台灣金融業人員之跨文化職能與發展

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(1)Intercultural Competence and Developmental Method for Professionals in Taiwanese Financial Industry. by Carline Chun-Chen Chang. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor: Shir-Tau Tsai, Ph.D. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan January 2012.

(2) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 兩年半的人資所，不算長，但對許多朋友已踏入社會並小有成就的我來說，有些煎熬。在人資所的這兩年半，有許許多多的經驗，讓我學習，並跨越自我設限的障礙。感謝 Dr. Tsai, Tony, Vera 和 Dr. Lai，在學途中像盞盞明燈指引我前進方向；感謝 Sandra 和 Lynn 在背後幫忙，讓我這麻煩精能順利畢業。感謝這兩年半遇到大家，讓我的研究所生涯有鮮明回憶。感謝曉賦老師，從大學時代即不斷傳授社會大學觀念，帶著我到處歷練，讓我有不同的視野，並有信心在社會闖蕩。感謝協會的大家，你們溫暖的問候及叮嚀，總讓我一掃疲憊，不斷邁步向前。能念到研究所畢業，最想感謝父母。謝謝您們，讓我能專心致學，不用擔心經濟問題。還是一句很老梗的話，沒有您們，就沒有今天的我。我會時時刻刻砥礪自己，要讓您們驕傲。. 純真 2012 筆.

(3) ABSTRACT. There were three purposes in the study, to explore intercultural competences for professional financial workers, to explore communication barriers they met in intercultural context, and to investigate the developmental approaches of intercultural competences for them. Qualitative method with semi-structured interviews and observation instruments were employed to collect data. There were 9 interviewees in the study, including investment analysts, research associates, equity sales, and secretary. Findings were identified through interviews of 9 subjects. Among intercultural competences, language ability is the basic one, and presentation skill is regarded as the most important one. Lack of language proficiency, different thinking and communication styles, lack of cultural knowledge and conversation topics, and cultural difference are identified as barriers in intercultural communications. Working under intercultural environment and abroad experience are regarded as long-term methods to develop intercultural competence. Other methods such as exposure under English environment, presentation skill training, experience sharing, conference calls and reading materials are provided in finding. Keyword: Intercultural competence, intercultural communications, financial professional. I.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. II LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................IV LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... V CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Background of the Study ............................................................................................ 1 Purposes of the Study ................................................................................................. 2 Questions of the Study ............................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................... 3 Delimitations and Limitations .................................................................................... 4 Definition of Key Terms ............................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 6 Intercultural ................................................................................................................ 6 Intercultural Competences.......................................................................................... 7 Intercultural Communications .................................................................................. 15 Tasks for Financial Professionals............................................................................. 19 Developmental Methods for Intercultural Competences ......................................... 21 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 24 Research Framework ................................................................................................ 24 Research Approach .................................................................................................. 25 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 26 Sampling Strategies .................................................................................................. 27 Research Participants ............................................................................................... 28 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................... 28 Reliability and Validity ............................................................................................ 29 Research Procedure .................................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................... 32 Tasks and Job Contents of Financial Professionals ................................................. 32 Intercultural Competences........................................................................................ 39 II.

(5) Intercultural Communications .................................................................................. 53 Developmental Approach of Intercultural Competences ......................................... 62 Discussions ............................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................... 71 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 71 Recommendations for Financial Professionals ........................................................ 75 Recommendations for Future Studies ...................................................................... 77 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 78 APPENDIX A. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ............................................................... 83 APPENDIX B. EXAMPLE OF CODING PROCESS ................................................ 85. III.

(6) LIST OF TABLES. Table 2.1 Summary of Components of Intercultural Communication in Extant Literatures .................................................................................................... 13 Table 3.1 The Description of Interviewees .................................................................. 28 Table 4.1 Tasks and Job Contents of Financial Professionals...................................... 33 Table 4.2 Background Information of Interviewees .................................................... 36 Table 4.3 Intercultural Competence of Professional Financial Workers...................... 52 Table 4.4 Barriers and Ways in Intercultural Communications ................................... 61 Table 4.5 Summary of Developmental Approach ........................................................ 67 Table 5.1 Summary of Research Finding ..................................................................... 73. IV.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES. Figure 2.1 The development of DMIS ......................................................................... 22 Figure 3.1 Research framework of the study ............................................................... 25 Figure 3.2 Research procedure .................................................................................... 32. V.

(8) CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION This chapter provides the reader an overview of the study, including the background of the study, the purposes of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, the delimitations and limitations, and the definition of terms.. Background of the Study In an increasing global environment, there are more and more business involved in international activities which requires the ability to communicate across cultures. How to communicate effectively in intercultural situations and to behavior appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts became a pivotal issue (Chaney & Martin, 2003). In Taiwan, one can also see this trend. Owing to the rapid change of technology, global communication and transportation break the boundaries. Taiwanese market is facing the global challenges now. There are many international corporations dispatching their employees overseas to implement global strategies and manage subsidiaries. Also, Taiwanese workers have more chance to communicate with international workers. Hence, intercultural competence became important to management in Taiwan. Besides, the increasing numbers of intercultural contents shows the importance. In 1976, close to 25 articles were written on this topic in PsychINFO. But in 2008, more than 15,000 articles were written to discuss this topic (Joseph, Paul & Eduardo, 2009). Whether in business or research fields, intercultural communications and developing intercultural competences have become an important issue for the whole world (Jokinen, 2005).. Background of Taiwan Financial Sector Taiwanese economic growth depends heavily on international trade and manufacturing. 1.

(9) In 1985, industry sector (including manufacturing industry) accounted for 44.6% of Gross Domestic Product. However it downed to 31.2% in 2003. Accompanied with this trend, services industry raised to 67.1% from 49.7% during 1985 to 2003. Service-providing industry took off in recent year, and has become the main contribution to GDP (Council for Economic Planning and Development, 2011). Among service-providing industry, financial sector is an important sector. According to Taiwan Coalition of Service Industry, financial sector accounted for 10% of total output in 2005, the third largest follows after wholesales sector of 20% and government service of 13% (Taiwan Coalition of Service Industry, 2011). Besides, financial sector accounted for 11.5% of GDP in 2003, and the total value of output was NT$ 1,148 billion dollars in 2009 (The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, 2011). Financial sector is also important to a nation’s economic and development. It provides funds for industries and enterprises and support their expenditure and growth. Taiwanese financial sector is going globalization. There are many foreign financial institutions setting up their branches and dispatched managers to implement global strategies in Taiwan. According to Financial Supervisory Commission (2011), there are 31 branches of foreign banks, which are 45.6% of total branches of banks. Also, the total accumulated net inward remittance was US$ 1,669 billion dollar till 2011. The percentage of market value held by foreign investors was 31.59% (Financial Supervisory Commission Executive Yuan, 2011). Taiwanese financial industry has more and more business with foreign investments. These involve in intercultural communications. Therefore, having intercultural competences can let financial professionals communicate effectively in intercultural situations and behavior appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.. Purposes of the Study The ecosystem of the workforce nowadays is that workers from many different cultures 2.

