Session 2 - Cross-cultural communication

Question 1

What are the 3 R’s of cross cultural business and communication ?

Answer 1

The 3 R’s in cross-cultural business are :

• Recognition (increase awareness of cultural differences)
• Respect (appreciate cultural differences)
• Reconciliation (increase awareness of cultural differences)

Question 2

Give two examples of the implicit cultures

Answer 2

The Chinese and French culture is more implicit

Question 3

Can you explain the Peach and coco metaphor?

Answer 3

The coco is the French culture because is hard to know French people it’s cool

Question 4

Is the US a diffuse culture ?

Answer 4

No, the US is a specific culture.
In a specific culture, people tend to keep their personal and work life separate. These cultures don’t see an overlap between the two spheres. These cultures tend to be schedule focused and direct and to the point in their communications. Ex: Germany the US, the UK and the Netherlands.

Question 5

What is Kaizen ?

Answer 5

The word kaizen is a fusion of the two Japanese words kai and zen, which mean “change” and “better” respectively. The common English translation is “continuous improvement”.

Question 6

What is a diffusive/diffuse culture ?

Answer 6

In a diffuse culture, people tend to see their personal and work life as interconnected. These cultures believe that objectives can be better achieved when relationships are strong. As such, in these cultures work colleagues socialize with each other outside of work more. These cultures are courteous and respect age, status, and background more.
Ex ; China, India, Argentina and Spain