Multiculturalism

1
Multiculturalism
International and Cross-Cultural Communication

• Thanks to K. Garrison for the original textual
  material

2
Globalization You Are Not Alone

• People from different cultures are different in a
  variety of ways, including
• Different ways of greeting each other
• Different ways of looking at things
• Within cultural dimensions

3
Profile your audience

• Base your communication on (82-85, 92)
• What you know
• What you can research
• Social cues
• Etc.
• Examples?
• Do not ever assume that they will assume that
  you are right because you are American we all
  know what happens when we assume things, right
  )

4
Some Perceptions of Americans

• Europe especially England Americans are
  stupid and unsubtle. And they are fat and bad
  dressers.
• Finland Americans always want to say your name
  'That's a nice tie, Mikko. Hi Mikko, how are you
  Mikko?
• Indian Americans are always in a hurry. Just
  watch the way they walk down the street.
• Kenyan Americans are distant. They are not
  really close to other people -- even other
  Americans.
• Turkey Once we were out in a rural area in the
  middle of nowhere and saw an American come to a
  stop sign. Though he could see in both directions
  for miles, and there was no traffic, he still
  stopped!

5
Some Perceptions of Americans

• Colombia In the United States, they think that
  life is only work.
• Indonesia In the United States everything has
  to be talked about and analyzed. Even the
  littlest thing has to be 'Why, why why?'.
• Ethiopia The American is very explicit. He
  wants a 'yes' or 'no'. If someone tries to speak
  figuratively, the American is confused.
• Iran The first time my American professor told
  me 'I don't know, I will have to look it up', I
  was shocked. I asked myself 'Why is he teaching
  me?

6
People from different cultures are different in a
variety of ways, including

• Different ways of greeting each other (92)
• Different ways of looking at things
• Cultural Dimensions

7
Possible Greeting Styles I

• Kiss or Embrace

• Small Bow or Hand Signs

8
Possible Greeting Styles II

• Shake Hands

• Tip a Hat

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Shaking Hands

• In the United States

• In most parts of Africa

• a firm, short handshake indicates self-confidence

• a limp handshake is the correct way to do it
• the handshake may last several minutes

10
People from different cultures are different in a
variety of ways, including

• Different ways of greeting each other
• Different ways of looking at things (92-93,
  99-101)
• Cultural Dimensions

11
Scanning Text
From Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2006). Technical
communication today, 2nd Ed., p. 59
12
Writing Dates
August 25, 2011
UNITED STATES 8/25/11
EUROPE 25/8/11
JAPAN 11/8/25
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People from different cultures are different in a
variety of ways, including

• Different ways of greeting each other
• Different ways of looking at things
• Cultural Dimensions (93-98)

14
Variance in Cultural Dimensions

• High Context vs. Low Context
• Monochronic vs. Polychronic
• Future vs. Present vs. Past Orientation
• Power Distance
• Individualism vs. Collectivism

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High Context vs. Low Context

• High context culture
• Communicators assume a great deal of commonality
  of knowledge and views
• Less is spelled out explicitly and much more is
  implicit or communicated in indirect ways
• More responsibility is placed on the listener to
  keep up their knowledge base and remain plugged
  into informal networks
• Include the Japanese, Arabs and French
• Low context culture
• Things are fully (though concisely) spelled out
• Things are made explicit
• Considerable dependence is put on what is
  actually said or written
• Is vulnerable to communication breakdowns when
  they assume more shared understanding than there
  really is. This is especially true in an age of
  diversity.
• Is not known for their ability to tolerate or
  understand diversity, and tend to be more insular
• Include the Anglos, Germanics and Scandinavians

16
Interactions

• Can be problematic
• Examples
• Japanese can find Westerners to be offensively
  blunt
• Westerners can find Japanese to be secretive,
  devious and bafflingly unforthcoming with
  information
• French can feel that Germans insult their
  intelligence by explaining the obvious
• Germans can feel that French managers provide no
  direction

17
Monochronic vs. Polychronic (94-95)

• Monochronic cultures
• Like to do just one thing at a time
• Value a certain orderliness and sense of there
  being an appropriate time and place for
  everything
• Do not value interruptions
• Typically include the Germans
• Polychronic cultures
• Like to do multiple things at the same time
• Typically have an open door, a ringing phone and
  a meeting all going on at the same time in a
  manager's office
• Include the French and the Americans

Modern Representation of Chronos
Picture from http//www.piers-anthony.com/bearinga
nhourglass.html
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Interactions between types

• Can be problematic
• Examples
• A German businessman cannot understand why the
  person he is meeting is so interruptible by phone
  calls and people stopping by. Is it meant to
  insult him? When do they get down to business?
• Similarly, the American employee of a German
  company may be disturbed by all the closed doors
  - it seems cold and unfriendly.

19
Future vs. Present vs. Past Orientation I

• Past-oriented societies
• Concerned with traditional values and ways of
  doing things
• Conservative in management and slow to change
  things that are tied to the past
• Include China, Britain, Japan and most
  Spanish-speaking Latin American countries

20
Future vs. Present vs. Past Orientation II

• Present-oriented societies
• Include the rest of the Spanish-speaking Latin
  American countries
• See the past as passed and the future as
  uncertain
• Prefer short-term benefits

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Future vs. Present vs. Past Orientation III

• Future-oriented societies
• Are optimistic about the future
• Think they understand it and can shape it through
  their actions
• View management as a matter of planning, doing
  and controlling (as opposed to going with the
  flow, letting things happen.)
• Include the United States and, increasingly,
  Brazil

22
Quantity of Time

• Time is seen as being a limited resource which is
  constantly being used up
• OR
• Time is more plentiful, if not infinite. In old
  agricultural societies, time was often seen as
  circular, renewing itself each year.

TICK
TOCK
TICK
TOCK
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Time-limited societies

• Punctuality becomes a virtue
• It is insulting to waste someone's time, and the
  ability to do that and get away with it is an
  indication of superiority/status
• Time is money
• Time-limited cultures don't have time to develop
  trust and so create other mechanisms to replace
  trust (such as strong rule-by-law)

24
Time-plentiful societies

• View no problem with making people wait all day,
  and then tell them to come back the next day
• Tend to rely on trust to do business
• Include India or Latin American

25
Power Distance

• The extent to which people accept differences in
  power and allow this to shape many aspects of
  life.
• High Power vs. Low Power

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Implications
In high power distance countries (most agrarian
countries), bypassing a superior is
insubordination.
In low power distance countries (US, northern
Europeans, Israel), bypassing a superior is not
usually a big deal
In the US, superiors and subordinates often
interact socially as equals. An outsider watching
a party of professors and graduate students
typically cannot tell them apart.
How, and to what extent, do power-holders
separate themselves from the less powerful?
Is the boss always right because he/she is the
boss, or only when he/she gets it right?
27
Individualism vs. Collectivism I

• Individualist cultures believe
• Individual uniqueness and self-determination is
  a valuable trait
• A person is all the more admirable if they are a
  "self-made man" or "makes up their own mind" or
  show initiative or work well independently
• Tend to believe that there are universal values
  that should be shared by all
• Include Anglo cultures
• Collectivist cultures
• Expect people to identify with and work well in
  groups which protect them in exchange for loyalty
  and compliance
• Tend to accept that different groups have
  different values
• Include Asian cultures

28
Basic Communication Problems

• Being able to interpret others comments and
  actions
• Correctly predicting behavior
• Dealing with conflicting behavior
• How can we avoid these problems?
• What you know
• What you can research
• Social cues