(10) interact and work together. Thus, intercultural competence is needed in a variety of fields, such as education, business, social work, and etc. What intercultural competences do intercultural competent workers need in a particular field? The specific intercultural competences needed for globally competent businessmen are somewhat different than those needed for intercultural competent engineers (Darla, 2009). Each field may have its own suitable intercultural competences, thus, the purpose of this paper was to explore intercultural competence needed for professional financial workers. Furthermore, the study aimed to explore communication barriers these professionals met in intercultural context, and to investigate the developmental approaches of intercultural competence for them. The researcher listed research purposes as below.. 1. To explore intercultural competence for professional financial workers. 2. To explore barriers which the professional financial workers have met in intercultural communication. 3. To investigate the developmental approaches of intercultural competence for professional financial workers.. Questions of the Study 1.. What intercultural competences do professional financial workers need?. 2.. What are the barriers which professional financial workers have met in intercultural communications?. 3.. What are the approaches to develop intercultural competences for professional financial workers?. Significance of the Study Over the past 30 years, numerous scholars have focused on a variety of aspects of 3.

(11) intercultural content, such as selecting expatriates, cross-cultural adaptation and adjustment, intercultural communication, intercultural training development and global competence (Kim, 2001). Although it has been a bloom field, study related to intercultural content is still limited in Taiwan. Most of the scope of research related to financial industry are limited to trading strategies or work competence in Taiwan (Hwang, 2002). Therefore, the study served as a pioneer of exploring intercultural content for financial professionals. This study provided practitioners’ perspective and a detailed reference for understanding the job contents and working environment of financial professionals. There are a variety of intercultural content, but most of research were having perspectives from western cultures. Non-western cultural perspective, such as perspective from Latin America, Korea, and China, is booming (Darla, 2009). However, still limited research is taking a perspective from Taiwan. The study provided a Taiwanese perspective and explored intercultural competences which are suitable for the applications in Taiwanese financial industry.. Delimitations and Limitations The study focused on professionals of financial industry in Taiwan. Therefore, the research delimitations and limitations were as below. Firstly, this study was delimited to financial industry in Taiwan, thus research findings may have potential limitation to apply to other industries Secondly, the study is a culture-specific approach. The research findings may be limited to Taiwanese experience. Thus, further researchers who want to use the findings to generalize principle that applied to other cultures may not be suitable.. Definition of Key Terms In order to have deeper understanding of the terms used in this study, key terms are 4.

(12) being clarified as followings.. Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication is generally conceptualized as communication between people from different cultures (Gudykunst, 2002).. Intercultural Competence Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Darla, 2004, p. 184).”. Barriers of Intercultural Communication The barriers in intercultural communication are those obstacles to effective communication, including anxiety, assuming similarity instead of difference, language, nonverbal language ethnocentrism, stereotype and prejudice, communication style, and etc (Bennett, 1998; Chaney and Martin, 2003; Jandt, 2010).. Financial Industry Financial industry includes banking enterprises, securities enterprises, futures enterprises, insurance enterprises, electronic stored value card enterprises, and enterprises in other financial services (Financial Consumer Protection Act, 2011).. 5.

(13) CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW. This chapter aimed to provide relevant literature regarding to intercultural context, intercultural competence, intercultural communication, the task and role for financial professionals and developmental methods for intercultural competences.. Intercultural Over the past 30 years, numerous scholars have focused on a variety of aspects of intercultural content, such as selecting expatriates, cross-cultural adaptation and adjustment, intercultural communication, intercultural training development and global competence (Kim, 2001). Here, the study firstly gave definition of intercultural, and then reviewed recent trends in research approach.. Definition of Intercultural In extant literature, some scholars consistently used cross-cultural to refer to interactions among people from different cultures, while others think cross-cultural and intercultural are interchangeable used. To date, the distinction between cross-cultural and intercultural is still not universally accepted, but a commonly accepted distinction between “cross-cultural” and “intercultural” is that cross-cultural research involves comparative study in multiple cultures, whereas intercultural research involves in the study of people from different cultures who are interacting together (Jolene, Richard & Judith, 1993). According to Landreman (2003), intercultural is preferable used in present study because “inter” encompasses both domestic and international contexts and implies cultures interacting. Kim and Ruben (1992) also thought the term intercultural is not bounded by any specific cultural attributes. Thus, the term “intercultural” is preferred used rather than “cross-cultural” at present research. Since 6.

(14) the purpose of this research is not comparing two cultures, but studying people who encounter different cultures, the study adopted the term “intercultural” in the whole paper.. Recent Trends in Research Approach There is an issue discussed in most intercultural research is that whether the study approach is from “culture specific” or “culture general” approach (Jolene et al., 1993). Culture specific approach is based on specific ethnographies, an intercultural form of emic cultural analysis. Culture general approach describes general cultural contrasts that are applicable in many cross-cultural situations, is etic cultural analysis of intercultural research (Bennett, 1998). Till to date, there are many scholars committed themselves to invest intercultural research either from culture specific approach or from culture general approach. The key point is that do not use the finding of study by members of specific cultures to generalize principles that applied to other cultures (Jolene et al., 1993). Within culture specific approach, most of researches were investigated by western cultures. Nowadays, perspective from indigenous such as Arab, African, Latin American and China is booming. As Darla (2009) said, various perspectives of contexts becomes foundational in understanding the true complexity of intercultural competence, thus how can future research and modeling of intercultural competence provide a more holistic and contextualized juxtaposition of intercultural competence within larger societal and global issues (p. 266-268), the trend of future study will more likely to be culture general approach and integrate finding that can apply to larger societal and global issues.. Intercultural Competences The paper firstly reviewed the terminology of competence and intercultural competence, mainly following the outcomes of previous research. Then, an attempt was made to combine 7.

(15) these outcomes into a more integrative framework of intercultural competence which fits into financial industry.. Competences To get better understanding of the concept of intercultural competence, the researcher briefly explored the nature of competence firstly. According to Michelle (2008), McClelland (1973) was the first person to discuss and access competence. He thought competences were recognized as significant predictors of employee performance and success. It is equally important as tests scores or results of individual’s academic aptitude and knowledge contents. Spitzberg and Cupach (1984) summarized many literatures (cited in Darla, 2004) on competence by noting that competence is an individual’s ability to adapt to changing environmental and social conditions. Chen and Starosta (1996) observed that there remained a debate about whether competence refers to “performance” or “knowledge” or whether it refers to “inherent ability (trait)” or “learned ability (state).” Leanne, Helena, and Keith (2005) said competence is defined as outcomes, knowledge, skills and attitudes. It required for role performance, and assessed by a criterion, usually a behavioral standard. The researcher prefers the definition of competence by Michelle (2008) due to its holistic (pp. 4-5):. A competency is the capability of applying or using knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, and personal characteristics to successfully perform critical work tasks, specific functions, or operate in a given role or position. Personal characteristics may be mental/intellectual/cognitive, social/emotional/attitudinal, and physical/psychomotor attributes necessary to perform the job.. In competence, there is a famous model developed by Spencer and Spencer (1993) called “iceberg model,” which divided competence into the “observable” and “invisible” 8.

