CROSS-CULTURE COMMUNICATION PRESENTED BY DINESH RAMI REDDY.M.R

INRODUCTION : Cross-culture communication involves understanding culture difference and overcoming language problems. Business has become more global. Communicating across cultures effectively improves your productivity and efficiency and promotes harmonious work environments.

ROLE OF CULTURE : Culture is “the shared ways in which groups of people understand and interpret the world. Two qualifying statements begin this study of culture: Culture is often improperly assumed to be the cause of miscommunication. It is easy to over generalize culture practices.

PROBLEMS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES : Two of dimensions that impact communications are the cultural differences in : Body Positions and Movements. Views and practices concerning various factors of human relationships(time, space, intimacy, odors, frankness, values, emotions). Body Positions and Movements: Body positions and movements differ among cultures and the differences can effect communication. Some of the movements have no definite meaning even within a culture. But some have clear meanings and they differ by culture.

COMMUNICATION WITH BODY PARTS : 'OK' to a Westerner, 'money' to a Japanese, 'zero' to the French and ‘insulting’ to the Turks and Brazilians. This can mean 'two' to an American,'Victory' to a German and 'Up yours' in Britain.

COMMUNICATION WITH BODY PARTS : If a Saudi man holds another man's hand in public it's a sign of mutual respect. But don't do it in Australia, Texas or Liverpool, England. An Analysis of Handshake : The handshake evolved as a way men could cement a commercial deal with each other. The Lower Arm Grasp - checking for concealed weapons - the original Roman method of greeting.

COMMUNICATION WITH BODY PARTS : EYE MOVEMENTS : The meanings that movements of our eyes convey also vary by culture. In North America we are taught to maintain eye contact in giving formal speech. But in Indonesia, it is considered to be disrespectful. SMILE : In our culture, smiles are viewed positively in most situations. But in some other cultures (notably African cultures), a smile is regarded as a sign of weakness in certain situations.

Views and Practices Concerning Factors of Human Relations : Differing attitudes toward various factors of human relationships cause communication problems. For illustrative purposes, we will review seven major factors. TIME : Views about time differ widely. Some cultures stress punctuality and some do not. SPACE : Space is viewed differently by different culture. In some cultures, people want to be far apart and in other cultures, they want to be close. ODORS : Some cultures view body odors as bad and others view them as normal.

Views and Practices Concerning Factors of Human Relations : FRANKNESS : Low-context cultures are more frank and explicit than high-context cultures. INTIMACY OF RELATIONSHIPS : In many cultures, strict social classes exist and class status determines how intimately people are addressed and treated in communication. VALUES : Each culture has different values concerning such matters as attitude towards work, employee-employer relations and authority. EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS : Social behavior varies by culture, such as practices concerning affection, laughter, and emotion.

EFFECTS ON BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TECHINQUES : Cultural differences affect communication. Our communication techniques are not universally acceptable. The Indians and even the British have practices different from others. We must modify our communications to fit the culture of our recipients.

PROBLEMS OF LANGUAGE : The people on earth use more than 3,000 languages. Communication problems are caused by the existence of many languages. LACK OF LANGUAGE EQUIVALENCY : Differences among languages make equivalent translations difficult. Grammar and syntax differences add to the difficulty. The problem of multiple word meanings.Like English, other languages have more than one meaning for many words.

LACK OF LANGUAGE EQUIVALENCY : Certain of our expressions don’t mean what their dictionary and grammatical structures say they mean. Even words with the same meaning can differ in usage by culture. Overcome such language problems by knowing languages well and by questioning. Use back translating for important communications.

DIFFICULTIES IN USING ENGLISH : English is the primary language of international business. Many non-natives have problems using English. One of the most difficult problems for non-native speakers of English is the use of two-word verbs. Two-Word Verbs : By two-word verbs we mean a word consisting of a verb and a second element that, combined with the verb, produces a meaning that the verb alone does not have. Example: break away, break out, break in, etc…

DIFFICULTIES IN USING ENGLISH : Use two-word verbs sparingly and find substitutes for those words that appear in standard dictionaries. Some two-word verbs have noun and adjective forms. Use them sparingly. CULTURALLY DERIVED WORDS : Culturally derived words, especially slang, cause problems. Most slang words are not in dictionaries or on the word lists that non-English-speaking people study to learn English. So avoid slang.

DIFFICULTIES IN USING ENGLISH : Words derived from sports, social activities, and so on cause problems. Colloquialisms also cause problems. We use such words in everyday communication. But avoid them in cross-culture correspondence. A General Suggestion For Communicating Cross Cultures: Use simple, basic English. Word questions carefully to elicit the response intended. Continually check the accuracy of the communication.