Culture Clash

The Ten Commandments of Intercultural Communication described by Martin Hahn in his article, offer a very useful set of guidelines for dealing with other cultures for business or even when traveling abroad for pleasure.

Ethnocentrism is defined as evaluating other peoples and cultures according to the standards of one's own culture. This is a path down which more than a few Global enthusiasts have trodden, including Wal-Mart. According to his case study, Culture at Wal-Mart, (2009) Richard T. Schaeffer found that in 2006, Wal-Mart was forced to concede defeat in Germany, after throwing away eight years and a billion dollars. Wal-Mart was used to taking its down-home way of dealing with customers, with big smiles and hands on approach, and plunking it down in whatever country with whatever culture they invaded. The executives at Wal-Mart gave no thought to the culture of their prospective consumers and because of that they met their match in the form of the German people.

German customers, who preferred impersonal service, were not pleased with the Wal-Mart culture of big smiles, eye contact and “How may I help you?” The customers also showed distain for having their groceries handled by the store employees since in their culture it is preferable to do it themselves.

Another culture clash came in the form of the employees themselves. Schaeffer pointed out that in Germany it is perfectly acceptable to engage in what he refers to as “workplace romances” and the employees were unhappy with the company’s no fraternization policy. Unfortunately for Wal-Mart, they did not react appropriately, or quickly to the culture clash and eventually they were forced to give up. However, the article suggests that they have learned from their mistakes and that they now study and social patterns of potential customers” (Schaeffer, 2009).

In this case study, Wal-Mart ignored:

I. Be aware of differing social values;

II. Be aware of differing status symbols and how to demonstrate them;

V. Be aware of personal space: people from different cultures have different 'comfort zones';

VI. Be aware of cultural context: people from certain cultures (called 'high-context cultures) rely less on verbal communication and more on the context of nonverbal actions and environmental settings to convey meaning. People from low-context cultures like the USA rely more on verbal communication and less on circumstances and implied meaning to convey meaning;

VII. Be aware of body language: learn the basic differences in the way people supplement their words with body movement;

and

VIII. Be aware of different etiquette rules or manners: what is polite in one culture may be considered rude in another.

References:     

Hahn, M. 2012. Ten Commandments of Intercultural Communication. Retrieved August 23, 2012 via

http://EzineArticles.com/120247

Schaefer, R.T. (2009) Culture at Wal-Mart. Sociology: A brief introduction, p. 68

Published by: McGraw Hill, New York