Coping with cultural filters

1. Cultural Misconceptions

• People are basically like me• Others lack my advantages• Differences don’t really matter, they get

ironed out• No probs, I speak the ‘lingo’• Everyone can see how sincere I am• They have to respect my knowledge• We’re all interested in the bottom line

Areas of Misunderstandings

• The way men relate to women and vv• The way people indicate ‘respect’• The cultural view of time and space• The taboos• The way business commitments are made• Nonverbal cues• Language and translation• Dress• How people handle ‘persuasion’• Religious and political influences on business• Prejudices they may have against you.

Categories of Cultural Difference (1)

• Greetings• Visiting private homes• Public speaking• Meetings• Gestures• Personal Appearance• Attitudes (to nature, to expressing

emotions etc

Categories of Cultural Difference (2)

• Language

• Religions

• Special holidays

• The family

• Dating and Marriage

• Social and economic levels

• Distribution of group

Categories of Cultural Difference (3)

• Work• Diet• Free time activities• History and government• Education• Transportation and communication• Health• Land and climate• Universal signals and nonverbal cues

Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1960s):

• Relation to human nature (good, bad, neutral, evil)

• Relation to nature and supernature (mastery over nature)

• Positioning in the flow of time (past, present, future)

• Relation with activity (being, becoming, doing)• Relationships with others (lineality, individualism,

collaterality)

Hall, Edward T (1976)• Time

• Non-verbal Communication

• High-context; Low-context

Parsons, Talcott (early 1980s)

• Affectivity v Affective Neutrality

• Self-Orientation v Collective Orientation

• Universalism v Particularism

• Ascription v Achievement

• Specificity v Diffuseness

Hofstede, Geert (early 1980s)

• Individual v Collective (Identity)

• Masculine v Feminine (Gender related values)

• Risk Avoidance (Virtue)

• Power Distance (Hierarchy)

• Long-term orientation/Confucianism the 5th dimension (Truth)

• NEW!!! Indulgence v restraint

Trompenaars , Alfons and Hampden-Turner, Charles (1980s)

• Universalism v Particularism• Individualism v Communitarianism • Affective v Neutral• Specific (goal oriented) v Diffuse (relationship-

oriented)• Sequential time v Synchronic time• Internal v External orientation (control)• Achieved Status v Ascribed Status• Equality v Hierarchy

Stewart and Benett 1991

• Perception-based v Symbol-based

• Concrete v Theoretical

• Inductive v Deductive

Walker, Walker and Schmitz (2003) 4 levels of culture

• Individual, interpersonal

• Group, team

• Organisational

• Societal

• Cultural Orientations Modelhttps://www.culturalnavigator.com/%28S%28lnbecfjvhq0zxs55k3bbtnyd%29%29/cnav_app/default.aspx

Lewis, Richard (2000)

• http://www.cultureactive.com/help/demo.html

• Multi-active (family, hierarchy, relationships, emotion …)

• Linear-active (facts, planning, products, laws, word-deed ..)

• Reactive (intuition, courtesy, collective harmony, face…)

Beamer, Linda (2004)• Individualist vs. collectivist

• Horizontal vs. hierarchical

• Form distrusted vs. form trusted

• Self in control vs. Other in control

• Learn from experience vs. from authority

• Rules-observant vs. rules-bending

• Communication direct vs. indirect

• Uncertainty-tolerant vs. uncertainty-averse

Dwyer (revising every year!)

• Low v high disclosure

• Low v high risk

• Low v high context

• Direct v indirect communication

• Low v high trust

What to do (1)

• Find out about the target culture

• Talk to people with experience

• Study the language

What to do (2)

• Remember those parameters!

• Think about how communication might be when the interlocutor is from :

- A high-context or low-context culture

- A specific or a diffuse culture

- An affective or a neutral culture

Communicating: What to do (3)

• Avoid slang and idioms

• Slow down your speech

• Be an active listener

• Check for comprehension

Audience, audience audience

• Remember to focus on your audience

• Remember it is the audience who gives meaning to your message

• Design your messages and choose your format based on what you know about your audience

Writing

• Write or call?

• Translate or interpret?

• Low-context or high-context?

Your Assignment

• Present us with an analysis of underlying culturally-based parameters that determine communication in x country

• Present us with advice and strategies for how to communicate with x culture