(16) competence. Observable competences include technical knowledge and skill, and invisible competences relating to individual performance capability such as the self-concept, social roles and values, motives and personality traits. Through above review, one can see that the definition and concept of competence is complex.. Definition of Intercultural Competence The complexity of competence shows the involution of intercultural competence. Examining the terminology of intercultural competence begins to show the variations of perspectives. There are many different words that have been used as a synonym for intercultural competence: cross-cultural adaptation, intercultural sensitivity, multicultural competence, transcultural competence, global competence, cross-cultural effectiveness, international competence, global literacy, global citizenship, cultural competence, cross-cultural adjustment, and intercultural communication competence (Darla, 2004, p. 32). For purposes of this study, the term “intercultural competence” were be used, given to Kim and Ruben’s (1992) rationale for intercultural is not bounded by any specific cultural attributes. What is intercultural competence? Kim (1992) looked it as an “adaptive capacity” and gave the definition of adaptability as “the individual’s capacity to suspend or modify some of the old cultural ways, and learn and accommodate some of the new cultural ways, and creatively find ways to manage the dynamics of cultural difference/unfamiliarity, intergroup posture, and the accompanying stress (p. 377).” Chen and Strarosta (1999) said intercultural competence is “the ability to effectively and appropriately execute communication behaviors that negotiate each other’s cultural identity or identities in a culturally diverse environment (p. 28).” Bennett and Bennett (2001) referred it as “the ability to communicate effectively in cross-cultural situations and to relate appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts (p. 149).” While there are some common notions about this concept, there is no clear consensus 9.

(17) among intercultural scholars. As a result, Darla (2004) held a 3-round Delphi technique study among intercultural experts and generated a top-rated definition of intercultural competence as “the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes (p. 184).” The study adopted the definition of Darla because it integrated the definitions in extant literature and got high agreement among experts in Darla’s Delphi study.. Components of Intercultural Competences The study further explored the components of intercultural competences. Paige (1993) noted that intercultural effectiveness is the major issue in the intercultural communication field, and it was influenced by six factors, which knowledge of target culture, one’s personal qualities (i.e., flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity, sense of humor, openness), behavioral skills, self-awareness (i.e., one’s values and beliefs), technical skills (i.e., ability to accomplish tasks), and situational factors (i.e., clarity of expectations, psychological pressures). Lustig and Koester (1993) proposed four approaches to researching intercultural communication competence, which were trait approach (i.e., personality), perceptual approach (i.e., attitudes, perceptions), behavior approach, and culture-specific approach. Byram (1997) proposed five components of intercultural competence which are knowledge (knowledge of others and of social processes of social group and knowledge of self and of critical cultural awareness, which involves an ability to evaluate practices and products of one’s own and others’ cultures), skills (skills to interpret and relate; skills to discover and/or to interact), and attitudes (one’s values, beliefs and behaviors, and valuing others’ values, beliefs and behaviors, and Byram viewed attitudes as fundamental to intercultural competence. Spreitzer, McCall and Mahoney (1997) also proposed 14 components. They divided these into end-state skills and learning ability. The end-state skills include sensitivity to 10.

(18) cultural differences, ability to bring out the best in people, broad business knowledge, courage to take stand, acting with integrity, insightfulness, commitment to success, and risk taking. Learning ability includes openness to criticism, using feedback, seeking feedback, being cross-culturally adventurous, seeking opportunities to learn, and being flexible. Caligiuri and Santo (2001) categorized global competence into three dimensions, which were ability (to change leadership style based on the situation, to transact business in another country), knowledge (of the company's worldwide business structure, of international business issues, of an individual's network of professional contacts worldwide), and personality characteristics (increase openness, flexibility, and reduce ethnocentrism). They found that personality aspect cannot be developed through global assignments but ability and knowledge can, thus they suggested that the priority of companies is to select the person with certain personality that needed in global assignments rather than recruit people with ability and knowledge but without needed personality. Bennett and Bennett (2001) thought intercultural communication is a process of how people adapt to other cultures. Additionally, they proposed two dimensions, mindset (behavior) and skillset. Skillset is the ability to analyze interaction, predict misunderstanding, and fashion adaptive behavior. While mindset is a clear understanding about how to use cultural generalizations without stereotyping, the maintenance of attitudes such as curiosity and tolerance of ambiguity that acts as motivators for seeking out cultural differences, and one’s cultural self-awareness. Jokinen (2005) integrated frameworks of literature, and proposed three dimensions later. The first dimension is core of global leadership competencies, which is fundamental components, including self-awareness, engagement in personal transformation, and inquisitiveness. The second dimension is components affecting guiding people’s behavior, including optimism, self-regulation, social judgment skills, empathy, motivation to work in international environment, cognitive skills, and acceptance of complexity and its 11.

(19) contradictions. The third dimension is more explicit skills and tangible knowledge, including social skills, networking skills, and knowledge. Combining Darla’s (2004) definition of intercultural competence, and components listed above, the researcher sorted these components into knowledge, ability, skill and other characteristics, which well-known as KAOS. Knowledge consists of business knowledge, knowledge about general culture, knowledge about own cultural, and knowledge of target culture. Ability includes language proficiency, cross-cultural adaptability, negotiation capacities, and conflict management. Skill includes interpersonal skills/networking skills and communication skills. Other characteristics include personality, behavior, and cognitive and attitude. Personality consists of curiosity for seeking out cultural differences, tolerance of ambiguity, open-mind, flexibility, willing to reduce ethnocentrism, pleasure of taking risks, empathy, optimism, using and seeking feedback, seeking opportunities to learn, courage to take stand, and openness to criticism. Behavior includes appropriate behavior in intercultural situations and intercultural adroitness. Cognition and attitude has cultural sensitivity, cultural self-awareness, be willing to step outside of their cultural comfort zone, global mindset, a clear understanding about how to use cultural generalizations without stereotyping, respect for other cultures. Below, the researcher listed a table which summarized components proposed in reviewed literature.. 12.

