DUC TRAN AND MARTIN SKITMORE THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 36 THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: A SURVEY OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS IN SINGAPORE Duc Tran and Professor Martin Skitmore Queensland University of Technology INTRODUCTION Right across industry, the attitude of senior management to their corporate affairs is evolving in response to the globalisation of business, the spread of information tech- nologies, the growth of shareholder activism and increased intrusiveness of international and national governments in key areas of business management. A misfit of cultures is often a cause of failure (Cartwright and Cooper, 1996; Cartwright and Cooper, 1993; Olie, 1994). In particular, managers’ strong preference for culturally similar environ- ments has been identified as a major prob- lem (Oudenhoven and De Boer, 1995). A major challenge of doing business interna- tionally is clearly to adapt effectively to dif- ferent cultures. Such adaptation requires an understanding of cultural diversity, percep- tion and values (Granell, 2000). In Australia, historically high levels of pro- tection, particularly in the form of tariffs, have been the mainstay of Australian indus- try policy (Buxey, 2000). The consequence of this protectionism has been an inward- looking industry with a low level of competi- tiveness in international markets. For many corporations in the 1990s, the highest prior- ity was to develop an Asian focus—the so- called Asian Challenge. However, interna- tional knowledge in Australia is biased in favour of Europe and there has been slow progress in developing significant and meaningful changes in attitudes, knowledge and awareness of Asian ways (Edwards et al., 1997). The tendency to date has been to take those management concepts and tech- niques that worked at home into other coun- tries and cultures. It is now apparent, both from practice and cross-cultural research, that a single, universal style of manage- ment, at least across cultures, is not ten- able (Adler, 1997). One of the most important skills for project managers in the international marketplace is that of effective communication (Harris and Kumra, 2000). Communication takes on special important in cross-culture management because of the difficulties in conveying meanings between parties from different cultures. The problems of misin- terpretation and error are compounded in the international context. To overcome this, cross-cultural managers have to adapt and be flexible in the new environment; in addi- tion to having the required functional and survival skills. Thus, cross-cultural manag- ers require an understanding of the mean- ings and dimensions of culture, organizational culture and diversity, and intercultural communication. With intensified internationalisation of busi- ness, there has been a notable increase of research interest in the relationship be- tween national culture, values and manage- rial orientations and behaviour. The more recent work by Hall and Hall (1994a), Trom- penaars and Hampden-Turner (1998b), Hofstede (1991) and Laurent (1983) explicitly links broad cultural value dimensions to management issues. Apart from Loosemore and Muslmani’s (1999) work in the Persian Gulf region, however, little has been done to date to document the inter-cultural com- munication issues in construction project management. To rectify this situation, in the Australian context, the research described in this paper aimed to explore the impact of national culture, organizational culture and inter-cultural communication on the man- agement of a company by means of a small empirical study of the correlation between the culture diversity and intercultural com- munication and its barriers. This involved a questionnaire survey derived from synthesis of culture dimensions from Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998b), Hofstede (1980; 1991) and Schein (1992). These di- mensions enable us to describe and com- pare critical manifestations of organizational and national culture. DATA Questionnaire The questionnaire was divided into three sections, comprising background informa- tion, with questions concerning nationality, THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: A SURVEY OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS IN SINGAPORE THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 37 employment status, field of profession and years of experience; culture, with questions relating to aspects of national culture, or- ganisational culture and personal charac- teristics; and communications, with questions relating to communications in general, in projects and barriers to commu- nication. Following Hofstede (1991), the as- pects of national culture elicited were, on a five-point scale, the degree of uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, power distance and masculinity/feminity. Similarly, the aspects of organisational culture elicited were external/internal emphasis, task/ social focus, individuality/conformity, risk/safety and adhockery/planning. Per- sonal characteristics concerned introver- sion/extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/ feeling and judging/perceiving. Research population sample Singapore was chosen for the survey as: It has a high power distance/low individu- alism culture, in contrast with the position of most western nations (Hofstede, 1980). It is a region known for its cultural diversity. The high English literacy rates among Singaporean managers enable a survey to be conducted