Peculiarities of Intercultural Communications: a Meeting With the Head of HSE St Petersburg International Office Was Held at HSE Perm

What distance should be maintained with representatives of Eastern countries? Why can crossed legs pose ruin negotiations? How to properly build intercultural interaction? Students of the educational programme “Foreign Languages ​​and Intercultural Communication in Business” of HSE Perm discussed these and other key principles of work of an external relations specialist with the head of the International Office of HSE St Petersburg Maria Kiseleva.

In a live dialogue with students, Maria Kiseleva examined what culture is, how we understand the differences between the cultures of different countries, what we pay attention to first of all when traveling, and what is necessary to build a career in the field of intercultural communications:

You should not be afraid to approach anyone and ask a question. This is something that any external relations specialist needs.

The expert noted that graduates of the programme “Foreign Languages ​​and Intercultural Communication in Business”  have a fairly wide range of professional employment options – they can work not only as a translator or in the international cooperation department, but also in the protocol service, or as an advisor to the director of a large company. Maria Kiseleva emphasized the importance of the work of an external relations specialist for organizations cooperating with foreign countries – even one small detail can lead to a breakdown in negotiations. For example, in the Arab world, the sole of a shoe is considered the dirtiest place, and if you sit with your legs crossed at a meeting with representatives of this country, the agreement will not be signed. Maria Kiseleva explained why one of the largest fashion houses was completely banned in China – the message for advertising promotion was chosen incorrectly.

During the meeting, the participants discussed popular theory of the cultural backpack. This means that a person decides what to “put in or take out” from it during intercultural interaction. Maria Kiseleva also examined in detail the typologies of cultures according to various classifications and how Russia can be characterized by them. Thus, the American anthropologist and cultural researcher Edward Hall distinguished cultures with high and low context. And the Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede proposed six parameters for each culture: distance from power; individualism - collectivism; acceptance - rejection of uncertainty; masculinity - femininity; short-term - long-term orientation; pragmatism - restraint. In some respects, our country is now at a borderline stage, for example, in a state of transition from a collectivist approach to an individualistic one.

Maria Kiseleva has extensive experience working with foreign partners. She taught in Japan, Great Britain, lived in China and many other countries,she is also a member of the European Association for International Education and other associations. Now she teaches the course "Intercultural Communication in the Asia-Pacific Region" at the HSE St Petersburg. The expert inspired students, gave many interesting examples from her personal practice and showed the specifics of the work of an intercultural communications specialist from a new perspective. 

Valeria Romanova, 4th year student of the programme "Foreign Languages ​​and Intercultural Communication in Business"

Maria Kiseleva gave a lot of examples from her personal work experience, it was interesting. We learned a lot of new facts about the cultures of different countries and work in the field of intercultural communications. It turns out that we have more career opportunities – this is not only working with foreigners, but also helping in the organization.

Anastasia Fedorova, 4th year student of the programme "Foreign Languages ​​and Intercultural Communication in Business"

My ideas about the profession coincided with what was discussed at the meeting. Many thanks to the expert for her examples, this is very important. For instance, we study Chinese, and there were many nuances specifically on the culture of the Eastern countries.