商务英语专业毕生论文国际商务中不同文化下的非语言行为

1、商务英语专业毕生论文国际商务中不同文化下的非语言行为Nonverbal Behaviors of Different Cultures in international business 国际商务中不同文化下的非语言行为中文摘要 随着全球化的发展，国际商务活动的数量正以前所未有的速度在增加。有效的 跨文化交际已成为保证成功的商业舞台的关键因素之一。全球化赋予了跨文化交际 极端的重要性。有效的跨文化交际已成为成功的国际商业活动不可或缺的一部分。 本文的目的是探讨不同的文化下的一些重要的非语言因素在国际商务活动中的意义 .Abstract:With the development of globa

2、lization, the amount of international business activities is increasing at an unprecedented speed. Effective intercultural communication has become one of the key factors to guarantee success in business arena. The globalization endows the intercultural communication with extreme importance. Effecti

3、ve intercultural communication has become an indispensable part of successin international business activities. This article is intended to go into the meaning of some essential nonverbal factors of different cultures in international business.Culture is a complex matter, including knowledge, belief

4、, art, morals, custom, and, other capabilities acquired by people as a member of society. People learn culture in the course of everyday living by communication with those around them. Culture learning starts at an early age and generally stays with people for the whole of their lives.As business be

5、comes increasingly global, culture understanding becomes the basis of successor failure in any business. The amount of international business activities are increasing at an unprecedented speed. Effective intercultural communication has become one of the key factors to guarantee success in business

6、arena. Therefore, it is essential tohave a good command of intercultural communication skills, among which nonverbal factors take priority over verbal ones. Researches show that the majority of the meaning or impact of a message comes through nonverbal means, with only about 40 percent or less conve

7、yed by words or sounds. Most of the time, we are no more conscious of interpreting nonverbal signals than we are conscious of breathing. When presented with both verbal and nonverbal messages, we consistently find the nonverbal messages more powerful; when conflicts appear between verbal and nonverb

8、al messages,we usually believe nonverbal messages because most of our nonverbal actions are not easily controlled consciously. This means that they reflect a person s real internal states.Verbal communication is very much culture-bound, as we know, and the same is true of nonverbal communication. Di

9、fferent cultures present different systems of nonverbal signs, and often endow the same sign with different meanings. Accordingly nonverbal communication can be easily misinterpreted. And the misunderstandings can lead to communication breakdowns and become obstacles to successin international busin

10、ess activities. Thus particular attention should be paid to nonverbal behaviors (hereinafter referred to as NVBs) in different cultures. In the following paragraphs will be discussed the most applicable types of NVBs.1. Body Language1.1 SmilePhysiologically, the action of smiling makes oneself happy

11、; psychologically, smiling pleases others besides oneself. These explain why the whole world smiles. However, the stimulus, the amount, the occasion and even the implication of smiling are culturally bound. Without relevant cultural knowledge, on some occasions, one is likely not to please but to ir

12、ritate others by smiling. In the U.S.A., smiling representshappinessorfriendliness, which the Americans readily show. Greeting others without smiling is unreasonable and unacceptable; smiling at strangers is not unusual, which often disconcert people from other countries. S. Koreans regard too much

13、smiling as a sign of shallowness. Hence, they usually look serious and dont readily smile.It s just the opposite in Thaila-n“d Land of Smiles ”. The nickname is a clear indication that the Thais smile a lot. In Germany, smiles are reserved for friends.The Japanese, according to the anthropologist Ed

14、ward T. Hall, are taught to control their emotions. In situations of strong emotion, it is considered acceptable to smile or laugh, but not to frown or cry. Accordingly, they smile not only when they are pleased or amused, but also to say “that nosne of your business ”to hide expression of embarrass

15、ment,sadnessand even anger. For them, smiling helps maintain harmony, which is of paramount value in Japaneseculture. Smiling to alleviate tension in negotiation is advocated in Japan as well as in China, but it is not the case in America.Such behavior will better nothing but to irritate Americans m

16、ore and even convey to them that you admit defeat, because the Americans believe that no one can maintain a mellow mood in argument or conflict so the smile is pretended and they hate pretence.1.2 Eye ContactIn communication, eyes talk as much as do lips. Eye contact is universal, however,the ways o

17、f communicating with eyes shift from culture to culture.The Arabs stare at each other for long periods when communicating. Prolonged stare is a sign of interest and truthfulness. Its impolite not to face the communication partnerdirectly. They hate talking to someone wearing dark glasses or while wa

18、lking side by side. North American whites, the English people and the Swedish people expect the person with whom they re interacting to look them in the eye. Such eye contact, they believe,othersyou areworth nothingshows honesty and confidence. In America, one who is reluctant to maintain eye contac

19、t is called shifty-eyed and can arouse suspicion. Hence, white Americans are prone to distrust Latin Americans, who usually avoid eye contact in communication as a sign of respect. However, in the U.S.A., some differences should be noted. For instance, two males who stare at each other like Arabs, i

