communication to be cultural

Huang (2010) defines all communication to be cultural as it reflects how we learned to speak and give nonverbal messages. He introduces cross cultural negotiation communication methods that go beyond the domestic business environment.

I would say first impressions also influence the course of negotiation. An appropriate greeting conveys a cordial business relationship as well as decision making styles of negotiators.

My question is how we can "customize" the way we greet each other when there exist many differences in greeting methods. Chinese and Koreans tend to greet each other asking personal questions like the place of residence, hometown, marital status, and age. But these questions are too personal for Westerns and some might even feel offended. Even if Chinese or Koreans ask these personal questions out of pure interest and to show friendliness, such greetings can be misunderstood. Business manners should go beyond cultural norms to facilitate uniform business practice especially in globalizing markets.

There are taboo topics for greetings according to standard business protocols that you should not ask personal questions until you get to know your business partners personally. And small talk topics such as religion, politics, sports (when taking a side or preferring a certain team), and controversial current issues should be avoided.  Preferred small topics, although they might sound very mundane, are weather, climate, trip, the food served, etc. The goal of first time greetings is to remain cordial and yet maintain business-like attitude with an effort to accommodate your partners and counterparts.

 

Reference:

Huang, Liangguang. (2010) ‘Cross-cultural Communication in Business Negotiations’,

International Journal of Economics & Finance, 2 (2), pp. 196-199 [Online]. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=51360800&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed 20 July 2010).