INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP

AND ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR
#ILOB #Bocconi #SDABocconi
STUDY MATERIALS – Week3
Week 3
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
1.  INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION
2.  ENABLING DECISION MAKING
3.  IDENTITY AND RELATIONSHIPS: The Four Dimensions
Model
4.  FOCUS ON RESEARCH: Becoming a More Effective
Communicator
5.  INTEGRATIVE CASE: Communicating Effectively
6.  WRAP UP
2
PART 1
INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNICATION

3
Does Communication Matter?
Let’s Start From Some Key Points

1.  Communication matters because it allows us to

exchange information, claims, and appeals.

2.  Understanding the meaning of a phrase relies on your

understanding of social conventions of the particular
cultural context.

3.  In an intercultural setting, misinterpretations of meanings

can lead to many misunderstandings and/or tensions.

4
Rituals of Greeting, an Example
Q: How are you?

A: Great!

A: How are you?

RITUALISTIC
GREETING
A: Disclose something,
good or bad.

A: Eh!
(or some non-verbal sign)
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Rituals of Greeting

NEW YORK TIMES, The “How Are You” Culture Clash

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/opinion/the-how-are-
you-culture-clash.html?_r=0

Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation

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Key Functions of Communication for
Leaders
Leaders use communication to exchange information and
give direction, and establish their relationship with followers
(intentionally and unintentionally)

From what a leader says followers construe answers to the

following questions:
§ Are you one of us?
§ Do you understand and care about us and about what we care
about?
§ Can you help us achieve our goals and interests?

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Key Communicating Barriers in
Intercultural Communication
#1 language barrier:
• problems arise due to differences in lexicon/ vocabulary of
sender and receiver, receiver does not understand the literal
meaning / translation of a word/phrase
• often a clear signal of mismatch, therefore easy to detect
and correct

#2 semantic barrier:
• problems arise due to differences in meaning attached to
particular words or phrases between sender and receiver
• often more difficult to detect, because receiver has the
impression that he/she understood the sender’s message
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 Communication Model #1: Sender /
Receiver
Sender’s field of Receiver’s field
experience of experience
channel
encoding decoding

sender message receiver

•  Unidirectional communication, from sender to receiver

•  Provides no opportunity for receiver to ask for clarification,
elaboration etc., and no opportunity for sender to understand
language barriers or semantic barriers
•  This model carries the highest risk for miscommunication

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 Communication Model #2: Feedback
Sender’s field Receiver’s field of
of experience experience
channel
encoding decoding

sender message receiver

feedback
decoding encoding

•  Allows receiver to give feedback on what he/she understood from

the sender, what additional information is required, etc.
•  Enables sender to identify language and semantic barriers,
misunderstandings, etc.

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 Communication Model #3: Interaction /
Transaction
Sender’s field Receiver’s field of
of experience experience
channel
encoding decoding

sender dialogue receiver

decoding encoding

shared field
of experience

•  Dialogue between sender and receiver

•  Allows both to contribute to building shared meaning and shared
experience
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PART 2
ENABLING
DECISION MAKING

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General Decision Making Challenges
Leaders do not have to make all the decision themselves,
but they have to coordinate the process.

Rational Decision Making Process

1.  Identify the Problem 2. Solve the Problem

-  Specify objectives, -  Develop alternatives interventions
-  Monitor environment, -  Evaluate/choose alternatives
-  Isolate & trace the problem -  Implement chosen alternative

> Uncertainty
Challenges > Equivocality
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 General Decision Making Challenges
Uncertainty
§ Describes the inability to predict a future state
§ Usually the result of too little information
§ Different types of uncertainty: state (what is the situation that
we are in? What is the problem?), Effect (how effect does the
situation/problem have on me/us?), Response uncertainty (which
responses are available and what effect will they have?)

Equivocality
§ Describes the existence of two or more possible interpretations
§ Usually the result of too much information

Ø  Dealing with both challenges requires careful

deliberation
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Deliberating with Others:
Collective Sense-Making Process
AIM
Collaborative uncertainty and equivocality reduction in a
team / organization

Step 1: Share Information

Actors point out the things that have meaning to them.

Step 2: Process Information

Collectively check and transform the meaning of what has been shared.