20、n most cases, are homosexuals. The Navajos and the Hopi strongly dislike eye contact. The former consider it evil, sexual and aggressive; the latter, offensive. Similarly, in Mediterranean countries, people are accustomed to glancing at communication partners, instead of staring, which is perceiveda

21、s a bad omen. The Japanese are taught to look at the neck because it is rude to stare atfaces. They consider progloend eye contact extremely impolite, threatening and disrespectful. In Indonesia and Caribbean cultures, people avoid eye contact to show respect. In Korea, extended stare is rude, the l

22、ower-ranking person is supposed to look down first. InMuslim countries, eye contact between women and men is against conventions.1.3 GesturesGestures are quite powerful communicating“ tools ”. Many peopletake it for granted that they can depend on gestures to communicate if language fails.But after

23、decadesof research involving eighty different cultures, experts conclude that “ no gesture has the same meaning in all societies. The meaning even shifts from region to region within one culture” .For instance, the sign, a circle formed with the thumb and indexfinger while the others extending,repre

24、sents“ OK” in the U.S.A ,“ money” in Japan and S. Korea ,“ I will kill you” in Tunisia, andin France and Belgium. In Mexico, Germany and“thumlpopu”r iaresqualture Southern Italy, it is obscene. The sign ofbased. If you thumb up to a Greek, he will fly into a fury because Greeks regard up” as a vulga

25、r irsult; to ar Americar or a Westerr Europear, he/she will feel ercouraged because irthe U.S.A ard Westerr Europear it mearsw“orgko”odor “goahead”. Arother commor gesture isthat for beckorirg . To fird out the differerces ir some courtries, there made questiorraire amorg overseas studerts. All the

26、studerts are well educated ard have full krowledge of their culture.Herce, the results from the questiorraire are corvircirg. Their arswers are as follows:The S. Korear studerts: Wher we summor someore to come, our hard is cupped, palmirg dowr ard the firgers movirg toward the palm.The Americar stud

27、erts: Wher ore beckors a frierd or a peer to come, his/her hard will palm up ard firgers move toward his /her body.The Philippire studerts: We quickly rod our head dowrwards to sigral someore to come.The Japarese studerts: It is impolite to use gestures. We just call someore to come.The Americar stu

28、derts also said that the S. Korear gesture mears -bye” ir th“e good U.S.A. Ir Chira, to a peer or a frierd, ore usually beckors like the Americars; to a jurior, ore does like the S. Korears.2. OriertatiorCulture also differ ir time oriertatior; that is, whether the culture vaslues are orierted towar

29、d the future (lorg-time oriertatior) or toward the past ard presert(short- term oriertatior). Ir chira, a culture with a lorg oriertatior, values such as thrift ardpersistence, which focus on the future, are emphasized. In Russia, the orientation is shortterm. Valuessuch as respect for tradition (pa

30、st) and meeting social obligations (present) are emphasized.2.1 TimeDifferences in time zones complicate international phone calls. But even more important are different concepts of time and approaches to time in different cultures.Norm regarding punctuality differ significantly from country to coun

31、try. In the United States people tend to be very time-conscious. Conscientious Americans arrive a few minutes early for business appointments, because being late is considered poor etiquette. When invited to dinner at someone s home, it is considered polite to arrive ontime. Or just a few minutes la

32、te. In many other countries attitudes toward time are very different. It is not necessarily a breach of etiquette to arrive a little late for a business appointment; indeed, it might be considered impolite to arrive early. As for dinner invitations, arriving on time may be very bad manners. In Great

33、 Britain, for example, when someone says, ” Come for dinner on 7:30 and 8:30” . The guest who arrives at 7:00is likely to find an unprepared and embarrassedhost. Similarly, when an Argentinean says, ” Come for dinner anytime after eight” , what they mean is ,“ Do not come athat would be far too earl

34、y” .People from the U.S.A as well as other North Americans believe“ Time is money. ”This value of time is rooted in their ancestors. Early in 17th century, their ancestors arrived on the Atlantic coast, a new, undeveloped land. To survive the tough environment, they had to struggle day and night. Ti

35、me meant so much to them that they had not even one second to waste. After decades of struggle, they developed the value of efficient use of time, which is one of their most important values and has been passed down. Thus far, the Americans are still eager to finish things quickly and are impatient

36、with too reflective people. Consequently, the Americans are often frustrated in negotiations with people who take a leisurely approach, such as the Indonesians, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Middle Easterners,the Latin Americans. Take the Japaneseas an example: When negotiating with the Japanese, t

37、he Americans try to get right down to business. They can accept about 15 minutes of social talk, but not more than that, while the Japanese are comfortable with hours and hours, and even days and days, of conversation. In fact, the Japanese live at a very fast pace as well, but they place a much hig

38、her value on interpersonal harmony and uncertainty-avoidance. In negotiation, to establish a good personal relationship with the other side and obtain much knowledge of them the Japanese tend to move at a slow pace, talking with their counterparts about various neutral but valuable topics, asking fo

39、r large quantities of details and planning. On many occasions, the Japanesebusinessmendeliberately move slow because they know well that long waits will compel the Americans to accept their requirements.In some countries, American work style of speeding everything up will have no significance. For i

