Intercultural Business Communication Session Objectives to introduce E

Intercultural Business Communication

Session Objectives • to introduce E. T. Hall’s notion of High & Low Context Cultures • relationship driven vs. task driven • monochronic vs. polychronic • to use ICC theories to analyse a Case UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 2

Edward T. Hall • A communication expert • He defines culture as a form of communication, governed by hidden rules, that involves both speech and actions UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 3

• Cultural communications are deeper and more complex than spoken or written messages. • The essence of effective cross-cultural communication has more to do with understanding a “silent language”. • He wrote a series of books: The Silent Language, The Hidden Dimension, Beyond Culture, and Understanding Cultural Differences UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 4

The importance of context in communication context = all the background information relevant to the communication e. g. ‘who is saying what to whom, where, when and why’ Culture is part of context UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 5

1. Four elements of the communication process in Dwyer (2002: p 6) UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 6

2. The seven elements of the communication process in Dwyer (2002: p 8) UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 7

An ICC Anecdote ‘Do you have a bag? ’ UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 8

A Japanese restaurant in New York 2 American women having lunch UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 9

The Japanese waiter came across and asked ‘Do you have a bag? ’ UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 10

? The women couldn’t Understand. UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 11

The waiter looked Meaningfully at the floor where one of the women had left her bag. UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 12

One of the women picked up her bag. A man who had been sitting at the next table left very quickly. UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 13

What happened here? • Why did the waiter say ‘Do you have a bag? ’ • Why didn’t the women understand? • What would you have said if you’d been the waiter? • What do you think the American women would have expected the waiter to say in this situation? UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 14

Hall’s Context Dimension • • Edward T. Hall – US anthropologist another very important researcher & writer predated and probably influenced Hofstede suggested that there is a dimension of cultural difference between the way people use context in communication HIGH CONTEXT LOW CONTEXT UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 15

• HIGH CONTEXT – the context is a very important element in communication • LOW CONTEXT - the context is a much less important element in communication UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 16

Communication in High Context Cultures HIGH JP CN AR GR Communication in Low Context Cultures LOW SP IT UK FR US SCA GER SWG 1. MESSAGES – indirect & implicit 1. MESSAGES – direct & explicit 2. CONTEXT is more important than WORDS 2. WORDS are more important than CONTEXT 3. RELATIONSHIP-DRIVEN – close, personal working relationships are vital to business success face-to-face communication is important 3. TASK-DRIVENworking effectively & efficiently is the key to business success the quickest form of communication is best UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 17

Communication in High Context Cultures HIGH JP CN AR GR Communication in Low Context Cultures SP IT UK FR US SCA LOW GER SWG 4. High levels of SHARED KNOWLEDGE are assumed 4. Low levels of SHARED KNOWLEDGE are assumed 5. VERBAL AGREEMENTS 5. CONTRACTS 6. Explicit expression of EMOTIONS discouraged 6. Explicit expression of some EMOTIONS regarded as normal UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 18

Communication in High Context Cultures HIGH JP CN AR GR Communication in Low Context Cultures SP IT UK FR US SCA 7. POLYCHRONIC – time punctuality & schedules are less important time is cyclical, many things happen at once people do several things simultaneously LOW GER SWG 7. MONOCHRONIC – time is linear & valuable (‘time is money’) time is linear, things happen in sequence people (especially men) tend to do one thing at once UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 19

Communication in High Context Cultures HIGH JP CN AR GR Communication in Low Context Cultures SP IT UK FR US SCA LOW GER SWG 8. Values tend to be more COLLECTIVISTIC 8. Values tend to be more INDIVIDUALISTIC 9. SILENCE is valued and communicates thinking, politeness & harmony 9. SILENCE is uncomfortable & communicates lack of understanding or disagreement UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 20

Saying ‘yes’ and saying ‘no’ Y e s ‘Is that the bus to Colombo? ’ UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 21

Saying ‘yes’ and saying ‘no’ • in low context cultures, ‘yes’ usually means yes and ‘no’ usually means no (though in English, intonation can make a difference between meanings of these words). • in high context cultures, people often try to avoid saying ‘no’ and expect others to understand the meaning from the context • the XXXXXese of saying ‘no’ is to say ‘yes’ slowly UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 22

Has my proposal been accepted? • If everything proceeds as planned, the proposal will be approved The conditional ‘yes’ • Have you submitted a copy to the Ministry of Electronics? The counter-question • Your question is difficult to answer The question is criticised. UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 23

• We cannot answer the question at this time. The question is refused • Will you be staying longer than you originally planned? The tangential reply • Yes, approval looks likely, but. . The ‘yes… but’ reply • You will know shortly The answer is delayed UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 24

Case Study: open case on chapter 4 • read through the case study & underline/highlight important points • discuss what’s wrong with this visit? • explain what different cultural dimension demonstrated in this case. UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 25

Homework Compulsory • Read Varner & Beamer pp 113 -134 UCLan BA EIB /Chris Aldred 2004 26