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Information Sharing in
Intercultural Context
Premise
Ø  As a leader in an intercultural setting, you are unlikely to have
all the pieces of information that are needed for a decision.
Ø  You are responsible for encouraging managing the sharing
process.
Ø  You are responsible to encourage others to share their unique
understanding in an accessible way with others.

Remember: culture shapes cognition, i.e. what information

people recognize and ‘digest’
Examples:
-  Eskimos have many words for snow.
-  The Japanese language has many different words for rain.

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Information Sharing in Intercultural
Contexts: Leaders Action

Leaders need to create a safe and

encouraging environment, that enables
individuals to express their diverse views,
share divergent information, and confidently
request and discuss information with others.

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PepsiCo Case - Leveraging Diversity

“[PepsiCo needs] a team that reflects the diversity of our consumers.

And that starts with creating a workplace where everyone feels
welcome, including our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
employees, suppliers, trade customers and partners. Creating a culture
of respect and trust is part of PepsiCo's values and it's the source of our
strength in the marketplace.”

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Intercultural Issues in
Information Sharing
Why is it difficult for people to share unique information
they have?

1 In general we do not want to:

-  Look weird
-  Be judged
-  Get into conflict

We may think that what we are focusing on is not relevant, is not

well articulated, and that we may be looking at something in the
wrong way.

2 In an intercultural context language constitutes a strong additional

barrier to sharing.

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Intercultural Issues in
Information Sharing

Why may what people share not be helpful?

Projected Similarity
It is often rooted in subconscious parochialism (belief that your way of
thinking is the only possible way of thinking); it represents the
assumption that people (or their situation) are more similar to you than
what they really are, and as a consequence they see/interpret things in a
similar way, they have similar access to similar information etc.

As a consequence you may not reach out to others, and not explain
yourself as much as you should.

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Intercultural Issues in Information Sharing:
Cultural Distinction #1
Low Context Cultures (LC)
The interpretation of people’s behavior and utterances heavily depends on what is actually
communicated (e.g. USA, Australia, Germany, Switzerland). Silence is often perceived as
uncomfortable. The emphasis is put on clarification and attention to details and explicit
rules for conduct (preference for upfront detailed agenda, legal documents, …)
•  Written communication preferred because you can be precise and explicit.
•  They tend to rely on rational, fact-based arguments

High Context Cultures (HC)

In this case the situation, arrangement, relationships, nonverbal (intonation) provide a
context that carries symbolic meaning. What is communicated can appear vague, and
indirect (what is unsaid but (assumed) understood carries more meaning than verbal
comments); it requires to “read between the lines” (DOES NOT MEAN that it’s deliberately
veiled).
•  Face-to-face communication preferred
•  Communication often relies on intuitive style
•  High likelihood of misunderstanding (situations can be interpreted very differently)

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Intercultural Issues in Information Sharing:
Cultural Distinction #1

What happens if there is a discrepancy in communication

styles?

LC person communicating with a HC person

The LC person comes across as rude and too direct.

HC person communicating with a LC person

The LC person may miss a lot of the clues from the situation, she may
not even know what to pay attention to.

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Information Sharing in Intercultural
Contexts: Leaders Basic Action
Leaders need to:

Ø  Create awareness for different communication

styles

Ø  Select the right channels for communication (e.g. for

communication with team members from HC
cultures, face-to-face is preferable)

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Information Processing in
Intercultural Context
Premise
It is very difficult to step outside of the personal cultural frame of
reference.
Many people do not question the meaning of things and artifacts around
them. They take these for granted.
We all have limited tools for interpreting information.

Cultural diversity in a team or organization can be extremely

helpful; it can stimulate fresh perspectives and cross-
pollination to develop better and more satisfying
interpretations and solutions.

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Information Processing in
Intercultural Context

“It takes equivocality to reduce equivocality.”

Sensemaking Model
by Karl E. Weik

You need people with very different, conflicting perspectives to make

sense of a situation with very different, conflicting perspectives. This is
where an intercultural team with very different cultural backgrounds
comes in handy.

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Intercultural Issues in Information
Processing: Cultural Distinction #2
Think of the diverse approaches in collectivist / individualist
cultures.

