尼加拉瓜和台灣咖啡業務經理之間的跨文化溝通應對模式

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(1)A Process Model of Intercultural Communication between the Coffee Business Managers of Nicaragua and Taiwan. by Carlos Eduardo Sánchez Rojas. 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: Wei-Wen Chang, Ph.D.. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan January, 2019.

(2) AKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my parents for giving me their unconditional support, courage and advice along this journey, without them the culmination of this stage of life would not be possible. My gratitude to Professor Wei-Wen Chang, my advisor, for her guidance, patience and encouragement in making this research possible. To my committee members, Professor Pai-Po Lee and Professor Steven Lai for their advice and comments. Thank you to the IHRD professors and staff for their willingness to help when needed. Lastly, I express my appreciation to Rodolfo Lacayo from the Embassy of Nicaragua in Taiwan, Ifi Tseng and Andrea Weng from CATO for their help during my data collection process and the Nicaraguan coffee managers for providing the information needed to conduct this research. I am very honored to study in depth such a successful business relationship..

(3) ABSTRACT Intercultural communication is almost inevitable as a result of globalization. Communication between different cultures is an important characteristic for any company. Intercultural communication is important for any international business since the knowledge on how to communicate with other cultures should be a skill to be emphasized. This investigation is focused on exploring the characteristics, difficulties and practices of the intercultural communication used by coffee business managers of Nicaragua and their Taiwanese counterpart. This study adopted a qualitative approach, with interviews as a data collection method. Atlas.ti was the software used to analyze the data in this study. Open and axial coding were employed for the qualitative data analysis. Results showed characteristics during the intercultural communication process, four major difficulties that coffee business managers of Nicaragua and Taiwan face and seven successful practices to overcome these difficulties. Keywords: culture, intercultural communication, intercultural communication competence. 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 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 2 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 3 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 4 Definition of Terms............................................................................................................. 4. CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 6. Culture................................................................................................................................. 6 Intercultural Communication .............................................................................................. 7 Misunderstandings in Intercultural Communication .......................................................... 9 Difficulties to Intercultural Communication ..................................................................... 10 Intercultural Communication Competence ....................................................................... 13 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 16. CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODS ........................................................ 17. Research Approach ........................................................................................................... 17 Research Framework ........................................................................................................ 17 Research Participants ........................................................................................................ 18 II.

(5) Research Instrument.......................................................................................................... 20 Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 20 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 21 Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................................... 24 Research Procedure ........................................................................................................... 25. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 27 Characteristics of the Communication of Coffee Business Managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan............................................................................................................................... 29 Intercultural Communication Difficulties of Coffee Business Managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan ........................................................................................................................ 34 Practices of Coffee Business Managers from Nicaragua to Manage a Successful Intercultural Communication ............................................................................................ 41 Discussions ....................................................................................................................... 50. CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................... 52. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 52 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 53 Limitations of the Study.................................................................................................... 54 Suggestion for Future Research ........................................................................................ 55. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 56 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ...................................................... 60 APPENDIX B: INVITATION LETTER FOR THE INTERVIEWS............... 62 APPENDIX C: CONSENT FORM...................................................................... 64 APPENDIX D: CODE LIST ................................................................................ 66 APPENDIX E: CODING ...................................................................................... 67 III.

(6) LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Summary of Interviewees ............................................................................................. 19 Table 3.2 Interview Information List ............................................................................................ 21 Table 4.1 Outlines for Research Questions and Findings ............................................................. 28. IV.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Research Framework ................................................................................................... 18 Figure 3.2 Initial coding process ................................................................................................... 23 Figure 3.3 Example of categorizing process ................................................................................. 24 Figure 3.4 Research Procedure ..................................................................................................... 26 Figure 4.1 A process model of intercultural communication structure among coffee business managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan ...................................................................... 49. V.

(8) CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. In this chapter, the background of the study, problem statement, purpose of the study, research question, significance of the study and definition of terms of this research is provided.. Background of the Study The global market around the world has evolved primarily due to globalization and expansion of business internationally, making the topic of intercultural communication more and more important. Different factors point out differences when we refer to the word culture. Majority of businesses are increasing their efforts to successfully manage cultural communication between employees. Researchers found notable differences, benefits and practices to overcome them on the business outcomes (Milliken & Martins, 2006). Some examples of benefits are found in the study conducted by Williams & O’Reilly (1998) showing that a diverse cultural interaction can increase different cognitive aspects that can influence the creative and decision-making process. The communication accommodation theory (Giles, 1973) posits that people adjust their speech, vocal patterns and gestures which suggest some obstacles such as cohesiveness condescend and overaccommodation. The high and low context theory proposes a message with an implicit meaning in some parts of the communication from one part while a message with a clear meaning from the other part (Hall, 1976). As global markets emerge, intercultural communication is becoming a business necessity in the goal of expanding a company around the world. Employees obtain different types of benefits from these interactions, one of the most important is respect from other workers and business growth. Top organizations all over the world communicate with a significant group of ethnic and culturally diverse employees. Intercultural communication is becoming important in a multicultural environment. Globalization of diverse populations requires the intercultural communication from the top management to diverse employees in all areas of the business, especially when business demand constant communication during import-export trade (Mayhew, 2011). 1.

(9) The management practices on intercultural communication can help managers to work in advance on a successful succession plan or business strategy anticipating possible scenarios or situations before it happens. The research is focused on the Nicaraguan coffee businesses listed under the Central America Trading Office that represent a strong diplomatic relationship between all of the countries in Central America and the interaction between trade, investment, tourism, cultural promotion and work programs that are being implement between all the countries that are part of the free trade agreement. Taiwan has offered loans totaling US$60 million as financial support for the development of small and midsize enterprises in Central America. In terms of coffee, Taiwan is the 6th country in Nicaraguan coffee destinations, generating 7.74 million dollars during 2016-2017 period. Taiwan businessmen, as well, anticipate benefits from the closer Central American ties. Currently, Taiwan is negotiating the signing of agreements that will cut to zero the import duties on Taiwan products shipped into these countries. With the increase of the trading relationships also comes a major interaction between managers with different cultural backgrounds, which is what this research aims to investigate.. Problem Statement Broad vision and commitment are part of a successful strategic planning in an organization, considering an intercultural communication between businesses as a part of daily basis (Child, 2015). Erasmus (2007), indicates that the management of an intercultural communication into an international business under the leadership of a manager with insufficient skills of intercultural communication competence can create difficulties in the environment business relationship. How cultural differences affect communication is what researchers and international business managers usually inquiry and are also always looking for substantial evidence of a communication competence between individuals with different cultural backgrounds (Jackson & Joshi, 2004). Business managers and researchers have been dedicating many years to research how to increase the way we understand the communication in a multicultural business relationship and team work between international companies.. 2.

