A study on power distance in cross cultural communication = nghiên cứu về triển vọng năng lực trong cuộc truyền thông văn hóa

428 VINH UNIVERSITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT ******************** A STUDY ON POWER DISTANCE IN CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION GRADUATION THESIS Field: Cross Cultural Communication Student: Trương Hữu Quý, K52B1 Student Code: 1157513575 Supervisor: Mr Nguyễn Hữu Quyết, Ph.D NGHE AN – MAY, 2015 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the completion of my graduation thesis, I would like to express my deepest gratitude toward many people who supported me all the time First of all, I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Huu Quyet, for his absolutely undeniable assistances and expert advice, without which my graduation thesis could not have been completed I am extremely thankful to the Foreign Languages Department of Vinh University for giving me an opportunity to carry out my study I would also like to extend many sincere thanks to all the great teachers of the Foreign Languages Department for their excellent support and guidance I really appreciate what they have taught me during my years at Vinh Univeristy They not only gave me the knowledge as well as the experiences of life but also showed me the way to be a good man I also acknowledge with a deep sense of reverence toward my family who has always supported me morally as well as economically Last but not least, my thanks go to all of my fellows at the Foreign Languages Department It would have been very hard for me to complete the graduation thesis without their help and kindheartedness For those who were not mentioned in the acknowledgement, I would like to extend all of my deepest gratitude for having supported, helped, and motivated me during the time I had been doing my graduation thesis Thank you very much! Vinh , April 2015 Truong Huu Quy ii ABSTRACT As we entered the 21st century, globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable Communicating with other cultures characterizes business, school, and community In theory of cross cultural communication, power distance value plays an important role which forms verbal and nonverbal communication of communicators In this study, the author aimed to clarify the understanding about power distance in communication process, provide knowledge about small power distance cultures and large power distance cultures The study has main purposes The first purpose is to give basic understanding about cross cultural communication The second purpose is about power distance values and small-large power distance cultures And the final purpose, the author gives some advice to students on avoiding culture shocks and communication breakdown iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE 1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.4 DESIGN OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION 2.1.1 Communication 2.1.2 Culture 2.1.2.1 Definition of Culture 2.1.2.2 The Iceberg Metaphor of Culture 2.1.3 Concept of Cross Cultural Communication 2.1.4 Why study Cross Cultural Communication 2.2 POWER DISTANCE 12 2.2.1 Definition 13 2.2.2 Small Power Distance Cultures 16 2.2.3 Large Power Distance Cultures 17 2.2.4 Possible reasons for the differences in Power Distance values 17 CHAPTER 3: DEVELOPMENT 20 3.1 POWER DISTANCE IN COMMUNICATION 20 3.1.1 Communication within Small Power Distance Cultures 20 3.1.1.1 Features of Small Power Distance Cultures 20 3.1.1.2 Verbal Communication 21 3.1.1.3 Non-Verbal Communication 23 iv 3.1.2 Communication within Large Power Distance Cultures 26 3.1.2.1 Features of Large Power Distance Cultures 26 3.1.2.2 Verbal Communication 27 3.1.2.3 Non-Verbal Communication 30 3.2 Culture-shock caused by Misunderstanding of Power Distance in Communication 31 3.3 Importance of Student’s Recognition about Cross Cultural Communication 34 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 35 4.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY 35 4.2 SUGGESTION 35 4.2.1 Suggestions for Avoidance of Culture Shock and Communication Breakdown 35 4.2.1.1 Communicating with people from large power distance cultures 36 4.2.1.1 Communicating with people from small power distance cultures 37 4.2.2 Suggestions for further research 38 REFERENCES v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY There are more than 200 countries all over the world Each country has their own culture which has come into existence and has been preserved and developed for a long time Throughout their history, cultures remain a unique valuable symbol of a country As time goes by, they have made the world looks like a colorful painting known as “culture colors” Nowadays, the world is in a global trend; human community is getting closer We are no longer bound inside the border of a territory or a country Human community has been making evolutional steps in bringing people closer and closer People are finding ways to get through the barriers of language, culture, geography to connect with others The establishment of the international organizations (WTO, WHO, UNESCO, etc.), multinational corporations, and the openness of foreign policies in light of integration have also created a free flow of trade and investment, people and labor, making trans-border travel, work and communication much easier As a result, the globalization and integration require people who come from different countries to accumulate more and more knowledge about cultures Lacking knowledge about a “global village” multicultural communication can lead to misunderstanding