Master of Arts ThesisEurocultureUniversity of Groningen (home)University of Uppsala (host)Intercultural Business Communication A Comparison of China and SwedenSubmitted by: Yuanyuan GuoDate: August, 2017Student number: 2930641 (Groningen)Student number: 930201-T268 (Uppsala)Contact details (email): [email protected] by:Supervisor (Groningen): Jan van der Harst ,Department of International Relations ([email protected])Supervisor (Uppsala): Hang Kei Ho,Department of Social and Economic Geography ([email protected])MA Programme EurocultureDeclarationI, Yuanyuan Guo hereby declare that this thesis, entitled Intercultural BusinessCommunication A Comparison of China and Sweden, submitted as partialrequirement for the MA Programme Euroculture, is my own original work andexpressed in my own words. Any use made within this text of works of other authors inany form (e.g. ideas, figures, texts, tables, etc.) are properly acknowledged in the text aswell as in the bibliography.I declare that the written (printed and bound) and the electronic copy of the submittedMA thesis are identical.I hereby also acknowledge that I was informed about the regulations pertaining to theassessment of the MA thesis Euroculture and about the general completion rules for theMaster of Arts Programme Euroculture.Signed Yuanyuan GUODate 2017/8/20Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction .. 2Chapter 2: Literature Review . 42.1 Culture 42.2 Intercultural Business Communication . 7Chapter 3: Research Frameworks . 93.1 Geert Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions . 93.1.1 Power Distance Index (PDI) 103.1.2 Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV) . 103.1.3 Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS) 113.1.4 Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) .113.1.5 Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation (LTO) .. 123.1.6 Indulgence versus Restraint (IND) .. 123.2 Edward T. Halls (1976) Theory of Low-context and High-context Cultures 13Chapter 4: Research Methodology 154.1 Research Design . 154.2 Research Participants .. 174.3 Research Procedure .. 19Chapter 5: Interview Data .. 205.1 Background Questions 205.2Regarding Hofstedes Cultural Dimension Theory .. 305.2.1 Power Distance Index (PDI) 305.2.2 Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV) . 335.2.3 Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS) .. 375.2.4 Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) 415.2.5 Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation (LTO) .. 425.2.6 Indulgence versus Restraint (IND) .. 455.3Regarding Halls High-context Culture and Low-context Culture Theory .. 491Chapter 6: Analysis 526.1 Framework Predictions .. 526.1.1 Cultural dimensions: Power Distance Index .. 526.1.2 Cultural Dimensions: Individualism versus Collectivism 536.1.3 Cultural Dimensions: Masculinity versus Femininity 536.1.4 Cultural Dimensions: Uncertainty Avoidance Index .. 546.1.5 Cultural Dimensions: Long Term Orientation versus Short Term NormativeOrientation 546.1.6 Cultural Dimensions: Indulgence versus Restraint . 556.1.7 High-context Culture and Low-context Culture 566.2 Data Analysis .. 576.2.1 Power Distance in Intercultural Business Communication . 576.2.2 Individualism versus Collectivism in Intercultural Business Communication 586.2.3 Masculinity versus Femininity in Intercultural Business Communication . 606.2.4 Uncertainty Avoidance Index in Intercultural Business Communication 616.2.5 Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation inIntercultural Business Communication . 626.2.6 Indulgence versus Restraint in Intercultural Business Communication 636.2.7 Low-context and High-context Culture in Intercultural BusinessCommunication . 646.3 Discussion . 64Chapter 7 Conclusion .. 68References . 702Chapter 1: IntroductionWith increased economic globalization, creating and maintaining business connectionswith the other side of the world has become an inevitable necessity for growth andsurvival in todays competitive world. China entered the modern international businessscene with the Reform and Opening-up Policy that was introduced in 1978. Chinaseconomic growth since the economic reform has been very rapid. With its solid andactive economic foundation and development, China has been attracting foreigncompanies, experts and migrants, among whom, some are from Sweden. Sweden is thebiggest recipient of Chinese foreign direct investment in the Northern Europe.According to the Swedish embassy in China, China is Swedens biggest trading partnerin Asia. In 2015, Swedish total exports to China amounted to 45.2 million SEK, anincrease of 13.3% compared with the year before, and imports from China to Swedenamounted to 69.3 million SEK, an increase of 16% compared with the year before.There are around 10 000 Swedish companies who trade with China and more than 500Swedish companies who have a business presence in China. On the other side, as thebiggest market in Scandinavia, the startup capital of Europe with prolific scientificinfrastructure and innovative industrial clusters, Sweden has become a new destinationfor Chinese investors. For example, the Chinese car manufacture company Geelyaquired Volvo Cars in 2010 and launched China Euro Vehicle Technology (CEVT) inGothenburg, Sweden in 2013.