(10) International. businesses. managers. are making an emphasis. on. intercultural. communication, as for employees often make preposterous decisions and do not follow common rules when the topic of multi-cultural environment utilize. As a consequence, many years of research on the effects of intercultural communication within different businesses demonstrate different characteristics in the communication process, difficulties when dealing with intercultural communication and practices followed to overcome them (Kochan et al., 2003).. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this investigation is to explain the intercultural communication of an international business manager when interacting with other people that is culturally different. This investigation on intercultural communication proposed that intercultural communication between international businesses managers is very heterogeneous and is always bringing to light new evidence of successful cooperation (Piller, 2011). The primary objective of the investigation is to describe the characteristics between Coffee Business Managers of Nicaragua and their Taiwanese counterpart. Also, try to define the difficulties that coffee managers of Nicaragua face when communicating with their Taiwanese counterpart. Furthermore, this investigation also focusses on the job that managers do to successfully overcome the possible difficulties during an intercultural communication with their Taiwanese counterpart in terms of business.. Research Questions 1. What are the characteristics of the communication used by the coffee business managers of Nicaragua and Taiwan? 2. What are the intercultural communication difficulties of coffee business managers of Nicaragua and Taiwan? 3. What are the practices of Coffee Business managers of Nicaragua to manage a successful intercultural communication?. 3.

(11) Significance of the Study As the globalization keeps developing towards new horizons, business managers need to understand that the topic of intercultural communication will be a priority. Culturally aware, trained managers in this topic will bring benefit and advantages to their business. Businesses that include intercultural communication as topic over the strategic planning will increase their value in a long term than businesses that are not sharing this attitude, and will receive also benefits towards a successful business relationship (Brown, 2007). A study about this important and broad topic of human resource development will help businesses to understand the characteristics, difficulties and proper practices for a successful cultural communication consociation. When different managers on a multicultural environment understand and appreciate their counterpart, it increases the experience, knowledge and perspectives of the businesses that will lead to a successful intercultural communication (Choy, 2007).. Definition of Terms Culture Culture is defined as the deposit of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religions, notions of time, roles, spatial relationships, concepts of the universe, material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people over generations, through individual and collective efforts (Samovar & Porter, 2004).. Cultural Identity Identification or sense of belonging to a particular group according to different cultural categories such as nationality, ethnicity, race, sex and religion. Is built by sharing collective knowledge. It is complex and multifaceted, since an individual can associate with more than one cultural group. It is constantly adopted, negotiated, maintained and challenged through 4.

(12) communication practices (Fong & Chuang, 2004).. Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication is a communication through different cultural contexts and takes place when individuals influenced by different cultural communities negotiate meanings shared in an interaction. Intercultural communication can be defined as the sharing of information on different levels of awareness and control between people of different cultural backgrounds, where different cultural backgrounds include national cultural differences and differences related to participation in different activities existing in the world. within an international unit. (Gudykunst, 2004).. Intercultural Communication Competence The ability to effectively and appropriately implement communication behaviors that negotiate each other's cultural identities or identities in a culturally diverse environment (Wiseman, 2002).. 5.

(13) CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW In order to serve the needs of this study, the following literature review presents definitions, concepts, theories and practices that help the researcher to explain the intercultural communication into an organization, differences that can result in difficulties and intercultural communication practices. The chapter is divided into the following sections: culture, intercultural communication, misunderstandings in intercultural communication, difficulties to intercultural communication and intercultural communication competence.. Culture Daily, the word culture is often used depending on the situations and the different context given. In addition, the concept given to this word will depends on the level of understanding and knowledge of the speaker (Gudykunst & Kim, 1997). There are many definitions of culture written by scholars (Hofstede, 2001). Taking this into consideration, it is very difficult to give a definition of this word in just one paragraph. As mentioned, the word culture is defined in many approaches and it results complicated to incorporate its numerous aspects. Citing some of the most commonly used ones, we could say first that is a summary of all learned behaviors in a society (Stephan & Stephan, 1996). Hofstede (2001) explains that culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. The definition mentioned before lead us to thing that people, since their childhood, learn culture from socializing with their peers. People learn behaviors from others that are in the same group and turns them into habits after some time (Samovar & Porter, 2004). In addition, going through different types of experiences can lead to people learn and relearn different types of cultures that are not related to the same cultural group. In another context, culture can be defined as the collective beliefs, customs, attitudes, values and thoughts shared by individuals of a group that are used to understand each other. It is expressed by visible tools, otherwise it becomes invisible to individuals (Barnett & Lee, 2003). A common 6.

(14) factor in culture is that people usually share the same interpretation of symbols, which are expressions of visible tools previously referred, that can be either verbal and nonverbal forms of language (Jandt, 2004). There are some invisible aspects of culture that can be noticed depending on how people behave. Beliefs, values and norms can be learned through parents, peers, teachers or institutions (Gudykunst & Kim, 1997). Also, individuals can learn about them through history, social media, proverbs, myths, folktales, art and legends (Samovar & Porter, 2004). These are the key aspects of a culture reflected in our behavior, expressed by symbolic and visual processes. Culture directly affects our behavior. Our beliefs, norms and values are instructions for individuals to behave in a socially accepted manner (Brislin, 2001). Culture has many definitions as I mentioned previously, but also layers. The first important layer, formed by expressions, behavior or language, is visible externally. There are different reasons and ways to interpret these expressions depending on the motives from people with different cultural backgrounds. The next important layer consists of values and norms that are shared by individuals of the same culture. Culture and communication work simultaneously, it results impossible to draw a line between these two factors as they are impossible to separate. The relationship between communication and culture usually indicates an opening for intercultural communication research (Samovar & Porter, 2003). This relation between these two factors is correlative, culture reflects communication and communication is shaped by culture (Chen & Starosta, 1998.). Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication has been part of the human interaction due to the fact of the different languages that exist in the world but the studies and investigations about this topic is relatively modern originated from the development of international trading activities. As part of globalization, the creation of different ways to develop communication such as the internet, cellphones and such technology, people from different cultural backgrounds have become closer 7.

