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MGMT2341 > 4. Cross-cultural communication > Flashcards

4. Cross-cultural communication Flashcards

Topic 4 (54 cards)

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1
Q

culture

A

set of shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of a society, and passed on to succeeding generations.

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2
Q

attitudes and perceptions

A

change easily, unstable

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3
Q

values and norms

A

stable, don’t change, handed down over generations

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4
Q

norms

A

norms are culturally determined, norms are difficult to change, cultural norms support no rapid change or hyper flexibility
however can also be your ‘worst enemy’ when the organisation needs rapid change, flexibility

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5
Q

cultural sensitivity/empathy

A

an awareness of, and an honest caring about, another individual’s
culture
- very impactful on international negotiations and exchanges

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6
Q

nature of culture

A
  • taught: learning and experiencing
  • shared: member of a group, organisation or society share
  • patterned: structured and is integrated into daily activities
  • transgenerational: passed down through generations
  • adaptive: change over time

cultural change is slow

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7
Q

cultural intensity

A

when you have very strong feelings about certain things you see and do, how strongly do people feel about certain things

  • high degree: strong culture, which can be positive (in support of org goals) or negative (against org goals)
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8
Q

cultural consensus

A

how widely pervasive is that figure; does it pervade the entire organisation or only small groups?

  • high degree: strong culture, which can be positive or negative
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9
Q

environmental variables affecting management functions

A
  • national variables
  • sociocultural variables
  • cultural variables
  • attitudes
  • individual and group employee job behaviour
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10
Q

national variables

A

characteristics specific to the country/nation
- economic system
- legal system
- political system
- tech knowledge

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11
Q

sociocultural variables

A

customs, behaviours and beliefs specific to the population
- religion
- language
- education
- national history

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12
Q

cultural variables

A

factors that shape the culture of a group
- values
- norms
- beliefs

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13
Q

attitudes

A

variables affecting the way people think and feel about certain things
- work
- time
- materialism
- change
- individualism

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14
Q

individual/group employee behaviour

A

variables affecting how people behave in their job
- motivation
- productivity
- commitment/loyalty
- ethics

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15
Q

organisational culture

A

represents expectations, norms, and goals held in common by members of an organisation.

  • exists within societal culture
  • varies greatly between organisations
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16
Q

Schein theory of 3 levels of organisational culture

A

artifact level (bottom) - what you see, visible manifestation of culture
basic values (middle) - stated reasons for behaviour
basic assumptions (top) - taking for granted what happens in organisation; unconscious beliefs

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17
Q

effect of culture on management

A
  • convergence
  • self-reference criterion
  • parochialism
  • ethnocentrism
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18
Q

convergence

A

shifting of individual management styles to become similar to one another
eg. Japanese convergence of culture to a more Western culture

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19
Q

self-reference criterion

A

subconscious tendency to view the world and make decisions based on one’s own cultural values
“what I know to be true, I project onto others”

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20
Q

parochialism

A

the expectation that others from another country will automatically fall into patterns of behaviour common to this country

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21
Q

ethnocentrism/ethnocentric attitude

A

the attitude of those who operate on the assumption that their ways of doing things are best and all others should do what they do

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22
Q

2 influences on national culture

Study These Flashcards
A
  1. subcultures
  2. stereotyping
23
Q

subcultures

Study These Flashcards
A

smaller groups within a larger culture that share distinct values, beliefs, behaviours or interests that differentiate them from the larger group
eg. Canada: french speakers, English speakers, natives

