wh ich
both sides clai med were important to them. Both part ies
looked exhausted and co nfused. For the first three hours ,
I played the rol e of observ er, listening and watching . I
disco vered several maj or problems: (1) The co nsul tant from
Hong Kong did several inadequate interpretat ions even though
he could speak good Chinese and English . The problem was
that the consultant had insufficient knowledge and
understanding of the pol itic al and organizational syste ms as
well as the culture in Mainla nd China , and he did not
understand Ame rican legal terminology. (2) Both part ies
argued over their own positions and paid little attent ion to
their underlying mutua l interests. (3) Both parties to ok
little considerat ion of creating al ternatives for their
proj ect. (4) Their emotions started to run high and they
became frustrated and offended . They took the disagree ment
personal ly. (5) Each side saw only the merits of its case,
and only the faul ts of the other side's--b laming the other
side for being noncooper at ive .
Then, I started to part ici pate . First, I tried to help
the Hong Kong cons ultant modify those misinterpreted
translations . Second, I talked to each side separately ,
132
understanding their needs, exploring alternatives , and
explaining the differences in business practic e which were
culturally co nditioned in both countries. Thi rd , I tried to
help each side see the situation as the other side saw it .
Fourth , I helped them define their mu tual interests and
acco mmoda te their differences. Final ly, they reached their
agree ment within three hours .
For example, at first each side took a very strong
position with regard to the issue of joint venture
managem ent . Both part ies wan ted to have total 11 control , 11 and
both sides insiste d on select ing their own peopl e as the
general manager and product quality-co ntrol mana ger. I first
tried to persuade the Ame ri can co mpany to giv e up the gener al
manager position . I expla ined that the function of a general
mana ger in China would be mainly involved with the day- to- day
administrat ive work , such as deal ing with the local
government , other related go vernmental institut ions , polic y
and taxation iss ues, employee welfar e and so on . It would
be very diffic ult for an American manager to handl e these
aspects effect ively without sufficient language skills and
in -depth understanding of Chinese culture as well as its
politic al system. I sugge sted that the American co mpany
select a product qual ity- co ntrol manager, a finance mana ger
and a shipment manag er as their positio ns in the management .
133
I explained the me rits of sendin g those manag ers as well .
The Am eri can si de was happy to accept my suggestions .
Then I shared with th e Chinese party that the Am eri can
party would be happy to have a Chinese gene ral manage r. The
Chinese representat ives were overj oyed to hear this . Next,
I persuaded them to give up the posit io n of qual it y control
mana ger. My ratio nale was that si nce the product would be
sold into the Uni ted States mark et, the product qualit y
should com ply with Ame ri can standards ; other wi se the export
would fail . And the Chin ese representati ves acce pted my
reasonin g . By doin g this , I gained trust from both parties .
At their celebration party, both the Ame rican and Chinese
representatives stated that they reached their mu tual
understandin g and obtained their mu tual interests due to my
partici patio n and assis tance.
Si nce then, I observed and partic ipated in about 30
cases wit h regard to Chin ese-Ame ri can gover nmen tal and non
govern mental interactions as well as busi ness acti vit ies .
Those cases ranged from the involvement of large Ame ri can
mul ti- natio na l co m pani es and Chin ese central go vernm ent
ins titutio ns to sm all scale and sin gle focus co mpa nies . The
cases in volved dollar amo unts vary in g from $100 thousand to
$100 mi llio n .
134
Acce ss to a Setting
The decis ion to part icipate in an app ropriate setting
so metimes is based on opportunity and co nvenience. My
select ion of a setti ng for part icipant observation was
co nt ingent on (1 ) whether or not I co uld obtain access to the
setti ng, (2) the range of possible participant roles I might
assume, {3) whether or not the role (or roles) would provide
sufficient access to phenomena of interest, and {4) my
ability to partici pate and observe effecti vely within this
setting for suffic ient time to gather the desired
informat ion .
I was able to gain access to my prospects in three ways :
{1) my personal co ntacts both in the United States and in
China , such as when so me Americans wan ted to establish
business opportunities in China or vice versa , they
approached me to seek assistance; (2) my contact with the
Chinese Consulate General of the People's Republic of China
in Los Angeles; and (3) my work with an interna tional law
firm as a Chinese Business Consultant .
What I will highl ight is my third access to my research
setti ng--w orking as a business co nsultant in a big law firm
with more than 100 years history and 400 lawyers . It is
assumed that where the researcher is locate d soci ally
determ ines what is observable, the character of observat ions ,
and opportunities to obse rve . Actions that appear to be
135
totally meaningless from the soci al locatio n of an outsider
may be highly sig nificant from the standpoint of an ins ider .
I worked as a Chinese business consultant to assist
lawyers in their han dl ing of cases with regard to Chinese
business. This included providing advice regarding the
Chinese legal , political and eco nomic system as well as
Chinese culture , and cond ucting all translations either from
Chinese into English or vice versa .
The target for study was made up of three groups : (1)
two senior partners, one junior partner and one senior
associate lawyer who are heavi ly involved in the firm ' s
Chinese business practic e ; (2) Chinese clients who are
representatives from the state - run co mpan ies and
institut ions ; and (3) American clients see king business and
legal advice with regard to the opportunities in China .
I formed a triangular structure to observe cross
cultural interactions on the basis of my partic ular setti ng .
This triangular structure (See Table 3 -1) helps me to observe
the following relationships :
1. How do Ame rican lawyers interact with Chinese clie nts ;
2. How do Americ an lawyers and Chinese client s together
interact with the American respondents .
3. How do Americ an lawyers interact with American clients;
4. How do Americ an lawyers and American clients together
interact with Chinese respondents .
136
Table 3-1
Demo ns tration of Triangular Observation Structure
Lawyer
"''
Lawyer
Americ an Respondent
Chinese Client
/J'
Ame ri can Cl ient
Chinese Respondent
Ethical Issues
Obviously there are ethical co des which gener ally
prohibit violations of people' s right to privacy,
confidential ity, and freed om from exploitation . Even though
as a part icipant I was not necess arily obligated to inform
other part ici pant s of my research intention; I felt obligated
to protect their privacy and dignity.
Although I have based all of my observations on real
life situations , I have eliminated all references to name s
and place s to protect the privacy of the individuals
observed . The elimination of these essential facts does not
in any way substant ively al ter the facts or the na ture of my
observat ions . The individual s disc ussed here are not
137
com posit es but are sin gle ind ividua ls and I have examined
their behavior in term s of my understanding of their
in di vidual backgrounds and experience.
Rapport
As Ri chard Fenno (1 990} defi nes it ,
Rapport refers to the state of the
personal relatio nship of co mp atibi li ty ,
of understanding , of trust- between
research and researched. It cannot be
prescrib ed or taught. Som etimes it is
a ma tter of luck , and som etimes it is a
matter of personalit y . Always , it is a
chall enge and a preoc cupatio n . Because
you must constantly evaluate the qual it y
of the data you are getting , you mu st,
perforce, constantly evaluate the
qual ity of your relatio nship with the
perso n who is givin g it to you . Much of
what you do out in the settin g is done
to enh ance your rapport with the peo ple
you fi nd there.
It see ms that rapport is less a speci al talent than a
special will ingness to work hard- -a special commitment . And
one reason it is hard work is because of the many conte xts
and types of peo ple you fi nd yourself confronted with (Fenno,
1990) . It is disc overed that rapport commonly is relate d to
your abil ity to demons trate a degree of acco m pli shment with
the host culture and wi ll ingness to give some thing of
yourself in inte ractin g with membe rs .
Obviously , one key to effecti ve partic ipant obser vation
is to blend into each si tuatio n as unobtrus ive ly as possi ble .
138
Often, the easiest way to do this is to beco me an acti ve
participant . When the opportunity to partici pate prese nted
itself , I snapped it up . Rapport is increased, too, by the
demonstration of loyalty and co mpetence. I took every
opportunity , verbal or behavioral , to assure that I would use
my experience or my knowledge to help the participants
achie ve their desired objecti ves . I have been very careful
about the questio ns I asked and the advice I offered. I have
endeavored to gain the trust and co nfidence of my informants .
So far , most of my advice has turned out effective .
If insufficient rapport is one problem , then too mu ch
rapport is ano ther . Sometimes, a professio nal relationship
threatens to slide into a personal friendship . It is
impossi ble to be objecti ve about one's friends . As Fenno
points out :
The larger danger in the relationship of
observer and observed is what
anthropologists call "going na tive" -
beco ming so close to your respondents,
so imm ersed in their world and so
dependent on this close relat ionship
that you lose all intellect ual distance
and sc holarly objecti vi ty. (Fenno, 19 90)
It is realized that all researchers take sides from one
point of view or ano ther . Value -f ree interpretive research
is impossib le . This is the case beca use every researcher
brings preconce ptions and interpretations to the proble m
13 9
being studied . On the other hand , no ma tter how carefully
I ins ulate myse lf from th e dail y realiti es of fi eldwork, it
is unreal istic to think that I will not be affect ed .
Som etimes my partic ipatio n led to disa ppointment ,
frustratio n , disill usio nme nt , dise nchantm ent, and even
disl ike for particular sit uations or people. It is very
im portant to antici pate these fe elings and their
consequen ces. I have found it very useful to have
professional colleagues or close friends will in g to li sten
to accounts of dail y expe riences , and especially problem
si tuations . And I also have found it useful to confront my
feelings by recordin g and disc uss ing the m in my notes , and
to reflect on these ma tters once I have gained dista nce from
them .
The Role Performance
It is observed, although parti cipating as a researcher
places the observer on the mar gi ns of human action, it rarely
is possi ble to rema in unin volved with ins id ers . People have
a tendency to in volve you , even if only in a token effort to
put you at ease or perhaps demons trate the superiority of
their perspect ive over yours . You wi ll quite li kely be asked
to contri bute expert ise , whether or not you feel qual ifi ed
to do so, or other wi se assi st in some way . Involvement with
140
the part icipants indicates that you are being acce pted to
some extent as part of the setting.
Part icipant involvement, in turn , sugge sts that what you
are abl e to observ e increasingly is wha t people norm ally say
and do even when an outside obser ver is not present . In
reality, the general principles whic h may guide the
researcher s are still being form ulated, but it does see m
clear that if you have sought to find a role that is natural
to a culture , you will conseq uently find that your scientific
objecti ves and techniques are interdependent with the
cultural role you assume in the soc ial setting (Spradley ,
1980 ) •
In my participant role, I seek to apprehend , register,
interpret , and conce ptual ize the social facts and meanings
which I find in a prescri bed area of study . I am interested
in people as they are , not as I think they ought to be
acc ording to so me standard of my own ; I am interested in the
lack of unif ormity as well as the uniformities of their
cul ture, in the unpredict able as well as the predict abl e
state of huma n existence. I find that those interests which
are embodied in this , my sci entific (obser ver) role, coincid e
in many ways with my soci al role as participant . I find my
social role an interdependent and indispensable part of the
scientific process.
141
This social interdependen ce is ofte n not seen or is
ignored by scientists who are hid den away in their
laboratories , but it beco mes a dist inguish ing characteristi c
of the role of the partic ipant observ er, caus ing many
problems and nonsci entific reperc ussio ns in ter ms of
confid ences, co mmi tme nts , and other perso nal involvem ents
which penetrate the lif e of th e fi eldworker . The partic ipant
observer assumes he or she can make these commi tm ents and
beco mes invo lved without ignorin g scie ntific st andards or the
interests of the peo ple he is studying (Whyte, 19 55) .
The researcher may even take into conside ratio n the
interests of his or her subj ects in formul ating hi s or her
hypotheses and designin g his or her study . For ins tance, I
planned my study as growing out of a conce rn with in effective
cross- cultural interactions caused by a lack of toler ance and
understandin g , and a refusal to accept divers if ie d characters
of human society . Thus , the perso na l li ves of the people the
partici pant observer studi es often beco me of speci al
im portance to him or her in th e ful fil lment of both his or
her scientific role and his or her soci al rol e in the culture
he or she stud ies . Wi thout this primary interest in his or
her subj ects as perso ns th e data would beco me lia ble to
dis tortio n . The researcher mu st as sume that, in this state
of interdependenc e, one role mak es th e other possi ble .
142
Part icipating as an insider requires the researcher to
select from among the roles al ready available in the setting.
Unlike the role of outside observ er that is defined by the
researcher and imposed by the setting, insider roles are
provided by the setting.
I have performed two roles over the co urse of my study-
a co nsul tant and an interpreter . As a co nsultant , I have
serious obligations to give advi ce. In order to be an
effecti ve cons ultant , I have identified empathy as the most
important personal skill . Empathy involves the cr ucial
ability to understand the other party' s point of view, if
only in order to counter it more effecti vely, and enco mp asses
both the intellect ual and the emotional co mponents of his
stand .
Based upon my part ici pation exp erience, the co nsul tant
who has developed enough credibility with negotiators of the
other party to be able to tell them how their position is
striking his or he r side and advi se them on the changes
necessar y to move both part ies toward an agreement stands in
the advantageous position of "mediator for hi s or her own
side." Sym pathy for the other' s position would be too mu ch
to ask for and in any case would weaken one's ability to
speak for his or her own side . But empathy means that one
knows how one' s position looks from the other fellow' s shoes,
as well as how it feels to be in them . This has been
14 3
demonstrated in the "Self Exp erience" sectio n descr ibing how
I helped resolve the joint venture mana gement disagreement
by utilizing the skill of empathy.
In addition , empathy for persons of other cultures
leads to a sense of emotional involvement and a real istic
interpretation of cultural differences as the basis of
com prehending underlying princi ples. Empathy may also
illuminate the interdependence of na tions and the neces sity
for co operat ion as the basis for huma n relationships .
Ultimately and ideally , cross- cultural involvement would be
characterized by self-a ppreciation beyond empathetic
understanding, incor porat ing those va lues of other cultures
that have meaning for others .
As an interpreter, I perce ive this as an important role
in cross-cultural co mmunicat ion . An interpreter does not
simply fulfill the tec hnical function of putting one language
into another or doing word to word translation , instead he
co nveys connotation . Before an interpreter starts the
trans lat ion process, he or she has to go through the process
of understanding the concept of this partic ular language,
then interpreting it into another language. To a great
extent , the accuracy of translat ion depends upon the
interpreter's language skill for both languages as well as
sufficient understanding of both cultures. Culture and
language are inhibitors of co mmu ni cation occ urring across
144
such li nes . They also influ ence our perce ptions , and our
judgm ents concerning certain is sues . Ofte n the two may
intertwine and act together to decrease th e co mmuni catio n
across such cultural and li nguistic li nes . Certainly
knowledge of another's culture and fluency of the language
can assist in increas ing the unders tanding of the int ended
me ssage, but without experiencin g the language and the
culture, the understanding is low, or extreme ly li mite d at
best . The examp le of th e Hong Kong consul tant in the
"Author's Experience" sectio n ful ly di splays this point of
vie w .
Si nce pla ying an interdependent role in the cultures I
have studied , sharing in the lif e and beco ming involved in
th e acti viti es of th e peo ple I have observ ed, I have realiz ed
th e diff erence between a partic ipant observer and a
tradi ti onal em pirici st . A participant observ er can be
descri bed as c.s. Lewis' point of vie w that a physiologist
can study pain and fi nd out that it "i s" (whate ver it means )
such and such neural events. But the word "pain" would have
no meaning for him unless he had "been ins ide " by actual ly
sufferin g . If he had never "looked al ong" or experienced
pain, he si mp ly would not know what he was lookin g at . The
very subj ect for his inquir ies from ou tsid e exi sts for him
only because he has at leas t once been in sid e (Lewis , 194 5).
Yet , his effort is incom plete until he interprets the
145
sensation of "pain, " and unt il he further selects useful
language and sym bols to co mmu nicate this same meaning to
others, through use of a word like "pain " in the English
language. The parts of the process are inseparable.
Unlike the traditional empiricist, the part icipant
observer must view a culture just as the people he or she is
studying view it , including reflecting on the soc ial process
in whic h he or she is inwardly engage d. This means he or she
sees goals and interests of peopl e in the same way that the
people see them, not as functio ns or experim ental causes as
would the traditional empiricist; it means that he or she
sees people in the co ncrete reality in which they present
themselves in daily experiences, not as abstractions as would
the traditional empi ricist; it means he or she senses that
these people act freely within the sc ope of wha t they see as
the possible, not as determined agents of social forces as
the traditiona l empiricist would see them .
The participant observ er is concerned with the inner
character of culture and its meaning in human life, but he
or she does not ignore the external manifestations . One
assumes that knowledge can be derived beyond the outer
mani festatio ns of culture , from active , albeit controlled,
part ic ipation in the life of the observed , and that by means
of direct comm unicatio n and empathic relationships with those
one is studying one can gain important insig ht into the
146
nature of the culture one studi es . The ai m of the
partic ipant observer is to understand peo ple fr om their own
frame of reference. He or she cannot acce pt the Comtean
assum ption that one perspective (the in ner) is to be
exp lai ned solely in terms of another (the outer) . One
belie ves that the inne r can be exp lained in terms of itself
(Smith and Kornblum, 1989) .
Data Collection
Observ in g Whi le Partic ipatin g
My observation began the moment I started to be in volved
in each si ngle case related to Ame rican and Chinese
interacti ons ; for exam ple, includin g the process of document
preparat ion, preliminary meetings wi th lawye rs and clients
as well as the negotiatio ns . My observatio ns usually started
unfocused , then changed into becomi ng more focused .
Whenever I enter ed a new sit uatio n or setti ng , I
surv eyed the general features of both from the physic al space
to the huma n factors : What kin d of space (or buildin g) was
this? How was the space organiz ed? What kin ds of things
were in this space or buil din g? How many people were there?
What were their ages? Genders ? Ethni city? Could I see
si gns of social status and rank? Was there anything unusual
or strik in g about these peo ple? How were the peo ple in this
147
space arranged or organiz ed? My basic goal of these ini ti al
observ ations was to beco me increas ingly fami li ar with the
setting as well as the ins iders ' world so as to re fine the
focus of subsequent observatio n and data collection . I
atte mpted to quic kly achieve a "feel " for the setting and
then fi t in .
Once I was more famili ar with the setting , I began
focus ing observ ational attentio n on matters of specific
interest. The strateg y of my focus was to begin with the
wid est possi ble range of phenomena , gradually li mit ing my
atte ntion to partic ular phenomena. What, in other words ,
could I learn about this phenomena si mply by looking and
li stening? What I had learned then could be used to address
more specific interests. In other words , my previous
observatio ns usual ly resulted in an interest in phenomena
that I would li ke to observe in more specific , and systematic
detail . This process of observ ing , refocusin g , and observing
again was ofte n repea ted over and over again as I exp lored
and refined emerging problems and que stions for inquir y . At
the sam e time , I was engaged in the collection of pote ntial ly
im portant facts.
As descri bed in the "Author's Expe rien ce" section, for
example, when I partic ipated in the negotiation regarding
that carbon production joint venture between the Ameri can
company and the Chi nese state- run factor y, I observed and
148
li stened for the fir st three hours . I wanted to understa nd
what caused dis agreement between the two parties . I observ ed
how they interpreted each sid e' s terms , and how much they
understood each other . I observed that when they beca me
frustrated, they started to label each other with the words
such as "selfi sh, stubborn, uncooper ative " and so on . My
specific interest was to learn how they vi ewed each other
through their own lens of mythologies
- - their own values ,
exp ectations , perceptio ns and cultural self-awareness. My
focused observ ation led to greater involvement with the
peopl e in the setting and specific ally to informal
con versatio ns and casual questionin g as well as the
performance of the con sultant role .
In short, preliminary observatio n leads to addi tional
mat ter s of possi ble interest. Focusing on these matters
results in the identif ic ation of still other phenomena for
observation and so on, in what see ms li ke a never- ending
cycle of observatio n, analysis , redefini tion and observatio n .
Interv ie wing
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Di ctio nahY defines
"i ntervie w " as a meeting at whic h inf orm atio n is obtained (as
by a reporter, televis ion comme ntator , and so on) from a
person. This process of obtainin g inf ormation from a perso n
takes place through the vehi cle of asking questions . Asking
149
questions is an artful activity (Dexter, 19 ). To test the
hypoth eses form ulated in Cha pter One , I conducted structured
interviews with 200 carefully selecte d Chinese and Ameri can
partic ipants, app lyin g the elements of a detaile d
questio nnair e (Appendix I) .
The initia l questio ns asked probably are si mple requests
for general inf ormatio n raise d as part of ordin ary
con versation . Whi le such impromptu questio nin g is in valuable
for generally learnin g about the ins id ers ' world of thought,
feeling , and action , eventually one needs a more systematic
way to seek answers to get at key iss ues and problems .