(15) and can be informed about other news in real time that happen all around the world (Jandt, 2004). A definition of intercultural communication explains that the participants in the communication perceive themselves different in aspects such as language and cultural background. The definition places intercultural communication next to other concepts such as interethnic, interracial, and intergroup communication (Kim, 2007). Different type of variables can be pointed out like sign systems and cultural behaviors, playing an important role in human interaction, that make us realize that intercultural communication cannot be limited to geographical differences or verbal interaction (Fall et al., 2013). Edward T. Hall introduced the concept of intercultural communication on his book “The Silent Language” back in 1959, as the first reference of this type of reciprocal action. As a result, he is considered the founder of intercultural communication. The definition published in his book basically infers that culture is communication (Neuliep, 2014). Intercultural communication is the outcome of the diverse world on where we live nowadays and the interaction between individuals from different cultural backgrounds comes in hand to develop successful communities, international business cooperation and reduce difficulties. Unity is impossible without communication and only when culturally diverse people interact they can create harmony. At this point, intercultural communication is a necessity (Neuliep, 2014). Intercultural communication implicates interaction between individuals with different cultural backgrounds and attitudes, enough to change the communication characteristics. It involves two or more people from notably different cultures (Samovar & Porter, 2004). Intercultural communication compromise individuals working towards a successful channel of communication inadvertent of their inequality. Also, people preserve characteristics of their own culture when it happens (Lustig & Koester, 2006). When there is an interaction between two people from different cultural backgrounds, their own personalities and interpersonal relationship styles, a third culture can be created, leaving their on cultures intact but only until these two people can overcome the differences between them and are willing and motivated to adapt the way they communicate. In some other cases individuals just lead their intentions on learning and adjusting to a new culture (Dodd, 1998). To reach a new social adaptation, meaningful experiences of 8.

(16) intercultural communication are extremely important for a person with an original cultural identity (Kim, 2007). The first step to develop and achieve a successful communication within different cultural backgrounds is the appropriation of a source of knowledge about other cultures to increase cultural awareness. It is imperative to learn about fundamental characteristics of the other individual whom we are interacting with, such as basic aspects that could include history, religion, political system, common values and manners (Samovar et al., 2013). Failing to follow this step will probably lead to frustrations, anger and difficulties in establishing a successful relationship (Dodd, 1998). The final objective of intercultural practices is to obtain a true intercultural communication, every individual is able to share a common interest with another, where one is ambitious to give and the other to take in equivalent manner (Kim, 2007). This balanced state of intercultural communication can only be achieved by establishing a multicultural awareness with universal values (Baraldi, 2006).. Misunderstandings in Intercultural Communication Every group if individuals who share the same cultural background behaves and feels in a different way. There are significant differences between them, not only in language, but also in terms of culture, mentality, habits, customs, beliefs and more. The interaction between these people from different cultural backgrounds contribute to an extensive number of positive results, for example learning about new customs or expand our horizons, or negative outcomes, that can create different type of conflicts. Most of them are caused by misunderstandings in communication (Jandt, 2004). The first layer of any intercultural communication process is represented by the basic mean of any intercultural relation, the language. A decent language proficiency is an important requirement for an easy course of business dealing, however, it does not ensure the success of the negotiation that is carried (Jandt, 2004). 9.

(17) The second layer is often called communication etiquette. It is associated with rituals and conventions. There is no guarantee of a successful intercultural communication if the participants, beside mastering the language in which the communication will be spoken, do not know, respect or follow the appropriate rules of communication etiquette from the other culture and its patterns (Jandt, 2004). Communication between two individuals often occurs in a foreign language for one of the parties, and will be based on the ability to understand, interpret and express, different factors such as feelings, thoughts, concepts, opinions and facts, during a verbal and non-verbal interaction in the appropriate range of societal and cultural context depending on the needs. Communication in two different languages also requires skills such as negotiation and intercultural understanding. It is a wide problem that show us that intercultural misunderstandings are not only a matter of scholastic studies and that it is also considered by international businesses (Chaney et al., 2007). In the field of intercultural communication, there is wide variety of causes of difficulties. The intensity and importance of the difficulty depends on how big is the difference between two cultures. For that reason, managers and business owners who want to start operations abroad should learn as much information as possible before establishing any communication patter about the other cultural information to avoid any undesirable situations or cultural shock (Baraldi, 2006).. Difficulties to Intercultural Communication In the highly competitive global economy we live now, there are often cross-border movements from employees that results into a growing diversity in the working environment. As a result, breakdowns in communication occur due to cultural differences. That is definitely costly to the multinational businesses in terms of revenue, workplace relations and customer interaction, as well as the competitive advantage (Teo, 2011). Intercultural communication difficulties can arise as a result of a biological phenomenon that can include factors such as cognitive decision-making, physiological arousal and emotional activation linked with our brain process of conflict resolution (Berns & Atran, 2012). 10.

(18) Misunderstanding is hard to avoid between users of low-high context communication (Guirdham, 1999). A list of common intercultural communication difficulties has been developed. These barriers are as follow:. High anxiety The feeling of anxiety can result from not knowing what to expect or do about certain situations, so the individual will focus on this feeling and will not be entirely focus in the communication. It is conventional for an individual to experience anxiety on the first days of a new communication interaction with other cultures, as well as feeling out of place. For this reason, they will pay attention to this feeling and omit other important aspects in the communication process and appear awkward to the counterpart (Jandt, 2004).. Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is the negative judge of another person’s culture based on the standards of one’s own culture. It is the feeling of cultural superiority. Every culture has differences in many aspects. The key is trying to understand the basic aspects of other people culture and the way they behave based on these aspects before we can judge them. The exclusion of the importance and knowledge of other cultures blocks communication and the interrelation of new skills and ideas between people (Jandt, 2004). Ethnocentrism can create a negative effect in societies due to individuals not obeying the rules, norms and values of other cultures by consider them inferior. Is counter-productive when it blinds a culture to the contribution of other cultural groups in exchange and can lead to conflict and aggression. Ethnocentrism can also be difficult across cultures when it leads to social isolation, discrimination and compulsion of one culture by another (Kendall, 2001).. Stereotypes and prejudice Stereotypes and prejudice create a prejudicial barrier to intercultural communication. The word stereotype refers to individuals that might create a positive or negative judgement about others based on any perceived behavior, verbal or non-verbal, in the other hand, prejudice infers 11.