(Business Sweden in China 2017, Swedish IndustrialCoporations in China-2015 Situation Report, n.d.) The mobility of people betweenChina and Sweden that is led by the active and close business interaction between thesetwo countries means that knowing how to communicate effectively with each other is ofgreat significance. All communication is intercultural(Tannen 1984). Edward T Hallsaid, people try to understand other cultures, but it does not mean that they have toabandon their own culture. Intercultural communication is an essential part of businesscommunication. Therefore, by studying the differences between China and Sweden in3business communication from a cultural perspective is beneficial in order to facilitatethe business interaction process and raise the efficiency in communicating with peoplefrom a different cultural background for businessmen. Identifying differences ismeaningful in order for people to increase their tolerance and openness to difference.The research question of this paper is to what extent, do China and Sweden differ inintercultural business communication from a cultural-dimensional andmessage-contextual point of view? Geert Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions and Edward.T. Halls Low-context and High-context Cultures are applied in this study to measurethe differences. Edward T. Hall claimed that in intercultural communication, personalexperience is valuable. Thus, interview data from 12 selected interviewees are analyzedaccordingly as empirical framework.In order to answer the research question, this thesis is structured according to thefollowing design. After introduction about the background of this research in chapterone, a review of what culture and intercultural business communication mean and entailis discussed in chapter two. In the chapter three, the two frameworks that are used inthis thesis are presented in detailed. Chapter four details the research methodology thatis employed in this thesis, where methodology adoption, research object selection andresearch procedure are included. The interview format is used as the main method ofresearch so as to acquire the latest information regarding peoples opinions of thedifferences between China and Sweden in intercultural business communication. Thenext two chapters are the main parts, research data presentation and discussion whereresearch question is answered systematically. Through comparing the interview resultsto the theoretical framework predictions, discussion is carried out to highlight theaccordant part and inconsonant part in order to provide an objective perspective forunderstanding the research result critically. The last part details the conclusion for thewhole thesis as well as limitations and further research.4Chapter 2: Literature Review2.1 CultureIt is not hard to understand (or infer for that matter) that China and Sweden have verydifferent cultures. Describing in a systematic way why and how the two cultures aredifferent is more difficult. If one conveniently looks at what one has personally seen andheard from friends, family and society there seems to be many things that are associatedwith what describes and determines culture. For instance, geography appears to be animportant descriptor of culture as one can see differences between neighborhoodswithin cities, differences between cities and differences between countries. And buildingupon this one can reason that cultural differences appear to be directly dependent ondistance. If one continues down this trail of thought, there seem to be many factors thathave a seemingly great impact on cultural development. For instance, historicalbackgrounds, languages, natural environments, climates, religion and political systems.Culture appears to be dynamic and changing slowly. Additionally, the formation anddevelopment of culture seems to require time. (Hampden-Turner and Fons 1997)For a long time academics have been researching what culture is and how to developmodels (both qualitative and quantitative) of what culture is or what certain aspects ofculture are. What is important to understand is that culture has long been a difficultconcept to academically define and for this reason there are many definitions. A goodexample to illustrate is by looking at what has been published as far back as to a studyperformed in 1952 by the American anthropologist Kroeber and Kluckhohn who found164 different academic definitions of what culture is at that specific point in time.