Time in Cross-Cultural Communication

Time in Cross-Cultural Communication 14.10.2016 11:34

               Time in Cross-Cultural Communication

                                         Lecture

                                            

 

                                           Plan

 

I. Cultural differences and time orientation.

   1. Monochronic and polychronic cultures.

   2. Monochronic vs polychronic: comparative analysis.

II. Linear, flexible, cyclical concepts of time.

   1. Linear time:

         -the importance of schedules

         - focus on the future

         - measuring time in small units

    2. Flexible time:

         - emphasis on relationships

         - focus on the present

         - reluctance to measure

    3. Cyclical time:

         - understanding connections

         - making decisions

         - forging relationships

         - focusing on the past

    4. Conducting business in linear, flexible and cyclical cultures: guidelines. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

Monochronic and Polychronic Cultures

 

It is essential when communicating in business to understand chronemics (attitudestoward time), or the way individuals interpret the use of time. Every culture views time differently and how it relates to the communication process. Continuing our series looking at cross-cultural communication issues we now turn our attention to monochronic versus polychronic cultures and the impact they can have on communication.

Cultures differ significantly in their attitude towards “time” and their ideas about its importance in human interactions. While time can be measured objectively by watches and clocks, the importance of time in everyday life is subject to many interpretations. A continuum that is often used to characterize a culture's attitude towards time is monochronic versus polychronic. Low-context cultures can generally be classified as achievement cultures, and they are, as Hall (1989) termed them, ‘monochronic’, viewing time as sequential and highly scheduled. To them, time is an absolute. High context cultures, on the contrary, tend to be ‘polychronic’, that is they are apt to be involved in a lot of different activities with different people at any given time.

 

Monochronic cultures like to do just one thing at a time. They value a certain orderliness and sense of there being an appropriate time and place for everything. They do not value interruptions. They like to concentrate on the job at hand and take time commitments very seriously. M-time people are oriented to tasks, schedules, and procedures. As anyone who has had experience with our bureaucracies knows, schedules and procedures take on a life all their own without reference to either logic or human needs. M-time is also tangible; we speak of it as being saved, spent, wasted, lost, made up, crawling, killed, and running out.

In addition monochronic people tend to show a great deal of respect for private property and are reluctant to be either a lender or a borrower. This is part of a general tendency to follow rules of privacy and consideration as well as adhere religiously to plans. Punctuality is considered a positive attribute that conveys the nonverbal message of being respectful of other persons. Tardiness is interpreted as rudeness, a lack of consideration for others, or a lack of interest in the job or meeting. Being late also sends the nonverbal message that you are not well organized.

Polychronic cultures like to do multiple things at the same time. A manager's office in a polychronic culture typically has an open door, a ringing phone and a meeting all going on at the same time. Though they can be easily distracted they also tend to manage interruptions well with a willingness to change plans often and easily. People are their main concern (particularly those closely related to them or their function).  For polychronic people, time is seldom experienced as "wasted," and is apt to be considered a point rather than a ribbon or a road, but that point is often sacred. Polychronic cultures are by their very nature oriented to people. Any human being who is naturally drawn to other human beings and who lives in a world dominated by human relationships will be either pushed or pulled toward the polychronic end of the time spectrum. If you value people, you must hear them out and cannot cut them off simply because of a schedule. P-time cultures stress involvement of people and completion of transactions rather than adherence to preset schedules. Their tendency to build lifetime tasks and objectives are more like desirable outcomes than must do's. Punctuality is not widely regarded. In Latin American countries, the “manana” attitude (putting off until tomorrow what does not get done today) has been a source of frustration for time-sensitive U.S. executives when conducting business with people of that culture.

If you live in the United States, Canada, or Northern Europe, you live in a monochronic culture. If you live in Latin America, the Arab part of the Middle East, or sub-Sahara Africa, you live in a polychronic culture.

 

 Linear, Flexible, Cyclic(al) Time

 

Most studies of time in cross-cultural research follow Edward T. Hall’s analysis in The Silent Language, The Hidden Dimension that divides cultures into two major ways of understanding time: those that view time linearly—monochronic cultures—and those that view time more flexibly—polychronic cultures. Both approaches, albeit in different ways, see time as being controlled by human beings. In other words, both approaches share the belief that human beings can manage and control time.

But there are cultures that seem to disagree with the fundamental concept of human control over time. As Lewis points out, these cultures have another approach to the whole question of time, an approach that posits that it is not the human being that controls time but the cycle of life itself that controls people and human activity. These cultures, which Lewis calls cyclical, hold the position that human beings must live in harmony with nature because they are subservient to cyclical events.

