Business Communication: Process and Product, 3e

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Business Communication Process and Product, Mary
Ellen Guffey, South-Western.
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Increasing Importance of Multicultural
Communication

• Technological advancements
• General global Interconnectivity
• Globalization of markets
• Multicultural workforce

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Understanding Culture

• How is culture like the program of a computer?
• Society, gender, race, age, religion, and
  other factors control our reactions and behavior.

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Characteristics of Culture

• Culture is learned.
• Cultures are inherently logical.
• Culture forms our self-identity and community.
• Culture combines the visible and the invisible.
• Culture is dynamic.

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Selected Dimensions of Culture

• Context
• High-context cultures (in Japan, China, and Arab
  countries) tend to be relational, collectivist,
  intuitive, and contemplative.
• Low-context cultures (in North America,
  Scandinavia, and Germany) tend to be logical,
  linear, and action-oriented.

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Selected Dimensions of Culture

• Individualism
• High-context cultures prefer group values,
  duties, and decisions.
• Low-context cultures tend to prefer individual
  initiative, self-assertion, personal achievement.

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Selected Dimensions of Culture

• Formality
• Other cultures may prefer more formality.
• North Americans place less emphasis on tradition,
  ceremony, and social rules.

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Selected Dimensions of Culture

• Communication Style
• High-context cultures rely on nonverbal cues and
  total picture to communicate. Meanings embedded
  at many social levels.
• Low-context cultures emphasize words,
  straightforwardness, openness. People tend to be
  informal, impatient, literal.

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Selected Dimensions of Culture

• Time Orientation
• Unlimited and never-ending in some cultures.
  Relaxed attitude toward time.
• Precious to North Americans. Correlates with
  productivity, efficiency, and money.

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High-Context and Low-Context Cultures
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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Oral Messages
• Learn foreign phrases.
• Use simple English.
• Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
• Observe eye messages.
• Encourage accurate feedback.
• Check frequently for comprehension.

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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Oral Messages
• Accept blame.
• Listen without interrupting.
• Remember to smile!
• Follow up in writing.

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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Written Messages
• Adapt to local formats.
• Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Avoid ambiguous expressions.
• Strive for clarity.
• Use correct grammar.

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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Written Messages
• Cite numbers carefully.
• Accommodate reader in organization, tone, and
  style.

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Making Ethical DecisionsAcross Borders

• Broaden your view of other cultures.
• Avoid reflex judgments.
• Find alternatives.
• Refuse business if options violate your basic
  values.
• Conduct all business openly.
• Dont rationalize shady decisions.
• Resist lawful but unethical strategies.

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Tips for Capitalizing onWorkforce Diversity

• Seek training.
• Understand the value of differences.
• Dont expect conformity.
• Create zero tolerance for bias and stereotypes.
• Learn about your cultural self.
• Make fewer assumptions.
• Build on similarities.

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Proverbs Reflect Culture

• What do these proverbs tell us about this
  culture and its values?
• U.S. Proverbs
• Waste not, want not.
• He who holds the gold makes the rules.
• If at first you dont succeed, try, try again.
• The early bird gets the worm.

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Proverbs Reflect Culture

• Chinese Proverbs
• Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth
  must wait very, very long time.
• Man who says it cannot be done should not
  interrupt man doing it.
• Give a man a fish, and he will live a day give
  him a net, and he will live a lifetime.

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Proverbs Reflect Culture

• Other Proverbs
• No one is either rich or poor who has not helped
  himself to be so. (German)
• Words do not make flour. (Italian)
• Wealth that comes in at the door unjustly, goes
  out at the windows. (Egyptian)

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Comparing U.S. andForeign Views

• How U.S. Persons How
  Foreigners View View Themselves
  U.S. Persons
• Informal, friendly, casual
  Undisciplined, too personal
• Egalitarian
  Insensitive to status
• Direct, aggressive
  Blunt, rude, oppressive
• Efficient
  Opportunistic, obsessed with time
• Goal-/achievement-oriented
  Promise more than they deliver
• Profit-oriented
  Materialistic
• Resourceful, ingenious
  Deals more important than people
• Individualistic, progressive
  Self-absorbed
• Dynamic, identify with work
  Driven
• Enthusiastic, prefer hard sell
  Deceptive, fearsome
• Open
  Weak, untrustworthy

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End
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