978-0073403267 Chapter 3 Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises Part 1

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

Module 3

Communicating across Cultures

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.

Module Overview

Kitty and Steve believe that an awareness of the many facets of culture and

diversity is critical to increasing the likelihood of successful business

relationships. While it’s impossible to cover all of the dimensions of diversity

in this module, Kitty and Steve have tried to touch on as many as possible.

Bring what you know to the classroom and invite your students to do the

same. Keep abreast of current events, campus resources, and community

leaders who may also be of help to you and your students.

Teaching Tip: Some students—and even some instructors—want easy answers about

issues of diversity. If that were possible, all of our difficulties and inequities in the

workplace would be gone by now! Remind students that knowledge is the

beginning of wisdom and that gaining knowledge of others is the beginning of

wisdom with regard to diversity. Use PP 3-4 to help.

Diversity in the workplace comes from many sources, as illustrated on PP 3-3:

Gender

Race and ethnicity

Regional and national origin

Social class

Religion

Age

Sexual orientation

Physical ability

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

While it’s impossible to cover all of the dimensions of diversity in this module, Kitty and Steve

have tried to touch on as many as possible. Bring what you know to the classroom and invite

your students to do the same. Keep abreast of current events, campus resources, and community

leaders who may also be of help to you and your students.

Even with the emphasis on diversity during the past 20 years, students can expect to enter a

workplace where inequities, some of them severe, exist. For instance, the numbers of women and

racial and ethnic minorities in the top echelons of U.S. businesses are still disproportionate to

that of white males, and significant legal actions against American companies accused of

discrimination continue to make headlines (e.g., Walmart, Abercrombie & Fitch).

Nevertheless, many students believe few, if any, problems exist. Some may believe they will be

insulated from discrimination, despite the fact that population shifts are changing the

demographics of many U.S. communities. In contrast to such optimism is the reality that

problems continue to hinder progress. Lawsuits, civil protests, and even violence have been

results.

With the increased globalization of business, Americans can also expect to work with people

whose language, culture, and ethnic identity differ from their own. Therefore, an awareness of

domestic diversity is but a first step toward a better understanding of the world.

What’s in This Supplement

This supplement is organized around the major questions posed in Module 3. It covers

Part 1: Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises Page 38

Part 2: Answers to Textbook Assignments Page 55

PowerPoint presentations can be found at our Web page at www.mhhe.com/bcs6e.

Questions (with answers) suitable for quizzes are in the Instructor’s Test Bank. For student

practice quizzes with answers, see our Web page.

Part 1: Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

What is “culture”? LO 3-1

Our understanding of acceptable actions and beliefs.

Culture provides patterns of acceptable behavior and belief. We may

not be aware of the most basic features of our own culture until we

come into contact with people who do things differently.

We can categorize cultures as high-context (PP 3-5) or low-context

(PP 3-6).

Figure 3.1 (p. 40), as illustrated on PP 3-7, shows how low-context

cultures favor direct approaches and may see indirectness as dishonest

or manipulative. The written word is seen as more important than oral

statements, so contracts are binding but promises may be broken.

Details matter. Business communication practices in the United States

reflect these low-context preferences.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to consider a common saying

from childhood: “Sticks and stones may break my bones

but names (words) will never hurt me.” What does this

saying suggest about the value of the spoken word in North

American culture? Does this support the concept of

low-context culture? Can they think of other examples that

might illustrate the value we place on the spoken word

versus the written word?

In-Class Exercise: Students may confuse the term “culture” with “race.” Ask the

students to consider the implications of using the wrong term to describe groups of

people (e.g., using “Chinese” when the student actually means “Asian” or “Asian

American”). How does using words improperly cause problems? Why do we do so?

How can we avoid improper usage?

In-Class Exercise: Ask students to consider the unique problems a pluralistic nation

like the United States may face compared to countries that are more homogenous

(e.g., Japan, Finland). How does living in a country of immigrants affect our sense

of unity? What challenges do we face? Then have students research other pluralistic

nations, such as Canada or Brazil. Do they face the same problems? Why or why

not? Have students report their findings.

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

How does culture affect business communication? LO 3-2

In every single aspect!

Culture influences every single aspect of business communication:

how to show politeness and respect, how much information to give,

how to motivate people, how loud to talk, even what size paper to

use. PP 3-9 shows the dimensions of culture.

Values, Beliefs, and Practices

Help students understand that our values and beliefs are influenced

by culture. What is “right” or “wrong” often depends on our cultural norms. Yet, we may

assume that all cultures share the same value system.

Even if we surround ourselves with people of the same culture, there is opportunity for conflict.

Perhaps the best way to minimize conflict is to focus on the similarities among people, rather

than the differences.

Teaching Tip: Have the students break into groups of 4-5 and list all of the things

they do on a daily basis that might be culturally influenced. These can include their

choice of clothing, food, books, music, and leisure pursuits. Once the students agree

on a list, have them discuss the variations within each category. For instance, why

might some students like rock, while others might like hip hop, while others might

like country? Despite the variety, what fundamentally links our choices? Beyond

superficial elements, such as style, how truly different are these beliefs and

practices? What makes them similar?

