Assignment on

The CROSS-CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Submitted to
Dr. AJAY PRATAP SINGH
(FACULTY, MBA)
TIAS
Submitted by
MUHAMMAD SALIM
07217003909
MBA-1
ST
SEMESTER
CULTURE
Donal Carbaugh defines culture as "a system of expressive practices fraught with
feelings, a system of symbols, premises, rules, forms, and the domains and dimensions
of mutual meanings associated with these." He also suggests culture is "a learned set of
shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a
relatively large group of people." In each of these definitions, culture is linked to
communication and a wide range of human experience including feelings, identity, and
meaningmaking. Communication is the vehicle by which meanings are conveyed,
identity is composed and reinforced, and feelings are expressed. !s we communicate
using different cultural habits and meaning systems, both conflict and harmony are
possible outcomes of any interaction.
In today"s global business environment, more and more of us are re#uired to
understand people who come from countries and cultures different from our own. $hile
there is no short and easy way to learn about a given culture in any depth, there are
some general principles that lead to success in communicating and conducting
business with people of backgrounds unlike our own.
Communication across cultures effectively improves your productivity and efficiency and
promotes harmonious work environment. Crosscultural communication involves
understanding cultural differences and overcoming language problem.
PROBLEMS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:
%pecifically, these problems are related to two kinds of cultural differences&
Differences in body positions and movements
Differences in views and practices concerning various factors of human
relationships
(1) Body positions and mo!m!nts
'ody positions and movements differ among cultures. (or example, in some cultures,
people sit) in other cultures, they s#uat. $ho is to say that sitting is more advanced or
better* +anners of walking differ among cultures. Communication with body parts
,hands, arms, head, etc.- varies by culture. Hand gestures differ by culture. %o do eye
movements, touching and handshaking. 'ody motions or kinesics can be categori.ed
as follows&
Em"#!ms nonverbal actions that have a verbal translation into a word, phrase or
symbol. /esture of thumb and forefinger to form a circle to say 0123 in 4% and to
indicate an obscenity in 'ra.il.
E$$!%ti! disp#ays facial expressions such as a frown, a smile, or lips pulled down at
the corners.
I##&st'ato's 5 nonverbal acts accompanying speech. 6xamples include an upturned
thumb to indicate that a ride is desired or pointing a finger to indicate a direction.
Adapt!'s 5 nonverbal behavior that modifies or add to what is being said. (or example,
folded arms may indicate disgust or that a person is feeling closed to others) a wave
may be used as a friendly greeting) leg swinging and finger tapping may indicate
anxiety.
R!(&#ato's 5 movements that maintain interaction and provide feedback. Head nods or
changing ga.e can indicate that it is the other persons turn to talk. ! head nod can also
indicate listening.
C&#t&'! )ands*a+!s
!mericans (irm
/ermans 'rus#ue, firm, repeated upon arrival and departure
(rench 7ight, #uick, not offered to superiors, repeated upon arrival
and departure
'ritish %oft
7atin !mericans (irm, longlasting
!sians /entle) for some, shaking hands is unfamiliar and
uncomfortable
(,) -i!.s and P'a%ti%!s Con%!'nin( Fa%to's o$ )&man R!#ations*ips
8robably causing even more miscommunication than differences in body positions and
movements are the different attitudes of different cultures toward various factors of
human relationships. $e will review seven ma9or factors&
Tim! / views about time differs widely. %ome cultures stress punctuality ,monochronic-)
but some do not ,especially of the +iddle 6ast : some parts of !sia-.
Spa%! 0 space is viewed differently by different cultures. In some cultures, people want
to be far apart ,;orth !merican-) in other cultures, they want to be close ,some !rabian
: %outh !merican-.
Odo's 0 some cultures view body odors as bad ,!merican work hard to neutrali.e body
odor-) others view them as normal ,!sians take it as act of friendship-.
F'an+n!ss / Highcontext cultures are more frank and explicit than 7owcontext
cultures. /ermans and Israelis are even more frank than !mericans.
Intima%y o$ R!#ations*ips 0 in many cultures, strict social classes exist, and class
status determines how intimately people are addressed and treated in communication.
%imilarly, how people view superiorsubordinate relations can vary by culture. <he role
of women varies widely by culture. In ;orth !merica, we continue to move toward a
generally recogni.ed goal of e#uality. In many Islamic cultures, the role of women is
#uite different.