Individualist Countries
The focus of people is to do what needs to be done to succeed (the
“technically best solution”).

Collectivist Countries
The main focus here is to maintain group harmony and avoid conflict
(the “socially best solution”).

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Intercultural Issues in Information
Processing: Cultural Distinction #2
This may lead to very different conversational paths.

In collectivism, for instance, it is very difficult to separate a criticism of

an idea or action from criticism of the person (a critic is always seen as
a personal critic).

Researchers have promulgated a set of recommendations for individualists

interacting with collectivists:
•  Carefully manage group composition and dynamics
•  Avoid overt competition - emphasize harmony and cooperation instead
•  Avoid threatening another person’s “face” - help them save face when
necessary
•  Avoid overt confrontation - use a strategy of indirection - or just let go of the
conflict

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Intercultural Issues in
Information Processing
Diversity is something to cherish and cultivate, because even in a diverse
group the benefits can get lost.

Mutual Adaptation (Convergence) Process

PROS: People start trusting each other more, they feel there is this
mutual adaptation process going on, and make the effort to understand
each other.
CONS: This process can kill differences in perspectives.

The convergence theory of intercultural communication.

by Kincaid, D. Lawrence (1988)

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Intercultural Issues in Information
Processing
Some of the negative impacts of this mutual adaptation and
convergence in a group:

-  Illusion of transparency: assumption that your thoughts and feelings

are obvious to others

-  Projected similarity: assumption that others behave and think similar

to you

-  Pluralistic ignorance: the situation in which a majority of a group’s

members privately disagrees, but individually assume that the
majority of the group agrees, and therefore decide to go along with
a particular decision
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PART 3
IDENTITY AND
RELATIONSHIPS:
The Four Dimensions
Model
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 The 4 Dimensions (4D) Framework*

We speak with four ‘tongues’

(We encode these four dimensions)

We listen with four ‘ears’

(We decode these four dimensions)

*developed by German psychologist Friedemann Schulz von Thun 31

Listening With Four Ears
EXAMPLE

A colleague comes to you “Don’t tell anyone, but… Mike and Jane had a big fallout
this morning about who is going to present the project at the conference.”
•  Hear the Facts:
–  I see. What arguments did they present to each other? Who won the
argument? (Seeking additional info)
•  Hear the Appeal:
–  Ok, I’ll talk to them and see what I can do! (Accepting)
–  What do you want me to do about? I'm not the resident counselor. (Rejecting)
•  Hear the Self-disclosure:
–  That’s upsetting you, isn’t it. (Accepting)
–  you are quite the gossiper, aren’t you (Rejecting)
•  Hear the Relationship:
–  “Thanks for confiding in me!” (Accepting)
–  “why are you telling me, I don’t like that kind of gossip” (Rejecting)
32
The Four Dimensions Model or…
We Listen With Four Ears

•  There can be gender-tendencies

•  There can also be some national cultural tendencies, e.g. high/low

power distance, Too Much Information (TMI) in the USA, first name
basis norm in different countries etc.

•  Some individuals and some cultures are more attentive to some

dimensions than others

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Focus on Self Disclosure and
Relationship Statement
In intercultural contexts:

•  There can be a higher barrier to developing trust and to building

relationships between the leader and the followers

•  We cannot help but communicate something about ourselves be it

verbally or non-verbally

•  People form impressions about what they perceive as self-statements

very quickly (within seconds)

People tend to overlook these two dimensions, and they are

particularly tricky to manage in intercultural settings.
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Self Disclosure

Self-disclosure can happen through many different

aspects of communication:

ü  Body Language (often regarded as “leaky”, since our body language

often betrays what we verbally try to conceal)
ü  Proximity (how close or far away from a conversation partner we
stand)
ü  Voice (tonality, tremor, etc.)
ü  Timing (when and how fast you speak or reply)

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Self Disclosure
In addition to the non-deliberate, automatic self-disclosure,
you can be deliberate about what information about yourself
you want to reveal to others, e.g.:
ü  your values, priorities, etc.
ü  your thinking style, reasoning, assumptions, and problem solving
approaches you use yourself and find useful
ü  what makes you productive
ü 
Communication is an opportunity to let others understand
who you are and where you are coming from.
A leader’s openness and self disclosure can encourage
reciprocal behavior from followers.
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Self Disclosure in Sociology:
Goffman on Face work

