Chapter 7 Cross-Cultural Communication & Negotiation

Offshoring Culture & Communication Offshoring, or the practice of a company moving certain services overseas… Offshoring enables orgs to capitalize on other countries cultural advantages… Examples: IT and India, Design & Intellectual Property and U.K.

Tips for Managing Offshoring Avoid an “us vs. them” mentality Provide T/D to mgrs to meet new expectations Foster collaboration between “home country” & offshore EE’s #1 Problem- p. 194

Local Winter Park Business vo7A vo7A Outsourcing=initiatives of company Offshoring=Asian country’s to assist in their product manufacturing

The Overall Communication Process Context is information that surrounds a communication & helps convey the message High-context societies as Japan- messages are highly coded, interpret what the message means by filtering Low-context societies as Swiss Germans- messages are explicit, speaker says precisely what they mean

Explicit and Implicit Explicit Communication-Low-Context cultures Implicit Communication- High-context cultures Figure 7-1 p. 198

3 Degrees of Communication Quality Elaborate- lots of talking, repeating, details used in Arabic countries Exacting- usage of right amount of words, too many=exaggeration, too few=ambiguous message, used in England, Sweden, Germany Succinct- Say few words, allow understatements, pauses, silence to convey meaning, used in Asia

Communication Flows Downward is mgrs to subordinates International context has challenges: 1) Asian countries is less direct than US, orders tend to be implicit in nature 2) US mgrs used it only at work Figure 7-2 p. 200

10 Suggestions by Harris & Moran Use common words Select words with few alternatives Strictly follow the basic rules of grammar Speak with clear breaks Watch for clichés’ like “that’s dope”! Avoid use of slang Don’t use words or expressions to create a mental image for others Mimic cultural flavor Continually paraphrase, repeat basic ideas Ask the other person to paraphrase

Upward Communication Transfer of meaning from subordinates to mgrs US slowly bringing this in, but Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore have done this for a long time But, Asian countries not as popular, also South America and German

Non-verbal Communication Body language, facial expressions and the use of physical space Exhibit 7-6 p G47pAQ G47pAQ EO3_M EO3_M

Types of Nonverbal Communication Kinesics- study of body movement Oculesics- conveying messages through the eyes/gaze Proxemics- Usage of physical space, 4 types- Intimate, Personal, Social, Public Chronemics- How time is used in culture, 2 types- Monochronic (linear) & Polychronic (several things at same time) Chromatics- Color to communicate

Ways to Achieve Communication Effectiveness Improve Feedback Systems Provide Language Training Provide Cultural Training Increase Flexibility & Cooperation

Types of Negotiations Distributive- 2 Parties w/opposing goals compete over a set value, i.e China and Mexico Integrative- Cooperation between 2 groups to integrate interests, create value, & invest in the agreement, aka the win-win situation Table 7-7 p. 216

The Negotiation Process- 5 Steps Planning Interpersonal Relationship Building Exchanging Task-Related Information PersuasionAgreement

Cultural Differences Affecting Negotiations- p ) Don’t identify the counterparts home too quickly 2) Beware of Western bias toward “doing” 3) Try to counteract tendency to formulate simple, consistent, stable images 4) Don’t assume aspects of culture are equally significant 5) Recognize norms 6) Don’t over estimate your familiarity w/ counterparts culture

Negotiation Tactics Location- A neutral place 1) Limited access to home office 2) Cost of staying on site 3) Negotiators don’t like to return with nothing to show for efforts Time Limits Buyer-Seller Relations

Negotiating for Mutual Benefit 5 General Principles by Fisher and Ury 1) Separating the People from the Problem 2) Focusing on Interests over Positions 3) Generating Options 4) Using Objective Criteria 5) Standing Ground

Bargaining Behaviors Use of Extreme Behaviors Promises, Threats, & Other Behaviors Nonverbal Behaviors Table 7-9 p. 224