Exactl y what questions are asked depends on the study
problem . In this disser tatio n the questions are
characterized as descriptive - - general requests for
inf ormatio n about peo ple, places , events, and so on.
Descript ive questions explore the general conto urs of some
matter in fair ly comprehens ive detail (Spradley , 19 80) . These
kin ds of questio ns commonly take the fo rm : "Tell me about x,
y, or z, I am interested in what you think about this"; "Tell
me what you do when you engage in thi s activi ty" ; "That's
really interesting , tell me more about it ." Specific kin ds
of descri ptive que stions inc lude :
1. Grand- tour questions : a reque st for an overview of
some matter of interest;
2.
3.
4.
Mini - tour questi ons :
partic ular matter;
Exam ple questio ns :
150
more detaile d exp loratio n of a
requests for ill ustratio ns and
examples of matte rs of interest;
Experience questio ns : queries about peo ple's direct
experiences or what has actually hap pened; and
5. Native -language questio ns : requests for extrapolation
or clari fication of parti cular ter ms , concepts,
phrases, and the li ke used by ins iders (Spradley , 1980 ;
Fenno, 1990 ; Adler and Ad ler, 19 87) .
I conducted my intervie ws in three sit uations . Whenever
I was involved in a clie nt- consultant si tuatio n, I asked
questio ns for the purpose of fact-fin ding and understa nding
of the clients' partic ular concer ns and interests. In order
to provide effective consultin g servi ce, I alw ays enco uraged
my respondents to share wit h me the real pictures which they
perceived about people, places, events, and activit ies as
well as that I suspected were compose d of multiple meeti ngs ,
parts, or layers . According to my experience, in order to
get a picture of what thi s involves, you need to ask what is
inc luded or what parts make up a partic ular item. An
im porta nt li ne of questionin g pertains to seekin g the parts,
components, aspects, phases , levels, and the li ke of matter s
disc ussed by in siders . Usual ly in this sit uatio n , my
respondents inc ludin g both Ame rica ns and Chinese , were
151
cooperative and felt comfortable to answer all my questions ;
because I establi shed good rap port with them and they
believed I worked hard for their benefi ts, whic h I, in fact,
did .
When I intervi ewed Chinese government offici als , senior
managers , economi sts and lawyers at vario us levels and
indus tries , I always ini tiated my intervie ws in the format
of casual conversations .
inf ormal intervie ws with
The reason for me to conduct
Chinese respon dents in this
sit uatio n is that, from the cultural persp ective , most of the
Chinese are not used to, or even disl ike , a question - and
answe r format . I took all the opp ortuni ti es of having meals
wi th them, traveli ng with them in cars or airplanes , or any
casual vis its with them to conduct free flowing questi oning .
My questions were unencumbered by extensive preconce ptions
of what and how the topics would be disc ussed . I approached
them as if I was learning from them. Let them feel as if
they have special knowledge and are very im portant to me .
By way of inf ormal intervie ws , I was able to gather
inf ormation systematically as well , because I frequently had
a general idea about a matter of interest and des ire to be
more certain of the ins iders ' pers pective . By raising the
same set of iss ues with differ ent respondents, I was able
systematically to collect inf ormatio n about these iss ues .
152
I also used the content of a structured questionnair e
as a guid e for the subject matter to intervie w 20 selected
Ameri can lawyers , accountants, and busi ness executives ei ther
by tele phone, by mail or in person. 19 respo nses were
received . This gr oup of peopl e agreed to an intervie w for my
research and had varied experiences in interacting with the
Chin ese . Through the use of this uniform schedule, I was
able to ask specifi c questio ns in exactly the same way ti me
after ti me with di fferent ins ider s . The answers to questions
were formulated in an open- ended fashion , thereby perm itti ng
respo ndents to provide their own meanings . Typically,
however, the respo ndents were requir ed to make a forced
choice among a fi xed num ber of responses de fined in advance
by myself .
A questionnair e is a self-admini stered devi ce that can
be completed by respondents wi thout the assistance of or
face-to- face contact wi th the researcher (Douglas , 19 85) .
The answers of the questi onnair e were returned to me by fax
or through the mail . In some in stances , I have dis covered,
formal intervie wing is useful for quic kly and effi ci ently
collecting a uni form set of data about people who are relate d
but not centr al to one' s in vestigat ion . However, in
compariso n wit h other forms of data collected during my
research, formal intervie ws and questi onnair es generally
result in less ric hly qualitative informatio n . The resulting
153
inf orm atio n gene ral ly is more superfic ial and more di fficul t
to interpret. At best , form al int ervie ws and questionnair es
are a supplem entary means of gathe ring da ta efficie ntly .
Notes and Recor d Mak in g
Making notes, keeping records , and creating data file s
are among th e mo st importa nt aspects of participant
obser vatio n . My technique was to carry a pocket-size tape
recor der; however, I never used it in front of my re spondents
due to my reserva tions about a tape recorder relative to its
possi ble adverse effect on th e intervi ew. I believe one' s
chances of gett in g a "better" int ervi ew when the conversatio n
is mo st frank and mo st spontaneous . Whenever I had a chance
durin g the day , I recorded what I observed, and lis tened on
the basis of my powers of recall. In any event, my technique
was to take me ntal notes, to recor d them bri efly when I got
the chance and when I was totally al one during the day , and
then to spend a couple of hours in the evening lis tenin g to
the tape and takin g down th e notes.
The maj or organizin g principle of the notes was
chronological . The mo st revealing co mmen ts are unforgettable .
I wrote down things I could rememb er about the day' s
acti vities as well as my co mme nts and reacti ons to what I had
seen and heard, all the addi tional questions that had co me
to mind , al l the analytic al ideas that had occurred to me .
154
I reread my notes wheneve r I got the chance to jog my memory
and add items I had forgotten. It was exceptionally ti me
consuming .
The more I observed, the more practice I got in matters
such as note taking and recall, the more I disc overed
patterns of behavi or that I would not have know n about
otherwi se. I got "a feel11 for things . I started to note and
record my personal feelin gs , guesses, hunches , suspici ons ,
predi ctions , and areas of neglect as well as topics in need
of subsequent in quir y . When these things happene d, I began
to weigh factors di fferently in my thinkin g , gi vin g more
weig ht to things expe ri enced than I otherwi se might have.
As a researcher, I have realiz ed I should be prope rly
crit ic al of my per sonal experience - -just li ke any other
inf ormation . Because these experie nces are select i ve , it may
be dangerous to pay speci al atte ntio n to them.
When partici pating in a case with regard to the
interaction between Americ ans and Chinese , I was tryi ng very
hard to bridge the gap of understanding between the two
parties . A lot of expl anatio ns and educatio n were in volved .
When I commu nic ated wi th the Ame ri cans, I explained certain
points from the standpoint of Chin ese, and vice versa . To
a certain extent, how well my message can get through largely
depends on my respondents' personality, attitudes and
knowledge of the other culture . When I ran into a respondent
155
who was perceived by me as being narrow-minded , arrogant and
intolerant of di fferences , I knew I would have a hard ti me .
Sometime s I, myself, became very impatient , frustrated, and
even angry with those peop le . When I recorded those
feelings , I dis covered that I repeated the same pattern of
beha vio r- - I exp ected other people to know what I know, I
expected other people to behave in my way, and I judged other
people in my ter ms . I began to conscio usly experi ence my own
mythology . I have realiz ed my experiences-- because they are
my expe ri ences- -are subject to even more critic al examin ation
than the expe rie nces of others.
Personal experie nce, therefore , was invaluable in
certain ways . By doin g something myself, I was able act ually
to feel it from the sta ndpoint of an ins ider . Emotio ns and
feelings other wise are extremely di fficult to in vestiga te.
Personal experi ence thereby is a principal way of gain ing
access to this absolutely cruci al aspect of human exi stence.
On thi s basis , it is possi ble to generate new understandings
of partic ular ways of life . I was able, for ins tance, to use
per sonal experience as a source of new questions to be
checked out by further questionin g of ins iders . And perso nal
experi ence provided a way in which theretofore impe rsonal and
abstract meanings could be veri fi ed . It was very im portant
that, by veri fyin g inf ormatio n through my own experie nce, I
156
was able to gain a profound sense of particular subtleties
of the way of lif e I was studying .
Self As Lens
If th e theory of lens propo sed in Chapter Two is val id,
individ uals have developed their lenses of my thologies as
part of growing up in a particular culture and wi thin their
particular subcultures . I assume that as we beco me educated,
as we go thro ugh di fferent lif e expe rie nces, our lenses of
my thologies changes.
Appendix II gives a brief background descri ption of my
experience so that readers wi ll understand why I vie w th e
world through a bi - cultural lens . As a partic ipant obser ver,
I am also tryin g to study other peo ple's lenses of
my thologies ; but I am th e ins trument through whic h all of the
data have been gather ed . I have vi ewed and processed the
data by my own lens of myt hology. It may be useful for
readers to know about th e in strument .
What is the characteristic of my own lens ? Si nce I work
between two cultures , I see mys elf playing a li minal role .
I am ri ght on th e edge between li ghtn ess and darkness . It
is neit her fully li ght nor ful ly dark at that edge. I
believe I have bee n accepted as an insider by both th e
Ame rican and Chinese cultures . However, in some ways I have
rema ined as an outsi der, apart from both cultures as well .
157
That is why it is appropriate for me to be a partic ipant
observ er because I am not locked into either culture . I have
the ele me nts of both. In fact, in many respects, I may be
able to see and understand more aspects of each culture
because I have a broader, mu lti- cultural lens .
When I grew up in the Chin ese culture, I si mp ly absorbed
the as sum ptions . And I had never realized that those were
as sum ptions until I entered another culture . I have bee n
aware of the fact that I do not now think in the way that I
did bef ore . I have co me to understand my Chin ese culture
di fferently because I now see it through anoth er lens . I
have realized that I took many things for granted when I
li ved in Chin a . I have learned that I can not assume that
busi ness or relatio nshi ps wi ll be conducted or vi ewed onl y
in the Chinese way . This abilit y to reco gnize a new
persp ective has also made me realize that I never need to
assume that things can only be done or vi ewed in one way .
My Chin ese le ns has changed from before . And my new lens
is still the lens of someone who has only worked and li ved
in Am erica for ei ght years . I have started to vie w the world
through the Am eri can lens as well as the Chin ese lens , but
each of them is somewhat separated . Thus , there mi ght be
some li mi tatio ns . It might be that due to some dis tortio n
I can not always see from either or both lenses accurately
and com pletely.
158
For exam ple, I will prese nt my research findin gs in th e
followi ng chapter. An Am eri can reader mig ht say you missed
some subtleties of Ame ri can culture , or ther e is mo re to it .
A Chinese reader might think your descript io n of Chin ese
my thology is not quite accurate. The fact that I can view
these two cultures from both the Ame ri can and Chinese
perspectives may mean that I do not see either culture wholly
from its own perspe ctive . I might mi ss some assum ptions
because ther e are aspects of ei ther culture that are not yet
known to me .
So far , this bi - cultural expe rie nce has had a profo und
effect on me . I often mu st reexamine my own va lues and
attitudes and may be forced to make choices that would not
be requir ed in the ordin ary course of events. Moreover, I
belie ve in the value of this research method , I understand
its li mi tations and recognize that it could not exi st
independently of other approaches . Yet to varying degrees,
my exp erience in the fi eld has shaped my subsequent res earch
endeavors and , often, my outlook on lif e .
Summ ary
In this chapter I have asked th e reader to understand
that he is wearin g lenses . We all do . Cross - cultural
experiences requir e change from a monoc ul tural to a
mu lticul tural frame of reference, and are essential to the
159
working through of one' s self concept-- one' s own lens of
my thology. The tensio ns and cries of such change demand an
individ ual answer to lif e's confusio ns , which may reaffir m
one' s uniq ueness in relatio n to others.
It has been also demo nstrated that by being consci ous
that our observations are both affecte d by our own role as
a partic ipant observer and our lenses of my thologies , we can
make valuab le observatio ns . Despite or because of the filt er
of our lenses we can make a va luabl e research contributio n
to a greater understandin g of the subj ect of our
observations .
In the next chapter, the research fi ndings pertain ing
to specific cultural differences between the United States
and China will be disc ussed in order to further demons trate
how lenses of my thologies im pact cross - cultural interchange.
CHAPTER FOUR
CULTURAL SPECIFICS FOR EFFECTIVE
CROSS- CULTURAL INTERCHANGE
We learn from the study of culture that
the patterning of perce ptual worlds is
a functio n not only of culture but of
relatio nshi p , activi ty , and em otion .
Therefore , peo ple from di fferent
cultures , when int erpreting each other's
beh avi or , ofte n mis int erpret the
relationshi p , the acti vi ty , or the
em otions . This leads to al ienatio n in
encounters or dis torte d co mmu nicat io ns .
160
(Edward T. Hall, 1969)
In Chapter two, the framework developed by
anthropologists dem onstrates di fferent my thologies whi ch
constitute differ ent cultures . From the cultural inf luences
ci ted in Table 2-1 , although they are highly gener al i ze d
(e.g. , man is goo d) , it is reco gni ze d that there follow many
im plicatio ns concer ning iss ues whic h can be int erprete d
di fferently by peo ple with di fferent lenses of my thologies .
These im plications are presented in Table 4-1 on the
following page.
To understand how some of these im plicatio ns might
inf luence one at a very practi cal level , the specific
my thologies for Am eric a and China wi ll be illustr ated in a
li mi ted fashion thro ugh the cons truction of the author's
notes and file s , with interpretatio ns through her own bi -
cultural lens . Special cultural di fferences-- "the di fferences
that make a di fference11 - -are disc ussed . The reason for
161
making co mpa riso ns about these two very large cultures is to
demo nstrate how detri me ntal it is when peo ple make judgm ents
or attribute meanings to other's behaviors without
understanding those fundamental diff erences . It is hoped that
those local custo ms and practices can serv e as guidelines for
anyone who determ ine s appropriate and inappropriate ways of
interpreting and understanding cross - cultural behavior in
order to conduct cross - cultural int erchange effectively .
These pragm atic observatio ns , subj ect to change with ti me ,
ci rcums tances, and questio ns , are propose d as conject ures for
facili tating cross - cultural inter change.
From
•
•
•
•
•
•
From
•
•
•
•
From
•
•
•
•
•
Table 4-1
Imp lications of Cul tural Influences
the Character of Innate Human Nature issue stem:
Abil it y to compro mise
Problem- solving approaches .
Moral judgm ents .
Guilt and puni shment .
Preoccupati on with pri nciples .
Relationship between leaders and followers .
the Relationship of Man to Nature Issue st em :
Reco gnit ion of social conflic t .
Ideas on fatalis m .
Us e of prelimin aries and int erm ediaries .
Resolution of conflict by restoration of harmony .
the Tem poral Focus of Life issue stem:
The nature and value of social change
The com mi tment to tradi ti on .
Orie ntation to the future .
The value of efficie ncy .
Ris k takin g .
the Modality of Man' s Activities issue stem:
16 2
From
•
•
•
Acti vi ties separate from th e individ ual is the standard
of achi evement that is external to the individ ual .
Practic al ity .
•
Spontaneous and integrated activi ty versus activity
planned and di vi ded into sm aller units .
Reflective , in tellectual and creative activit y ; si ngle
role versus mul tir ole performan ce; purpose of groups
and membe rships .
From the Relationship of a Person to Other Persons issue
stem:
• The way peo ple are social iz ed.
• Nature of groups .
• Peer groups relationship and relatio nship to in feriors
and superiors .
• Status differentiat io n between leaders and followers .
• Form alit y and inf orm alit y of relations hips .
• Accorded and achieved status .
•
Class and status consciousness.
•
Egalit aria n relationships .
163
An American Cultural Perspect ive
The Unit ed States is , in many ways , a mu ltin ati onal and
mu ltic ul tural society . It is a nation of the world . People
from alm ost every racial origin can choose among their own
goods. There is te a from China , canned salsifis from
Belgium, taco pastry from Mexi co, soy sauce from Japan , and
Polish , Italia n, and German sausages .
What is Am erica? Is there a ma ins tream culture shared
by the "average" Ame ric an? Did the me lting pot theor y work
in practice? Is the Uni ted States a plural istic soci ety?
Is it a mu lticul tural society?
How Am eri cans Vie w Thems elves
This sectio n assumes that ther e is a ma inst ream cu lture
(macroc ul ture ) and many min orit y sub - cultures (microc ultures)
functioni ng ei ther wi thin or on the periphe ry of the
ma crocul ture . Wha t wi ll be highlighted is the Am eri can
ma inst ream culture .
On the basis of anthropological framework and the
concept of shared va lues and myth ologies form ul ated by Burke
and Stewart (1 992) with regard to th e cultural inf luences on
lif e iss ues and my , as well as oth ers', observ ations , the
followin g li st is summarized whic h can be called Ame ri can
ma ins tream cultural assum ptio ns and myt hology.
164
The following generaliz atio n is based on the li mited
group of peo ple inc ludin g professors , lawyers , accountant s,
bankers , and busi ness executives in Souther n Calif ornia used
for my research . Any generali zatio n about a society as large
and comple x as the Unit ed States is bound to be flawed .
Although it is imp ossi ble to detail a "typic al " Ameri can,
this sectio n is int ended to provide some ins ight into general
characteristics of the Ameri can macroculture.
The main categories of the following li st are the
percept io n of the world, self, moti vation , activi ty and
relationships .
I. Perception of the World {World View)
1. What is the (natural ) World li ke?
• ph ysic al
• mechanical
2. How does the world operate?
• in a rational , learnable, controllable manner
•
chance and proba bil it y
3. What is the nature of man?
• apart from nature or from any hierarchy
•
impe rmanent, not fi xed , changeab le
4. What are the relationships between man and nature?
• good is unli mite d
• man should modif y nature for his ends
165
• good health and ma terial comf orts expecte d
and desired .
5. What is the nature of truth? goodness?
• tentati ve (working-type)
• relati ve to ci rcums tances
•
experi ence analyzed in separate co m ponents
di choto mi es
6 . How is ti me defined? Valued?
• future (antici pation)
• precise units
• li mi ted resources
• li neal
7. What is the nature of prope rty?
• pri vate ownership im portant as
self
II . Perce ptio n of the Self and the Individual
exte nsio n
1. In what sort of ter ms is self defined?
•
dif fuse , changing ter ms
• flexi ble behavior
2. Where does a person' s ident it y seem to be?
• within the self (achievement )
3. Nature of the individual
of
•
separate aspects (i ntent , thoug ht, act ,
bio graphical background )
4. On whom should a perso n place relia nce?
•
self
• im perso nal organi zatio ns
166
5. What kin d of perso n is valued and respected? What
qualities?
•
youthful (vigorous )
• honest
• co m pete nt
6. What is the basis of social control?
• in stitutio nal ized juris di ctions
• persuasion, appeal to the in dividual
• gui lt
III . Moti vatio n
1. What is mo ti vati ng force?
• eco nomic achievement
2. How is person- perso n co mp eti tio n evaluated?
• as constructi ve , healthy
IV . Perceptio n of Activi ty
1. How do peo ple app roach activity?
• concer n wi th "doing, "
external en vi ronment
• opti m istic , stri ving
2. What is the pace of life?
• fast, busy
• driving
progress, change
3. How im portant are goals in pl anning ?
• stress means, proced ures , techniques
4. What are im porta nt goals in lif e?
•
material goals
• comfort and absence of pain
•
activit y
• good family life
5. Where does respo nsibi lit y for decisio ns lie?
6 .
7.
8.
9.
10 .
•
responsibi lit y li es with each individual
At what level do peopl e li ve ?
• operational , goals evaluated in ter ms
consequences
On what basis do peopl e evaluate?
• util ity (Does it work? )
•
pragmatic
Who should make decis ion?
• the people affected
What is the nature of problem- solving?
•
planning beha vior
• antici pates conseq uences
What is the nature of learning?
167
of
•
learner is active (student- centered learning )
V. Perce ptio ns of Socia l Relatio ns
1. How do people relate to others whose status is
differ ent?
•
stress equal it y
•
minimi ze di fferences
•
stress infor m al it y and spontaneity
2. How are sex roles defined?
• si m ila r , overl apping
•
frie nds of both sexes
• less legiti mi ze d
168
4. What are membe rs ' rig hts and duties in a group ?
•
as sumes li mi ted li abil it y
•
joins group to seek own goals
• active mem bers can inf luence group
5. How do peo ple judge others?
•
specific abil ities of int erests
• task- centered
• fragm entary in volvement
6. What is the mean in g of friendship ?
•
soci al frie ndship (fri ends shared )
7. What is the nature of soci al reciprocity?
• real only
•
nonbinding
• equal
8. How do peo ple regard friendly aggression in soci al
interaction?