and culture shocks In this situation, we need a knowledge system to provide us a clear look at communication process among cultures and equip us with the necessary communication skills It is obviously resulted in the birth of “Cross Cultural Communication” It is not only the theory but also a variety practical skills for everyone in the integration era In “Cross Cultural Communication theory”, power distance plays an important role in communication Hofstede and Bond (1984:419) defined “Power distance as the extent in which the less powerful members of institutions accept that power is distributed unequally” In fact, the respected power distance is a culture value of Eastern countries such as Vietnam, China, etc., which stay in contrast with almost all Western countries where people emphasize the equality among individuals This difference can make people from collectivistic cultures versus individualistic cultures confused in communicating in cross cultural communication settings Culture shocks and communication breakdown are likely to occur without understanding about different, if not contrastive, cultural values In fact, the globalization and integration has been creating great opportunities for students, especially those of English Major, to understand about power distance in communication to get well-prepared for their future job However, students are lack of knowledge as well as skills in cross cultural communication This does inspire me to choose the topic “A Study of Power Distance Dimension in Cross Cultural Communication” with an effort to raise awareness of readers about the importance of power distance in communication to help them communicate across cultures effectively as well as avoid culture shocks 1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY The aims of the thesis are: - To raise people’s awareness about the importance of power distance in communication - To clarify the differences between small power distance cultures and large power distance cultures - To give some advice in avoiding culture shocks and communication breakdown 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY Power distance value is a large aspect of cultural values Misunderstanding about power distance can cause culture shocks and communication breakdown, so, in this study, attention will be paid to how power distance affects the communication process Power distance also affects the many ways of life, for example: life styles, thoughts, etc So the author limited the range of thesis in communication aspect The study also clarifies the communication within small power distance cultures and large power distance cultures to offer an insight into diverse cultures The study also gives some recommendations to avoid culture shocks for students, especially English Major Students, when communicating across cultures 1.4 DESIGN OF THE STUDY The thesis has chapters: - Chapter 1: Introduction covers Rationale, Aims, Scope and Design of the study - Chapter 2: Theoretical background has sub-sections: + Section provides the theoretical background of communication process, culture and cross cultural communication + Section provides the theoretical background of power distance value - Chapter 3: Development presents the importance of power distance in process of communication; clarifies the differences in small power distance cultures and large power distance cultures; and shows the consequence when communicating across cultures without understanding of power distance - Chapter 4: Conclusion summarizes the findings of the study; gives some suggested solutions to avoid culture shocks and suggestions for further research CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION 2.1.1 Communication In our everyday life, communication is an indispensable act We communicate with others to share information, to exchange thought, feeling, etc Oxford Dictionary defined communication as “The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium” According communication is the to process that, of transiting messages by exchanging thoughts, feeling or information via speeches, signals, behaviors, etc Communication requires a sender, a message, a communicate channel and a recipient It is a complicated process but basically has steps: - Brainstorming: To make a communication, the sender will think about the content of what are going to be transited - Transiting: The sender conveys the message to the recipient through languages system (verbal communication), gestures, postures, body language, eye-contact, etc.(nonverbal communication) - Interpreting: The recipient receives the message from the sender and interpret it by his/her own ways - Responding: The recipient responds to what was conveyed All our communication messages are transited through channels: Verbal and nonverbal Verbal messages are made up of language systems (Language is a special gift of human being which makes them different with other mammals) In a verbal communication process, we use languages to share information, messages By using languages, we can speak out, write down, type, and carve, etc., to communicate Meanwhile, nonverbal communication is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless cues between people When we communicate wordless, we use our body languages, eye contact, gestures and other behaviors to express ideas Intracultural communication (communication within culture) happens relatively favorable in our life, except for some cases, because all communicators are similar in culture When we communicate interculturally (communication among cultures), it is more complicated