Cross Cultural Communication: A study on the Pattern of

Communication Between Indonesian Workers and Foreign

Workers at a Joint Venture Company

Leadeship Communication Course

Lecturer: Ardimas Sasdi, Dr. S.S., M.Si.

Eksekutif A 43 A

Group 1:

1. Ahmad Yasir Fahmi

2. Ildha Mawarni M

3. Fadil Arifin

4. Nova Ardiani R
 Content
Introduction
Introduction
About IBM

Theoretical Background
1.1 Culture Definition
1.2. Culture Dimension
1.2.1 Power Distance
1.2.2Individualism vs Collectivism
1.2.3 Masculinity vs Femininity
1.2.4 Uncertainty Avoidance
1.2.5 Long-term Orientation versus Short-term Orientation
2.1Communication
2.1.1 Verbal and Non-verbal Communication
2.1.2 State, Trait and Style in Communication
2.1.3 Situation
2.1.4 Messages
2.1.5 Communication Strategies
3. Barriers to Cross-cultural Communication
3.1 General barriers (Guirdham, 1999)
3.2 Cultural specific barriers (Guirdham, 1999)
4. Cross-cultural Communication Approaches
4.1 Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory (AUM)
4.2 Cultural Identity Negotiation Theory
4.3 Ellingsworths Adaptation Theory

Study Case at IBM Indonesia

Case Analysis

Conclusion
 Introduction

Cross cultural communication is an important things to learn when it comes to global business. It
is unavoidable, since a lot of companies from different countries expand their business to other
countries. The barrier is not merely the language they use, it is also includes manners, behavior,
character, etc.

Why one should learn and understand about this cross cultural communication? How important
is to learn this cross culture communication? And what are the factors that should be considered
when it comes to communicate with others whose culture is different.

In this paper, we will discuss the theoretical background about culture and communication. Then
we will try to analyze it into one a Joint Venture company in Indonesia, IBM Indonesia.

The purpose of this paper is to define the pattern of communication between Indonesian workers
and foreign workers who work at IBM Indonesia. An interview with one of foreign worker and
Indonesian worker was conducted during lunch time. We try to get both perspective on how they
communicate each other.

Based on the interview, we correlate the theories and the implementation, whether the
company's worker has implement or considering those cross culture differences when they
communicate to each other.

From the studies, we can conclude what are the barriers when Indonesian and foreigner workers
communicate at the office, and also we can find solution to solve the problem. Furthermore, we
can initiate or advise the company how to minimize the cross culture difference and barriers so
that the company can run smoothly, avoiding problems to be made by misunderstanding because
of the lack of understanding and consideration between workers.
 About IBM Indonesia

IBM stands for Intrernational Busines Machine is a multi-national company based in Armonk,
New York, United States. The company began in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording-
Company (CTR) and was renamed "International Business Machines" in 1924.

IBM products include hardware, middleware, and software. Since 1935 IBM began to expand
their company, the first international office was in Paris, then moved to Geneva. Ever since, IBM
continues to expand to other countries, include Asia, Australia, Africa. As of 2016, IBM already
has operates in 174 countries all around the world. IBM has one of the largest workforces in the
world, and employees at Big Blue are referred to as "IBMers".

IBM was among the first company to provide group life insurance, survivor benefits (1935),
training for women (1935), paid vacations (1937), and training for disabled people (1942). IBM
hired its first black salesperson in 1946, and in 1952, CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr.. published the
company's first written equal opportunity policy letter, one year before the U.S. Supreme Court
decision in Brown vs. Board of Education and 11 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

IBM openness to diversity has lead the company to be the most leading company in the world.
They not only hire people from different educational background, but also different culture, race,
even people with disability.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM accesed on May 21, 2108)

 Theoretical Background

1.1 Culture Definition

Culture has many definitions, and affects everything people do in their society because of their
ideas, values, attitudes, and normative or expected patterns of behavior. Culture is not
genetically inherited, and cannot exist on its own, but is always shared by members of a society
(Hall 1976, p. 16). Hofstede (1980, pp. 21-23) defines culture as “the collective programming of
the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from another”, which is passed from
generation to generation, it is changing all the time because each generation adds something of
its own before passing it on. It is usual that one’s culture is taken for granted and assumed to be
correct because it is the only one, or at least the first, to be learned.
Culture is a complex concept, and no single definition of it has achieved consensus in the
literature. So, out of the many possible definitions examined, the following definition guides this
study: “Culture is a fuzzy set of basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies,
procedures and behavioral conventions that are shared by a group of people, and that influence
(but do not determine) each member’s behavior and his/her interpretations of the ‘meaning’ of
other people’s behavior.” (Spencer-Oatey 2008: 3)

1.2 Culture Dimension

There are five important dimensions in Hofstede et al. (2010) theory that are power distance,
individualism versus collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity and long-
term orientation versus short-term orientation. The explanations and features of these five
dimensions are given below.