(19) to the irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular cultural group. They are both connected because they refer to making judgements about people based on their cultural background (Jandt, 2004). Prejudgment is the result of stereotyping. In a communication context, negative feelings and attitudes by those who prejudge or stereotype are showed through intimidating humor, speech that claim dominance of one group over the other and group labels. It leads to a non-flexible and wrong view of certain behaviors as correct or not. This type of thinking generates a distressing communication challenge. (Alberts et. al., 2010).. Assuming similarity instead of difference When an individual has no information about a new culture, he will assume that there are no important differences between two culturally different groups. These differences can be really important in the communication interaction. Each culture might have some similarities as well as remarkable differences. The display of emotions is one factor in a communication and it varies depending of each culture. It is assumed that this factor is the same in each culture, it can lead to the feeling that the other part lacks of emotions or a display of inappropriate emotions. The opposite can be a barrier too. Cultures also share some behaviors in common, and assuming that there are only differences in between two different cultures can lead to not recognizing similar important things (Jandt, 2004). Cultural differences are part of any interaction, even though some cultures may value the same things as another culture. It is incorrect to assume that people with different cultural backgrounds have remarkable and significant differences and assume that similar cultures can act and think alike. It can be an obstacle to assume that people are different just because of their cultural background. It is a true reflection that all human beings share common experiences, meanwhile there are some notable differences. The key to achieve an understanding that people have resemblances and differences is not to oppress the function of culture as an important factor in communication but to understand that in the face of these cultural differences, we are all humans. When engage into an intercultural communication, it is imperative for both parts to explore the other person’s cultural background and values before one can recognize and define similarities and differences (Beebe et al., 2011). 12.

(20) Different communication codes Different people speak different languages, and interacting with people from different nationalities represent a distressing communication challenge. Sometimes, even when the two parts speak a common language between them, due to cultural differences, the meaning of the words or gestures may have unsimilar value. Hence, is important to understand various cultures during the communication process in order to communicate effectively and properly across cultures (Beebe et al., 2011).. Intercultural Communication Competence The interaction between different cultures and the influence that this interaction has on communication bring forward the question on how to manage these differences. The solution to the question and the success of this interaction relies on the concept known as intercultural competence. One of the key research subjects in the intercultural communication research is intercultural competence. All data gathered, analyzed, processed and published, however, come with some irregularities (Chen & Starosta, 1998). There is a large amount of studies since intercultural competence has been the subject of study of different disciplines but the results of them are not comparable due to the absence of common nomenclature. At first, the intercultural competence research was conducted to analyses problems such as overseas foreign bankruptcy, prediction on foreign success, choosing the suitable employees and developing a successful intercultural training. This practical research enriches the knowledge about intercultural experience but was not really focused on theory development. Later on, and with the use of different approaches, methods and conceptualizations to study intercultural communication competence conduct to the diffusion of the research tradition (Lustin & Koester, 2006). The research of a same subject through a variety of perspectives and within different disciplines led to a diversity of concepts of intercultural communication competence. The denomination competence was gathered from sociolinguistics from whom it was taken over as an 13.

(21) approved theoretical concept by intercultural communication scholars. These days, the concept of competence is more frequently used because it encloses the relevance of both effectiveness and appropriateness for the successful results in intercultural cooperation (Bradford et al., 2000). Nowadays, two key dimensions of intercultural communication competence are appropriateness and effectiveness (Bradford et al., 2000). The definitions of intercultural communication competence usually are based on these two factors. One of the most common definitions of intercultural communication competence cites that is the ability to effectively and appropriately execute communication behaviors to obtain a desired result in a specific environment (Chen & Starosta, 1998). Effectiveness refers to the ability to obtain a positive result between an intercultural interaction. It is related with the individual satisfaction of an individual achieving a goal in specific. Appropriateness is related to doing it respecting the contextual factors. It is reached by being polite by trying to evade the violation of any norm of interaction. The nature of the relationship between the parts involved in the communication behavior is absolutely important to determine what is considered appropriate and what is not (Imahori & Lanigan, 2001). Although both of them are significant to understand intercultural communication competence, the point of view from the researchers can change towards effectiveness and appropriateness. For instance, recognize outcome-focused approach from message-focused approach. The first one is related to the cultural adaptation with a priority on effectiveness dimension. On the second approach, the perception of effectiveness as competent makes it unnecessary. The skills in the communication process are the only relevant factor for it (Imahori & Lanigan, 2001). The principles for appropriate and effective communication behavior are obtain from the cultural backgrounds of the people involved, becoming two extensive categories to describe intercultural communication competence and this is the reason why an intercultural communication is more challenging. The parameters of appropriateness and effectiveness differ in a multicultural environment. Consequently, being a person with intercultural appropriate and effective skills requires different alternatives of operation and accommodation of communication 14.

(22) behavior (Lustig & Koester, 2006). Apart from appropriateness and effectiveness, another key factors that can be mentioned in the topic of intercultural communication competence are knowledge, skills and attitudes. The correct attitude, effective and operational knowledge and required skillset can lead to competence (Bennett & Bennett 2004). The ability of a person to understand a message when there is a communication in an unusual environment is a cognitive component. The emotional capacity to face the challenges of this unusual environment in the communication is an affective component. The combination of the two previously mentioned components trough behavior is called operational component. These three components interact so that comprehensive knowledge leads to the proper attitude which together increment the possibility of skilled performance (Kim, 2001). Cultural and communicational patterns are different and depend on the type of culture, as well as the construction of competence. What might be considered competent in one culture does not significantly point out the same results in a different culture. It has been proved that intercultural communication scholars have a better capacity to recognize the important of context than interpersonal communication researchers (Lustig & Koester, 2006). What might be perceived as competent communication in Taiwan cannot be applied to some situations in Nicaragua, for example. Situational factors cannot be ignored in the communication. Interaction models between person and situation are suggested to avoid a criticized international communication competence because of omitting the situational context. The importance of situational context proposes also that intercultural communication skills cannot be applied in one context and into a different one because the evaluation of these skills depends on the task and the interaction of the cultures of the participants (Salo-Lee, 2003). Situational context has received more attention recently by intercultural communication competence scholars, considering that the competence not only reside in an individual or culture but also on the actual context of the communication. The judgment of competence depends on context, following the tendency to understand it as an evaluative but also depends on the objectives of the interaction, the verbal and non-verbal messages used to accomplish these objectives or goals 15.

