Chapter 4 Communicating Across Cultures

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SESSION 5
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Chapter 4 Communicating Across Cultures
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• Review From last week
• REVIEW KEYWORDS
• Power distance
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Geographic Clusters

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REVIEW KEYWORDS

• Fons Trompenaar
• Universalistic applies rules and systems
  objectively
• Particularistic puts obligation to
  relationships
• Neutral emotions are held in check
• Affective emotions are openly and naturally
  expressed
• Specific-oriented Work and personal life
  separated
• Diffuse-oriented Work related to personal
  relationships
• Achievement society Based on individual
  achievement
• Ascription Whom you are

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Linear Model of Communication
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Transactional Model of Communication
Frame of Reference
Feedback
Speaker Decodes
Listeners Encode
Noise
Noise
Listeners Decode
Speaker Encodes
Frame of Reference
Message
Context
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Differences Between High Context and Low Context
Communication
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Cultural Variables in the Communication Process
Context In high-context cultures (Asia, the
Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean), feelin
gs and thoughts are not explicitly expressedone
has to read between the lines to get the
message. In low-context cultures (Germany,
Switzerland, Scandinavia and North America),
where business and personal relationships are
more separated, communication media have to be
more explicit. Cross-cultural communication
between high- and low-context peoples
is especially difficult. People in high
context cultures expect others to understand
unarticulated moods and perceive that people from
low context cultures are too talkative.
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Cultural Variables in the Communication Process
Sociotype A means of accurately describing
members of a group by their traits, which is
useful to provide some initial basis for
understanding people in a new encounter.
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Cultural Variables in the Communication Process

• Non-verbal communication (Body language)
• Studies have shown that subtle non-verbal
  messages account for 65-93 of interpreted
  communication.
• The media for non-verbal communication can be
  categorized into these
• types
• Kinesic movementsposture, gestures, facial
  expressions and eye contact.
• Proxemics deals with proximity and space in
  communication.
• Oculesics refers to the behaviour of the eyes
  during communications.

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Cultural Variables in the Communication Process
Paralanguage is the meaning conveyed by how
something is said as a result of the rate of
speech, the tone and inflection of voice, other
noises, laughing or yawning, etc. Object
language (or material culture) refers to how we
communicate through material artifacts or design.
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Cultural Variables in the Communication Process

• Time
• Monochronic systems
• found in individualistic cultures
• people generally concentrate on one thing at a
  time
• adhere to time commitments
• Polychronic time systems
• non-linear
• people tolerate the simultaneous occurrence of
  many events.

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Information TechnologyGoing Global and Acting
Local
Communication over the web is not as personal
as face to face. Experts predict a 70 annual
growth rate of non-English sites
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Managing Cross-Cultural Communication Effectively
Developing Cultural Sensitivity When acting as a
sender, a manager must make it a point to know
the receiver and to decode the message in a form
that will most likely be understood as intended.
Cultural sensitivity is a matter of
understanding the other person, the context, and
how the person will respond to the context.
Careful Encoding Senders should avoid idioms
and regional sayings (e.g., go fly a kite).
Remember verbal and non-verbal cues
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Managing Cross-Cultural Communication Effectively
Behaviours associated through research with
intercultural communication effectiveness a. Res
pect b. Interaction posture c. Orientation to
knowledge d. Empathy e. Interaction
management f. Tolerance for ambiguity
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Guidelines for Effective Communication in the
Middle East

• Be patient.
• Recognize that people and relationships matter
  more to Arabs than the job, company, or contract
  conduct business personally, not by
  correspondence or telephone.
• Avoid expressing doubts or criticism when others
  are present recognize the importance of honour
  and dignity to Arabs.

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Guidelines for Effective Communication in the
Middle East(contd.)

• Adapt to the norms of body language
• Flowery speech
• Circuitous verbal patterns in the Middle East
• Dont be impatient to get to the point.
• Expect many interruptions in meetings, delays in
  schedules, and changes in plans.

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Differences Between Japanese and American
Communication Styles

• N.A. Adversarial Style of Communication
• More directly verbalizes managements preference
  at negotiating tables
• Practices more linear, discursive, analytical
  logic greater reverence for cognitive than for
  affective
• Decisions by majority rule and public compromise
  is more commonplace

• Japanese Ningensei Style of Communication
• Utilizes matomari or hints for achieving group
  adjustments and saving face in negotiating
• Practices haragei or belly logic and
  communication
• Decisions via ringi and nemawashi (complete
  consensus process)

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EXERCISE

• Divide into your groups.
• 2. You are from a remote area of Taronek. You
  are reasonably well educated but have had little
  exposure to foreign culture of any kind. Due to
  your superior education, you have been selected
  to become specialists on cross-cultural
  communications with Canada. You will be visiting
  Canada in the next few weeks for the very first
  time.
• 3. Prior to your first visit, you have been asked
  to prepare an overview of Canadian communication
  practices and culture based on the information in
  some video clips that were seized from a local
  tourist.
• 4. You are to observe/listen to the materials,
  and using only the information contained there,
  construct your overview of Canada communication
  practices and the culture they reflect.
• 5. Whenever possible, you are to cite evidence
  for their findings from the video clips.

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CASE QUESTIONS

• ELIZABETH VISITS GPCS FRENCH SUBSIDIARY
• 1. What can Elizabeth Moreno do to establish a
  position of power in front of French managers to
  help her accomplish her assignment in five days?
  Explain.
• 2. What should Elizabeth know about
  high-context vs. low-context cultures in
  Europe? Explain.
• 3. What should Elizabeth include in her report so
  that future executives and scientists avoid
  communication pitfalls?
• 4. How can technical language differ from
  everyday language in corporate communications?
  
• 5. How does this business trip compare to her
  previous trip to the Philippines?
• 6. What would you do if you were Elizabeth?