(20) Table 2.1 Summary of Components of Intercultural Communication in Extant Literatures Dimension Cognitive/ perceptual. Components (proposed scholars) Cultural sensitivity (Bennett & Bennett, 2001; Byram, 1997; Cant, 2004; Chen & Strarosta, 1999; Spreitzer et al., 1997) Cultural self-awareness (Bennett & Bennett, 2001; Byram,1997; Cant, 2004; Darla, 2004; Paige, 1993) Cultural consciousness (Byram,1997; Cant, 2004; Kim, 1992) Be willing to step outside of their cultural comfort zone (Byram,1997; Cant, 2004) Global mindset. (Cant, 2004; Wiseman, 2002) A clear understanding about how to use cultural generalizations without stereotyping (Bennett & Bennett, 2001) Respect for other cultures (Darla, 2004) Recognition of nonverbal message(Wiseman, 2002). Personality. Curiosity for seeking out cultural differences (Bennett & Bennett, 2001) Tolerance of ambiguity (Bennett & Bennett, 2001; Koester & Olebe, 1989; Paige, 1993; Rakotomena, 2005) Openness or open-mind (Caligiuri & Santo, 2001; Rakotomena, 2005; Paige, 1993) Flexibility (Caligiuri & Santo, 2001; Kim, 1992; Rakotomena, 2005; Paige, 1993; Wiseman, 2002) Willing to reduce ethnocentrism (Caligiuri & Santo, 2001) Pleasure of taking risks (Rakotomena, 2005; Spreitzer et al., 1997) Courage (Spreitzer et al., 1997) Empathy (Jokinen, 2005; Rakotomena, 2005) Optimism (Rakotomena, 2005) Using feedback (Spreitzer et al., 1997) Seeking feedback (Spreitzer et al., 1997) Seeking opportunities to learn (Spreitzer et al., 1997) Courage to take stand (Spreitzer et al., 1997) Openness to criticism (Spreitzer et al., 1997). Behavior. Appropriate Behavior In Intercultural Situations (Bennett & Bennett, 2001; Darla, 2004) Intercultural Adroitness (Chen & Strarosta, 1999) (Continued). 13.

(21) Table 2.1(continued) Dimension. Components (proposed scholars) Display Of Respect (Koester & Olebe, 1989). Knowledge. Business knowledge (Caligiuri & Santo, 2001; Spreitzer et al., 1997) Knowledge about culture in general, (Darla, 2004; Rakotomena, 2005) Knowledge about own cultural (Byram,1997; Rakotomena, 2005) Knowledge of target culture (Byram,1997; Paige, 1993; Rakotomena, 2005). Skill. Skills to interpret and relate (Byram,1997) Interpersonal skills/ networking skills (Byram,1997; Darla, 2004; Jokinen, 2005; Spreitzer et al., 1997) Communication skills (Darla, 2004). Ability. Language proficiency (Bennett & Bennett, 2001; Darla, 2004) Ability to establish relationships (Wiseman, 2002) Conflict management (Rakotomena,2005) Negotiation (Rakotomena,2005) Cultural adaptability (Bennett & Bennett, 2001; Byram,1997; Cant, 2004; Darla, 2004). 14.

(22) Intercultural Communications Intercultural communication is a broad concept. Communications which take place in intercultural contexts all include in this field. Through the definition of intercultural competence “the ability to communicate effectively in cross-cultural situations,” one can see that intercultural competence is a subcategory under intercultural communication. The intercultural expert Darla (2004) also stated that intercultural competence is often considered to be a subfield of communication competence since many of the issues are similar to both. Thus, the study discussed literature related to intercultural communications. In order to gain a better understanding of the field of intercultural communication, the researcher firstly clarified the distinctions among three terms, intercultural communication, intra-cultural communication, and international communication. These terms are often used interchangeably in intercultural literature, while there are certain distinctions among them (Chaney & Martin, 2003). Intercultural communication is generally conceptualized as communication between people from different cultures, and many scholars limited it to face-to-face communication (Gudykunst, 2002, p. 179). Myron and Jolene (1998) defined the term more specifically as “a symbolic, interpretive, transactional, contextual process in which the degree of difference between people is large and important enough to create dissimilar interpretations and expectations about what are regarded as competent behaviors that should be used to create shared meanings (p. 51)”. Intracultural communication is defined as communication between members of the same culture or country, although they may have distinct cultural backgrounds, such as race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and distance. International communication takes place between nations and governments, rather than intercultural and intracultural communication focus on the communication patterns 15.

(23) of individuals. It is formal and ritualized, such as the dialogue between Taiwan and Japan (Danielle, Julia, & Dawn, 2002; Chaney & Martin, 2003). Given to the purpose of this study, the researcher adopted the term “intercultural communication,” to focus on communication between people from different cultures.. Barriers in Intercultural Communications In intercultural communication, barriers are the common obstacles people encountered. Communication barriers may cause ineffective communication. Moreover, it may make you lose the deal in business cases. There are many communication barriers discussed in literature, such as attitude, high anxiety, tendency to evaluate, stereotype and perception, cultural difference (i.e., language, nonverbal behavior, and communication style), ethnocentrism, and nonverbal misinterpretations (Barna, 1994; Bennett, 1998; Rober, 2002). Besides, Alder (2002) thought miscategorization, lack of culture awareness, subconscious cultural blinders, and projected similarity are the factors caused misunderstanding between cross cultural communication. Chaney and Martin (2007) concluded nine categories of barriers in intercultural communication, which are a) physical: time, environment, comfort and needs, and physical medium; b) cultural: ethnic, religious, and social differences; c) perceptual: viewing what is said from your own mindset; d) motivational: the listener’s mental inertia; e) experiential: lack of similar life happenings; f) emotional: personal feelings of the listener; g) linguistic: different language spoken by speaker and listener; h) nonverbal: non-word messages; i) competition: the listener’s ability to do other things rather than hear the communication. Hiroko (1999) brought up a new concept, schemas, which are generalized 16.

(24) collection of knowledge of past experience which are organized into related knowledge groups and are used to guide our behavior in familiar situations (Hiroko, 1999, p. 755). There are eight types of schemas, which are schemas of fact and concept, person, self, role, context, procedure, strategy, and emotion. Schema is a stereotypical conceptualization of a culture. Although it is easy to judge situations through schemas, the information is incomplete, thus may be a barrier to intercultural communication. The researcher further described the barriers which mention repeatedly in most extant literature as below, which include communication style, stereotypes and perception, and nonverbal language.. Communication Styles Since the way we think and communicate is determined by culture and differ from culture to culture, in intercultural communication we should see contrasts in these styles of communication. Basically, there are two kinds of style of habitual patterns of thought, which are linear and circular style. European Americans tend to use linear style that marches through point a, point b, and point c, establishes links from point to point, then states an explicit conclusion; while circular style is more like a contextual discussion that tell you everything you need to get that point. Africans, Latin, Arab, and Asian cultures are more like this style. Bennett (1998) thought, the strength of the former may be efficient, short-term task completion, while its limit is in developing inclusive relationship; the strength of the latter is its facilitation of building and consensual creativity, while its limits is slow (p. 13). Another difference in communication style is direct style or indirect style to confrontation. The direct style prefers face conflict or problem directly, relatively 17.

