Guide to Cross-Cultural Communication.

Guide to Cross-Cultural Communication

Sana Reynolds and Deborah Valentine. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004. 134 pp., including appendices and index.

GUIDE TO CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION is a great pocket-sized reference guide that not only gives practical information

and instructions on ways to effectively communicate across cultures but also provides theoretical concepts with generic, yet applicable, explanations of significant cultural norms and cues. This user-friendly guide is an easy read, and it intermingles thought-provoking proverbs from diverse cultures throughout each chapter; for example, chapter 7, "Communicating Nonverbally," begins with a Palestinian proverb: "Whatever is written on the face is always seen" (p. 77). Its compact size makes it a convenient carry-along for international business travelers and corporate HR trainers, its primary audiences.

Even though Reynolds and Valentine also include MBA students and graduate school instructors of communication in the list of readers who can use this guide, these groups of users would be better served to find a resource that engages the reader in a more in-depth exploration of the concepts introduced in this guide that are significant to cultural as well as interregional communication and business practices. On the other hand, the authors maintain,

   We have taught thousands of business professionals and MBA students
   at corporations and universities in the United States and abroad,
   and have been both surprised and dismayed at the lack of awareness
   of effective cross-communication. Even among people who have worked
   abroad, there is ignorance and misunderstanding. (p. ix)

Therefore, in keeping with this theme, if one is looking for a quick reference guide that provides a brief, yet important, overview of communication in a multicultural business environment, then this is a great resource.

With the hundreds of books on the market written about intercultural, multicultural, and cross-cultural communication, what makes this book stand out in a field of many? This guide covers a lot of territory by providing a great deal of useful information in a very small and exceptionally organized package. Guide to Cross-Cultural Communication begins with an Introduction and is then divided into two main parts: Part I, "Understanding Cultures"; and Part II, "Communicating Across Cultures." The Introduction begins with a Chinese proverb, "A closed mind is like a closed book, just a block of wood" (p. xiii), which is metaphorically used to provide a basis for Reynolds and Valentine's definitions of both "communication" and "cross-cultural," respectively. The authors go on to discuss how culture can be understood in the context of workplace experiences and how it is defined in terms of its acquisition and dissemination among group members, in addition to the generally shared norms and cues within the group. Then the authors briefly describe the works of three scholars in the field--Edward Hall, Geert Hofstede, and Mary Munter--from whom the concepts discussed in this book are taken.

Parts I and II are organized with consistently clear chapter headings and a brief synopsis of each chapter topic, which may include topic summaries or real-world examples. Each chapter begins with an outline that forecasts the specific areas and key concepts covered within the chapter. Interestingly enough, each chapter is characterized by a cultural proverb that represents the theme of chapter. Chapter headings and select subheadings are phrased as abbreviated questions, inviting the reader to engage in self-assessment. Additionally, at the end of each chapter are guidelines for applying the chapter's key concepts to workplace interactions and business dealings in a multicultural environment. These guidelines attempt to instruct the user on how to integrate theory and practice. More important, the guidelines require that the user perform some type of audience analysis as a methodology for effectively applying theoretical concepts to real-world situations; however, as a point for discretion, Reynolds and Valentine stress that these concepts are generalizations at best. The book ends with a conclusion, questionnaire, bibliography, and suggested readings and films. The overall linear design of this book reinforces its use as a concise guide, enabling the user to quickly locate pertinent information with relative ease.

Part I, "Understanding Cultures," consists of four chapters, each summarizing the scholarly work on a specific dimension that differentiates cultures and discussing how to best apply the theory to practice. Chapter 1, "Relationships: Individual and Collective?" discusses Hofstede's research and looks at culture in terms of relational attitudes toward group versus individual coherence. Reynolds and Valentine base the next two chapters--"Social Framework: High Context or Low Context?" and "Time: Linear, Flexible, or Cyclical?"--on the work of Hall. Chapter 2 describes the differences between cultures that rely on explicit statements to make meaning and cultures that garner meaning from implicit statements. Chapter 3 discusses how different cultures view time in a metaphorical context related to its value and relationship to the individual.