24
Q

stereotyping

Study These Flashcards
A

cultural profiling that tends to develop expectations

25
religion and the workplace
- closely aligned with societal culture since the basis of a religion is shared beliefs, values and institutions - foreign managers must be sensitive to the local religions and workplace norms
26
religion
underlies moral and economic norms and influences everyday business transactions and job behaviours
27
cultural value dimensions
- varies across subcultures - society's idea of what is good/bad - determines how others will respond - communicated and passed through generations - helps managers anticipate likely cultural effects - allow for contingency management
28
contingency management
adopting whatever behaviour, policies and practices the culture dictates
29
some value differences in business around the world
- time: time is always running vs tomorrow; rigid time vs fluid time - change: pace and perception of change varies among cultures - material factors: attitude towards nature eg. food vs worship symbol - individualism: collectivism vs individualism - religion: how much importance/consideration it's given eg. Islamic cultures vs wester cultures - relationships: eastern cultures placing more trust on people than contracts vs western cultures relying more on contracts
30
Hofstede's 5 value dimensions
- power distance - uncertainty avoidance - individualism - collectivism - masculinity - long-term/short-term orientation
31
power distance
level of acceptance by society of unequal distribution of power in institutions (some have power, some don't) -- eg. managers accustomed to having all orders followed and lower employees happy to follow orders without question in high power distance eg. Malaysia highest power distance -- except AirAsia (based in Malaysia) which exercises low power distance based on organisational culture
32
uncertainty avoidance
tolerance for ambiguity, extent to which people in a society feel threatened by amiguous situations high: intolerance for ambiguity, feel threatened, risk-averse low: tolerate ambiguity and don't feel threatened, risk-taker
33
individualism
tendence of people to look after themselves and their immediate families only, and neglect needs of others high: only care about themselves (individualists) low: collectivists
34
collectivism
desire for tight social frameworks, emotional dependence on belonging to the organisation and a strong belief in group decisions, care greatly for others and will put others' interests above own high: care for others, high degree of consensus low: individualists
35
masculinity
degree to which traditionally masculine values (assertiveness, materialism, and lack of concern for others) prevail/are held in esteem high: masculinity low: femininity
36
long-term/short-term orientation
extent to which a culture programs its members to accept delayed gratification of their material, social and emotional needs high: long-term business relationships established low: short-term business relationships
37
task oriented
more time is invested in streamlining business processes; the task
38
relationship (people) oriented
more time is invested in developing relationships based on the idea the better the relationship, the better the task outcome
39
critical operational value differences
- time: temporal value - orientation: task vs relationship - change: control and pace of change - material factors: physical goods and status vs spiritual realism - individualism: 'me' vs 'us'
40
developing cultural profiles
- gather information: research, observation, discussion/interview - can develop for various countries, however difficult unless person has lived there or is involved deeply with them
41
cultural profiles
tool used to understand and describe characteristics, values, geography, practices, etc of a particular culture. - used to anticipate drastic differences that may be encountered in a given country - can profile country, cannot stereotype
42
authoritarianism
enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom
43
humanitarianism
broad dedication to and belief in the fundamental value of human life
44
communication process
1. sender (encodes message) 2. medium (message) 3. receiver (decodes message) 4. feedback (response to message) - noise influences/impacts all three steps from receiving message - culture can also affect the communication process by interrupting or causing misinterpretation
45
meaningful communication links
requires trust, which causes implicit understanding result: - creates basis for mutual benefit - improves predictability - develops mutual bonding; socialisation > all about establishing relationships
46
cultural variables in communication process
- attitudes: stereotyping - social organisations - thought patterns - roles in terms of who does what; links to centralisation: is decision-making made at the top or diffused to lower employees? - language: effect of compliments in some cultures, face-saving; 'yes' doesn't always mean yes in some countries like Japan, etc - nonverbal communication
47
face-saving
actions or words intended to avoid embarrassment or loss of respect being experienced by someone else
48
nonverbal communication
- kinesic behaviour: through body movements - paralanguage: how something is said - tone, expression, pause, inflection, volume, etc - object language/material cure: way we communicate through material things - chronemics: how linear time is experienced --- monochronic cultures: time is linear --- polychronic cultures: focus on several things at once, many things happen simultaneously - proxemics: influence of physical space and proximity on communication --- high-contact culture: close proximity --- low-contact culture: keep distance
49
context in communication
high context cultures - low explicitness low context cultures - high explicitness
50
high context cultures
japan, middle east, latin america
51
low context cultures
germanic and scandinavian countries
52
how to manage cross-cultural communication
- develop cultural sensitivity - be careful in how you encode (say) a message (eg. double translation) - be selective on how you send (transmit) message: face to face vs text - be careful when decoding feedback: get feedback from multiple parties and improve observation skills - follow-up actions: don't rely purely on contracts, etc
53
how to develop cultural sensitivity
- read map to familiarise with geography - dress properly - talk small/humbly - do not use slang - slow down - active listening - religious & political restraint (dont discuss
54
facilitating intercultural communication
- openness: don't expect what usually happens in your country - resilience: persistence and tolerance for ambiguity - show interest - restrained extrovertedness

MGMT2341 (11 decks)

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