(25) open expression of feelings, and a willing to give a certain answer to questions (Bennett, 1998). Indirect style tends to seek a third group as intermediaries to avoid direct confrontations and deal with dispute (Jandt, 2010). As different style of communication, barriers often take place in intercultural communication.. Stereotypes and Perceptions Stereotypes is a broaden term referring to negative or positive judgments. Stereotypes help people reduce the threat of the unknown situation, but have many negative effects, such as interfering to objective viewing of stimuli, and a false sense of understanding our communication partners (Jandt, 2010). Stereotypes are not easy to overcome because they are firmly established as myth or truisms by one’s own culture. They are selectively perceived and cause prejudices (Bennett, 1998). However, stereotypes still have some advantage. According to Alder (2002), a stereotype becomes helpful when it is Consciously held. People should be aware they are describing a group norm rather than the characteristics of a specific individual. Descriptive rather than evaluation. The stereotype should accurately describe the norm for the group to which the person belongs. The first best guess about a group prior to acquiring information about the specific person or persons involved. Modified based on further observation and experience with the actual people and situations (p. 81). In conclude, stereotype may cause prejudice, or misunderstanding of one culture, but holding an accurate attitude and consciously holding stereotype, it may become helpful to one in a unfamiliar culture. 18.

(26) Nonverbal Language Nonverbal communication includes all communication beyond the spoken or written word, such as tone, paralanguage, facial expression, gestures, eye contact, timing in spoken exchange, silence, space, appearance, and distance. Thus, some scholars have taken it as silent language. Nonverbal language is influenced by cultural background, or socioeconomic background. Even gender, age, or education will impact the usage of nonverbal language (Linda & Iris, 2003). Jandt (2010) thought that nonverbal language has several functions. Firstly, it can replace spoken language. It can be used in situations which are difficult to use words or situations that is embarrassing to express in words. Secondly, it regulates interaction in communication, such as, the timing for one to talk in a conversation, or appropriate way to reply a conversation. Thirdly, it reveals the relationship among people in communication. For example, we can tell the relationship of a family through the order they sit in a Chinese family gathering. Lastly, it can reinforce and modify verbal messages. For instance, we may lean forward to show we are interested in this conversation, or we may use hands or fingers to indicate the point we want to emphasis in a presentation. The usage of nonverbal language is different in each culture; hence we need to pay more attention on the difference and not misinterpret it.. Tasks for Financial Professionals Owing to limited research studying of financial professionals in human resource filed in Taiwan, the study tempted to explore the tasks and roles through the job analysis listed by Employment and Training Administration (ETA, 2011) and the ten tasks listed by Caligiuri (2006) of global leaders.. 19.

(27) ETA is a government institution owned to the U.S. Department of Labor. It built a database called O*NET, which has detailed occupational information in United States. Financial sector in U.S has its importance in the world, and impacts global financial industry. Thus, the finding can be applied to Taiwanese financial sector in some degree. According to ETA (the finance sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in financial transactions (transactions involving the creation, liquidation, or change in ownership of financial assets) and/or in facilitating financial transactions. The tasks of financial professionals are as bellowed, 1.. Draw charts and graphs, using computer spreadsheets, to illustrate technical reports.. 2.. Inform investment decisions by analyzing financial information to forecast business, industry, or economic conditions.. 3.. Monitor developments in the fields of industrial technology, business, finance, and economic theory.. 4.. Interpret data on price, yield, stability, future investment-risk trends, economic influences, and other factors affecting investment programs.. 5.. Monitor fundamental economic, industrial, and corporate developments by analyzing information from financial publications and services, investment banking firms, government agencies, trade publications, company sources, or personal interviews.. 6.. Recommend investments and investment timing to companies, investment firm staff, or the public.. 7.. Determine the prices at which securities should be syndicated and offered to the public.. 8.. Prepare plans of action for investment, using financial analyses. 20.

(28) 9.. Evaluate and compare the relative quality of various securities in a given industry.. 10. Present oral or written reports on general economic trends, individual corporations, and entire industries. Besides these tasks of financial professionals, Caligiuri (2006) also listed a unique ten tasks or activities for those in global leadership positions, which are, work with colleagues from other countries, interact with external clients from other countries, interact with internal clients from other countries, need to speak in a language other than their mother tongue at work, supervise employees who are of different nationalities, develop a strategic business plan on a worldwide basis for their unit, manage a budget on a worldwide basis for their unit, negotiate in other countries or with people from other countries, manage foreign suppliers or vendors, and manage risk on a worldwide basis for their unit. Above literature reviewed the tasks of financial professionals and tasks of global leaders. It provided more detailed information and reference for Taiwanese financial professionals.. Developmental Methods for Intercultural Competences There is a famous model called Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) which is established by Bennett (2004). This framework describes the different ways in which people react to cultural differences. There are six distinct stages spread across the continuum from ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism in DMIS, which are denial of difference, defense against difference, minimization of difference, acceptance of difference, adaptation to difference, and integration of difference. 21.

(29) In general, ethnocentric orientations can be seen as ways of avoiding cultural difference, either by denying its existence, by raising defenses against it, or by minimizing its importance. In these three stages, one sees his or her own culture as central to reality. Ethnorelative worldviews are ways of seeking cultural difference, either by accepting its importance, by adapting perspective to take it into account, or by integrating the whole concept into a definition of identity (Bennett, 2004). Figure 2.1 showed the moving stages of DMIS.. Denial. Defense. Minimization. Acceptance. ETHNOCENTRISM. Adaptation. Integration. ETHNORELATIVI. Figure 2.1 The development of DMIS. Adapted from “Developing intercultural sensitivity: An integrative approach to global and domestic diversity.” In D. Landis, J. M. Bennett, & M. J. Bennett (Eds.), Handbook of intercultural training (pp. 153), by Bennett, J. M., & Bennett, M. J., 2001. People in denial stage generally are disinterested in cultural difference. They experience their own culture as the only real one. Other cultures are either not noticed or are understood in an undifferentiated. People in defense stage against cultural difference and own cultures are experienced as the only viable one, the most evolved form of civilization, or at least the only good way to live. A variation on defense stage is reversal, where an adopted culture is experienced as superior to one’s own culture. Reversal is just like defense stage that maintains an “us and them” worldview. People in minimization stage think that all people are essentially similar in ways which explainable by own culture. The second three DMIS staged are 22.

