Assignment on

The CROSS-CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Submitted to

Dr. AJAY PRATAP SINGH

(FACULTY, MBA)
TIAS

Submitted by

MUHAMMAD SALIM 07217003909

MBA-1ST SEMESTER

CULTURE Donal Carbaugh defines culture as "a system of expressive practices fraught with feelings, a system of symbols, premises, rules, forms, and the domains and dimensions of mutual meanings associated with these." He also suggests culture is "a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a relatively large group of people." In each of these definitions, culture is linked to communication and a wide range of human experience including feelings, identity, and meaning making. Communication is the vehicle by which meanings are conveyed, identity is composed and reinforced, and feelings are expressed. !s we communicate using different cultural habits and meaning systems, both conflict and harmony are possible outcomes of any interaction. In today"s global business environment, more and more of us are re#uired to understand people who come from countries and cultures different from our own. $hile there is no short and easy way to learn about a given culture in any depth, there are some general principles that lead to success in communicating and conducting business with people of backgrounds unlike our own. Communication across cultures effectively improves your productivity and efficiency and promotes harmonious work environment. Cross cultural communication involves understanding cultural differences and overcoming language problem.

PROBLEMS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: %pecifically, these problems are related to two kinds of cultural differences& Differences in body positions and movements Differences in views and practices concerning various factors of human relationships

(1) Body positions and mo !m!nts 'ody positions and movements differ among cultures. (or example, in some cultures, people sit) in other cultures, they s#uat. $ho is to say that sitting is more advanced or better* +anners of walking differ among cultures. Communication with body parts ,hands, arms, head, etc.- varies by culture. Hand gestures differ by culture. %o do eye movements, touching and handshaking. 'ody motions or kinesics can be categori.ed as follows&

Em"#!ms nonverbal actions that have a verbal translation into a word, phrase or symbol. /esture of thumb and forefinger to form a circle to say 0123 in 4% and to indicate an obscenity in 'ra.il. E$$!%ti ! disp#ays facial expressions such as a frown, a smile, or lips pulled down at the corners. I##&st'ato's 5 nonverbal acts accompanying speech. 6xamples include an upturned thumb to indicate that a ride is desired or pointing a finger to indicate a direction. Adapt!'s 5 nonverbal behavior that modifies or add to what is being said. (or example, folded arms may indicate disgust or that a person is feeling closed to others) a wave may be used as a friendly greeting) leg swinging and finger tapping may indicate anxiety. R!(&#ato's 5 movements that maintain interaction and provide feedback. Head nods or changing ga.e can indicate that it is the other persons turn to talk. ! head nod can also indicate listening. C&#t&'! !mericans /ermans (rench 'ritish 7atin !mericans !sians )ands*a+!s (irm 'rus#ue, firm, repeated upon arrival and departure 7ight, #uick, not offered to superiors, repeated upon arrival and departure %oft (irm, long lasting /entle) for some, shaking hands is unfamiliar and uncomfortable

(,) -i!.s and P'a%ti%!s Con%!'nin( Fa%to's o$ )&man R!#ations*ips 8robably causing even more miscommunication than differences in body positions and movements are the different attitudes of different cultures toward various factors of human relationships. $e will review seven ma9or factors& Tim! / views about time differs widely. %ome cultures stress punctuality ,monochronic-) but some do not ,especially of the +iddle 6ast : some parts of !sia-.

Spa%! 0 space is viewed differently by different cultures. In some cultures, people want to be far apart ,;orth !merican-) in other cultures, they want to be close ,some !rabian : %outh !merican-. Odo's 0 some cultures view body odors as bad ,!merican work hard to neutrali.e body odor-) others view them as normal ,!sians take it as act of friendship-. F'an+n!ss / High context cultures are more frank and explicit than 7ow context cultures. /ermans and Israelis are even more frank than !mericans. Intima%y o$ R!#ations*ips 0 in many cultures, strict social classes exist, and class status determines how intimately people are addressed and treated in communication. %imilarly, how people view superior subordinate relations can vary by culture. <he role of women varies widely by culture. In ;orth !merica, we continue to move toward a generally recogni.ed goal of e#uality. In many Islamic cultures, the role of women is #uite different. -a#&!s 0 each culture has different values concerning such matters as attitudes toward work, employer employee relations, and authority. E1p'!ssions o$ Emotions 0 social behavior varies by culture, such as practices concerning affection, laughter, and emotion. Included is the degree of animations displayed. +any more such practices exist. %ome cultures combine business :social pleasures) others do not. %ome expect to engage in aggressive bargaining in business) others prefer straightforward dealings.