(Avruch 1998)5This thesis will however not review all of the different definitions models of culture, butinstead focus on two specific models that focus on cross-cultural communication:Edward T. Halls concepts of context as a relativistic metric of culture and GeertHofstedes framework for cross-cultural communication. But before getting into thosemodels we should explore what culture is in a broader academic perspective by lookingcloser at some definitions.Donald Klopf, who is known for his book titled Intercultural Encounters: TheFundamentals of Intercultural Communication from 1991, defined culture as that partof the environment made by humans. (Klopf 1991) What he means is that we expressour culture by how we affect the environment, the architecture of our buildings and howwe plan our infrastructure and other tangible aspects of our society, as well as by howwe decorate our surroundings.In James Banks and Cherry McGee Banks book Multicultural Education: Issues andPerspectives, they explain that most social scientists today view culture as consistingprimarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies. Theessence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but howthe members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols,interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernizedsocieties; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. Peoplewithin a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in thesame or in similar ways.(Banks and Banks 2009)In the book Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation across Cultures by JohnPaul Lederach, he defines culture as the shared knowledge and schemes created by aset of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the socialrealities around them. (Lederach 1995)6In his book Cultures consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, andOrganizations Across Nations, Geert Hofstede defines culture as the collectiveprogramming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category ofpeople from others. (Hofstede 1980) Hofstede has formulated this definition after hisinductive study of 76 countries and regions thus covering a large population of differentnational and cultural groups. Hofstedes framework will be reviewed in depth later on inthis thesis. Hofstede believes that culture can be only used meaningfully by comparison.Under comparison, culture becomes more accurate. One cannot simply state thatChinese are implicit in their expressions because one can, for instance, state thatJapanese are more implicit than Chinese and neither statement gives the necessaryinformation for a meaningful comparison. Culture cannot simply be understood in full ifcontext is not also taken into consideration either. (Rogers 2004) The values andpatterns in human societies can be influenced by culture and vice versa. Culture enableshuman to know themselves better and their behaviors more clearly, which includesbehaviors at work or in business. Hofstede stated that culture could be differentiated asnational culture and organizational culture. This division has similarities in studyingcultural issues, but under different contexts. Organizational culture theory is conductedcommonly among different organizations within one single country. It is influenced bynational culture, which is under a much wider context. (Hofstede 1980) In this study,although business communication seems more connected with organizational culture;two countries, China and Sweden, are involved in this research. In addition, it will beproved later that business culture between two countries is not limited to theorganizational context. Business goes on outside of organizations as well, which meansnational culture theory is more accurate in this study.In the book The Silent Language, the social anthropologist Robert Hall writes thatculture is a word that has so many meanings already that one more can do it to harm.7In the book he talks about what culture is and what culture is not a lot but in the end helands at the definition: Culture is communication and communication is culture. (Hall1959)2.2 Intercultural Business CommunicationEverett Rogers and Thomas Steinfatt defined intercultural communication as theexchange of information between individuals who are unalike culturally. (Rogers2004) Intercultural business communication refers to the communication that arisesduring the process of business interactions among different culture groups. This processcould be formed by people who conduct business coming from other cultures or theexportation of business to other cultures. Intercultural business focuses oncommunication rather than differences since communication could bring peopletogether, which relates to cultures, systems, values and languages. Businesscommunication is the sharing of information between people within and outside theorganization that is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. It can alsobe defined as rela
ying of information within a business by its people. (Fernández-Souto,Gestal, and Pesqueira 2015)The relations among cultures, business and communication explain the significance ofstudying them as a whole, which is intercultural business communication. Withoutcommunication, business will not exist. Every business has several culturalcharacteristics. Wherever there is communication, there is culture. (Fernández-Souto,Gestal, and Pesqueira 2015) Intercultural business communication study offersstrategies for overcoming difficulties in international business and enables businesspeople to communication more efficiently and smoothly. (Gibson 2005)8I would like to argue that intercultural business communication is a sub-field ofintercultural communication as a whole because the business part is only theapplication of the academic study for the purpose of business. Therefore, frameworksfor the field as a whole are also applicable for the intercultural business