PPT471.ppt 1206KB Jun 23 2011 10:24:40 AM
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 culture
High-context culture
Individualistic values
Group-oriented values
Linear logic
Spiral logic
Direct style
Indirect style
Sender-oriented style (the
Interpreter-oriented style
sender assumes the responsibility of
communicating clearly)
Self-enhancement style
Self-effacement style
Verbal-based
understanding
Context-based
understanding
Context Square
High-context cultures
context
Information
implicitly
stated
China
Japan
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Italy
Russia
Information
explicitly
stated
France
U.S
Germany
Switzerland
Low-context cultures
information
meaning
Visual Exercise
Map three screenshots to the context square
How different are three screenshots?
Can you explain why?
Lotus American Page
www.lotus.com
Lotus German Page
www.lotus.de
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 crosscultural 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
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 culture
High-context culture
Individualistic values
Group-oriented values
Linear logic
Spiral logic
Direct style
Indirect style
Sender-oriented style (the
Interpreter-oriented style
sender assumes the responsibility of
communicating clearly)
Self-enhancement style
Self-effacement style
Verbal-based
understanding
Context-based
understanding
Context Square
High-context cultures
context
Information
implicitly
stated
China
Japan
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Italy
Russia
Information
explicitly
stated
France
U.S
Germany
Switzerland
Low-context cultures
information
meaning
Visual Exercise
Map three screenshots to the context square
How different are three screenshots?
Can you explain why?
Lotus American Page
www.lotus.com
Lotus German Page
www.lotus.de
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 crosscultural 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