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

by Goffman, E. (1959)

37
Self Disclosure in Intercultural Settings
Problems
In an intercultural setting self-
disclosure can be problematic:
•  Language Barrier: concern that
your or others vocabulary and
general language ability is
insufficient to express yourself with
sufficient nuance(i.e. you are
literally “lacking the words”).
•  Meaning barrier: apprehension that
what you want to communicate
may be misunderstood because
unintended meanings
are attached to it.
When communication
becomes difficult, and we
are concerned that we may
choose words badly and
become “muted”.
(àdiscussed in “Muted
Group” theory: women must
convert their unique ideas,
experiences, and meanings
into “male” language in order
to be heard, which distorts
and discourages expression)
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Focus on Self Disclosure
The Muted Group Theory

Kramarae, C. (1981), Women and men speaking:

Frameworks for analysis. Rowley, MA: Newbury House

Interview with Cheris Kramarae, one of the main theorists

of the Muted Group Theory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKkM1adp5Uo

39
Self Disclosure in Intercultural Settings
Possible Solution

Stress commonalities.

Self disclosure can help establish a common

ground.

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Focus on Relationship Statements
Communication is a mechanism through which relationships
are created, maintained, and modified.

As a leader you can shape relationships with your followers

directly through communication.

Relationships statements can entail:

ü  Deliberately stressing commonalities
ü  Talking about the value of diversity (i.e. providing a sense of inclusion)
ü  Expressing expectations and standards for followers(i.e. articulating
roles and hierarchy)

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Focus on Relationships building
History of a concept
14th century Italian poet and scholar Francesco Petrarca cultivated
the idea that the culture of communication shapes the moral qualities
of the community.

He viewed the culture of civic discourse as the central achievement of
the Roman Empire and he wanted to rekindle it for the Italy of his day.

To write or think purely for oneself would've been regarded as
perverse, solitude, solitary contemplation, and reflection was viewed
with suspicion.

The ideal: vita activa, the active life of civic involvement, at the
center of this tradition is the concept of language as the bond of
society and instrument of its change.

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Focus on Building Relationships
History of a Concept
TAKEAWAY

Through choices in communication you build a particular

relationship with others:

Ø  How much feedback and contribution you invite in a conversation

Ø  How hierarchical a relationship you construe
Ø  The shapes the bound between leaders and followers and among
followers, it fosters a relationship based on openness, active
involvement, and participation.

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Focus on Relationship Statements
Manage the dialectical tensions that exist almost universally
in all cultures between:

•  Connection vs. Autonomy [NEGATIVE FACE]

•  Openness vs. Privacy [TOO MUCH INFO]
•  Predictability vs. Novelty [OPTIMAL DISTINCTIVENESS]

Relationship building is a negotiation

among those sets of tensions

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Social Construction of the Self

The self-concept is the relatively stable set of perceptions

that people hold themselves to. This includes perceptions
about physical features, rules, talents, emotional states,
values, social skills and limits, intellect, and many others.

How you relate to others (and how others relate to you)

changes who you think you are.

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PART 4
FOCUS ON RESEARCH
Becoming a More
Effective Communicator

46
Developing Communication Skills
Our brain is social and needs interaction.

How to learn to communicate better and how to be more effective in

communication:
1.  Learn through new experiences → the more you communicate the better
you become. Though it is not enough. You need to:
• Step out of your comfort zone
• Become more self aware, learn what your strengths and limitations
are, and expose yourself to them
• Work on your strengths and weaknesses

2.  Get feedback and accept it → Learn to ask for feedback

3.  Find Role Models → Observe and focus on people that have an effective
style of communication; you need your own style but you also need
inspiration

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The Social Brain

The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social

Brain(2nd edition). New York: W.W. Norton
Louis Cozolino ( 2010)

48
Being More Effective
Leaders need to:
–  Be aware of themselves, know who they are, know what they want
and ergo think and behave accordingly. Their actions need to be
coherent with the messages they convey.
–  People are different, they have to accept and to embrace this
diversity and keep that in mind when communicating.

