Fox Chris - Bridging the culture gap: a practical guide to international business communication

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

2nd edition

PENNY CART AND CHRIS FOX

Canning

London and Philadelphia

Publishers note

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or any of the authors.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2004 by Kogan Page Limited Second edition 2008

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:

120 Pentonville Road

London N1 9JN

United Kingdom

www.koganpage.com

525 South 4th Street, #241

Philadelphia PA 19147

USA

Penny Cart and Chris Fox, 2004, 2008

The right of Penny Cart and Chris Fox to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 978 0 7494 5274 2

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cart, Penny.

Bridging the culture gap : a practical guide to international business communication Penny Cart & Chris Fox. 2nd ed.

p. cn.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7494-5274-2

1. Business etiquette. 2. Intercultural communication. 3. Business communication. 4. National characteristics. I. Fox, Chris J., 1973- II. Title.

HF5389.C36 2008

395.5' 2dc22

2008011169

Typeset by Jean Cussons Typesetting, Diss, Norfolk

Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt, Ltd

Praise for Bridging the Culture Gap

Amazing how much practical value one can take from this book on the complex topic of communicating across culture. Clear proof that Canning can communicate sophisticated topics in a crisp, entertaining and highly meaningful way. The busy reader gets the key points on the fly ideal in-flight reading.

Dr Siegfried Schuetzinger, Head of PB Training, PBST, F. Hoffmann-La Roche

To work with Canning is to go on a stimulating journey. Their team of consultants has a wide range of cross-cultural experience. Their method is to make you learn by doing. Their debriefing sessions focus on business efficiency and are seasoned with just the right amount of British humour. Since the very beginning of the Alliance between Renault and Nissan, our partnership with Canning has contributed greatly to the success of our joint work.

Philippe Millon, Executive staff development and training, Renault

Canning offers tough and intensive training, but brilliant results. I believe this book will do the same thing for anyone looking for success in cross-cultural business.

Takashi Kashiwagi, Corporate Officer, Head of Sales, sanofi-aventis KK.

As an American who worked in Europe for three years in the early 2000s, and now working in Texas, I find Bridging the Culture Gap to be a practical guide for communicating and influencing across cultures. The authors use authentic and engaging anecdotes, which will help readers to understand their own culture, and others reactions to it in the context of everyday business.

Gary Kuusisto, Training Manager, Thomas Petroleum

Full of real-life examples and practical advice which reflects the experience and skills of its masterful but unpretentious authors.

Andreas Molck-Ude, Head of Africa and Middle East Division, Munich Re

Canning is a UK-based company whose expertise lies in communication. We help business and professional people from all over the world to communicate effectively with each other across linguistic and cultural barriers. Cannings 51 trainers and consultants have run courses at our centres in the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan and in another 53 countries on five continents. Over 130,000 people have attended these courses since 1965.

Canning was one of the first training companies to offer specialist cross-cultural skills programmes, tailored for business. The training consultants who have contributed real-life stories to this book are, for the most part, members of our cross-cultural skills team. Together they have first-hand experience of working in a variety of fields in almost every country in Europe, as well as further afield in Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Australasia.

Since 2000, for example, we have helped over 3,400 Renault and Nissan employees in Europe, the United States, Thailand and Japan to bridge the cultural gap in their Alliance. Hoffmann-La Roche is also a major user of our international teambuilding, facilitation and cross-cultural skills services we have worked with over 350 of their people in the past 3 years. And since 2005, we have been helping managers at Air France and KLM to build efficient, multicultural, cross-company teams. So far, we have run programmes for over 1,100 of their managers in 27 different countries.

Other current and regular cross-cultural skills clients include the Bank for International Settlements, BT Global Services, Capgemini, Lloyds Register of Shipping, Munich Re., Nortel, Panasonic, Quintiles, Samsung, Schneider Electric, the Stockholm School of Economics, Technip and Valeo.

Among the other communication skills courses that we run around the world are: Presenting Effectively, Writing Clearly and Powerfully, and Negotiating Successful International Deals .

Penny Cart is a modern languages graduate who has lived and worked in France, Italy and Japan. During her 31 years with Canning she has run tailored courses for multinational companies from the automotive, pharmaceutical, chemical and financial sectors, and has travelled extensively throughout Europe and Asia. She now specializes in one-to-one coaching, helping senior managers to prepare for specific projects. Since 1988, she has also written and edited a wide range of cross-cultural, management skills and English for Business training materials.

Chris Fox is a politics graduate. He spent six months as a radio broadcaster in Belgrade during the Balkan conflict before taking up a position at the University of Reading, where he taught political and cultural theory. He then went on to work as a researcher and negotiator within a trade union before joining Canning in 1999. He specializes in running media, presentation and negotiation skills seminars across a wide range of sectors, as well as acting as Key Account Manager to some of Cannings biggest clients, and overseeing Cannings marketing activities.

The production of this book was very much a team effort. While Penny Cart and Chris Fox developed the format and wrote the actual text, much of the knowledge and experience it distils came from Cannings team of international cross-cultural consultants. It is only right, therefore, that the names of the most prolific contributors should also appear on this page: