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Another chapter that will especially concern business communication researchers is "Encounters in the Interracial Workplace," by Molefi Kete Asante (Temple University) and Alice Davis (University of Tennessee-C!hattanooga). They outline the work that has been done and the questions that remain about workplace communication that involves people differing in race. Furthermore, they discuss how differences in social class and gender may interact with race in such situations. Opportimities for exploration of veriial response styles, nonverbal signals, and communication patterns are suggested. The chapter on "Intercultural Communication Training," by Richard Brislin (East-West Center, Honolulu) will interest not only researchers, but teachers. Brislin reviews both the research and the descriptions of training programs available. For anyone trying to add an international dimension to business communication curricula or trying to develop executive education programs, this chapter will be valuable. Other sections of the handbook that seem especially relevant to researchers in business communication include the following: "Intercultural Adaptation," by Young Yun Kim (Governors State University), which relates to expatriate managers as well as short-term business travelers; 'Theoretical Perspectives for Studying Intercultural Communication," by William B. Gudykunst (Arizona State University) and Tsukasa Nishida (Nihon University), an excellent analysis of existing and potential theory; and"Identity and Interpersonal Bonding," by Stella Ting-Toomey (Arizona State University), which could be applied to the interpersonal communication encounters in international business. Although some of the chapters focusing on mass media, diplomacy, and development communication (i.e., communication in developing countries) will interest few people in thefieldofbusiness communication, the Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication is nevertheless an outstanding resource for university and personal libraries. Editors Molefi Kete Asante and William B. Gudykunst should be congratulated on their achievement in coordinating the work of an outstanding group of leaders in the field.

Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French, and Americans. Edward T. Hall and Mildred Reed Hall. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1990. Hardback. 196 pages. ISBN 0933662-84-X. Management in Two Cultures: Bridging the Gap Between U.S. and Mexican Managers. Eva S. Kras. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1989. Paperback 98 pages. ISBN 0-933662-73-4.

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Intercultural Press has published two guides te business communication in specific nations where U.S. executives are likely to work and travel. These guides share a conciseness that is both a strength and a weakness. Business practitioners have limited time and patience for longer, more academic studies of intercultural communication. These brief guides, written in a readable style, will suit the needs of busy executives. Yet, in order to remain concise, the guides sacrifice completeness and oversimplify intercultural differences. All intercultural guides resort to generalizations that the wise reader realizes have many exceptions. Because of their brevity, these guides rarely take the time to alert the reader te such exceptions or the complexities within the nations discussed. Furthermore, for sake of brevity, relatively few examples and illustrations are used, an omission which detracts from the concreteness and interest of the books. Nevertheless, these two guides will be useful for their intended audience: United States business managers and executives newly involved in international business encounters, either at home or abroad, with managers from France, Germany, or Mexico. For more experienced, successful international managers or for anyone familiar with the literature of intercultural commimication, these guides will offer little new information. They do, however, apply general principles of culture te the specific situation of business in the three countries. In general, these books are not suitable for the reading list of a college course, but might be used in executive education programs. Those familiar with the earlier writings of anthropologist Edward T. Hall will find little new in Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French, and Americans. Indeed, the book notes that some of the materials have appeared in different forms in four of Hall's other books. Here, the general principles of culture are reviewed in Part One. Then they are applied in the next three parts to the three countries. Although the book's title implies general coverage of cultural differences, in fact the work focuses on how such differences affect international business: "Our main emphasis is not on economics, politics, or histery, but on the subtle yet powerful impact of culturally conditioned behavior on the conduct of international business" (p. xiii). Each section begins with a clear definition that limits the focus further and makes it more possible to generalize. "The Germans" refers te West Germans in northern, industrialized cities; "the French" refers to business people and professionals who live and work in Paris and Lyon; "the Americans" refers te well educated, middle- or upper-middle class people of northern European heritage who work in major urban centers. The book in fact

