Transcript So…What’s Up With Culture, Anyway?

SO…
WHAT’S UP
WITH
CULTURE,
ANYWAY?
Professional Development Seminar
Fri. 26 June 2009 1:00-2:00pm
Pentecost Building, Room 420
Jessica Loh
Purpose
Understanding culture and ‘interculture’ is a process full of trial
and error and error and error. The purpose of today’s session
is to take one step towards intercultural understanding in our
every day, cross-cultural lives.
Goal
To provide insight on the basics of intercultural communication
concepts and their application to real world, cross cultural
situations (i.e. business, personal, work, school).
Activity
Points of Discussion
-Messages are filtered and meaning is interpreted through our
own understanding, reality, values, norms and perceptions :
"cultural lenses“
- through our "lenses" we insert and infer meaning, make our
own connections, and deem what is logical, rational and
acceptable based on our own perceptions, a product which is
acquired through socialization (we are innately ethnocentric).
A or B?
Findings of Development
Psychologist Liang hwang Chiu:
American children
preferred to group based
on the “taxonomic”
category
Chinese children preferred
to group based on
“relationship”
- R. E. Nesbitt, The Geography of Thought
1 or 2?
In a study conducted by Nesbitt,
his participants consisted of
Koreans, European Americans,
and Asian Americans.
Most Koreans chose group 1
based on a more obvious family
resemblance
Most European Americans chose
group 2 based on a discovered
“rule” (i.e. straight instead of
curved stem)
Asian Americans were in
between but more similar to
Koreans
What is culture?
-
shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes,
values, expectations, and norms of
behaviour
What is communication?
-
process of sharing meaning by transmitting
messages through media such as words,
behaviour, material artifacts, or third
parties.
-
For successful communication, receiver
must interpret the meaning of a particular
communication the way the sender
intended
“Distortions" or "noise" alter meaning
intended by the sender that lead to
misunderstanding by the receiver.
Therefore… Culture is the foundation of communication. When
cultures vary, communication practices also vary. The more
dissimilar the cultures of those involved, the more the likelihood
of misinterpretation.
Iceberg Analogy
- The iceberg separates culture
into visible and invisible
elements which are almost
always interrelated
Even the Titanic sunk because of it…
CULTURE SPECIFIC
Clothing art gestures food religion
forms of communication
language
symbols
- Observable cultural elements
often have deeper meaning
and are rooted in
fundamental values
- what we think we see is not
always what is going on; a
visible aspect of culture can
have completely different
meaning in different cultures
(i.e. laughing, smiling)
- Symbols, words, gestures are
loaded with cultural meaning
that simply do not “translate”
universally and may lead to
serious misunderstanding
CULTURE GENERAL
Individualism
collectivism
hierarchy
equality
formality
informality
tradition
progress & change
predictive future
uncertain future
activity/work
people/relationships
polychronic time
monochronic time
Brainstorm
from specific to general :: cultural elements and the values that drive them
Use of third parties, notes,
signs, gesture, silence, to
convey important messages
Face-maintenance
Harmony
High-context
Collectivism
Fluid notion of time
Uncertain future
“Impermanence”
Polychronic Time
Respect for those with
status
Formality
Ascription
Hierarchy
Direct, verbal communication; “straight to the point”
Notion of efficiency
Low-context
Individualism
Time is a precious commodity; “time is money”
Predictive future
Personal Efficacy
Monochronic Time
Idea that “anyone can be
President” and all humans
should be treated the same
Personal efficacy
Meritocracy
Equality
shifting gears
applications in business
Intercultural Awareness in Business
It is crucial to understand the impact of cross-cultural differences on
business, trade and internal company organization. Poor
understanding can affect areas such as management, PR, advertising,
and negotiations, and could lead to damaging consequences.
The success or failure of a company, venture, merger or acquisition is
essentially in the hands of people. If these people are not crossculturally aware, then misunderstandings, offence, and a breakdown in communication can occur.
The need for greater cross cultural awareness is heightened in our
global economies. Cross-cultural differences in matters such as
language, etiquette, non-verbal communication, norms, and values
can, do, and will lead to cross cultural blunders.
a case study
Obama. Change. And a monkey.
Video brought to you today by YouTube
Silly Ethnocentrics :: Business Management and Negotiations
A Japanese manager in an American company was told to give critical feedback to a
subordinate during a performance evaluation. Japanese use high context language and are
uncomfortable giving direct feedback. It took the manager five tries before he could be direct
enough to discuss the poor performance so that the American understood.
When President George Bush went to Japan with Lee Iacocca and other American business
magnates, they directly made explicit and direct demands on Japanese leaders. This violates
Japanese etiquette. To the Japanese it is considered rude, a sign of ignorance, and/or
desperation to lower oneself to make direct demands. Some analysts believe it severely
damaged the negotiations and confirmed to the Japanese that Americans are barbarians.
