Chapter 4 Cross-Cultural

Communication and Negotiation

Chapter 4(1)- Cross-Cultural Communication2
Chapter 4(2)- Conflict & Negotiation27

Cross-Cultural Management

Chapter 4(1)- Cross-Cultural

Communication

Cross-Cultural Management

Functions of Communication
Communication is the exchange of meaning.
In organizations, it has several functions:
Affecting Behavior through both formal and
informal channels
Emotional expression - fulfillment of social
needs
Information - facilitating decision making

Cross-Cultural Management

The Communication Process

Source

Message

Encoding

Message

Channel

Message

Feedback

Cross-Cultural Management

Decoding

Message

Receiver

What do you see in the poster?

A small class exercise

Cross-Cultural Management

PERCEPTION
Process by which people organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to
give meaning to their environment
Perception => Attitudes =>
Motivation & Behavior

Cross-Cultural Management

Attitudes
Evaluative statements
favorable or unfavorable
about objects, people, or events;
reflect how one feels about something

Cross-Cultural Management

Perceiver Effects on Perception

Culture
Personality
Values & Attitudes
Motives
Interests
Past experiences
Expectations

Cross-Cultural Management

Perceptual Shortcuts

Selectivity

Assumed
Similarity

Halo
Effect

Stereotyping

Cross-Cultural Management

Shortcuts to Judging
Others
Selectivity - choosing bits of data depending on
the interests, background, experience, and attitudes
of observer
Assumed Similarity - perceptions of others more
influenced by what the observer is like or thinks
Stereotyping - basing perception on group
membership or association
Halo Effect - drawing a general impression on the
basis of a single characteristic, such as intelligence,
sociability, or appearance
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Cross-Cultural Management

Perception, Attitudes,
and Personality
Culturally based stereotypes
Swiss: punctual
Germans: taskoriented
Americans: energetic
People who hold these stereotypes
experience surprises when they meet
people from these countries who do not fit
the stereotypes
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Cross-Cultural Management

Perception, Attitudes, and

Personality (Cont.)
Culturally based stereotypes (cont.)
Project aspects of own culture onto people and
situations in a different culture
Assumes that the new culture mirrors their own
Example: Korean manager visiting Sweden
assumes all women seated behind desks are
secretaries
Such behavior would be inappropriate and
possibly dysfunctional in Sweden where many
women hold management positions

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Cross-Cultural Management

Helpful Stereotyping
A stereotype can become helpful when it is
Consciously held: people are aware it describes a
group norm and not individual characteristic
Descriptive rather evaluative: how people are, not
whether theyre good or bad
Accurate: based on data or sufficient experience
First best guess: about a group, before acquiring
specific information on individuals
Dynamic & Flexible: modifiable according to further
observation and experience with concrete situations

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Cross-Cultural Management

Types of Communication
Verbal:
Oral
Face-to-face
Distant (phone, video)
Written
Print
Electronic
Non-Verbal
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Cross-Cultural Management

Overall Communication Process

Verbal Communication Styles
Context

Information that surrounds a

communication and helps to convey the
message
High-context societies
Messages often are coded and implicit
Rely on indirect style

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Cross-Cultural Management

Overall Communication Process

Low-context societies
Message is explicit and the speaker says
precisely what s/he means
Rely on direct style
Three degrees of communication quantity

Elaborate
Exacting
Succinct

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Cross-Cultural Management

High- vs. Low-Context Cultures

High
Context

Low
Context
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Chinese
Korean
Vietnamese
Arab
Greek
Spanish
Italian
English
French
North American
Scandinavian
German
Swiss

Cross-Cultural Management

Overall Communication
Process (cont.)
Verbal Communication Styles (cont.)
Contextual style
Focuses on the speaker and relationship of
the parties
Personal style
Focuses on the speaker and the reduction of
barriers between the parties

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Cross-Cultural Management

Overall Communication Process

(cont.)
Affective style
Characterized by language which requires
the listener to carefully note what is being
said and to observe how the sender is
presenting the message
Instrumental style
Goal-oriented and focuses on the sender

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Cross-Cultural Management

Verbal Styles Used in 10 Select

Countries
Country

Indirect
vs.
Direct

Elaborate
vs.
Succinct

Australia
Canada
Denmark
Egypt
England
Japan
Korea
Saudi Arabia
Sweden
United States

Direct
Direct
Direct
Indirect
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Direct
Direct

Exacting
Exacting
Exacting
Elaborate
Exacting
Succinct
Succinct
Elaborate
Exacting
Exacting

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Contextual Affective
vs.
vs.
Personal
Instrumental
Personal
Personal
Personal
Contextual
Personal
Contextual
Contextual
Contextual
Personal
Personal

Cross-Cultural Management

Instrumental
Instrumental
Instrumental
Affective
Instrumental
Affective
Affective
Affective
Instrumental
Instrumental

Non-verbal Communication
Body movement (Body Language) adds to, and
often complicates, verbal communication
Kinesics - Gestures, facial configurations, and
other movements of the body
Intonations - Change the meaning of the
message
Facial expression - Characteristics that would
never be communicated if you read a transcript of
what is said
Physical distance - Proper spacing is largely
dependent cultural norms
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Cross-Cultural Management

Cross-Cultural Communication
Nonverbal communication: a major role across cultures
Distance between people

North Americans: stand 5 1/2 to 8 feet apart

Latin American cultures: people stand much
closer
Reactions

Latin American moves close to the North

American
North American backs away
Latin American might perceive the North
American as cold and distant
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Cross-Cultural Management

