Cross Cultural Communication

Question 1

What has been the outcome of globalisation?

Answer 1

• Has resulted in diverse societies and workplaces

- Increasing diversity - need to develop cross-cultural communication competence

Question 2

What is culture?

Answer 2

• Learned social behaviours that develop over time

- Hofstede - The collective programming of the mind

Question 3

What is the consensus of the definition of culture?

Answer 3

• Culture is learned
• Culture is shared
• Culture changes continously
• Every exchange with others is inter/cross cultural

Question 4

What is enculturation?

Answer 4

the socialisation process that we through as we learn and adapt to our society

Question 5

What is acculturation?

Answer 5

the process of cultural adjustment and adaption people experience as they move form one culture to another

Question 6

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 6

the recognition of cultural differences and acceptance that each social group has its own set of cultural norms

Question 7

What are the iceberg and three levels of culture?

Answer 7

• Tip
  
  • Visible cultural aspects (1st level)
  • Language, customs, food, clothing (2nd level)
  • Acquired through observation, educaiton/training
• Underlying values and beliefs (3rd level)
  
  • Value systems of societies that influence thoughts and perceptions
  • Motivates the behaviours of individuals

Question 8

What are Hofstede’s dimensions?

Answer 8

• Power distance
• Individualism/collectivism
• Masculinity/Femininity
• Uncertainty Avoidance

Question 9

What is power distance?

Answer 9

• The extent to which less powerful members of a society accept inequality in power and status
• High: hierarchies in organisations, power and privilege not challenged
• Low: flatter organisations, greater equity

Question 10

What is Individualism/collectivism?

Answer 10

• Individualist cultures are those where the members are concerned with their own interests and those of their immediate family
• Collectivist cultures emphasis the importance of the group such as the extended family and society

Question 11

What is Masculinity/Femininity?

Answer 11

• Masculine cultures have a preference for assertiveness, achievement, competition and material acquisition (Japan)
• Feminine cultures prefer nurutrence, nonmaterial values and quality of life (sweeten)

Question 12

What is uncertainty avoidance?

Answer 12

• The extent to which members of a culture are comfortable in accepting ambiguous or unclear situations
• High: strict codes of behaviour, risk averse, resistent to change (China)
• Low: risk taking, willing to accept change, fluid codes of behaviour (US)

Question 13

What are high context cultures?

Answer 13

• Not everything is said or signaled
• Reading between the lines necessary for interpretation
• Contextual understanding needed in interpretation

Question 14

How do high context cultures exist during business negotiations?

Answer 14

• Formal and often long sessions of greetings
• Longer discussions on family and business networks
• The context/history of the two parties or organisiotns discussed in depth
• Individuals rarely ever get straight to the point
• Overt expression or disapproval or assertiveness during negotiations not acceptable

Question 15

What are low context cultures?

Answer 15

• Large part of the message is verbally transmitted

- Less contextual information needed in interpretation

Question 16

How do low context cultures exist during business negotiations?

Answer 16

• Brief greetings are exchanged
• Brief ice-breakers
• Individuals get straight to the point
• Not much of the context/history of the two parties or organisations discussed
• Expression or disapproval or assertiveness during negotiations considered ok

Question 17

How is power perceived in different cultures?

Answer 17

• Primary
  
  • More permanent dimension of gender, race, age and sexual orientation
• Secondary
  
  • More changeable dimension encompassing educational background, socioeconomic status and marital stauts
• In intercultural interactions, power in either of these two
  dimensions may be perceived differently

Question 18

What were Trommelaars and Hampden-Turner’s Findings?

Answer 18

• Universalism vs particularism
  
  • What is good and right can be applied everywhere vs a case is judged on its own merits
• Individualsim vs Communitarianism
• Neutral vs affective
  
  • Expression of emotion and objectivity

Question 19

What are the purposes of communication in different cultures?

Answer 19

• Communication is expressive
  
  • Emotional and demonstrative and is centred on relationships
• Communication is instrumental
  
  • Problem-centred, pragmatic, impersonal and goal-oriented
• Communication is formal
  
  • Formal cultures place high emphasis on following business protocol and social customs
• Communication is informal
  
  • Informal cultures feel more comfortable dispensing with ceremony and conducting business more casually

Question 20

What is cross-cultural communication?

Answer 20

Focus on comparison of communication styles

Question 21

What is intercultural communication?

Answer 21

• Social interaction, sharing of meaning between people form diverse cultures
• Focus on understanding and sharing rather than comparing

Question 22

What are the differences between cross cultural and intercultural communication?

Answer 22

• Cross cultural communication needed in international business context
• Interculutral communication needed in multicultural societies

Question 23

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 23

The use of one own’s culture to interpret all others