Business communication a problem solving approach 1st edition rentz solutions manual

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

Part II: Chapter-by-Chapter Lecture Notes & Exercises Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures Teaching Suggestions In today’s global marketplace, it’s more important than ever to be aware of cultural differences and be able to navigate the communication networks of a workplace that could include people from a variety of backgrounds. We’ve already discussed the importance of adapting one’s message to the audience, and much of this chapter builds on that concept. But we’ll also consider how a person’s culture influences and shapes his or her experience of communication, and we’ll think about how we can use that information to craft more effective messages.

It may be helpful to begin this chapter by either showing a video or giving students a written piece of information that is in an entirely different language from what most of your students will be used to.

Instruct them to glean as much information as they can from the written or visual message, then discuss their impressions. What were they able to understand about the relationship between the senders and receivers of communications? What could they find out from the format of the message? If watching a video, what did the body language communicate?

Another fun exercise to start this chapter would be to divide students into teams and give them a simple task to perform (online students could use a friend or neighbor as a partner and report on their results).

The task could be something such as lining up nine sheets of paper to form a solid square, or cutting pieces of paper into simple shapes (such as hearts, triangles, stars, etc.). The challenge is that neither team will be able to use words of any kind. Let them take no more than five minutes to complete the task, and then discuss their experiences. What went well? What didn’t work? Were they able to complete the task?

What was frustrating about this challenge? What other ways of communicating were they able to discover and use?

As we’ve discussed, good communicators are good problem-solvers. This chapter will help your students solve the problem of transferring information and building positive business relationships across cultures.

Note that Presentation Capture is a good tool available in Connect for oral presentation delivery (either online or face-to-face). McGraw-Hill’s Presentation Capture software gives instructors the ability to evaluate presentations and allows students the freedom to practice their presentations anytime, anywhere.

Instructors can use the software’s fully customizable rubric to measure students’ uploaded presentations against course outcomes and give students specific feedback. Peer-review functions are also available.

For more information, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qWtyFlYtRWc. Another useful tool in Connect is “Writing Assignment,” which students can use to submit their homework assignments online. For more information on setting up this service, go to http://createwp.customer.mheducation.com/wordpress-mu/success-academy/create-writing-assignments/.

Learning Objectives LO 7-1 Explain why effective cross-cultural communication is important for today’s businesses.

LO 7-2 Describe three major factors that influence a country or region’s culture.

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

LO 7-3 Describe cultural differences regarding body positions and movements and apply this knowledge when communicating across cultures.

LO 7-4 Describe the impact of culture on views and practices concerning human relationships and apply this knowledge when communicating across cultures.

LO 7-5 Describe language issues that can cause trouble for nonnative speakers.

LO 7-6 Describe ways to prepare for effective cross-cultural communication.

Key Terms culture translation tools ethnocentrism monochronic polychronic low-context culture high-context culture power distance back translating two-word verbs stereotypes

Text Summary, Lecture Outline Importance of Cross-Cultural Communication Skills Slides 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 Globalization is one of the major trends in business. The spread of the Internet, social media, and mobile devices has only fueled this trend.

This chapter will give students helpful advice on how to communicate with clarity, courtesy, and correctness in any cross-cultural situation.

As you review the objectives for the class (or before), consider doing one of the suggested exercises from the Teaching Suggestions section. Or ask students to share a time when they experienced another culture that was very different from their own, or had to try to understand another language that they did not know. How did they feel about that experience? What did they learn from that? Was there anything they could have done to understand that culture better or to have made the experience more successful?

Problem-Solving Challenge Check out the Problem-Solving Challenge at the beginning of this chapter. Ask students to analyze the interaction between the Swedish head manager and the Indian HR manager. What didn’t go well in that interaction and why? How could it have been handled better? What might have happened if Andreas, the Swede, had appointed a contact person in a separate discussion instead of doing so in front of you in the role as the trainer? What could you as the trainer have done to reflect an understanding of the different cultures involved?

