"Let us get straight to the point" Accommodation of Communication with Chinese Co-Workers Based on Professional Experience.

Abstract

In a world of advanced globalisation, large companies have to employ and cater to a multitude of people from different cultures. In multinational companies of today, employees regularly come into contact with people from all over the globe. Global and intercultural competence as well as "cultural programming" (e.g. the cultural upbringing in a certain background) are factors that should not be underestimated when working internationally. Adapting or accommodating one's communication to an interlocutor can be crucial in negotiations and discussions. Pre-emptive study of literature suggests that professional experience may help a communicator adapting their communication in intercultural interactions. This is why this study aims to determine whether the level of one's professional experience in business increases the likelihood of accommodating one's communication to an interlocutor from a differing cultural background. For this matter, an experiment has been conducted with US-Americans as participants responding to either a fellow US-American or a colleague from a Chinese cultural background. No significant findings that suggest a relation between professional experience and accommodation frequency have been found.