A sales manager in Hong Kong tried to control employee's promptness at work. He insisted
they come to work on time instead of 15 minutes late. They complied, but then left exactly
on time instead of working into the evening as they previously had done. Much work was left
unfinished until the manager relented and they returned to their usual time schedule.
An American business person refused an offer of a cup of coffee from a Saudi businessman.
Such a rejection is considered very rude and the business negotiations became stalled.
An American oil rig supervisor in Indonesia shouted at an employee to take a boat to shore.
Since no-one berates an Indonesian in public, a mob of outraged workers chased the
supervisor with axes.
Silly Ethnocentrics :: PR and Advertising – use of words and symbols
In 2002, Umbro, the UK sports manufacturer, had to withdraw its new trainers
(sneakers) called the Zyklon. The firm received complaints from many people as
it was the name of the gas used by the Nazi regime to murder millions of Jews
in concentration camps.
Staff at the African port of Stevadores saw the "internationally recognized"
symbol for "fragile" (i.e. broken wine glass) and presumed it was a box of
broken glass. Rather than waste space they threw all the boxes into the sea!
A golf ball manufacturing company packaged golf balls in packs of four for
purchase in Japan. But, pronunciation of the word "four" in Japanese sounds
like the word "death" and items packaged in fours are unpopular.
A soft drink was introduced to Arab countries with an attractive label that had
stars on it: 6-pointed stars. The Arabs interpreted this as pro-Israeli and refused
to buy it. Another label was printed in ten languages, one of which was Hebrew-again the Arabs did not buy.
A Laugh at Their Expense
The Swedish furniture giant IKEA somehow agreed upon the name "FARTFULL" for one of
its new desks.
In the late 1970s, Wang, the American computer company ,could not understand why its
British branches were refusing to use its latest motto "Wang Cares". To British ears it
sounded too close to "Wankers" which would not really give a very positive image to any
company.
American Motors tried to market its new car, the Matador, based on the image of
courage and strength. However, in Puerto Rico the name means "killer" and was not
popular on the hazardous roads in the country.
Mountain Bell Company tried to promote its telephone and services to Saudi's. Its ad
portrayed an executive talking on the phone with his feet propped up on the desk,
showing the soles of his shoes-- something an Arab would never do!
When Pepsico advertised Pepsi in Taiwan with the ad "Come Alive With Pepsi" they
had no idea that it would be translated into Chinese as "Pepsi brings your ancestors
back from the dead."
…and a few more….
In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name
into "Schweppes Toilet Water."
A sign in a Yugoslavian hotel stated: The flattening of underwear with
pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.
At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any
suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
These examples courtesy of
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/culturalservices/articles/crosscultural-marketing.html
Q&A
PDS evaluations
Monochronic vs. Polychronic
Monochronic Culture
Polychronic Culture
Interpersonal Relations
Interpersonal relations are
subordinate to present schedule
Present schedule is subordinate
to Interpersonal relations
Activity Co-ordination
Schedule co-ordinates activity;
appointment time is rigid.
Interpersonal relations coordinate
activity; appointment
time is flexible
Task Handling
One task at a time
Many tasks are handled
simultaneously
Breaks and Personal Time
Breaks and personal time are
sacrosanct regardless of
personal ties.
Breaks and personal time are
subordinate to personal ties.
Temporal Structure
Time is inflexible; time is
tangible
Time is flexible; time is fluid
Work/personal time
Work time is clearly separable
separability from personal time
Work time is not clearly separable
from personal time
Organizational Perception
Activities are isolated from
organization as a whole; tasks
are measured by output in time
(activity per hour or minute)
Activities are integrated into
organization as a whole; tasks
measured as part of overall
organizational goal
(adopted from: Victor, 1992, p.234)
Definitions of Culture
Hofstede (1994): “the collective programming of the
mind which distinguishes the member of one group or
category of people from another”(p.5). Hofstede
expands the concept of ‘collective programming’ by
suggesting that culture could therefore be situated
between human nature, which is not programmed, nor
programmable on the one side – and the individual’s
personality on the other side. This idea of the culture in
the individual is particularly useful for explaining
the concept of culture on the one side – as well as
allowing for the diversity of individual personalities
within any one culture.
the role of culture as both an influence factor for
behaviour as well as an interpretation factor of
behaviour. The interpretative role of culture, as
introduced by Spencer-Oatey, is especially important
when considering cross-cultural interaction, or
reaction towards products created in a different cultural
context. ‘Culture’ consists of various factors that are
shared by a given group, and that it acts as an
interpretive frame of behaviour.
“Culture is a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs,
behavioural norms, and basic assumptions and
values that are shared by a group of people, and
that influence each member's behaviour and his/her
interpretations of the "meaning" of other people's
behaviour.”(Spencer-Oatey, 2000, p.4)
Hall (1983) views culture as often subconscious. He
compares culture to an invisible control mechanism
operating in our thoughts. In his view, we become
only aware of this control mechanism when it is
severely challenged, for example by exposure
to a different culture. He believes that members of a
given society, internalise the cultural components of
that society, and act within the limits as set out by
what is ‘culturally acceptable’