in English, avoiding possible interpretation problems associated with the translation of questionnaires into other lan- guages (Chow et al., 1991). The targeted research sample consisted, variously, of project managers, construction managers, consultants and architects. Both local and foreign respondents within Singa- pore were targeted. A hundred question- naires were forwarded to individual professionals currently working in the Sin- gapore construction industry. Strict ano- nymity was observed. Response rate Thirty-nine responses were received. The respondents are from geographically and culturally diverse backgrounds, with a diver- sity of management experience, and with an average of 9 years of cross-cultural experi- ence per respondent (Table 1). There are a variety of nationalities involved, with two major response groups being Australian (23%) and Singaporean (22%). The majority are project managers, with 85% having five or more years of experience in the construction industry. RESULTS Respondents were allocated into Far East- ern (46%) and Anglo (54%) groups (after Ronen and Shenkar, 1985). Sample correla- tion coefficients were then computed be- tween the cultural variables (National, Organisational and Personal Characteris- tics) and communication variables (Com- munication in General, Project Based Communications and Barriers) for Pooled Data, Anglo Cluster and Far Eastern Cluster. Effects of cultural factors on communication As Hall (1959) has noted, many intercultural communication difficulties stem from the lack of knowledge of how to communicate with people in other countries. Behaviours and orientations considered appropriate in one culture can be offensive to people from another culture. Obtaining knowledge about the communicative styles and orientations of persons in other cultures should help to reduce this happening inadvertently, as well as the misinterpretation of communication behaviours and orientations of people from other cultures. It is important, therefore, to examine, interculturally, those factors that have been found to have a significant (p<0.05) influence on communication behav- iours. In focusing on these, the results are presented for the three dimensions in the questionnaire—National, Organisational and Personal. National Culture The correlation between “Uncertainty Avoid- ance” and the general "Communication to the external of the organisation is vital" (Ta- ble 2) is positive (r=0.41), which may reflect relatively low uncertainty-avoidance cul- tures encouraging their personnel to use their own initiative and assume responsibil- ity for their actions. On the other hand, the correlation between “Uncertainty Avoid- ance” and the communication barrier "Lack of trust" is negative (r=-0.32), reflecting that relatively low uncertainty-avoidance cul- tures, being founded on trusting relation- ships, suffer the most when their trust is misplaced. Relatively higher uncertainty- avoidance cultures, however, where lack of trust is endemic, require more formal ways of communication, e.g., writing, in anticipa- tion of possible future litigation. DUC TRAN AND MARTIN SKITMORE 38 THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 The correlation between “Individual- ism/Collectivism” and the project variable "Effective communication" is positive, indi- cating that the more collectivist cultures perceive effective communication to be more important than those more individual- istically inclined. Certainly, in collectivist cultures, people tend to take time for consulting with, and gaining consent of, their group members. Clearly then this sug- gests that people from cultures with high individualism, and therefore with lesser re- gard or ability for effective communication, are likely to experience difficulties in communicating with those from collectivist cultures. Table 1: Characteristics of the respondents Characteristics Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Respondent Nationality Status Field of Professions Yrs. Exp. 1 Singaporean Local Construction Manager 15 2 Singaporean Local Developer 4 3 Singaporean Local Project Manager 11 4 American Expatriate Country Manager 10 5 Singaporean Local Project Manager 7 6 Australian Local Architect 7 7 Australian/Vietnamese Local Construction Manager 14 8 Singaporean Local Developer 10 9 Australian Expatriate Consultant 11 10 Australian Expatriate Project Manager 9 11 Australian Local Construction Manager 10 12 Indonesian Expatriate Project Manager 2 13 Australian Expatriate Project Manager 10 14 American Expatriate Project Manager 15 15 Vietnamese Local Project Manager 6 16 Korean Expatriate Architect 2 17 British Expatriate Construction Manager 10 18 American Local Consultant 23 19 Singaporean Local Construction Manager 5 20 Vietnamese Local Project Manager 7 21 Vietnamese Expatriate Developer 9 22 Australian/Vietnamese Local Project Manager 16 23 British Expatriate Architect 7 24 Singaporean Local Project Manager 8 25 Singaporean Local Project Manager 6 26 Malaysian Local Consultant 8 27 Australian Local Consultant 13 28 Vietnamese Local Project Manager 10 29 Australian Local Consultant 13 30 Australian/Vietnamese Local Architect 4 31 Vietnamese Expatriate Project Manager 7 32 American/Vietnamese Expatriate Developer 19 33 Australian Expatriate Consultant 8 34 Australian Local Project Manager 4 35 American/Vietnamese Expatriate Construction Manager 14 36 Bulgarian Expatriate Project Manager 4 37 Malaysian Local Architect 15 38 American Expatriate Project Manager 5 39 Singaporean Local Project Manager 6 THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: A SURVEY OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS IN SINGAPORE THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 39 Table 2: Correlations between National Cultures and Communication variables Item r Communication +0.41** "Communication to the external of the organization is vital" Uncertainty Avoidance +0.32* "Lack of trust" +0.33* "Effective communication" -0.32* "Information filtering" Individualism/ Collectivism -0.32* "Lack of personal skills" Power distance - - Masculinity/ Femininity +0.40* "Limited resources" ** p<0.01 (2-tailed) * p<0.05 (2-tailed) The correlation between “Individualism- Collectivism” and the communication bar- rier "Information filtering" is negative. Hall and Hall (1994b) noted that, in high-context (collectivist) societies, messages are often highly coded and implicit. As a result, the sender’s job is to interpret what messages mean by correctly filtering through what is being said and the way in which the mes- sage is being conveyed. Thus, collectivists see information filtering as less of a com- munication barrier than individualists. Countries with relatively high-individualism also tend to have greater support for the protestant work ethic and greater individual initiative. Thus, they agreed that personal skills affect communication process. This is shown through the negatively correlated “Individualism/Collectivism” and the com- munication barrier "Lack of personal skills" (r=-0.32). Unexpectedly, “Power Distance” was not significantly correlated with any of the communication variables. However, a posi- tive correlation was found between “Mascu- linity-Feminity” and the communication barrier "limited resources" providing some support for Hofstede’s (1980) assertion that individuals in countries with a relatively high masculinity index tend to dominate with power, as resources are not likely to be be- yond their control. Organisational Culture Frequently the question arises concerning whose cultural customs, mores and prac- tices should take precedence in interna- tional operations. The “you attitude” principle shows that successful communication must necessarily be cation must necessarily be approached from the viewpoints of receivers, not senders (Sprinks and Wells, 1994, pp. 302–9). The results show that organisations with a rela- tively high external orientation need to have managers with sufficient inter, and intra, personal skills and an organisational com- munication strategy, but with a less flexible form and style of communication than those organisations with a relatively high internal orientation (Table 3). It is difficult to suggest reasons why the latter should be the case except that, when it comes to communicat- ing to a particular culture, the form and style of the communication have to be per- manently adapted to the cultural customs and practices of the partners. For organisations that are relatively more social than task oriented, there appears to be a higher awareness of cultural problems and solutions, with the project variables of "High levels interpersonal/intra-personal skill management", "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved”, "Effective communication", "Awareness of national culture" and barrier of “Resistance to change” all having significant positive correlations. Unexpectedly, no significant correlations were found between individuality-conformity and communication of the organisation. This contrasts with the literature on the topic, which suggests that a conformity organisa- tion culture would have policies and proce- dures to control communication of the company. DUC TRAN AND MARTIN SKITMORE 40 THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 Table 3: Correlations between Organization Cultures and Communication Item r Communication +0.41** "Communication to the external of the organization is vital" Uncertainty Avoidance +0.32* "Lack of trust" +0.33* "Effective communication" -0.32* "Information filtering" Individual- ism/Collectivis m -0.32* "Lack of personal skills" Power distance - - Masculinity/ Femininity +0.40* "Limited resources" ** p<0.01 (2-tailed) * p<0.05 (2-tailed) A safety-conscious response to risks is ex- pected to result in an emphasis on written, as opposed to verbal, communication. Simi- larly, a risk-taking culture is likely to have a higher tolerance of ambiguity than a safety- conscious culture. These relationships are manifested through a positive correlation of safety consciousness with the barrier “lan- guage difficulties”. A risk-taking culture, on the other hand, perceives lack of “personal skills” as a communication barrier. Finally, a planning culture is expected to emphasise the need for structure and a non-ambiguous communication process, while an “adhockery” culture is likely to be somewhat informally structured and less task-driven. This is justified by the findings, which show those from a planning culture to perceive a "well established organisational culture and objectives" and "communication planning,” allow "effective communication" in the organisation’s projects. Also, it seems understandable that different communica- tion activities take place among people of different cultures. Thus, one way for man- agers to improve intercultural project com- munication is through knowledge of local customs and practices, which emerged through the positive correlations of "Aware- ness of national culture", "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference in- volved" and "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area". The