Allow students to discuss their responses to these questions. After you’ve finished working through this chapter with them, have them revisit this challenge and see if they’ve learned any strategies or concepts that could help this communication go well.

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

Skillful cross-cultural business communication is important for several reasons: • International trade is part of many business interactions—cross-cultural understanding can promote successful customer relationships.

• Working well with other cultures will make you a more effective employee.

• Interaction with those from other cultures will enrich your business and personal life.

Dimensions of Cultural Difference Slide 7-5 Global Connections As stated in the textbook, cultures are “shared ways in which groups of people understand and interpret the world.”

The spread of capitalism, advances in technology and science, and the growth of electronic media have made many distinctions between cultures begin to fade and much more sharing to occur.

The chart in this slide shows how the percentages of people using technology is increasing significantly and is projected to keep rising.

In the next slide, students will be asked to consider the effects of this increased usage on differences between cultures.

Slide 7-6 You Make the Call Ask students to read the message on the slide and then respond. Encourage them to share stories of their personal experiences of seeing differences between cultures eroded by the increased usage of technology.

What are their feelings on this subject?

Slide 7-7 Major Factors Affecting Culture This slide presents an overview of some of the major factors that affect culture. Discuss these factors with students.

How does the geography of a country affect its culture?

Ask students to consider how the area in which they grew up shaped their personalities and viewpoints and share some of those stories.

How does the country’s history affect its culture?

Significant historical events and movements of a culture can shape the attitudes and belief systems of the people who live in that country or region. Ask students: What are the top three historical events or movements that you think have shaped the experience of people in your home country or in your region?

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

What role does religion play in the culture?

Think about how religious values impact the Middle East, Asian countries, or the United States. Even if many people are not strictly “religious,” how do the values of major religions affect the people living in areas where many identify as followers of a particular religion? Invite students to provide examples from their own experience or from the experiences of people they know well.

Slide 7-8 Tech Challenge You can use this tech challenge as an in-class or homework assignment.

Instruct students to consult the From the Tech Desk feature on “Web Tools for Cross-Cultural Communication.”

Slide 7-9 Know Your Body Language Give students time to decide which country goes with which gesture’s meaning, then reveal the answers.

Answers: 1=United States 2=Australia 3=Japan 4=Indonesia 5=China Ask students: Have you ever misunderstood the meaning of someone’s body language? What happened?

How did you find out you were wrong about the meaning? Since body language can be so different from one culture to another, can it ever be used to improve communication between cultures? If so, how?

Slide 7-10 Views of Human Relationships This slide features six factors of human relationships that culture influences. These factors play a big role in how people communicate with one another. Review each of these factors with students.

Time: People tend to be either monochronic (life is scheduled) or polychronic (life is more relaxed).

Space: North Americans prefer about two feet of distance between themselves and others when talking.

But other cultures do not have the same concept of personal space.

Frankness: North Americans tend to be frank almost to the point of bluntness in their relationships and communication. People from other cultures may go to great lengths not to offend others. (Check out the Communication Matters feature on “High-Context versus Low-Context Cultures: Edward T. Hall.” How do these differences in contexts impact the directness of communication?)

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

Social hierarchy: Some cultures have strict divisions between social classes, while in others, such as the United States, factors other than class tend to have a more significant impact on expectations in communication (such as the type of job one has, shared regional identity, education levels, etc.).

Workplace values: The Protestant work ethic has greatly influenced American workers (hard work will pay off), but in other cultures work is structured more around life instead of life structured around work.

Expression of emotions: Norms for personal expression differ widely from culture to culture— Westerners accept a moderate display of emotion within appropriate contexts. But in other cultures, such as the Middle East, emotions such as sorrow are expressed with loud and public displays.

Slide 7-11 You Make the Call Ask students to consider the questions on this slide, then ask them to discuss the validity of this statement: “One’s age is not a significant factor at all in the shaping of a person’s work ethic.” Do they think this is true or false? Let them explain their answers. If you have some in your class who identify the statement as true and others who say it is false, let these two sides form groups and debate each other, providing arguments to support their positions. (Online students can provide their thoughts and reasoning and take a poll of ten to twenty people they know to see how they would answer this question.)

