Unexplored Territory or a Cross-Cultural Communications Nightmare: The Internet and Business Communication

DISAM Journal, Spring, 2001 by Thomas M. Dop

Conclusion

The major overall conclusion drawn from this research project is that the hypothesized problems with cross-cultural relations while communicating via the internet do not really seem to exist in the security assistance and defense cooperation community. This finding surprised the researcher, as one of the primary reasons this project was undertaken was because there was an appearance that these problems were rampant.

The foreign service nationals believe that communicating across the internet is quick, easy, and in many cases simpler than communicating in person. There was also a strong belief amongst the FSNs that most e-mails that they send, as well as those they receive, are fully understood by both parties. Additionally, analysis of the open-ended question revealed that the respondents are not really experiencing any cross-cultural relations problems because of their use of e-mail. Specifically, in the FSN community, it appears as if communicating in this way has actually lessened the number of problems instead of increasing them. Several FSNs stated that they thought there were fewer cross-cultural relations problems because they now review their e-mail before sending it and actually make changes to make the meaning clearer instead of saying the first thing that comes to mind.

I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to all of the FSNs who took part in the survey. Without your support I never could have completed this project. For a complete write-up of the entire project please contact me at tom.dop@disam.dsca.osd.mil.

About the Author

Thomas M. Dop is an assistant professor and the Asia-Pacific Regional Studies Director at the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management and is the program manager for the Training Management System software. He is a former U.S. Navy surface warfare officer. He holds a Master of Science in Administration degree in information resource management from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy.

End Notes

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Hilton, Chad, and Kameda, Naoki (1999, January/February). "E-mail and the Internet as International Business Communication Teaching and Research Tools: A Case Study." Journal of Education for Business, 181-185.

McLaren, Margaret C. (1998). "Business Communication toward Transnationalism: The Significance of Cross-cultural Business English and Its Role". The Journal of Business Communication, 35(4), 539-541.

Neulip, James W., and Ryan, Daniel J. (1998). "The Influence of Intercultural Communication Apprehension and Socio-communicative Orientation on Uncertainty Reduction during Initial Cross-cultural Interaction." Communications Quarterly, 46(1), 88-99

Staa, David (1998, January). "No Need for Inter-American Culture Clash." Management Review, 87(1), 8.