Nonverbal Communication

Communication that doesn’t use words takes place all the time as

illustrated on PP 3-11 through PP 3-13. 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.

Students must understand that nonverbal signals can be misinterpreted

just as easily as can words. But unlike words, distinctions among norms may be less clear.

Facial expressions—even smiling—are culturally learned behaviors and can differ accordingly.

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

In-Class Exercise: Have students select a partner. For about five minutes, have one

student share with the other student an experience where he or she felt

misunderstood while speaking. While that person is speaking, have the other student

record gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and other nonverbal cues.

Afterward, have the student share his or her findings with the student who was speaking. Was

the speaking student aware of the nonverbal cues? Can the student explain his or her choices of

nonverbal behaviors? Did the recording student understand what these behaviors meant? If not,

what were the interpretations?

Body Language

Posture and body movements connote energy and openness. Open body

positions suggest that people are accepting and open to new ideas while

closed or defensive body positions suggest people are physically or

psychologically uncomfortable, that they are defending themselves and

shutting other people out.

Teaching Tip: While discussing body language, pause and ask the students to look

around the room. What is the range of body positions they see? Are the students

even aware of their body language? What might they be communicating? Now that

they are more aware, what changes in body position might they make?

Eye Contact

North American European Americans see eye contact as a sign of honesty. But in many

cultures, dropped eyes are a sign of appropriate deference to a superior.

Teaching Tip: Have students share instruction they may have received in public

speaking courses regarding eye contact. Would such instruction work for all

cultures? How might they change their approach if the audience did not approve of

prolonged eye contact?

Gestures

Gestures, like other forms of nonverbal communication, are not universal. For instance, the

“OK” hand signal common in North America is highly offensive in parts of Europe. Beckoning

with a single finger to indicate “come here” may seem condescending to someone from South

Korea.

Teaching Tip: Can students think of a time when a gesture made no sense to them?

Or was offensive? What were the circumstances? How did this affect

communication? What does this suggest about some of their own gestures?

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

Space

Personal space is both individual and cultural in nature. How much we

want may be influenced by both gender and culture.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to share what they believe is a

comfortable amount of personal space. How do students feel when someone

invades that space? How do students who prefer smaller amounts of personal space

feel when someone they are talking to “backs away” from them? Do students

sometimes avoid situations, using public transportation, for instance, because of

personal space issues?

Spatial Arrangements

The arrangements of rooms, offices, and even furniture can communicate cultural norms. Space

can also connote power and prestige, such as having a large corner office in the U.S.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to share what they know about the offices of people in

authority where they work. Where are they located? How big are they? Do they

have a door? A window? What amenities might also come with the office—style of

furniture, size of desk, and plants and decorations?

Time

In the U.S., we value time as kept by clocks and calendars, but not all cultures share this belief.

Even in the U.S., significant differences may exist regionally in terms of the value of time and

how it is measured. While “five-minute blocks” are common in North America, other cultures

may measure time in units of 15 minutes or longer.

As Edward T. Hall notes, time distinctions can be divided into

monochronic (doing one thing at a time) and polychronic (doing

many things at the same time) cultures (PP 3-14).

Teaching Tip: Have students share their experiences

with time values in different regions of the United States. For instance, someone

traveling from the north to the south (or vice versa) may notice that the pace of daily

life is different. What challenges did they face in adjusting to differences?

Other Nonverbal Symbols

The value of dress, colors, and even height can be cultural influenced.

In-Class Exercise: Have students discuss for 10-15 minutes advertising they’ve seen

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

or television programs they watch. What values are communicated through dress,

color, and height? For instance, what types and color of clothing do people in power

wear? Those out of power? Does height or a lack of it communicate qualities about

a subject or character? Where do students think these values come from?

Oral Communication

Effective oral communication requires cultural understanding. As

Deborah Tannen notes, conversational style demonstrates our

conversational patterns and the meaning we give to them.

As shown on PP 3-15 and PP 3-16, students can learn their own

conversational style by answering the following questions:

How long a pause tells you that it’s your turn to speak?

Do you see interruption as rude? Or do you say things while

other people are still talking to show that you’re interested

and to encourage them to say more?

Do you show interest by asking lots of questions? Or do you

see questions as intrusive and wait for people to volunteer

whatever they have to say?

Tannen concludes that the following features characterize her own conversational style:

Fast rate of speech

Fast rate of turn-taking

Persistence—if a turn is not acknowledged, try again

Preference for personal stories

Tolerance of, preference for simultaneous speech

Abrupt topic shifting.

In-Class Exercise: Have students spend 10 minutes reflecting on their own

conversational style. What qualities can they identify? Then have students share

their findings with another student. What qualities are the same? Different? How

might they adapt their style to suit the needs of the other person?

Understatement, Exaggeration, Compliments, and Silence

How we express ourselves, even in terms of giving compliments, is culturally influenced.

Students should review the examples in this section of the module with the understanding that

individual differences can also affect our use of understatement, exaggeration, compliments, and

silence.

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Module 03 – Communicating across Cultures

in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.

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