(23) and the relationship between the individuals (Lustig and Koester, 2006). Normally, the receiver is in charge of evaluating the performance according to his own criteria of appropriateness and effectiveness. This approach considers intercultural communication competence as a social judgment, an evaluation of another individual performance. Therefore, the same performance may be perceived competent or incompetent depending on the evaluation of the person and his perception. The criteria for being considered culturally competent are proportional to the diversity of the patterns of communication (Lustig & Koester, 2006). There are three stages of the research on intercultural communication competence. The early research, that assumed competence as a set of skills that an individual display, focused on cultural adaptation issues. Later on, scholars noticed some other factors such as motivation, skills and knowledge that could affect the judgment of a competent communicator. Nowadays, usually an expert on the field judges the communication behavior and concludes if is competent or not, using his on criteria of appropriateness and effectiveness. The criteria for being considered competent or incompetent is driven by culture due to the patterns of communication being culturally diverse depending on the people involved. Lastly, competence can be interpreted as residing within interaction and is a result of the relationship between individuals.. Summary Literature review of different theoretical models and relevant approaches to intercultural communication provides conceptual background to strengthen the argument of this research. It is clear from the research reviewed that intercultural communication is one of the most important facts on human resource practices and can influence many factors of an organization. Research methods will be discussed in detailed in the next chapter.. 16.

(24) CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODS. The following chapter proposes the procedures to be used to achieve the purpose of the study; this chapter presents the research methods of the investigation. Furthermore, includes the research framework and procedure, data sample, collection and analysis process, validity and reliability.. Research Approach For this investigation, a qualitative approach was chosen. The study used interviews as a data collection method. Face to face and Skype interviews for a total of 12 questions were conducted to identify as many factors related characteristics, difficulties and practices with different managers that are directly involved with the subject of this investigation. The individual interviews enable interviewers to explore deeply into social and personal matters. Interviews are one of the most well know strategies used for data collection in qualitative research (Dicicco & Crabtree, 2006).. Research Framework The framework based of this research was developed based on the research questions listed on Chapter I. The research objective is to identify the characteristics of the intercultural communication, possible difficulties that business coffee managers of Nicaragua experience in terms of intercultural communication with their Taiwanese counterpart in as well as the practices to overcome these difficulties. As for the present situation, the study focuses on cultural and individual identity as a factor that can arise difficulties to the communication during the business exchange (Leonard, 2004). Managers from different businesses need to change the organizational culture and adapt it to the diverse intercultural communication to overcome these difficulties, creating a successful communication competence (Cummings, 2004).. 17.

(25) Coffee Business Managers of Nicaragua. Taiwanese Counterpart. Intercultural Communication Characteristics. Intercultural Communication Difficulties. Intercultural Communication Competence. Figure 3.1. Research Framework. Research Participants The study was focused on the coffee businesses from Nicaragua that are under the Central America Trading Office which serves to facilitate mutual interaction of trade and economy, strategic alliances and international investment between Taiwan and Central America. Taiwan has signed free trade agreements with Central American countries and has benefited from duty-free treatment. Taiwan sign Free Trade Agreement with Central America countries to advance the liberalization of international trade. The Agreement first entered into force between Taiwan and Panama on January 1, 2004, followed by Guatemala on July 1, 2006; Nicaragua on Jan 1, 2008; El Salvador on March 1, 2008; Honduras on July 15, 2008 (“Free Trade Agreement”, 2016). From the Nicaraguan companies listed on the directory of the Central American Trading Office, the research was focused on the coffee business related companies for the total amount of 18.

(26) 10. The participants will be the managers involved directly into the intercultural communication process with the Taiwanese partners. Participants on this study were selected based on a list provided by Andrea Weng, Assistant Director from the Central America Trading Office and the Embassy of Nicaragua in Taiwan. The lists included the managers from Nicaragua as a primary contact in charge of the communication with their Taiwanese counterpart. They are invited to attend the Taiwan International Coffee Show as well as other fairs and meetings to promote the Nicaraguan coffee business in Taiwan. They have a vast experience dealing with the topic of intercultural communication and were initially the first contact to establish business relationships with their Taiwanese counterpart. From this list 1 manager was selected from every coffee business from Nicaragua. Table 3.1. Summary of Interviewees Pseudonym of. Gender. Language used. Interviewees. Years involved in intercultural communication. EM. Female. English/Spanish. 7. CF. Male. English. 8. MF. Male. English. 11. VR. Male. English. 15. CV. Male. English. 10. PG. Male. English/Spanish. 13. JP. Male. English. 9. OG. Male. Spanish/English. 10. ER. Male. Spanish/English. 7. OP. Male. English/Spanish. 9. 19.

(27) Research Instrument The interview questions were designed based on the research questions and supported by literature review. The questions were primarily developed in Spanish language, since the nationality of the target participants is from a native Spanish speaking country. Before conducting the interviews, expert advice and consultation was used to obtain guidance from the advisor professor and subject matter experts for its development. The interview questions were uploaded on a Google document three days prior to the date and time of interviews and a link was sent to the interviewees. The research questions were analyzed to develop the interview questions and after extensive literature review, the first draft of interview questions was developed. The draft was sent to peer researchers and advisor for review, and after suggestions were made and changes applied, a total of 12 questions were developed to gather the significant data needed to conduct this investigation.. Data Collection For this investigation, interview questions were developed based on the research questions and framework. These questions can be found in Appendix A. Experts advise from peer researchers was seek in order to meet the desire data collection. For the interview process, which will be a formal interview process, the interview questions were uploaded to a Google document three days prior to the interview, after setting up the time and date with available candidates. The time frame for the interview was 45 minutes. The interview included open questions related to the characteristics of the communication between coffee business managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan, what difficulties they have in terms of intercultural communication and what are the practices they follow to overcome these difficulties. The face to face interviews were conducted during office times at the workplace of the interviewees. The location for the Skype interviews was the same, while the researcher was based. 20.

(28) in Taipei. These interviews were collected in a 3 months period from April 10th to June 27th, 2018, the detail information of each interview is listed below:. Table 3.2. Interview Information List Pseudonym of. Date. Time (Nicaragua). Interviewees. Duration of the interview. EM. 06/05/2018. 9:30 a.m.. 32 minutes. CF. 04/12/2018. 9:45 a.m.. 37 minutes. MF. 06/07/2018. 10:00 a.m.. 38 minutes. VR. 06/12/2018. 9:00 a.m.. 33 minutes. CV. 04/10/2018. 9:30 a.m.. 36 minutes. PG. 06/15/2108. 9:45 a.m.. 40 minutes. JP. 06/19/2018. 9:30 a.m.. 33 minutes. OG. 06/21/2018. 9:30 a.m.. 38 minutes. ER. 04/11/2018. 10:00 a.m.. 36 minutes. OP. 06/27/2108. 10:45 a.m.. 39 minutes. Data Analysis The analysis of qualitative data gathered relies on the purpose of the researcher. For this study, interviews are the data collection method. Taylor-Powell and Renner (2003) suggest that to achieve a successful data analysis process the first step is to read and study the data collected. After, the data should be categorized by research question, category and theme, which lead to have a better understanding of the similarities and differences of the responses of the interview questions. The last step is an interpretation of all the findings within the process. 21.