Each culture has different communication styles, behaviors, norm, beliefs, etc That’s why understanding about other cultures and communication behaviors are necessary 2.1.2 Culture 2.1.2.1 Definition of Culture Culture is an enigma It is hard to define the term “culture” The scholars have been finding the way to define it for many decades There are more than 160 different definitions of the term “culture” D’Andrade (1984:116) conceptualized “culture” as: “Learned systems of meaning, communicated by means of natural language and other symbol systems… and capable of creating cultural entities and particular senses of reality Through these systems of meaning, groups of people adapt to their environment and structure interpersonal activities… Cultural meaning systems can be treated as a very large diverse pool of knowledge, or partially shared cluster of norms, or as intersubjectively shared, symbolically created realities.” In 2002, the UNESCO defined “culture” as: “Culture should be mentioned as a set of characteristics of the soul, physical, and emotion and knowledge of a society or group may aid to establishing and gauging the other’s curiosity in some circumstances…which reminds us why eye contact is essential and efficient in most types of communication.” If people don’t look into others’ eyes when communicating, they will wonder themselves that “Why doesn’t he/she look into my eyes?”, “Hey, I’m talking to you!”, “Is there something they want to hide from me?”, “Am I ugly?” etc These thoughts will make the communicators feel insulted, and thus possibly destroying the communication process - Showing and receiving opinions: In small power distance cultures, when someone is expressing their ideas, other people will keep silence and listen carefully to what being transmitted Equality and individual identity are cultural values So, they respect others by focusing on listening During listening, they show their concentration on the presentations by maintaining eye contact, nodding head and saying nothing The communicators is expected to be responsible for constructing a clear, persuasive messages that the listener can decode easily After the communicators finish, people start giving comments They will point out what is not good and give personal suggestions to make it better Others’ opinions will be treated as consultation to the sender 3.1.2 Communication within Large Power Distance Cultures 3.1.2.1 Features of Large Power Distance Cultures Large power distance cultures have the following features: - Emphasis on power distance: The society emphasize people’s status, power or wealth Power is something valuable in large power distance cultures People tend to use their power in workplace or society to take the advantages The respect of power is a cultural value - Emphasis on seniority, age, rank, and title: Seniority, age, rank, and title are the terms of power indicator The elderly are respected due to their experience and age In the Board of Director of a company, the Chairman is usually an old man The values of respect are also spent on who have higher education and social rank 27 - Asymmetrical interaction: The values of large power distance culture express the level of inequality people accept in power distribution People emphasize the distance of power among them That’s why who keeps more power will be the one who controls the interaction They always think that they have more power than other, so they have the rights to dominate the interaction In other aspect, people who have less power will tend to listen to the one who has more power As a saying goes: “Silence is gold”, people with lower power will keep silent in interaction to avoid uncertain issues - Emphasis on formality: Different from small power distance cultures, in large power distance cultural communities, people tend to show off their power, or to put their power over others So, they are satisfied when the others refer to them by position or title The informality values are only accepted among close friends, or among whom with same power - Expectation of directions: The employees expect the directions from their bosses The children follow the arrangement of parents The students only listen to their teacher There is a fact in Vietnamese education which has existed for a long time In a Literature test, if the students express an idea about the literary work which is different from teacher’s instruction, the test will receive a low mark In large power distance work situation, the power is centralized at the upper management level The ideas of higher powerful people are treated as true; the subordinates only follow 3.1.2.2 Verbal Communication In large power distance culture, people of higher position, rank and title put their power over others Power distance becomes a value that everybody within the culture respects Because of the difference in power distribution, people who have less power will be expected to keep silence and listen to the higher power people It’s the inequality in talk turns The bosses or the directors dominate the conversation whenever they talk to their subordinates 28 The inequality is also expressed in the way people address powerful people Those with high power in society prefer to be called by title, position or other formal title They want to be called Professor A, or Mr B, Director, etc On the other hand, the subordinates always address the superiors by title to show their respect to the power of the superiors Their work is easier if they can make their boss happy The formality values are reflected in communication through the personal pronouns In