Cross-Cultural Comm in Business-Prince Dudhatra-9724949948

Cross-Cultural
Communications
in Business
prince dudhatra-9724949948
We’re Going To Talk
About….
 What is “Culture”?
 Cultural Diversity
 High-Context Cultures
 Low-Context Cultures
What is Culture???
 Shared system of symbols,
beliefs, attitudes, values,
expectations and norms
for behavior
 May be based on….
 Nationality
 Race and Religion
 Historical Roots
 …All of the Above

 Ethnocentrism-tendency to judge all other
groups according to one’s own group
 Xenophobia
 Stereotyping- Distorted views of other

cultures or groups
 Cultural pluralism- practice of accepting

multiple cultures in our own group
Cultural Diversity
IBM
 International = Intercultural
 325,000 employees from 175 countries
 165 languages
High-Context Cultures
 Rely highly on environmental
setting
 Prefer indirectness, politeness &  Asian

ambiguity.
 Argentina, Brazil,
Venezuela, Peru
 Prefer spoken language  Egypt, Turkey, Iran,
Iraq, Israel
 Rely heavily on nonverbal signs.
Low-Context Cultures
 Rely more on Verbal comminication
 Explicitly spell out information.

 European
 Value directness.  Finland, Greenland,
Iceland, Sweden,
 See indirectness as manipulative. Norway
 U.S., Cuba, Canada,
Haiti, Mexico
 Value written word more than oral
statements.
EX 3.1 High Context and
Low Context Countries
High Context: Meaning
Implicit Languages
Japanese
Arabs
Surrounding Latin Americans
Information
Necessary for Italians
Understanding
British
French
North Americans
Scandinavians
Germans
Swiss
Low Context: Meaning

prince
Explicit dudhatra-9724949948
in Language
Some Cultural Scenarios
Japan China
India prince dudhatra-9724949948 Mexico

JAPAN
To help her American Company establish a
presence in Japan, Mrs. Torres wants to hire a
local interpreter who can advise her on business
customs. Ms. Tomari has superb qualifications
on paper, but when Mrs. Torres tries to probe
about her experience, Ms. Tomari just says, “I
will do my best. I will try very hard.” She
never gives details about any of the previous
positions she has held. Mrs. Torres begins to
wonder if Ms. Tomari's résumé is inflated.
CHINA
Stan Williams wants to negotiate a joint venture
between his American firm and a Beijing-based
company. He asks Tung-Sen Lee if the Chinese
people have enough discretionary income to afford
his product. Mr. Lee is silent for a time, and then
says, “Your product is good. People in the West
must like it.” Stan smiles, pleased that Mr. Lee
recognizes the quality of his product, and he leaves
a contract for Mr. Lee to sign. Weeks later, Stan
still hasn’t heard anything. If China is going to be
so inefficient, he wonders if his company should try
to do business there. prince dudhatra-9724949948
INDIA
Gloria Johnson is proud of her participatory
management style. Assigned in Bombay on
behalf of her U.S.-based company, she is careful
not to give orders but to ask for suggestions.
But the employees rarely suggest anything.
Even a formal suggestion system she established
does not work. Worse still, she doesn’t sense
the respect and camaraderie that she felt at the
plant she managed in Texas. Perhaps the people
in India just are not ready for a woman boss.
MEXICO
Alan Caldwell is a U.S. sales representative in
Mexico City. He makes appointments with Senõr
Lopez and is careful to be on time, but his host is
frequently late. To save time, Alan tries to get right
to business, his host wants to talk about sightseeing
and about Alan’s family. Even worse, the meetings
are interrupted constantly with phone calls, long
conversations with other people, and even
customers’ children who come into the office.
Alan’s first report to his home office is very
negative. He hasn’t yet made a sale. Perhaps
Mexico just isn’t the right place to do business.
Legal and ethical differences
 Low context culture adhere to the law strictly and

vice versa in high context culture
 In U.S. and U.K. someone is presumed to be

innocent until proved guilty and vice-versa in
Mexico and turkey
 Bribing allowed in China, Kenya, Russia to

Government officials and vice-versa in U.S.
Apply four basic principles
 Actively seek mutual ground
 Trust each other’s culture
 Fully aware of personal and cultural biases
 Show respect for cultural differences

Social differences
 Failure of Wal-Mart in Germany (Smiling issue)
 Formal rules (table manners, clothes) are well

defined but informal rules (tone n pitch of speech,
Proper distance) are learned through observation
 Formal + informal =dudhatra-9724949948

prince overall behavior
Social rules
 Attitudes towards work and success (Max.
working hours, self dependent)
 Roles and status ( Mr. and Ms. in U.S. and official

titles in China to show respect)
 Use of Manners (Asking about weekend common

in U.S. but is intrusive in other cultures, No gifts
for other man’s wife in Arabian cultures, offer
wine in Germany after dinner to the guests)
 Concepts of time (low context cultures follow

flexi timings, working from home)
Non verbal Differences
 use of a finger and hand to indicate “come here please”,
used to beckon dogs in some cultures and is very
offensive.
 While patting a child’s head is considered to be a friendly

or affectionate gesture in our culture, it is considered
inappropriate by many Asians to touch someone on the
head which is believed to be a sacred part of the body.
 In the Middle East, the left hand is reserved for bodily

hygiene and should not be used to touch another or transfer
objects.
 In Muslim cultures, touch between opposite gendered

