1. Management 446 Day 7 Communicating Across Cultures Sully Taylor Ellen Devlin

2.  International News Reports

3. In a Swedish pharmaceutical firm, product design was traditionally carried out at the Stockholm headquarters. Once, by accident or design, they brought in an international team to discuss the design of a new allergy product. Due to extreme differences in opinion on what constitutes good medical practice, the team designed the new product with maximum flexibility to suit the major demands of each country. Later they discovered that this flexibility was a great advantage in developing and marketing internationally competitive products.

4. Socio-Economic Context Legal Context Culture Communicating Successfully across cultures Culture Communicating Successfully across cultures Political Context Stability Local & regional political tensions Corruption Political & governmental influence on operations Cultural values & assumptions Local laws Regulations concerning expatriates, marketing Labor relations rules Rules regarding employee contracts Size Composition Educational level Geographical distribution Class divisions Income levels E.g. Labor Market Remember: there are other forces as well! Management of Business Operations Firm Characteristics Strategy

5. Diversity only works when there is good Communication  International Communication perspective: Macro and Micro

6. Sent Message Sent Response Received Message Received Response Sender “Culture A” Receiver “Culture B”

7. What interferes with communication across cultures?  Misperception  Misinterpretation  Misevaluation

8. Misperception occurs because…  Perception is selective  Perception is learned  Perception is culturally determined  Perception is consistent  Perception is inaccurate

9. When Mexican children simultaneously view tachistoscopic pictures of a bullfight and a baseball game, they only remember seeing the bullfight. Looking through the same tachistoscope, American children only remember seeing the baseball game.

10. Misinterpretation occurs because interpretation is affected by…. Subconscious cultural blinders Lack of cultural self-awareness Projected similarity

11. Misevaluation occurs because… Cultural conditioning shapes our evaluations. We tend to use our own culture as the standard of measurement, judging that which is like our own culture as normal and good and that which is different as abnormal and bad. (adapted from N. Adler, 2000)

12. Cultural Differences in Non-Verbal Communication: The “Noise”  Communication Relevant Cultural Dimensions: Expressiveness  High Contact Cultures  Low Contact Cultures Emotions  Universal emotional cues:  anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness & surprise.  Antecedents of emotions are culturally based

13. Antecedents and Elicitors of Emotion EmotionU.S.A & Europe Japan JoyPhysical & Cultural Pleasures, Achievement, Birth SadnessWorld News, Separation, Death Relationship FearStrangers, Risky Situations AngerRelationships, Situation of injustice Relationship (strangers)

14. Cultural Differences in Non-Verbal Communication Individualism/Collectivism  Use of Space and Accessibility  Rely on Personal Judgment  Suppress Display of Emotion  Socially Prescribed Norms (Dating)  Use of Time Gender Role Differentiation/Rigidity  Masculine role and values: Strength, speed, assertiveness, competitiveness, dominance, anger, ambition, etc Feminine roles and values:  Emotionality, affection, compassion, warmth, nurturing of the weak and needy, etc.

15. Cultural Differences in Non-Verbal Communication  Power Distance  Uncertainty Avoidance  Contextual Variations High- Context Vs. Low Context

16. Low Context Northern European (Nordic, Germanic) and Anglo Cultures (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) High Context Arab, Greek, Latin European, Lastin American, Sinitic (Chinese, Korean, Japanese) and Indic cultures  Personal communication are more explicit more often than in high- context cultures.  Personal communications are more often implicit and indirect than in low- context cultures; the full meaning of a message must more often be deduced from indirect contextual signals that accompany the words.  Social relationships tend to be more impersonal; for example business relations rely more on formal agreements (e.g., detailed written contracts).  Relationships and commitments tend to be less formal and more personalized; more importance is put on interpersonal rapport, trust, and commitment; there is less reliance on formal written agreements.  Time is more structured, more measured (monochronic view of time); punctuality is valued.  Time is viewed as flexible (polychronic).

17. Low- Context Cultures High- Context Cultures Lower Higher Germanic Arab Scandinavian (Nordic) Confucian Anglo Latin

18.  International News Reports