The key to effective cross-cultural communication is knowledge.

Cross cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from different cultural

backgrounds communicate in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they

endeavor to communicate across cultures.

Cross cultural communication is the adaption of himself/herself to a new culture. Culture is a

way to express one person. Cross cultural communication leads to globalization by crossing of

goods, services and people for jobs.

Body Language

Indians value personal space

Hands on hips considered as augemntaive posture

Avoid direct eye contact

Using right hand is a good sign

Never point with finger

Business etiquette

Indians prefer to do business with those they know

Relationship is build upon mutual trust and respect

Business meetings etiquette

Meetings are arranged in advance

Keep the schedule flexibility

Puctuality

Meeting starts with introduction

A detail agenda

Business negotiations

High context culture

Decisions are reached by the person with most authority

Decision making is slow process

Delays are to be expected

Dress ettiquete

Business attire is conservative

Men should wear conservative business suits

Women should wear conservative suit or dresses

Indians strongly believe in faith and luck

Showing hospitality is part of the negotiation process. Often meetings start by offering tea/coffee

and sacks.
Relationships and feeling play a larger role in decisions in India. In genral, Indians tend to take

larger risks. Thus one’s credibility and trustworthiness are critical in negotiating a deal.

Indians are polychronic people they tend to deal with more than one task. Indians also sometime

goes to unrelated topics.

In general Indian are catutious in accepting a new idea or proposal. Openness to a new idea

depends not only on its quality, but also on its source and endowment.

Fast commitment is not included in first meeting. Making a decision in Indian organization is

often a long drawn out process. This is not only because of the bureaucratic nature of many

Indian organiztaions, but also because a decision may have to be ratified by people who may not

be present at the negotiation table.

Indians also prefer gifts such as boxes of sweets.

Recently, I have been to India. Indian cultures are more direct. I went to a hospital in New Delhi

for my Mother’s operation. First problem I have faced there is language problem. Most of the

people speaks english and road signs all other details are written in hindi. Besides that only

certain educated people speak english though they feel reluctant to speak english. Indian people

are mostly high context becuase they follow the hierarchical orders. My mother was admitted in

the emergency ward. Soon, the nurse came and started taking her blood samples, sugar level,

blood pressure and all other necessary checkup, all the instructions are given by the junior doctor

that in term refer to the senior doctor. After a couple of hours the senior doctor have seen all the

reports and immediately gave the feedback to one patient attendant because of strict rules. Some

people are arrogant in India and some people are less arrogant. Difference in culture, religion and

also food varies in India. Such as Hindu people pray to Bhagwan and light up the dia where as

Muslim people go for Namaz. Particularly Sunday is a off day in India whereas it is a working

day in Bangladesh. Food taste also varies in India as most of the people are vegetarian where as

Bangladeshis eat both veg and non veg. Indian’s are also strictly regualted to time. The meal for

the patient comes at time. Indian’s are also hygenic and and neat. Indian’s also pay high focus to

their work and are very hardworking.

In high-context cultures, the way things are done are not explicitly stated. People within the

culture just know - subtle cues such as body language can convey a huge amount of information.

Indians have become experts by intensely studying a particular subject in education.

In the eyes of Indians Bangladesh is a hardworking country that has huge poverty rate and low

education.
Disagreements are made upon the late business decisions and showing too much gratitude and

empathy with unrelevant issues. The reationship on buidling trust is also major drawback on

making business deals. In my opinion I will more deal with the culture that is more open minded

and low context culture in terms business and personal relations. The common thing for both of

our culture is the slight similarity in language orally and also believeing on hardworking.

Cultural knowledge is important for successful negotaion is because it helps to achieve deals by

knowing the principal influences. I need to find out the values and beliefs characteristic of the

culture for through conversation. This will also end the cultural bridge gap which can be a strong

base for personal relationships. The important thing I have to know for cultural difference is

knowing the language, customs and body gesture of other cultures. My current problems for a

successful negotiation is language problem and food problem. As everyone knows different

country has different language and food taste. Yes, but I can overcome the problems by knowing

basic native language as english is a primary language so the native language won’t bother a lot

and food tastes can be adjusted.

Hofsted Value Dimension

Power Distance of 77%

India has Power Distance (PDI) as the highest Hofstede dimension for the culture, with a score

of 77 compared to a world average of 56.5. This PDI score for India indicates a high level of

inequality of power and wealth within the society.

Long term orientation of 61%

Long Term Orientation (LTO) focuses on the degree to which the society embraces, or does not

embrace long-term devotion to traditional, forward-thinking values. India’s high LTO score

indicates the country prescribes to the values of long-term commitments and respect for tradition.

This is thought to support a strong work ethic where long-term rewards are expected as a result

of today's hard work.

Masculinty of 56%

According to Hofstede et al., “a society is called masculine when emotional gender roles are

clearly distinct: men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success,

whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with quality of life”

Individualism of 48%

India’s low individualism score suggests that its culture stresses the interdependence and long-

term mutual obligations between individuals and organizations. This interdependence influences

an individual to want to be in an environment where he feels belonged and integrated.

Uncertainty avoidance of 40%

India’s lowest ranking dimension is Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) at 40, compared to the world

average of 65%. This suggests that the India’s culture is more open to unstructured ideas and

situations.