• accepta ble , interesting, fun
169
The dominant mode of activit y in ma inst ream Am eri can
society is "doing. " Am eri cans have a preocc upation with
ti me , organizatio n, and the utiliz atio n of resources so that
everything has to have a purpose that is measura ble .
"Getting things done" is an Am eri can characteristic . In
Am eri can soci al relationships , they assume that everyone is
equal and this remove s the need for elaborate forms of soci al
addr ess . Their so cial relatio nships are characteri zed by
inf orm alit y and social reci procities are much less clearly
defined . Mains tream Am eri cans are mo ti va ted by achi evem ents
and acco m pli shme nts . Their ident it y and , to a certain
extent, their self-worth is measured by what they achie ve .
They also as sume that the world is ma terial rather than
spirit ual and ma n' s purpose is to overcome or conq uer the
forces of nature . Ma inst ream Ame ri cans also see the ms elves
as in divid ual and unique . Is this an accurate descri ptions
of Am ericans ? Li ke mo st descript io ns it is probably
partially accurate, that depends on whic h lenses of
my thologies peo ple look thro ugh.
Depending on cultures , there may be an overlap of va lues
in a specific area , and therefore, the problems related to
cross- cultural interactions wi ll be mini m al . However, in
some ins tances the gap wi ll be si gni fic ant and cause serious
problems . Table 4- 2 ident ifi es a numb er of Ame ri can
ma ins tream va lues with possi ble alternati ves . The aspects
17 0
of Am eri can my thology presented in Table 4-2 have been taken
from my own ex perience and observatio n as well as from the
following authors whose works are cited in the references :
Edward Hall (19 77} , Edgar Schein (1 987} , Edward Stewart
{1 977} , and Wi ll iam Newman {1 972} .
The order of th e values and the seq uence is not
im portant . They are not mu tually exclus ive or co mp rehensi ve .
Table 4- 2 il lustrates that the ident ic al behavior can be
interpreted or vi ewed di fferently by the peo ple through their
own my thologies . For exam ple, in Am erica , freed om of
expressio n is hi ghly valued . However, if you expressed your
disa gree ment with authority or your father freely in China ,
your behavior wi ll be vi ewed di sgraceful and disr espectf ul .
Thus , unless one appreciates exi sting values in a cultural
sit uation, and their abil it y to influ ence thought and actio n ,
one' s own value syste m may beco me a "cul tural bl ind er" that
prevent understanding and appreci atio n of other cultures .
171
Table 4-2
American Mythology and Possible Al ternatives
Aspects of American Cul ture
The in dividual can
inf luence the future {where
there is a wi ll there is a
way) .
The individ ual can change
the and im prove
envir onment.
An in divid ual should be
real istic in his
aspiratio ns .
We must work
acco mplis h our
{Purita n ethic) .
hard to
objectives
Commit ments should be
honored {people wi ll do
what they say they wi ll
do ) .
One should
one's ti me
whi ch can
wasted) .
Al l levels
are open
individua ls
can rise to
president ) .
effectively use
(time is money
be saved or
of management
to qualifi ed
(an office boy
beco me company
Intuit ive aspects of
decis io n-making should be
reduced and efforts should
be devoted to gatherin g
relevant informat io n . Data
should be accurate.
Alternative Aspect*
Life follows a preor dained
course and human actio n is
determ ined by the wi ll of
God .
People are
adjust to
environment
alter it .
int ended to
the ph ys ic al
rather than to
Ideals are to be pursued
regardless of what is
"reasonable."
Hard work is not the only
prerequisite for success .
Wi sdom , luck and ti ming are
also requir ed .
A commi tment may be
superseded by a conflict ing
request or an agree ment may
only si gni fy intention and
have li ttle or no
relatio nshi p to the cap acity
of perfor mance.
Schedules are im portant but
only in relation to other
prior ities . Time is ti me .
Money is money .
Educatio n or fami ly ti es are
the primary vehi cles for
mobil ity .
Decis io ns are expre ssio ns of
wisd om by the person in
authority and an y
questioning would im ply a
lack of confidence in one' s
Each person is expecte d to
have an opinio n and to
express it freely even if
his views do not agree with
his colleagues .
A decisi on-maker is
expected to consult perso ns
who can contribute useful
inf orm ation to the area
being consid ered .
Competitio n sti mulates hig h
performance .
A person is expected to do
whatever is necessar y to
get the job done (one must
be wi ll ing to get one' s
hands dir ty) .
Change is consid ered an
improvement and a dynamic
realit y .
What works is im porta nt.
Persons and systems are
evaluated.
172
judgment. Accurate data is
not as highly valued .
Deference is to be gi ven to
persons in power or
authorit y and to offer
judgment that is not in
support of the ideas of
one's superior s is
unthinkable .
Decisio ns may be made
those in authorit y
others need not
consulted.
Competit io n leads
imba lances and leads
dish armony .
by
and
be
to
to
Various kinds of work are
accorded low or hi gh status
and some work may be below
one' s "d ig nit y " or place in
the organi zation .
Tradit io n is revered and the
power of the ruli ng group is
founded on the continu ation
of a sta ble str ucture .
Symbols and the process are
more im portant than the end
point .
Persons are evaluated but in
such a way that individ uals
not hig hly evaluate d wi ll
not be embarrassed or caused
to "lose face. "
* Aspect here refers to a mythology , belief , value , or
assumption whic h is a part of culture in that it is
shared by a large number of perso ns in any culture .
17 3
How Chinese View Ame ri cans
In atte mp ti ng to understand Americans , it is useful to
li sten to and hear how Chinese peo ple view Ame ri can peo ple
and interpret Ame rican cul ture .
• Goal and achieveme nt oriented: Ame ricans think they
•
can acco m plish just about anything , given enough time ,
money and technology.
Hi ghly organized and ins ti tutio nal istic : Ame ri cans
prefer a society that is strong ins ti tutio nal ly , secure
and tid y or well kept.
• Freedo m- lo vin g and self- reliant : Ame ri cans fought a
revolutio n and subsequent wars to preserve their
concept of dem ocracy , so they resent too mu ch control
or in terfer ence, especially by government or external
forces . They believe in an ideal that all persons are
created equal ; though they som etime s fail to li ve that
id eal fully, they stri ve through law to prom ote equal
opportunity and to confront their own racis m or
prejudi ce. They also ideal ize the self- m ade person who
rises from po verty and adversi ty , and think they can
influ ence and create their future . Control of one's
destiny is pop ularly expresse d as "doi ng your own
thing. " Ame ri cans think , for the mo st part, that with
deter min atio n and initiati ve , one can achi eve whate ver
17 4
he or she sets out to do and thus ful fill that
individ ual 's huma n potent ial .
•
Ame ri can dem ocracy : The Ame ri can politic al theor y of
dem ocracy is mo ving toward the shape of my thology
insofar as it captures the passi ons and devotion of
Ame ri can peo ple who ident if y their society or
thems elves with it , or believe that their particular
type of dem ocracy is right for all peo ple for all ti me
in the world . The more intensely the conce ption is
held, the less it beco me s a theoretical mod el , and the
more it takes on the true character of the my thology.
•
Work oriented and effic ient : Ame ri cans possess a
strong work ethic , though they are learning in the
prese nt gener atio n to enj oy lei sure ti me , i.e. , to work
hard and to play hard . They are very ti me conscious
and efficie nt in doin g things . They ti nker with
gadgets and tec hnologic al sys te ms , always searchin g for
easier , better, more effici ent ways of acco mp li shme nt .
• Values in trans it io n : Tradit io na l Am eri can va lues of
fami ly loyalty, respect and care of the aged, ma rriage
and the nuclear fami ly , patriotis m, ma terial
acquisit ion, forthrightness , and the li ke are
undergoing profound reevaluatio n . Some Chin ese vie w
that the Ame ri can peo ple search for new meanings .
Others see the transitio n as abras ive and chaotic .
17 5
• Generosit y : Although Ame ricans see min gly emph as ize
ma terial va lues , they are shar ing , as has been
dem onstrated in th e foreign aid programs , refugee
assist ance, and their wi ll ingness at home and abroad to
espouse a good cause and to help nei gh bors in need .
They ten d to be giving and some would say naive as a
peo ple .
•
Decisi ve and aggressive : Ameri cans in play or busi ness
gener ally are so oriented because of their drives to
achi eve and succeed. However, when they some tim es
beco me too decisi ve or aggressive , their decis iveness
may be seen by some Chinese as push y , dominan t,
infl exible, or uncaring ; and their aggressiveness is
perce ived as aggressio n and intrusio n upon other's
dignity .
• Superior and imp osing : Ame ricans tend to vie w
thems elves as th e super power in the entir e world . They
think that they are so except io nal that only the
Am eri can way of doin g things is the superior way . They
appear to im pose their "truth" onto others . If
anything is different from Ame ric an way or Ame ric an
standard , they would say , "That is wrong. We should
change it ."
• Fri endship : Because Am eri cans are gener ally greg arious
on fi rs t me eting someo ne, Chin ese ofte n mi stake this
176
strong "come
-
on" for the beginnin g of a deep reciprocal
frie ndship . This is because in Chinese society, ther e
is much more init ial reserve in interpersonal
relatio ns , partic ularly wit h strangers . For many
Chinese , the Ameri can comes on too strong too soon and
then fai ls to follow up with the impl icitly promi sed
frie ndshi p . This is consider ed hypocritical show of
fri endship by the Chinese standard .
•
Emotional Expr essiveness : Americans seem to sta nd near
the center of an emotio nal spectr um that extends out to
embrace the effervescent Latins at one extreme and the
coolly subdued Chinese at the other . While Ameri cans
may appear unemotional and cold to the Lati ns , they may
appear hyperbolic and impulsive to the Chinese .
•
Rig hts and oblig ations : Ame ri cans enjoy imm ense
ri ghts, such as ri ghts of freedom of speech , reli gi on,
press and etc. Then, how about the obligatio ns , such
as oblig ations to society , commun ity, family and
oneself. The atti tudes of "I don' t care " or "It's not
my busi ness" seem to be prevail ing .
•
Individua lis m and freedom : Some Chinese are deeply
impressed by the individual freedom, particularly in
the politic al arena, that an Ameri can enjoys . Others
are app alled, however, by what they sometimes call "too
much freedom" in ter ms of excess ive in divid uali sm, and
177
cite lack of gun control laws as an exam ple of what
they mean , and hi gh cri me rate in maj or citi es . Many
new arri vals are thus highly concerned for their
personal safety in this "free" land .
• Sellin g oneself: The Am eri can society is highly
co mme rcial ized and ma terial iz ed . Everything can be
sold at the market place, inclu din g oneself. Am eri cans
take thems elves as consumers rather than citi zens .
Durin g a Presid ential campa ign , each candidate strikes
relentless blows at the opponent in order to sell
hims elf . In the Am eri can mo vie ind ustry, the movies
with excessive viole nce and sexual acti vit ies can be
mo stly sold . This has created an image of
untrus tworthy government and memor aliz in g soci ety to a
Chin ese eye.
• Inform al it y and moral ity: Because many Chin ese co me
from the society that stresses neat, form al , and (by
Am eri can standards ) conserv ative clothin g styles , they
are somet imes shocked by what they vie w , particularly
among younger peo ple, as Am eri cans ' slovenly way of
dressi ng. Often they tend to eq uate thi s infor mal it y
with immor alit y, and they are persuaded that Ame ric a is
on the way to moral ruin when they observ e provocative
clothi ng styles and public displa ys of affection.
178
• Appearance orientatio n : Some Am eri cans , however, seem
to pay a lot of atte ntio n to their appearance. They
have to look presentable. Some em ployees are dressed
up for their boss . Some women are dressed up for men .
Cheap presents are packaged ins id e of boxes with
expensive brand name stores or wrapped with beautif ul
paper. They te nd to say, "I feel so good because I
look goo d .
11
The Chin ese think that they look good
because th ey feel good. Some Chin ese as sume that this
appearance orientatio n represents em ptiness and
superfici al it y in th e Am erican society .
• Tipping , taxes, and "sales 11 : To many Chinese visi tors ,
ti pping appears to be givin g some thing extra for what
is al ready paid to do , and th e failur e to inclu de the
sales tax in the stated price of an article is
som etimes construed as a trap for the unwary . They
also want to know how they can disting uish a genuine
11 sale" from a phoney. Some Chinese even conside r
ti pping as corruption bec ause to accept tips means to
take a bribe .
• Love for pets: Am eri cans take very good care of their
pets, spending lots of money on their dog or cat food ,
pet health insuran ce, trainin g , veteri nary fees as well
as taking ti me to play or walk with them . But how mu ch
love and care do they show for the underprivi leged and
179
homeless people? This phenomenon goes beyond the
compreh ensio n of many Chinese .
Phi li p Slater (1970 ) has suggested in The Pursuit of
Lonel iness that three human desi res are profoundly frustrated
by the Ameri can culture :
1. The desi re for commu nity : the wi sh to li ve in trust
and fraternal cooper atio n wit h one' s fellows in a total
and visibl e collective entity .
2. The desi re for engagem ent: the wis h to come dir ectly
to grips with social and interpersonal problems and to
confront on equal term s an environment that is not
composed of ego- extensio ns .
3. The desire for dependence: the wish to share
respo nsib il it y for the control of one' s impulses and
the dir ect ion of one' s li fe .
Slater also states that it is not the individual
Ame ri can who is struggling agai nst society in atte mpti ng to
meet these desir es but that Ameri cans partici pate "eagerly
in producing the frustrations we endure." Slater is
referring to mainst ream Americ ans .
A Chinese Cul tural Perspective
The world of Chine se culture is vast and profound .
With in it one may fin d numerous examples of benev olent
government and tyranny, humani ty, justic e and vi rtue . There
180
are thieves and whores, honesty and probity, as well as the
"wind, flowers, snow and moon " of the effete li ter ati . Al l
of these things have been refined to perfection; it is a
world that has some thing for everyone .
No other nati on on earth has such a long hist ory or such
a well- preserved cultural tradi ti on as China , a tradi ti on
whi ch has in the past given rise to an extrem ely advanced
ci vil iz atio n . While neither the Greeks nor th e Egyptia ns of
today bear any relationship to their anci ent forebears , the
Chinese people of today have mu ch in co mmon with the ancient
Chin ese.
Therefore, in today' s China there is also yester day' s
China . The past is very mu ch al ive in th e prese nt . In order
to interact with Chinese effecti vely , it is im portant to
understand how the Chin ese cultural inheri tance ma intains
itself because that heri tage affects their behavi or .
Ultrastabil it y of the Feudal Syste m
Why has Chinese feudal is m persis ted for more than two
th ousand years? This is an endlessly perplexing question, and
one which has beco me all the more pressing at this time of
renewed interest in Chinese hist ory and of intense soul
searching wi thin , a ti me when China stands once more at the
crossroads of history.
181
Previo us studies of Chinese his tory and society were
mainly based on si ngle- factor analysis . Some were extremely
pla usible and commenda ble . But si ngle - factor analysis at best
offered a static, partial truth , only expos in g a few is olate d
bones of the burie d dragon . Hist ory is a li vin g whole.
Histo rical facts are inter
-
relate d and interact. The key li es
in fi nding a methodology whic h can penetrate and il lumina te
the li vin g wholeness of hi story, integrating economics ,
politics and ideol ogy .
People were excited to discover cybernetic s , inf ormatio n
theor y and sys te ms theory. These provided an approach that
is the antit hesis of mechanical is olate d - factor analysis , one
that asserts the whole to be not si mply the ari thmetic sum
of its parts but an organic entit y of its own.
In cybernetics , stabilit y does not mean moti onlessness .
It means that a syste m takes on a recurrent form and acquir es
an adaptation mechanism, while the structure remains in
moti on . Stabilit y is closely related to the structure's
internal resil ience and capacity for adjustment. Chi nese
feudal soci ety has not been motionl ess or devoid of
development; rather, wi thin a recurrent patter n of disr upti on
and restoration , it has failed to grow into a new type of
structure qualit ative ly dif ferent from its predecessor .
In cybernetics , stabil it y is understood in terms of
mutual adjus tment and adaptat io n among the constituent parts
182
wi thin a syste m . What the cybernetic approach looks for when
a syste m is destabili ze d are the resultant in ter nal changes,
and the ways in which the destabil izi ng element is absorbed
by the internal adj ustment mecha nism, and stabi lit y is
restored . Thi s method can be fruitf ully applied to Chinese
historical and cultural studies .
In a social system, the relations between the polit ic al ,
eco nomi c and cultural sub- systems undergo a constant process
of realignment , creating stresses and strai ns , and eventual
crisis to the syste m as a whole. The response of a larger
syste m to the cri sis follows two possi ble courses :
1. The old structure may be replaced by a new one. The
sub- sys te ms regain a new and dynami c mu tual
co mp atibil it y within the context of the new structure .
In Western Europe, primi tive society gave bi rth to
slave society, feudal society and capital ist society in
that order.
2. As the old structure is threatened with collapse, the
embryon ic features of a new structure are wiped out .
The structure reverts to the old order. This collapse
correction mecha nis m constantly elimin ates
destabiliz ing factors , thereby ma inta i nin g a bland
appearance of per mane nce. In the term inol ogy of
cybernetics such a syste m is called "ultrastable." It
is characterized by a cyclic pattern of form id able and
183
lasting stabil ity, punctuate d by spasmod ic uphea vals.
The stabil it y and upheaval s in their dif ferent ways
both contri bute to the perpe tuati on of the old order.
By applying this method of analys is , it is dis co vered
that Chin ese society to be just such an ul trastabl e system.
The Shadow of Hist ory
The Chinese feudal syste m is fr agile in that its three
sub - syste ms - -economi c, politic al and ideologi cal - -m ust be
ma inta ined at a specific point of equil ibri um ; deviat io n by
any sub - syste m from thi s point wi ll brin g down the whole
structure .
Fragil ity does not necessarily lead to dis integratio n .
No sub - sys te m is allowed to develop too far . This is the
coerci ve control of Chinese feudal ism, whic h forms a
co mm unic atio n center for the effici ent dispatch and receipt
of inf orm atio n and decrees, and a coerc ive executive body
(bureaucracy , household and land registries , etc.) .
The coercive control exercised by the centr al
int egrality of Chinese feudal is m created a prospero us ancie nt
ci viliz ation . But it also cast an in hibit ing his torical
shadow over th e social structure of that ci viliz ation . China
is known more for conte m platin g past glories than for solvin g
present problems or seeking ways into the future . The primary
concer n in the politic al , ideol ogical and economic sphere is
184
equil ibr ium . Self -determ in ation and self-realiz ation are
taboo, venturing out into the unknown is fatal. Balance and
harmony are maintained at the expense of growth.
The ruthless coercio n im pose d from the cen ter in hib its
th e emergence of new li fe . The layers of overlappin g
authorit y are such as to reduce th e average person' s
dis cretion substa nti ally . He has to consult all the ti me , and
his commitm ents to new deve l opment are far less rel iabl e.
Transactio n costs are thus swollen by the need to negotiate
a labyrinth of enta nglements and clear a morass of offic ial
channels. Such syste ms safeguard the absolute power of the
monarch, the sages , elders and ancestors as well as the
perennial traditio ns and custo ms . What should have been a
li ving and ever- changing social structure is frozen.
Historic al paragons beco me th e id eal justif ic atio n for
coercion and suppr essio n . China has not yet freed itself from
the control of his tory. Its only mode of existence is to
rel ive the past . There is no accepted mechanism wi thin the
culture for the Chinese to confront the present wi thout
falling back on the ins piration and strength of tradi ti on .
18 5
The Chinese Concept of Man
In existential is m, a man "exis ts " by vi rtue of
retreating from all his social roles and searchin g his own
soul . If he fails to go thro ugh this process, he cannot
beco me a man in th e philosophi cal sense .
By contrast, a Chinese fulfills hi m self within his
network of int erperso nal relationships . A Chinese is the
totalit y of his soci al roles . Strip hi m of his relatio nships ,
and ther e is nothing left. He is not an in dependent unit . His
exi stence has to be defined by his ac quain tances. The Chinese
"i ndi vidual " per se does not possess the capabil ity to
"unfold " his own pote ntial iti es fully, to give hi m self a
wille d shape.
This concept of man is best exempl ifi ed by the pri mary
Confuci an concept of Ren . Ren may be roughly translated as
huma ne . The Chinese wri tte n character is made up of two
co mpone nts , "m an " and "two, " and denotes essentiall y a
bil ateral relationship . Only in the presence of another
perso n can our "huma nit y " be displa yed . The relationship may
be between em peror and offici al , father and son , husband and
wi fe, between younger and older brother, or between friends .
This Chinese concept of man forms the basi c substratum , the
deep structure of Chinese culture and has rema in ed unchanged
186
up to the present day (though extended to the doma in of the
collecti ve) .
Such an individual may look after his own interests very
well and , within the framework of Chin ese soci al obligatio ns ,
may even be ind ul gent towards others, but nonetheless he is
unawa re of him self as having a "purpose, " and in all
li kelihood regards hi m self as an inst rume nt of others. A
Chin ese son' s fi rs t duty is to obey, respect and support his
father . Childr en exi st for the sake of their parents . I
believe the archetypal mod el for this kin d of inte rdependence
to be Chin ese gene ratio nal relatio nships . They generate a
kin d of human being who is not fully aware of the fact that
he belongs fi rst to hims elf, and only then to the world at
large; he tends to beco me the pri vate prope rty of the
"fami ly " and its surrogates , thus givin g rise to a kin d of
"selfless " selfi shness .
When man can only be defined through his relatio nship
with others, a "loner" without social connections is
una ccepta ble. Only when he has a fami ly to define his
exi stence, can he be accepted as an adult being . In the same
sense, a man not yet defined by any social relatio nship is
regarded as an "i mmoral being . " In Chin ese, the words
"si ngle" and "alone" have the connotatio n of "i mmoral " and
"pathetic." Perhaps in traditio nal China ther e was only one
man al lowed to stand above all these soci al relatio nships :
187
the em peror. He was responsible to nobody , and req ui red
nobody to define hi m . In short, he was the only man allowed
to be an individ ual .
The Chin ese Concept of Identit y
Chin a talks about respect for "people" in the abstract-
that is , the collective . Government , newspa pers, banks ,
publ i shing houses : they all belong to The People. But every
actual person is a mere object of surveil lance. His work unit
is watchi ng over him . Apart from the pressure exerte d by the
"m asses" of his work unit , there is also the unit head
"defin ing " him - -this definit io n may take the form of care and
concer n , or it may be expre ssed as an admo nit ion; it may
decree what he should do , what kin d of friends he should
have , and occasio nal ly whom he should ma rry . In other words ,
it decides what kin d of a perso n he should be. It deter mines
his id entity.
A Chinese is progr amm ed by his culture to be "Chinese."
In other words , in-br ed cultural predis posit io ns make the
Chin ese what they are and prevent them from being full- blown
individu al s because this is their ident ity. Dynamic huma n
growth is an al ien concept to the Chinese. Growth is see n as
just a physical process . Maturity is to know how to play a
proper role in bilateral social relationshi ps . Norm ally
physic al growth is acco mp anied by me ntal developmen t, but th e
188
Chinese are held back by their own culture , and they
gener ally exhibit serious tendencies towards oral fi xation.
In short, th e Chinese do not fully expe rie nce th e various
stages of perso nalit y developmen t.
The Network of Sodal it y
In Chinese culture, a man is defined in term s of a
bil ateral relationship . This relationship is a ma tter of
Sodalit y (a word chosen as a somewhat artif ic ial translatio n
for the Chinese Renqing, whic h lit eral ly means "human
feeling s," but has beco me a shorthand for the entir e network
of favors and obligations surrounding Chinese relationships } .
But a Chinese wi ll only share thi s Sodal it y with his
acquainta nces-- the me mbers of his social cir cle .
The heart of the ma tter is trust and dependability. The
creatio n of wealth in one fami ly unit cannot be mana ged in
iso lation; it mu st buy and sell , exchange infor m ation, borrow
money , seek advice . To do so, it establis hes a netw ork of the
necessary connections , and mak es such netw orks oper ate
reliably . Chinese soci ety has co me to attach centr al
im portance to th e notio n of trust . What is Chin ese about this
trust , however, is that it is very specific ally
ci rcum scri bed . It is li mi te d to the partners in the bond . It
works on the basis of perso nal obligations , th e ma intenance
of reputatio n and face, and not on any assum ption that a
189
society' s shared faith makes all who share it equal ly
righteous regardless of whether you know them or not.
The perso n "i nvests " in th e group , and the inves tment
whic h he then cannot afford to lose beco me s his "face. "
Al though face is a human univer sal , and mo st societies
ci vil ize their memb ers by rais ing their sensit ivi ty to the
vi ews others hold of them , the im portance of it for the
Chin ese is quit e si mp ly that mu ch greate r. In fact, the
Chin ese co ncept of respect is also closely related to face:
to the extent that you can keep up an ima ge, even though it
may be a false one, in front of a group, you have face. If
you lose this ima ge, you have lost face. I have observed that
Am eri cans reach a point where they do not care about the
points of vie w of others. Conversely, many Chin ese will li ve
their entir e li ves to fal l in conformi ty with others' points
of vie w . The result for Chinese is that loss of face, as one
of my relatives pointed out, beco mes a real and dreadful
ni ghtm are , affecting the nervous syste m ... more strongly
than ph ysic al fear .
The Confucia n id eal is that fam ily , clan, and head of
State take precedence over the individ ual . The delicate
Chinese individual needs to be nurtured by his in ner cir cle
of acquainta nces. A man may be gentle, humb le and obedient
towards his acquaintanc es , but once outside this cir cle, he
may beco me abrupt and uncontrollable . Because of this , a
190
Chin ese wil l only do busi ness with a man "of his cir cle," and
if this relationship has not yet bee n establish ed, he will
endeavor to draw the other party into the cir cle before
starting to do busi ness with him . Chin ese people wi ll not do
busi ness with peo ple they do not know, and network build ing
for purposes of busi ness deal s has a high priorit y in their
behavior .
The relationship is usually establ i shed through a third
party fam il iar wit h both si des . "Din ing together" is a good
way to "build up a relationship." And a letter of
int roduction from a famous perso n or government department
will make things a great deal sm ooth er. It serves as a key
to th e "back door, " if not the "front door, " of an enclosed
cir cle of soci al relationships . The Chin ese rule of th umb is
that it is not what you know , it is who you know, and the
"who" are peo ple with the ri ght connections . Two years ago,
a Chin ese high offici al expr essed :
In China , it does not ma tter how many
laws and how mu ch ri ghteousn ess are on
your si de , wi thout ri ght relatio nships ,
you have nothing . The same goes for th e
si tuatio n in whic h you have no laws to
support you ; yet, you can do anything if
you have the right relatio nships and a
"back door. "
At the extreme , it beco me s imp ossible to make anything
happen without access to the blessing of those in the key
posit io ns , and successful organizat io nal li fe comes to be
191
based on the buil din g and maint enance of the appro priate
contacts . Indeed , Chinese socie ty consists of a number of
such social cir cles , each of which cares only for the
interests of its own members .
There is a hierarchy of relatio nships . A Chinese person
makes a clear dist in ction between close frie nds and dis tant
fri ends . He gi ves whate ver advantage or privi lege he can to
men of his ci rcle . His chi ldren, of course, are his foremost
concer n . No Chinese offic ial wants to retir e until he has
settle d his chil dren's future . Impartial it y is a concept
alien to the Chinese . It impli es that one has no cir cle . In
a commun it y whic h emphasiz es Sodalit y on the one hand and the
repressio n of the individual on the other, this network of
human relatio nships satisfies the in divid ual's need for
protectio n and safet y . Mutual assis tance from men of one' s
cir cle is necessar y.
To declare that Chinese are more "collectivist " than
Westerners is not a very profound dis covery. My thesis is
that this "collectivi sm" leads to the "disor ganizat ion of
self," and to the detriment of any genuine communa l spir it .
It leads to dependency and ind ulgence on the part of the
individ ual , to the extent that people come to rely on the
"public" to "clean up " their bodily excretio ns (snivel ,
phlegm, litter) . Paradoxi cally, "collectivism" ten ds to
"under-social ize " the Chinese peop le , wit h the result that
192
a "ci vil " or even "civ iliz ed " state exists only among a small
ci rcle of "refined per sons " (shuren) , while towards the "raw
persons " (shengren) at large a state of war exists . There are
numerous cir cles and walls withi n the Chi nese world; the
Great Wall itself merely protects the Chi nese against Devi ls
from wi thout.
Inner and Outer Circles
A Chinese distin guis hes carefully between the members
of his inne r and outer cir cle . Even within the family , he
dist ing uishes relative s on the paternal si de from relatives
on the maternal si de . In everyday life , it is logic al for him
to favor members of his ci rcle . But if he meets an "outsi der"
of high soci al status, or someone wit h whom he has just
esta bli shed a relationship , he will tend to show great
hospit alit y by fi rst putting down "his own ci rcle."
To win the heart of the outside r, he has to show that
he favors him at the expense of his close acquaintances . Some
Chinese parent s wi ll beat their own chil dren if they get into
a fi ght with a nei ghbor's chil dren, and they wi ll not bother
to fi nd out the cause fir st . They do this in order to win
their neig hbor's approv al . Si milar ly , when they invite
frie nds to a meal, they will keep their wi fe and chil dren out
of the way so that the frie nds can eat "comfortably." The
more distant the fri ends , the greater the hospit alit y shown.
193
Even in foreign policy, the Chinese usually try to show
their hospital it y to foreign vi si tors by fi rs t em ptying the
place of local Chinese. Some restaurants or shops are
specially reserv ed for foreigners . The Chinese have create d
a hierar chy of vi sitors : foreigners rank fi rst , Overseas
Chinese second, Hong Kong and Macao residents third and local
Chin ese fourth . Charges for servi ces also vary accordin g to
this hierarchy .
But to show hospit alit y to outsiders does not mean that
you extend Sodal it y to them . Outsiders are outsiders .
Outwardly you give them the best treatment , but secretly you
are on your guard . In this game of "i nner and outer cir cle,"
the Chinese wi ll not be angered if he is put down, because
he knows that he is a mem ber of the in ner ci rcle ; and equal ly
he will not feel flattered if he is treate d with great warmth
by a com plete stranger, because he knows the rules of the
game . But foreigners some time s feel bewild ered and unhappy.
The Chinese OUtsider
Of course, ther e are some exam ples of individ uals who
crave passio nately for a more mea ningful exi ste nce. But they
have to express their in ner feelings furtiv ely, out of si ght
of society . If they admit their beliefs open ly , whic h
particularly run counter to tradi tional id eas and social
194
mor ality, they wil l si mp ly be seen as "negative exam ples" by
the co mmu ni ty . So these peo ple continue to be oppressed.
Once I me t a controversial Taiwan writer and learned
that he was in pri son for a co uple of years . I asked him why
he ended up in prison . The answer was : "I spoke the truth. "
I was not surpri sed to hear the answer, because that was the
same reason that so many inno cent people had never made it
as far as the Red Guards or the Cultural Revolutio n ; some of
them even did not have th e luck to survive the Anti- Rightist
Movement in ma inl and China . Why mu st a Chinese person with
the cour age to spea k an iota of truth suffer this sort of
fate? Why does speakin g th e truth lead to such unfortunate
conseque nces? Whether a Chinese is from the Mainl and or from
Taiw an , thi s is not a problem of any partic ular individual
but ra ther of Chinese culture as a whole.
There have been Chinese rebels, peo ple who have broken
through the prog ramming of Confucia ni sm . But this
breakthrough mos t ofte n leads to an em otional ident ific atio n
with the collective ; it very seldom brings an awareness of
indi vid ual self .
There are Chinese who have a spiri tual awareness . But
this is mo st often dir ecte d towards in tellectual and cultural
af fair s . In other fi elds ther e is an in vi si ble restrain t , and
a concomi tant im poten ce. Conventio nal Chin ese culture leaves
li ttle room at all for self- realization.
195
Walls of the Womb
The whole network of social relationships serves as a
womb (family , social group, collective , state) . And so man ,
in the sense of man with a strong ego , has never been born
in China . As Lu Xun (1935) remarked : "True manhood has not
ye t been created in the Chinese world." The Chinese self is
per manently disor gani zed . It has to be def ined by leaders and
collectives . Clin gin g to the mother's womb is the norm in
Chinese culture .
Today in China , the work unit has beco me the womb for
the individ ual . When a perso n is allocate d to a work unit ,
he is there virtually for the rest of his li fe . Each unit can
be compared to a small state. Each work unit encloses the
individ ual li ke a womb, gi ves hi m warmth ahd protection . It
allocates jobs . It provides acco mmodations , fi xes wages ,
collects membership fees, rations food and other dail y
necessiti es , includin g consumer goods . It iss ues marri age or
di vorce per mits . It settle s fami ly di sputes . It dist ri butes
the amount of work and organizes education as well as
recreational activi ties . It even deci des when married couples
can have their only chi ld . It keeps detailed fi les on each
member. The fi les are confide ntial and are kept from the
individ ual , but may be used agains t him at any ti me .
When they go abroad, Chinese tend to stick together, and
have nothing to do with "foreign devi ls . " This is how they
196
preser ve their peace of mind . They perceive that Chi nese
culture is superior to its alter nati ves ; it may si mply be
more humanly comfortable, at a very basic level , to associate
with one' s own kin d .
Instruments of Soci al Control
Hami lton has provided a valuable disti nction between
Western and Confucian societies in sayin g that the Wester n
sys tem emerged via the in stitutio naliz ing of power, and thus
of juris di ctions . The traditio nal Roman patria potestas
de fined a fi eld wi thin whic h the head of the family could
exercise perso nal dis cretio n and control {Hamilt on, 1984) .
From thi s developed systems of jurisdict ion whic h atte mpt to
place boundaries around individ ual freedom wi thout
prescrib ing in divid ual beha vior , the perso n is thus left with
much discr etion and ini ti ative and in practic e enco uraged to
exercise them. The stabil ity and order of Wester n socie ty
rests, obvio usly with variat io ns , on the accepta nce of the
boundary constrain ts, and the principles they rest on, by
more or less in dependent indi vid uals {Hami lton, 198 4 } .
In China , the State has not tradit io nally maintain ed
order by jurisdict io n . Chin a has been ruled for most of its
history by a patri monial bureaucracy whic h consists of
mandarins representin g the perso nal power of the emperor .
Thus the writ of the emperor, whic h is not subject to a clear
197
syste m of law, pen etrates all corners of the empir e . The law
in China has never been neutral . Law by its very nature is
rooted in the history and language of the commun it y whose law
it is . Current Chinese law, served as an ins trument of
soci al control , is an application in China of a system
deri ved from traditio nal moral codes-- the school of
Confucius , the Comm unist doctri ne and the practice of the
Soviet Union . The concept of law itsel f is defined by China' s
leadership as poli tics , as a function of id eology , and as
admi nistration .
1. The Traditional Moral Code
Lead the peo ple by regulations , keep
them in order by punis hments (hsing) ,
and they wi ll flee from you and lose all
self - respect. But lead them by vi rtue
and keep them in order by establi shed
moralit y (li) , and they wi ll keep th eir
self- respect and come to you .
Confucius Analects
The school of Confucius , holding to the premise that man
is good by nature, that his good qualiti es can be brought out
through education and that those who had cultiv ate d their
moral qualiti es should through example and dir ectio n manage
soci et y , ai med at the int roduction and acceptance of a new
code of beha vior at the ti me when feudal loyalti es broke
down, leading to tri ckery and moral chaos .
198
Confuci us and his followers started with th e moral rules
of fami ly relatio ns , still vali d at the ti me , and expanded
these rules into a syste m that could be applie d in society
and state . These rules were to be formed into a new code of
behavior for the "noble me n" who were to be the new leaders
of socie ty . These "noble me n"-- in Chinese chun- tzu- -were at
fi rs t ma inly of aristocratic bir th, but their qualific atio n
for their new role was not inherited ; it was the result of
their educatio n in the rules of ethics and moral beh avior
that qualifi ed them to be exam ples for oth ers and to
understand the problems of human behavior and social
relatio ns well enough to direct human affairs . These rules
of beh avi or were given in th e exam ples of the teachings of
a mor ally interprete d his tory and in many of the well- known
Confucia n say ings which dir ected the noble man as to what to
do and what not to do , and formed a code which eventually was
to pervade all social life in the traditio nal Chin ese
society .
For this way of thinki ng, law enforced by authority was
a bad thing . Such law was regarded only as punishment for
violat io ns of th e social and politic al order. The need of
such punishment was an admissio n of th e inadequacy of the
moral code and a si gn that ed ucatio n and the exam ple of
vi rtue had failed . This atti tude has rema ined throughout
Im perial his tory. When law was accepte d as necessary, it was
199
an unpleasant adm iss ion, and the disl ike of law by th e
educated was applied even to the co des . "One does not read
the codes ... " beca me a known quotation , indicat ing the vie w
that the law was vulgar , and for vulg ar people only .
This moral code rem ai ned a supreme norm of social and
politic al actio n to whic h Confuci an scholars could refer as
an objective syste m of rules vali d for the Em peror and his
offici als as well as for the scholars and society at large.
Thi s philosophy, however, belittled government -enforced laws
and stressed the force of moral persuasio n .
Thus , ther e was a double source of authorit y : fi rs t
that of th e go vernme nt pow er, based on force and enabling it
to carry out politic al actio n and enforce puni shment
accordin g to the law; and seco nd that of the moral code ,
whic h gave moral sancti on to go vernment au thority (but only
to th e authority that was exerci sed withi n th e rules of this
moral law) . This moral source of authorit y was beli eved to
be a natural law, and though not under the control of any
social or politic al group, it was in terpreted and handed down
from gener atio n to gener atio n by the Confuci an scholars .
This dual is m of two sources of authorit y supported a syste m
that on the whole pro ved to be eminen tly workable, and , as
sho wn by the long history of Chinese culture , extraordin arily
durable.
200
2. Commu nist Doctrine and Practice of the Soviet Union
To be sure , ther e are many di fferences betw een the
traditio nal and contemporary systems . In the Commun ist vie w,
the pre-soci alist state is but the instrument of the dominant
class by whic h it rules and exploits the suppressed classes.
Law is therefore not a guarantee of rig hts or the protection
of a realm of freedom for all , but si mply the "will of the
dominant class elevate d into a statute" (Li , 19 88) and it is
a tool for the suppr essio n of the laborin g classes. Si nce
Marx regarded law as a tool of suppr essio n by the dominant
class in "capital ist " and other pre-social ist states , his
Comm uni st followers now feel free to use their law as a tool
of suppr essio n in their "proletaria n " state.
According to the Co mmu nists , the "dict atorship of the
mino rity" -- the "capital ists"- -was broken in the Bolshevik
Revolution and replace d by the "di ctato rship of the majori ty "
-- the "proletariat," represented by its "vanguard," the
Communist Party-- and the new dominant class must now use law
to enforce its wi ll on the "minori ty." Law is then a "means
of the struggle for soci alis m. " "The dict atorship of the
proletariat is authorit y unlimi ted by any statutes whate ver .
But the dic tator ship of the proletari at, creati ng its own
laws, makes use of them, demands that they be observed , and
puni shes breach of them .... " (Li, 19 88) Such law is to be
used "to guard , secure , and develop social relationships and
201
social orders advantageous and agreea ble to the dominant
class." (Li, 1988} It is a method of carrying out the
social ist revolution, inde ed one of "gi gantic im porta nce-
without whic h the soci alist state could not get along until
that ti me when it completely wi thers away , " at whic h ti me law
will supposedly wither away as well (Li, 198 8) . Mao Tse - tung
echoed this Communist doctrine in his essa y on "People' s
Democratic Dictatorship " in 1949 , in whic h he asked the
question whether the Chi nese Co mmu nists int ended to "aboli sh
State Power" and answered : "Yes , we want to but not at the
present ti me . . . . Our present task is to strengthen the
People's State ap paratus- -meaning pri marily the People's
Army , the People' s Pol ice , and the People's Courts." (Mao ,
1949 ) In the meantime , the Commun ist concept of "law is
entir ely and completely dir ecte d against exploi tation and
exploi ters .... It is invoked to meet the problems of the
struggle with foes of soci alis m and the cause of buildi ng a
social ist society. " (Li, 1988)
At the same ti me , the Sovi et law is characterized by at
least three features whic h dist ingu is h it from Wester n
systems and whic h have brought im pact on the law of China .
