This document discusses cross-cultural business communication and culture. It defines intercultural communication and explains how culture provides ways of thinking and interpreting the world such that meanings can differ across cultures. It discusses various aspects of culture including values, norms, aesthetics, traditions, language, and religion. Frameworks for analyzing culture like Hofstede's dimensions and Trompenaars' model are explained. Communication styles both verbal and nonverbal are covered. The importance of considering culture in international business is highlighted.
3. Cross cultural/Intercultural Communication
is a field of study that looks at how people
from differing cultural backgrounds
communicate, in similar and different ways
among themselves, and how they endeavor
to communicate across cultures.
4. Culture
Cultures provide people with ways of thinking
—ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting
the world. Thus the same words can mean
different things to people from different
cultures, even when they talk the "same"
language. When the languages are different,
and translation has to be used to
communicate, the potential for
misunderstandings increases
5. Culture-
by Gert Jan Hofstede: Culture is the
unwritten book with rules of the social game
that is passed on to newcomers by its
members, nesting itself in their minds. In
other words, it is the sum of all the rules you
have learned when you were a kid without
necessary knowing you were learning them.
They were just “the way to do things”.
6. Human Nature
Culture
Personality
Levels of human mental programming
Cross cultural/Intercultural Communication
Universal
Specific to
individuals
Specific to
groups
Inherited and
learned
Learned
Biological
8. Constituents of Culture
Value system: Shared assumptions of a group
regarding what is good bad, right or wrong, and important
or unimportant.
Norms: are guidelines or social rules that prescribe
appropriate behavior in a given situation.
Cultural imperatives: norms to be followed or to be
avoided
Cultural exclusives: behavior patterns or social customs
appropriate for locals and in which foreigners are expected
not to participate.
Cultural adiaphora : refers to social customs or behavior in
which a foreigner may conform to or participate but it is
not imperative to do so.
Aesthetics: Ideas and perception that a cultural group
upholds in terms of beauty and good taste is referred to as
aesthetics. It includes areas related to music, dance,
painting, drama, architecture, etc.
9. Traditions and Customs: Tradition passed from one
generation to another. An established pattern of behavior
that is regulated informally by as a custom.
Language: can be described as a ‘systematic means of
communicating ideas or feelings by the use of
conventional signs, gestures, marks, or especially
articulate vocal sounds’.
Coping with translation problems
Back translation:
Parallel translation:
Decentring:
Religion:
10. World Religion Population
Four major religion Adherents Percentage of world
population
Christianity 1.9 billion - 2.1 billion 29% - 32%
Islam 1.3 billion - 1.6 billion 19% - 23%
Hindu 900 million - 1 billion 14%
Buddhism 500 million - 1.5 billion
7% - 23%
World population
6.8 billion
11. Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture
Power Distance (Large or Small)
– The extent to which less powerful members of
institutions accept that power is distributed unequally
Large (Mexico, South Korea, India)
– blindly obey order of superiors
– hierarchical organizational structure
Small (U.S., Denmark, Canada)
– decentralized decision making
– flat organizational structures
13. Uncertainty Avoidance (High or Low)
– The extent to which people feel threatened by
ambiguous situations
High( Germany, Japan, Spain)
– high need for security
– strong beliefs in experts
Low (Denmark, UK)
– willing to accept risks
– less structuring of activities
15. Individualism (vs. Collectivism)
– The tendency of people to look after
themselves and their immediate family only
strong work ethic
promotions based on merit
• U.S., Canada, Australia
Collectivism
– The tendency of people to belong to groups
and to look after each other in exchange for
loyalty
weaker work ethic
promotions based on seniority
• China, South American cultures
17. Masculinity (Vs. Femininity)
– the dominant values in society are success,
money and things
emphasis on earning and recognition
high stress workplace
• Japan
Femininity
– the dominant values in society are caring for
others and the quality of life
employment security
employee freedom
• Scandinavian cultures
19. COUNTRY EXAMPLES
NEW ZEALAND - INDIVIDUALISTIC, LOW UNCERTAINTY,
EQUALITY & MALE VALUES
ITALY - INDIVIDUALISTIC, LOW UNCERTAINTY, & EQUALITY
(QUALIFIED) AND MALE VALUES
SINGAPORE - COLLECTIVIST, HIGH UNCERTAINTY, LOW
MASCULINITY, RELATIVELY HIGH POWER DISTANCE
JAPAN - COLLECTIVIST, HIGH UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE &
MASCULINITY, RELATIVELY HIGH POWER DISTANCE
20. Hofstede - Caution!
Assumes one-to-one relationship between culture
and the nation-state
– Note that many nation-states contain various
cultures (often extremely different from each
other).
The research may have been culturally bound.
Survey respondents were from a single industry
(computer) and a single company (IBM).
21. APPLYING TO MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
PLANNING & DECISION-MAKING - individualism &
collectivism?
STRUCTURING & ORGANIZING - high or low
uncertainty avoidance?
STAFFING & DIRECTING - masculinity & femininity?
COMMUNICATING & CONTROLLING - power
distance?
22. Cultural Dimensions by Trompenaars
Universalism vs. Particularism
Universalism: the belief that ideas and
practices can be applied everywhere without
modification
– U. S., Germany, and Sweden
Particularism: the belief that
circumstances dictate how ideas and
practices should be applied.
– Spain and Japan
23. Neutral Vs. Affective
Neutral: emotions are held in check
– Japan and the U.S.
Affective: emotions are openly and naturally expressed
– Mexico, Netherlands, and Switzerland
Specific Vs. Diffuse
Specific: individuals have a large public space and a
small private space
– UK, U. S., and Switzerland
Diffuse: both public and private space are similar in size
– Venezuela, China, and Spain
24. Achievement Vs. Ascription
Achievement: people are
accorded status based on how
well they perform their functions
– U.S., Switzerland, and UK
Ascription: status is attributed
based on who or what a person is
– Venezuela and China
25. Time
Past or Present-Oriented Vs. Future-Oriented
– Past or present-oriented : emphasize the history and
tradition of the culture
Venezuela, Indonesia, and Spain
– Future-oriented: emphasize the opportunities and limitless
scope
that any agreement can have
U. S., Italy, and Germany
26. Sequential Vs. Synchronous Time
Sequential: time is prevalent, people
tend to do only one activity at a time, keep
appointments strictly, and prefer to follow
plans
–U.S.
Synchronous: time is prevalent, people
tend to do more than one activity at a time,
appointments are approximate, and
schedules are not important
– Mexico and France
28. Individualism Vs. Collectivism
Individualism: refers to people regarding
themselves as individuals
–U.S., UK, and Sweden
Collectivism: refers to people regarding
themselves as part of a group
– Japan and France
29. Other cross-culture classifications
High-context vs low-context cultures
Homophilous vs heterophilous cultures
Relationship-focussed vs deal-focussed cultures
Formal vs informal cultures
Polychronic (fluid time) vs Monochronic (rigid
time) cultures
Expressive vs reserved culture
30. Verbal Communication Styles
Context is information that surrounds a
communication and helps convey the message
Context plays a key role in explaining many
communication differences
Messages often highly coded and implicit in high-
context society (e.g., Japan, many Arab countries)
Messages often explicit and speaker says precisely
what s/he means in low context society (e.g., U.S.
and Canada)
32. Verbal Communication Styles
Indirect and Direct Styles
– High-context cultures: messages implicit and
indirect; voice intonation, timing, facial
expressions play important roles in conveying
information
– Low-context cultures: people often meet only to
accomplish objectives; tend to be direct and
focused in communications
33. Verbal Communication Styles
Elaborate and Succinct Styles
– Three degrees of communication quantity—elaborating,
exacting, succinct
– Elaborating style most popular in high- context cultures with
moderate degree of uncertainty avoidance
– Exacting style focuses on precision and use of right amount of
words to convey message; more common in low-context, low-
uncertainty-avoidance cultures
– Succinct style more common in high-context cultures with
considerable uncertainty avoidance where people say few words
and allow understatements, pauses, and silence to convey
meaning.
36. Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication
– Transfer of meaning through means such as body language
and use of physical space
– Chromatics
Use of color to communicate messages
– Kinesics
Study of communication through body movement and facial
expression
– Eye contact
– Posture
– Gestures
37. Nonverbal Communication
Proxemics
– Study of way people use physical space to convey
messages
Intimate distance used for very confidential communications
Personal distance used for talking with family/close friends
Social distance used to handle most business transactions
Public distance used when calling across room or giving talk to
group
38. Nonverbal Communication
Chronemics: the way time is used in a
culture.
two types:
– Monochronic time schedule: things done in linear
fashion
– Polychronic time schedule: people do several
things at same time and place higher value on
personal involvement than on getting things done
on time
40. Cultural Orientation In International Business
Parochialism vs Simplification
EPRG Approach
Ethnocentric
Polycentric
Regiocentric
Geocentric
Emic and Etic Dilemma
41. Campus Overview
907/A Uvarshad,
Gandhinagar
Highway,
Ahmedabad –
382422.
Ahmedabad Kolkata
Infinity Benchmark, 10th
Floor, Plot G1,
Block EP & GP,
Sector V, Salt-Lake,
Kolkata – 700091.
Mumbai
Goldline Business Centre
Linkway Estate,
Next to Chincholi Fire
Brigade, Malad (West),
Mumbai – 400 064.