sur- prising result was the positive correlation between “Adhockery-planning” and the communication barrier “face” although it is clear from these results that the more planning oriented organisational cultures are, as the socially oriented organisations mentioned above, somewhat more enlight- ened over cultural communication problems and solutions. Of course, “face” is very im- portant from the Asian perspective, where the achievement of harmony in communica- tion requires the maintenance of an individ- ual’s “face”. Personal Characteristics Research in social psychology suggests that personality dimensions significantly affect the effectiveness and outcome of communi- cation (Padgett and Wolosin, 1980; Runkel, 1956). Individual personality exerts a signifi- cant influence on both the content and style of the interactions with other parties. Extro- verts, for example, are expected to prefer an interaction-oriented style of communication, involving the establishment of a personal bond with their counterparts. Introverts, on the other hand, are likely to be territorially and internally oriented. This emerged strongly through the correlations of the pro- ject variables "Two way communication both upward and downward", "Project managers with excellent communication skills", "Un- derstanding of language and cultural prac- tices of local area", and "Effective communication" (Table 4). Extrovert manag- ers would seem to be more competent in both communication and the cultural prac- tices of their working environment. Sensing types show a preference for facts and detail while intuitive types prefer innovation and focus on the big picture. This explains the correlation between “Sensing versus intui- tive” and the project variable "Understand- ing and appreciation of cultural differences involved". The sensing person would have to explore the cultural differences involved to enhance their communication process in the project. THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: A SURVEY OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS IN SINGAPORE THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 41 Table 4: Correlation between Personal Characteristics and Communication Item r Communication +0.50(**) "Two way communication both upward and downward" +0.50(**) "Project managers with excellent communication skills" +0.43(**) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" Introversion vs. Extroversion +0.43(**) "Effective communication" Sensing vs. Intuition -0.42(**) "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved" -0.40(*) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" -0.38(*) "Communication to the external of the organization is vital" -0.38(*) "Project managers with excellent communication skills" Thinking vs. Feeling -0.37(*) "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved" Judging vs. Perceiving +0.42(**) "National culture control communication process" ** p<0.01 (2-tailed) * p<0.05 (2-tailed) Thinkers decide things logically and objec- tively, while feelers use emotional appeals such as loyalty and responsibility. These concepts manifested weakly through the correlations of the general "Communication to the external of the organisation is vital", and project variables of "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area", "Project managers with excellent communication skills" and "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference in- volved". When the thinker decides that ex- ternal communication is vital, the next logical step is to understand the cultural aspects involved and improve communica- tion skills. Finally, the relationship between “Judging vs. perceiving” and the general "National culture control communication process" is positive, suggesting that people who are inclined to judge, since they desire organisation and control, would not conclude national culture to be a control factor hinder- ing the communication process. Comparison Between Anglo Cluster and Far Eastern Cluster According to Trompenaars (1994), the Anglo and Far Eastern cultures have opposite cul- tural values, the Anglo culture being associ- ated with individualism, specific relationships, universalism, emotional rela- tionships and achievement. The Anglo re- spondents should therefore contain closer relationships between cultural variables and communication variables than the Far East- ern respondents. This turns out to be the case, with approximately 20% more signifi- cant correlations in the Anglo than the Far Eastern cluster results. It is noteworthy that the sign of the correlations for the two clus- ters is quite different, with 54% and 74% being positive for the Anglo and Far Eastern clusters respectively. These results could be due the “Face” barrier. The number of significant correlations be- tween the cultural and communication vari- ables for the Anglo cluster are approximately double those of the Far East- ern cluster, when the comparisons are made individually between national, organ- isational culture and personal characteris- tics. It may be possible to conclude that organisational cultural dimensions would have more effects on communication than other variables. National Dimensions The dimensions of uncertainty avoidance, individualism, power distance and masculin- ity broadly shape the aspects of the contents and style for each party in the communica- tion process. Based on Hofstede’s research, Hodgetts and Luthans (1993) identified dif- ferent dimensions between Anglo and Far Eastern societies. Anglo societies are gen- erally low power distance and individualistic, DUC TRAN AND MARTIN SKITMORE 42 THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 Table 5: Correlations between National Dimensions and Communication Variables Anglo Cluster Far Eastern Cluster Item r Communication r Communication Uncertainty Avoidance -0.45(*) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" -0.49(*) "Understand the languages and practices of the local culture enhances communication" 0.49(*) "Project managers have good communication skills" 0.43(*) "Effective communication" -0.53(*) "National culture control communication process" Individualism/ Collectivism -0.47(*) "Face" Power distance 0.50(*) "Lack of trust” Masculinity/ Femininity -0.45(*) "Lack of personal skills" +0.50(*) "Lack of motivation" ** p<0.01 (2-tailed) * p<0.05 (2-tailed) while Far Eastern societies are high power distance and collectivistic. Each requires a different approach to formulating an effec- tive communication strategy. Table 5 shows the significant correlations between national culture and communica- tion variables for both the Anglo and Far Eastern clusters. Both Anglo and Far East- ern clusters are classified as low uncer- tainty avoidance societies. People in these societies tend to accept each day as it come, take risks rather easily and show a relatively greater tolerance for opinions and behav- iours different from their own. Thus, they feel less threatened by the language and practices of different cultures when they communicate with others—as suggested by the correlations of both clusters on similar communication variables. From the Anglo (individualist) point of view, Far Eastern (col- lectivist) managers do not have good com- munication skills and are ineffective communicators. It may be that collectivism also helps to explain this finding. Collectiv- ism stresses the importance of group deci- sions. When collectivists communicate with individualists, they would seem to be reluc- tant to make quick decisions and commit their organisation to these decisions. The Anglo cluster suggests that national culture controls the communication process. “Face” is an important barrier, when communicat- ing with the Far Eastern cluster. This also explains the fewer number of significant relationships for the Far Eastern cluster. It is possible that praise is used more spar- ingly because this would involve singling out an individual and it may cause that individual to lose face. Another manifestation of power distance is the willingness to trust other people. High power distance societies typically view oth- ers as a threat and, as a result, show less inclination to trust others. This is exhibited through the positive correlation of collectiv- ism on lack of trust. When the Anglo cluster (Low power distance societies) communi- cated with Far Eastern cluster (High power distance societies), they felt that lack of trust hindered their communication proc- ess. Finally, the Anglo cluster (Masculinity societies) suggested that personal skills were among one of the communication bar- riers, which reflects their value of assertive- ness and respect for the super-achiever. On the other hand, the Far Eastern cluster (also a masculinity society) indicates that motiva- tion is not a communication barrier. Organisational Dimensions Culture control is increasingly used to re- place rules-based control in an attempt to enhance communication within organisa- tions. Table 6 shows the relationship between organisational dimensions and THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: A SURVEY OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS IN SINGAPORE THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 43 Table 6: Correlation between Organization Dimensions and Communication Variables Item r Communication Anglo Cluster External vs. Internal emphasis -0.58(**) "High levels of inter-personal and intra-personal skill are required" +0.62(**) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" +0.61(**) "Two way communication both upward and downward" +0.61(**) "Communication strategies to help minimize potential disputes and misunderstanding" +0.56(**) "Effective communication" +0.51(*) "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved" -0.67(**) "Lack of trust" -0.61(**) "Resistance to change" Task vs. Social focus -0.50(*) "Project type and duration has impact on communication strategy and structure" +0.52(*) "National culture control communication process" +0.46(*) "Gender issues" +0.45(*) "Lack of trust" -0.60(**) "Two way communication both upward and downward" -0.45(*) "Staff communication is encouraged" Individuality vs. Conformity -0.44(*) "Effective communication" -0.55(**) "Flexible form and style of communication" Risk vs. Safety -0.46(*) "Project type and duration has impact on communication strategy and structure" +0.59(**) "Communication is important" +0.49(*) "Understand the languages and practices of the local culture enhances communication" +0.47(*) "Communication planning" +0.46(*) "Well established organizational culture and objectives" Adhockery vs. Planning +0.44(*) "Knowledge of different cultures involve in the project is important" Far Eastern Cluster External vs. Internal emphasis +0.61(**) "High levels interpersonal/intra-personal skill management" +0.60(**) "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved" +0.60(**) "Religious issues" +0.57(*) "Face" Task vs. Social focus +0.41(*) "Awareness of national culture" Individuality vs. Conformity Risk vs. Safety +0.65(**) "Time limitation" +0.80(**) "Well established organizational culture and objectives" +0.72(**) "Awareness