“The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn.” ~Author Unknown

Announcements I have finished grading your midterm exam. I will show you your score during the break today.

Welcome to… Business Communications Week 12: Chapter 6 Cross-Cultural Business Communication

Group Discussion Culture – let’s talk about any experience you have had dealing with another culture. Was it a fun experience or did you make a mistake? What would you have done differently if you had more information about the culture?

Chapter 6 Introduction “The culturally diversified workforce has brought greater vitality to business, but at the same time, business people are facing many problems in their cross-cultural business communication.” pg 274 CULTURE is defined as: “customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.” Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., 1997

Chapter 6 Introduction Before we discuss Cross-Cultural Communication, we must remember some key points… 1. While a culture as a whole may be very similar, it is important to remember that everyone is an individual. Culture is not related just to a country. For instance, cultures differ in Henan, Heilongjiang and Guangdong. The same is true in U.S. between South, West, etc. 3. It is dangerous to generalize. We can’t say, “all Chinese are this way.” There are always variations in people. 4. Clearly, culture strongly impacts business communication. Part of knowing your audience is keeping this in mind.

Definition of culture Sociologist Geert Hofstede…. Culture defined as the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another. Or the shared way that groups of people understand and interpret the world.

Cross-Cultural communication Cross cultural communication involves understanding cultural differences and overcoming language problems.

Subcultures Within any culture there may be subcultures Regional Ethnic Gender

Start with the big picture When learning about a culture, start with the big picture. Topography (area) History Religion These broad topics can have a big impact on business peoples communication practices and preferences.

Dimensions of Cultural difference Power distance Individualism vs Collectivism Masculinity vs Feminism Uncertainty Avoidance Long-term vs Short-term Orientation

Power distance High Power distance Power distributed unevenly Values hierarchy and obedience Low Power distance Opposite of high More equality

Individualism vs collectivism People expected to take care of self and their families Collectivism: Strong identification with social group

Masculinity vs Feminity Masculine Assertive Competitive Feminine: Modest Caring attitude

Uncertainty avoidance The way a culture prepares it’s members to feel comfortable or uncomfortable in unstructured situations. Uncertainty-accepting – more relaxed and accepting of differences. Less bound by rules. Uncertainty-avoiding – try to prevent uncertainty by applying strict rules.

Long-term vs short-term orientation Long term orientation – leaning towards the future. They value persistence and thrift. Short term orientation – value the past and present – respecting traditions, fulfilling social obligations and saving face in social situations.

High context versus Low context Edward T Hall – Study of cross cultural communication High Context – use less words and more body language, eye movement, tone of voice and other non-verbal elements to communicate. Examples – French, Japanese, Indian, Irish, British, Arabic. Low Context – express themselves in direct and explicit ways. All the information needed to interpret is in the message. Examples – Americans, Germans, Swiss, Scandinavians, Finnish.

Body Positions and movements These differ in many cultures: Sitting versus squatting Communicating with your hands and head Hand gestures Eye contact Touching Shaking hands Kissing

Relating to others Differing attitudes towards various factors of human relationships can cause communication problems. Time – monochronic vs polychronic Space – different space preference Odors – attitudes toward body odor Frankness – explicit vs evasive Intimacy of relationships – class, role of women Values – differing views of work and authority Expression of emotion – Affection, laughing etc

language There are approximately 3000 languages on this earth. This means the possibility of miscommunication is unavoidable. The Russians have no word for ‘having fun’ Italians have 500 words for types of ‘pasta’ All languages do no have the same sentence structure, some languages have no adjectives. Many words have multiple meanings. Can you think of some?

Language Blunders Coca Cola – the Chinese symbol now reads ‘happiness in the mouth’. The first symbol for the logo read ‘ a wax-flattened mare’ Toyota MR2 – pronounced ‘merde’ – means ‘human waste’ in French. Ford ‘Fiera’ – translates into ‘ugly old woman’ Bacardi drink ‘Pavian’ translate to ‘Baboon’ in German

Richard D lewis’s Categories Linear Actives – Take a linear path, they plan, schedule and organize, doing one thing at a time. Example – Germans Multi – Actives – Have several things going at the same time. Time schedule is not a priority. Example – Italians, Latin America, Arabs Reactives – Listen and ponder carefully and then move with caution. Prioritize courtesy and respect and they react carefully to proposals. Example – Chinese and Japanese

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE SURVEY A global survey finding: Americans and Britons to be the most easily insulted by lack of workplace etiquette. Australians are among the most offensive. The top five most offensive workplace behaviors: Not saying hello or good morning, Not offering office guests a beverage Speaking loudly across the room Using swear words Taking calls on mobile phones Asking colleagues about their personal lives Japan has the strictest work etiquette

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE Etiquette is no longer about the rules and protocol of dining, invitations, dress and what kind of flowers to buy people. Displaying good manners is now an essential part of learning to do business on a global level.

Class project

Project Guidelines Our project is related to cross-cultural business communication. You will be working in a team of 3-4 people. Your team will be given a country. Your team will do some research on the business culture of the country. This will be a typed report. Your team will give a sales presentation in class as if you were doing business in that country. This will be a PPT presentation. Specific guidelines are on the handout. They are also on the website.

Let’s form the teams!

Let’s find out the countries!

Project Schedule Week 11 (this week): Get together in your team and work on your research and presentation. Week 12: Bring a “first draft” of your research to class, and we will spend some class time planning the presentations. Week 13: Presentations, Research report due for all groups. Week 14: Presentations

Help with your research… Refer to the guidelines paper. Here is a very good website that has information on business culture of your country: executiveplanet.com Look in the section, “Essential business culture guides for the international traveler”

Next week… You should have a “first draft” of your research collected so that you can work on it together in class. I will help you to fit the different parts of the report together. We will also be talking about how to make a good PPT presentation.

HOMEWORK Begin your research and meet with your presentation team this week to begin planning your presentation.