(30) ethnorelative, meaning that one’s own culture is experienced in the context of other cultures. People in acceptance stage view one’s own culture being experienced as one of a number of equally complex worldviews. People may have language ability or cultural knowledge, but without any feeling for how to use these in culturally appropriate ways. Until they are in acceptance or adaptation stage, they can use these skills effectively. People in adaptation stage are able to expand their own worldviews to understand other cultures and behave in a variety of culturally appropriate ways. In integration stage, one’s experience of self is expanded to include the movement in and out of different cultural worldviews. People are dealing with issues related to their own cultural marginality, which allows individual to shift smoothly from one cultural worldview to another.. 23.

(31) CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY This chapter introduced the research framework, research method and procedure, data collection, and date analyses.. Research Framework According to the purposes of the study, the research framework was formed as Figure 3.1. The researcher firstly reviewed literature of intercultural competences and intercultural communications, then developed interview guideline and began to interview financial practitioners. The interview guideline explored the tasks and job contents of financial professionals, needed intercultural competences, and barriers they have met in intercultural communications. Through analyzing interview data, the researcher found the intercultural competences needed in Taiwanese financial industry, the barriers they have met in intercultural communications. Finally, the researcher explored developmental approaches of intercultural competences which can be developed for professional financial workers.. 24.

(32) Literature Review Intercultural competences. Intercultural communications. Interview Guideline 1. 2. 3.. Tasks and job contents Intercultural competences Intercultural communication barriers. Intercultural competences needed and barriers in intercultural communication. Developmental approaches of intercultural competences. Figure 3.1 Research framework of the study. Research Approach The purposes of this study aimed to explore intercultural competences for professional financial workers, to explore communication barriers they met in intercultural context, and to investigate the developmental approaches of intercultural competences for them. Due to the limited study of intercultural competences of financial professionals in Taiwan, and in order to achieve the research interests and purposes, this study adopted qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of Taiwan financial industry. Qualitative approach can provide in-depth description of a specific program, practice, or setting, and can study things in their natural settings, attempting to interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Mertens, 2005) 25.

(33) Data Collection This study employed semi-structured interview and observation instruments to collect data. Observation takes place in the natural field setting and can provide firsthand information. According to Merriam (1998), the combination of interview and observation allows for a holistic interpretation of the phenomenon being investigated, thus, these two instruments were employed to collect data for this study.. Interview The interview questions were designed according to literature review. After established the questions, the researcher discussed with financial practitioners and experts to revise the questions. Then the researcher conducted pilot interview, and revised the questions again. After deciding the questions, the researcher started to conduct formal interview. In order to get further information and allowed the participants to have more time think about the questions, the researcher sent interview questions to interviewees before the interview. In interview, the researcher briefly introduced the research purpose firstly and asked permission for recording interview. Then, a brief questionnaire was filled out to get personal profile and working experience for gathering further information. Data collection took place between Octobers to November of 2011.. Interview Questions The interviewees answered following questions. 1. What are your role and task in this company? 2. What competences do you think are needed in this work? 26.

(34) 3. Please describe your intercultural experience during work. 4. What intercultural competences do you think are needed in your work? 5. How do you make your intercultural communication effectively? 6. How do you build your relationship with clients? 7. What training courses you would like to take in order to improve intercultural competence? The interview questions were adjusted according to interview situation. For example, the interview mentioned that they have many road shows. The researcher then asked further questions like “can you give more information about your road show?” or “what is the process of a road show?”. Observation The researcher participated the daily work of company A, which is a foreigner investment financial company in Taiwan. The researcher observed financial professionals’ daily works to gather deeper information and had observation for two months. The frequency was twice a week. Each observation spent for half a day and observation notes were taken.. Sampling Strategies The criteria for subject selection were based on the purposes of this research. Professionals who work in financial industry are the population of this study. Since the study aimed to explore intercultural competences and barriers of intercultural communication, participants have to work in intercultural environment, which means participants colleagues or clients need to be foreigners. The researcher gave the criteria as below. 1.. Participants have to work in financial industry. 27.

(35) 2.. Participants have to work in intercultural environment.. 3.. Participants must have at least one-year working experience.. Research Participants The participants were gathered from snowball sampling. There were nine interviewees in the study, including 5 males and 4 females. There were researcher analysts, research associates, equity sales, and secretary as interviewees. The seniority was from 1.5 years to 20 years. The year of having lived in foreigner countries was from none to 16 years. The background information of interviewees is presented as table 3.1.. Table 3.1 The Description of Interviewees Interviewee Gender Position Code. Seniority (Year). Lived Abroad (Year). A B C. M F M. Research analyst Research Associate Equity Sales. 9 5 7. 5 11 16. D E F G H I. M F F M F M. Analyst Secretary Research Associate Research Associate Research analyst Research analyst. 1.8 20 5 1.5 10.28 10. 0 0 7 1 3 5. Note. M means male; F means female.. Data Analysis After conducting the interview, the researcher transformed the interview content as transcripts. Process of data analysis is presented in steps as follow. First step was coding the interview contents. The researcher read the codes again and 28.

(36) again, and used open-coding method to extract important concepts. Then, similar concepts were put into one category and serial numbers of coding were given. While doing categorizing, similar concepts were emerged into a category, and categories were further put into one theme. The researcher provided the example of the coding process in appendix B.. Reliability and Validity In order to increase the validity of the study, a copy of the interview questions was provided to experts at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and practitioners in financial industry in order to check their quality. These experts then provided advice on the consistency and logic of the questions. Interview questions were revised. For example, one of the original questions was “how is the frequency you communicate with foreigners?” The revised version added options as below,. How is the frequency you communicate with foreigners? □Everyday □1~3 per week □1~3 per month □1~3 per year □Other ___________. Next, a pilot study was conducted before the formal interview to assess the feasibility of the questions, and modifications were made. In order to increase the reliability of this study, peers debriefing and member checks were implemented. During the research process, the researcher had discussed the framework of the study, research questions, interview content, analysis, research findings, as well as discussion with peers and professors. The peers were graduate students of NTNU who major in human resource. Professors were experts in human resource development. Besides, when the interviews were conducted, the researcher 29.

(37) had verified with the respondents about what had been said and clarified participants’ perspectives to accurately reflect interviewees’ thought. During the actual interview, the researcher used voice recorders, and transcribed personal notes. After finish interview, the researcher translated interview as transcripts. Open-coding method was adopted to extract important concepts. After coding the interview contents, the researcher invited two peers to review the coding to see whether the concepts generated from interview contents make sense or not. The level of consistence was above 95 percentages.. Research Procedure This study aimed to explore intercultural competence for professional financial workers, communication barriers they met in intercultural context, and to investigate the developmental approaches of intercultural competence for them. Literature related to intercultural competence, intercultural communication, and barriers of intercultural communication were reviewed. The researcher further developed the purpose and questions of this study. In order to gain a deeper understanding of Taiwanese professional financial workers, qualitative approach was adopted. Based on the literature and the purpose of this study, the interview guideline was developed. Then the researcher conducted pilot interview, discussed with experts and peers, and revised the interview question. After this step, the researcher started to conducted formal interview. Then, the collected data was coded and analyzed. Results and discussion were further provided. The Figure 3.2 showed the whole research procedure.. 30.