1.2.1 Power Distance

According to Hofstede et al. (2010), the power distance index is defined as “the extent to which
the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect
that power is distributed unequally.” In this dimension, inequality and power is perceived from
the followers, or the lower level. A higher degree of the Index indicates that hierarchy is clearly
established and executed in society, without doubt or reason. A lower degree of the Index
signifies that people question authority and attempt to distribute power.

1.2.2 Individualism versus Collectivism

According to Hofstede et al. (2010), individualism refers the relationship between individuals are
loose, people want them or their families to be cared for by others. Collectivism is the opposite
of individualism; it refers to that people in societies, from when they were born, are expected to
integrate strongly in a group. They emphasize the “I” versus the “we.” Its counterpart,
collectivism, describes a society in which tightly-integrated relationships tie extended families
and others into in-groups.

1.2.3 Masculinity versus Femininity

According to Hofstede et al (2010), femininity refers to that gender roles overlap in society, both
men and women should be modest, caring of life quality and considerate. Masculinity refers to
that in the society the gender roles are distinct, a man should be tough and focus on material
success. In feminine societies, they share modest and caring views equally with men. In more
masculine societies, women are more emphatic and competitive, but notably less emphatic than
the men. In other words, they still recognize a gap between male and female values.

1.2.4 Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance refers that the extent in unknown and ambiguous situation when one
culture feel threatened (Hofstede et al., 2010). The degrees of uncertainty avoidance in different
nations vary. Uncertainty avoidance index is used to measure whether a culture has a strong or
weak uncertainty avoidance. In strong uncertainty avoidance culture, members are encouraged
to overcome and open up to the future, and in weak uncertainty avoidance members are
instructed to accept risks, tolerate and accept different culture’s behavior. A lower degree in this
index shows more acceptance of differing thoughts or ideas. Society tends to impose fewer
regulations, ambiguity is more accustomed to, and the environment is more free-flowing.

1.2.5 Long-term Orientation versus Short-term Orientation

Long-term orientation is a dimension of national cultures that emphasize unity; it stands for
perseverance and adapting to change current behaviors to be adapted to future purpose. Short-
term orientation focuses on past and present virtues, for instance face, respect, national pride
and social responsibility (Hofstede et al., 2010). A lower degree of this index (short-term)
indicates that traditions are honored and kept, while steadfastness is valued. Societies with a
high degree in this index (long-term) views adaptation and circumstantial, pragmatic problem-
solving as a necessity.

2.1 Communication
When two people communicate, they rarely talk about precisely the same subject, because
effective meaning is flavored by each person’s own cognitive world and cultural conditioning.
Communication can be divided into three categories: verbal (use of words with specific
meanings), Para verbal (tone of the voice) and non-verbal communication (Ferraro 1990, p. 45).
2.1.1 Verbal and Non-verbal Communication
Language used in verbal communication is not a universal means, but it is deeply rooted in a
particular culture (Hargie and Dickson 2004). It is impossible to understand a culture without
taking into account its language(s) and vice versa. Language plays an important role in creating
the context of negotiation and in allowing negotiators to prepare for cross-cultural interactions
(Rubinstein 1999). Nonverbal communication implies emotions, attitudes and feelings show in
different gestures and motions (Hargie and Dickson 2004) and it may be conveyed unintentionally
by facial expressions, gestures, and body language. An understanding of non-verbal
communication is said to be one of the most important parts of communication between people
from two different cultures (Usunier 1996, p. 112). Non-verbal signs assist the interpretation of
verbal messages and they may have greater significance than the verbal aspects (Hargie and
Dickson 2004).