Personal Space Categories for

Those In the United States
Intimate distance

18

Personal distance
Social distance

4 to 8
8 to 10

Public distance

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18 to 4

Cross-Cultural Management

Cross-Cultural Communication
Time orientation
Latin Americans view time more casually
than North Americans
Swiss strongly emphasize promptness in
keeping appointments
Egyptians usually do not look to the future

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Cross-Cultural Management

Cross-Cultural Communication
Time orientation (cont.)
Southeast Asians view the long term as
centuries
Sioux Indians of the United States do not
have words for "time" or "wait" in their
native language
Potential misunderstandings are large

25

Cross-Cultural Management

Exercise:
Identifying Emotions

26

Cross-Cultural Management

Emotions & National Culture

Cultural factors influence what is or is not
considered emotionally appropriate
Seems to be high agreement of meaning by
emotions within cultures
Whats acceptable in one culture
may seem extremely unusual or dysfunctional
in another
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/lost_in_translatio
n.htm

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Cross-Cultural Management

A Cultural Guide to Communication

Look for the meaning behind the words

Assume differences until similarity is proved
Know what you dont know
Emphasize description rather than
interpretation or evaluation (of others)
Practice empathy & patience
Treat your interpretation as a working
hypothesis
Always: Observe & Listen
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Cross-Cultural Management

Chapter 4(2)-Conflict &

Negotiation

29

Cross-Cultural Management

Trust & Culture

30

Individualistic
Personal history &
experience based
Develops through
mutual interest
(rational)
Quicker to trust outgroup members
Consistency
emphasized

Collectivist
In-group membership
based
Develops more
through emotional
bonds
Slow trusting outgroup members
Context is important

Cross-Cultural Management

Conflict
Conflict is where one party perceives that another
party acting purposefully in a way that upsets the
first party or blocks its pursue of goals and
interests
Why can't the Jews and the Arabs just sit down together
and settle this like good Christians?

- Attributed to Arthur Balfour, 19th century British

statesman, Prime Minister, and Foreign
Secretary; speaking on the Middle-east Crisis

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Cross-Cultural Management

Differences in Attitudes
Italian managers: bypassing a manager to
reach a subordinate employee is
insubordination
Swedish and Austrian organizations:
decentralized decision making
Philippine and Indian organizations:
centralized decision making
Conclusion: organizations that cross national borders
and draw managers from many different countries have
high conflict potential.
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Cross-Cultural Management

International Aspects of Conflict

Cultures that emphasize individualism and
competition
Positively value conflict
Englishspeaking countries, the Netherlands,
Italy, Belgium
Cultures that emphasize collaboration, cooperation,
conformity
Negatively value conflict
Many Asian and Latin American countries;
Portugal, Greece, Turkey
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Cross-Cultural Management

International Aspects of Conflict

Cultural differences imply different functional
conflict levels
Some cultures favour suppression of conflict with
little discussion of people's feelings
Felt conflict likely part of some conflict episodes
but hidden from public view

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Cross-Cultural Management

Conflict (Cont.)
Managers from an individualistic country
operating in a less individualistic country
Acceptable to express feelings during a conflict
episode. Suppression of feelings could baffle
them
Increasing conflict can confuse local people.
Almost immediate dysfunctional results

35

Cross-Cultural Management

Negotiation

The process in which two or more parties

communicate and exchange goods or services in
an attempt to rich a mutually agreeable solution

36

Cross-Cultural Management

Cultural Differences in Negotiations

Negotiating styles vary among national cultures; for
effective cross-cultural negotiation, you need to
understand other partys communication patterns,
time orientations, social behavior and idiosyncratic
national issues.

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Cross-Cultural Management

Successful Negotiators Characteristics

US

Japanese

Taiwanese

Brazilian

Preparation &
planning skill

Dedication to
job

Persistence &
determination

Preparation &
planning skill

Thinking under
pressure

Perceive &
exploit power

Win respect &

confidence

Thinking under
pressure

Judgment &
intelligence

Win respect &

confidence

Preparation &
planning skill

Judgment &
intelligence

Verbally
expressive

Integrity

Product
knowledge

Verbally
expressive

Product
knowledge

Demonstrate
listening skills

Interesting

Product
knowledge

Perceive &
exploit power

Broad
perspective

Judgment &
intelligence

Perceive &
exploit power

Integrity

Verbally
expressive
Cross-Cultural Management

Competitive

Cultural Differences in Negotiations

Cultural context significantly influences:
History & identity in relation to conflict
Time frame (short/long; deadlines)
Emphasis on rationality/emotion/ideals
The amount and type of preparation for
bargaining
Participants: few essential or the more the
merrier; young professional or respectable elder
The relative emphasis on task versus
interpersonal relationships and formal vs. informal
mechanisms (e.g., lawyers)
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Cross-Cultural Management

Differences in Negotiations
Where the negotiation should be conducted
(business/leisure) and emphasis on entertainment
Communication patterns (verbal/nonverbal); direct
vs. non-direct rejection
The tactics used:
Extent of bargaining
Initial offersextreme or moderate
Nonverbal behavior

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Cross-Cultural Management

Verbal Tactics
(per hour session)
Behavior

US

Brazilian

Japanese

Promise

Normative

Commitment

13

15

Self-Disclosure

36

39

34

Command

14

Nos

83.4

5.7

Profit level

57.3

75.2

61.5

Initial concessions

7.1

9.4

6.5

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Cross-Cultural Management

Nonverbal Tactics
Behavior

US

Brazilian

Japanese

Silent periods (per

30 min.)

3.5

5.5

Conversational
overlaps (per 10
min.)

10.3

28.6

12.6

Facial gazing
(minutes per 10
min.)

3.3

5.2

1.3

Touching (per 30
min.)

4.7

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Cross-Cultural Management