This approach seems to be a richer interpretation of the time/culture dynamic. Let's  examine each approach in turn: cultures that follow linear (monochronic) time and perform one major activity at a time; cultures that are flexible (polychronic) and that work on several activities simultaneously; and cultures that view time as cyclical (circular, repetitive) and that allow events to unfold naturally.

 

Linear time

 

If you want your dreams to come true, don’t oversleep. (Yiddish proverb)

Stay a while, lose a mile. (Dutch proverb)

Cultures that have a linear concept of time view time as a precious commodity to be used, not wasted. They prefer to concentrate on one thing at a time and work sequentially within a clock-regulated timeframe; this appears to them to be an efficient, impartial, and precise way of organizing life—especially business. Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Scandinavian peoples generally live and work by a linear clock, measure time in small units, value schedules, and focus on the future.

 

The importance of schedules.

 In cultures that define time in a linear fashion, schedules are critical because they permit planning and prevent uncertainty. Since these cultures adhere to a cause/effect understanding of events and reality, schedules are considered sacred.

People from linear time cultures make appointments in small segments (15-30 minutes) and dislike lateness, as this disrupts the schedule and impacts all subsequent appointments. They prize punctuality and consider promptness a basic courtesy as well as a proof of commitment. These cultures dislike interruptions and expect complete concentration on the task at hand; doing two things at once (taking a telephone call during a meeting) is viewed as being inattentive or may even be considered rude.

A focus on the future.

 People in linear cultures so value time that they study time management to learn to get more done every day—an occupation that’s often considered risible by flexible, multi-tasking, relationship-oriented cultures and impossible by cyclical cultures. Linear cultures’ belief in the future is unshakeable—after all, the future promises greater expertise in controlling time and packing more into each time unit. These cultures also view change positively.

 

Time measured in small units.

 Linear-time cultures (the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, and the Scandinavian countries) measure time in relatively short periods: minutes, hours, days; plan for the short term; and report earnings and profits in quarters and years.

 

The languages of linear-time cultures abound in expressions which capture the idea of time as a precious entity:

• Time is money. Save time. Don’t waste time. Use time wisely. The early bird catches the worm. (United States)

• He who hesitates is lost. Strike while the iron is hot. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. (England)

• Time is everything. (advertising slogan for Swissair)

• Uberpunktlich (German expression for being on time, literally, over-punctual)

• Wasting time is stealing from yourself (Estonian proverb)

• Rest makes rust. (Dutch proverb)

• Lose an hour in the morning, chase it all day long. (Yiddish proverb)

 

    Flexible Time

 

Time is the master of those who have no master. (Arabian proverb)

If it’s not your time, you won’t be born and you won’t die. (Corsican proverb)

In contrast to linear cultures, cultures that view time as flexible are reluctant to strictly measure or control it. Southern Europeans, the cultures bordering the Mediterranean, and South American cultures are flexible about time. In fact, the more things they can do at the same time, the happier they are; interruptions are welcome and multi-tasking or clustering is the rule. Although they will pretend to observe schedules in deference to their linear business associates, most Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Greeks, Arabs, and Latinos ignore the passing of time if it means that conversations or human interactions will be left unfinished.

 

   Emphasis on relationships.

   For flexible time cultures, schedules are less important than human feelings. When people and relationships demand attention or require nurture, time becomes a subjective commodity that can be manipulated or stretched. Meetings will not be rushed or cut short for the sake of an arbitrary schedule. Time is an open-ended resource; communication is not regulated by a clock.

 

A focus on the present.

People in flexible time cultures tend to focus on the present, rather than the future (linear cultures) or the past (cyclical cultures). It’s not that they don’t value the past, nor believe in the future; it’s just that they tend to live very fully in the present.

 

A reluctance to measure.

 Although adept at business, many people in flexible time cultures find the intricate measurement of time or earnings performed by linear time cultures tedious and unnecessary. When pressed, they will comply with the business contingencies imposed on them by their linear business associates, but their hearts may not be in these calculations.

 

Utterances that capture the subordination of the clock to human reality:

• The famous “manana” attitude of the Spanish

• The often repeated “In sha’a Allah” (If God wills) of the Arab

• The Filipino “bahala na” (accept what comes)

• The Turkish proverb “What flares up fast extinguishes soon”

• The Mongolian proverb “Profit always comes with a delay”

• The Italian proverb “Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves”

Cyclical time

 

With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
(Chinese proverb)

A ripe melon falls by itself. (African proverb)

Man has responsibility, not power, over time. (Native American proverb)

   Although in fundamentally different ways, both linear time cultures and flexible, multi-tasking cultures believe they manage and control time; in cyclical time cultures, however, time manages life, and humans must adjust to time. In these cultures, time is neither viewed as linear nor as event/person related, but as cyclical, circular, repetitive. The human being does not control time; the cycle of life controls people and they must live in harmony with nature and subscribe to the cyclical patterns of life. Examples of cyclical time cultures include most Asian, African, and Native American (including the Inuit) cultures.