Vietnamese, the word “You” is a diverse term Different people in hierarchical organization and society are called by different terms In Vietnamese, mother is called “Mẹ” Father is called “Bố”, etc In Thai, there are words to address “you” “You” in different situations has different terms These different types of "you" are the framework of formality The various ways of using pronouns in large power distance cultures are aimed to express the respect toward others Large power distance cultures prefer high-context communication prevails Context is an important factor in communication Words are not as important as context A Japanese manager explained his culture’s communication style to an American: “We are a homogeneous people and don’t have to speak as much as you here When we say one word, we understand ten, but here you have to say ten to understand one.” In highcontext communication, only a part of information is expressed verbally A great portion of a message is being "read" from the context: the person, his appearance and nonverbal behavior, personal history, the communicative situation, and the interaction process These kinds of messages are often called metamessages Metamessages are interpreted with the help of certain cues which carry cultural meanings It means when a person communicates with other people, especially with those who own more power, he/she has to pay attention to others’ social status, power, rank, title or even family’s history The affective style is dominant in large power distance cultures The affective style is process-oriented in verbal exchange and uses a receiver-oriented language The roles of speaker and listener are rather integrated than differentiated and are interdependent The speaker is not only expected to transmit his or her message, but at the same time to be 29 considerate about other′s feelings That means that he/she is supposed to be aware of the listener′s reactions, to interpret them and finally to adjust himself or herself to his or her listener Hence, the speaker is transmitter and receiver at the same time In this situation, the subordinate has to pay attention to the boss’s reaction to what are being presented He/she is therefore expected to pay attention not only to what is said but also to how something is said If the boss show a disagreement, the subordinate has to adjust his speech The inequality in power distribution and power respect value allow the boss to dominate the emotion and flow of the conversation On the other hand, when the superiors are talking, the listeners are supposed to quickly catch the ideas of them, before the speakers must pronounce his intention clearly or logically Moreover, indirectly verbal messages are the values of large power distance When a subordinate talks to the boss about something, for example: salary, shift, work initiative, etc., he/she will not go directly into the matters He/she finds the ways to express the ideas without directly mention about them The indirectly verbal messages also show the power gap between the boss and the subordinates In addition, self-effacement is a characteristic of large power distance cultures When a person with lower power communicates with more powerful people, he/she tend to humble himself/herself Because of respecting power distance, lower power people will not express their personal ideas, or judgment When they achieve a trophy, they will not talk about it to others Large power distance communicators always keep a thought in mind that if they talk about their achievements to those with more power, they will make these people think they are bouncing themselves In communication and work, subordinates are not recommended to talk about their personal achievement to their boss 30 3.1.2.3 Non-Verbal Communication - Greeting gesture: The greeting between people who have the same power or title is simple Similar to small power distance cultures, people use handshaking gesture to greet But shaking hand in large power distance cultures contains more meanings These cultures emphasize the inequality in power distribution, and people tend to respect that values So, the handshake gestures mean “It’s my honor to meet you!” Another type of handshaking is double-hand shaking It is observed that people in large lower distance cultures prefer giving doublehand shake to the people of older age or higher position in society to show the respect In Vietnam, Japan, Korean, the handshaking plus bowing is a popular greeting style The greeting between two people with the same position or social status, but with one is older, the younger will shake hand while bowing This action is also used when those who have lower power greet or thank people with higher power It means the people who have less power will tend to bow to whom with more power in society or organizations Bowing is the action of showing respect to those of seniority and higher age - Space: Space is the term referring to both of physical distance and power distance among communicators in large power distance cultures In physical distance, those with less power tend to back away and keep a safe space to power person They try to make powerful people feel respected Moreover, those with more power also find ways to keep space with people who have less power They don’t want to lower their position on par 31 with others In the society, it is highly unlikely to see rich people shake hands or hug the poor About the power distance, people who keep more power always put themselves in the center of the communications process They want others to applaud them, talk about them and make them happy Those with less power always avoid offending their superiors - Posture: The difference in power are is shown in the postures People who have less power have different posture in comparison with those with more power People of lower social status or lower position, when communicating with other people, often have self-crouched and obsequious posture They not dare to reveal the individual personalities In contrast, those with power often look imposing and powerful They always show their pride in owning more power than others Let’s take the conversation between an employee and his boss as an example To show the respect to the boss’s power, the employee tend to self-efface His posture is slightly bent and obsequious Meanwhile, the boss still sits in his chair; or stands up, directly looks at the employee and shows his dominant power by imposing postures - Eye contact: In one region of Africa, an U.S Peace Corps volunteer made tribal elders upset because of requiring them to look into her eyes Unfortunately, in African cultures as well as almost Asian countries (Vietnam, China, Japan, etc.), it is impolite if you stare at an elder For example, in the Islamic faith, Muslims usually look down and try not to focus on the opposite sex’s eyes and faces after giving an initial and short time eye contact, except their family members or partners, in order to overcome unwanted desires In Japan, Korea or Thailand, it is considered rude to stare at other people 32 Because of respecting hierarchical power, people who have more power or higher social rank, title or age will receive more respect If a normal person keep maintaining eye contact with these people in communication process, they will feel disturbed Sometimes, eye contact is required when communicating within large power distance culture in case you’re forced to tell the truth For example, a wife suspects her husband of adultery, she will ask him to look her in the eyes and say the truth Moreover, looking into others’ eyes can express your sincerity But for almost time, the respect is shown by avoiding the eye contact - Tone, pitch, and voice: People who have more power in large power distance cultures usually use voice with high tone and volume to talk to the subordinates Those who have higher social status or title tend to use high tone when talking to dominate the conversation Voices with high tone and volume are used to express the idea: “I am the boss!” Meanwhile, when talking to the superiors, the subordinates tend to use lower tone and small volume They don’t want to get in any offending situation with their superiors 3.2 Culture-shock caused by Misunderstanding of Other Cultures in Communication Culture shock is a noun which is used to describe a feeling of confusion, doubt or nervousness caused by being in a place that is very different from what people are similar to The main reason for the culture shock is misunderstanding about other cultures in cross cultural communication process When communicators from different cultures take part in an interaction, but they are lack of knowledge about talk partner’s culture, thus culture shocks can possibly happen What is the consequence of culture shock? Culture shocks can make the communication breakdown which also put a punctuation to the negotiation among communicators Moreover, 33 culture shocks may leave a bad impression about the communicators The following examples are given to show the consequence of misunderstanding about other cultures when communicating cross cultures Imagine that you are in an important business negotiation with a Japanese You would like to express that you are agree with their contract, you show the O.K signs But be aware that, in Japanese, the fingers form a round which is like a coin shape In Japan, this gesture means you are asking for money It is a bad when using gesture without understanding about other culture You leave in the business partner a bad impression or a culture shock which may break down your negotiation Let’s take another example There is a story about a conversation between an American teacher and a Vietnamese student The Vietnamese student had high result in the exam The teacher came and gave him a compliment He was very surprise when his student denied his compliment by saying “I’m not good enough” The teacher thought that his student was humbled himself so he keep complimenting his student The second time, the student denied the compliment which made the teacher angry The teacher leaf out of the room immediately In this story, both of the teacher and the student are lack of knowledge about others’ cultures In American culture, people are equal So, when you get high result, you deserve a compliment Meanwhile in Vietnam, people tend to humble themselves to the more powerful people Both of them encountered a culture shock which led to the communication breakdown Supposing that you are a Denmark employee You want to find a job at Japan When you come to meet your boss, you exactly what people in your culture which is handshake with straight posture and directly eye contact You think that you are showing your identity, confidence without awareness of Japanese culture Your action cause a culture shock to your boss Because you with less power have to bow and avoid eye contact while receiving handshake from your boss 3.3 Importance of Student’s Recognition about Cross Cultural Communication 34 It is very important to raise the awareness of students about cross cultural communication The following details will show the reasons: - The knowledge about other cultures will help the students avoid the culture shocks during communication process Succeed in communication is an important conditions which lead to many achievements - Students are young, and have the desire of discovering the world Knowledge about other cultures will be the key to satisfy the desire of learning - Cross cultural communication understanding will help them become flexible in cultural mixed environment - A student who is well-prepared about cross cultural communication can promote the image of his/her country to friends over the world - In globalization and integration era, the workplace is a cultural mixed environment Understanding about culture of fellows as well as bosses can help the student succeed in the real job 35 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 4.