2.1.2 State, Trait and Style in Communication

Personal trait plays an important role in communication style that tends to be more sensitive to
listeners. Hart & Burks (1972) presented that sensitivity to listen means speakers are easily
adjusting their communication way by listeners’ despondence. These groups of people are
considered to be more flexible in cross-cultural communication. Assertiveness means fast and
confident decision making without inference to others. Assertiveness is understood differently
in different culture, positively it is efficient and negatively it is aggressive. It is in close connection
with culture background. Besides, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions can give a good explanation of
this effect. Therefore, communication style is concluded that under the influence of both
individual personality and culture tendency (Gudykunst et al., 1996).

2.1.3 Situations
Situations mean the whole communicating environment when communication is conducted.
Participants, subject, where and how it is communicated. People tend to adjust their
communication style in certain ways depending on the situation. Different cultural background
also shows different understanding of the same situation (Hall, 1981).

2.1.4 Messages
Messages are the conveyed information in communication behavior, it consists of messages
exchanged and acquired meaning. It is argued that messages are to be sent and received, while
meanings are not. It requires receivers own interpretation and inference, thus misinterpretation
or inference may result in misunderstanding which leads to communication failure (Guirdham,
1999)

2.1.5 Communication Strategies

People choose appropriate strategy to communicate in order to attain expected goals. And goals
work as the major motivation in choosing communication strategies. In work 26 situations, power
and position are seen as decisive factors in the strategy selection (Guirdham, 1999).

3. Barriers to Cross-cultural Communication

Burke (1966) argued that communication is never perfect between people because all people are
different, different personality, different upbringing or cultures that as a consequence might lead
to people interpreting messages in various ways, while due to human beings’ common
characteristics; communication between people is possible to be conducted to an extent.

3.1 General barriers (Guirdham, 1999)

Stereotyping and prejudice are considered the two general barriers in intergroup
communication. Stereotyping is now understood as a pattern that people try to use their own
values and thoughts to understand other people. Prejudice is an attitude towards others
concerning racism, sexism, ageism and religion. The effect of prejudiced attitudes towards others
is treating people differently in a negative way.

3.2 Cultural specific barriers (Guirdham, 1999)

3.2.1 Language usage, in most cases, is a distinct differentiation among cultures;

misunderstanding occurs often in communication due to improper use of language or different
interpretation of the same words.

3.2.2 Non-verbal behavior mainly points to body language, attitude etc. It is a fact that similar
body signals can be interpreted into various meanings across cultures. In some extreme
situations, it may have a completely different meaning.

3.2.3 Low-context communication and high-context communication characteristics with

corresponding culture can make communication between the two problematic, easily distorting
messages. For people with a low-context communication culture, high-context communication
people tend to be indirect communicators and do not share enough information in public,
however incline to listen to people they have strong relationships with. On the contrary, people
who live in a high-context communication culture, have a tendency of over interpreting the
shared information and are sensitive to words that are directly spoken.

There are more cross-culture barriers than mentioned above, such as Ting-Toomey’s (1988) face
theory and Ambady et al. (1996) regarding politeness. It is obvious that face awareness and
definitions of politeness are different across cultures. Take face theory for example, in some
cultures, people try to keep their own face and other people’s as well, while in other cultures,
they may value keeping face differently.

4. Cross-cultural Communication Approaches

Cross-cultural communication approaches are the theories of trying to improve the
communication at work between people with other cultural backgrounds (Guirdham,1999).
Some of these theories with the focus of interactive behavior will be introduced in the following
section.

4.1 Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory (AUM)

It derives from proposals of Berger & Calabrese (1975) that people have the intention of reducing
uncertainty at the beginning of interactions with people from other cultures when they first
meet. It is discovered that the more people communicate with each other, the better they
understand each other thus lowering the uncertainty. The implication of effective
communication in AUM is that communicators should have an alignment pattern of coding and
decoding the messages communicated, the key being the degree of similarity. Thus, effective
cross-cultural communication can be reached by the extent of sufficient information acquired
and adjusting the communicating anxiety.

4.2 Cultural Identity Negotiation Theory

Identity negotiation theory is developed from social identity theory, which is raised by Tajfel
(1978). Social identity theory means people are used to trying to find positive social identities
when they interact with people from different cultures. Cultural identity negotiation theory
explained how cultural identities are formed and how they are negotiated between encounters.
Cross-cultural communication is considered as communication between people who represent
their culture in order to show the different aspects to others. It is claimed that in communication,
the participants own standpoint or values decide whether the underlying communication
involves cultural dimensions or not.

