Intercultural Conflict: Causes and Real Workplace Examples

What Is Intercultural Conflict?

Intercultural conflict occurs when differences in cultural values, expectations, communication styles or behaviour contribute to disagreement, tension or misunderstanding between people from different cultural backgrounds.

In the workplace, this can affect relationships between colleagues, managers, international teams, clients and business partners. The cultural difference itself is not necessarily the problem. Conflict often develops because people interpret another person’s behaviour according to their own expectations of what is normal, appropriate or professional.

Developing the skills to recognise and manage these differences is central to effective global working. Our Cross Cultural Conflict Management Course helps professionals understand how culture influences conflict, adapt their responses and handle difficult situations more constructively.

Below we explore three common causes of intercultural conflict and real workplace examples showing how these differences can play out in international business.

The 3 Most Common Causes of Intercultural Conflict in the Workplace

Intercultural relationships can be incredibly rewarding and productive when they work well. However, when they don’t, things can spiral into conflict fairly quickly. 

For example, married couples might start arguing that their way of child-rearing is the right way, corporate teams may stop communicating with their colleagues from other cultures, viewing them as untrustworthy or obstructive, or managers of multicultural teams may see an increase in staff exits due to their inability to adapt their communication style cross-culturally. Managing conflict across cultures has become an essential skill.

Here are three key reasons why things tend to go wrong.

Cause 1: Ethnocentrism and the “My Way Is Right” Mindset

The most common driver of intercultural conflict derives from something known as ‘ethnocentrism’.

Ethnocentrism essentially stems from an individual’s belief that their culture and way of doing things is the right way. The idea of the cultural lens. There are lots of different levels of ethnocentrism, but an extreme ethnocentric will view the world quite simply as their experience of it.

They are blind to any other reality.

Alternatives to their own way of seeing the world and interacting in it are quite unimaginable.

An individual with this extreme view will have no concept of being a product of culture themselves – everyone else has a culture, but they don’t. The way they do things is right, and the way everyone else does this is wrong!

It’s quite clear how ethnocentrism can cause intercultural conflict.

A manager who thinks that their way is the right way will cause upset with their reporting staff, fail to listen to their needs, undermine their approaches, and, quite likely, demotivate them. In a personal relationship, someone who feels their culture is superior and tries to enforce it will either destroy the relationship or create a situation in which their partner is forced to ignore their own culture and adapt to another – something that will undoubtedly cause resentment and upset.

Example of Intercultural Conflict: Leadership and Hierarchy in Pakistan

Let’s take, for example, a British manager, within the Oil and Gas industry, who moved to Pakistan to oversee the activities of a team of geologists.

On arrival, the manager was surprised to find he had his own office. In the UK, he sat amongst his staff in an open-plan working area.  Despite advice to the contrary, he arranged for his desk to be moved to the open-plan area. 

Once the move had been implemented, he found that the staff was very upset with him. Why? The British management style tends to see equality between staff as a good thing.  However, Pakistan is a fairly hierarchical culture, and staff often perceive their manager as being in a management position due to their superior skills and understanding.

By effectively climbing ‘down’ the hierarchy, the staff lost respect for the manager and questioned his management credentials. Although this may not sound like a big deal, the manager was eventually repatriated to the UK as it was impossible for him to win back the respect of his staff. 

This resulted in the loss of nearly £100k in assignment investment and a good deal of upset for the manager. 

Cause 2: Clashing Cultural Values and Workplace Expectations

Every culture has its own different set of values and beliefs as to what is right or wrong.

These values drive our behaviours. Take, for example, someone who places a great deal of value on time.

They may even see time as money and resent people who waste their time. If you put this person with someone who doesn’t place value on time, then this can provide fertile ground for intercultural conflict, especially in virtual teams.

In a different scenario, intercultural conflict is very possible if someone who values continuity is required to work closely with someone who values change.

Change can be perceived as threatening the status quo and harmony by those who value these areas. They may, therefore, not embrace it as quickly and may even be seen by others to be obstructing it.

Example of Intercultural Conflict: Time and Meetings in the UAE

Let’s take, for example, a German project manager who went to the UAE in a bid to introduce the local office to a new business-integrated system.

After a few days of interfacing with the local managers, he became extremely frustrated during a meeting and walked out. 

Why?  Because during meetings, he became offended that his Emirati colleagues were openly using their phones to text or take calls.

Equally, there were occasions where individuals (unrelated to the meeting), walked in and started a conversation with someone, which delayed proceedings.  Unfortunately for the German manager, had he had some UAE cultural awareness training prior to his visit, he would have been aware that time and agendas are not valued in the same way in the Emirati culture. 

Instead, people and relationships are prioritised over time. The concept of ‘time is money’ does not really exist in the UAE.  As such, an Emirati meeting attendee, contacted by a relative or colleague who is in need of something, is very likely to deal with that need.  

Cause 3: Miscommunication Across Cultures

Different cultures have their own communication rules, ways of speaking, and their own ways of exchanging messages.

In fact, it’s fair to say that the way people communicate can vary greatly.

In Asia and the Middle East, for example, people rely less on words than people in the USA and instead make great use of body language, facial expressions, silence, and what is not said as opposed to what is said.

There are a huge number of ways in which poor cross-cultural communication competence can cause intercultural conflict.

Example of Intercultural Conflict: US and Japanese Communication Styles

Let’s take a black and white example of someone from the USA who visits Japan to sell a product. During the meeting, the American says it as it is, which comes across as brash and unthinking to the Japanese counterparts.

Since the Japanese business culture values harmony, they continue to smile and do not offend the American by telling her that they find her rude.

When the meeting concludes, she asks them whether they like the product and tries to steer them towards ordering a number of units. The Japanese tell her that they like the product very much and that they will be in touch. The American leaves the meeting happy and with the understanding that she will be receiving orders.

When she finds out, at a later date, that they will not be making orders, she is extremely upset. Her Japanese counterparts were smiling at her, and they said they liked the product. She feels that the Japanese team was underhanded and that they deceived her into thinking that they would be moving forward with a purchase.

In this scenario, differences in the communication style between the cultures have had negative results for both the Americans and the Japanese. The American failed to sell her product, and the Japanese potentially missed out on purchasing a product that would have benefited them.

How to Manage and Prevent Intercultural Conflict Effectively

We have seen that there are many factors that can cause intercultural conflict. 

Although ethnocentrism, cultural values, and communication style are three key factors, they do not stand in isolation – there are many other factors that we identify in our article on conflict in multicultural teams. 

Whether intercultural relationships are personal or business, it’s essential that individuals recognise their own cultural frameworks and take the time to assess the values driving their behaviour.

To ensure productive and fruitful intercultural relationships, it’s important to understand that one’s own way is not necessarily the ‘right’ way. Just different. By taking the time to understand the cultures we interface with, we are able to identify where intercultural conflict is most likely to happen and make efforts to ensure this is managed positively.

You can also explore our intercultural business skills training, covering areas such as communication, teamwork, management, negotiation and conflict across cultures.