1. Culture in Business
ELL 실용 비즈니스 영어

2. Warmup
You are working together in a group of 4 members. You notice one group member does not do his work well. He is constantly behind and not working well or doing what he should. You decide to…
a) yell at him. You tell him directly, “What are you doing? You are a terrible worker and are making the rest of us look bad in front of the boss. Try harder or you are off the team.”
b) tolerate him. You and the other hard-working coworkers will work harder to compensate for his lack of ability and you will do his work for him since he is behind. This way you don’t have to confront him even though you have to do more work.

3. Warmup
Wednesday, May 3 is a public holiday. Friday, May 5 is a public holiday. Thursday, May 4 is a work day. One week before May 4 the government decides to make Thursday, May 4 a holiday as well. You…
a) are very happy. Now you can plan a trip and take time off from school. You have 5 days off (Wed to Sun) and can relax and enjoy this new holiday.
b) are angry. Why did the government wait one week before May 4 to make it a holiday? Why could the government not decide this before in January or February when you would have more time to schedule a trip abroad. Why did the government schedule this so late?

4. Case Studies
1. An Australian man is waiting for his Japanese friends. He notices they are always minutes late to each meeting. They arrive late again and he gets angry at them. Why?
2. Korean workers do not think their boss has a good idea, however they do not tell the boss that they believe the boss’ idea is a bad one. Why?
3. American employees ask their Korean coworkers about a possible suggestion to improve work. Instead of just saying ‘no’, the Korean coworkers say ‘Let’s think about it and see what happens’. Why?

5. A Theory on Cultural Communication
A anthropologist, Edward Hall, wrote a book ‘Beyond Culture’ in 1976 which looked at cultural communication. His thesis was the way in which we communicate is influenced by which culture we are from.
There is a difference in communication between ‘High Context Cultures’ and ‘Low Context Cultures’. What are the characteristics of each culture?

6. Logic & Culture In High Context Cultures…
Much information and significance is contained in the physical context (age, relationships, dress, gender, setting, facial expression). Relationships are very important.
Rules are often implicit (understood, rather than directly stated).
Group dynamics and team dynamics are stressed.
Contracts are not all important and may not be very detailed.
Directness & self-disclosure may be offensive (lack of respect, losing face). Emotions are protected.
Flexibility is expected in all situations, change is normal.
Listening and reading effectively require knowledge of the context clues, and it is usually the responsibility of listeners or readers to consider the context carefully, not simply the words written or spoken.

7. Logic & Culture In Low Context Cultures…
Important information is contained in the explicit message (the words used, spoken or written). Words are used for their literal meaning.
Relationships, while still important, have less significance than words, contracts, facts or objective information.
Less formality.
Rules are explicit (stated directly) in work and public life, exceptions are not usually made.
Contracts are binding (not flexible).
Indirectness and flexibility may be a sign of deviousness or untrustworthiness.
Speakers and writers should make an effort to be clear and ensure that listeners and readers can easily follow their meaning. Confusion is often considered to be a result of poor communication by the speaker or writer.

8. What is Korea? What are Western countries?

9. Examples of Low Context Cultures
Australian Canadian British Finnish German Irish New Zealand Scandinavia Switzerland United States (excluding the Southern United States)

10. Examples of High Context Cultures
African Arab Brazilian Chinese Filipinos French Canadian (Quebec) French Greek Hawaiian Hungarian Indian Italian Japanese Korean Latin Americans Portuguese Russian Southern US Spanish Thai Turkish Vietnamese Indonesian

11. High / Low Context Culture

12. High and Low Context Cultures
In a low context culture we assume we have a low level of shared context – we don’t have the same reference points, don’t have the same knowledge – therefore we have to be explicit in communicating (clear, concise)
In a high context culture we assume we share a high level of shared context – we have same reference points, same knowledge – therefore we do not have to be implicit in communicating because a lot of the message is understood through body language, gestures, tone, vocabulary, status, etc.

13. Differences in High/Low Context Cultures
Can you call me by my first name?
What would happen if you called your Korean professors by their first name?
(formality = the West vs Korea)
When I ask ‘are there any questions?’ does anyone ask?
(group harmony = the West vs Korea)
Are 회식’s common in the West?
Is 눈치 a Korean concept or western concept?
Where is the verb in English / where is the verb in Korean?

15. High and Low Context Cultures
In a low context culture we assume we have a low level of shared context – we don’t have the same reference points, don’t have the same knowledge – therefore we have to be explicit in communicating (clear, concise)
In a high context culture we assume we share a high level of shared context – we have same reference points, same knowledge – therefore we do not have to be implicit in communicating because a lot of the message is understood through body language, gestures, tone, vocabulary, status, etc.

20. Low Context Culture in Business
the message will be clear and all the information you need will be in that message
a business meeting will have a clear start, body and finish
people will repeat themselves or summarize to make sure everyone is understood
being punctual is important; people who are constantly late may be untrustworthy
you are allowed to call the boss (teacher/professor) by their first name
you can confront someone directly if they are causing problems
follow rules strictly
have short-term relationships in business
never change the contract – most are written (contracts will be very detailed)
inflexible (don’t like change)
conflict is not personal (you can disagree but still be friends)

21. High Context Culture in Business
people will preserve the group dynamic (sometimes over efficiency)
people will avoid a loss of face (체면) – won’t rebuke others
it’s possible to change a contract (verbal contracts are okay)
the rules are understood implicitly but maybe not mentioned
relationships in your work are very important
things can be changed at the last minute (flexible)
saying ‘no’ may be too direct

22. a Korean employee working in Switzerland may think…
why is my boss repeating himself?
there are only short-term relationships
people are too worried about the goal and not about relationships
a Canadian employee working in Korea may think…
group harmony is more important than the final goal
why doesn’t anyone tell me where I can find this information?
why do we do this if it’s inefficient for the business?
why don’t you just tell me directly?

23. Case Studies
1. An Australian man is waiting for his Japanese friends. He notices they are always minutes late to each meeting. They arrive late again and he gets angry at them. Why?
2. Korean workers do not think their boss has a good idea, however they do not tell the boss that they believe the boss’ idea is a bad one. Why?
3. American employees ask their Korean coworkers about a possible suggestion to improve work. Instead of just saying ‘no’, the Korean coworkers say ‘Let’s think about it and see what happens’. Why?

24. Warmup - Revisited
You are working together in a group of 4 members. You notice one group member does not do his work well. He is constantly behind and not working well or doing what he should. You decide to…
a) yell at him. You tell him directly, “What are you doing? You are a terrible worker and are making the rest of us look bad in front of the boss. Try harder or you are off the team.”
b) tolerate him. You and the other hard-working coworkers will work harder to compensate for his lack of ability and you will do his work for him since he is behind. This way you don’t have to confront him even though you have to do more work.

25. Warmup - Revisited
Wednesday, May 3 is a public holiday. Friday, May 5 is a public holiday. Thursday, May 4 is a work day. One week before May 4 the government decides to make Thursday, May 4 a holiday as well. You…
a) are very happy. Now you can plan a trip and take time off from school. You have 5 days off (Wed to Sun) and can relax and enjoy this new holiday.
b) are angry. Why did the government wait one week before May 4 to make it a holiday? Why could the government not decide this before in January or February when you would have more time to schedule a trip abroad. Why did the government schedule this so late?