TURUN KAUPPAKORKEAKOULUN JULKAISUJA PUBLICATIONS OF THE TURKU SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Anne Vihakara PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING A Narrative Approach to Managerial Communication in a Sino-Finnish Joint Venture Sarja / Series A-1:2006 Copyright Anne Vihakara & Turku School of Economics and Business Administration ISBN 951-564-335-X (nid.) 951-564-336-8 (PDF) ISSN 0357-4652 (nid.) 1459-4870 (PDF) UDK 658.112.3 (510) (480) 658.11 (510) (480) 008 65.012.45 65.012.6 316.7 Esa Print Tampere, Tampere 2006 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Patience, forbearance and trust characterise a successful joint venture. This dissertation could also be seen as a joint venture between my supervisors, examiners, other doctoral students and me. It is a venture that has required a lot of patience and forbearance from my supervisors and examiners due to the many changes in the course of the study and the time it has required. Patience was also required from my employer and family for the same reasons. However, all of the partners believed in me and trusted that the objectives would be reached. As the thoughts of Confucius have a prominent place in this study, I would like to refer to his words about learning. Learning and understanding require extensive study, detailed inquiry, careful thought, clear discernment and constant practice. Success comes from cumulative learning and practice. (The Wisdom of Confucius, 1995) Following these words of Confucius in this thesis was challenging, but the learning experience was great! Studying and learning require constant reflection and discussion with one’s supervisors. I would like to give special thanks to the three professors who have helped me to see the whole research process more clearly. Professor Emerita Karin Holstius recommended my focusing on China. Karin, I will always be grateful to you for sharing with me your clear vision of the growing importance of China. Professor Emeritus Sten-Olof Hansén emphasised the managerial implications of the research. Sten-Olof, I highly appreciate your comments and they have been my guiding principles throughout the whole process. Professor Niina Nummela has devoted a great amount of time in commenting on my work. Thank you, Niina, for believing in me. Your support and encouragement helped me to complete this study. It has been a great privilege and also a challenge to have two highly distinguished experts in Chinese business and culture as the official pre- examiners of my thesis: Assistant Professor Tony Fang from Stockholm University and Professor Ingmar Björkman from The Swedish School of Economics in Helsinki. I thank you both for your valuable comments on the manuscript. This study would not have been possible without the co-operation of the managers of the Finnish company and the joint venture. Several people gave of their time for the interviews. In particular, the Managing Director of the Finnish company made a key contribution by approving my research proposal. I am also very grateful to the Chinese General Manager of the joint venture for allowing me access to the company in China. Being able to live on site gave me a better picture of the operations and communication processes in the JV. Please accept my sincere and honest thanks, all of you! The planning phase of the study was facilitated by Mr Kang Ai. Dear friend, I owe you a great debt of gratitude for helping me, for giving insights into the Chinese culture, and for testing the method. Working full time outside of the academic world makes doing research quite complicated. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration as an assistant, a senior lecturer and a research associate, all of which jobs offered me excellent research facilities. These years have brought many new friends both in Finland and abroad. The personnel of the Department of Marketing have supported me considerably: thank you for your patience! I would also like to extend my warmest thanks to lecturer Michael Berry in the Department of Languages for your invaluable comments on my work. The constructive criticism from my co-researchers and doctoral students has helped me to modify this dissertation. I would also like to thank Satakunta Polytechnic, and especially Kimmo Kallama, for their invaluable support. My trips to China and my leaves of absence were financed by Liikesivistysrahasto, Suomen Kulttuurirahasto – Satakunnan rahasto, as well as by the city of Pori, and all of the help is highly appreciated. I would also like to thank Auli Rahkala-Toivonen and Eriikka Paavilainen for the thesis layout and Joan Nordlund, M.A., for her valuable help in editing the language. Finally, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to my nearest people. My husband Tapani has supported me from the very beginning at every twist and turn. Thank you for being there for me! Our son Petri and our daughter Sarianne have followed my research with great interest. China has become an inseparable part of our family life, and will remain so in the future. Pori, 28 November 2005 Anne Vihakara TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 13 1.1 Background and Scope of the Study ....................................................... 13 1.2 Narrowing the Research Area ................................................................. 16 1.2.1 From the Viewpoint of Communication Research...................... 17 1.2.1.1 Research Perspectives on Communication ................... 17 1.2.1.2 Managerial Communication as a Research Object ....... 18 1.2.2 From the Viewpoint of Cultural Research .................................. 20 1.2.2.1 Various Approaches to Culture..................................... 20 1.2.2.2 Layers of Culture........................................................... 22 1.2.2.3 The Cross-Cultural Approach to Communication ........ 24 1.2.2.4 Stereotyping .................................................................. 28 1.2.3 From the Viewpoint of Joint Venture Research.......................... 30 1.3 The Purpose of the Study ........................................................................ 33 1.4 The Structure of the Study ...................................................................... 36 2 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION IN A CROSS-CULTURAL CONTEXT........................................................................................................ 39 2.1 Organisational Communication .............................................................. 39 2.1.1 Objectives and Levels in Organisational Communication.......... 39 2.1.2 Organisational Communication Systems .................................... 41 2.1.2.1 Communication Flows .................................................. 41 2.1.2.2 Organisational Structure and Communication.............. 45 2.1.3 Barriers to Communication ......................................................... 46 2.1.3.1 Perceptual Barriers........................................................ 46 2.1.3.2 Semantic Barriers .......................................................... 48 2.1.3.3 Organisational Barriers ................................................. 49 2.2 Sino-Finnish Managerial Communication .............................................. 51 2.2.1 The Managerial Communication Process in a Joint Venture...... 53 2.2.2 Communication Patterns ............................................................. 55 2.3 Types of Managerial Communication in the Sino-Finnish Context ....... 56 2.3.1 Motivational Communication...................................................... 57 2.3.2 Negotiative Communication........................................................ 59 2.3.3 Disputative Communication........................................................ 64 2.4 Conclusions............................................................................................. 67 3 ELEMENTS OF THE FINNISH AND CHINESE CULTURE....................... 69 3.1 Elements of Culture................................................................................. 69 3.1.1 Material Culture and Technology................................................ 69 3.1.2 Language ..................................................................................... 71 3.1.2.1 Functions and Hierarchies of Language........................ 71 3.1.2.2 Coping with Language Diversity .................................. 72 3.1.3 Religions and Philosophies.......................................................... 75 3.1.4 Aesthetics .................................................................................... 76 3.1.5 Values and Attitudes.................................................................... 78 3.1.5.1 Equality among People.................................................. 78 3.1.5.2 Self-orientation and Group-orientation ......................... 80 3.1.5.3 Orientation towards Time, the Future and Change ....... 81 3.1.6 Education..................................................................................... 83 3.1.7 Social Organisation ..................................................................... 83 3.1.8 Political Life ................................................................................ 85 3.1.9 Summary...................................................................................... 86 3.2 The Chinese and Finnish Cultures and Respective Stereotypes.............. 88 3.2.1 Language ....................................................................................