Some Problems C !se" b# C!l$!r l D%&&ere'(es

=ou greet your !ustrian client. <his is the sixth time you have met over the last > months. He calls you Herr %mith. =ou think of him as a standoffish sort of guy who doesn?t want to get really friendly. <hat might be true in !merica, where calling someone +r. %mith after the @th meeting would probably mean something it is marked usage of language like "we?re not hitting it off". 'ut in !ustria, it is normal. ! Canadian conducting business in 2uwait is surprised when his meeting with a high ranking official is not held in a closed office and is constantly interrupted. He starts wondering if the official is as important as he had been led to believe, and he starts to doubt how seriously his business is being taken ! 'ritish boss asked a new, young !merican employee if he would like to have an early lunch at AA am each day. <he employee said ?=eah, that would be greatB? <he boss immediately said "$ith that kind of attitude, you may as well

forget about lunchB" <he employee and the boss were both baffled by what went wrong. CIn 6ngland, saying "yeah" in that context is seen as rude and disrespectful.D COMMUNICATION TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDIN2 CULTURE: <he tools we will examine here relate to communication and ways of seeing the self in relation to others. <hey are&

High context and low context communication, and Individualist and collectivism conceptions of self and other

)i(*/%ont!1t and Lo./%ont!1t Comm&ni%ation refers to the degree to which speakers rely on factors other than explicit speech to convey their messages. <his tool, developed by 6dward <. Hall, suggests that communication varies according to its degree of field dependence, and that it can be classified into two general categories high context and low context. (ield dependence refers to the degree to which things outside the communication itself affect the meaning. (ollowing series is according to increasing degree ,low context to high context- Ar b) J * 'ese) C+%'ese) Gree,) Me-%( ') S* '%s+) I$ l% ') .re'(+) /'0l%s+) Nor$+ Amer%( ') S( '"%' 1% ') Germ ' Indi id&a#ist and %o##!%ti ism %on%!ptions / In individualist cultures, individual uni#ueness, self determination is valued. ! person is all the more admirable if they are a "self made man" or "makes up their own mind" or show initiative or work well independently. Collectivist cultures expect people to identify with and work well in groups which protect them in exchange for loyalty and compliance. 8aradoxically, individualist cultures tend to believe that there are universal values that should be shared by all, while collectivist cultures tend to accept that different groups have different values. +any of the !sian cultures are collectivist, while !nglo cultures tend to be individualist.

OBSER-ATIONS FOR O-ERCOMIN2 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: 1bservations may consist of !ssessment of political situation of the state we are dealing with, understand religious : folk beliefs, clothing : food preferences, learn about business : economic institutes, how people greet there*, how people use nameEsurname in conversation, what is the attitude towards touching the people, how they express their feelings : emotions, how do they sit in corporate, how close they stand with others, how do they acceptsEre9ect offers, how do they make eye contact with others, etc.

)O3 TO IMPRO-E T)ESE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:

By st&dyin( ot*!' %&#t&'!s Ass&m! di$$!'!n%!s &nti# simi#a'ity is p'o !d Ta+! '!sponsi"i#ity at yo&' o.n S*o. '!sp!%t to ot*!' %&#t&'!s To#!'at! t*! am"i(&ity (a oid $'&st'ation) Loo+ "!yond t*! s&p!'$i%ia# B! pati!nt and p!'sist!nt R!%o(ni4! yo&' o.n %&#t&'a# "ias!s B! $#!1i"#! Emp*asi4! on %ommon ('o&nd S!nd %#!a' m!ssa(!s D!a# .it* t*! indi id&a# (yo& a'! int!'a%tin( .it*) L!a'n .*!n to "! di'!%t 5 .*!n to "! indi'!%t T'!at yo&' int!'p'!tation as a .o'+ in *ypot*!sis (not as '!s&#t)

TREAT OTHERS AS THEY EXPECT TO BE TREATED FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS