CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

INTERCULTURAL WORKPLACE - WHY IS IT IMPORTANT??

• People are on the move
• In 50 yrs pop. of US will grow 50%
• Accommate and manage intcultural change

CULTURE.. WHAT IS IT?

• Culture may be defined as the complex system of values
• traits, morals and customs shared by a society.
• Culture is a powerful operating force that molds
• the way we think and behave.

Untitled Slide

• Rules, values and attitudes of a culture are not
• inherent, they are learned and passed down.
• Culture is the basis for how we tell the world
• who we are and what we believe.

FIVE KEY DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE:

• Context (high and low)
• Individualism
• Formality
• Communication style
• Time orientation

CONTEXT

• Context refers to the stimuli,
• environment or ambience
• surrounding an event.

LOW-CONTEXT

• Low-context cultures depend little
• on the context of a situation to
• convey their meaning.

HIGH-CONTEXT

• The listener is already "contexted"
• and does not need to be given
• much background information.

LOW CONTEXT

• Logical, analytical and action oriented.
• "Linear logic" - proceed from point A to
• point B to point C then finally arrive
• at a conclusion.

HIGH CONTEXT

• Intuitive, contemplative.
• "Spiral logic" - circling around a topic
• indirectly and looking at it from many
• tangential or divergent viewpoints.

INDIVIDUALISM-LOW CONTEXT

• Value individualism
• Desire a large degree of freedom
• im their personal lives.

INDIVIDUALISM-HIGH CONTEXT

• Collectivists, emphasize membership in
• organizations, groups and teams.
• Resist independence-fosters competition
• and confrontation instead of consensus.

COMMUNICATION STYLE-LOW CONTEXT

• Words are very important especially in
• contracts and negotiations.

COMMUNICATION STYLE-HIGH CONTEXT

• Place more emphasis on the surrounding
• context than on words describing negotiations.

TIME ORIENTATION

• Low context-time is a precious commodity
• High context-time is unlimited, never ending.

STEREOTYPE

• An oversimplified behavioral pattern
• applied uncritically to groups.

PROTOTYPES

• Mental representations based on general
• characteristics that ar not fixed or rigid
• but rather are open to new definitions.