communication.Furthermore, in this thesis intercultural communication and cross-culturalcommunication will be treated as two different (but related) topics. What separates themis the definition which is the same as the definitions that William Gundykunstformulated in his book Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication:Cross-cultural communication involves comparisons of communication across cultures.Intercultural communication involves communication between people from differentcultures. (Gudykunst 2003)Relevant for this thesis is the theory of intercultural communication. In this field thereare two researchers which appear frequently in the literature: Edward Hall and GeertHofstede. (S. Liu, Zala, and Gallois 2014) Edward Hall is seen by some as the founderof modern intercultural communication studies and the Foreign Service Institute whereHall did a lot of his early work, is also seen as the starting place for modern interculturalcommunication studies. (Rogers 2004) In the latest decades Geert Hofstedes researchhas gained a lot of influence in the intercultural communication field of study. WhileEdward Halls work focuses on communication, Hofstedes work focuses onfundamental descriptors for culture which enables understanding and comparingdifferent cultures.9Chapter 3: Research FrameworksAs mentioned earlier, this thesis will use the frameworks of Geert Hofstedes CulturalDimensions and Edward T. Halls High-context and Low-context metrics for culture.Hofstedes framework will provide an understanding for what to expect with regards tocultural differences between China and Sweden. It will also aid in identifying if Swedenand China are low- or high-context cultures. The theory should be able to predict thingswhich we then later can check against observations.3.1 Geert Hofstedes Cultural DimensionsGert Hofstede has conducted a very large scale study, both in terms of sample size andspan of time, to develop the model that he is known for. Hofstede began his worktogether with Geert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov and their respective research teamsduring the 1980s and has during the last 30 years and managed to study 76 differentcountries for the development of this framework. The study began at IBM with the aimto find out how culture influences values in the workplace at the national level. Fromthe vast data that has been collected, Hofstede has been able to statistically findfundamental descriptors of culture which he has decided to call Cultural Dimensions.The model contains 6 different dimension of national culture:Power Distance Index (PDI)Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation (LTO)Indulgence versus Restraint (IND)10Out of these 6 dimensions, only Power Distance Index, Individualism versusCollectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance Indexwere originally included in the model until recently when Long Term Orientationversus Short Term Normative Orientation was first added and then Indulgence versusRestraint was added as late as 2010. Hofstede has said that the cultural dimensionmodel is continuously reviewed as data comes in and if the data requires, the model willbe updated in order for it properly due to the complexity and dynamics of culture. Thissuggests that even more dimensions may be added in the future. Each dimension isrepresented through a scoring system where 0 is lowest value and 100 is the highestvalue. This system allows for comparisons to be made between countries. (Hofstede2005)3.1.1 Power Distance Index (PDI)The power distance index is a cultural dimension that expresses the extent to which theless powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect andaccept that power is distributed unequally. Humans have for a very long time hadsocieties in which very few individuals have had the power to control society. TheAbrahamic religious texts mentions kings (i.e. King Solomon) and common historybooks feature kings of ancient Greek states, Roman emperors, kings of Europe andemperors of China. Today democratic civic systems are most common where themajority of the population is able to participate at different levels to affect how societyis govern and developed. To summarize, countries with a high power distance index arehierarchical and tend to centralize power.3.1.2 Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)The individualism versus collectivism index is a cultural dimension that expresses thedegree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. Simply put this11expresses the focus on individuals in a population or the population at large, or the Iand We mindset. Collectivistic tendencies are likely what many would see as socialtendencies where people prefer gatherings and collectives, the social framework is moreclosely connected and complex. On the other hand, personal space and privacy areassociated with individualistic tendencies. With collectivistic tendencies, individuals arenot encouraged to exclude themselves from all types of social circles. Instead, they tryto involve into more in-groups by building up more networks with family-like care.3.1.3 Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)The masculinity versus femininity index is a cultural dimension that expresses theextent of which society tends to lean with regards to stereotypical gender roles andvalues. By Hofstedes definition of this parameter, a masculine society is driven bycompetition, achievement and success while a feminine society emphasizes more on thequality of life and the balance between work and family in the context of business.Different value systems lead to different social cultures. A masculine society tends toseparate different genders into specific responsibilities and roles. It sets a limit todifferent genders image. For instance, men are considered more assertive and focusedon facts while women usually concentrate more on their emotional feelings. In opposite,differences between genders in a feminine society are not prominent and genderequality is expressed.3.1.4 Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)The uncertainty avoidance index is a measure for how a society copes with uncertaintyand ambiguity, which also may be viewed as a tolerance index for uncertainty andambiguity. Hofstede defined it as the extent to which the members of a culture feelthreatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs andinstitutions that try to avoid these. What is the attitude of the members of society12towards unpredictable future? An uncertainty avoiding society has developed systemsmechanisms in an attempt to control how the future develops or to try to reduce theuncertainty to the lowest possible level since uncertainty causes stress and anxiety. Inorder to avoid uncertainty in a business setting, employees may tend to serve the sameorganization and do the same job for a long time (low mobility) and feel adverse whenchange and difference occur. An uncertainty accepting society holds a more relaxedattitude towards uncertainty, which enables job-changing decision to be easier.3.1.5 Long Term Orientation versus Short Term NormativeOrientation (LTO)This dimension index explains how every society has to maintain some links with itsown past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future. A long termoriented society is very pragmatic while a short term society is perceived as normative.A pragmatic society holds a positive and open attitude towards changes and is prepared,to a reasonable degree, for volatility or changes in general. It also has an open (or liberal)view on traditions in order to achieve higher goals..3.1.6 Indulgence versus Restraint (IND)This cultural dimension is closely related to how people are raised. Hofstede definesthis metric as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses.Fundamentally, this dimension is a metric of the degree of control with regards toindulgence and restraint (viewed as polar opposites). Weakly-controlled, indulgentcultures have a preference for freedom and life of pleasure while strongly-controlledrestrained cultures typically has the life is hard view. Indulgent societies tend to havea higher demand for leisure time and more extraverted personalities. While restrainedsocieties is more likely to be strict in life so that pessimism and introverted personalitiesare commonly acknowledged.133.2 Edward T. Halls (1976) Theory of Low-context andHigh-context CulturesAnother well-known framework in intercultural communication is high-context cultureand low-context culture that was introduced by Edward T. Hall in his book BeyondCulture in 1976.(Hall 1976) Edward T. Hall argues culture can be described accordingto how important the context is in different occasions and how clear the messages areexpressed in communication. The high-context culture and low-context cultureframework only has two dimensions, however, it does not mean that one culture shouldbe classified into only one of them. All societies have parts that belong to bothhigh-context culture and low-context culture. In the environment where people movearound frequently, low-context culture comes into being gradually in order to make sureimmigrates integrate into the society more easily under the help of explicit instructionsand guidance. (Hooker 2008) On the other hand, low-context culture social environmentcontributes to population mobility as open, easily-acceptable and dynamic society arepreferred. Countries where people prefer stable living style, pursue long-term sense ofbelonging and do not move easily could lead to the development of high-contextculture.In high-context culture, contextual elements such as the tone of voice, gesture, facialexpressions, time and location are of great importance. Messages are not implicitlyconveyed. In high-context culture society, unspoken rules and unwritten information areacceptable by people. Representative countries of high-context culture are countries likeChina and Japan according to Halls study. (Hall 1976) In low-context culture, messagesare transmitted explicitly. Written rule with unambiguous language is appreciated. Ingeneral, the United States and Scandinavian countries have distinctive features in many14ways as a low-context culture society. Straightforward explanation and writteninstructions are preferred.15Chapter 4: Research Methodology4.1 Research DesignIn this thesis, in order to answer the research question with the aid of research data, aqualitative research