Intercultural and Global Communication Lecture Notes PDF

INTERCULTURAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION What is Culture? Culture... is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.“ Edward Taylor  A shar...

INTERCULTURAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION What is Culture? Culture... is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.“ Edward Taylor  A shared system of behaviors and customs passed from one generation to the next. Language, religion, family systems, recreation, and education that a group of people share. All cultures have some unique forms of communication. Cultures are complex and evolving they change over time. External forces can also have powerful influences of culture, including economic and political forces.  Here are the five keys that a business needs to know in order to become interculturally competent (Saee, 2007): 1. Cultural awareness: Being able to understand the difference between different cultures. 2. Communicating Competence: Being able to share information properly despite all the differences in languages. 3. Valuing differences: Being able to take advantage of the differences in order to be more competitive. 4. Cognitive Competence: Being able to remember all the differences between cultures. 5. Non-Judgmental: Showing respect, patience, and sensitivity. Two views… Critics point to the rapid loss of local languages, art, and music as direct consequence of globalization; local and national cultures have been ‘crowded out’ by western popular culture as depicted in music and movies. DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE Cultural Context Inventory (Halverson) 1. Context. a. High- context society – place a great deal of emphasis on the total environment or context where speech and interaction takes place. Spoken words are much less important than the rest of the context. Ex. A person’s status in society is extremely important and people tend to rely on their history and their relationship to the speaker or the audience. High context culture often displays the following tendencies (CB Halverson): ∙ Association. Relationships build slowly and depend on the trust. Productivity depends on relationships and the group process. An individual’s identity is rooted in a groups. Social structure and authority are centralized. ∙ Interaction. Nonverbal elements such as voice, tone, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movement are significant. Verbal messages are indirect, and communication is seen as an art form or way of engaging someone. Disagreement is personalized, and a person is sensitive to conflict expressed in someone else’s nonverbal communication. ∙ Territoriality. Space is communal. People stand close to each other and share the same space. ∙ Temporality. Everything has its own time, and time is not easily scheduled. Change is slow, and time is a process, that belongs to others and nature. ∙ Learning. Multiple sources of information are used. Thinking proceeds from general to specific. Learning occurs by observing others as they model or demonstrate and then practicing. Groups are preferred and accuracy is valued.  By contrast, in Low Context society, the message itself means everything, and it is much important to have a well- structured argument or a well delivered presentation than it is to be a member of the royal family or a cousin of the person listening. Therefore, people tend to try to separate their relationships from the messages and to focus on the details and logic. Detailed information must be given to provide the relevant context, and only information presented that way counts as relevant to the message. Low context culture often displays the following tendencies (CB Halverson): Association. Relationship begins and ends quickly. Productivity depends on the procedures and paying attention to the goal. The identity of the individuals is rooted in themselves and their accomplishments. Disagreement is depersonalized; the focus is on rational solutions; person can be explicit about another person’s bothersome behavior. Territoriality. Space is compartmentalized. Privacy is important so people stand farther apart. Temporality. Events and tasks are scheduled and to be done at a particular time. Change is fast, and time is a commodity to be spent or saved. One’s time is owns time. Learning. One source of information is used. Thinking proceeds from specific to general. Learning occurs by following explicit directions and explanations of others. Individual orientation is preferred and speed is valued. Hofstede’s 5 Dimensions 1. Power Distance - social hierarchy vs. equality 2. Individualism (private & public) / collectivism (particularistic, common good) 3. Masculinity (achievement values) /femininity (caring values) 4. Uncertainty Avoidance  Collectivism vs. Individualism Individualism and collectivism are conflicting views of the nature of humans, society and the relationship between them. Collectivism: great emphasis on The views, needs, and goals of the in-group rather than of oneself Social norms and duty defined by the in-group rather than behavior to get pleasure Beliefs shared with in-group rather than on beliefs that distinguish oneself from the in-group Great readiness to cooperate with in-group members Individualism: Gould and Kolb: belief that the individual is an end in himself/herself, and as such ought to realize his/her self and cultivate his/her own judgment, notwithstanding the weight of pervasive social pressures in the direction of conformity. Individualism holds that the individual is the primary unit of reality and the ultimate standard of value. This view does not deny that societies exist or that people benefit from living in them, but it sees society as a collection of individuals, not something over and above them.  