As more opportunities for joint partnerships between the West and Asia arise, so does the importance of cross-cultural sensitivity. In this photo: Philip McMaster shakes hands with Zhang Yu – Board Chairman and President of China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), as Chen Lei, CEO of Chenduo Productions looks on at the signing of the Culture Media Development Fund in Beijing. CAEG is the largest performing arts and entertainment company in China. (Photo by: www.SustainabilitySymbol.com)
When I was living in South Korea, Koreans referred to non-Koreans as “foreigners.” At the time, I thought nothing of the use of this word because in a sense, that was what people like myself were: as non-Koreans with no legal citizenship, we were literally foreigners in the country. Mind you, Korea has an interesting way of cultivating its entire culture around Koreans vs. everyone else, with language being a prime example. Common phrases in the Korean language referred to things as “our” country (uri nara) or “our people” (uri saram), resulting in somewhat negative undertones of exclusivity. (Friends have told me that China and Japan have their own concepts of the word as well.)
It wasn’t until I started working in international trade and development back in the United States that I was politely scolded for the bad habits I picked up in Asia. When writing a draft report, I mistakingly referred to overseas clients as “foreign customers” and was immediately told to never, ever use the word “foreign” again. Our non-American clients were to be referred to as “international customers,” non-American markets were “overseas markets,” and our non-American staff stationed abroad were to be known as “overseas directors or staff.” Of course this made complete sense to me and immediately I began to appreciate the political correctedness of life and business in the United States.
Rewind several years earlier. I recall meeting an American-educated Korean business consultant who was on a personal (and professional) crusade of encouraging Koreans to scrap the use of “foreigner” from their vocabularies and instead, opt for something along the lines of “non-Korean.” I’m not sure if she ever succeeded in her campaign, but in retrospect, it’s impressive she even tried.
As the world is becoming smaller and smaller thanks to technology and communications, international business opportunities are popping up at a rate unheard of before these times. And in this environment favorable for overseas partnerships comes tremendous opportunity for cross-cultural misunderstanding, miscommunication and unintentional moments of insult and offense. Potentially, Asia’s use and concept of the word “foreigner” could complicate relationships. Likewise, the risk is also present for American companies who have not yet grasped onto the intricacies the difference a word can make. Is it time that Asia (and to a lesser extent the West) reconsiders its use of the F word?
copyright © 2010 Jodi Kiely
Photo by www.SustainabilitySymbol.com//Creative Commons License
More: http://eastwestpage.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/reconsidering-asia%E2%80%99s-use-of-the-%E2%80%9Cf-word%E2%80%9D/
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