approach is adopted. In qualitative research, an in-depthunderstanding about research data may be formed with exposure and practice of thelatest developments or updates in the academic field, which is to be exact, interculturalbusiness communication between China and Sweden from a cultural-dimensional andmessage-contextual point of view in this thesis. The primary tool for qualitativeresearch that will be employed in this thesis is interview. In addition, academicliteratures are selected to assist with analyzing interview data and answering theresearch question. Interpretation and perspectives from academic literature are used asan aid to make sense of the information that is gathered from interview so that properanalysis can be performed. Through interviews, researchers may have direct contactwith research participants and acquire how people perceive certain issues and whatinformation they get from their own experience.Three types of interviews are common in the field of social science studies. These arethe structured interview, semi-structured interview and the narrative interview.According to the characteristics of the research content in this study, semi-structuredface-to-face interview is selected. In semi-structured interviews, interviewers prepareoutlined questions appropriate and relevant for the main research question and researchgoals. However, interviewees answers are spontaneous and not led or suggested by theinterviewer, which enables more possibilities and unexpected answers and information,but most importantly minimizes any potential introduction of bias. Open-endedquestions are very likely to create a chance for interviewers to be inspired by the words16from interviewees and gain a new perspective to learn about the research topic.Semi-structured face-to-face interviews need interviewers to listen with all focus,interact with interviewees according to their answers and react immediately if it isnecessary to ask more questions or ask about some part in depth. As an importantmethod of collecting data in qualitative research, interviews quality significantlydepends on the questions that interviewers ask interviewees.Compared to other forms of conducting a semi-structured interview, face-to-faceinterview has its own advantages. Observation is commonly used as a complementarymethod during face-to-face interviews. From observing interviewees body language,tone, facial expressions, reactions to surroundings or people at the interview place,which are called social cues, a lot of unanticipated information could be revealed andbe compared with the answers that interviewees express in words. In face-to-faceinterviews, interviewees need to provide an answer within a short time after being askedby interviewees. Direct and instant answers, to some extent, reduce the possibility thatinterviewees make up an answer randomly in order to avoid risk. However, it isundeniable that experienced interviewees facing certain sensitive questions are preparedand intend to provide unreliable answers. (Opdenakker 2006)Voice recordings may be used as an aid in the semi-structured face-to-face interviewswith the permission of the interviewees. Since interviewers need to concentrate onlistening to and interacting with interviewees, it is not easy for them to take full notes orremember details at the same time. Voice recording could be transcribed into wordformat after interviews and then used in the research data analysis. It is also of greatimportance when the language used in the interview is different from the language inwhich the research report is written. For instance, in this research, some of theinterviews were conducted both in Chinese and English since the research topic isrelated to China and Chinese nationalities and at the same time, with Swedish17interviewees, the common language between interviewees and the interviewer isEnglish. Compared to telephone interviews or Email interview, face-to-face interviewsalso have disadvantages such as high cost of travelling to interview places and requiringmore time on making an appointment with interviewees and time spent on travelling.4.2 Research ParticipantsIn order to make sure that interviewees words, to a great extent, contribute to this studyand provide reliable information for answering the research question, the selection ofinterviewees are carefully designed. Qualified interview candidates for this thesis arepeople who were born and grew up in either China or Sweden, who speak eitherChinese or Swedish as their mother tongue and recognize Chinese culture or Swedishculture as their cultural identity, who have experience in doing business, living, workingin both China and Sweden for certain years, who have experience interacting withChinese and Swedish people and who could speak Chinese or English in the interviewsince the interviewer speaks Chinese and English.To pluck just one example: Person A who was born and grew up in China; speaksChinese as mother tongue and claims that Chinese culture is his/her cultural identity;worked and lived in Chinese company for many years and then moved to Sweden andworking in a Swedish company currently could be the qualified potential interviewees.Only people who could meet all the requirem