In-group ( 内集团） It’s seen as group of people about whose welfare one is concerned, with whom one is willing to cooperate without demanding equitable returns, and separation from whom leads to discomfort or even pain. Who is included in one’s in-group is quite variable: the nuclear family, Asians, Americans, neighbors, fellow nationals. In extremely collectivist societies: the in-group dominates all aspects of a person’s life. In individualist societies, only certain aspects of a person’s life are influenced by in-groups.  Comparison: Collectivism and Individualism Individualists see people dealing primarily with reality; other people are just one aspect of reality. Collectivists see people dealing primarily with other people; reality is dealt with through the mediator of the group; the group, not the individual, is what directly confronts reality. Individualism holds that every person is an end in himself and that no person should be sacrificed for the sake of another. Collectivism holds that the needs and goals of the individual are subordinate to those of the larger group and should be sacrificed when the collective good so requires.  The characteristics of individualism and collectivism can be summarized as follows: Individualism: Individual autonomy; self-oriented; personal goals; unique and independent; individual privacy; nuclear family; individual rewards (equity); competition Collectivism: Group unity and harmony; group-oriented; group goals; conforming and interdependent; group belongingness; extended family; equal distribution of reward (equality); cooperation Monochromic Society – The monochronic individual believes in finishing one task at a time. In their time culture, time is a valuable commodity that shouldn’t be wasted and sticking to one task at a time ensures that it’s well-managed. The monochronic culture schedules one event at a time in an orderly fashion. Polychronic Society - In the polychronic culture, employees can work on several tasks simultaneously. Polychronic individuals thrive on carrying out more than one task at the same time as long as they can be executed together with a natural rhythm. For example, it’s perfectly natural for the official to stamp the passport and take a phone call at the same time because these tasks require different parts of the body and different levels of concentration. MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY Femininity Masculinity Men are also involved in children’s Men’s role is to rule, women’s role upbringing. is to raise up children. Gender roles are interchangeable. Gender roles are explicit and Genders should be treated equally. concrete. Mutual dependence is the highest Men should dominate in a society. ideal. Independence is the highest ideal. People who handle adversity People who achieve success are deserve appreciation. worthy of admiration. Service is the greatest motivator to Ambitions lead to action. action. The great and the fast are beautiful. The little and the slow are beautiful. You live to work. You work to live.  Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation In societies with a long-term orientation, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results. Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth. They are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results. Power Distance (PD) Power Distance is the extent to which hierarchical differences are accepted in society and articulated in terms of deference to higher and lower social and decision levels in an organization. Artifacts of high PD: Centralization # Org. Levels – steep organisational pyramid # Supervisors – multi-layered pyramid Differing Values, White & Blue Collar Work LOW PD cultures Subordinates expect HIGH PD cultures to be consulted 1. Subordinates expect Bosses are accessible to be told what to do Initiative is expected 2. Privilege & status are Inequalities should normal be minimised 3. Superiors Privilege & status symbols « inaccessible » discouraged 4. Inequalities accepted Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) The uncertainty avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. Countries exhibiting strong UA maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas.  Strong/High UA Weak/Low UA Anxious, higher stress levels Apparently relaxed at work environment, minimal stress Risk-averse – need to avoid Initiative encouraged failure Relatively few rules & Need for rules & regulations regulations Resistant to change Pragmatic Low tolerance of déviant, Tolerance of deviant, innovative ideas innovative ideas People can seem busy, People can seem quiet, emotional, aggressive or easy-going or « lazy » to unfriendly to those from a those from a different different background background