individuals is generally inappropriate.
 In mainstream Western culture, eye contact is interpreted
as attentiveness and honesty
 In Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American,

eye contact is thought to be disrespectful or rude
 Women may especially avoid eye contact with men

because it can be taken as a sign of sexual interest.
 In Vietnamese cultures, complimenting babies is avoided

for fear that these comments may be overheard by a spirit
that will try to steal the baby or otherwise cause some
harm to come to him or her.
 Walking differences between U.S. and Japan The
Japanese walk in short quick strides and drooping
shoulders, in contrast, Americans view walking
tall with longer strides and a more upright posture
as having confidence and strength
 It is very rare that Japanese people entertain in

their own homes and it is customary to go out
 the hand gesture we use for "come here," in Spain

means that you are very romantically interested in
the person
 A genuine SMILE works everywhere………
Age differences
 In U.S. looking younger matters a lot, age is

associated with declining power
 In Asian cultures, age and seniority is

valued, not to interrupt when a senior
person is talking
Gender Differences
 Men emphasize on content
 Women focus on relationship management

and expression part more
 More opportunities for women in Western

countries as compared to Asian and African
cultures, glass ceiling
U.S. Business Culture
 Individualism: Individual competition and success
 Equality
 Privacy and personal space ( knock the office

door, no personal questions at workplace)
 Time (punctuality)
 Communication style (direct, focus on content and

transactions rather than relationships or group
harmony)
 Work ethics: good, honest, hard work is
rewarded
 Religion : No official state religion
Improving Intercultural Communication
Skills
1. Studying other cultures :
 Understand the social customs

 Learn about clothing and food preferences
 Assess political patterns
 Understand religious and folk beliefs
 Learn about economic and business institutions
 Appraise the nature of ethics, values, and laws
Contd…………
2. Studying other Languages:
 IBM, 165 languages
 Demand for multilingual communicators
 E.g. Netherlands
 Outsourcing in India
 China’s official language ; Mandarin learned by U.S.
professionals
 Two countries speaking the same language not
necessarily speak it the same way
 E.g. French spoken in Canada is different than France
 E.g. In U.S. and U.K., elevator-lift, gasoline-petrol,
colour-color
Contd………
3. Respecting Preferences for Communication
Style:
 Level of Directness
 Degree of formality
 Preferences for written Vs spoken language
 U.S. ; open and direct communication
 Sweden; Directness taken as efficiency sign
 Japan, China; less direct communication
Contd……….
4. Writing and Speaking clearly:
 Use simple, clear language-rich and wealthy
 Be brief- simple sentences and short paragraphs
 Use transitional elements- in addition, first, second
 Address international correspondence
 Cite numbers and dates carefully- U.S. :12-05-07
means Dec 5,2007 but also taken as May 12, 2007.
Japan, China : 2007-12-05, U.S., U.K.,
India:1.000=1, but means 1000 in few European
countries
Contd…………
 Avoid slang and business jargon (e.g. ‘big
guns’, ‘have big mouth’, ‘blown away’;
SOP, EHS)
 Avoid humor and other references to
popular culture
Contd…………
5. Listening Carefully
 Tone, speed, volume

 E.g. in China word ‘ma’ different meaning
of mother, pile up, horse, scold
 Regular Arabic speech seems excited and
angry to an English listener
 Japanese more softer than Westerners
 Ask to repeat before concluding to meaning
Contd……….
6. Using Interpreters, Translators, and Translation Software
 Difference between Interpreter and translator

 Back translation (once a translator encodes a message into
another language, a different translator retranslates the
same message into the original language)
 Machine translation
 Dedicated software tools and online services;
www.worldlingo.com offer some form of automated
translation
7. Helping others adapt to your culture


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Cross-Cultural

 Race and Religion

 …All of the Above

 Stereotyping- Distorted views of other

 Cultural pluralism- practice of accepting

 Prefer indirectness, politeness &  Asian

 Explicitly spell out information.

Low Context: Meaning

India prince dudhatra-9724949948 Mexico

 Low context culture adhere to the law strictly and

 In U.S. and U.K. someone is presumed to be

 Bribing allowed in China, Kenya, Russia to

 Actively seek mutual ground

 Trust each other’s culture

 Fully aware of personal and cultural biases

 Show respect for cultural differences

 Failure of Wal-Mart in Germany (Smiling issue)

 Formal rules (table manners, clothes) are well

 Formal + informal =dudhatra-9724949948

 Roles and status ( Mr. and Ms. in U.S. and official

 Use of Manners (Asking about weekend common

 Concepts of time (low context cultures follow

 While patting a child’s head is considered to be a friendly

 In the Middle East, the left hand is reserved for bodily

 In Muslim cultures, touch between opposite gendered

 In Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American,

 Women may especially avoid eye contact with men

 In Vietnamese cultures, complimenting babies is avoided

 It is very rare that Japanese people entertain in

 the hand gesture we use for "come here," in Spain

 In U.S. looking younger matters a lot, age is

 In Asian cultures, age and seniority is

 Women focus on relationship management

 More opportunities for women in Western

 Privacy and personal space ( knock the office

 Communication style (direct, focus on content and

1. Studying other cultures :

 Understand the social customs

 Tone, speed, volume

 Difference between Interpreter and translator

7. Helping others adapt to your culture

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