Part I ends with chapter 4, "Power: Hierarchical or Democratic?" based on Hofstede's idea of "Power Distance" (p. xix). This chapter is concerned with how cultures view power, in particular whether communication is seen as something that should be equally shared among its members regardless of one's stature or if there should be a structured chain of command based on one's prominence. Overall, Part I delivers information that can be found in much of the literature written on subjects related to culture; however, the information is condensed into manageable portions that are easy for the reader to comprehend and retain.

Moving from explanation to application, Reynolds and Valentine's Part II, "Communicating Across Cultures," focuses on effective communication, from a cultural context, looking at how aspects of the English language and the United States culture compare to other languages and cultures in the areas of language use, writing, nonverbal cues, credibility and persuasion, and law. This section contains four chapters, beginning with chapter 5, "Using Language." Here the authors apply the concepts of "High Context" and "Low Context," covered in chapter 2, to the English language and the Sino-Tibetan languages, respectively. The authors attempt to touch upon the linguistic features of the language; for example, they explain that "the English language is structured to identify agent and action (the subject/verb dynamic), revealing an underlying belief in the value of achievement and individual responsibility" (p. 59). In chapter 6, "Writing," the authors describe the differences between those who are "English communicators" and those who are "communicators from other cultures" (p. 69), pointing out differences in preferred methods, means, style, and clarity of communication. Topics covered in this chapter are "Written or Oral?" "Direct or Indirect?" "Immediate or Delayed?" and "Clear or Ambiguous?"

The next chapter deals with cultural practices, which are represented by the following subtopic headings: "eye contact," "facial expression," "hand gestures," "the use of physical space," and "silence and the rhythm of language." These concepts are the basis for chapter 7, "Communicating Nonverbally." Finally, Part II ends with chapter 8, "Negotiation," a discussion of how to negotiate in an intercultural milieu and navigate through the international legal system. Drawing heavily upon the work of Mary Munter, this chapter gives practical advice on the vital steps to be taken leading up to and during the negotiation process that will aid in successful communication when conducting business in a multicultural environment. Like Part I, Part II does not provide original research; rather, it is a neat compilation of relevant materials on each topic drawn from a number of sources and then well organized into a concise package.

As a guide for professionals conducting business in the United States and abroad and for company HR departments that are charged with the responsibility for developing corporate diversity programs to raise cultural awareness, the Guide to Cross-Cultural Communication is a great resource. Throughout each chapter, Reynolds and Valentine keep the concepts focused on the relevance of cultural awareness and how it can improve business relations in an era where geographic distance and boundaries for commerce are shrinking. However, I would not recommend this guide for MBA students or instructors of communication because this book neither engages the reader in academic inquiry nor discusses significant technological developments, namely the Internet, that affect cross-cultural communication in today's business interactions.

In addition, this may not be the book for communicators from other cultures, specifically non-English speakers. Even though the authors imply that this guide can be used by multicultural users, the authors do not consistently target these users throughout the book, and their "Cultural Questionnaire, a Tool for Understanding Your Culture" (p. 115) does little to convince me that this book is for non-English-speaking users. For example, in the "Guidelines" in chapter 4, the authors write as if there is a possibility the reader may be outside of the United States when they state, "If you are from a more democratic or flat structured culture where power distance is low, designate a person ..." (p. 53). Here and in other places throughout, the authors seem to present a dual-sided perspective on the potential users of the book, when in reality the targeted audience is English communicators.

In addition, in chapter 5, the authors write, "Select simple, specific, concrete words.... Try to use common words, that is, words normally learned in the first two years of language study" (p. 64). However, the authors violate their own instructions when they write in another section of the book, "You will not change an entire culture's attitude about rime no matter how much you whine or badger" (p. 99). In the preceding passage, Reynolds and Valentine are nonculturally specific; however, given the use of the word badger, this message is more appropriate for native speakers of English. Unfortunately, in an attempt to address many audiences from a cultural standpoint, the authors tend to send an ambiguous message here and there.

Despite these shortcomings, Guide go Cross-Cultural Communication is useful for specific readers whose cultural identification is connected to the United States, and it has the potential to provide valuable insight into cross-cultural communication for business applications.

Pat Johnson Winston, Illinois Institute of Technology DOI: 10.1177/1080569905279092

Address correspondence to Pat. Johnson Winston, Lewis Department of Humanities, Illinois Institute of Technology, 218 Siegel Hall, Chicago IL 60616; e-mail: johnpat@iit.edu.