Chapter 4

COMMUNICATING ACROSS CULTURES

Definitions

Communication is the exchange of meaning.

Communication is the process of transferring meanings from sender to receiver(s).

Cross-cultural communication occurs when a person from one culture sends a message to a person from another culture.

Elements of Communication

Sender

Perception & Interpretation

Encoding

Message

Channel

Nonverbal Communications

Receiver

Decoding

The Communication Process

Sender Meaning

Encoding Medium

DecodingReceiver Interpretation

Feedback

A Communication Model

CommunicationChannel

Feedback

NoiseNoise

Encodes

Decodes

Receiver

Encodes

Decodes

Sender

Communications Model with FeedbackStimulus

Perception

Interpretation

Encoding

Perception

Decoding

Interpretation

Encoding

Reality

Transmission through a channel

Feedback

Cross-Cultural Misperception

Perception is the process by which individual selects, organizes, and evaluates stimuli from the external environment to provide meaningful experiences for himself or herself.

Perception is selective, culturally determined, tends to remain constant, and perceptual patterns are learned.

Cross-Cultural Misinterpretation

Interpretation is the process of making sense out of perception, and organizes our experience to guide our behavior.

The effectiveness of communication is determined by how closely the sender and receiver have the same meaning for the same message

Categories & Stereotypes

Sources of Misinterpretation

Subconscious Cultural Blinders Lack of Cultural Self-AwarenessProjected Similarity

U.S. Proverbs Representing Cultural Values

Proverb Cultural Value

Time is money Time Thriftiness

Don’t cry over spilt milk Practicality

Waste not, want not Frugality

Early to bed, early to rise, makes- Diligence; one healthy, wealthy, and wise work ethic

A stitch in time saves nine Timeliness

If at first you don’t succeed, Persistence; try, try again work ethic

Take care of today, and Preparation- tomorrow will take car of itself for the future

Cross-Cultural Misevaluation

Evaluation involves judging whether some one or something is good or bad.

HIGH CONTEXTHIGH CONTEXTCommunications have multiple meanings

interpreted by reading the situationPeople depend more on shared codesAgreements tend to be spokenPersonal relationships are relatively long

lastingInsiders and outsiders are closely

distinguished

LOW CONTEXTLOW CONTEXTThe words provide most of the meaningPeople depend less on nonverbal codesAgreements tend to be writtenPersonal relationships are relatively

shorter in durationInsiders and outsiders are less closely

distinguished

Cultural Context and its Effects on Communication

(Exhibit 4-5)

High Japan Middle East

Latin AmericaAfrica Mediterranean England

France North America

Scandinavia Germany

Switzerland

high context/implicit

low context/explicitLow Low HighExplicitness of communication

Con

text

Differences between Japanese and American Communication Styles

(Exhibit 4-6)

Japanese Ningensei Style of Communication

• Indirect verbal and nonverbal communication

• Relationship communication• Discourages confrontational

strategies• Strategically ambiguous

communication• Delayed feedback• Patient, longer term

negotiators• Uses fewer words

U.S. Adversarial Style of Communication

• More direct verbal and nonverbal communication

• More task communication• Confrontational strategies

more acceptable• Prefers more to-the-point

communication• More immediate feedback• Shorter term negotiators• Favors verbosity

Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles

(Contd.)

• Distrustful of skilful verbal communicators

• Group orientation• Cautious, tentative• Complementary

communicators• Softer, heartlike logic• Sympathetic, empathetic,

complex use of pathos• Expresses and decodes

complex relational strategies and nuances

• Exalts verbal eloquence• More individualistic

orientation• More assertive, self-assured• More publicly critical

communicators• Harder, analytic logic

preferred• Favors logos, reason• Expresses and decodes

complex logos, cognitive nuances

Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles

(Contd.)

• Avoids decision making in public

• Makes decision in private venues, away from public eye

• Decisions via ringi and nemawashi (complete consensus process)

• Uses go-betweens for decision making

• Understatement and hesitation in verbal and nonverbal communication

• Frequent decision making in public

• Frequent decisions in public at negotiating tables

• Decisions by majority rule and public compromise is more commonplace

• More extensive use of direct person-to-person, player-to-player interaction for decisions

• May publicly speak in superlatives, exaggerations, nonverbal projection

Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles

(Contd.)

• Uses qualifiers, tentative, humility as communicator

• Receiver/listening-centered• Inferred meanings, looks

beyond words to nuances, nonverbal communication

• Shy, reserved communicators

• Distaste for purely business transactions

• Mixes social and business communication

• Favors fewer qualifiers, more ego-centered

• More speaker- and message-centered

• More face-value meaning, more denotative

• More publicly self-assertive• Prefers to “get down to

business” or “nitty gritty”• Tends to keep business

negotiating more separated from social communication

Differences Between Japanese and American Communication Styles

(Contd.)

• Utilizes matomari or “hints” for achieving group adjustments and saving face in negotiating

• Practices haragei or belly logic and communication

• More directly verbalizes management’s preference at negotiating tables

• Practices more linear, discursive, analytical logic; greater reverence for cognitive than for affective

Achieving Communication Effectiveness

NEED TO:

Improve Feedback Systems

Provide Language Training

Provide Cultural Training

Increase Flexibility and Co-operation

Managing Cross-Cultural Communication

Developing cultural sensitivity Careful encoding Selective transmission Careful decoding of feedback Follow-up actions

Behaviors Most Important to Intercultural Communication Effectiveness

(as reviewed by Ruben)

Respect (conveyed through eye contact, body posture, voice tone and pitch)

Interaction posture (the ability to respond to others in a descriptive, nonevaluative, and nonjudgmental way)

Orientation to knowledge (recognizing that one’s knowledge, perception, and beliefs are valid only for oneself and not for everyone else)

Empathy Interaction management Tolerance for ambiguity Other-oriented role behavior (one’s capacity to be flexible and to

adopt different roles for the sake of greater group cohesion and group communication

COMMUNICATION WITH COMMUNICATION WITH NONNATIVE SPEAKERSNONNATIVE SPEAKERS

Use the most common words with most common meanings

Select words with few alternative meanings

Follow rules of grammar strictlySpeak with clear breaks between

words

Avoid “sports” words or words borrowed from literature

Avoid slang/words that represent pictures

Mimic the cultural flavor nonnative speaker’s language

SummarizeTest your communication success

COMMUNICATION WITH COMMUNICATION WITH NONNATIVE SPEAKERSNONNATIVE SPEAKERS