The Challenge of Direct Versus Indirect Styles of Communication between Chinese and Australians in Business
The business environment in today’s day and age is one that is comprised of people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It is no surprise therefore, that a pressing challenging in business operations nowadays is the challenge presented by different types of communication styles. Effective intercultural communication is necessary in a business organization to avoid misperceptions and misunderstandings that can otherwise pose a hindrance to professional activities and affect business outcomes (Akanwa, 2015). This report analyzes the specific challenges that are presented by direct and indirect intercultural communications between Australians and Chinese during business operations with special reference to the operations of a company, Beauty-Pro which has recently expanded to and set up a unit in China. The report concludes that indirect and direct communication styles can both prove to be advantageous in such a professional or business setup, and recommends a number of ways by which this problem can be suitably overcome by Australian enterprises when doing business with the Chinese.
The direct communicators in a professional setup that involves negotiations between Australian and Chinese businessmen always tend to say or do the things that they actually feel. They do not ever mince their words and are as transparent as possible in their mode of communication. Australians are usually direct communicators tend to depend a great deal on the literal or exact interpretation of what they say and do. Their goal in communicating is to simply give information or to get information. Direct communication styles are usually quite common in all low context cultures like that of the Australian culture, that is, a culture characterized by a greater degree of heterogeneity and which tends to place a lot of emphasis on self reliance, independence and individualism (Clayton & Ellender, 2016). Due to this heterogeneity, assumptions about the context in which the communication takes place are not too many. When it comes to indirect communication, a style that is very common in the high context cultures like that of the Chinese culture, meanings are conveyed not just through the use of words but also through a number of non verbal behaviors like understatements, implications, tone of voice, silence, pauses, with the context of the communication being quite extensively shared. The primary goal of an indirect communication exchange on the part of the Chinese for instance, is to save face and maintain harmony. Chinese workers and business heads who use indirect communication styles are people to tend to avoid conflict at all costs, who don’t want to get into uncomfortable situations and wish to keep tension and all types of stressful situations at bay. In high context cultures that are homogenous and which place a lot of emphasis on social relationships and interdependence, people develop unconscious and deep understandings of exactly all that is expected from that particular culture. Owing to the shared expectations concerning behavior, the context is one that can be altered quite easily by the speaker for the purpose of conveying information (Fan et al., 2016).
Recommendations
Issues such as speaker identity, left out communication elements, and behaviors that are not in keeping with norms all tend to convey information. When it comes to indirect communication carried out the Chinese business people with Australian businessmen, the person at the receiving end of this communication, that is, the Australian entrepreneur, has to first understand what that culture is all about in order to perceive the meaning of the communication. It is entirely the responsibility of the listener, the Australian here, to interpret correctly or not, what the indirect communicator, the Chinese man or woman, is conveying. The sensitivity and the ability on the part of the listener to capture well enough all the under-surface meanings in the communication as well as to discern all implicit meanings of this communication is something that becomes quite critical (Ngwira et al., 2015). A lot is left to the perception of the listener as far as the indirect communication style on the part of the Chinese is concerned. The Australian listener has to make an effort and also be fully capable of understanding what the other person saying in order to any misunderstanding not to arise. If he is unable to grasp the meaning of the communication, a wide gap will remain between what is being conveyed to him and what he perceives of the communication, leading to both communicators not being able to understand one another (Lu et al., 2016).
When it comes to analyzing the Australian company Beauty-Pro’s business operations in China it is seen that both the direct and indirect communication styles have their respective advantages. Direct communicators like the Australian workers and managers play a vital role in initiating business decisions, in the execution of projects and in communicating with clients, where efforts have to be made to be as forthright and as clear as possible in order to ensure that business goals are not compromised when carrying out negotiations (Nichols et al., 2015). The Chinese workers and personnel are always indirect communicators. They are people who are politically correct, and in a business setup they can used for business dialogue, for speaking to employees who are difficult to handle and for addressing sensitive issues that can arise in the course of running a business, like the mistreatment of one co-worker by another for instance. When implementing business plans and agendas, direct Australian communicators have a vital role to play as they are clear with co-workers and the management about what should or should not be done to ensure that a specific strategy or plan of action is adequately initiated and executed. In the same context, indirect Chinese communicators drop a number of suggestions or recommendations that can be used to further a business agenda, but which have not been considered by the management as yet because of their controversial or difficult nature. Problems and disputes that can arise in a business environment are communicated by indirect Chinese communicators to the top level management in a diplomatic way so as to avoid antagonizing the top level management while addressing the disputes and problems at the same time (Piller, 2015). The Chinese indirect communicators know how to avoid rubbing people in the wrong way and when it comes to representing employee interests and concerns, indirect communicators do a better job than the Australian direct communicators as they know how to beat around the bush and get matters addressed without putting people off with their forthright and bold communication style (Rogers et al., 2017).