Problems of Language Slide 7-12 Language Substitutions We have spoken many times throughout this course about the need to adapt one’s message to one’s audience. However, it is not always possible to adapt one’s entire language to make communication easier with a particular audience. Few of us are able to learn more than one or two other languages well enough to communicate fluently in business relationships. Thus, misunderstandings in international communication are bound to occur.

The important thing is to have an awareness of nonnative speakers of the language you are using and make every effort to communicate in a way that makes it easier for people to understand you.

Have students check out the Communication Matters feature titled “Blundering with Words.” Invite students to share stories of times when they made a wrong word or phrase choice to communicate something in another language.

Divide students into four groups and assign each group a sentence to revise. Let them work on their sentences for a few minutes and then share their revisions. (Online students can pick one of the four sentences to revise.)

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

Advice for Communicating across Cultures Slide 7-13 Like other kinds of communication, cross-cultural communication involves people—and people are unpredictable. The best you can do to make cross-cultural communication successful is be as prepared as you can be. The advice in this section will help you to be prepared. You can use this and the following slides to discuss this information.

Research: Learn as much as you can about your business associates’ culture. Study the factors that impact culture in major ways: geography, history, and religion. Learn about the body language and values that are typical of their society. (Exhibit 7-3 lists several websites that can be helpful in performing crosscultural research.)

Know yourself: Understand what factors influence your own culture and your company’s culture. Be aware of terminology you use that could be confusing to nonnative English speakers. Also recognize what values shape the way you look at business relationships.

Be aware of stereotypes: Related to knowing yourself, understand that there are cultural generalizations that people from other countries will make about your culture as well. And remember that although generalizations can be a helpful starting place for understanding a culture, you need to keep digging to get a more accurate viewpoint.

Adapt: You will communicate better with nonnative English speakers if you keep your language as simple and clear as possible. Understand what kinds of sentence constructions might be tricky for people from another culture to understand, and make an effort to avoid slang and other wording that could be problematic.

Be open to change: Adapting to every aspect of someone’s culture is neither desirable nor always ethical.

But being open to understanding what has influenced people’s viewpoints and being willing to adapt your business practices to promote successful communication will help you to grow as a person and as an employee.

Slide 7-14 Research Exercise Direct students to look at the websites in Exhibit 7-3 to find out information that will help them complete this research exercise (it can be either an in-class or a homework assignment). Make sure students consider finding out about the geography, history, and religions of the country, as well as learning the preferred style of communication and typical body language of Thai people. They will also want to know practical information such as the time zone of Thailand, Thai currency, major cities in the country, news outlets, and so forth.

Slide 7-15 You Make the Call Take a survey of your students to see where they are originally from. Then divide the group into smaller groups based on general regions of the country where their hometowns are located. Groups can answer all Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

of the questions on this slide or you could direct each group to come up with some familiar stereotypes of one of the other groups (online students could offer familiar stereotypes about their own home region).

Slide 7-16 Adapt Your English We’ve explored some of the types of wording and sentence constructions that are difficult for nonnative English speakers to understand. Whenever you interact with people from another country, don’t assume they will understand you easily—even if they speak English well. Erring on the side of simplicity is your best bet for clear communication.

Avoid slang words and job-specific terminology until you have a better understanding of their language proficiency.

Word questions carefully to avoid complex constructions or indirect language that may be confusing. For example, avoid negative questions such as “Aren’t you going to dinner?” or “Wouldn’t you rather come with us to the restaurant?”

Whenever possible, try to confirm that you and your communication partner are understanding one another. Some words that are either the same or similar can have very different meanings, even in countries where English is the main language. Especially where times, dates, numbers, and other such facts are important, make sure your message is clear.

Slide 7-17 The bottom line in cross-cultural communication is this: Do all you can to send clear messages. Mutual respect is key to successful cross-cultural communication. Likewise, successful communication is key to developing mutual respect.