of national culture" +0.64(**) "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved" +0.58(*) "Face" Adhockery vs. Planning +0.48(*) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" ** p<0.01 (2-tailed) * p<0.05 (2-tailed) DUC TRAN AND MARTIN SKITMORE 44 THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 communication variables both for the Anglo and Far Eastern clusters. An organisation emphasizing an external orientation places special emphasis on satisfying clients and customers. This can be taken to mean that external Anglo organisations require their personnel to have high inter-personal and intra-personal skills to communicate with clients or customers. Both clusters indicate that cultural variables and structured com- munication networks contribute towards effective communication. Interestingly, the Far Eastern cluster does not find “Religious issues” and “Face” to be significant com- munication barriers. This may be due to their being task-oriented and with their pri- orities focused on the organisational activi- ties rather than concern for the individual and social needs of its members. Firms that encourage individuality displayed an appreciation of diversity among their members, allowing greater latitude in member lifestyles and behaviours. This would seem to be consistent with the posi- tive relationship from correlations for the first three Individuality vs. Conformity vari- ables (r=0.52, 0.46 and 0.45), although the last three variables (r=-0.60, -0.45 and -0.44) indicate that two-way communication would increase communication effectiveness. An organisation’s response to risk is an im- portant dimension of organisational culture, particularly in a fluid and rapidly changing environment. Thus in a risk averse culture, they tend to encourage flexible form and style of communication for different pro- jects, as indicated by the Risk vs. Safety variables (-0.55, -0.46 and 0.65). Some or- ganisations create adhockery responses to all changes, while other may opt for elabo- rate plans that anticipate most future sce- narios. These were indicated through the positive correlations of the Adhockery vs. Planning variables for both Anglo and Far Eastern clusters, suggesting that, in an ad- hockery culture, cultural variables, organ- isational objectives and communication planning are not the most important issues in the communication process. Personal Dimensions Research in social psychology suggests that personality dimensions significantly affect the effectiveness and outcome of communi- cation. Lachman (1983; 1988) tried to recon- cile these different perspectives by showing that early and late socialization induce changes in different categories of values. Early socialization affects core values, and late socialization affects only periphery val- ues. Thus, people’s periphery values may change because of pressure to comply with organisational requirements and manage- rial policies, whereas their core values will not. When organisational role requirements are incongruent with core values, people tend to modify these role requirements. The behaviour of individuals in the organisa- tion is influenced by the values and beliefs the individuals bring with them to the their jobs. Since communication takes place be- tween individuals, these differences in val- ues and beliefs are manifested through their communication interactions. These different values and beliefs could assist or hinder the individual’s ability to communicate with other. Table 7 shows the relationship be- tween personal dimensions and communi- cation variables. Extroverts would be expected to like social- izing and social engagement. Their orienta- tion would be toward the outer world of people and things. Introverts, on other hand, are likely draw more to their own inner world of ideas. The survey supports this through the positive correlations of the In- troversion vs. Extroversion variables. This suggests that introverts would withdraw to their inner world. They would not appreciate the benefits from cultural variables, two- way communication or inter/intra-personal skills in enhancing the communication process. Extroverts, on the other hand, would prefer the interaction communication from people of different cultures, which could improve their inter/intra-personal skills. Sensing types are expected to show a marked preference for facts and seek out detail while intuitive types are likely to pre- fer to focus on the big picture. These prefer- ences would explain the negative correlations of the Sensing vs. Intuition vari- ables for the Anglo cluster, which suggested that managers (Sensing types) would en- dorsed a communication strategy to help minimise potential disputes and misunder- standing, although this would involve the managers understanding and appreciating cultural differences. Furthermore, the cor- relations for the Far Eastern managers indi- cate that limited resources and varying capacity and capability would hinder the communication strategy. THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: A SURVEY OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS IN SINGAPORE 45 THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 Table 7: Correlation between Personal Dimensions and Communication Variables Anglo Cluster Far Eastern Cluster Item r Communication r Communication +0.56(**) "High levels of inter-personal and intra- personal skill are required" +0.52(*) "Project managers with excellent communication skills" +0.51(*) "Two way communication both upward and downward" Introversion vs. Extroversion +0.51(*) "Two way communication both upward and downward" +0.51(*) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" -0.53(*) "Understanding and appreciation of cultural difference involved" -0.52(*) "Limited resources" -0.52(*) "Communication strategies to help minimize potential disputes and misunderstanding" -0.48(*) "Varying capacity and capability" -0.51(*) "Project managers with excellent communication skills" Sensing vs. Intuition -0.47(*) "Understanding of language and cultural practices of local area" +0.49(*) "Flexible form and style of communication" -0.47(*) "Effective reporting system" Thinking vs. Feeling -0.45(*) "Two way communication both upward and downward" -0.60(**) "National culture control communication process" Judging vs. Perceiving +0.58(**) "Lack of personal skills" ** p<0.01 (2-tailed) * p<0.05 (2-tailed) Thinkers are expected to decide things logi- cally and objectively while feelers base their decisions on more subjective ground. These are manifested through the correlations of the thinking vs. feeling variables in the study, suggesting that thinking type manag- ers believe that an effective reporting sys- tem and two way communication would enhance the communication process, while feeling type managers believe that flexible forms and styles of communication improve the communication process. Finally, perceiving types are expected to be flexible in life, always seeking more infor- mation, with judgers tending to seek closure over open options together with a desire for control. These preferences would explain the positive correlations of the Judging vs. Perceiving variables for the Anglo cluster. The perceiving types recognized that na- tional cultures control the communication process and that personal skills would hin- der the communication process. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION This paper provides the results of a small survey of 36 Singapore managers aimed at identifying the main cultural and individual factors affecting project communication. The main findings that are suggested by the survey are: In terms of Hofstede’s types of national cul- tures, respondents from a Low Uncertainty Avoidance culture appear to be associated with a communication process based on trust and one that is therefore less formal and standardized. In contrast, respondents from a High Uncertainty Avoidance culture have a more formal and standard communi- cation process, such as in written commu- nications. The results suggest that the communication process between those from Individualist and Collectivist societies can be difficult, perhaps because a Collectivist cul- ture’s approach is to take time to consult with, and receive the consent of, their group members. In addition, the message from those belonging to a Collectivist culture is DUC TRAN AND MARTIN SKITMORE 46 THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS AND BUILDING VOL.2 NO.2 often highly coded and implicit. Those be- longing to an Individualist culture tend to view personal skills as a communication barrier, due to their nature in support of greater individual initiative. Finally, those belonging to a Masculinity culture may not view limited resources as a communication barrier, probably because individuals tend to be dominant with power so resources would not be beyond their control. For organisational cultures, the more exter- nally oriented organisations of the respon- dents seem to require higher levels of inter/intra-personal skills. In addition, these organisations are more likely to establish a communication strategy for cross-cultural interactions. The more task focused organisations, on the other hand, tend to place the demands of the job before the individual. Organisations may have to reduce their resistance to change if they wish to strike a balance between their activity and social orientation. Those belonging to a risk- averse culture may have higher level of am- biguity tolerance than those of a Safety- conscious culture, so that language is not viewed as a communication barrier. They may, however, perceive personal skills to be a barrier to communication. Finally, those from a Planning culture emphasise the need for structure and a non-ambiguous commu- nication process, while those from an Ad- hockery culture may require an informal communication structure. Planning culture members may also have a greater recogni- tion that cultural dimensions are important factors in the communication process. From an individual perspective, the more extroverted respondents seem to be more competent in both the communication and cultural practices of their environment. This may be because they prefer the interaction- oriented style of communication and the personal bond with their counterparts. In contrast, those more introverted seem to be more territorial and internally focused. The ‘sensing’ respondents tend to explore cul- tural differences to enhance their cross- cultural communication process and prefer facts rather than the ‘big picture’. Possibly due to the logical nature of thinkers, they are more likely to perceive cultural aspects and personal communication skills as the main tools for communicating with clients or customers. Finally, the judging type re- spondents may not perceive national culture to be a communication barrier, due to their desire for control and organisation. The results of the research suggest that the managers’ attitude and behaviours toward communication may be guided to large ex- tent by their level of competence. 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