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Chapter 4
COMMUNICATING ACROSS CULTURES
Definitions
Communication is the exchange of meaning.
Communication is the process of transferring meanings from sender to receiver(s).
Cross-cultural communication occurs when a person from one culture sends a message to a person from another culture.
Elements of Communication
Sender
Perception & Interpretation
Encoding
Message
Channel
Nonverbal Communications
Receiver
Decoding
The Communication Process
Sender Meaning
Encoding Medium
DecodingReceiver Interpretation
Feedback
A Communication Model
CommunicationChannel
Feedback
NoiseNoise
Encodes
Decodes
Receiver
Encodes
Decodes
Sender
Communications Model with FeedbackStimulus
Perception
Interpretation
Encoding
Perception
Decoding
Interpretation
Encoding
Reality
Transmission through a channel
Feedback
Cross-Cultural Misperception
Perception is the process by which individual selects, organizes, and evaluates stimuli from the external environment to provide meaningful experiences for himself or herself.
Perception is selective, culturally determined, tends to remain constant, and perceptual patterns are learned.
Cross-Cultural Misinterpretation
Interpretation is the process of making sense out of perception, and organizes our experience to guide our behavior.
The effectiveness of communication is determined by how closely the sender and receiver have the same meaning for the same message
Categories & Stereotypes
Sources of Misinterpretation
Subconscious Cultural Blinders Lack of Cultural Self-AwarenessProjected Similarity
U.S. Proverbs Representing Cultural Values
Proverb Cultural Value
Time is money Time Thriftiness
Don’t cry over spilt milk Practicality
Waste not, want not Frugality
Early to bed, early to rise, makes- Diligence; one healthy, wealthy, and wise work ethic
A stitch in time saves nine Timeliness
If at first you don’t succeed, Persistence; try, try again work ethic
Take care of today, and Preparation- tomorrow will take car of itself for the future
Cross-Cultural Misevaluation
Evaluation involves judging whether some one or something is good or bad.
HIGH CONTEXTHIGH CONTEXTCommunications have multiple meanings
interpreted by reading the situationPeople depend more on shared codesAgreements tend to be spokenPersonal relationships are relatively long
lastingInsiders and outsiders are closely
distinguished
LOW CONTEXTLOW CONTEXTThe words provide most of the meaningPeople depend less on nonverbal codesAgreements tend to be writtenPersonal relationships are relatively
shorter in durationInsiders and outsiders are less closely
distinguished
Cultural Context and its Effects on Communication
(Exhibit 4-5)
High Japan Middle East
Latin AmericaAfrica Mediterranean England
France North America
Scandinavia Germany
Switzerland
high context/implicit
low context/explicitLow Low HighExplicitness of communication
Con
text
Differences between Japanese and American Communication Styles
(Exhibit 4-6)
Japanese Ningensei Style of Communication
• Indirect verbal and nonverbal communication
• Relationship communication• Discourages confrontational
strategies• Strategically ambiguous
communication• Delayed feedback• Patient, longer term
negotiators• Uses fewer words
U.S. Adversarial Style of Communication
• More direct verbal and nonverbal communication
• More task communication• Confrontational strategies
more acceptable• Prefers more to-the-point
communication• More immediate feedback• Shorter term negotiators• Favors verbosity
Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles
(Contd.)
• Distrustful of skilful verbal communicators
• Group orientation• Cautious, tentative• Complementary
communicators• Softer, heartlike logic• Sympathetic, empathetic,
complex use of pathos• Expresses and decodes
complex relational strategies and nuances
• Exalts verbal eloquence• More individualistic
orientation• More assertive, self-assured• More publicly critical
communicators• Harder, analytic logic
preferred• Favors logos, reason• Expresses and decodes
complex logos, cognitive nuances
Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles
(Contd.)
• Avoids decision making in public
• Makes decision in private venues, away from public eye
• Decisions via ringi and nemawashi (complete consensus process)
• Uses go-betweens for decision making
• Understatement and hesitation in verbal and nonverbal communication
• Frequent decision making in public
• Frequent decisions in public at negotiating tables
• Decisions by majority rule and public compromise is more commonplace
• More extensive use of direct person-to-person, player-to-player interaction for decisions
• May publicly speak in superlatives, exaggerations, nonverbal projection
Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles
(Contd.)
• Uses qualifiers, tentative, humility as communicator
• Receiver/listening-centered• Inferred meanings, looks
beyond words to nuances, nonverbal communication
• Shy, reserved communicators
• Distaste for purely business transactions
• Mixes social and business communication
• Favors fewer qualifiers, more ego-centered
• More speaker- and message-centered
• More face-value meaning, more denotative
• More publicly self-assertive• Prefers to “get down to
business” or “nitty gritty”• Tends to keep business
negotiating more separated from social communication
Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles
(Contd.)
• Utilizes matomari or “hints” for achieving group adjustments and saving face in negotiating
• Practices haragei or belly logic and communication
• More directly verbalizes management’s preference at negotiating tables
• Practices more linear, discursive, analytical logic; greater reverence for cognitive than for affective
Achieving Communication Effectiveness
NEED TO:
Improve Feedback Systems
Provide Language Training
Provide Cultural Training
Increase Flexibility and Co-operation
Managing Cross-Cultural Communication
Developing cultural sensitivity Careful encoding Selective transmission Careful decoding of feedback Follow-up actions
Behaviors Most Important to Intercultural Communication Effectiveness
(as reviewed by Ruben)
Respect (conveyed through eye contact, body posture, voice tone and pitch)
Interaction posture (the ability to respond to others in a descriptive, nonevaluative, and nonjudgmental way)
Orientation to knowledge (recognizing that one’s knowledge, perception, and beliefs are valid only for oneself and not for everyone else)
Empathy Interaction management Tolerance for ambiguity Other-oriented role behavior (one’s capacity to be flexible and to
adopt different roles for the sake of greater group cohesion and group communication
COMMUNICATION WITH COMMUNICATION WITH NONNATIVE SPEAKERSNONNATIVE SPEAKERS
Use the most common words with most common meanings
Select words with few alternative meanings
Follow rules of grammar strictlySpeak with clear breaks between
words
Avoid “sports” words or words borrowed from literature
Avoid slang/words that represent pictures
Mimic the cultural flavor nonnative speaker’s language
SummarizeTest your communication success
COMMUNICATION WITH COMMUNICATION WITH NONNATIVE SPEAKERSNONNATIVE SPEAKERS