4.3 Ellingsworths Adaptation Theory

This theory presents which efforts participants make to adapt to another’s communication style
in order to achieve effective communication among different cultures. The participants’
responsibilities have an influence on their ways of Communication. The theory focuses on cross-
cultural communication process. It is a dynamic process which means participants may adapt to
another’s way of communicating through the whole communicating process.
 Study Case at IBM Indonesia

An interview was conducted with one of Manager in IBM Indonesia to obtain information related
to cross-cultural working environment in IBM Indonesia. Following are the list of Question and
Answer (Q&A) from the interview

1. How Indonesian workers communicate to foreign workers? And vice versa

A: They are using English as common international language

2. Is Indonesian workers considering cultural background of his/her foreign interlocutor?

A: Yes, they are

3. Is foreign workers considering cultural background of his/her Indonesian interlocutor?

A: Yes, they are too

4. Is it any blocker/difficulties to communicate between cross cultural workers? (E.g. Language

barrier or conflict because of lack of cultural knowledge)
A: Sometimes barrier comes from cross-cultural difference among workers especially between
local workers and expat workers

5. If yes, is IBM aware of the importance of solving cross cultural communication problem?
A: Yes, IBM does

6. Who is in charge to solve this blocker?

A: Every individual in IBM in Leader position are having responsibility to solve it

7. What they already do to solve the blocker?

A: Leaders in IBM always try to continuously build a positive cross-cultural working environment
throughout daily work that is built based on professionalism and tolerance among team member

8. What they still need to do in the future to solve the blocker?

A: The current positive environment needs to be maintained and every employee shall ensure
that it is well understood and applied by them in daily basis
Interview was conducted on an informal occasion with IBM Indonesia Senior Consultant, Bertrand Cordesse & Indonesian
Worker Nia Fauziah
 Case Analysis

Observation from IBM case is again showing that understanding and appreciating cultural
diversity is an essential skill that a Leader must have especially for Leaders working in multi-
national companies. Following is the estimated percentage of Staff based on Nationality in IBM
Indonesia. As we can see, Indonesian staffs is still dominating by 65%, followed by Indian staff by
20%, then other Nationalities (mostly from United State or European Union) by 15%.

There are 2 key values that being put as foundation in IBM Indonesia to solve blocker due to
cross-cultural difference:

a) Professionalism
b) Tolerance

Professionalism by definition means the competence or skill expected of a professional. In the

cross-cultural working environment whereas people come from different cultural background,
competence or skill should be put as no.1 as the most objective measure of personal capability.
It is not about what nationality or race or tribe that a member came from that matters on judging
someone’s capability. In fact, it should be his/her competence and skill required to fulfill the
target and met certain standards that shall be use to judge someone’s capability.

Tolerance by definition means the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the
existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. In the cross-cultural
working environment whereas different value might be followed among team member,
tolerance is a key value that each team member need to have and apply. An example of this is
where Expat Manager is having tolerance to Local Staffs related to respond time during weekend
or holiday. In the other side, the Local Staffs are still demonstrating professionalism in daily work
with no excuse whether his/her Manager is Local or Expat.

Successful multinational companies including IBM Indonesia take understanding cultures

seriously and have established comprehensive cultural diversity training programs to ensure all
employees recognize the value of cultural differences and avoid misunderstandings because of
them. In IBM Indonesia, this kind of training program is not necessary made as a formal & specific
session, but sometimes made throughout project assignment whereas a project team consists of
member from different multi-nationality. Besides the completion and successfulness of a project,
the other Project Manager’s Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is to have minimum internal conflict
within project team member.
 Conclusion

Observation from IBM case is again showing that understanding and appreciating cultural
diversity is an essential skill that a Leader must have especially for Leaders working in multi-
national companies.

There are 2 key values that being put as foundation in IBM Indonesia to solve blocker due to
cross-cultural difference:

a) Professionalism
b) Tolerance

Successful multinational companies including IBM Indonesia take understanding cultures

seriously and have established comprehensive cultural diversity training programs to ensure all
employees recognize the value of cultural differences and avoid misunderstandings because of
them.