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY In integration era, cross cultural interactions become easier It embraces both of challenges and opportunities for communicators It give us opportunities to discover the world, satisfy the needs of individuals It also challenges us in adapting and integrating In many aspects of cultural differences, power distance is an important culture value Power distance plays an important role in forming the languages, behaviors, etc of people In some cultures, power distance is small in which people emphasize the equality among human The equality among human is reflected in every aspects of life Small power distance values are found in Individualistic countries, for example: The United States of America, The U.K, the Scandinavian countries, etc Meanwhile, in Collectivistic countries, for example: Arab countries, almost Africa and Asia countries, etc.; people accept the unequal in power distribution Respect the people who have more power is an important thing Therefore, it is necessary to accumulate the understanding about power distance in the intercultural communication The study is aimed to provide an insight into the differences among cultures in power distance values The study gave the basic background knowledge about cross cultural communication and power distance value It also help the author answers two important questions: “What is power distance values?” “How power distance shapes our communication?” Since then, the author gave some suggestions to avoid culture shocks when communicating across cultures In conclusion, mindfulness of these differences can help people succeed in communication with dissimilar interlocutors Understanding about other cultures can help people avoid culture shocks or misinterpretations So, it is important to equip ourselves the knowledge about the world 4.2 SUGGESTIONS 4.2.1 Suggestions for Students to Avoid Culture Shocks and Communication Breakdown 36 As what mentioned above, it is very important to raise the awareness of student about cross cultural communication Especially, English Major Students need to accumulate the understanding about cross cultural communication They will have more chance to contact with many different cultures In the range of the study, I focused on “Power Distance values”, so, I would like to give some suggestions to avoid culture shocks and communication breakdown based on power distance I hope with my suggestion, the students can make their communication process successful 4.2.1.1 When communicating with people from large power distance cultures - In greeting with those with higher rank, age, seniority or title, you should remind yourself of the power distance between you and them Greeting is an important phase in communication process It leaves in other the first impression about the communicator, which may help talk succeed A bad first impression may destroy the whole conversation If you want to give a handshake to a person with higher rank, social status, seniority or title, you have to bow to them and wait for their hand signals If they give their hand, make a firm double handshake style to show your respect The action of bowing shows your respect to the powerful people which make them pleased - Remember, “Silence is gold” In communication with a higher rank, age, seniority or title person, you have to know when you need to speak and when you need to keep silence When the higher power person is expressing an idea, you need to keep silence and listen to them Don’t break his/her speech, wait them to finish If you break his/her speech, you will make he/she think that you are not respect him/her They may think: “How dare you stop me while I’m speaking?” “This guy doesn’t respect me”, etc During their speech, you have to focus on what are being transmitted If you have any questions, spend it to the end of his/her speech Some gestures can be effectiveness in this situation: slightly nodding head, put your hands over your chin and mouth, etc Using gestures wisely can make other people pleased 37 - Never go pass in front of a person with higher rank, age, title or seniority The action of trespassing the high rank, age, title and seniority people can make them feel offensive It also shows that you don’t respect them - Don’t maintain eye contact with people with higher rank, age, title or seniority Maintaining eye contact with power people is a bad idea, unless you are forced to that Otherwise, you have to avoid it So, when will you use eye contact with those who own more power than you? The answer is when you want to express your sincerity to the boss, or you want to make them trust you But just use quick eye contact sometimes during the communication process Don’t maintain it because it will cause the feeling of disturbed in the boss - When communicating with higher rank, age, title or seniority