 

    Understanding connections.

   Cultures that subscribe to cyclical time seek to understand linkages and connections. Links show the wholeness of life and allow contrasts or contradictions to exist. Cyclical cultures believe that logic is not linear (cause/effect), nor people-driven, but captures the unity of human experience with the whole of life, nature, and existence.

 “The Masai, a nomadic culture of Kenya, do not compartmentalize time into minutes

and hours but instead schedule time by the rising and setting sun and the feeding of their

cattle. The typical Masai day begins just before sunrise, when the cattle go to the river

to drink. This period is called “the red blood period” because of the color of the

sunrise. The afternoon is “when the shadows lower themselves.” The evening begins

when “the cattle return from the river.” Seasons and months are determined by rainfall

—a particular month lasts as long as the rains continue and a new month doesn’t begin

until the rains have ceased.”

(Adapted from Neuliep, Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach)

 

Making decisions.

 In cultures that subscribe to a cyclical view of time, business decisions are reached in a very different way. Decisions are not made quickly nor in isolation, purely on their present merits with scant reference to the past; decisions have a contextual background and are made long term. Unlike linear cultures which see time passing without decision or action as “wasted,” cyclical cultures see time coming around in a circle, again and again. The same opportunities will recur or re-present themselves when people are that many days, weeks, or months older and wiser. Many cyclical time cultures will not tackle problems or make decisions immediately in a structured, sequential manner; they will circle round them for a suitable period of reflection, contemplating the possible links between facts and relationships, before committing themselves.

Wise men are never in a hurry. (Chinese proverb)

A proposal without patience breaks its own heart. (Japanese proverb)

To know where you are going, look back to where you’ve come from.(Arab proverb)

 

Forging relationships.

 Although people from cyclical time cultures may have a keen sense of the value of time and respect punctuality, this is dictated by politeness or by form and will have little impact on the actual speed with which business is done. A liberal amount of time will be allotted to the repeated consideration of the details of a transaction and to the careful nurturing of personal relationships. And it is the forging of a relationship that is all-important; business is facilitated by a degree of closeness, a sense of common trust, of connection, of linkage, that informs both the present deal and future transactions.

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.
We are all interconnected. (Native American proverb)

Every seed knows its time. You won’t help shoots grow by pulling them higher.
(Japanese proverb)

 

Focusing on the past.

People in cyclical cultures pay a great deal of attention to the past because they

believe they can find many links and connections there. Since their focus is on the

unity of human experience with the whole of life, planning is very long-term indeed

(decades) and earnings per share or per quarter are far less important than the building

of equity.

 

How Different Cultures View the Future

 

In the linear-active, industrialized Western cultures time is seen as a road along which we proceed. Life is sometimes referred to as a “journey”; death is often referred to as the “end of the road.” We imagine ourselves as having traveled along the part of the road that is behind us (the past) and we see the untrodden path of the future stretching out in front of us.

Linear-oriented people do not regard the future as entirely unknowable for they have already nudged it along certain channels by meticulous planning. American executives, with their quarterly forecasts, will tell you how much money they are going to make in the next three months. The Swiss stationmaster will assure you, without any hesitation, that the train from Zurich to Luzern will leave at 9:03 tomorrow morning and arrive at exactly 10:05. He is probably right, too. Watches, calendars and computers are devices that not only encourage punctuality but also get us into the habit of working toward targets and deadlines. In a sense, we are “making the future happen.” We cannot know everything(it would be disastrous for horse racing and detective stories), but we eliminate future unknowns to the best of our ability. Our personal programming tells us that over the next year we are going to get up at certain times, work so many hours, take vacations for designated periods, play tennis on Saturday mornings and pay our taxes on fixed dates.

Cyclic time is not seen as a straight road leading from our feet to the horizon, but as a curved one which in one year’s time will lead us through “scenery” and conditions very similar to what we experience at the present moment. Observers of cyclic time are less disciplined in their planning of the future, since they believe that it cannot be managed and that humans make life easier for themselves by “harmonizing” with the laws and cyclic events of nature. Yet in such cultures a general form of planning is still possible, for many things are fairly regular and well understood.

Cultures observing both linear and cyclic concepts of time see the past as something we have put behind us and the future as something that lies before us.

