What is intercultural business
communication?
Why is it important?
How do you become an effective
intercultural communicator?
The manners, traditions and customs of
groups. The groups may be national,
ethnic/racial, and/or religious.
Any group tends to develop its own culture.
Consider for example a family, or a
business.
Cultural behaviours include every kind of
activity, from greetings and social etiquette
to dress and gender roles.
Examples? What about the British?
An example might be an Englishman in
Scotland delivering a presentation to
students mainly from Belgium and
Holland.
Intercultural business communication?
The ability to communicate, negotiate
and work effectively with people from
other cultures within a business context.
Global business village: internationals,
multinationals.
Workforce mobility: demand and supply,
unrestricted movement of labour.
Organisations in liberal economies want to
hire the best.
Business growth commonly linked to new
markets which may be culturally diverse.
Language skills of the potential workforce
facilitates mobility.
Others?
Poor or non-existent intercultural skills can
lead to misunderstanding, upset,
resentment, and anger.
In a business context this can create
poor/low morale leading to
underperformance and possibly mistakes.
Video: Stereotypes
Stereotypes, generalisations, and
preconceptions. Where do these
come from, and why do they exist?
Examples? Germans; Chinese;
Moslems; Italians; Indians; Jews;
Americans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQQtoyStMe4
Note especially from the video the role of
personality and education in developing
intercultural competences.
The video is based upon the work of a
leading writer and researcher in the field,
Sarah Trenholm.
The transfer of information between and
amongst people.
Receiving, interpreting and responding to
messages.
Communication can be categorised in many
ways. Here are just two examples:
Verbal and non-verbal communication.
Non-verbal communication.
Examples.
Direct and indirect verbal
communication.
Direct: true intentions are revealed in
the message, and the words, whether
written or spoken, are taken at face
value.
Direct communicators usually appreciate
short direct answers.
No analysis of the response is required.
Indirect: true intentions are hidden, using
language such as “possibly” or “maybe” ,
when the real answer is “I don’t know”,
or “I don’t understand”, or “I don’t want to”.
Indirect communicators believe it is better
to be polite than to say no, or that they
don’t understand.
They wish to avoid uncomfortable
situations, and may be trying to save face
(honour, reputation, self esteem). They can
view direct communicators as rude.
Indirect communication is a common
characteristic of Asian cultures.
In social relationships the differences
between direct and indirect communicators
can be frustrating.
In business, where time is a valuable
commodity, it can create serious conflict.
Are there ways of overcoming issues of
cultural diversity?
Video: Cultural Diversity – tips for
communicating with cultural awareness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDvLk7e2Irc
Being observant, for example by mirroring
body language
Appreciating differences and being
adaptable
Being patient and tolerant.
In short, being emotionally intelligent!
If you have not you are very rude, but as I
am emotionally intelligent and I prefer
indirect communication ignore the rude
remark and thank you as well!