‘The Ballad of East and West” is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published in 1889 telling the tale of two adversaries, one who is a British Colonel’s son who commands a troop of the Indian colonial army. The other is a tribal chieftain, Kamal, in the North-West Frontier of the British Raj, now Pakistan.
Kipling writes, “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” describing the geographic, cultural, and historic differences between Europe and Asia. He goes on, however, to say, “But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!” This describes the respect, even admiration gained by both men for the other as they fight for the prize mare Kamal has stolen from the British Colonel.
However, there is a substantial difference between East and West that might be best characterized in the concept of “high and low context,” introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his 1976 book Beyond Culture, referring to the way people in different cultures communicate.
Hall explains that in high context cultures, communication is largely implicit, meaning that context and relationships are more important than the actual words, and therefore, fewer words are necessary. In low context cultures, the message is communicated almost entirely by the words and needs to be explicit. Therefore, “I say what I mean” rather than “read between the lines.”
Examples of low-context cultures are Germany, the US and Australia. High-context cultures include virtually all of East Asia. Foreigners doing business in Thailand often say that “No” means “No.” “Maybe means “No,” and “Yes” means “Maybe” or “No” or sometimes “Yes.” It all depends on the context.
Consultants on cultural differences advise clients that the context issue manifests itself in many ways that makes it harder for both cultures to understand the other.
Asians tend to nurture long-lasting business relationships while in the Western mind, many shallower, short-term relationships are more favorable. These relationships become more “collectivistic” in that there is an identity with the group as group harmony is valued. This does create stronger boundaries, which may keep an individual from joining with “other groups.” In the West, individual needs are usually more important than the group.
The value system between East and West shows in other ways. Being on time for work-related events is a big part of corporate culture in both the East and the West. But Asian high context cultures typically use a polychronic perception of time while low context cultures use a monochronic perception.
In the West (monochronic), though people try to start meetings without much delay, it is becoming more common to adhere to flexible hours as long as the work gets done. For polychronic people, punctuality and structure are not as important as deadlines are not something to aim for at all costs. Similarly, polychronic people work with multiple tasks at once.
While perhaps only coincidental, in the West, hierarchies tend to be relatively flat with many employees comfortable talking to a high-level manager without issue. In the East, the hierarchical system has many levels, and each level means something. Those at the top have the final word, and the system of order and governance is considered to be extremely important.
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” Except perhaps in the Philippines where low and high context cultures combine for better and worse.