(29) Part of the interviews were conducted face to face and the rest of them were trough an online call using Skype. The interview was conducted and recorded using a voice recorder program from a mobile device. After that, the researcher listened to the digital recording many times as it was needed to transcript the data into a word document, that was sent to interviewees for validation. Once validated, the 10 documents containing the interview transcripts were uploaded to the online software Atlas.ti Mac O.S. computer software that automatically generated a database with all the data collected. The ATLAS.ti software has been used in many qualitative researches to support the coding process because it allows the researchers to code the data (Zhang and Wildemuth, 2009). Once this data was validated and entered into this software, it was organized into themes and categories using codes depending on the similarities or differences. These similarities depend on the research questions and were supported at certain extended by the literature review. The coding of this data started with the examination of the transcripts to detect similarities and differences, and then assign names to different parts of the data collected (Mertens, 2009). A total of 37 codes were given and organized into 15 categories. All these categories were put into 3 themes in response to the proposed research questions. The example of initial coding stage was shown in Figure 3.2.. 22.

(30) Code. Coding Number. Language barrier, in Taiwan, the people. EM-2-2-16. related to the coffee business speak a decent English and almost none of them speak. Coding numbers of the interviewees assigned by Atlas.ti. Spanish Yes, because sometimes we have some. CF-2-3-10 Verbatim transcriptions of the interviewees were transcribed. difficulties understanding each other or trying to express an idea in a common language, despite the fact that we both try to. Theme Category. speak slow and clear Is sometimes not a direct communication. MF-2-4-15. being the main issue a language barrier, even though they speak a decent English or Spanish Figure 3.2. Initial coding process. 23. The key concepts responding the research questions were in bold.

(31) The following example demonstrate the process of open coding, categories and themes: Original data. Open Coding. Category. Theme. Most of the communication is using emails and English as a Face to face. common language. We usually communicate face to face whenever we have the chance, I like to being involved in a straight. E-mail. communication, I travel or they. Type of. Characteristics of. Communication. the communication of. come to visit.. Coffee Business. Gestures are often use. I use my Gestures hands. for. helping. in. managers from. my. Nicaragua. communication or when I talk I. affiliated to. tend to move them sometimes.. CATO Usually over WhatsApp, live calls Social Media using the same application.. Figure 3.3. Example of categorizing process. Validity and Reliability Validity is the ability of the instruments used on an investigation to measure what is intended to be measure. Interviews are well known for all the scientific community for being valid methods for a data collection process (Lai & Waltman, 2008). To ensure the validity of this investigation, the questions included in the interview were revised by peer researchers and feedback was be provided, as well as important suggestions to meet the target data significant for this investigation. The interview questions were revised at least 4 times before creating the final interview questions. 24.

(32) As an attempt gather more information, or explain thoroughly, the richness and complexity of human behavior by studying it from more than one standpoint (Cohen and Manion, 2000) a methodological triangulation was used involving interviews and documents as a data collection instrument. Documents and interview records facilitated by the project manager of the Central America Trading process was used in the triangulation process, it was listened by the researcher to find more data related to the investigation valuable for the results. The researcher purchased Atlas.ti with a license for a 6 months period, read Atlas.ti user manual included in the purchase as well as tutorials online on Atlas.ti official YouTube channel. The translation of the transcripts was validated with the assistance of an expert of the translation and interpretation department of the National Taiwan Normal University. The data of this investigation was transcribed, classified, coded and then categorized based on a standard data analysis technique. The codes were continuously reviewed by the researcher to ensure their consistency. Reliability ensures that the findings are consistent and that if the same study was repeated the same results would be obtained (Shenton, 2003). The gathering information process is reliable due to the ability of the researcher to search for papers related to the topic in scholar databases, the data collected was recorded with digital tools and devices, transcribed, and then classified, coded and categorized.. Research Procedure The research procedure followed by this study begins from the identification of the topic of the investigation. After identifying the topic, literature review was conducted to identify possible areas of interest related to the topic, which was needed to develop the research questions and the purpose of this investigation. Furthermore, then the researcher developed the instrument that was used to collect the data needed, since the researcher decided to use a qualitative approach for this investigation, once the instrument was designed, in this case interviews, the data collection process began by sending the interview questions uploaded on a google document with a link to the interviewees three days in advance and setting up the time and date for interviews. Once all the 25.

(33) information was collected, it was listened accordingly to write the transcripts and transferred to Atlas.ti by the researcher and to start with the data analysis process. The data was be analyzed using computer software developed for qualitative research. The findings were the result of the analysis of the data, conclusion and recommendations were also given by the researcher.. Topic identification. Literature review. Conceptual framework. Instrument development. Data collection. Data analysis. Findings and Discussion. Conclusion and Recommendations. Figure 3.4. Research Procedure. 26.

(34) CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS The aim of this chapter is to present the main findings of the study as related to the research questions. A section is assigned to each of the three research questions mentioned in Chapter One. A discussion of the relationships between the findings and relevant literature is also included at the end of this chapter.. The table below presents the outline of main findings for each research question. The first research question is about the characteristics of the communication used coffee business managers of Nicaragua and Taiwan. The characteristics include the personal experience of the coffee business managers of Nicaragua as well as the experience when they communicate with their Taiwanese counterpart, the use and frequency of verbal communication and the influence of nonverbal communication. The second research question is about the difficulties that coffee business managers of Nicaragua face when communicating with their Taiwanese counterpart. There are some differences such as language, geographic location and culture that generate difficulties during the communication process. The last research question is related the practices that coffee business managers of Nicaragua follow to overcome the difficulties they have in the communication process. These practices include an effective message exchange, a reach of mutual understanding, communication etiquette, frequency of communication, good use of the language chosen to communicate, successful communication management and a third party involved.. 27.