As you wrap up your instruction on this chapter, direct students back to the Problem-Solving Challenge presented at the beginning of the chapter. Ask students: If you knew you were going to be walking into a similar cross-cultural interaction again, what would you do differently as a trainer? What could you do before, during, or after the meeting to make things go more smoothly?

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

Power Charge Your Professionalism: Use the Right Pronoun Use Reference Chapter A to help you select the word that correctly completes each sentence below.

Then explain why you chose the word you did. (Correct answers are shown in bold and explanations are given in parentheses.)

1. The representative from our company will be Janet, Tom, and (me/I/myself). (pronoun is object of the verb) 2. The Chinese have signed off on the deal proposed by Jim and (me/I/myself). (pronoun is object of the preposition) 3. Allison was a coauthor of the report, so (she/her) and I will present it. (pronoun is subject of the verb) 4. The agreement (which/that) we reached will be beneficial to both parties. (pronoun is in restrictive clause) 5. The international vendors (whose/who’s) proposals we read all looked capable and competitive. (pronoun is possessive) 6. The CEO with (who/whom) we met seemed skeptical. (pronoun is object of preposition) 7. The Indian service representatives (who/whom) we hired speak excellent English. (pronoun is object of verb) 8. The Danish executives (that/who) attended the conference would like to join our organization. (pronoun refers to persons) For further practice using the right pronoun, see the activities on using the right pronoun case and using the right relative pronoun in LearnSmart Achieve, under “Grammar and Common Sentence Problems.”

Critical-Thinking Questions 1. If you were trying to persuade your boss to implement some form of cross-cultural training in the company, what kinds of evidence might help you make a convincing case?

(LO1)

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

Evaluate each answer based on its merits. Answers might include pointing to such factors as current or potential employees who may come from other cultures, the international nature of business today, and how international events and movements shape our culture as well. Two more reasons could be that having a cross-cultural understanding will help you to become a more effective employee and that interaction with people from other cultures will enrich your business life.

2. Put yourself in the shoes of the trainer described in this chapter’s Problem-Solving Challenge. What might have been a better way to handle the situation? How might the trainer have prepared better for such a situation? (LO2–LO6) Evaluate each answer based on its merits.

3. What are the prevailing attitudes in our culture toward the following, and how can those attitudes affect our communication with nonnatives? (LO3) a. Handshakes. (Answers may vary, but generally handshakes in our culture are firm and brief. This could be confusing or offensive to people from other cultures who are used to longer or gentler physical contact.) b. When/where people sit and stand. (Americans are often taught to stand when someone new enters a room as a way of being polite. But other cultures would remain seated, which could seem rude, even though it is not.) c. Use of head and hand gestures. (Shaking the head from side to side means no and nodding it up and down means yes in American culture. However, in several Middle Eastern countries, people raise their eyebrows and move their head slightly up to indicate no. Also, some hand gestures in America would be considered vulgar to other audiences.) d. Laughter. (Laughter is generally seen as a positive in American culture. However, in a non-American context it could be seen as insulting or weak.)

4. What are the prevailing attitudes in our culture toward the following, and how can those attitudes affect our communication with nonnatives? (LO4) a. Negotiation methods. (Answers may vary, but generally will conform to these examples: In the American business world, negotiation is considered to be a regular part of doing business. It’s common for business associates to work hard to get the best deal, and then to be able to socialize and relax together later. This approach would seem completely odd and possibly harsh or insulting to people living in some other cultures.) b. Truth in advertising. (Americans place a high value on honesty and even consider truth in advertising to be a right. However, in other cultures, being deceptive could be seen as honorable if it helps your company to sell more products.) c. Company-worker loyalty. (These days most Americans expect to change jobs at least once in their careers, often more times, and they expect their employers to hire and fire people as their needs require. In other cultures, businesses may treat their employees like family and business owners may expect loyalty from their workers.) d. Women’s appropriate roles in society. (While women are free to work as much as they want in American society, and are frequently found in leadership roles, often their paychecks do not equal those of their male counterparts. But women in some other cultures are extremely limited in what jobs they can do and how much they can even move freely from one place to another.) e. The Protestant work ethic. (Western values about work have been influenced heavily by the Protestant work ethic—which promotes the idea of hard work coming before Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

leisure time, and that working hard has its own rewards. Yet in other cultures, this kind of emphasis placed on work life may be confusing and seem strict or too stiff.)