First , the one- party state-- that is, the control of the
entir e polit ic al life of the socie ty by a uni fied,
disci plined elite corps, the Commun ist Part y ; second , the
centr ally planned economy- -that is , the management of the
202
entir e economi c life of the society by state offi cials
operating under a uni fi ed , centrally deter mined pla n . A
third feature of Soviet law whic h dist in gui shes it from
Western law and relates it to Chinese law is what I have
called its "parental " character-- that is , its emphasis upon
the role of law in educatin g a new type of man ,
characterized , above all , by his consciousness of his soci al
responsib iliti es and by his desir e to cooper ate in buil din g
the Commun ist soci ety {Zhang, 1987) .
The Sovi et concept of law {ma n , as a youth to be guided
and trai ned , and of the lawmak er or judge as a parent), also
has a strong resemblance to certain aspects of traditio nal
Chinese law. This conce pt of "l aw" as def ined by the
Commu nists and gi ven by the leading Sovi et authorit y whose
works have been translate d into Chinese and are studied by
the Chinese "legal cadres " as one of the main sources of
"Social ist Law, " has to be understood in order to appreciate
the character of Chinese law .
3. Law as Poli tics
In January 19 57 , Mao Tse- tung, while talki ng to the
secretaries of provinc ial , munic ipal , and autonomous regio nal
party comm it tees, said that "the law must be observed and the
revoluti onary legal syste m must not be undermin ed .
11
He
further said that "laws form part of the superstructure. Our
laws are made by the working people the mselves . They are
203
designed to maintain revolutio nary order and protect the
interests of the working peo ple, the soci alist economic base ,
and the productive forces." (Li , 1988)
Wha t reflects from Mao Tse - tung' s quotatio n is to see
law as the tool of the State placed in the service of
politics ; and to reject sharp differ entiat io n between
judici al , legal , and admi nistrative processes. The close
int ertwinin g of law with rapidly changin g policies has thus
far in hibi ted the development of judici al and quasi-j udicial
in stitutio ns and has interfered with regularized rule-making
and di spute settle ments by nonjudi ci al ins titutio ns . Polic y
and practice have varie d , however, and amb iguiti es in the
relatio n of polic y to law and admini strative practice have
been discerni ble, as has confli ct over their closeness .
As a People' s Dail y commentar y stated: "Si nce the polic y
of the Party is the soul of the legal system, legal work is
merely the im ple menting and execution of Party polic y .... "
And "the law of our countr y is a changing law, adapted to the
perpetual revolution .... " Therefore , "i t would be a great
mi stake to follow a procedure of set, perm anent, unchangin g
rules whic h would hin der the revolutio nary struggle . " (Wang,
19 87)
Law is clearly defined in the above as a "weapon" of the
state to enforce the Party' s policy. And , si nce polic y
changes , "law" has to be elastic and everch anging . Still , the
204
structure through whic h this "law" is applied can be well
establi shed, in fact has to be establis hed, in an orderly
fashion . The courts and the system of prosecutio n have to
function smoothly under the direct ion of the Party and State.
But law in the sense of norms no longer exists . Law as the
protectio n and exp ression of the posit ion of the indi vid ual
and of the manifo ld complex of human relatio nships that make
up societies , is no longer needed.
For ins tance, the fi eld of cri minal law demonstrates
more clearly this perspective of law in China , where it has
beco me a tool of the state for carrying through the Party' s
polic y . Al l punis hment and li fe or death depend on the legal
cadres' applic ation of government polic y . The judge must in
fact develop a full understa nding of this poli cy and its
intentio ns if he wants to be successful . To carry out the
Party' s poli cy he must beco me "case hardened," a quality
whic h the Party develops as part of the trainin g of legal
cadres . The best method is for the judge to keep in constant
contact with the respective Party commi ttee for
"i nstructio ns." (Sun , 1989 ) If judges did not fully
understa nd the intent of the Party leaders , it would be said
that "the knowledge of the judges is not, in fact, keeping
pace wit h the development of objective factors " as was stated
in an article by Tung Pi wu , criticiz ing the judges for not
following closely enough the ever- changing polic y of the
20 5
Party, for "soci alist law cannot be detached from the Party
and governm ent Policy. " (Tung, 1989)
Thus , each new polic y requi res a new understanding by
th e legal cadres of the Party' s goal . The cri minal
reg ulatio ns for prosecutio n of social enemi es under the
various politic al thrusts have been made and enforced for
that particular purpose. In the words of one of the
practit ioners of this system: "There is no law to rely on.
When the au thorities say ki ll , we kil l; when they say
release, we release . "3 Thus , th e only atte mp ted
justif ic ation for this syste m is that the leadership of the
Party clai ms to expr ess in their polic y "the lin e of the
ma sses," a li ne at whic h the ma sses are supposed to arri ve
with "due guid ance."
4. Law as a Function of Ideology
Ava ila ble docum entatio n and extensive intervi ews
indicate that th e results reached by the legal syste m are
certainly expressed in ideologi cal term s , which are clearly
presente d in Peng Zhen' s opinio ns on th e draft of new
constitutio n . The maj or thesis of the new Constitutio n is
that all free doms are subservie nt to th e four cardin al
3 In 1990 , a Chinese legal delegatio n came to vi sit Los
Angeles. I had a pri vate talk with one of th e Chinese
judges . When I asked him what laws they reli ed on to execute
someone , he answered as in the te xt .
206
princ ipl es that guide the nati on- -call ing for support of
party, loyalty to its polici es , recognit io n of the
di ctatorship of the proletariat and adherence to the
philosophies of Marx , Lenin and Mao Tse- tung (Peng, 1983) .
The new Constitutio n is not si mp ly a formu la for a workable
go vernm ent, but it demo nstrates th e thinkin g of the current
Chinese leaders .
Indeed, this ideol ogy provide s legal cadres and workers
with the only vocabulary, conce pts, and me thod of anal ys is
that they know. It would be surpris ing if their daily study
and repeate d rati onal izat ion of conduct in term s of ideol ogy
did not have an impa ct upon their future conduct . Moreo ver,
admi nistrators of the judici al syste m have empha si zed the
practical im portance of id eologi cal clarific atio n .
In 1991 , a high ranking Chin ese le gal delegatio n came
to vi sit Los Angeles. I talked to one of the Mi nisters and
asked hi m about his imp ressi on of the U.S. judici al syste m .
He said :
The trouble with th e Westerners is that
they have never got beyond that
primi ti ve stage they call the "rule of
law. " They are all preocc upied wit h the
"rule of law. " Chin a has always known
that law is not enough to govern a
society . She knew it twenty-f i ve
hundred years ago, and she knows it
today .
207
One should note that the Mini ster's form ulatio n was that
"law " is "not enough" to govern Chinese society , and not that
it is unimportant or ir relevant in that task. Confucius and
his followers had advocated governing in accordance with
approved social norms (li) through persuasio n and moral
example, rather th an governin g in accordance wit h positi ve
law (fa) through coercio n and deterrence . But even they had
recognize d that penal laws were a regrettable necessity, to
be applied agains t those elements of the commun ity who proved
to be unrespons ive to the soci al norms .
Al tho ugh the leaders of the Chinese Commun ist Party
(CCP) have made masterful use of persuasion , ideol ogi cal
in centiv es , soci al and administr ative pressures , and other
measures of control , and sti l l at ti mes predict that the
state will wi ther away , they have never had ill usio ns that
they could di spens e with cri minal sanctio ns . On the eve of
assuming power over China , Mao Tse- tung exhorted hi s Party
comrades to strengthen the police and the courts, as well as
the arm y, on the ground that these agencies were the state's
major instit utio ns for enforcing the peo ple's democratic
dic tatorship .
In additio n, as the Mini ster's remark impl ies , although
the Chinese leadership has been unable to di spense with
"l aw, " they have not been preoccupie d with the "rule of law. "
To Westerners, that clouded phrase suggests among its many
208
meanings not only a respect for state proscrip ti ons , but also
an opp ortunit y for an accused to de fend hi mself effectively .
In China , the phrase that Westerners sometimes translate
as "rule of law" (fa-c hih } has been well known for over two
thousands years , but a more accurate translation would be
11 rule by law. " Traditi onal Chinese la w was mainly an
ins trument for enforcing status- orie nted Confucian soci al
norms and for bending the will of an unruly pop ulace to
achieve the purposes of an authorita ria n governme nt . To these
ends it provided a comple x series of punis hmen ts and an
elaborate hierarch y of in stitutio ns for adjudic ating guilt
and passing sentence.
5. Law as Admi nis tration
Another characteristic of the Chinese legal syste m is
the extensive transm utation of legal forms into
admi nistrative ones . Law is supposed to serv e changing
politic al poli cies , and decisio n-makin g by cadres denomin ated
as "legal." But it has involved no uniq ue doctri ne or
deci si on-making processes , and most of the cadres the mselves
have no professional "legal " ski lls . As a result , "legal "
ins titutio ns have no differ ence in style and method of
operatio n from any other adminis trative activi ties .
The dominant concer n is with substant ive justice ,
de fined by the leadership of China , rather than wit h due
process . China' s stated ideals , as state d in the Peng Zhen' s
209
explanation of the draft of the new const itutio n , have
reflected a hig h degree of confidence in the Party' s certain
knowledge of good and evil , of who should be punis hed and for
what . Such confid ence implies less concer n for due process
than is shown in the Uni ted States system, less antagon is m
regarding the positi ve value of governmental exercise of
power agains t suspected deviants. Even to the degree that
China may be said to be concer ned about problems of due
process , the ideal of due process, as suggested above, has
not been embodied in any organizat ion .
These organi zatio ns in China form a ti ghtly - knit
commun it y precisely because of the relative absence of the
competing Due Process Model . From what I have learned, in the
United States that model is ins ti tutio nalize d in the
judic iar y , particularly in the appe llate courts, and there
provides the tensio n within the communit y that sharpens the
defi nitio n of organi zatio nal boundaries . In China the
organiz ations are bound together by a nearly exclusive
preoc cupation wit h effici ent enforce ment. Thus , in the
competition wi thin the
consti tuting the judici al
regularly lose out .
commun ity of organi zations
process, due process ide als
Moreover, laws in China not inf requently are applied
retroactively and analogic ally or , to put it most credibl y,
on an ad hoc basis (Tung , 19 89) . Applic atio n of what
210
Americans would classif y as cri minal law, especiall y of the
law of minor cri mes , ten ds to be by admi nistrative rather
than judici al institutio ns . Even where nominally judici al
in stitutio ns are employed, as is the case with major cri mes ,
the Chinese styl e is heavily inq uis i torial , generally ex
parte (Tung , 1989 ) , wi th li ttle opp ortunity for the defendant
to defend him self ei ther dir ectly or through a lawyer. The
proceedi ngs of these in stituti ons are not public . In reality,
there is no independent judic iar y and li ttle separatio n of
powers ; even though it is clai med that the syste m of having
the Party to have the fi nal say on legal cases should be
abolis hed , and lawyers are protected by the law of the state
and are free from interference by any unit or individual in
the course of work. The entir e cri minal process, particularly
in China today , ten ds to be domin ate d by the polic e , under
strong Party contr ol .
In China , law and legal in stitutio ns serve princi pally
as in struments for enhancing the power of the State and the
Party as well as for admi nistering the people to carry out
its policies . In the Chinese value system the int erests of
the State and the group are clearly paramount and have always
dwarfed those of the in divid ual .
Both in basic assumptions and in ins ti tutio ns and
practices , there are some obvi ous parallels between the
traditio nal and the current Chinese judici al systems . Many
211
of these parallel s derive from the great extent to whic h
int erests of the Chinese state have always pre va ile d over
those of the individ ual . Thus , it has been assumed that
justice in Chin ese courts is the exclus ive preser ve of the
State; that no independent actors such as lawyers should be
permi tte d to intr ude . The substantive judic ial system, whic h
has deep roots in China , is status - oriented and dis cri min ates
against certain classes of peo ple, and that permi ts
proscriptions to be applied both by anal ogy and
retroacti vely .
A Com parative Cultural Perspective
In many ways huma n int eracti on, as Bateson (1 951)
pointed out , is a questio n of relatio nship . It is assumed
that if relationships eme rge from the interacti on of pe ople,
conflic ts that resul t from interactions and decisi on-m aking
processes are heavily based on whate ver is contribute d by
individ uals to these relatio nships . The following
as sum ptions concer nin g perce ptio ns , em otions , government
roles , decis ion-m aking style, co mmu ni cation style and
conflict resolutio ns wi ll reveal such relatio nships from the
perspect ive that the basic diff erences are in why peo ple
behave as they do , rather than in how they behave .
21 2
Ameri cans and Chinese -
Mixed Perceptio ns , Mixed Emotio ns
The Chinese are curi ous about Americ a's ind ustrial
success and in tereste d in learnin g from it although Japan's
model is closer to home and, in many ways , more congenial .
Still , self- int erest provides the strongest of the moti ves
drawing together the two ci vil iz atio ns on opposite si des of
the Paci fic . Chinese and Ame ric ans can both lay clai m to
being the world's largest marketplace -
-
China through the
sheer siz e of its population, the united States because of
its wealth.
A subtle, though no less inf luential , element affecting
the course of relations has been the special chemi stry
between Chinese and Ameri cans. It is di fferent from the
chemi stry, or lack of it , between the Chinese and the
Europeans or Japane se .
belie ve in getting
Americans are straightforward and
things done quic kly
-
-the word
"busin esslike " has an orig inal , Ameri can conn otatio n of
effic ie ncy and the abil it y to get to the point . For Chinese,
the concept of "face" has been intr ins ic over the mi llennia .
Four decades of Commun is m have changed many atti tudes, but
not the in direct io n that most Chinese continue to associate
with the deepest values of ci vil it y and culture .
Chinese are formal , Ame ri cans brash. Ameri cans tend to
see their government as a sticky hin drance to busi ness; in
213
China , busi ness is regarded as intrusive and plebeian , often
an obstacle to the higher goals of polit ic s and gove rnm ent.
If busi ness gets in the way of politic al goals, the busi ness
goes . Ulti m ately, the Chinese see busi ness as a politic al
ins trument -- and not always a reli abl e one.
The Am eri can executives place the highest possi bl e value
on economic efficie ncy , even if it leads to di fferentials in
income or unem ploym ent; by contrast, they have found that
Chi nese state enter prises are more wi ll ing to tolerate
in effici ency for the sake of equal it y of income , full
empl oyme nt , and social order .
In mo st ways , Am eri cans and Chinese are polar opposites ,
and oddly enough, this make s for some pec uliar harmo nies .
Chinese see Am eri cans as more trustworthy- - certainly more
predic table- -than oth er nati onals. Am eri cans , for their
part , tend to be respectful , even passio nately awed by
China' s anti quity, its anci ent monum ents , its stature among
world ci vil iz atio ns . That atti tude goe s over very well with
the Chinese. Even country- bred cadres, thems elves inca pable
of penetrating the nume rous treatises on statecraft of their
manda rin predecessor s and una bl e to enjoy the subtle
pleasures of tradi tional Chinese paint ing or poetry, feel the
inf luence of a traditio n in whic h Chi nese superiorit y in
ma tters of culture has been unquestioned .
21 4
This sym path y between opp osit es is far from constant.
Alm ost seasonal ly , Ame rica 's image of Chin a fli p- flops . One
year , Chin a is the greatest busi ness opportunit y ever; the
next, it 's just another developi ng country being pretentio us .
The Chinese are just as wayward in their attitude toward
Ame ri cans ; if anything , more so . They court Ame ri can
busi ness peo ple and di plo ma ts for the technology they have
to offer. At banquets and busi ness me etings , talk is of
"frie ndship," "m utual advan tage," and "cooperation. " Yet
Chin a contin ues to reject Ame ric a' s sedu ctive , mu lti polar,
and outspoken culture, underl inin g the rejectio n by
physic ally separating foreigners and Chinese.
In Ame ric a's im aginatio n , India is thought to be
ti me less and changeless , while China is always about to
beco me some thing differ ent. The mi ssio naries had once hoped
Chin a was on the verge of converting to Chri stia nit y ; and ,
in si milar fashio n , after Mao's death Ame ri can busi nessmen
man aged to persuade thems elves that Chin a might be ready to
abandon Marxis m and em brace capital is m. China' s
authoritar ian traditio ns somehow have helped to reinf orce
these perce ptions by conveying the impr ession , at least
overseas , that the country is controllable and can be changed
quic kly by orders from the top . If Chiang Kai - shek could be
converted to Christ ia ni ty , then perhaps the Chinese nati on
215
would beco me Christi an; if Deng Xi aopin g would read Adam
Smith, China might someday beco me a free-market economy .
Ame ri can busi ness representat ive s who have settle d into
Beij ing , Shanghai , and Canto n over the past decade have run
up against many of the same cultural and bureaucratic
obstacles that stymi ed Christ ian mi ssi onaries tryin g
unsuccessfully to convert Chinese souls a century ago . They
have confronted the same proud Chinese natio nalis m as the
agents of Joseph Stalin , who faile d to turn the Chinese
Commu nist Party into a clone of the Soviet Comm uni st Party .
From the outside China has always seemed malleable; from
insid e it seems intractable, endlessly capab le of frustratin g
change. The Ame ri can busi nessmen have arrived in China wi th
their new management techniques and marketing skil ls , only
to disco ver that China is not quite as recept ive as they have
expected .
In each case China' s huge size , its enduring culture ,
its nati onal prid e , and its int racta ble problems ensure that
actual change will fall well short of Ame rican expe ctations .
Ameri can hopes of creatin g a China in its own image have
alw ays failed .
For ins tance, in the Preview case-- the Paper Mi ll story,
Mr . Johnson alw ays arranged Western food for hi s Chi nese
visi tors during their stay in the Unit ed States. He expecte d
his Chinese vi sito rs would be li ke him self who was accusto med
21 6
to many foreign foods . When he was in China , he enjoyed
Chinese food very much . He expect ed , vice versa, his
vi si tors would behave the same way . However, the Chinese
vi si tors did not have many chances to expose themselves to
Western food . They did not li ke the food at all , they were
li terally starving for several days . How could they be in
the mood to make a deal with Mr . Johnson wi th their empty
sto mach s ?
Chinese food is part of that ti meless and changeless
Chinese tradi ti on . Many Chinese vi si tors in the Unit ed
States told me that the mos t unpleasant experience for them
in the United States was the food with whic h they were not
famili ar . Sometimes they took it for the sake of courtesy .
Di ning pla ys a very important role in the Chinese li fe due
to hi storical reasons , such as famine , and customs-- festi vals
and ceremoni es . That is the major reason wherever Chinese
immi grants go in the world , they alw ays set up their Chinese
resta urants. They have to eat their own food . They have to
maintain their tradit ion ; they have to maintain their Chinese
id entit y . In their eye , the Chine se culture is superior , the
Chinese food , too .
Once I interv ie wed several Chinese senior economi sts and
managers who all had extensive working experience with
foreigne rs . I asked them with whic h group of people in the
21 7
world they preferred to do busin ess. They shared with me the
follow remarks :
As people, we li ke Ame ricans a lot .
Ame ri cans are strai ght forward and
frie ndly . However, we prefer to do
busi ness with the peo ple from South Asia
or Japan , even some European countries .
Those peo ple came to Chin a and
dis covered the differ ence. What they
did was to adapt their thinkin g to our
culture and custom, then adopted our way
of doin g busi ness. We feel comforta ble
to work with them . Ame ric ans came to
Chin a , they also dis co vered the
difference. What they wante d to do was
to change us . We don' t want to be
changed. We have our ways of doin g
things for tho usands of years . How can
they change us?
The above rema rks pro ve that anthropologists tell us
power relatio ns usually deter mine who adopts and adapts
behavior in cross- cultural settings . However, from an
Ame rican perspe ctive , one might say , :"Why should everyone
change to acco mmoda te th e Chin ese? "
Government Role in Busi ness
The per vasi ve role of government in in vestment policy
making in China suggests that government -to- government
collaboration on large projects is ofte n vital in winning
contracts . In many cases, success in China may depend on
whether the venture inclu des a Chinese go vernme nt entit y such
as an ind ustrial bureau or departm ent, as ei ther a form al or
inform al partner. At ti m es , high-level local offici als serve
21 8
on these government bodies ; their in volvement in th e busi ness
relatio nshi p lends clout to the project, and cuts
co mmun icatio n time with the government to a fraction of the
norm . Forming a partnership with a Chin ese go vernment entity
may offer certain strategic adva ntages , especiall y if it is
brought in as a minor third-party partner for th e purpose of
gain ing clout among Chinese decis ion-m akers . For exam ple,
the joint venture involving Volkswagen of West Germany and
th e Shanghai automo bile Corporatio n inclu des min orit y
partic ipatio n by the Bank of Chin a and China Internati ona l
Trust and Investment Corporatio n (CITIC) . Both of these
organizatio ns brin g to the venture needed forei gn exchange
and high- level access to offic ial s should problems arise .