(35) Table 4.1. Outlines for Research Questions and Findings. Research Questions. Findings. What are the characteristics of the Experience dealing with intercultural communication communication of Coffee Business A. Personal experience managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan? B. First experience with their Taiwanese counterpart Type of communication A. Verbal communication B. Non-verbal communication What are the intercultural communication A. Language barrier B. Time difference difficulties of coffee business managers C. Culture differences from Nicaragua and Taiwan? D. Working style What are the practices of coffee business Effectiveness A. Effective message exchange managers from Nicaragua to manage a B. Reaching mutual understanding successful intercultural communication? Appropriateness C. Communication etiquette D. Frequency of communication E. Language adaptation F. Self-awareness External Factor G. The use of an interpreter. The followings sections provide detailed descriptions which are supported by the data analysis in responding to the research questions.. 28.

(36) Characteristics of the Communication of Coffee Business Managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan This section focuses on the first research question regarding the characteristics of the communication used by coffee business managers of Nicaragua and Taiwan.. Experience Dealing with Intercultural Communication Personal experience. The personal experience that coffee business managers from Nicaragua have dealing with people from different cultures is an important factor when dealing with intercultural communication. All of the interviewees not only have experience working with Nicaraguan businesses but also with people in different parts of the world, some with many years of experience making businesses abroad. Their experience is based on working relationships with partners from different continents, not only countries, as the Nicaraguan coffee is very famous and recognize as one of the best in the world: I experience intercultural communication almost every day because I work with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, some of my partners are from Taiwan, but we also make business with Europe and part of North America. (EM-1-1-1) The coffee business in Nicaragua has been increasing yearly and new markets have been explored to help the managers to expand their products and gain international recognition. They have been taking advantage of this and target their product globally. For coffee business managers of Nicaragua, intercultural communication is almost part of their daily bases, and as the market continues to expand the more opportunities they have to increase the amount of international and culturally different partners they add to the business. By shifting their local business to seek international markets, Coffee business managers of Nicaragua change the entire environment of the business shifting to that of an international one and its national as well as international standards are strengthened and aligned with standard protocols of commerce. They have been maintaining positive intergroup relations, engaging in intercultural communication and capable of 29.

(37) giving and receiving feedback, increasing their experience in the international market as well as challenging personal beliefs and embrace new perspectives. First experience with their Taiwanese counterpart. Coffee business managers from Nicaragua described their first experience with their Taiwanese counterpart in many ways, all of them positive. While some of them already had information beforehand about Taiwanese businessmen, most of the Nicaraguan coffee business managers had a satisfactory first intercultural communication experience dealing with them for the first time. As for the results of the study, they understand the specifics of this Asian specific marketplace where they hold an advantage. There is a correlation between the level of the information handled beforehand and the level of the performance on the first encounter. Researching ahead increase the chances of a joyful environment to interact with culturally diverse clients: I already had some insight from Taiwanese businessman from other people in the business, some other coffee producers also affiliated to CATO, about the facility to export coffee and the good working relationship they had. (MF-1-2-3) The results of this study show a good first impression from Nicaraguan coffee business managers of their Taiwanese counterpart, which increases the trust for setting up further negotiations. Positive first impressions lead to social cohesion. With a good first impression, managers have the opportunity to create successful business relationships on a long term, exploiting the results of a positive experience. Making a good first impression is particularly important when it comes to meeting customers. A businessman that shows knowledge and interest of the product also gives a good first impression to Nicaraguan coffee business managers, here is a good example of as one of them pointed out: They had good knowledge about the coffee business in Nicaragua. We had a nice conversation, they seemed very interested in our product, exchanged presentation cards and a few weeks later I received an email to start our business relationship. (CV-1-2-5). 30.

(38) Language also played a role in the first international experience for Nicaraguan coffee managers with their Taiwanese counterpart. The common language that they use to communicate is English but some of the Taiwanese businessman already spoke Spanish and facilitate the first communication experience between them. One of the Nicaraguan coffee business managers was impressed by not only the ability of a Taiwanese businessman to speak Spanish but also about the prior knowledge of the coffee business, as mentioned below: It was with the owner of Finca Tres Soles, Scott Yang, a man with an extraordinary vision for business, no communication problems at all, he can speak good Spanish, broad knowledge about the coffee business. Very good first impression. (CF-1-2-2) It was easier for Nicaraguan coffee business managers to create and have a good first impression of their Taiwanese counterpart than to correct a negative impression. You make your first impression upon someone quickly, within seven to thirty seconds of meeting them. Almost always, they judge people by first impressions. It was the main forming opinion about their Taiwanese counterpart. There were no responses indicating a bad first experience or a negative impression. Their first international experience served as the foundation of the business relationship Nicaraguan coffee business managers have nowadays with Taiwanese businessmen.. Type of Communication Verbal communication. Verbal communication is not used often among the coffee business managers and their counterpart due to geographical location. Distance from Taiwan to Nicaragua is 15,030 kilometers and there is no direct flight between the two countries, one stop-over minimum is required while boarding an airplane, the fastest way to travel, taking an average flight time of 24 hours and a half. Majority of them communicate face to face while attending to some coffee fairs. Some other International Coffee fairs are also promoted among the Nicaraguan coffee business managers listed under CATO to meet new partners. CATO, serving as the link for Nicaraguan and Taiwanese first business communication, facilitates mutual interaction of trade and economy, strategic alliances and international investment cooperation, is in charge of organizing the visit of Nicaraguan coffee business managers to the Taiwan International Coffee Show that gathers 767 exhibitors and 31.

(39) 194,000 visitors during 4 days, being one of the most important shows in Taiwan and the opportunity to meet new partners, create new business relationships and have a real time communication with partners, one of the managers further explained: We have face to face meetings during the different International Coffee Fairs in Taiwan, such as the Taiwan International Coffee Show, that we attend every year since we are part of CATO. (VR-1-3-4) The use of social media and mobile applications play and important role between the communication of Nicaraguan coffee business managers and their Taiwanese counterpart. According to statistics, the number of social media users by the end of 2017 was 2.34 billion and is experts calculate 2.95 billion users by 2020. By January 2018, 61% of the Nicaraguan population had access to the internet using mobile devices. The fastest growing social networks are Facebook and WhatsApp with almost 400 million users every month. Also, all of them used e-mail, one of the first and most reliable ways to communicate using the internet, with 3.8 billion users as for August 2018, one of the managers said: If face to face communication is not possible, we usually communicate over WhatsApp with the new video call feature and we use email for formal business communication and English as a common language used. (PG-1-3-6) Both of them can see businesses relying messages during non-working hours. In this type of interaction, unless it is urgent, they do not have the need to be in the same time zone as their counterpart to establish a communication. When social media was only becoming popular, it was more relevant to users who wanted to exchange personal information, or common interests with each other and make friends. Social media was rarely as a platform for making business. However, social media communication has increased among businesses, and has changed tendencies of how businesses communicate. Nicaraguan coffee business managers are taking using social media as one of the most important communication channels for businesses.. 32.

