CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Learners can define culture

 Learners can apply the concepts of cross-cultural communication models to a range of scenarios
 Learners can assess their own behaviours and compare this with members of other cultures
SESSION STRUCTURE

 What is culture?
 The Iceberg Model of Culture
 Managing International Teams
 Models of Cross-Cultural
Communication
 Cross-Cultural Communication
in Practice
 WHAT IS CULTURE?

‘The way we do things here’

Language Collective
Rules
Experience
Traditions
Heritage Humour Art
Norms Literature
Behaviour
Food s Values
Religion Collective
and Programming of the
Music Mind
Beliefs
THE ICEBERG MODEL OF
CULTURE

What you immediately see

What is not obvious

SCHEIN: THE ICEBERG MODEL

Level one – Artefacts

The most visible level of culture includes the physical and social environment e.g. written and spoken
language, the overt behaviour of the groups/individuals
Level two – Values Culture
Cultural learning reflects their original values. Solutions as to how to deal with new tasks, issues or problems
are based upon convictions of reality. If a successful outcome is achieved then this process will transform into
a belief and become entrenched as “the way things are done around here”
Level three – Basic underlying assumptions
When the solution or method (as above) becomes successful it transcends into folk law and is taken for granted

6
DISCUSSION

In this class there are individuals from a range of different cultures

Take a few minutes to think about aspects of your culture that are immediately obvious
to those outside of your culture – be prepared to discuss your thoughts
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN NON VERBAL ASPECTS OF SPEECH

 In USA dominance is indicated by loud/low-pitched and rapid speech but in Germany it is soft, low-
pitched breathy speech
 In some cultures rapid speech would suggest anger

 Often in cross cultural communications mirroring occurs through empathy

 There is NO model of cross cultural business communication which can be applied at ALL times in
ALL countries

Maude, 2011
CULTURAL AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN NON VERBAL BODY
LANGUAGE

 Head gestures for yes and no can differ in different cultures

 Women show more facial expression than men

 Physical distance between participants in conversation varies from culture to culture

Mandal, 2014
MANAGING INTERNATIONAL TEAMS

10 Aspects of Culture for a Manager/Project Manager:

1. Sense of self 6. Relationships

2. Communication and language 7. Values and norms
3. Dress and appearance 8. Beliefs and attitudes
4. Food and feeding habits 9. Mental process and learning
5. Time and time consciousness 10. Work habits and practices

Recognise where conflict can arise.

Encourage and reinforce adaptive OBSERVE AND IMITATE
behaviours

Moran (2009)
 MODELS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION AT
WORK

 The Hall model

 The Hofstede model
 The Trompenaars model
THE HALL MODEL
(EDWARD T. HALL)

High Context Cultures Low Context Cultures

 People speak indirectly, show respect, and maintain  People speak directly and say what they mean
harmony without addressing unnecessary details or formulae.
 It’s rude to be direct  They are suspicious of people who speak indirectly.
 CROSS-CULTURAL A
COMMUNICATION EXAMPLE
(THE HALL MODEL)

 Question: Do you think Mr. Sim will be

able to come to the course next week as I
would like to make hotel reservations for
him and the hotel is quite full?
 Answer: It is possible he may have to attend
a meeting in Shanghai.
 Follow-up question 2 days later and before
Result: a sig
Q
the course begins: nificant
misundersta
 Question sent by email: I am following up nding betwe
the Chinese en
on my earlier conversation and am HR director
and the Wes
wondering whether Mr Sim will be terner. The H
di r e c t or t he R
attending the course? n proceeded
ignore the W to
 Answer by email: As I told you previously, esterner at
work for sev
he will NOT attend. eral days.

Deardorff (2009)
WATCH THIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rmKSmc2_vk
ACTIVITY

Find someone in the class that is from a different culture to you

1. First, work out whether the culture you are from would be classed as a high context
or low context culture
2. Next, discuss with your partner how people within your culture would react/behave
in the following scenarios:
 Someone at work has behaved inappropriately during a meeting
 A recent graduate has joined your team at work and has not yet gotten used to the processes used in
the business
 Your team has been presented with a short deadline in which to decide upon a new product idea
 THE HOFSTEDE MODEL

 Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the
workplace are influenced by culture. He defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind
distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others”.
 There are 6 dimensions to this model:

Long Term
Power Distance Individualism vs Masculinity vs Uncertainty Orientation vs Short Indulgence vs
Index Collectivism Femininity Avoidance Index Term Normative Restraint
Orientation

 This model is used widely: cross-cultural psychology, international business communication etc
ACTIVITY

Compare your home country to another country of your choice

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/
 What did you find out?
 Were there any big differences?
 Does this surprise you?
THE TROMPENAARS MODEL
(F. TROMPENAARS & C. HAMPDEN-TURNER)

 The Seven Dimensions of Culture

 Focuses on how the reconciliation of
cultural differences within organisations can
lead to competitive advantage
 Their study involved thousands of managers
in over 40 countries
 Incorporates the Hall and the Hofstede
models
ACTIVITY

The values at work checklist

1. Read each description in order.
2. Decide which behaviour is closest to your own. If you identify with both statements, choose the one you identify with more
often, or in more situations.
3. Mark a score indicating how strongly you tend to exhibit this behaviour.
4. When you have completed this activity, decide how you think people in a different culture of interest to you would probably
respond to the statements.
5. Where you have identified important cultural differences between you approach and that of people in the culture or country
of interest to you, consider...
 Are these differences important?
 How might these differences become apparent in the working environment?
 How might people from that country or culture perceive your approach?
 What challenge do these differences present?
 In what ways might you adapt your behaviour to manage and overcome these cultural differences?
REFERENCE LIST

 Guirdham, M., Guirdham, O. (2017) Communicating Across Cultures at Work. London: Palgrave.
 Hansen, E., Torkler, A., Covarrubias Venegas, B. (2019). Intercultural Training Tool Kit: SIETAR Europa.
Norderstedt: SIETAR.
 Hofstede, G., Hofstede G.J., Minkov, M. (2010) Cultures and Organisations: Software of the Mind. New York:
McGraw Hill.
 Moran, R., Youngdahl, W., Moran, S. (2009) Intercultural Competence in Business. Leading Global Projects. In:
Deardorff, D. (Ed). The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence. California: SAGE, pp. 287-303.
 Trompenaars, F., Hampden-Turner, C. (2012) Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in
Global Business. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
 Utley, D. (2004) Intercultural Resource Pack. Cambridge: CUP.