40、nstance, in Ethiopia, the time spent on a decision depends on its importance. The more important the decision is, the more time it costs. So, the Americans are prone to downgrade their work in the local people s eyes. In the Arab East, the moreimportant you are, the faster service you get. Close rel

41、atives take absolute priority; nonrelatives are kept waiting. In the Middle East, a deadline, which is often established to imply the degree of urgency or importance of work, will do nothing but stop the Middle Easterners from working, because they considered it rude, pushy and overly demanding.Anot

42、her aspect reflecting different concepts of time is the classification of monochronic-time and polychromic-time by Edward T Hall. People from mono-chronic cultures, (such as the Germans, the Austrians, the Swiss and the Americans) do only one important thing at a time. They emphasize schedules more

43、than people and perceive appointments as iron-clad commitments. Before an appointment ends, they will see no one else. It s impolite to answer phone calls during a meeting. In polychromic cultures, people such as Arabs, Asians and Latin Americans take an entirely opposite approach. They do several t

44、hings atonce. Time commitments, e.g. deadlines, schedules, are taken rather casually, changed often and easily. People and human relationship are much more important than schedules. They won t make an appointmentbefore visiting others and will meet several guests at a time. Miscommunication will ari

45、se when people from the two cultures contact. Charles Hawkins, a U.S teacher, told me that many a time his appointments with Indians were interrupted constantly, not only by private phone calls, but also by long conversations with other people and even the neighbor s children, which displeased and e

46、ven offend him.2.2 DistanceIt refers to the perception and use of space, involving things such as spatial arrangement and personal space. It contains enormous cultural implications.Draw spatial arrangement as an example. As we know, in American culture, individualism is of paramount value. The uniqu

47、eness of each individual, privacy and competition are stressed. These cultural patterns exert controlling influence on American office layout: The size of your office depends on your rank in the company. The higher rank, the bigger office. More important offices are usually located at the corners of

48、s homebuildings and on the upper floor. Executive suites will be on the top floor. The relative rank of vice presidents will be reflected in where they areplaced along “ executiverow” .However, in Japan, where group cooperation and group participation are stressed (determined by their communal cultu

49、re), firms see private offices as“ inappropriate and inefficient” They would arrange many desks hierarchicallyin the center of a large, common room absent of walls or partitions .The supervisors and managers are positioned nearest the windows. Only the very highest executives and directors have priv

50、ate offices in the traditional Japanese company, and even they will also have desks in the common areas. Leaders staying in his office would be viewed as holding distrust or anger at the group. This organization encouragesthe exchange of information, facilitates multitask accomplishments, and promot

51、es the Confucian concept of learning through silent observation. In France, everything is centralized. The supervisor is at the center, surrounded by his subordinates. This arrangement reinforces his control over them. In the Arab and Spanish cultures, their so-called spacious offices are actually v

52、ery crowded.Personal distance is another important carrier of culture. It refers to the distance one wants between himself/herself and other people in ordinary non-intimate interchanges. It varies from culture to culture. Cultures that stress individualism (England, the U.S.A, Germany, Australia) ge

53、nerally demand more space than do collective cultures and tend to take an active, aggressive stance when their space is violated.Middle Easterners and Latin Americans tend to get rather close to others.2.3 Gift GivingThe norms of gift giving also vary significantly from country to country. In GreatB

54、ritain for example, when invited to someones home, andfor dinner it is not necessary to bring a gift, but it is polite to offer to bring a bottle of wine and to ask the host in advance what kind of wine they would like. In contrast, in Japan it is considered rude not to bring a gift when invited to

55、someoneit isequally rude to rude to offer in advance to bring something for the dinner table, such as wine and so on.2.4 Exchanging Business CardsWhen business people in the United States meet, they often exchange business cards, typically at the conclusion of a meeting and without giving the exchan

56、ge much thought. In Japan, in contrast, the exchange of business cards is regarded as a part of the introduction. Moreover, the order of exchange is important. The lower-status person must offer his or her card first. Only then will the higher-status individual take out his or her card and offer it.

57、 It is considered respectful for the lower-status person with considerable interest while holding it reverently with both hands.3. Overcome culture shocksAlong with the globalization of business,cultural diversity in business is growing. People from different native origins, Koreans, Bolivians, Paki

58、stanis, Vietnams, Swedes, Chinese, Australians, and others, will find themselves cooperating in team to do business crossing cultural gap. Individuals have different values systems, which mean they vary systems.It is a well-known fact that people across nations and cultures behave and believe differ

59、ently. Japanesesit as a group and come to meeting with ten questions and leave with 20 more. Decisions come later after achieving consensus. They may even have to wait until headquartersdecides the issue. Furthermore, the Indonesian team expects a senior person to open and close important meetings.

60、They also expect frequent breaks with coffee and snacks. Indonesians may invite other members of their department to meeting, perhaps experts in the subject matter, and do not mind side conversations if they clarify an important point. And, of course, they expect seating according to seniority.We ca