Importance of intercultural communication From the US Census for 2000 Nearly 18% of people in the US speak a language other than English at home. Racial minorities own nearly 15% of US companies. Slightly more than 11% of people counted by the US census were born in another country.

Global trade From a report about global trade (Lustig & Koester, 1993) One-third of US corporate profits are earned in international trade. The 23 largest US banks do almost half of their business overseas.

This suggests… You are going to face a multicultural and multiracial workforce. You need to learn to communicate successfully with people who have different cultural background from you in the workplace. You need to learn to recognize and positively respond to culture-specific attitudes, actions, tools and artifacts (such as documents, oral presentations, and visuals).

Think about a workday Workdays in U.S. culture: 8 am-5 pm, M-F Sunday is a workday in Israel People in Mexico don’t work from 1 to 3 pm M-F

Categories of cultural patterns Values and beliefs Business customs Legal systems Language use  Vocabulary and sentence length  Numbers, dates and magnitude Rhetorical patterns: Document development & structure

Are numbers a universal language? Dates

Are numbers a universal language? Time

Are numbers a universal language? Magnitude

Context & communication Low-context culture stresses the importance of explicit verbal messages to convey personal thoughts, opinions, & feelings High-context culture stresses the importance of multi-layered contexts (e.g., historical context, social norms, roles, situational & relational contexts) that frame the interaction encounter

Low-context cultureHigh-context culture Individualistic valuesGroup-oriented values Linear logicSpiral logic Direct styleIndirect style Sender-oriented style (the sender assumes the responsibility of communicating clearly) Interpreter-oriented style Self-enhancement styleSelf-effacement style Verbal-based understanding Context-based understanding

Context Square context Information implicitly stated Information explicitly stated information meaning China Japan Saudi Arabia Mexico Italy France U.S Germany Switzerland High-context cultures Low-context cultures Russia

Visual Exercise Map three screenshots to the context square How different are three screenshots? Can you explain why?

Lotus American Page

Lotus German Page

Lotus Chinese Page

Context and Writing Writing is a way of organizing and presenting ideas. Cultural markings are embedded in your writing. Different cultures take different approaches to present information.  High-context culture: meaning is often implied in communication, conveyed through the context.  Low-context culture: meaning is best expressed through explicit verbal messages.

Rhetorical patterns across cultures Rhetorical "patterns" vary from culture to culture:  U.S., UK: Straight  China, Korea: circular  Romance: Jagged

Comparing American & Mexican business letters ABC format Address Salutation Main Point of Letter Body of Letter Action(s) to be Taken Close Address Salutation Set Context Background Information Main Point of Letter Elaborations Re-Set Context Close

“Culture is ordinary.” --Raymond Williams

Guidelines for cross-cultural fluency Understand our own cultural contexts first Learn about rhetorical patterns and conventions of the other party Be less concerned about finishing negotiations, more concerned about establishing long-term relationships Listen carefully before asserting own views about a project Seek multicultural experiences