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emphasizes cultural differences in the corporate setting, though there are occasional references to small business. The book is based on the authors' thirty years of experience in intercultural studies and on 180 interviews with experienced business people. Readers must take the definitions, limitations, focus, and methodology in mind, remembering that many of the generalizations will not hold when applied to other contexts or populations. For readers of this joumai who may have found Hall's earlier work enlightening, this book may be a disappointment It introduces little that is new and the coverage seems superficial in an attempt to maintain brevity. Sometimes, the cultural comparisons are incomplete. For instance, the French educational system is described and related to business culture, but the German system is barely mentioned. A serious flaw is that the authors try too hard to set up the French and the Germans as completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of such qualities as context level and use of time. Though the Germans may be very low context and monochronic, the French are by no means the most polychronic or highest context culture, especially when "French" refers to Parisian corporate culture. True, the French are serious about food, but the description of a French business executive spending an entire day and evening eating and drinking with a visiting German executive before being willing to talk serious business is certainly not the norm in contemporary Paris. Europe is, of course, in flux, and one wonders how many of the authors' observations are outdated. Like most works on intercultural communication. Understanding Cultural Differences fails to address adequately the crucial question of who should adapt to whom and to what extent The authors of this book make one strong statement on this question: "Once you have decided to do business in France or with the French in the U.S., a strong commitment to do things the French way should accompany this decision" (p. 120). One imagines American business people adopting French traits that have been discussed and consequently making fools of themselves. Surely the authors do not really advocate such a position, but without further exploration of the question, some readers may be seriously led astray. The dangers of writing a concise guide are illustrated. A reader who is aware of the limitations of Understanding Cultural Differences and who supplements it writh more in-depth materials will find it a good introduction to or summary of some principles of intercultural business communication in France and Grermany. One highlight is a good comparison of advertising differences. Another is an explanation of attitudes towards message content: "Americans, Germans, and

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French all need information, facts, and figures. However, each defines and uses data in different ways. Americans are primarily interested in 'the bottom line.' Germans want lots of examples with figures. The French are preoccupied with patterns and insist on synthesizing all the data themselves" (p. 104). Yet, message content is not the critical factor, according to the authors: their philosophy is that "The essence of effective cross-cultural communication has more to do with releasing the right responses than with sending the 'right' messages" (p. 4). Like the Halls' book, Eva S. Kras's Management in Two Cultures: Bridging the Gap Between U.S. and Mexican Managers provides an introduction to the topic, but does not pretend to be an in-depth study. Unfortunately, one imagines a misguided manager reading this short guide on a flight to Mexico, thinking that this is all he or she needs to know. Both books do provide brief bibliographies for further reading. Kras, formerly a senior personnel executive for the Hudson Bay Company, has lived and worked abroad, has consulted on cross-cultural management with U. S. and Mexican companies, and has taught business administration in Mexico for over a decade. She conducted 72 interviews as part of the research for the book, and her methodology including her questionnaire are discussed in an appendix. She limits her analysis to certain urban business centers and her subjects to relatively high-level managers and executives in mostly large companies. The book is made more concrete and probably more interesting to its audience by Kras's device of a unifying scenario. The book opens with two letters (fictional but based on fact) describing the misunderstandings between one U. S. and one Mexican manager who work together. The middle part ofthe book systematically explicates the differences between U. S. and Mexican management and culture. The closing section returns to the two fictional managers with letters of advice from them to others who will soon be working in an international context. As with the Halls' book, Kras's sacrifices thoroughness and exploration of complexities and exceptions for the sake of brevity. The book is potentially useful for practitioners, but is unsuitable for inclusion in the reading list of a college course.

Chinese Negotiating Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles. Lucian W. Pye. New York: Quorum, 1992. Hardback. 120 pages. ISBN 0-89930-724-8.
Lucian W. Pye's Chinese Negotiation Style: Commercial Approaches and Cultural Principles achieves what the two books reviewed above do not: concise, yet substantive treatment of intercultural business