In Madagascar, the opposite is the case. By contrast, the Malagasy consider the future unknowable. It is behind their head where they do not have eyes. Their plans for this unknown area will be far from meticulous, for what can they be based on? Buses in Madagascar leave not according to a predetermined timetable, but when the bus is full. The situation triggers the event. Not only does this make economic sense, but it is also the time that most passengers have chosen to leave. Consequently, in Madagascar stocks are not replenished until shelves are empty, filling stations order gas only when they run dry, and hordes of would-be passengers at the airport find that, in spite of their tickets, in reality everybody is wait-listed. The actual assignation of seats takes place between the opening of the check-in desk and the (eventual) departure of the plane.

 

This table summarizes peculiar features of different time-oriented cultures:

 

Linear Time	Flexible Time	Cyclical Time
Views time as an entity to be saved, spent, or wasted	Views time as fluid and flexible	Views time as circular and repetitive
Completes tasks sequentially	Works on multiple tasks simultaneously	Makes decisions and completes tasks over a long period of contemplation and reflection
Focuses on the task to be completed within a certain time frame	Focuses on and nurtures the relationships represented by the tasks	Focuses on the long term in tasks and relationships
Separates work from family and social life	Views work, family, and social life as one	Sees connections and interrelatedness in people and events
Seeks to control time by maintaining a rigid appointment schedule	Reacts as the day’s events evolve	Believes that life controls time
Focuses on the future	Focuses on the present	Focuses on the past
Cultures such as Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Scandinavian. Countries such as Great Britain, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and the Scandinavian countries	Southern Europeans, Mediterranean-bordering cultures (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Arabia, Turkey), Mongolia, the Philippines, and South American cultures	African cultures, China, Japan, Korea, Native Americans including Inuits

 

(adapted from: Victor, 1992, p. 234 as presented by Dahl)

                                                                                                                                                           Conclusion

Communication is more than the exchange of words. It is cultural; it is interactive. It draws on how we learned to speak and give non-verbal cues (LeBaron, 2003). As today’s workplace rapidly changes as the business environment expands to include various geographic locations and numerous cultures, learning to communicate and transact business across cultural boundaries is paramount.

Hall’s concepts of high-context versus low-context cultures and monochronic and

polychronic time orientation are easily observed and very useful. Although the lack of

empirical data makes the monochronic/polychronic concept more difficult to apply in

research, these concepts can help leaders and organizations, preparing to cross cultural

boundaries, better understand those with whom they desire to communicate and conduct

business.

 

    Conducting Business in Linear, Flexible, Cyclic(al) Cultures:

                                           Guidelines                                                                                                                            

 

Where does that leave us? How do we communicate or conduct business with people who measure time differently?

Because business demands a certain synchronization of schedules and goals, most cultures will allow the linear-oriented concept of time to dominate to some extent. But your understanding that their underlying beliefs about the “best” use of time are radically different will allow you to communicate with more sensitivity. The following guidelines should help.

When communicating and conducting business in linear cultures:

• Respect schedules. Be prompt for business appointments and understand that you will have a brief period to make your point. Most businesspeople from linear cultures schedule their days in 15-30 minute increments.

• Focus on the meeting. Don’t answer your cell phone or perform any other task. Remember that people from linear cultures expect your full attention and interpret multitasking as disrespectful.

• Target the short term. Linear businesspeople expect data and analysis that address immediate or near-future gains and issues.

 

When communicating and conducting business in flexible cultures:

• Depersonalize the issue. Don’t interpret lateness as disrespect of you or lack of commitment to the business goal. Recognize that business objectives may take the back seat to familial or relational concerns.

• Provide a wider window of time for the appointment. Building flexibility into your schedule will go a long way to reducing common irritation—“I’ll wait in your office from 11:00 to 11:30” or “I’ll be in my hotel room from 9:00 to 10:00 and will wait for your call.”

• Clarify expectations. It’s becoming increasingly acceptable to ask: “Is that 12:00 American time or Mexican time?” to determine the actual intended start time of a meeting or social event.

• Avoid strict deadlines whenever possible by adding some wiggle room. State, “The delivery date is between Wednesday and Friday.” or “The contract needs to be finalized by the second quarter of 2003.”

 

When communicating and conducting business in cyclical cultures:

• Be punctual. Be on time for your appointment, understanding that lateness is a violation of form and will be interpreted as impolite and disrespectful.

• Maximize “face” time. Allow time to build a relationship and remember that face-to-face interaction is preferable to electronic or written communication.

• Be patient. Understand that cyclical cultures process information slowly and should not be hurried. Their logic may not be yours; they look for connections and pay a great deal of attention to atmosphere and intuition

• Check comfort level. Remember that because many cyclical cultures communicate indirectly, nonverbal behavior may provide much-needed information. Use culturally-sensitive perception statements or questions to check comfort level: “From your tired facial expression, I can see that you need me to slow down. Am I reading you correctly?”