people, especially your boss, use the qualifying words and “I statements” rather than absolute words and “You statement” For example: When you talk to your boss about his clothes, instead of saying “You don’t fit in that suit” (it causes the harassment and offended), you’d rather say: “I think that suit doesn’t fit you” (It means the suit is not a par with the boss’s power) - Keep a safe space between you and the more powerful people when communicating The safe space can vary from 1m to 1,5m Why? Because if you stay too close to them, they will think that “This guy stands close to me because he wants something from me” The powerful people doesn’t want any harms to their power So, to make your conversation success, you have to keep a safe distance to them - When talking to a powerful people, remember to control your voice The tone and pitch of your voice is very important If you say too small, no one can hear you But if it’s too loud, it causes disturbed Remember to maintain your voice, it has to be appropriated to each people 4.2.1.1 When communicating with people from small power distance cultures 38 Because, in small power distance cultures, people emphasize the equality, so, the communication process among people are the same There are no differences when you talk to your boss and when you talk to your co-worker - In greeting with every people, you can initiative offering handshake by showing your hand and directly eye contact When handshaking, give a firm and short handshake For example, it is the first day of you at the company You meet the boss and talk to him The first thing you have to is to keep a straight posture, offer a handshake to the boss while maintain eye contact and a firm smile If he/she offer a hug, hug them with your sincerity The confidence in communication with higher rank, age, title or seniority in small power distance cultures shows your ability in persuasion - In workplace, when your boss is speaking, remember to look at him and listen carefully You have to quickly catch the ideas of him It’s bad if you ask him to repeat what are told It means you didn’t focus on his presentation - Respect co-workers’ ideas, don’t try to prove that they’re wrong Everybody has their own ideas, you have to learn how to respect their ideas Because if you respect them, they will the same to you Don’t deny their opinions, just give your recommendation about what was being transmit In workplace, when your boss are giving an idea, you have to listen carefully to point out which is not appropriated Then you’re free to give your opinions to the boss You are free to express your ideas to your boss If you have an initiative to make the work run effectively, don’t afraid to speak out - Always be on time Time orientation is an important factor which leave strong impression on others You cannot make other people trust you if you’re always late Time orientation is more important in real work Your company has a meeting, and you wake up too late to come in-time It means you break their trust in you They find it hard to trust someone who don’t respect other’s time - In individualistic countries, the “I” identity is an important factor of culture It is very impolite when you ask about age, salary, relationship status, and other personal 39 information of others Remember to avoid of curiosity If they trust you, they will let you know sometime - Don’t bragging about what you did not know Just communicate about what you really know 4.2.2 Suggestions for Further Research This thesis is only a partial study into the investigation about the Power Distance in Cross Cultural Communication The discussions and in this study suggest that: - Deeper research on Power Distance values in typical cultures - Clarify the influences of Power Distance values in workplace - Power Distance in Gestures - Communicate effectively across cultures 40 REFERENCES [1] Stella Ting-Toomey (1999) Communicating Across Cultures The Guildford Press [2] Roger E.Axtell (1998) Gestures: The Do’s and Taboos of Body Languages around the World John Wiley & Sons, Inc [3] Adler, N (1997) International dimensions of organization behavior Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing [4] Bond, M (1991) Beyond the Chinese face Hong Kong: Oxford University Press [5] Wilmot, W., & Hooker, J (1998) Interpersonal Conflict Boston: McGraw-Hill [6] Knapp,M and Hall, J (1997) Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction Harcourt Brace College Publisher, Orlando, USA [7] Nguyen Quang (2000) Intercultural Communication VNU- Hanoi, College of Foreign languages [8] Michael Tomasello (1999) “The Human Adaptation for Culture” Annual Review of Anthropology [9] D'Andrade, Roy G (1984) Cultural meaning systems Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press [10] Armstrong,N and Wagner, M (2003) Field Guilder to Gestures Quirk Productions,Inc [11] Hofstede, G & Bond, M (1984) Hofstede’s culture dimensions Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15, 417 – 433 41 ... give a handshake This is a typical example about the effects of power distance value to cross cultural communication Japanese is a large power distance culture; while American is a small power distance. .. Kuwait 80 Czech Republic 57 Lebanon 80 Spain 57 Libya 80 Pakistan 55 Saudi Arabia 80 Japan 54 14 United Arab Emirates 80 Italy 50 Ecuador 78 Argentina 49 Indonesia 78 South Africa 49 Ghana 77... (Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, China, etc.), Arab countries (U .A. E, Arabia Saudi, etc.), Cuba, Venezuela, etc Large power distance values are also found in almost Socialist countries In these