Key Skills in Tourism Business Notes (2) PDF

Cross-cultural management: communication skills Basic concepts: ➔​ Culture Behavior peculiar to Homo sapiens, together with material objects used as an integral part of this behavior. Thus, culture includes language, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art...

Cross-cultural management: communication skills Basic concepts: ➔​ Culture Behavior peculiar to Homo sapiens, together with material objects used as an integral part of this behavior. Thus, culture includes language, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, and ceremonies, among other elements. ➔​ Cultural Relativism It is a philosophical approach to cultural differences that tries not to judge other cultures based on your own culture’s values. Instead, people are expected to suspend moral judgment of other cultures’ beliefs and practices. ➔​ Cultural Universalism It is a concept that values, concepts, and behaviors within diverse cultures that can be examined, understood, and judged according to universal standards of right and wrong. Cultural universalism implies that norms, values, and concepts are equal to all people and cultures, which is also applied in international law. ➔​ Intercultural awareness It is having an understanding of both your own and other cultures, and particularly the similarities and differences between them. Cross-cultural Communication Skills They are necessary to communicate or share information with people from other cultures and social groups. Language skills may be an important part of intercultural communication, but they are by no means the only requirement. Cross-cultural communication also requires an understanding that different cultures have: -​ different customs -​ standards -​ social mores -​ thought patterns Good Cross-cultural communication skills require a willingness to accept and adapt to differences. Barriers to intercultural communication: -​ Steryotype It is a prejudgment or assumption about a person or a group of people without adequate knowledge of who they are. It is an irrational thought or attitude, often based on stereotypes. It can affect someone’s behaviour towards another person or group. An example of this is assuming that someone will be a bad student because of the way he or she looks. -​ Prejudice It is an idea or belief that assumes the sameness of all members of a particular group. This notion fails to help us recognize individual differences and attributes the same characteristic(s) to all group members. There is no such thing as a positive one. Culture and communication Direct Communication Indirect Communication True intentions are communicated explicitly True intentions are conveyed through without hidden meanings. context or non-verbal cues rather than explicit words. ★​ Values honesty, frankness, and direct answers. ★​ Avoids direct statements to prevent ★​ Criticism is expressed openly and tension or conflict. taken less personally. ★​ Values politeness and "saving ★​ Conflict is not feared, and face" to protect others' self-esteem. disagreement is handled directly. ★​ Disapproval is expressed indirectly, ★​ "Task-oriented" approach. e.g., through vague responses or third-party communication. Found in Western cultures, which are: Found in Eastern cultures, which are: ★​ Individualistic ★​ Collective ★​ Egalitarian ★​ Hierarchical ★​ Analytical Different situations require different communication styles  Non-verbal communication Non-verbal communication involves non-verbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source [speaker] and their use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver [listener] (Samovar et al). Basically, it is sending and receiving messages in a variety of ways without the use of verbal codes (words). -​ It is both intentional and unintentional. -​ Most speakers / listeners are not conscious of this. -​ Often each culture has its own style of delivery (nonverbals). Dealing with cultural differences in business System 1 System 2 System 1 is the older system in our brain. It System 2 is slow and requires a lot of operates fast and it saves energy. It is energy. It solves problems in a very reactive. Reacting may give us the feeling slow and effortful manner, but the of having done something but overusing results are more sustainable and System 1 can cause huge problems when jumping to conclusions. reliable. Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory Geert Hofstede, assisted by others, came up with six basic issues that society needs to come to term with in order to organize itself. These are called dimensions of culture. Each of them has been expressed on a scale that runs roughly from 0 to 100. 1.​ Power Distance Index 2.​ Individualism v. Collectivism 3.​ Uncertainty avoidance Index 4.​ Masculinity v. Femininity 5.​ Short Term v. Long Term oriented cultures 6.​ Restrain v Indulgence Erin Meyer’s Culture Map The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business - a study that analyzes how national cultural differences impact business. When is it useful to do a cultural mapping exercise? To understand the position of cultures in contact on each of the dimensions, especially when: -​ you move abroad and may be faced with cultural differences -​ you work closely with people raised in different cultures and need to communicate with them often