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Communicating
across Cultures
Module Three
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
LO 3-1 Define culture through context.
LO 3-2 Compare and contrast dimensions of culture.
LO 3-3 Apply strategies for international
communication success.
LO 3-4 Identify differences among generations.
LO 3-5 Apply strategies for workplace discrimination
solutions.
LO 3-6 Apply strategies for bias-free documents.
3-2
Diversity in the Workplace
Gender
Race and
ethnicity
Regional and
national
origin
Social class
Religion
Age
Sexual
orientation
Physical
ability
3-3
Diversity in the Workplace
 Valuing diversity is good business as well as
good social practice.
 Ethnically diverse teams produce more and
higher-quality ideas.
3-4
What is “culture”?
 High-Context Cultures
 Most information is inferred from the context of
a message.
 Little is “spelled out.”
 Examples: Japanese, Arabic, and Latin American
cultures.
3-5
What is “culture”?
 Low-Context Cultures
 Context is less important than words.
 Most information is explicitly spelled out
 Examples: German, Scandinavian, and
dominant U.S. cultures.
3-6
Views of Communication in
High- and Low-Context Cultures
3-7
How does culture affect
business communication?
 Culture influences
every single aspect of
business
communication:
 how to show
politeness and respect
 how much
information to give,
 how to motivate
people
3-8
Dimensions of Culture
Values,
Beliefs, and
Practices
Nonverbal
Communication
Body
Language
Eye Contact
Gestures
Space
Spatial
Arrangements
3-9
Cultural Contrasts in Motivation
3-10
How does culture affect
business communication?
 Nonverbal communication
 communication that doesn’t use words—takes
place all the time.
 Body language, the size of an office, or how long
someone keeps a visitor waiting— all these
communicate pleasure or anger, friendliness or
distance, power and status
3-11
How does culture affect
business communication?
 Posture and body movements connote energy
and openness
 Open positions suggest that people are
accepting and open to new ideas.
 Closed positions suggest that people are
physically or psychologically uncomfortable,
that they are defending themselves and
shutting other people out.
3-12
How does culture affect
business communication?
 Personal space
 the distance someone wants between himself
or herself and other people in ordinary, nonintimate interchanges
 Touch, spatial arrangements
3-13
How does culture affect
business communication?
 Monochronic cultures
 treat time as a
resource
 Polychronic cultures
 emphasize
relationships
3-14
Oral Communication
 Conversational style
 denotes our conversational patterns and the
meaning we give to them: the way we show
interest, politeness, and appropriateness
3-15
Conversational Style
 How long a pause tells you that it’s your
turn to speak?
 Do you see interruption as rude?
 Do you show interest by asking lots of
questions?
3-16
Cultural Contrasts in
Business Introductions
3-17
Cultural Contrasts in Written
Persuasive Documents
3-18
There are so many different cultures! How
can I know enough to communicate?
 Being aware that values and behaviors are
influenced by culture.
 Being flexible.
 Being sensitive.
 Being aware of the others’ values, beliefs, and
practices.
 Being sensitive to differences among
individuals.
3-19
Are differences among generations changing the
workplace and how we communicate?
 Millennials’ strengths include






Optimism
Confidence
Enthusiasm
Organization
Goal Orientation
Technology use
3-20
Are differences among generations changing the
workplace and how we communicate?
 Read often to enhance literacy
 Edit for grammar and proofread for spelling
 Avoid e-mail abbreviations in business
correspondence
 Use the appropriate tone, format, and language
 Build common ground when negotiating
 Find a mentor or role model
3-21
Dealing with Discrimination
 Successfully handling discrimination means
understanding the situation and your
options:




Not everything is discrimination.
Decide on a strategy.
Chart your own path.
Take the high road.
3-22
How can I make my documents
bias-free?
 Bias-free language
 language that does not discriminate against
people on the basis of sex, physical condition,
race, age, or any other category.
 Bias-free language is fair and friendly and
complies with the law.
3-23
Making Language Nonsexist
 Nonsexist language treats both sexes
neutrally.
 Check to be sure your writing is free from
sexism in four areas:
 words and phrases, job titles, pronouns, and
courtesy titles.
3-24
Getting Rid of Sexist
Terms and Phrases
3-25
Making Language Nonsexist
 Use neutral titles which do not imply that a
job is held only by men or only by women.
 When you write about a specific person, use
the appropriate gender pronouns
3-26
Making Language Nonsexist
 Business writing uses four ways to eliminate
sexist generic pronouns
 use plurals, use second-person you, revise the
sentence to omit the pronoun, and use
pronoun pairs.
3-27
Making Language Nonracist
and Nonagist
 Language is nonracist
and nonagist when it
treats all races and
ages fairly, avoiding
negative stereotypes
of any group.
3-28
Making Language Nonracist
and Nonagist
 Give someone’s race or age only if it is
relevant to your story
 Refer to a group by the term it prefers. As
preferences change, change your usage
 Avoid terms that suggest that competent
people are unusual
3-29
Talking about People with
Disabilities and Diseases
 People-first language focuses on the person,
not the condition
 Avoid negative terms, unless the audience
prefers them
3-30
Choosing Bias-Free Photos
and Illustrations
 When you produce a document with
photographs or illustrations, check the visuals
for possible bias.
 Do they show people of both sexes and all
races? Is there a sprinkling of various kinds of
people
 Check relationships and authority figures as
well as numbers
3-31