(38) Identify Research Topic. Review Extant Literature. Develop Research Purpose and Questions. Decide Research Approach. Develop Interview Outline. Conduct Pilot Interview. Conduct Interview and Collect Data. Analyze Data. Provide Research Findings. Propose Conclusions and Suggestions. Figure 3.2 Research procedure 31.

(39) CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS The research findings are discussed in this chapter which comprised of the tasks and job contents of the interviewees, the important intercultural competences proposed by the interviewees, intercultural communication barriers the interviewees faced, and developmental methods for intercultural competences.. Tasks and Job Contents of Financial Professionals In this part, the researcher explored the tasks and job contents of the interviewees to get whole understanding of job duties and working environment of financial professionals. The financial professionals defined in this study included research investment analysts, research associates, equity sales, and secretary, as the job positions of interviewees. Research analysts and research associates belong to research team. The main tasks of research analysts are to analyze financial information that affects equity price of specific companies, and help investors make decisions by providing value-added, independent, and insightful analysis. The main task of research associates is to assist research analyst, such as building financial models, writing research reports, and doing industry research. The tasks of equity sales are to maintain and develop relationship with investing clients, and to be as the bridge between research team and investing clients. The tasks of secretary are to arrange visiting schedule, and to maintain investor relationship. Table 4.1 gives further information of tasks and job contents of financial professionals.. 32.

(40) Table 4.1 Tasks and Job Contents of Financial Professionals Job position Investment Analyst. Job task and contents Research and analyze financial information or other factors affecting investment programs of specific companies Help investors make decisions by providing value-added, independent, insightful analysis. Call investing clients, conveying ideas of the research reports. Call and visit management of companies to get information of financial position, new investment. Research Associate. products, etc. Build financial model and summarize the financial position of the company, review dividend records, note capital structure and comment on managerial effectiveness Build financial model and summarize the financial position of the company. Draw charts and graphs, using excel spreadsheets, to illustrate technical reports. Do industry research, and providing value-added,. Equity Sales. independent, insightful analysis. Support research analyst. Maintain and develop relationship with investing clients, such as fund managers, corporations, etc. Advise clients on the investing opportunities and provide a coverage services to clients. Read the research notes and decide which equity is worth to promote. Generate ideas and be as the bridge between analysts. Secretary. and investing clients, pass clients’ questions to research team. Arrange investing clients’ visiting schedule. Arrange analysts and sales visiting schedule. Deal with tasks which relate to maintain investor relationship.. 33.

(41) Marketing is the same task of these financial professionals. There are three kinds of marketing. The first type is that analysts go abroad to visit investing clients, usually accompanied with equity sales. The second type is that analyst or equity sales accompany with investing clients to visit Taiwanese companies. The third type is that analysts and Taiwanese companies go together to visit investing clients. Here, Aaron gave an example of the first type marketing,. We have many rounds road show and go to many countries each year. We will have 7~8 meetings per day, and 35~40 meetings per week. A road show needs to be 4~5 weeks, thus we will have around 150 meetings per roadshow. We send out the paper to investing clients before we visit them, so they will know the topics and what contents I’m going to say [A-11-53].. As Chen said, the process of the second type marketing is as bellowed,. We call companies to express that our investing clients would like to visit them and to ask whether they are available or not. Then, we arrange the time and venue for meeting. Before we visit the company, it’s better for us to review the financial report of the company in advance. In this way, we have a clear idea that what questions we can follow up when we visit the management of companies. Usually, we arrange 5~6 company meetings in one day [C-04-19].. Fiona gave further information of the third type of marketing,. I cover xxx company. I bring the management of xxx company to visit investing clients. Most clients are located in Europe, the United States, Japan, 34.

(42) Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Mid-East. We go to the offices of investing clients, and present some ideas or information of xxx company. Following this is investing clients’ questions [F-04-22].. The marketing is a communication channel for investing clients and Taiwanese companies, which means a communication way for Taiwanese companies and their investors. It let analysts and investing clients get more information of Taiwanese companies, and help them make decision on investing the equity. Besides, it is also a way for analysts to persuade, and convey their ideas to investing clients. There are many ways that these financial professionals contact their customers, such as email, phone, and face to face communication. Email and phone contact are the most frequent ways to contact their clients. The frequency of face to face communication depends on the positions. The higher level of the positions, the more frequency they have face to face communication with clients. The language the interviewees used to contact foreigner clients is English. Most of them have ever lived in foreigner countries, some of them even have worked in foreigner countries. The language skills they oft-used during work are oral, writing, reading, and listening skill. The researcher provided further background information of interviewees in table 4.2.. 35.

(43) Table 4.2 Background Information of Interviewees. Frequency. Contact Contact Face to by by face. Have lived. Have worked. Language skills oft-used during work. phone. email. commu abroad nication. abroad. Aaron. ⑤. ⑤. ④. ④. ③. Betty. ⑤. ⑤. ③. ⑤. X. Chen. ⑤. ⑤. ③. ⑤. ③. Darren. ③. ⑤. ①. X. X. Erina. ④. ⑤. ②. X. X. Fiona. ⑤. ⑤. ②. ⑤. X. Gray. ⑤. ⑤. ①. ②. X. Helen. ⑤. ⑤. ④. ⑤. X. Ivan. ④. Interviewee. Legend. ⑤ ⑤ ⑤ Every day ④ Twice a week ③ 3~5 times a month ② 3~5 times one year ① Less than three times. ⑤. ④ ⑤ > 5 years ④ 3~5 years ③ 1~3 years ② < 1 year X None. on year. 36. Listen Writing Reading Oral.

(44) The companies of interviewees were introduced as following.. Company A Company A is a foreigner investment financial company in Taiwan. It is one of Asia’s independent brokerage and investment group. The company provides banking, equity-broking and asset-management services to global corporate and institutional clients. Company A built its reputation on unrivalled equity research and economic analysis which is consistently ranked the best in Asia. Interviewee A is a research investment analyst, interviewee B is a research associate, and interviewee C is an equity sales of company A. All of them have lived abroad for more than five years, also, each of them with more than five years working experience.. Company B Company B is a global financial services company. It provides consumers with a wild range of financial products and services, including securities brokerage, consumer banking and credit, transaction services, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management. Its investment research covers 90 percent of the market capitalization of the major global indices, and provides macro and quantitative analysis of global markets and sector trends. Interviewee D is a secretary and supports the research team; interview E is a research assistant, also is a trainee of MA program.. Company C Company C is one of the world's largest financial institutions, the biggest brokerage in the world, and a firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has more than 800 analysts focusing on global equity, macroeconomic and global credit research. Interviewee F is a research analyst in company C, has ever 37.