5. Assume that you’ve just been made manager of a team of young employees that includes a recent hire from Asia. Many people from Asian countries feel that it is inappropriate to bother their boss or express dissatisfaction. How might you encourage your Asian team member to ask you questions, let you know when he/she is having difficulties, and bring any concerns to your attention? (If you’re an Asian student, what would encourage you to communicate more with your boss?) (LO4) Each student’s answer should be evaluated based on its merits. Their answers might include ideas such as setting up regular update one-on-one meetings between the manager and the employee.

The manager could also provide employees with a regular survey which could ask questions about their satisfaction or areas of concern. This would allow the employees a less direct way of voicing their opinions, which might make the recent hire from Asia more comfortable.

6. Is a conversational style as appropriate in cross-cultural communication as it is in the United States? Discuss. (LO4–LO5) Evaluate students’ answers based on their merits, but the discussion should note that it depends on the culture. Some cultures might find a conversational style to be insulting because it assumes too much familiarity in the business relationship.

7. On a recent trip to India, Mr. Yang, a prominent Chinese executive, dined with his client, Himanshu Jain. Mr. Yang commented that the food was spicy, which Mr. Jain interpreted as an opportunity to discuss Indian cuisine. After lengthy explanations, Mr. Yang commented again that the food was spicy. What’s happening here? What barrier is likely getting in the way of clear communication? (Adapted from Danielle Medina Walker, Thomas Walker, and Joerg Schmitz, Doing Business Internationally: The Guide to Cross-Cultural Success [New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003], 237.) (LO4) Each answer should be evaluated based on its merits, but could include reference to the different values of these two cultures. The Chinese executive may be suggesting that the food was too spicy—using an indirect way to say so in order not to offend. But the Indian client may understand “spicy” as only having a positive meaning.

8. Think of English words or U.S. expressions (other than this chapter’s examples) that probably do not have precise equivalents in some other culture. How would you attempt to explain each of these to a person from that culture? (LO5) Answers will vary based on the examples given. Evaluate each student’s response based on its merits.

9. Compare the two email messages below. Both were written to inform the reader that the writer’s company had been charged too much for an ad published in the reader’s magazine. The first (with both Japanese and English versions displayed) was written by a Japanese author to a Japanese reader. The second was written by a U.S. author to a U.S. reader. What differences in the two approaches do you see? What cultural differences might account for these writing differences? (LO4–LO5)

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

(Refer to the letters as shown in the textbook.) Evaluate each student’s answer based on its merits.

Answers should note that the tone of the message written by the U.S. author is more direct and indicates that a mistake was made on the part of the publication. However, the message written by a Japanese author to a Japanese reader is more indirect and supplies information without stating specifically the mistake that was made, but rather allowing the publication to discover the necessary correction themselves. The message written by the U.S. author is in a more conversational tone as well. In Japanese culture, significance is placed on being respectful and honoring in business relationships, so a Japanese businessperson will want to avoid blaming language and use a formal tone to denote respect. In U.S. culture, it’s considered respectful to use a conversational tone and be direct in communicating one’s needs.

10. Following is a real message written from a U.S. marketing professional to a potential client in Germany. After researching German business communication on the Internet, explain why the U.S. author wrote the message the way she did for this audience.

(Consider how the message might have been different had she written it to a prospective client in the United States.) (LO4–LO6) (Refer to the message in the textbook.) Answers may vary somewhat depending on the amount of research a student completes, however the answer will likely reflect the fact that typical business communication in Germany is more formal in tone than U.S. business language. Had the message been written to a client in the United States, the writing style would likely have been more conversational and direct, without so much explanation.

