CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

CULTURE DEFINED

• Complex system of values, traits, morals, and customs shared by a society.
• Molds the way we think, behave, and communicate,.
• Culture is a powerful operating force that molds the way we think, behave, and communicate.

CULTURE IS LEARNED

• Rules, values, and attitudes of a culture are learned and passed down from generation to generation.
• Cultural rules of behavior are conditioned from early childhood.
• What may be normal to you may not be normal to others. (Talking nose to nose Arab cultures)

CULTURES ARE INHERENTLY LOGICAL

• Rules in any culture reinforces that cultures values and beliefs.
• Acknowledging the inherent knowledge of a culture is extremely important when encountering behavior that differs from ones own cultural norms.
• Japan: women exposing teeth when smiling, aggressive, and immodest.
• Important in business to know each countries different cultural beliefs.

CULTURE IS BASIS OF SELF IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY

• Culture is the basis of how we tell the world who we are and what we believe.

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CULTURE IS DYNAMIC

• Overtime culture changes.
• Changes can be caused by advancement in technology, migration, wars, natural disasters, and communication.

KEY DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE

LOW CONTEXT CULTURES

• (North America, Scandinavia, and Germany)
• Depend little on context of a situation and shared experience to convey their meaning.
• Assume that messages must be explicit and listeners rely exclusively on written or spoken word.
• Tend to be logical, analytical, and action oriented
• Business communicator stress clearly articulated messages that they consider to be objective, professional and efficient.
• Use linear logic. Proceed from point a to b to c and then arrive at a conclusion.

HIGH CONTEXT CULTURE

• (Japan, China and middle eastern countries)
• Much is left unsaid because the listener is assumed to be already contested and does not require much background information.
• More likely to be intuitive and contemplative. Pay attention to more than spoken or written words.
• Emphasize interpersonal relationships, non verbal expression, physical setting and social setting.
• Communication cues are transmitted by posture, voice inflection, gestures, and facial expressions.
• Use spiral logic, circling around a topic indirectly and looking at it from tangential or divergent viewpoints.
• A conclusion may be implied but not argued directly.

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INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM

• Attitude of independence and freedom from control characterizes individualism.
• Members of low context cultures, particularly Americans, tend to value individualism. They believe in individual action and personal responsibility, and they desire a large degree of freedom in their personal lives.
• Members of high context cultures are more collectivists. They emphasize membership in organizations, groups, and teams; they encourage acceptance of group values, duties, and decisions. Resist independence because it fosters competition and confrontation.

TIME ORIENTATION

• North Americans consider time a precious commodity to be conserved. They correlate time with productivity, efficiency, and money.
• In other cultures time may be perceived as an unlimited and never ending resource to be enjoyed.

POWER DISTANCE

• Introduced by geert hofstede.
• Measures how people in different societies cope with inequality; how they relate to more powerful individuals. In high power distance countries subordinates expect former hierarchies and embrace authoritarian paternalistic power relationships.
• In low power distance Cultures subordinates consider themselves as equals of their supervisors. Confidentially voice opinions, and participate in decision making.
• Japan vs. America (soft spoken vs. outspoken)

COMMUNICATION STYLE

• People in low and high context cultures tend to communicate differently with words.
• Americans and Germans, words are very important especially in contracts and negotiations.
• People in high context cultures, on the other hand, place more emphasis on surrounding context than on the words describing a negotiation.
• N. Americans tend to take words literally, whereas Latinos enjoy plays on words; and Arabs and South Americans sometimes speak with extravagant or poetic figures of speech that may be misinterpreted if taken literally.