-a#&!s 0 each culture has different values concerning such matters as attitudes toward
work, employeremployee relations, and authority.
E1p'!ssions o$ Emotions 0 social behavior varies by culture, such as practices
concerning affection, laughter, and emotion. Included is the degree of animations
displayed.
+any more such practices exist. %ome cultures combine business :social pleasures)
others do not. %ome expect to engage in aggressive bargaining in business) others
prefer straightforward dealings.
Some Problems C!se" b# C!l$!rl D%&&ere'(es
=ou greet your !ustrian client. <his is the sixth time you have met over the last >
months. He calls you Herr %mith. =ou think of him as a standoffish sort of guy
who doesn?t want to get really friendly. <hat might be true in !merica, where
calling someone +r. %mith after the @th meeting would probably mean something
it is marked usage of language like "we?re not hitting it off". 'ut in !ustria, it is
normal.
! Canadian conducting business in 2uwait is surprised when his meeting with a
highranking official is not held in a closed office and is constantly interrupted. He
starts wondering if the official is as important as he had been led to believe, and
he starts to doubt how seriously his business is being taken
! 'ritish boss asked a new, young !merican employee if he would like to have
an early lunch at AA am each day. <he employee said ?=eah, that would be
greatB? <he boss immediately said "$ith that kind of attitude, you may as well
forget about lunchB" <he employee and the boss were both baffled by what went
wrong. CIn 6ngland, saying "yeah" in that context is seen as rude and
disrespectful.D
COMMUNICATION TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDIN2 CULTURE:
<he tools we will examine here relate to communication and ways of seeing the self in
relation to others. <hey are&
Highcontext and lowcontext communication, and
Individualist and collectivism conceptions of self and other
)i(*/%ont!1t and Lo./%ont!1t Comm&ni%ation refers to the degree to which
speakers rely on factors other than explicit speech to convey their messages. <his tool,
developed by 6dward <. Hall, suggests that communication varies according to its
degree of field dependence, and that it can be classified into two general categories
highcontext and lowcontext. (ield dependence refers to the degree to which things
outside the communication itself affect the meaning.
(ollowing series is according to increasing degree ,low context to high context- Arb)
J*'ese) C+%'ese) Gree,) Me-%(') S*'%s+) I$l%') .re'(+) /'0l%s+) Nor$+ Amer%(')
S('"%'1%') Germ'
Indiid&a#ist and %o##!%tiism %on%!ptions / In individualist cultures, individual
uni#ueness, selfdetermination is valued. ! person is all the more admirable if they are
a "selfmade man" or "makes up their own mind" or show initiative or work well
independently. Collectivist cultures expect people to identify with and work well in
groups which protect them in exchange for loyalty and compliance.
8aradoxically, individualist cultures tend to believe that there are universal values that
should be shared by all, while collectivist cultures tend to accept that different groups
have different values.
+any of the !sian cultures are collectivist, while !nglo cultures tend to be individualist.
OBSER-ATIONS FOR O-ERCOMIN2 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:
1bservations may consist of !ssessment of political situation of the state we are
dealing with, understand religious : folk beliefs, clothing : food preferences, learn
about business : economic institutes, how people greet there*, how people use
nameEsurname in conversation, what is the attitude towards touching the people, how
they express their feelings : emotions, how do they sit in corporate, how close they
stand with others, how do they acceptsEre9ect offers, how do they make eyecontact with
others, etc.
)O3 TO IMPRO-E T)ESE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:
By st&dyin( ot*!' %&#t&'!s
Ass&m! di$$!'!n%!s &nti# simi#a'ity is p'o!d
Ta+! '!sponsi"i#ity at yo&' o.n
S*o. '!sp!%t to ot*!' %&#t&'!s
To#!'at! t*! am"i(&ity (aoid $'&st'ation)
Loo+ "!yond t*! s&p!'$i%ia#
B! pati!nt and p!'sist!nt
R!%o(ni4! yo&' o.n %&#t&'a# "ias!s
B! $#!1i"#!
Emp*asi4! on %ommon ('o&nd
S!nd %#!a' m!ssa(!s
D!a# .it* t*! indiid&a# (yo& a'! int!'a%tin( .it*)
L!a'n .*!n to "! di'!%t 5 .*!n to "! indi'!%t
T'!at yo&' int!'p'!tation as a .o'+ in *ypot*!sis (not as '!s&#t)
TREAT OTHERS AS THEY EXPECT TO BE TREATED
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF
SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS