Cultural Considerations

Page history last edited by Leigh Rogers 8 years, 6 months ago

As we have seen in Week 5 the way in which we write conveys a particular mood or feeling. The way in which we choose to express ourselves is governed by the audience, or person, that we are addressing. We would not speak to a child in the same way that we would speak to an adult, we would not speak to the president in the same way we would speak to our best friend. Our relationship to the person influences the way that we address them. In business we might often be dealing with someone from a different cultural background from our own, this should also influence our tone. Saying, "I disagree" may not be a major problem for someone from a Western European background, however to the ears of an Asian it may sound confrontational, rude and aggressive.

If we find that we are dealing with someone from a different background from our own it would be wise to do a little research beforehand. We may find that there are some practical differences in style as well as content.

Why should we be concerned with culture?

Differences in culture can make people feel uncomfortable:

Differences in culture can be very complicated and difficult to fully understand:

How can we make some simple rules about different cultures?

2) * uncertainty avoidance

Cultures can be different in many different ways

While the three ideas (Group / individual, power structure and direct / indirect communication) are very important, it is also very important to know the many ways in which cultures can be different. Please look at the following page Cultural Considerations 2 and think about the questions. Answer number 3 on your own wiki page (the other questions are good to talk about but you do not need to write the answers - you may use the other questions in your essay or journal).

Activity/Assignment

Do Cultural Considerations 2 then do some research using the internet. Try to find sites that deal with cultural differences in communication, particularly in a business context.

Write between 250 and 500 words on cultural differences in communication styles.

Help with this essay.

Reference the URL’s that you have used in your research.

Chose one of the topics below ;

The affect of cultural communication differences in business. (discuss)
Cross cultural communication differences are difficult/impossible to overcome ( discuss)
Compare the communication approaches between two Asian countries (give examples, provide possible reasons for the differences)

Don't forget to write a learner journal entry for this assignment.

'Hurdles to Cross Cultural Business Communication' Payne, Neil

http://ezinearticles.com/?Hurdles-to-Cross-Cultural-Business-Communication&id=1378

Cross Cultural Communications,Inc.

http://www.crossculturalcom.com/

Cross Cultural Communication

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-cultural_communication

Intercultural Communication Principles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_communication_principles

Cross Cultural Communication

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cross-cultural_communication/

'Cross Cultural Communication' (1984) Tannen, D.