Three rules for passing on your own message:

–  Dynamic balance between focus on centering on yourself and
decentering from yourself onto other people
–  Believe in a generative way of communication
–  Balance emotions and rationality; engage by emotion, hope and
desire and then present rational explanations and arguments

Last but not least: Communication requires ENERGY!

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PART 5
INTEGRATIVE CASE

50
Integrative Case - Briefing
Jack Ryan is an American engineer going to China for the first time to finalize a
manufacturing joint venture deal with a Chinese partner.

Jack is the technical expert, and he sets a two day meeting with Peter Chang,
the COO of the Chinese firm. Schedule for the visit: first day presentation,
second day visit to the plant.

In the meeting Peter Chang, the CEO and the Chinese delegates show up on one
side while Jack is by himself on the other side of the table, with a translator (he
doesn’t speak any Chinese).

Before starting his professional presentation he encourages questions.

After finishing the presentation he encourages questions again.
No questions were asked; Jack thinks it went great.
But the next day he learns from the translator that the presentation didn’t go well;
he blames the translator.

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Integrative Case
What went wrong?
Why was the Chinese party displeased?
What did Jack do wrong?

Take 5 minutes and

try to answer yourself

52
Integrative Case - Problems

SITUATION
•  Jack was alone (no delegation) → as if the deal was not that
important
•  Jack was young (no experience) → seniority gap

•  There was no time to build a relationship before discussing the deal

Ø  Jack was not involved in the deal making before that moment
Ø  The schedule was extremely rushed leaving no time to build trust (two
days were not enough); therefore the context was already critical

53
Integrative Case - Problems
PRESENTATION
•  A technical, ‘one way’ presentation is not ideal to start a dialog
and spark the interest
•  In certain cultures it is tricky to ask for questions and feedback;
gaining and losing face is an important and delicate issue:
–  Jack highlighting the quality of his company’s products = lose
face due to arrogance
–  Chinese partner’s employees asking questions can lose face
in a number of ways
Ø  they show they did not understand
Ø  they show Jack does not have an answer, makes him lose face,
and them lose face cause they made Jack lose face
Ø  if an excellent question is asked by a lower rank, his/her
superiors can lose face because they did not ask, and the lower
rank individual loses face because he/she made the superiors
lose face
54
Integrative Case - Problems
INTERPRETER

•  The interpreter presenter did not want the presenter to lose his face,
so he said nothing, it was not his role to give him feedback or
criticize him.

55
Integrative Case - Possible Solutions
SITUATION
Relationship:
•  Allocate more time.
•  Bring someone who took part in the negotiations (ideally a senior
representative who could give him legitimacy as the technical expert, for
instance)

PRESENTATION
•  Different framing / intention: don’t deliver a “top-down” presentation, instead:
it should have been a dialog between the two parties, learn from the other
party how to make the deal work

INTERPRETER
•  He could have been the test audience, Jack could have asked for help
before meeting the delegation; he could have tested the presentation giving
clear instruction for an open feedback and guidance
56
Integrative Case - Reframing the message
4D COMMUNICATION MODEL

•  Factual information to stress: competences of the other party not your own,
and how the the other’s competencies actually complement yours perfectly

•  Relationship: more than the message “we want this deal to work well,” he
could have stressed the message “we would like to build trust and harmony
for this partnership to work”

•  Appeal: the idea to convey in this case could be: “trust for us means: share
information openly, and critically discuss issues” to avoid problems and
maintain harmony

•  Self Disclosure: instead of positioning himself as the technical expert who will
attribute tasks top down, he could have put himself in a “serving role”, as the
person who will facilitate harmony, who will serve the deal, and respect
hierarchy (something more in line with his junior status)

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PART 6
WRAP UP

58
Wrap Up
•  In an intercultural setting, communication is not trivial nor should it be
taken for granted

•  Leaders need to communicate effectively to enable decision making

and to create trust and relationships with followers

•  Do communicate effectively leaders need to:

–  Overcome language and semantic barriers
–  Recognize that different cultures have different patterns /
conventions for info sharing and idea testing

•  The 4D model of communication can help leaders to more

successfully encode and decode message in an intercultural context

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