Their presence has helped rather than hindered th e oper atio n
of th e v
�
nture , proving the strategic advan tage of includin g
them from the start .
However,
According to
this is not the case in the Unit ed States .
Ame rican Adm ini strative Law , public
organizatio ns cannot be involved in co mmerc ial activ ities
direc tly . In general, government partici patio n in busin ess
is conside red in appropriate . On th e other hand , the u. s.
Depart ment of Comme rce and the State Department all have
prog rams to help busi ness beco me more effective in
in ternatio nal trade , particularly in exporting goods and
services overseas . Several Ame ri can executi ves who were
219
interviewed suggested that they need more United States
government support to provide them with more inf ormat io n with
regard to international markets . The iss ue is periodi cally
debated wi thin the u. S. and there are di fferin g opinio ns
whic h result in di fferent policies regarding how much support
and infor mati on the Unit ed States government can provide
pri vate busi ness wi thout upsetting the tradi ti onal separation
between government and busin ess .
Decisi on-Ma kin g Style
Cultural di fferences also exi st at the level at whic h
decisio n-making responsibil it y li es . Whereas Ameri can
society may involve individu als as the primary level of
decis ion - maki ng , involvement, and goal orie ntatio ns, Chinese
societ y focuses on the group and societal level for these
processes. In China , decis ions are reached prim arily through
group consens us .
The belief that the locus of control resid es in the
individ ual is deeply implanted in decisio n theory as the
locus of decisi on-making . The idea deri ves from the United
States culture, in whic h critic al ideas in decisi on-making
stand for dominant values in the culture. Sense of control
over one' s fate, rel iance on factual inform atio n , and
adaptat ion to proba bil iti es of events comprise si gnifi cant
aspects of both decis io n-making and culture (Stewart, 1977 } .
220
When Ameri cans partici pate in a group decisio n, they beli eve
that everyone affected by the decis ion should have a voic e
in makin g it .
resembles the
Democracy at the level of the in divid ual
means of reaching group decis io ns of
interactio n in decis io n- makin g by whic h the majorit y voic e
becomes bin din g on both majorit y and min ori ty (Stewart,
1977) . Needless to say, these are not univ ersal ideas .
In China , the decisio n-makin g process, includes both the
internal decis io n- making processes in Chinese enterprises ,
as well as the external controls that they are subject to
from external organi zatio ns . Such government regulatory
processes are partic ularly pronounced in iss ues relating to
foreig n exchange and technology exp ort and im port approv als .
For example, even for iss ues as common place as travel abroad ,
Chine se enterpri ses are requir ed to obtain approv als from
relevant agencies before they can receive per mi ssion to send
their managers or engineers for trainin g to the United
States. Si nce these permissio ns are obtained from agencies
whose priorities may di ffer from those at the enterprise
level , delays can frequently occur . It also means that the
local enterpri se does not have complete decisi on-making
discr etion on a partic ular iss ue .
Thus , decisio n-making pow er, or wi llin gness to accept
responsib ilit y for decisio ns , is often li mi ted , whereas
strong reli ance on consensus is comm on, even among offici als
221
of reasonably . hig h stat ure . The app earance of ranking
"leaders " at soci al functions is certainly si gni fic ant and
also provides opportuniti es for ini ti ating some level of
management of the Chine se decis io n-making process. In sum,
the Chinese decisi on-making process is ti me - consuming because
it is based on consens us-build ing , requi rin g the
partic ipatio n of a number of stake holders . However, as Pye
reports that the Chinese, who often take a long ti me by
Wester n standards to make decis io ns , are usually impati ent
for actual delivery once negotiat ions have been settle d (Pye ,
19 82 ) .
For the purpose of this study , the styles of Ameri can
and Chinese decis ion -making are compared in Table 4-3
accompanied by their correspon din g cultural factors .
Decis ion -making in this study refers to the process of
collecting information , reaching a decisi on, and im ple menting
the decisi on. In the table, decisio n-making is categ ori zed
into the followin g si x commu nicatio n functions , whic h are
expanded from the three compon ents of decis io n-makin g
provided by Stewart (1977) :
1. Locus of decision: locatio n in whic h the ultim ate
decisi on-makin g takes place
2. Ini tiation and coordinat ion : ways in which ideas and
inf ormation leading to decisio ns are init iate d and
222
coordinated among those who are affecte d by th e
decisi ons
3.
Temporal ori entation : ways in whic h decis io n-m akers
project the outco me of the decis io ns , and attitudes
toward the way ti me is spent for decisi on-m aking
4. Mode of reaching decisions : ways in whic h the fi nal
decisio ns are reached
5. Decision criterion : bases with which decisi on-m akers
arri ve at decis io ns or select the desir ed course of
action from among the alternati ves
6. Commu nication style: patter ns of co mmun icatio n between
or among those in volved in the process of decis ion
making . (See Table 4-3 )
Table 4-3
Compa risons of American vs . Chinese Decision -Making Styles
COITIIJ.In ication
Functi ons for
Decision-Maki ng*
1. Locus of Decis ion
2. Initiation
and
Coordination
3. Teflllora l
Orientation
4. Mode of Reach ing
Decis ion
5. Decision
Criterion
6. COITIIJ.In ication
Style
Ame rican Styles
ind ividua l
leader has capacity to
di rect & take personal
respon sibi lity
top down
use of expert's
informat ion
less frequent di scussion
planning ahead
quic k decision
slow impleme ntat ion
Indi vidua l decision
Majority decision
Split decis ion
"rat ional"
practical eflll ir ic ism
di rect and def init e
confrontation
Attendant Amer ic an
Cultural Factors
indi vid ualism
ind ependence
cont rol of events
power
c� tition
self-reliance
doing (get things done)
future-ori ented
linear thi nking
sense of urgency
individ ua l ism
c h o i c e a m o n g
al ternatives
equal opportu nities to
express "matters of
procedures"
analytical
mate rial istic
cognit ive
di chotomy
* Commu nication funct i ons for decision-makin g provided by Stewart (1977) .
Ch i nese Styles
group
leadership-capacity to
faci litate and take
shared respons ibly
bottom (or middle) up
prior consultation
frequent di scussion
adjusting to changing
ci rc�tances
slow decision
immedi ate imple ment at ion
consensus
"intui tive"
group harmony
indi rect and ambi guous
agreement
Attendant Ch i nese
Cul tural Factors
collect ivism
interdependence
group-orientation
subservience
cooperat ion
harmony
being- in-becoming
past-ori ented
ci rcular thinking
gradua l build-up
group consensus
acceptance of a given
option
conformi ty
"tentat i veness"
holi stic
spi ritua l comm itment
affective
"feel ing around"
tv
tv
w
224
Communicatio n Style
An im portant aspect of commun icat ion behavior that
varies si gni fic antly across cultures is the degree to whic h
ambig uit y is used as a message strategy . Within
intercultural bargainin g settings , many researchers have
focused on tolerance for ambiguity and specific sources of
ambig uit y that can be manip ulate d to suit a negoti ator's
purpose (Fish er, 1980) . For example, Chinese possess a hig h
tolerance for ambigui ty and often try to get a feel for the
other party before commun ic atio n occurs . Interest in gly ,
Fis her observes that individ uals who consis tently use one-up
communi catio n styles tend to be intolerant of ambig uit y and
desir e to structure their social envi ronments (Fis her, 1980) .
This fi nding may partially account for the frequent fi nding
that Americ ans, with their hig h need for structure, are often
frustrated and exploi ted in intercultural bargainin g
sit uatio ns .
It is observed that the Chinese reject the Ameri can
notion that agreement is best sought by focusing on specific
details and avoidin g disc ussi ons of generalities . Instead ,
the Chinese state general principl es that are highly
ambiguous and readily agreed to by the Ameri cans. As Pye
observes , this agree ment often proves costly to the
Ameri cans, who are accused of not li ving up to the spirit of
the princ iples agreed upon when they later contest the
225
detai ls assumed by the Chinese . Furthermore , the Chine se
wi ll readily cancel the details of such agreements while
maintai nin g that the spirit of the agreement must be upheld
(Pye , 19 82 ) .
Si milar ly, Linthi cum asserts that Ameri cans and Chinese
att ach dif ferent meanings to letters of intent in bargainin g
sit uatio ns . Speci fically , he in dicates that Wester ners use
the lette r of intent as a state ment that the parameters of
busi ness have bee n agreed upon and as an agreement to
negotiate a fin al contract, whereas the Chinese, who have a
greater tolerance for ambiguit y , perceive it as merely
defi ning an agenda that they agree to contin ue to disc uss
(Lin thi cum, 19 88} .
Finally , ambig uit y regarding specific li nes of authorit y
wi thin the organizatio n may enter the negotiatio n process.
Pye states that the actual authority of Chinese negotiators
is ofte n vaguely perce ived by their Ameri can counterparts.
He posits that this ambig uit y ste ms from the need to avoid
responsibi li ty in case the outco me of negotiat io ns is
criticize d by other hig her rankin g organi zatio nal members
(Pye , 19 82) . Clearly , ambig uit y exerts a perv asive inf luence
on the course of confli ct resolutio n processes and can be
manipul ated pow erfully by ei ther or both parties when
bargain ing .
226
Ageless with wisd om , a Chin ese pro verb urges "He who
treads softly goes far. " The loud voice - -and the uproario us
laughter-- of th e typical Am eri can is probably the
characteristic that often offends Chin ese. Ame ri cans ' habit
is to raise their voice when they are not being understood
or not gett ing their way . In Chin ese society , the higher a
person' s status , the less volume is used in speech . A
gentle, soft-toned voice should be used for normal speec h ;
as the im portance of the topic incr eases , the speaking volume
should be decreased. A quiet voice gi ves emph asis , not a
loud one . Even if asked to repeat points for the tenth ti me ,
the speaker should not turn up the volume , for clarit y . It
wi ll shatter the mood of the me eting . As a Chinese saying
says , "Great wisd om is not obvious .
adverti sed."
Great me rit is not
The Chin ese consider venting frustratio ns with abusi ve
language a si gn of defeat. If you hit the ball hard into
their court, sooner or later they wi ll hit the ball hard back
into your court . Pounding the table is especially bad form .
If you use strong em otion , you wi ll lose their confid ence and
contract . In human relatio ns , the Chin ese pri ze poise ,
reason, self- control , self- confiden ce. In Taoism, the symb ol
of strength is the graceful bam boo that yield s to the wind ,
while the strong oak snaps . Water submi ts to al l it touches ,
22 7
yet it cuts through rock. This spirit is exem plif ie d in
Mao' s poem of si xtee n characters :
Enemy adva nces,
we retreat .
Enemy halts ,
we harass.
Enemy tir es ,
we stri ke.
Enemy retreats,
We pursue .
In negot iatio ns , understate me nt , to a Chinese point of
vie w , is better than bluster, the wi ll ingness to backste p can
bring accord . The forceful bending of another person' s wi ll
is a trans ient vi ctory . I assert that the only way a Chine se
perso n wi ll accept you r vi ew is fo r him to grasp it from
wi thin . Your task is not to get the Chinese negotiator to
agree with you , but to get hi m to reach out for your ideas .
You do this by buil di ng self- estee m. Everyone li kes to feel
im portant , id eological sentim ents to th e contrary . You feed
his sense of im portance by treating him with decency and
gene rosit y . Courteous , even elegant, man ners show that you
think he is im portant . As you build his sense of im portance,
he wi ll be more incl ined to respect and believe you .
Questions , expressions of doubt , and argum ents indicate
wi llin gness to receive your id eas . When you observe these
signs of reaching out , you know that the time is ripe to
im plant your ide as . You should tailo r your pitch to the
specifi c needs of the Chinese.
228
Conflic ts in Low- and High - Context Cultures
It is the pat terned ways of thinkin g , acting , feeling ,
and interpreting that constitute the fundamen tal webs of a
culture . Confli ct, as a form of intense, antago ni stic
co mm unicat ive expe rie nce, is bounded by th e cultural demands
and constrai nts of the partic ular sit uation . This set of
demands and constrain ts , in tur n , impl icitly dictates what
are the approp riate and inappropriate ways of behaving and
co mmu ni cating in a given syste m (Gudykunst and Toom ey, 19 85 ) .
In analyz ing the relatio nship between confli ct and
culture, however, one cannot anal yze confli ct styles in al l
cultures si mu ltaneously in the th eoriz in g process. As a
starting point , perhaps a more fruitful approach is to
com pare and contrast groups of cultures in relatio n to a
particular set of co nflic t iss ues . Thus , on a conceptual
level , Edward T. Hall's low- and high -context framework
offers an attractive alternative for this co m pariso n in
analyz ing the inte rdependent nature of confl ict and culture .
Accordin g to Hall , any transactio n can bas ic ally be
divided into three co mmu nic atio n systems :
Any transactio n can be characteri zed as
high- , low- , or middl e- conte xt . HC
[High Context] transactions featured
preprogr ammed info rma tion that is in the
receiver and in the setting, with only
min imal info rmat io n in the transmi tte d
me ssage. LC [Low Conte xt] transactio ns
are the reverse. Most of the
infor ma ti on mu st be in the transmi tted
me ssage in order to make up for what is
mi ssing in the context. (Hall1 19 77)
229
The concept of low context cultures ( LCC) and high
context cultures (HCC) has been presented in Chapter Two .
For Ha ll1 the United States is si tuated at the LC end of the
contin uum ; and China is located at the HC end of the
contin uum . In short 1 in the HCC syste m wh ic h is not said is
som etimes more importa nt than what is said . In contrast/ in
the LCC system/ words represent truth and power. What we can
now begin with is to disc uss conflic t interacti on from two
foci : LCC conflicts and HCC conflicts . Specif ically / what
are the underlying characteristics of conflicts in LCC as
com pared with conflicts in HCC? The four conceptual
dim ensio ns of why 1 when1 what 1 and how of conflicts wi ll be
addr essed in accordance with the LCC and the HCC prem ises .
In the LCC system/ ind ivid uals are better able to
separate th e conflict iss ue from the perso n in volved in the
conflic t . LCC individ uals can fi ght and scream at one
another over a task- oriented point and yet be able to rem a in
friends afterwards i whereas in the HCC sys tem1 the
inst rum ental iss ue is closely ti ed with the perso n that
origi nated the iss ue . To openly di sagree with or confront
someone in public is a severe blow and an extreme insul t/
causin g both si des to "lose face. " Especially in th e case
of superior- subordinate co mmu nicat io n in the HCC system1
230
indi vidua ls are suppose d to engage in a normati ve process of
"reciprocal sensiti vity " toward one another, and
rit ualistic ally enact out the roles of the senior -junior
relationshi p with a certain degree of respect and in
accordance to the implicit, culturally wri tten scripts
(Gudykunst, 1983) .
In sum:
1. Individ uals in LCCs are more li kely to perceive the
causes of confli ct as ins trumental rather than
expre ssive in nature.
2. Individual s in HCCs are more li kely to perceive the
causes (or, more impo rtant, they tend to focus on the
process ) of conflict as expre ss ive rather than
ins tr ume ntal in nature .
The second question of conflicts is concerned wi th the
speci fi c conditio ns in whic h conflicts are most li kely to
occur in the two cultural syste ms . Given the fact that the
LCC structure contains low cultural deman d/ low cultural
constrain t characteristic s , a relative ly hig h degree of
uncertainty and risk prevails in each LCC in terpersonal
interaction . Conversely, gi ven the fact that the HCC
structure maintains hig h cultural demand/hig h cultural
constraint characteristics , once the cultural scripts of the
system are mastered , a relative ly low degree of uncertainty
and risk prevails in each HCC interpersonal encounter.
23 1
Confli ct pote ntials are relati vely higher between strangers
in the LCC si tuatio n than in th e HCC context because the
players in the LCC syste m usually play by idiosy ncratic rules
and only im provise coordin atio n on the spot. Furtherm ore,
th e probabil it y of making an interpersonal "i nteracti on
error" is also higher in th e LCC syste m th an in th e HCC
syste m because there are no specific , collective (or
cultural ) norm ative rules to govern and guide the different
int eracti on episodes (Gudykun st and Toom ey, 1985) .
In sum :
3. Conflic ts are more li kely to occ ur in LCCs when
individual norm ati ve expectat io ns of the sit uatio n are
being violate d .
4. Conflic ts are more li kely to occur in HCCs when
collective or cultural normat ive expectat io ns of th e
sit uatio n are being violate d .
The third questio n concer nin g th e norm ative relatio n
between confli ct and culture asks : What kin ds of gener al
atti tude do the confli ct players hold toward antagoni sms and
tensio ns in a LCC syste m and a HCC syste m? If an
in di vidual 's interpretive scheme is grounded in a particular
culture and his attitude is em bedded in thi s interpretive
process, culture also frames one' s attitude . Individ ual s who
are situated in different cultural sys te ms learn to hold
differ ent attitudes toward confli ct (Fisher, 198 0) . In the
232
LCC system, whic h is primarily characterized by an action
or do ing- orie ntation, the confli ct players are proba bly more
li kely to assume a direct , confrontational stance when
diff erences of opinion occur . This do ing -orie ntation
approach wi ll also ser ve as a normative force for both
confli ct parties to press for resolution and early closure
(Stewart, 1977} . In the HCC system the predominant mode of
conflict attitude can best be descri bed as evasive and
nonconfrontational . Players in the HCC beli eve in the use
of implicit or restri cte d codes . A calculate d degree of
vagueness and ci rcumlocution are typically employed when
tensions and anxi etie s mount.
In sum :
5. Individ uals in a LCC are more li kely to assume a
confrontation al , direct attitude toward conflicts .
6. Individual s in a HCC are more li kely to assume a
nonconfrontatio nal, in direct attitude toward
conflicts .
The fi nal question on confli ct and culture asks : How
do the pla yers actual ly "play" in LCC confli ct as compared
wi th HCC confli cts? Comm unica tio n attitude and style are
interdependently li nked . Style is the overt man ifestation
of one's cogni t ive orientation . Gi ven the basic premises of
the LCC syste m and the HCC system, LCC pla yers wi ll pro bably
be more li kely to engage in the hard bargainin g , ratio nal
233
strategi es of a factual- ind uctive styl e or axio matic
deductive style in handl ing conflicts (Stewart, 19??) . HCC
players wi ll proba bly be more li kely to use the soft
bargainin g strategies of an affect ive - intuit ive style in
managing vario us confli ct epis odes . Whereas the LCC syste m
values li ne logic, the HCC system treasures point logic ;
whereas LCC individua ls tend to engage in confli cts from the
mind ; HCC in divid uals tend to approach confli cts from the
heart .
In sum :
?. Individ uals in a LCC are more li kely to use fact ual
ind uctive or axiomatic - deductive style (or a li ne logic
style) of confli ct management.
8. Individ uals in a HCC are more li kely to use affective
intuit ive style (or a point logic style) of conflic t
management.
Table 4-4 prese nts a summary of characteris tic s of the
why , when, what and how questio ns of confli cts in the low
context cultural system (the Unite d States) versus conflicts
in the hig h- context cultural system (China) .
.
ons
Why
When
What
How
234
Table 4- 4
A Summary of Basic Characteristics of
LCC Confl ict and HCC Conflict
Low-Context Conf li ct* Hi gh-C ontext Conf li ct*
analytic, linear logic instrumen tal- synthetic, spi ral logic
ori ented expressive-oriented integration of
di chotomy bet ween confli ct and confli ct and conf li ct parties
confli ct parties
individ ualistic-oriented group oriented
low col lective normat ive expec tati ons high col lective normat ive
violations of ind ivi dua l expe ctat i ons expect ati ons
create confli ct potent ials violations of coll ective
expectat i ons create confl ict
potent ial s
revea lment concea lment
di rect, confrontationa l atti tude indi rect, nonconfrontati ona l
action and solution-oriented attitude
"face" and relationship-oriented
expl icit communi cation codes impl icit commun ication codes
line- logic styl e; rational- factual poin t-logic styl e: intuitive-
rhetoric affect ive rhetoric
open, di rect strategies ambi guous , indir ect strategies
* These two categories are from Dr . Hall (1 977) .
Summary
In order to test th e valid it y of the theor y of lens ,
some gener al izatio ns about two very large cultures are
produced thro ugh the author's own bi - cultural lens . The
focus of th e concer n is with the inner character of culture
and its meaning in cross- cultural interacti ons . The ai m of
the research is to understand peo ple from their own frame of
reference and to va lue their individual exi stence-- the study
of cultural meanings for their own sake .
