Module 2
Local and Global Communication in Multicultural Settings
Intellectual Communication
According to science, each person is genetically unique. Except
for identical twins, each person has a unique genetic composition. This
uniqueness becomes even more heightened because of individual
experiences. Humans are formed by forces other than genetics. Family
background, religious affiliations, educational achievements, socio-cultural
forces, economic conditions, emotional status, and other factors shape
human identities. Because of this, no two people can ever be exactly the
same.
This situation – the diversity of people and cultures – impacts
communication. People interacting with those coming from unfamiliar
cultures may have difficulties in communication. Most people tend to
conclude that miscommunication results from a speaker’s lack of proficiency
in a language. What is not realized is the fact that even with excellent
language skills, people may still experience miscommunication.
How then do we approach intercultural communication? The following
reading text talks about intercultural communication.
Take for granted
Cultural biases
Domestic workforce
Cultural overtones
Durable bonds
Grossly disloyal
Communication Across Cultures
1. Communication across culture is challenging. Each culture has set
rules that its members take for granted. Few of us are aware of our
own cultural biases because cultural imprinting begun at a very
early age. And while some of a culture’s knowledge, rules, beliefs,
values, phobias, and anxieties are taught explicitly, most of the
information is absorbed subconsciously.
2. The challenge for multinational communication has never been
greater. Worldwide business organizations have discovered that
intercultural communication is a subject of importance – not just
because of increased globalizations, but also because their domestic
workforce is growing more and more diverse, ethnically and
culturally.
3. We are all individuals, and no two people belonging to the same
culture are guaranteed to respond in exactly the same way.
However, generalizations are valid to the extent that they provide
clues on what you will most likely encounter when dealing with
members of a particular culture.
High-Context VS. Low-Context
4. All international communication is influenced by cultural differences.
Even the choice of communication medium can have cultural
overtones. The determining factor may not be the degree of
industrialization, but rather whether the country falls into a high-
context or low-context culture.
5. High-context cultures (Mediterranean, Slav, Central European, Latin
American, African, Arab, Asian, American- Indian) leave much of
the message unspecified, to be understood through context,
nonverbal cues, and between-the-lines interpretation of what is
actually said. By contrast, low- context cultures (most Germanic
and English-speaking countries) expect messages to be explicit and
specific.
Sequential VS. Low-Context
6. Some cultures think of time sequentially, as a linear commodity to
“spend,” “save,” or “waste,” other cultures view time
synchronically, as a contan5 flow to be experienced in the moment,
and as a force that cannot be contained or controlled.
7. In Sequential Cultures (like North America, English, German,
Swedish, and Dutch), businesspeople give full attention to one
agenda item after another.
8. In synchronic cultures (including South America, Southern Europe
and Asia) the flow time is viewed as a sort of circle, with the past,
present, and future all interrelated. This viewpoint influences how
organizations in those cultures approach deadlines, strategic
thinking, investments, developing talent from within, and the
concept of “long-term” planning.
9. Orientation to the past, present and future is another aspect of time
in which cultures differ. Americans believe that the individual can
influence the future by personal effort, but since there are too many
variables in the distant future, we favor a short-term view.
Synchronistic cultures’ context is to understand the present and
prepare for the future. Any important relationship is a durable bond
that goes back and forward in time, and it is often viewed as
grossly disloyal not to favor friends and relatives in business
dealings.
Affective VS. Neutral
10. In international business practices, reason and emotion both play a
role. Which of these dominates depends upon whether we are affective
(readily showing emotions) or emotionally neutral in our approach.
Members of neutral cultures do not telegraph their feelings, but keep
them carefully controlled and subdued. In cultures with high affect, people
show their feeling plainly by laughing, smiling, grimacing, scowling, and
sometimes crying, shouting, or walking out of the room.
11. This doesn’t mean that people in neutral cultures are cold or unfeeling,
but in the course of normal business activities, neutral cultures are more
careful to monitor the amount of emotion they display. Emotional
reactions were found to be least acceptable in Japan, Indonesia, the U.K.,
Norway, and the Netherlands and most accepted in Italy, France the U.S.,
and Singapore.
12. Reason and emotion are part of all human communication. When
expressing ourselves, we look to others for confirmation of our ideas and
feelings. If our approach is highly emotional, we are seeking a direct
emotional response: “I feel the same way,” if our approach is highly
neutral, we want an indirect response: “I agree with your thoughts on
this.”
13. It’s easy for people from neutral cultures to sympathize with the Dutch
manager and his frustration over trying to reason with “that excitable
Italian.” After all, an idea either works or it doesn’t work, and the way to
test the validity of an idea is through trial observation. That just makes
sense – doesn’t it? well, not necessarily to the Italian who felt the issue
was deeply personal and who viewed any “rational argument” as totally
irrelevant!
14. When it comes to communication, what’s proper and correct in one
culture may be ineffective or even offensive in another. In reality, no
culture is right or wrong, better or worse – just different. In today’s global
business community, there is no single best approach to communicating
with one another. The key to cross-cultural success is to develop an
understanding of, and a deep respect for, the differences.