Skills-Building Exercises Understanding Cultural Differences (LO2–LO4) 1. Research Denmark or another country and analyze the likely impact of its geography on its culture.

2. Research France or another country to assess the likely impact of its history on its culture.

3. Research India or another country and analyze the likely impact of its religious background on its culture.

4. Research how U.S. geography, history, and religious background have influenced its culture.

5. Study a country’s culture and then infer its people’s likely attitudes toward American values and behaviors.

6. You’re chair of an important committee in your professional organization, and the committee has just acquired its first non-U.S. member, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. What factors should you be aware of as you conduct your communications with the committee? (Or, do this exercise substituting Japan, Romania, or another country your instructor assigns.)

7. Compare the use of smiling or gift-giving in three countries from different parts of the world and explain why this knowledge is important.

8. Research the differences in government and culture between North and South Vietnam, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, North and South Korea, or mainland China and Hong Kong. Explain how the differences would likely affect business communication practices.

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

9. Research the extent to which the younger adults in a country are breaking away from its traditional cultural values and practices. What accounts for the changes, and what are the implications for business communication?

10. Interview a student or business professional whose country of origin is not the United States about differences between his/her country and the United States. Use this person’s insights, as well as the information and references in this chapter, to write a short report on your findings and their implications for business communication.

All of the above assignments are research-based, so the answers will depend on each student’s research experience. Evaluate answers based on their merits.

Remember that another useful tool in Connect is “Writing Assignment,” which students can use to submit their homework assignments online. For more information on setting up this service, go to http://createwp.customer.mheducation.com/wordpress-mu/successacademy/create-writing-assignments/.

Adapting Your Language for Cross-Cultural Communication (LO5) 1. From a newspaper, magazine, or website, find and bring to class eight sentences containing words and expressions that a nonnative English speaker might have difficulty understanding. Rewrite the sentences for this reader. (LO5) Evaluate each student’s answers based on its merits.

2. What word choices in the following email message might give a nonnative speaker trouble?

Rewrite the memo to avoid such wording. (LO5) Dear conference-planning team, High-fives to you for an awesome conference! I heard tons of compliments from the participants. You’ve definitely set a new high for our annual conferences!

The schedule you set up couldn’t have worked out better. The seven-minute downtime between sessions gave people plenty of time to get to the next session without having to hustle.

The receptions were great icebreakers, and the catered food was out of this world. The sushi bar was an especially big hit—I saw many people coming back for seconds at that table.

Sincere thanks to you for all the time and effort you invested in this labor of love. Your organization is in your debt.

(Problematic language is underlined. A possible revision is shown below.)

Dear conference-planning team, Congratulations on a successful conference! I heard many compliments from the participants.

You’ve definitely set a new standard for our annual conferences!

The schedule worked very well. The seven minutes allowed between sessions gave people more than adequate time. No one needed to hurry in order to make it to the next session.

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Chapter 7: Communicating across Cultures

The receptions were great for giving people time to get to know each other, and the catered food was excellent. The sushi was especially well liked—many people enjoyed extra servings at that table.

Sincere thanks to you all for the time and effort you invested in this event. Your organization is grateful for your service.

3. Review the cross-cultural thank-you message in the last item listed in the Critical-Thinking Questions and rewrite it as if it were going to an executive at Verizon in New York City.

(LO4–LO5) Answers will vary. Evaluate each student’s revised message based on its merits and whether or not it reflects a correct understanding of typical business communication in the United States.

Exploring Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Business (LO6) Choose a country quite different from your own and, after studying its culture and business practices, write a short report on the kinds of ethical issues that might arise in doing business with those from this country. (For starters, you might read the article “Building Ethical Business Cultures: BRIC by BRIC” at http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/?p=1930.) Which of these issues might be relatively easy to deal with? Which would be more difficult? Which might be dealbreakers?

Answers will vary based on the research and the country chosen. Evaluate answers based on their merits.

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