Culture teaches us what to value and what to reject,
whic h behavior al si gnals to watch for in others and whic h to
235
send , whic h words to use and whic h to avoid . As the world
nears the end of the twent iet h Century, cultural di fferences
seem to be the norm rather than the exception . Due to the
rapid development of global transportation and commun ic atio n
syste ms , the world beco mes more pluralistic , and cultures
beco me more 11 open.11 People are beco ming more aware of both
di ssi mi lari ti es and si mila riti es between the mselves and
others. No partic ular culture is inherently better or worse
than anoth er- -just di fferent and uniq ue .
The ti me has come to draw thi s dis sertation to a close .
The fol lowing chapter wi ll present the conclusion of the
research, and hig hlig ht the impl icatio ns for theory, future
research and practice .
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUS ION : INTERPRETIN G BEHA VIOR
FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
The old foundations of scien tific
thought are beco ming unin telligi ble .
Time , space, matter , structure , pattern,
function , etc. all requir e
reinterpretatio n !
Al fred North Whitehead
Im plications For Theory
236
This dis sertatio n has used the underlyin g philoso phy of
science based on Popper' s select ionism (Popper, 19 72 ; Munz ,
1985) . Popp er' s basic formulatio n is :
P -+ TS -+ EE -+ P
The diss ertatio n begins with a problem (P) - -the issues
aris in g in cross
-
cultural inte rchange. Some tentative
solutio ns (TS) , hypoth eses, are proposed . The research is
an endeavor to test the hypotheses and elimi nate errors (EE)
by reviewing related li terature , workin g as a partic ipant
observer and collectin g data through intervi ews. The fin din gs
of this research are reported and conclusi ons are prese nte d
whic h will lead to some new questions or new problems (P} for
future research.
The key questio ns whic h this dis sertat io n int ends to
answe r are : How can we interpret other' s behavior with
23 7
shared meanings in order to reach mu tual understanding? Why
are identical beha viors interprete d differ ently by peopl e
from dif ferent cultures?
As a resul t of the research fi ndings and analys is
descri bed in this diss ertatio n , it is believed that the
answers li e in a greater understanding of two maj or aspects
of beha vior interpretatio n whic h are the hypotheses formed
in Chapter One:
1. When we observ e and interpret others' beh aviors , we
attribute va lues or meanings to these beh aviors through
our own lenses of my tholo gies .
2. Si nce we act upon our attri buted values through
co mmun icatio n; and si nce these values are the resul t of
observ atio n and int erpretatio n through our own lenses
and attrib utio n
cross- cultural
interpretation,
bound together .
of values; then,
beha vior means
and co mmu nicat io n
int erpretatio n of
that observation,
are inextri cably
The above hypoth eses have survived this research because
they were not refuted (Popper, 1972 ; Munz , 1985) . They do ,
howe ver, provide opportunities for further testi ng and
research, not only in the Chinese and Ame ri can cultures , but
in other cultures as well .
Every culture pro vides its adherents with a sense of
id entity, and has a profound inf luence on their beha vior and
23 8
life space. Even though the case of Chin a and the Unit ed
States is used as an exam ple to explore the iss ue of cross
cultural int erchange, in a very real sense , what has been
describe d might have demo nstrated certain extent of the
univ ersalit y in human behavior , and might have si gni ficance
beyond the local setti ng, si nce the processes of li vin g in
any society are si mi lar for peo ple everywhere.
It has been discovered that whenever peo ple are ignorant
about some thin g whic h is dif ferent, they tend to look down
upon it . Such ignorance of cultural differences is one of the
chief causes of mi sunderstandings in a world that is gett ing
more and more interdependent on the one hand , and
incr easingly torn with strife on the other. When observing
Chin ese and Ame ri cans , one is struck by the bl ind sense of
superio rit y of Chin ese in their his tory and ancient
ci viliz atio n as well as the blind sense of superiori ty of
Ame ri cans in their moder nizat io n and wealth . Neit her appears
to be aware that others view them and their cultures in a
different li ght. This is the justif icat ion for conducting
thi s dis sertatio n .
The focus of the research is to understand and
co nunun icate not only what happen s, but how peo ple from
differ ent cultures interpret and understand what happens.
It is observed that all huma n soci eties have shared va lues
and my thologies whic h hold societies together. A recog nit io n
239
of values and my thologies , both si mi lar and divers e, is
necessary for a meaningful cross- cultural relatio nship i for
they are clearly an essential part of what is determi ning the
course of soci al action .
However, these shared values are interpreted di fferently
by people from dif ferent cultures because people in dif ferent
cultures do not have a univ ersal standard for those values .
Therefore , when observing other's behaviors , we attr ibute
values or meanings to observed beha viors through our own
lenses of mythologies . Then we act upon our attribu ted values
through communic ation . That is why ide ntical behaviors are
interpreted di fferently due to this lens phenomen on .
I have come to understa nd this lens phenomenon through
my own involvement wit h dif ferent cultures. I realize that
when I int erpret my subjects, I view the world through my own
lens , whic h reenforces the concept of shared values and
attri buted values . I have gain ed knowledge by taking the role
of my subjects and challenging my conjectures from ti me to
ti me . I work with my data and discover meanings in the m . My
intent has been to catc h the process as it occurs in the
expe rience of those I have studied . It is through
understa nding that I am using my own lenses of mythologies ,
that I am more fully able to effectiv ely interpret and
communi cate others ' beha viors .
240
However, it is realize d that the descript io ns about
Ameri can and Chinese cultures might generate dis tortio ns, and
the author might not catch the inne r character of each
culture accurately or completely due to the li mi tation and
weakness of her own lens . This further in dic ates that the
hypothe ses pertainin g to those shared values and ident ical
behaviors interpreted differently by people wi th diff erent
lenses of my thologies are vali d. This proves that people can
not conduct cross- cultural interchange effectively unless
they are wi lling to challenge their own conjectures , and
beco me more tentative and less absolute in their evaluation
of behavior .
That conclusio n, however, is separate and dist inct from
another im portant conclusio n ... that the elements of the
observation
-
interpretation - communi catio n process are
ins epara ble . In a very real sense , what has been descri bed
as a "partic ipant observer" seems more accurately descri bed
as "partici pant observer- interpreter - commun ic ator. "
It is disc overed that partic ipant observation is only
a gate to the in tricacies of more adequate social knowledge .
What happ ens when one enters that gate depends upon one' s
abilit ies and interrelationships as an observ er . The
observer must be able to see , to li sten, and to feel
sensit ively the social interactio ns of whic h he becomes a
part. He must be able to grow wit h his experienc es . He must
241
question ti me and again whether he has perceived enough and
whether his understandings are as accurate as he can make
them. He must be able to understand his own im pact upon the
social sit uatio n he studies and what inf luences other
partici pants and the sit uati on have on him . He must learn
to exp ect a perso nal sense of culture shock, a confusing and
possi bly a painful exp erience, as a symbol that he is
bringin g new perce ptio ns of sit uations into focus and that
he is beco ming able to assi mi late those perce ptio ns into his
modif yin g understandings .
The rig ht and privil ege of being an observer is a gift
presented to the researcher by host and subjects. The gift
of access , of wi tnessing soci al li fe as it is li ved in
someone else' s envi ronment, however, exercises a tyranny of
its own, because participant observ ation puts us dir ectly in
touch wit h the human di mensio ns of social li fe in a way that
no other method of in quir y does . Thi s is true because
participant observation - int erpretation
-
comm unic ation forces
us fi rst to experi ence those dime nsio ns and then to fi nd
words to describe them. Full understanding involves an
int im ate contact and this is what partic ipant observation
interpretation-communi catio n provides . It allows us to
describe a set of fundamental life experiences as they occur .
Participant observation
-
interpretation
-
co mmu nication supplies
precisely what other methods of research drop out- -t he
242
experiencing individ ual as a mem ber of a co mm unit y and the
set of shared meanings that sustai n that individu al 's action
in an uncertain world. Partic ipant observation
interpretation- co mmu nicat io n allows us to see, and expl ain
social li fe as we li ve it .
To a great extent, how appropriately we can interpret
and understand peo ple's behavior from diffe rent cultures
depends upon our cross - cultural co mmun icatio n ski lls .
Commu nicat io n serves the purpose of transmi ssio n and
rece ption of ideas , facts , opinio ns , atti tudes and feelings .
Comm uni catio n is necess ary for effective informatio n
trans fer, and the way we co mmu nic ate has si gnific ant
impl icatio ns for cross- cultural behavior and inte rchange.
Because it is dependent upon observations and
int erpretatio ns , co mmu nicatio ns are as ins eparable from the
other parts as they are from co mmu ni catio ns .
Im plications For Future Research
The fi ndings and conclusio ns of the research give rise
to several particula r concerns related to future research .
It was disc overed that not mu ch infor ma ti on is ava ila ble on
research activi ty from the perspect ive of cross- cultural
co mmu nicat io n . Thus , it is suggested that the area of cross
cultural co mmun icatio n as part of behavi oral theory needs
243
further research. The following questions still need to be
answer ed :
1. What is the relationship exi sting between culture and
co mmunic ation? Many research es , inc ludin g mine , have
produced numerous studies that focus on the various
aspects of culture . We now know, for example, Chinese
are group oriented ; Ame ri cans more individ ualist
orie nted. What we don' t know much about , however, is
the effect of these findin gs on the cross - cultural
encount er . I have an intu it ive feeling (not very
scien tific) that much of what we are lookin g at does
not dir ectly relate to co mmu nicatio n .
2. What is the inf luence of the conte xt on cross - cultural
commu nic ation? Because commu nication is subjective and
si tuational , it is suggested that we generate more
research that helps explain the inf luence and im pact
envi ronment and setting have on huma n in teraction . It
is not enough to si mply know that Culture A is
characterized by an extended fami ly while Culture B is
organiz ed around nuclear relatio nships . We have to
consider the questio ns regarding the ways in whi ch
those orie ntations and social patterns ar e transformed
in group activiti es , governm ent, schools and the li ke .
3. What are the si gni fic ant si mi lari ties between vario us
cultures that would tend to contribute to successful
244
cross- cultural co mmu ni cation? It is recognized that if
we know more about cultural overlapping , we might be
able to use these commonal iti es , be they in
perce ptions , valu es , goals or experiences, as a basis
for mu tual understandin g . If we reflect on it , we can
observ e how it is our li kenesse s , in needs and
motivat io ns , that foster successful co mmu nicatio n, not
our dif ferences .
4. What is the import and inf luence of a foreign language
on cross - cultural understanding and co mmu ni cation? It
is suggested that the inf luence of foreign language,
not only its acquisit ion and use , is far more
si gnific ant than we apprecia te. Problems of
translation, li nguistic and gr amma tical equivalencies ,
attitude reflection in language and si lence, choice of
words and ter ms relating to the deep structure of
language, are but a few of the areas that need
exploratio n .
The above concerns are consider ed as new conjectures or
"problems " in cross- cultural co mmuni cation, whic h leads to
further research development and growth of knowledge (Munz,
1985} .
245
Im plications Por Practice
It is apparent from the research that understanding
shared meanin gs requir es a hig h degree of cultural awarene ss
and sensiti vi ty , as well as suffi cie nt knowledge about other
cultures . It is assumed that if people involved in cross
cultural interchange take part in an educational experie nce
in cultural awaren ess , and direct their activity to more
effective int ercultural relatio ns , they will achieve more
desir able outco mes .
In order to help people toward more approp riate ,
sensiti ve , broadrninded and empathic behavior in our human
in teractio ns , the following suggestions are presented for
cultural awareness trainin g programs:
• Trainin g programs could be enhan ced if they incorporate
and app ly the lens model . It wi ll imp rove peop le' s
understanding ,
beha vior .
effectiveness , and cross - cultural
• People norm ally seek to ident if y their capacities and
develop their potential iti es . There is a mutual benefit
to the m and their organiza tio ns when the latter in vest
in their trainin g .
• By train ing , peopl e wi ll learn to increase sensiti vit y
and abil it y to recognize cultural inf luences on
thinkin g , and develop more astute observations and
interpretations in areas and sit uations , in order to
246
foster greater understandin g in interaction with peo ple
who are culturally dif ferent.
• People wi ll improve cross - cultural co mmu ni catio n skil ls
and increas e job effecti veness thro ugh trai nin g in
huma n behavior , particularly in the area of manag ing
cultural di fferences .
• Knowledge about cultures , both gene ral and specific,
provides ins ights into the learned behaviors of groups .
It helps learners to gain awareness of what ma kes a
peopl e unique-- their custo ms and tradi ti ons , their
values and beliefs , atti tudes and conce pts, hierarchies
and roles, ti me and space relations , and verbal and
nonverbal co mmun ic atio n processes.
In addit ion, it is suggested that the followi ng skil ls
be developed as an obj ective with regard to this aspect of
train ing :
1. The capac ity to co mmun ic ate respect: to transmi t,
verbally and non- verbal ly positi ve regard,
encourage m ent, and si ncere interest; because the
abilit y to expr ess respect for others is an importa nt
part of effecti ve relatio ns in every country . Al l
people li ke to beli eve and feel that others respect
the m , their id eas and their acco m pli shment s. However,
it is di fficul t to know how to co mm unic ate respect to
perso ns from another culture . The followi ng is sue
247
should be consid ered when interactin g with people from
another culture: How do I demonstrate that I respect
the people I am workin g with?
2. The cap acit y to be nonjudgm ental: to avoid moralisti c ,
value - laden , evaluative state ments , and to list en in
such a way that the other can fully share and explain
themselves ; because most people li ke to feel that what
they say and do is not being judged by other s without
having the opportun it y to fully exp lain the mselves . The
abilit y to wi thhold judgment and remain objective until
one has enough inf ormation requir es an understanding of
the other's point of view and is an im portant ski ll .
3. The capacit y to personalize knowledge and perce ptio ns :
to recognize the inf luence of one's own values ,
percept io ns , opinio ns , and knowledge on human
interacti on , and to regard such as relative , rather
than absolute, for more tentat ive communi catio ns ;
beca use diff erent people exp lain the world around them
in diff erent ter ms . One should realiz e that his or her
knowledge and perceptions are valid only for oneself
and not for the rest of the world . Thus , one would be
able to personaliz e obser vatio ns , be more tentat ive in
conclusio ns and demonstrate a commun ic ation compete nce
that, what is "right " or "true" in one culture may not
be "rig ht" or "true " in another-- thi s is my way , what
248
is your way? There is no "the" way, no si ngle "one and
only " way .
4. The capacity to di splay empath y : to try and understand
others from "thei r" point of vi ew , to atte mpt to put
oneself into the other's li fe space, and to feel as
they do about the matter under consider ation . This is
the abilit y to "put yourself in another' s shoes." In
this context, most people (partic ularly people from
differ ent cultures) are attr acted to and work well with
the one who seems to be able to understa nd things from
their point of vi ew .
5. The cap acity to tolerate ambig uit y : to be able to cope
with cultural dif ferences, to accept a degree of
frustration, and to deal with changed circu mstances and
people. This refers to the abil ity to react to new,
differ ent, and at ti mes , unpredict able sit uatio ns with
li ttle vis ible dis comfort or ir ri tatio n . Excessive
dis comfort often leads to frustration and hostilit y and
this is not conduc ive to effective interpersonal
relationshi ps wi th persons from other cultures .
Learning to manage the feelings associated wit h
ambi guit y is a skill associated with adaptatio n to a
new envi ronment and effectively working wi th the people
who have a di fferent set of values .
249
To a certain extent, these capaciti es are associated
wit h effective managem ent and transference of knowledge in
a dif ferent culture . To the degree that one possesses these
capacit ies , he or she wi ll be effective in working in a
multicul tural envi ronment.
As Edward T. Hall says in Beyond Culture :
Deep Cultural undercurrents structure
life in subtle but hig hly consis tent
ways that are not conscio usly
formulated . Lik e the invi si ble jet
streams in the skies that deter mine the
course of a storm, these hid den currents
shape our li ves ; yet their influ ence is
only begin nin g to be identifi ed .
We all demand the freedom to be ourselves , regardless
of cultural context. We all seek accepta nce and tolerance,
rather than dis crimin ation and prejudice . Becoming more
culturally sensiti ve fosters a li ving envi ronment in whic h
internal digni ty , as well as equit y of treatment, can
coexist . Thus , it is so essential for us learn to make
path ways that break through traditi onal barrier s between
peoples of differ ent cultures, to take care of human needs
on a transnational basis , to develop new mark ets and services
that contribute to a more pluralistic and polycul tural
society .
250
Appendix I
N = 20
r == 19
QUESTIONN AIRE
I) General Considerat ion s :
1. How many ti mes have you been to China for the pur pose of
busi ness?
2. How long have you been do ing busi ness with China ?
3. Why did you or your fir m beco me interested in China ?
4. How did you or your fir m establish ini ti al contact with
the organi zatio n in China wi th whom you are or wi ll be
engaged in busin ess?
introductio n through China embassy in the U. S.
in troductio n through the U.S . embassy in China
int roductio n thro ugh other trade li aiso n
int roduction through the Chinese scholars or
students in the u. s.
trade or tech fair
hir ed consultant
direct Chinese solic itatio n of your fir m
the Chinese delegatio ns in the U.S.
other : - -- -----
-
--- -- --
-
-- - --- ----
5. Do you have a clear idea of the purpose of you r tri p or
assignm ent?
*
from a professio nal perspective ?
*
from a perso nal perspe ctive ?
6. What concerns you most about doin g busi ness in the
Chinese culture?
7. What concerns you least about doing busi ness in the
Chinese culture?
8. How do you cope wi th these concerns?
9. Do you know the names and respo ns ibil ities of the
perso ns you wi ll be meeti ng?
251
10 . Wi ll those persons be able to make the decis io ns relate d
to the purpose of your busi ness in China ?
11 . What do you know of their background?
II) EXP ectatio ns :
12 . What do you remember from your tri p that was di fferent
from what you expect ed?
13 . Describe what you remember on your last trip whic h you
exp ecte d to be di fferent from here , but whic h turned out
to be just the same .
14 . What do you expect you should know about the Chinese
culture in whic h you wi ll be a "foreig ner"?
15 . What topic s of conversatio ns do you exp ect?
* commerci al?
* personal?
16 . What topics of conversatio ns do you expect to be
unaccepta ble?
* comm ercial ?
* person al?
17 . What do you exp ect about the Chin ese peo ple's attitudes
tow ard you ?
18 . Do you antic ipate some possi ble mi scommunicatio n
problems?
19 . What do you exp ect to achieve durin g your trip there?
What is your priorit y? (Check out one. )
* To get the job done . (Such as : obtaini ng a contract or
an order, developing a new client and so on.)
* To establish long
-
ter m working relationshi p .
* Other
252
III) Perceptio ns ;
20 . Do you feel li ked or disl iked?
21. Have you ever felt fr ustrated? What is your frustration?
What element frustrates you most? (Such as : language
problem, food , either ti ght or dis organi zed schedule and
so on.)
22 . If you have experienced culture shock, do you know the
symptoms ?
23 . What is your attitude toward the people ther e ? Do you
feel superior? Inferior? Like them? Disl ik e them? Or
other wi se?
24 . When you disco ver certain Chinese busi ness practic e is
differ ent from yours , how do you respond to the
di fferences you have observed? Wi ll you adopt it or
change it? Why ?
25 . How do you assess your interperso nal relatio ns with your
Chinese partner(s) ? Is it fri endly, cooperat ive ,
confus ing , or di ffic ult, ... ?
IV ) Co mmu nic ation :
26 . Do you feel that there is commu ni catio n, in general ,
between you and your Chinese counter part? If not, why
not?
27 . Is there any wri tten co mmu nicatio n between you and you r
Chinese counter part?
28 . Are you aware of you r own non verbal co mmunic ation
behaviors ?
253
29 . Do you think the Chinese wi ll understand those nonverbal
communicatio n? Any example?
30 . Are there any nonverbal beh avi or patter ns you use whic h
might be consid ered offensive to the Chin ese?
31. Have you observed the Chinese non verbal comm unication?
Do you understa nd it?
V) Values and Customs :
32 . Based on your observation , what are the most im porta nt
elements needed to be successful in interacting with the
Chin ese?
33 . What are some dominant Chin ese busi ness values? How do
you comprehend with them? Do you agree or di sagree with
them on the basis of your cultural background?
34 . What deter mines whether you succeed or fai l?
35 . What is your opinion on gi ving and receiving gifts ?
36 . Are you exp ecte d to be early (how early) , on ti me , or
late (how late) for a meeting or a din ner in China?
37 . When you retur n home, wi ll you have chan ged? How would
you li ke to change yourself?
