Preparation

The preparation for the cross-cultural interaction was one of the key issues that was discussed with the interviewees. The interviewees were asked; do they prepare for interaction with the host country people. All of the interviewees answered that they do prepare before interaction and meeting with the host country people. Besides, the interviewees were also asked do they gather information about the host country interaction norms and check the accuracy of that information. The interviewees pointed out information about the interaction norms, its accuracy and the ways of preparation before cross-cultural interaction with the host country people.

Gathering information for preparation

Four out of ten interviewees said they gather information about the cultural norms, background of the people and other factors regarding the host culture.

The interviewees also revealed that it is important to prepare well in advance before meeting the customers. Likewise, it was also emphasized that preparation before negotiation in the host culture is very significant. Cross-cultural negotiation is an integral part of interaction with the host country people. The negotiation in cross-cultural settings requires various skills to exhibit appropriate behavior during the negotiations. However, the norms for the behavior in another culture may vary when compared with the home culture. Therefore, one has to have a plan of how the negotiation has to be done and also important is to know the appropriate information that has to be used during the negotiation. For instance, one of the interviewees explained how she gathered information.

For example, here in Vaasa there live so many Indian people, so interact with them and ask them about different situations, that kind of things. (Inter-02)

Likewise, it was also said by an interviewee, that he gathered information about the host culture and its people through the social media and through colleagues, as described below;

I try to understand about the people who will be attending, and this is nowadays quite easy, because of I know the LinkedIn and web so on and whether we have even common friends or people we know each other.

(Inter-04)

Learning about other cultures has to be done with real interest. One cannot be forced to learn about other cultures and sometimes people are pushed to learn about other cultures in hard way. At the same time, people have to confirm whether the cultural habits learnt are the correct or not. One interviewee explained about his experience of learning cultural habits, as follows;

I try to do that and understand that way, but that -- unfortunately that I have learned in the hard way. I think it would be better to have a training session

and this kind of things. But there are, of course, many things which even somebody tells you. You need also to understand it yourself, so. (Inter-06) The preparation for interaction with people can also happen based on the information gained from taking part in cross-cultural courses and several other sources. The information gained through courses and training gives basic understanding about the host culture. However, the information gained may change according to the context in the host environment. Therefore, to understand the reasons behind this, information gathered has to be verified with the people from the host environment and as well from the people who are familiar with the host environment. One of the interviewees shared his thoughts as follows;

I had my work colleagues at that point of time where we were discussing the persons who we are going to meet, in fact, and how they are normally behaving, how he's handling things, what he normally doesn't do, and if he's escalating things upwards or if he can take the decisions by himself. (Inter-10) Gathering information from the local person

One of the interviewees explained about gathering information from the local people as follows;

I go there, so we go different places and then ask the local guy I have with me -- I always have a local guy with me. And then we discussed what they are and

then we -- I know like that, because they say that they are like this and you should value these things. (Inter-20)

When travelling to foreign countries gathering the information about that country’s culture, habits, customs etc., is crucial. The most common way of gathering information is from the local people of the respective country one travels to. Due to this experience of gathering information, one will be able to know what kind of information needs to be gathered from the local people.

Special preparation as a woman

One interviewee who was a female explained that as a woman there has to be special preparation before interaction with the host country people. According to this interviewee, preparation for cross-cultural interaction in host country is not the same for the women as it is for a man who is from a foreign culture. She emphasized that self-confidence is very important during the interaction with the host country people, which was explained as follows:

I'll prepare a little bit differently. But of course I need to think about for example my clothes more carefully. And also as a woman I need to be very direct and self-confident and I need to show that I can do these things.

(Inter-02)

Being a women in the home country does not require any special preparation for interaction as there is familiarity and knowledge about the communication pattern. Whereas, as a female from the foreign country it is important not only to prepare in terms of interaction but also about the physical appearance. As a foreign woman from a western culture there are obvious cultural shocks that may happen during the interaction, as the communication pattern may be widely different than in the west. Additionally, the status of women in the host culture may not be equal when compared with the west. Therefore, as a woman there are going to be certain difficulties which was explained further by the female interviewee as follows:

Maybe in common level that kind of things that -- how should you wear and what kind of language that you need to do or what it means to say "no" in Indian culture, that kind of things. And of course, I knew that as a woman there

is going to be difficulties but it's difficult to know what kind of situation they are there and you need to be creative. (Inter-02)

Checking the accuracy of information

Four out of ten interviewees mentioned that they check the accuracy of the information gathered about the host country. The cultural habits, norms, facts, things and customs are perceived differently by different people. However, the accuracy of the above mentioned things are questionable. Consequently, it is important to check if the information gathered via several resources and as well as gained from the experiences of others, are accurate or not. For example, one interviewee emphasized about interacting with the local people in order that one can get to know the history of the host country. This interviewee, mentioned that people would not lie purposefully, therefore local people are the correct ones to check the accuracy of information received or yet to receive, as follows;

But for example if you start talking about educational storytelling or you talk about, let's say, the role of the animals with their different characters. You ask

for example, okay what does a cat mean when you tell the stories. And people will start telling you if you are generally -- this cannot be fake, you need to be

generally interested, really. Otherwise it's not genuine. (Inter-04)

One interviewee explained how he checked the information about the host culture, as follows;

Every time I've something to ask for, I ask it from Indian person living in Finland who come from different backgrounds or different areas of businesses,

have their family roots in big cities or countryside, and ask what they think about it, then I phone to some connections in India and ask what they think

about it. (Inter-13)

Confirming the accuracy of information, from host country people from different backgrounds, can give a wide and alternate view to the information that had been obtained elsewhere. At the same time, people from different backgrounds can also give confusing information and that can also make the person confused.

However, the information gathered from host country national can be realistic which was explained by an interviewee as follows;

The people with whom I'm talking, I don't see any reason that they would lie by purpose. They can be wrong and then they don't lie by purpose. (Inter-16) Traveling to a new country requires people to know about the culture of the country. Without proper information about the host country it is difficult to navigate in the host environment. However, by prior preparation and understanding about the host culture one can have a pleasant experience. When

people are not aware that prior information is crucial, things may go wrong in the host country. Awareness about the interaction norms with host country people, is an important thing, which has been pointed out by the interviewees. The awareness helps to plan how the interaction should happen with the host country people in various circumstances as well as in various contexts. Also planning before interaction, avoids misunderstandings and misperceptions between the host and home country people. According to the interviewees, the information regarding the interaction with the host country people or customers, is collected from the local people. The local people are aware of the context and the local conditions, it is relevant to consult with the local people on the interaction norms with their fellow country people.

Checking the information from the experienced person

It was said by an interviewee, that the accuracy of the information about the host country cultural norms came from the experienced person.

I already know quite many things, but just through experience I have, yes. I have listened some persons who have visited there and make business there and

I have discussed with them. (Inter-02)

Even though a person knows several things about the host country culture and norms, it is important to confirm whether the received information is correct. In discussing things with the person who has experience with the host country, can aid in understanding situation better. By confirming the information through the experienced person one can learn about the host country and its cultural norms etc.