Global Issues:

Cultural Differences in Communication.

By: Ferdimar Paul G. Barrido

SUMMARY:
Verbal and written communications vary around the world; it is part of our culture. The

international business communication process is filtered through a range of variables including,

language, environment, technology, social organization, social history, authority beliefs, and

different nonverbal communication. Problems in cross-cultural business communication often

arise when participants from one culture are unable to understand the other person’s

communication practices, traditions, and thinking.

“People generally perceive their own behavior as logical and tend to generalize the values and

practices of their culture to apply to everyone. “

-For example, if your culture values promptness, then you probably assume that everyone you
meet does too. But, in Hispanic cultures, not being on time is culturally acceptable. Because each
culture has its own set of values, some of which are quite different from the values held in other
cultures, the concepts of correct and incorrect, and even right and wrong, are often blurred.

“Managing cultural differences is particularly important in cross-cultural teams because of the

potential of these differences to reduce information sharing, create interpersonal conflict, or

both.”

-For example, Western norms for direct communication often clash with Asian norms of indirect
communication.
 In relation to this, one American manager leading a joint U.S. and Japanese project said, “In

Japan, they want us to talk and discuss. Then we take a break and they talk within the

organization. They want to make sure that there’s harmony in the rest of the organization. One of

the hardest lessons for me was when I thought they were saying yes but they just meant ‘I’m

listening to you.’”. The manager quickly, emailed her American boss and their members. Her

Japanese colleagues were embarrassed because the manager had violated their norms. Maybe by

asking them what would happen if a certain part of the system was not functioning properly,

even though she knew what was wrong. Because the typical Japanese response to direct

confrontation is to isolate the norm violator, the American manager was isolated socially and

physically.

Effective managers understand how the perception of a given message changes depending on the

viewpoint of those communicating. Because business is not conducted same from culture to

culture, business relations are enhanced when employees are trained to be aware of areas to

create communication difficulties and conflict across cultures.

Jargon or Technical language may create ambiguity if the receiver is not trained to understand

it. Contracts and other legal documents, tax codes and regulations, and technology instructions

may be daunting to many people. Jargon or Technical language can also create ambiguity when

the receiver does not understand it.

-For example, a CEO whose use of jargon prevented audiences from understanding exactly what
his company did. He described his company as a “premier developer of intelligent semiconductor
intellectual property solutions that dramatically accelerate complex SOC designs while
minimizing risk.” After some coaching, he more clearly communicated the same information in
the statement, “Our technology makes cellphones that are smaller, more powerful, and last linger
on a single charge.”
Loss of transmission occurs when an Internet connection goes down, phone lines are full of

static, or a videoconference link is dropped.

Ambiguity is another source of noise in communication.

Ambiguity of meaning–occurs when the receiver is not sure what the sender meant.

Ambiguity of intent—means the receiver is uncertain about the message’s consequences.

“The clearer a message, the less chance ambiguity will cloud its meaning.”

Semantics are another barrier that introduces noise into communications. Words mean different

things to different people. Soon might mean immediately to one person and in a few days or

weeks to another.

“Asking for feedback helps the sender ensure that his or her intended meaning is the same as the

one ultimately received.”

Some companies rely on technology to minimize the effects of these barriers to effective

communication.

-For example, three locations of Dream Works Animation often need to communicate, but
traditional communication media is ineffective for communicating about animation and adds
noise that distort messages.

To help deal with this, the firm created a videoconferencing room that resembles a typical
boardroom. Physically present meeting participants sit on one side of the table, opposite remote
colleagues shown on three giant flat-screen monitors. A fourth screen allows participants to share
documents, drawings, and animated sequences. The audio system even lets people talk over one
another, just as they would in a “real” meeting, rather than waiting for a speaker to finish.
REFLECTION/ INSIGHTS/ IDEAS:
Well to start with, we all know that people around the world has different cultures from different

countries. In a workplace setting, some of the employees came from different backgrounds and

has unique set of norms and beliefs that they grew up with. In addition, all of us experience

difficulties in different environments especially in the aspect of communication. There are

several factors why problems arise in cross cultural businesses through communication.

People have different practices when it comes to communication, either written, verbal or non-

verbal. We have different ways of receiving information and it is based through our decoding

skills in a sense where we tend to forget that not all cultures are the same. If we disregard the

significance of communication in a cross-cultural setting, we tend to imply our biases, generality,

and stereotyping.

-For example, I, myself, went to Manila to apply for a U.S. Tourist Visa. After I complied with
all the requirements, it is stated in the instructions that my interview is 8’o’clock in the morning.
Well, as a Filipino, we all have this mindset of “Filipino time”, for further explanation, it means
“It’s okay to be late, we, Filipinos, have our own standard time” but the truth of the matter is, if I
tend to disregard the culture of the Americans, I will be late for my interview or worse, I cannot
make it to the interview. You see, even if I’m in the Philippines but I’m dealing with a foreign
company or entity, it is also my duty to adapt and learn from them, because there are different set
of norms in each culture.
 It is also important that we should consider differences in a cross-cultural team in order to

prevent interpersonal conflicts and misunderstandings. This is very common in most companies

that are highly promoting outsourcing. But there are also other companies who manages different

people with different cultures like seafarers and BPO’s. It is effective when the managers or the

leaders behind the team knows how to assess each member in order to reduce barriers in all

aspects, especially in language.

Different fields of work have their own jargon. A Jargon is a form of language or special words

or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group. Then, if a employee is not

trained well to understand the jargon, he or she is more likely to misunderstand information and

will cause him or her to study the language, because of the embarrassment that they brought

themselves.

-For example, in the Military, they have their own alphabet. Their “ABC” is “Alpha, Bravo,
Charlie” and if an employee from a medical field went there to volunteer, at first, the employee
must be confused and to his/her own understanding, these are just normal English words or
names, well in fact, that those are only letters for the military people.

It same goes with the loss of transmission. When two parties are joined to a videoconferencing

and the Internet was down, due to many devices that are also linked or connected to the Internet,

that is already considered as Loss of Transmission.

Next, Ambiguity. It means when the meaning of a word, phrase, or a sentence is uncertain. You

are actually sending mixed signals to your receiver which will lead to misunderstandings. There

could be more than one meaning.

-For example, your friend told you that his family will go to a buffet, perhaps, Vikings, and it is
going to be their first time eating there. Then, he asked you for your own feedback about the said
restaurant and you said, “I have never tasted food like that one before!”, to his viewpoint, you
never really given him a clear feedback, but you are sending him a mixed signal. “Was the food
good?” or “Was the food bad?”

Lastly, Semantics. It means the study of meaning in language. It can be applied to entire texts or

to single words. For example, “destination” and “last stop” technically mean the same thing but

to another person is different.

-For example, you’re talking to a friend through a phone call who is actually on his workplace
right now and you asked him, “What’s your position?” and he answered, “I’m straightly sitting
on my chair right now”. What you really mean is that “What is your position on your job (boss,
manager, or a regular employee)” It sounds like ambiguity, but it emphasizes on words.

To conclude, the clearer you are about how you want to, the more successful you will be and that

implies to all aspects.