Chapter 1 Intercultural Awareness A Focal Point for Business Communication I II III Changing Nature of Business a Getting more international need to understand in a global context b Steadily growing minority classes within the united states Recognizing the Meaning of culture a Definition coherent learned shared view of a group of people about life s concerns that ranks what is important furnishes attitudes about what things are appropriate and dictates behavior b Attitudes Behaviors and Values give the foundation of culture i Values 1 Shape beliefs 2 Judge morality and assess competence Common Errors in Intercultural Business a Impossible to memorize a full list of do s and don ts when practicing for international business must instead learn the why behind the behavior b People like to assume that were all pretty much the same deep down this process called projected cognitive similarity is very dangerous to business c Generalizations i Benefits good starting place ii Disadvantages if we look at generalizations too narrowly they become a stereotype point of view see below d Stereotype mental representations of other peoples cultures that fit into specific pre judged behavioral patterns i Can be dangerous leads to assumptions and overly generalizing an entire culture ii Use a prototype approach instead 1 Culture will prototypically include exceptions to the rule 2 Allows some initial thoughts based on stereotypes but keeps interpretation flexible leaving room for differences between individuals IV High Context and Low Context Cultures a Provides useful and logical means of examining cultural differences b Context the situation of the communication not necessarily the words spoken i Setting ii Environmental iii Gestures iv Rank of people communicating v Time of day vi Any other nonverbal communication c High Context rely on the context of the message to relay a majority of the important information i Establish social trust firs ii Value personal relations and goodwill iii Agreement by general trust iv Slow and ritualistic negotiaion v pays attention to the smaller details vi Much more subtle vii South and Central America Africa Southern Europe Middle East and Asia viii Message is behind what is spoken ix Do not trust language as much as the unspoken things d Low Context rely on the words spoken in a message to deliver and understand the communicated information i Expect all important content to be delivered directly via language very straightforward gets down to business first ii Value expertise and performance iii Agreement by specific legalistic contract iv Negotiations are as efficient as possible v vi United States Canada New Zealand Australia and most of Northern Say what they mean and mean what they say Europe High Context Low Context Japan China Korea Mid East Latin America Africa Spain England France N America Scandan Ger Swiss e Hierarchal vs Egalitarian Culture i Hierarchal makes for more difficult communications across the class boundaries because some people have more power than others and speaking up down the power chain can be difficult V How Language Plays a Part in Intercultural Business Communication a An individual might be fluent in language but not necessarily the culture thus the two concepts are intertwined and interdependent b The Meaning of Words i False cognates 1 Many words are spelled the same way in different languages but mean very different things ii Similar sounding syllables 1 Words might sound similar in pronunciation despite highly 2 different meanings Ie Coca Cola in China sounds like their phrase kekou kele which means to bite the wax tadpole iii Words can have varying differences of meaning when translated from one language to another c Choosing the Company s Language depends on where business is being conducted and what type of staff the company employs i Ethnocentric Staffing primary language used for international business will be the same no matter of the location of its offices 1 All managers at different locations of office hired from the same home country 2 Different managers would need to know the host country s language or rely on interpreters or translators 3 Was a long time norm but gradual changes have led this method to be seen as insensitive to other cultures ii Polycentric Staffing 1 Managers are hired from their host countries 2 Matches up the theory that local managers will do a better job understanding and accessing the needs of the local workforce 3 Different languages between branches and management can cause inter firm communication issues iii Geocentric Staffing iv Official Company Language 1 Most idealistic approach 2 Requires that person hired as manager in the headquarters or subsidiary location be the best person for the job regardless of national cultural or linguistic background 1 All written and oral communication within the company done primarily in this language 2 English is unofficial business language of world thus is most common 3 Some see this as an innate advantage for American businessman d Role of an Interpreter i Typical Communication 1 When two speak the same language a SENDER encodes the message RECIEVER decodes message encodes feedback which original sender then decodes essentially a simple loop b Loop is often taken for granted ii Barriers to Communication 1 Mumbling background noise poor acoustics uncomfortable iii Interpreter must be fluent in both the language and the culture 1 Facilitates communication between two who don t speak the same environment etc language 2 Doubles the chances of miscommunication 3 Interpreter decodes senders message then encodes for the third person who encodes feedback for interpreter to decode and recode for the original sender 4 Makes the loop into a far more complex double loop e General Differences and Guidelines i Numbers and Dates 1 Often have the opposite appearance from US 2 Prices can also be confusing commas and decimal points are often reversed from country to country ii Idioms aka idomatic expression are phrases commonly used but do not literally state what they mean Ie Break a leg means have a good time not literally break a leg 1 2 Vary widely among regions and cultures a Often last part of a language learned so new speakers often iii Sports war terms and metaphors heavily used in US have trouble understanding 1 Difficult for foreigners to interpret thus be careful and try to avoid 2 Examples a ball park figure a shotgun approach having a price war going on
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