MAN 4605 Cross Cultural Management Exam 2 Study Guide Communicating Across Cultures Communication is the exchange of meaning o Communication includes any behavior that another person perceives and interprets It includes verbal and non verbal messages It includes consciously sent messages as well as messages that the sender is totally unaware of having sent The process of translating meanings into words and behaviors that is into symbols and back again into meanings is based on cultural background o The bigger the difference in cultures the bigger the difference in meanings attached to particular words and behavior and the greater the noise o Noise Anything that serves to undermine the communication of the intended meaning Cross Cultural communication Cross cultural communication occurs when a person from one culture sends a message to a person from another culture o Cross cultural miscommunication occurs when the person from the second culture does not receive the sender s intended message o Causes of Cross Cultural Miscommunication Misperception Misinterpretation Misevaluation Perception The process by which an individual selects organizes and evaluates stimuli from the external environment to provide meaning to him or herself o Perception is Selective Learned Culturally Determined Consistent Inaccurate Interpretation Interpretation occurs when an individual gives meaning to observations and their relationships It is the process of making sense of perceptions o We group perceived images into familiar categories that help us to simplify our o Cross Cultural Miscategorization Problems occur when we place people and environment things in the wrong category Stereotypes A form of categorization that organizes our experience and guides our behavior toward ethnic and national groups o Stereotypes never describe individuals o Stereotypes describe the norm for members of a particular group o Effective stereotypes Consciously Held Descriptive Accurate First Best Guess Modified by Experience Source of Misinterpretation o Subconscious Cultural Blinders o Lack of Cultural Self Awareness o Projected Similarity Cross cultural Misevaluation Evaluation involves judging whether someone or something is good or bad We use our own culture as a standard of measurement Since no other culture is like ours we tend to judge all others as inferior o Cultural Variables in the Communication Process Attitudes Thought Patterns Deductive and Inductive Language Verbal Communication Styles Verbal Communication Styles o Context Information that surrounds a communication and helps convey the message Context plays a key role in explaining many communication differences Messages often highly coded and implicit in high context societies Japan many Arab countries Messages often explicit and speaker says precisely what s he means in low context societies U S and Canada o Indirect and Direct Styles High context cultures messages implicit and indirect voice intonation timing facial expressions play important roles in conveying information Low context cultures people often meet only to accomplish objectives tend to be direct and focused in communications o Elaborate to Succinct Styles Three degrees of communication quantity elaborating exacting succinct Elaborating style most popular in high context cultures with moderate degree of uncertainty avoidance Exacting style focuses on precision and use of the right amount of words to convey message more common in low context low uncertainty avoidance cultures Succinct style more common in high context cultures with considerable uncertainty avoidance where people say few words and allow understatements pauses and silence to convey meaning o Contextual and Personal Styles Contextual style focuses on the speaker and the relationship of parties Often associated with high power distance collective high context Personal style focuses on the speaker and the reduction of barriers More popular in low power distance individualistic low context cultures between parties cultures o Affective and Instrumental Styles Affective style is characterized by language requiring the listener to note what is said and to observe how the message is presented The meaning is often nonverbal and requires receiver to use intuitive skills to decipher message Common in collective high context cultures o Instrumental style is goal oriented and focuses on the sender who clearly lets the other know what s he wants the other to know More commonly found in individualistic low context cultures The Impact of Culture Nonverbal Communication o Nonverbal communication The transfer of meaning through means such as body language and use of physical space o Chromatics o Kinesics Use of color to communicate messages Study of communication through body movement and facial expression Eye contact Posture Gestures Nonverbal Communication o Proxemics Study of the way people use physical space to convey messages Intimate distance used for very confidential communications Personal distance used for talking with family close friends Social distance used to handle most business transactions Public distance used when calling across room or giving talk to group o Chronemics The way time is used in a culture Two types Monochronic time schedule things done in linear fashion Polychronic time schedule people do several things at same time and place higher value on personal involvement than on getting things done on time Getting the meaning not just the words o Verbal behavior Clear Slow speech Repetition Simple sentences Active verbs o Nonverbal behavior Visual Restatements Gestures Demonstration Pauses Summaries o Accurate interpretation Silence Intelligence Differences o Comprehension Understanding check comprehension o Design Breaks Small modules Longer time frame o Motivation Encouragement Drawing out Reinforcement SUMMARY o Cross cultural communication confronts us with limits to our perceptions out interpretations and our evaluations Entering a culture that is foreign to us is like knowing the words without knowing the music or knowing the music without the beat o Our culture is the default but with care and preparation we can overcome our ethnocentric default options