(45) worked both in local and foreigner investment financial institution.. Company D Company D is a local financial company while provided services for domestic and international institutional investors. It operates brokerage, underwriting, derivatives, credit transactions, bonds and stock transfer agency services. Company D is the biggest local brokerage in Taiwan with 12% of market share. Interviewee G is a research associate in company D.. Company E Company E is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in London. It has operations in over 50 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Company is famous for its investment banking and wealth management service. Interviewee H is a research analyst in company E.. Company F Company F is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris. Company F is a universal bank split into three strategic business units: retail banking, corporate & investment banking, and investment solutions. Interview I is an analyst of company F.. 38.

(46) Intercultural Competences Intercultural competences are the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Darla, 2004). The dimensions of identified intercultural competences include ability, skill, knowledge, cognition, personality and attitude.. Ability The intercultural competence which was most mentioned by interviewees is language ability. Since their customers are foreigners (for some interviewees, even their colleagues and country head are foreigners), most of the interviewees thought language ability is a basic intercultural competence for financial professionals. As Betty said,. There are many original sources are in English, thus, your reading ability must be good, that means you can get the information in a short time. If you need to wait for others to translate the sources for you, or you can’t read it directly, you will spend more time on gathering information than others [B-01-07].. Also, Aaron and Gray thought owing to the need of work, good language ability can let work be effective. Therefore, language ability is the basic intercultural competence proposed by the interviewees. In addition to language ability, the ability to develop relationship is also important. Since these financial professionals need to explore information from companies, and communicate with unfamiliar clients or clients whom have not seen before, the ability to build up relationship with different background people is important. As Betty said, “you need information that others did not know from certain 39.

(47) people. Why they need to tell you the news? It depends on the relationship between you and them.” Chen also said, “the reason we call clients everyday is to maintain relationship. We want to let our clients think we care about them.” Aaron even expressed that to build up relationship with industry insiders is one of his tasks. Above talks showed that the ability of networking is needed intercultural competences for financial professionals. The ways these professionals used to build relationship includes attending conferences, seminars, analyst meetings, and investor forums. Also, calling clients, and visiting clients or industry insiders are ways proposed by the interviewees. The ability of observation is also mentioned by several interviewees. They mentioned that this ability help them catch more messages in communication with clients. It also helps them provide service that meet clients’ need. As Fiona said,. Some customers told me what equities they hold, but some didn’t. For clients who didn’t tell you their asset allocation, you need to catch the messages from your communication with them. Thus, you can meet their needs [F-05-29].”. Besides, Erina also said,. Investing clients will list the local companies they want to visit, you can tell the industry they’re interested in. If my clients want to see a financial company in Taiwan, and unfortunately the financial company can’t attend this meeting, I will provide lists of other financial companies to my clients. For the same case, some equity sales provided lists of technology companies such as TSMC. This means the sales didn’t understand their clients’ need. My clients can’t meet the first-tier companies (means the biggest companies), I will 40.

(48) provide list of second-tier companies to them. You need to be observant [E-06-36].. Financial professionals should be sensitive to clients’ messages. Through good observation, they can catch the messages, and provide further service to meet clients’ needs. Taking note is a useful method proposed by Aaron. He took note after every communication with clients. This helps him to remember the conversation and clients’ special needs. Therefore, he can provide more service to clients. All interviewees agreed that financial industry is a fast-paced working environment. Professionals only have limited time to complete one thing. Usually, they have less than one hour for each meeting with clients, or even shorter when they convey ideas through phones or emails. Therefore, in limited time is needed, and the ability was proposed by Aaron, Betty, Fiona, Gray, and Helen. Gray gave an example on how to present ideas. He said,. Financial industry is too busy. We have more than 100 emails per day. My clients may not have time to read my report. Therefore, I will summarize one key point for each section and list in the front of email. Let my investing clients know the key points of this report in a short time. Then if they are interested in, they will read the report [G-06-51].. Besides, Fiona also suggested that do not present everything once time. She thought professionals can get rid of weeps and keep key points in presentation. The experiences of Gray and Fiona showed that the ability of summarizing key points is needed for financial professionals.. 41.

(49) Knowledge Knowledge is a set of facts or pieces of information related to a given content-domain. Knowledge is the competence which is most likely to be gained through training (Caligiuri, 2006). Intercultural competences identified by the interviewees include knowledge of target culture, business knowledge, and knowledge about own culture. Knowledge of target culture includes knowledge of ethnicity, language, history, geography, economic, society, value system and beliefs, rites, rituals, behaviors, and etc (Flaskerud, 2007). Knowing your clients’ cultural knowledge helps you get deeper understanding of them, it also helps you get closer relations with them. As Gray said,. It’s better for me to understand clients’ background, or their living surrounding. If you have customers come from England, and you have ever been to England, you can have topics with them. You can exchange food experience, travel experience, the life there, and etc. In my opinion, the cultural knowledge helps me get closer relations with my clients [G-04-33].. Darren gave a negative experience of not knowing cultural knowledge as below,. Japan has much etiquette, thus you need to pay attention on getting along with Japanese. In Japan, if you want to pour Sake (Japanese wine), you need to fill the whole cup. If you pour wine, you can only fill half of the cup. My colleague didn’t know this culture, he did wrong. Japanese clients felt angry and though he was impolite. Thus, you need to know the specific cultural knowledge of your clients [D-07-28B].. 42.

(50) What's more, food culture is also a cultural knowledge proposed by the interviewees. Erina said, “Indian do not eat beef, and 90 percent of Indian are vegetarian. I didn’t know this before.” Therefore, the more one know others’ culture, the less chance one will violate taboo. Moreover, knowledge about own culture also help these interviewees in intercultural experience. Some interviewees stated that if one knows own culture well, one can share cultural knowledge or experience to clients. Basically, foreigner clients are interested in Taiwan, and the cultural sharing can let relation become closer. It helps to promote understanding of each other. Business knowledge is another competence which helps financial professionals in intercultural context. Due to language barriers, foreigners are difficult to get financial information of Taiwan. That is why the investing clients especially need Taiwanese financial professionals to provide information to them. As Aaron and Fiona stated that because Taiwanese clients can get much information through newspaper, foreign clients relatively rely on their professional knowledge. Moreover, according to Aaron, Fiona and Gray, broader business knowledge can help professionals build up relationship with clients. As Gray’s said. You will get esteem for your professional knowledge. That is because you and your clients are unfamiliar, you didn’t know each other well, and you can only communicate business knowledge. Thus, if you have tough business knowledge, you will get recognition. The business knowledge is your view to Taiwanese industry, and the systematic analysis of environment. Broader business knowledge can help you start conversation, and also build up trust relationship with your clients [G-03-25].. 43.