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Conclusion
Thus, while direct and indirect communication styles can cause confusion in a business environment that is comprised of two different cultures, in this case the Chinese and australians, both styles of communication can be used in advantageous fashion to execute business activities and business plans in a smooth and efficient manner. Client negotiations and marketing activities can be very well undertaken by Australians who are direct communicators, who have a brazen and unabashed way of speaking and writing and who can get their point across to the listening party in no time at all. Indirect communicators like the Chinese can be used for carrying out all types of diplomatic dialogue that require the avoidance of hurting sentiments, especially the type of communication that a company’s top level management is reluctant to engage in.
Direct communicators like the Australians in a business setup need to avoid making blunt comments as this can put people off too easily. Clients may get irate and employee may just be very offended if spoken to in too direct or blunt a fashion (Tharenou & Seet, 2014).
- Indirect communicators like the Chinese in a business environment need to understand that their subtle speeches may not always be perceived in the manner that they desire and honest feedback must be provided where necessary, instead of avoiding insults (Wang et al., 2015).
- Direct communicators such as the Australians when doing business with the Chinese need to pay attention to non verbal behaviors in addition to all that is being said to them in order to understand the context of the communication fully. They cannot just rely on the words and phrases being spoken to them to grasp the meaning of the communication (Wu et al., 2015)
References
Akanwa, E. E. (2015). International students in western developed countries: History, challenges, and prospects. Journal of International Students, 5(3), 271-284
Clayton, J., Isaacs, A. N., & Ellender, I. (2016). Perioperative nurses’ experiences of communication in a multicultural operating theatre: A qualitative study. International journal of nursing studies, 54, 7-15.
Fan, D., Cui, L., Li, Y., & Zhu, C. J. (2016). Localized learning by emerging multinational enterprises in developed host countries: A fuzzy-set analysis of Chinese foreign direct investment in Australia. International Business Review, 25(1), 187-203
Lu, S. H., Dear, B. F., Johnston, L., Wootton, B. M., & Titov, N. (2014). An internet survey of emotional health, treatment seeking and barriers to accessing mental health treatment among Chinese-speaking international students in Australia. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 27(1), 96-108.
Ngwira, f. f., mapoma, h. w. t., jianzhong, h. o. n. g., sariyo, S., & KONDOWE, W. (2015). Intercultural Communication Competence and Acculturation among International Students in Central China. Intercultural Communication Studies, 24(2).
Nichols, P., Horner, B., & Fyfe, K. (2015). Understanding and improving communication processes in an increasingly multicultural aged care workforce. Journal of aging studies, 32, 23-31
Piller, I. (2017). Intercultural communication: A critical introduction. Edinburgh University Press.
Rogers, D., Lee, C. L., & Yan, D. (2015). The politics of foreign investment in Australian housing: Chinese investors, translocal sales agents and local resistance. Housing Studies, 30(5), 730-748
Tharenou, P., & Seet, P. S. (2014). China’s Reverse Brain Drain: Regaining and Retaining Talent. International Studies of Management & Organization, 44(2), 55-74
Wang, C. C., Andre, K., & Greenwood, K. M. (2015). Chinese students studying at Australian universities with specific reference to nursing students: a narrative literature review. Nurse Education Today, 35(4), 609-619.
Wu, H. P., Garza, E., & Guzman, N. (2015). International student’s challenge and adjustment to college. Education Research International, 2015.
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