(40) Non-verbal communication. Coffee business managers of Nicaragua use gestures and body language when communicating with their Taiwanese counterpart. During the stone age, non-verbal communication was the only form of communication. Consciously when we are communicating, our brain is focused on the interpretation of the words we speak as a part of a conversation but the subconscious shows non-verbal signals, part of them is the body language (Neuliep, 2014). Humans have different ways of transmitting and receiving body language signals. There is so much more to communication than just what you say. Your body language, facial expressions, and eye contact are just as important as words when you’re communicating with others. Some of the interviewees agreed that body language and gestures have a positive effect in their communication and no difficulties are driven from these types of interaction: Gestures are often use to simplify the communication. I use my hands for helping in my communication or when I talk I tend to move them sometimes. I nod my head when I do not understand something. All of these signs help. Body language is a part of any culture, even Taiwanese, but for me that’s a way of helping to deliver a message. (OG-1-4-8) It’s always important to be conscious and aware of facial expressions. Face movements of any type can build a connection with your counterpart. Nicaraguan coffee business managers are very good at recognizing and interpreting the emotions being expressed by their counterpart. Results of this study show that there is an emotional component on facial expressions used in this intercultural communication rather than only being reflexive. Understanding facial expressions or body language can substantially help managers to better communicate with their Taiwanese counterpart and interpreting what they might be trying to transmit, in a low-high context cultural exchange: I think non-verbal gestures help to identify if the other person understood the message or if there is any problem by the way the react after listening to it, especially facial expressions. The typical hand movement or facial expressions when we talk with anyone are inevitable. (JP-1-4-7). 33.

(41) Verbal communication is not commonly used during the intercultural communication in this particular case of study, but data gathered suggested that when Nicaraguan coffee business managers have the opportunity of having a verbal and real time communication, the combination of verbal and non-verbal communication can still convey volumes of information and is significant in the overall intercultural communication process.. Intercultural Communication Difficulties of Coffee Business Managers from Nicaragua and Taiwan This section addresses the second research question related to the difficulties that coffee business managers of Nicaragua face when communicating with their Taiwanese counterpart.. Language Barrier The first and the most mentioned difficulty during the data collection process for Nicaraguan coffee business managers was a language barrier created by the use of two completely different languages and the decision to utilize none of them as a common language for communication. An increase number of business managers are becoming more aware that with globalization they have to interact across linguistic boundaries. Language affects almost every part of our daily life, therefore, researchers involved in international business and management need to focus more on communication difficulties (Henderson, 2005). Nicaraguan coffee business managers had problems expressing their ideas in a language that is not Spanish, having difficulties to translate their ideas, creating a small-time gap used to think carefully what to say while their Taiwanese counterpart is waiting for a response. The official language of the Republic of Nicaragua is Spanish while the official language of the Republic of China is Chinese. This being said, unless one of the parts learn the language of the other, the two of them need to decide the common language they will use to communicate, that can bring some difficulties to the communication as expressed:. 34.

(42) The fact that we have a common language that is not our mother tongue sometimes represents a difficulty. We manage to understand each other, but a confusion might arise from time to time. If a language that is not our native is used, I would say there will always be a little difficulty because sometimes you don’t really know how to say something or you can’t find the word you’re looking for to describe something too. Sometimes it is hard to express any ideas in a language that is not your mother tongue, so the communication flow can be affected. (OP-2-1-10) Almost all of them reached an agreement to use English as a common language when communicating with their counterpart. English is used as a common language in almost all conversations. English was significantly reinforced in the 20th century by USA world domination in economic, political and military aspects and by a strong influence of American movies. English is one of the most analytical languages, with no significant synthetic, fusional or agglutinative characteristics. Even setting up English as a common language, some managers are aware that communication difficulties can arise, as one of them said: We both use a common language like English, and since is something we learnt and in my case a language I do not practice very often, sometimes I just cannot remember a word or have some pronunciation mistakes too, that can affect a little but the communication. A language that is not our native always represents a difficulty, with English we have been able to communicate with no major problems, but yes, sometimes you speak too literal and do not choose the correct words to deliver a message. (ER-2-1-9) Some of the Nicaraguan coffee business managers established business relationship with Taiwanese partners that were able to speak Spanish, bringing positives benefits to their relationship, but also creating a communication difficulty driven from the use of a language that is not native for a Taiwanese and their attempts to adjust their speech to communicate effectively. Spanish is spoken as an official language in 20 countries for a total of 473 million people, but every country has its variations, slangs or native expressions used that create confusion, and Nicaraguan coffee managers are aware that this could affect the communication, their Taiwanese counterpart might be using expressions in Spanish that they are not familiar with, one manager explained: 35.

(43) My partners speak Spanish perfectly so I will not say this is a major issue, but sometimes we do have a little difficulty to understand some words or the real meaning of something they say. I think that a language that is not native will always represent a little difficulty in terms of communication. Is not that all of our partners can speak Spanish, only a few of them. And their Spanish is very good, but sometimes mispronunciation or not using the right words can create a language barrier. (VR-2-1-8) A third party sometimes is involved to assist in the communication process, as some of the Taiwanese businessmen hire an interpreter when a face to face communication is implemented. From the use of an interpreter difficulties start to arise. The interpreter affects the two-way communication, since they have to wait for the interpreter, there is no free-flowing sharing of ideas. One mentioned that the interpreter makes the communication process longer, as they have to share an idea, the interpreter needs to translate it, wait for a reply for the counterpart and then translate it back: Is sometimes not a direct communication being the main issue a language barrier, even though they speak a decent English or Spanish, they still hire interpreters because they want to make sure that the communication is 100% understood between the parts involved. We don’t have a real one on one conversation, there is a mediator, who is in charge of translating and delivering the message for both parts, so it prologs the communication process a little. (CF-2-1-4) Language barrier is a common difficulty for Nicaraguan coffee business managers as they are with many other international companies. As their business relationships increase over the years, more often they will start to face this challenge. Language is the primary problem, although this can be fixed with interpreters to some point, they still have the basic cultural issues to go through. Taiwanese partners can be isolated because they might feel unable to participate in the communication due to the use of a dominant language.. 36.