Communication

The difference related to communication with the host country people was discussed by the majority of the interviewees. Six out of ten interviewees explained several thoughts about the communicational differences between the host and home country people.

Influence of culture in communication

Two of the interviewees mentioned the influence of culture in the communication. For instance, the interviewees brought out the issue that host country people do not say “no” as follows;

Indian people are very polite I think it is sometimes difficult for them to say "no"

or "this is not possible" and that kind of things (Inter-02)

Another interviewee brought up the same issue that the host country people do not say “no” due to the cultural barriers.

Something which is very cultural wise, in my opinion, different -- the Indians and the Finnish people -- is that Indian people never say no. They're always excellent. They are always best in the market. They are always "yes." And let's

say that includes if you don't know the persons, a lot of lies also. (Inter-16) In the host country saying “NO’ is considered to be rude as it might offend the listener. Therefore, the host country people use an indirect way of saying `no´ in several different ways instead of saying “no” directly.

Influence of distance in communication

The distance makes it difficult to keep the communication happening as agreed.

When the person is present physically there is a control over the people who are going to be communicated. In the virtual mode the control may not be effective which was said as follows;

I think it is about distance also, because when I am there I see all the time what is happening and I can say that, okay that's good, but maybe we can try also another thing. And now when I am here I need to give them more time, let's say

1 week. And after 1 week I know this that, okay that's good but maybe but we have waste a little bit time. (Inter-02)

Indirect communication

The host country national tends to have indirect communication during the interaction according to one of the interviewees. It was said that even small things may have a deep underlined meaning in terms of communication and behavior and being a host national it is hard to sense what is going on exactly.

The interviews explained this as follows;

It's the small things really, which means that there are so many underlined things happening all the time, what people say, how they behave, how they move or whatever, that unless you are really an Indian, you cannot read

actually what is going on (Inter-04) Sensitive in communication

The use of sensitive topics such as politics during the interaction should be dealt carefully. The political commentary about the host country can lead to confrontation with the host country people and put them in an uncomfortable situation. The host country people will come to a conclusion that the home country person knows only one side of the story. This was explained by one of the interviewee as follows;

One taboo is to start to talk about politics, and even if you as my customer or supplier or whatever, you might criticize your own politic situation as much as

you like, but I as a foreigner should never comment on that. (Inter-06) During verbal communication it was said by the same interviewee to avoid criticizing religion with the host country people as it is sensitive. Before discussing about religion, it is important to study and understand the religion in-depth. Through interaction, the home country people are also able to know

religion and its effects on people’s behavior. The interviewee explained the avoidance of sensitive topics in communication as follows;

You can generally be interested about a person's religion and ask how this is working and is not. But don't criticize it because it might be very sensitive and

might not be. It is very sensitive and it does not show my professionalism.

(Inter-06) The use of humor

Humor is one of the thing mentioned by two of the interviewees indicating that humor has to be dealt carefully when it happens with the people who are not familiar. According to this interviewee the host country people use humor very carefully which was said as below;

With Indian people is that when you get to know people, they have a good sense of humor. You can laugh a lot and you can have very good jokes. (Inter-06) Another interviewee who is a CEO of a home country organization, that also has its subsidiary, shared a thought about the use of humor in the host working environment. The interviewee shared his experience as follows:

When I'm the CEO I have noticed that here you can be joking with people and they understand that it's just a joke. But in India, if you have 100 people or more in front of you and you give some information or speech about things or if

you are joking there, necessarily people don't really realize that now he is only joking. So it can go wrong if you are not aware. They take the CEO very

seriously. (Inter-21)

The relationship between the leader and subordinate is more paternal when compared with the home country. In the home country there is an equality between the leader and the subordinates unlike the host country. Therefore, communication between the leader and subordinate is more normal and equal.

Whereas, in the host country, due to the unequal relation communication is more hierarchical as well. Therefore, the words spoken by the leader are taken very seriously as strong communication is an important aspect of hierarchy.

Language

Misunderstanding happens when a common language is used without how it might impact on the host national. Communication through a common language may also lead to uncomfortable situations where people might consider the home people as being rude. The expression of things using a common language can be

misunderstood, as culture influence the communication pattern which was explained as below by an interviewee;

I know also that in Indian culture it is not easy to say no. You are going around. They are saying no in a very interesting and polite way which I did not

understand. You have been here so many years in Finland. I know that you are very straight forward, and of course, when English is not our mother

tongue, then it becomes very rude. (Inter-06)

The interviewees also pointed out that the host country national who lived abroad have more neutral accent than the people who haven’t traveled abroad.

The use of non-verbal communication, such as the use of emails, it is very important to be cautious. When non English speakers communicate via a common language, it has to be done with caution because things can be misinterpreted and misunderstood. The same exact words may have different interpretation in the way it is written. The interviewees also observed that the host country people whom they deal with have good education and English language skills as it is reflected in the email communication. The host people’s polite behavior and proficiency in the English language is due to the British influence. The host country people use long emails to communicate the message unlike the home country people. The use of polite language while sending emails is important in the host country.

Smoother in communication

The manner of communication by the host country people, has been identified as one of the differences by the interviewees. According to one of the interviewees, the host country people communicate in a smoother way. Also the host country people also consider other people during the meeting, when compared with the home country people. Besides, the host country people maintain relationships by communicating now and then, which was also seen as positive by the interviewee.

I think, people from India are far more smoother in their way of communicating, okay -- and might be languages fail, but I don't think so. I

think that they are far more smoother in communicating. (Inter-10)