Appendix II
A Brief Description of the Author
as the Participant Observer
25 4
The author of this diss ertation was born in Mai nland
China . She grew up in an elite , economi cally comfortable
family . When she was at elementary school and later at
mid dl e school , she was always the top student in her class.
She enjoyed a great variet y of readin g and partic ipatio n in
school activ ities such as drama , perform ance and student
government . She earned a large number of awards and praise
from her teachers . She had a very happy chi ldhood until the
Cultural Revolutio n started in 1966 .
Suddenly, her family was looted and all of their property
was taken. Both of her parents were denounced as trai tors
of the commu nist revolutio n and as supporters of capitalis m.
Both were sent to a Red Guard pri son and they were separate d
from each other . Nei ghbors and former frie nds refused to
help her and even spat at her and called her names . At age
15 she was responsible for feeding and caring for herself and
her 13 year old brother . She was beaten many ti mes . She
felt her li fe had fallen from Heaven to Hell .
A couple of years later, she was sent to the countrys id e
to li ve with peasa nts in a commu ne . This commune was very
poor and locate d in a remote mountain area. She learned to
farm , rai se pigs , and how to survive . Despite the
255
deprivatio n, she found the peasa nt people cared for one
anoth er . She often thought she would li ke to work hard to
improve the li ving condi tio ns of these si mple people.
Durin g this period she never stopped reading books . She
brought as many books as she could wit h her to the
countrysid e . Some of these books were already banned in
China , for example both Shakespear e and Di ckens were
forbid den . In additio n, Russi an li terature and classical
Chi nese poetry were also bann ed . She read at night , by the
li ght of a sma ll oil lamp. The peasants made fun of her for
they knew she had worked hard all day and they thought the
nig ht ti me was a ti me for rest, not reading .
In 1972 , Mao Tse- tung deci ded to restore hig her
education. She was selecte d to return to Beij in g and to
attend Beij in g Teacher' s College . Thi s was still du rin g the
Cultural Revolutio n . Throughout this perio d , ther e was
continuous ferment in the governm ent and continuous purges
of intellectuals and professio nals. It was a dangerous ti me
to be a scholar . In reality, there was li ttle formal
education. Classes were often suspe nded and students spent
their ti me in politic al disc ussio ns or on special
assig nmen ts . Still , she found ti me to educate herself and
she worked hard to read as widely as she could.
At age 21, she decided she would study English . She
found that Chinese newspa pers reported that the Western world
256
was hig hly developed but also very corrupt and evil . She
couldn' t understand how a socie ty reputed to have evi l ideas
and phi losophy could prosper and develop hi gh tec hnology .
She wanted to solve this puzzle . She recognized that the
news was censored and carefully selected by the Governme nt .
She determined that the only way to learn the truth about the
world outside was to study English .
Studying Englis h at this ti me was very dangerous . She
convin ced a professor to loan her books and language tap es .
She ri sked being denounced and imprisoned for studying the
"language of imperi alis m." Also during this perio d in
College, students were periodi cally sent to factories to
assist the workers . She was sent to a printing house and
once sent to receive mi li tar y trai ning . She learned to
wi thstand both the boredom of a production li ne and of target
practice .
After she graduated from Beij in g Teacher's College , she
was assigned to teach English in the Foreign Language
Institution . She held this post for ei ght years . This was
her fi rst oppo rtunity to make frie nds with native spea kers
of Englis h . These native speakers were visit ing exp erts and
scholars invited by the Chinese Government to teach, but only
pure Englis h language . These scholars were not invi ted to
teach any cultural concepts. She made frie nds from the
United States, England, New Zealand , Australia and Canada.
257
She was infl uenced by her foreig n frie nds and the ideas they
disc ussed with her. She took a great risk in making fri ends
with these peo ple and she often had to invent excuses to
vi sit these peo ple at their hotels or apartment s. It was
even dangerous for her to ser ve as their interpreter.
These vi sitor s to China also shared video tapes of movies
and music als such as My Fair Lady , Gone With the Wind , Roots,
Prid e and Prejudice , Ol ive r Twist , A Tale of Two Cities and
The Sound of Mus ic . These fi lms and the discussio ns wi th the
vi si tors from the Western World opened a huge wi ndow in her
mind . She found that the world was so large and that people
had very di fferent ways of thinkin g .
This exp eri ence led her to further questions about
Chinese pedagogy . In partic ular, she felt compelled to
challenge the notion of Chinese superior i ty and prove that
the "Chinese Way " was not the only way to do things .
In 198 3 , she was assig ned to teach English to law
students at the Chinese Universit y of Politic al Science and
Law. She found that students paid a great deal of atte ntion
to grammar and structure but li ttle to listenin g and
speaking . The students could not commu nicate. She undertook
a reform of the method of teaching Engl ish in this
Univ ersit y .
In 1985, a legal delegati on arrived from the Uni ted
States, invited by the Mini stry of Justice . The delegati on
258
was compri sed of professors from some of the top law schools
such as Harvard, Berkeley , Stanford , and U.S.C. . She beca me
acquainted with the Dean of U.S.C. law school . It was this
serendipito us meeting that prese nted her with an opp ortunit y
to attend the Univ ersit y of Souther n Calif ornia at the Law
Center.
In January of 19 86 , she began her legal study at the
U.S. C. Law Center. She was enrolled in a Master of Law
progr am desig ned for foreig n scholars to obtain an overview
of the u.S. legal system and to u.S. legal analytic al
philosophy. She completed thi s degree in one year and
immed iately began a period of practical train ing by worki ng
in the Public Defender's Office of Los Angeles County.
In August of 1987, she was enrolled in the International
Business Educatio n and Research ( "IBEAR" )
school of Busi ness Admini stratio n . The
program in the
IBEAR program
requir ed her to take courses in subjects such as :
accountin g , marketing , managem ent, fi nance, organiz ational
beha vi or , decis io n making sys tems , statistic s , etc. She
earned an MBA degree in July of 19 88 .
Imm ediat ely she began her studies at the School of Public
Administr atio n . She wanted to pursue a doctorate degree and
to co nduct fi eldwork research concerni ng cross- cul tural
interchange.
259
She also has a vis ion of her future . She sees herself
as a bridge between the people of the Unit ed States and
China . Because one cannot conduct any activity in China
wi thout government partici patio n , she partic ularly wanted to
study the li terature and theor y of Public Admin istration .
During her graduate educatio n, she had to supp ort myself .
She held several positio ns within an international law firm.
She began as a si mple paralegal workin g at a large document
center organiz ing documents in volvin g an internati onal
manufacturer and product li abilit y clai ms . Later, she was
asked to work on many differ ent types of cases. She devoted
several years to assist ing in an antitrust and breach of
contract action involving international busi ness. Her
current posit io n is as Chinese busi ness consultant and she
pla ys a much more auton omous role in helping to shape and
facilit ate international business.
No si mple descri ption can accurately capture every
formati ve and cultural experience whic h pla yed a part in
shaping her lens of my thology . She has presented the facts
that she beli eves to be central to her own perspective .
260
REFERENCES
Adl er, P. , and Alder, P.A . 1987 . Me mbership roles in field
researc h . Beverly Hi lls , Califo rnia : Sage .
Agar, M. H. 1986 . Speaking of et hnog raphy . Beverly Hi lls ,
Calif ornia : Sage.
Al theide , D.L.
Cali fornia :
Al theide , D.L.
California :
19 76 .
Sage .
19 85 .
Sage .
Creating reality. Beverly Hi lls ,
Media pow er. Beverly Hills ,
Axl ey , S.R. "Ma nagerial and Organizatio nal Commun icat io n in
Terms of the Conduit Meta phor . " Ac adem y of Manag ement
Revi ew. 19 84 , pp . 428- 437.
Baron, R.A. , and Byrne , D. 1981. Social psyc hology:
understanding human interact ion . Boston: Allyn and
Bacon .
Bateson , G. , and Ruesch, J. 1951 . Communi catio n : the
social matrix of societ y. New York : Norton .
Bellah , R.N. , Madsen, R. , Sull ivan , W.M. , Swidl er, A. and
Trip ton , S.M. 1985 . Habi ts of the heart. Berkeley :
Universit y of Calif ornia Press.
Blair, J.G. 19 75 . There is a differe nce: twelve
intercultural pers pectives . Washington , D.C. : Merid ian
House .
Blumer, H. 1969 .
Cliffs , N.J. :
Symb olic in ter act ioni sm. Englewood
Prenti ce-Hall .
Blumer, H. 1962 . Societ y as symb olic in ter action . Boston :
Houghton Mi ffli n Company.
Brislin, R.W. , and Pedersen, P.B.
orien tati on progra ms . New York :
1976 . Cross - cultural
Gardner Press, Inc .
Brown , I.e. 1974 .
Cliffs , N.J. :
Understanding other cultures.
Prentice-Hall .
Englewood
Bruyn , S. T. 1963 . The me thodology of participan t
observation . Ithaca, New York : Soci ety for Applied
Anthropol ogy .
261
Burke , C.G. , and Stewart, K. "The driv ers of
organiz atio nal beha vior and culture." Workin g Paper of
Universit y of Souther n Califo rnia . 1992 .
Campbell , J. 1988 . The power of myth . New York : Doubleday .
Chartier , M.R. 19 84 . Fi ve com ponents contributing to
effective interpersonal communi cation . La Jolla ,
Cali fornia : Unive rsity Associates.
Cheni tz, W. C. , and Swanson, J.M. 19 86 . From practice to
grounded theor y. Menlo Park/ Califo rnia : Addiso n
Wesley.
Cohen, P.S. 19 69 . "Theories of myth." Man . New York :
McGraw-Hill .
Denzi n , N.K. 1978 . The Researc h act. New York : McGraw
Hill .
Denzin 1 N.K. 19 84 . On understanding emo ti on . San
Francisco : Jessey - Bass Publi shers.
Dexter/ L.A .
Evanston :
1970 . Elite and specialized interv i ew ing.
North wester n Unive rsit y Press .
DiStefano, J.J. 1972 . A conce ptual framew ork for
understanding cross cultural management problems .
London, Ontario: Unpubli shed Class Disc uss io n Notes.
Douglas , J.D. 1985 . Creative interviewing. Newbury Park1
Califor nia : Sage .
Douglas / J.D. 1980 . In troduction to the sociol ogies of
every day life . Boston : Allyn & Bacon .
Dressler, w. W.
commun it y."
pp . 211-220 .
"The stress process in a souther n black
Human Org ani zati on . 46 (3) . 1987 .
Fenno, R.F. , Jr . 1990 . Watc hing politi cans - essays on
participant observati on . Unive rsit y of Califo rnia at
Berkeley : IGS Press .
Fi sher/ G. 1980 . In ternational neg otiation: a cross
cul tural pers pective. Chi cago : Inter natio nal Press .
262
Flack , M.J. "Commun ic able and uncommun ic able aspects in
perso nal internatio nal relations." Jo urnal of
Commu ni cation . 1966 . Volume 16 , pp. 283 -290 .
Galli meier, C.P. "Putting on the game face. " Sociology of
Sport Journal . April , 1987 . pp. 347- 362 .
Gudykunst, W.B. , and Toomey , S.T. 19 85 .
cul ture, and organizati o nal processes.
Califo rnia : Sage Public atio ns .
Comm unication,
Beverly Hil ls,
Gudykunst, W.B. 1983 . In tercultural co mmuni cati on theory :
cur rent perspecti ves . Beverly Hi lls , Califo rnia : Sage
Public ations .
Hagerty , B. "Trainers help expatriate employees build
brid ges to dif ferent cultures." The Wall Street Journal.
June 14 , 1993 B1 .
Hall , E.T.
York :
Hall, E.T.
York :
1969 . The hi dden dimension .
Anchor Press/ Doubleday .
1973 . The silent la nguage.
Doubleday .
Garden City, New
Garden City, New
Hall, E.T. 1977 . Beyond culture. Garden City, New York:
Anchor Press/Doub leday .
Hamilt on, G.G. "Patriarchalis m in Imperial China and Western
Europe: a revis io n of Weber' s sociology of domin ation."
Theo� and 8o c
ie�. Volume 13 . 19 84 . pp . 393 -425 .
Harper, R. G. , Wiens , A. N. ,
Nonver bal co mmuni cati on :
York : Wile y .
and Matarz zo , J.D. 1978 .
the state of the art. New
Harris , M. 1974 .
of culture.
Cows, pigs, wars and wi tches: the riddles
New York : Vintage Books , Random House .
Harri s, P.R. 1983 . New worl ds, new ways , new managemen t:
metaindustrial orga ni zations and cul ture. New York :
AMACOM .
Hei l, J. 1983 . Perce ptio n and cogni ti on . Berkeley :
Univ ersit y of Calif ornia Press .
Hellrie gel , D. , Slocum , J.W. , and Woodman, R.W. 1986 .
Orga ni zational behavior. St . Paul , MN: West Pub li shing
Company.
Hockey, J. 1986 . Squaddi es. Ester: Wheaton .
263
Jaspars, J. , and Fincham, F.D. 1983 . At tribu tion theozy and
research: conce ptual , dev elo pmental and social
dimensi ons. London: Academic Press .
Johnson , J .M. 1975 . Doing fi eld research . New York: Free
Press .
Junker, B.H. 1960 .
social sciences .
Field work : an in troductio n to the
Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
Kelley, H.H.
behavior.
1972 . Attribu tion :
Morristo wn, N.J. :
Perceiving the causes of
General Learning Press.
Kleinma n, S. 19 84 . Equal s before God. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press .
Kluck hohn, F. "The participant - observer technique in sma ll
comm unities. " Ameri can Journal of Sociology. November,
1980 . Volume 46 , pp . 320-331 .
Kluckhohn , F.R. and Strodtbeck , F.L. 1961.
value ori enta tions . Evanston, Ill inois :
and Company.
Variations in
Row, Peterson
Kraemer, A.J. "A cultural self awareness approach to
improving intercultural co mmu nication skills." HDNRRO
Professional Paper. March 19 73 . pp . 5-73.
Krieger, S. "Beyond subj ectivity." Qualitative Sociol ogy.
August, 1985 . pp . 309-324 .
Latour, B. , and Woolgar, s. 1979 . Labora tozy life . Beverly
Hills , California : Sage .
Lewis , C.S. 1945 . Medi ta tion in a toolshed . (Other
info rma tion is not available.}
Li , J. "Functions of law. " Studies of Ch inese Communi sm .
Beij ing, China: People's Press. July, 1988 . pp. 19-23 .
Linthicum, L. 1988 . "Negotiating with Chinese (PRC)
gove rnm ent agencies and business . " Paper presented at
the Speech Commu nication Association Conv ention, San
Antonio. November, 1988 . pp. 1-8.
Lu , X. 1935 . "A madman's diary. " Sel ected Stories of Lu.
KYn· Beij ing, China: Foreig n Languag es Press .
Lyman, S.M. , and Scott , M.B. 1975 .
reality. New York: Oxford.
264
The drama of social
Lynch, M. 1985 . Ar t and artifact in laborato� science.
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
Mandell , N. "The least - adult role in studying children."
Journal of Cont e.mPorazy Ethnography . 16 (4) . 1988 . pp .
433 -467 .
Mao , T-T. "On the peo ple's democr actic dictatorship."
(Address in Commem oratio n of the 28th Anniversary of
Chinese Comm unist Party.) JMJP : July 1, 1949 .
Mead, G.H. 1934 . Mind, self and society. Ch
i
cago:
Un
i
versity of Chicago Press .
Mitchell, T.R. , Green, S.G. , and Wood, R.E. "An attr
i
bution
model of leadership and the poor performing subord inate. "
Research in Organi za tional Behavi or . March 1981, pp.197-
234 .
Morris , D. 1978 . Manw a tc hing: a fi eld guide to human
behavior. London, England : Jonathan Cape.
Munz , P. 1985 . Our know led ge of the gro wth of know led ge .
London, Boston , Melbourne and Henley: Ro utledge &
Kegan Paul .
Newman , W.H. 1972 . Cultural assumpt ions underlying u. s.
managemen t conce pts. New York: Harper and Row .
Otterbein, K.F. 19 77 . Compara ti v e cul tural analysi s. San
Francisc o : Holt, Rinehart and W
i
nsto n .
Parsons, T. 1977 . The evolution of societies . Englewood
Cl iffs , N.J. : Prentice Hall .
Peirce , c.s. 1963 . Collected pa pers of Charles Sanders
Peirce. Volumes 7 and 8. Cambrid ge, Mass : Harward
Un
i
versity Press .
Peng, z. "Understanding new constitut
i
on . " Peo :vl e' s Daily.
August 30 , 1983 .
Pop per, K. 1972 . Objective know l edge. Oxford .
Pye , L. 19 82 . Chinese commer cial negotia ti on st yle.
Cambridge , Mass : Oelgeschlag er, Gunn, and Hein .
265
Rhine smith, S.H. 19 71 . Cul tural organi zational analysis.
Cambrid ge, Mass : McBer and Company.
Roke ach, M. 1973 . The na ture of human values . New York:
The Free Press .
Ruhly , S. 1976 . Ori entations to in tercultural
communi cation . Chicago, Illinois: Scie nce Research
Associates, Inc .
Samovar, L.A. and Porter, R. B. 19 7 6. In tercul tural
communi cation : a reader . Belmont , California:
Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc .
Sanders, C.R. "Marks of mischief." Journal of Con te.m,pora z::y
Ethnog rap hy . 16 (4) . 1988 . pp . 433 -467.
Schein, B.H. 1987 . Organi za ti onal culture and leadership.
San Francisco : Jessey-Bass Publisher s .
Schutz, A. 1967 . The phenomenology of the social wor ld.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
Slater, P. 1970 . The pursui t of loneliness . Boston, Mass :
Beaco n Press .
Smith, C.D. , and Korn blum, W. 1989 . In the fi eld. New
York: Praeger Publishers.
Smith, B . C. and Luce, L. B. ( eds . )
in ternationalism: readings in
communi cations . Rowley, Massach usetts :
Publishers.
Spielbergen, C.D. , and Guerrero, R.D. (ed. )
cultur al anxiety . New York: Wiley .
1979 . Toward
cross-cul tural
Newbury House,
1976 . Cross-
Spradley, J. 1980 . Parti cipant observation. New York:
Holt , Rin ehart & Winsto n .
Stewart , B.C. 1977 . Ameri can cultural patterns . Washingto n ,
D. C . : Society for Intercul tural Educa tion, Training and
Research .
Stogdill , R.M.
leadership:
Psychology.
"Perso nnel factors associa ted wi th
a survey of the li tera ture . " Journal of
January 19 84 . pp. 35-71.
Sudnow, D. 1978 . Ways of the hand. New York: Knopf .
Sun , J. Y. "Understanding the party' s policy.
11
Legal
Studies. December, 1989 . pp . 13-1 9 .
266
Szilagyi , A.D. , and Wallace , M.J. 1990. Organizatio nal
behavior and performan ce . Ill inois : Scott , Foresman and
Company .
Triandis , H. C. 1975 .
learning . New York :
Cross - cul tural pers pectives on
John Wiley and Sons .
Tung , P. W. "Modernization and legal devel opment." Legal
S,tud ies. Decemb er, 1989 . pp . 22 -25 .
Wang , F. "Always follow the party policy. " Peo 12l e' s Daily.
April 30, 1987 .
Warner , W. L. , and Lunt , P.S . 1941 . The social life of a
modern commu ni ty. New Haven : Yale University Press .
White , L. 198 2 . The science of cul ture : a stud y of man and
civilization. New York : Doubleday .
Whyte , W. F. 19 55 . Street cor ner society. Chicago :
University of Chicago Press .
Williams , D.D.
Francisco :
1986 . Na tural istic
Jossey-Bass .
ev aluation. San
Zhang , H. "Justice in the USSR. " Studi es of Chinese
Commu ni sm. Beij ing , China : People' s Press . July, 1987 .
pp . 6-10.
Znaniecki , F. 1934 . The method of sociolo gy. New York :
Holt , Rinehart & Wins ton , Inc .

Asset Metadata

Creator Mu, Dan Ping (author)

Core Title Managing cross-cultural interchange: interpreting behavior for mutual understanding, the case of China and the United States

Contributor Digitized by Interlibrary Loan Department (provenance)

School School of Public Administration

Degree Doctor of Public Administration

Degree Program Public Administration

Defense Date 12/01/1993

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-272076

Unique identifier UC11295093

Identifier etd-mudanping-264348.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-272076 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-mudanping-264348.pdf

Dmrecord 272076

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Mu, Dan Ping

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses