Jose Garcia-Pabon, Ph.D. of Washington State University Extension presents on Latino entrepreneurship, including the issues that arise when navigating low/high context communication style and examining cross-cultural communication effectiveness to create thriving communities.

1. WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION
José García-Pabón, Ph.D.

2. 2.3 million businesses
1.9 million jobs
$345.2 billion in sales
Latino businesses
Source: US Census 2007

3. high failure rate, insufficient capital, low revenue, no
culturally appropriate professional advice, unfamiliar with
small business regulations, and more
Issues

4. Characteristics HIGH CONTEXT LOW CONTEXT
The Structure of
Relationships
Dense, intersecting
networks and long
term and strong
relationships.
Relationship is more
important than task
Loose, wide
networks, shorter
term.
Task is more
important than
relationship
Main Type of
Cultural
Knowledge
More knowledge is
implicit, patterns are
not fully conscious
and are hard to
explain
More knowledge is
visible, explicit,
consciously organized
Form of
Communication
Less verbally explicit
communication, less
written/formal
information
Rule oriented people
play by external and
clearly written rules.
More knowledge is
codified, public,
external, and
accessible
4
Edward Hall cultural model

5. Low contextHigh context
Edward Hall cultural model

6. 6
Activity: The iceberg

7. 7
The cultural iceberg

8. SCARY!!!
YOUR
DISCOMFORT
ZONE
YOUR COMFORT
ZONE
YOU

9. What you need to do when
interacting with HC entrepreneurs
 Suspend judgment
 Live with uncertainty
 Question any quick answers and remedies
 Keep in mind cultural subjectivity is at the core
of cross-cultural outreach

10. Understanding your low/high context communication
style increases your cross-cultural communication
effectiveness

12. Preparing an event for a high
context audience