1.9 Intercultural Meetings And Negotiations (Debrecen) (practice)

INTERCULTURAL MEETINGS AND NEGOTIATIONS DR. TROY B. WIWCZAROSKI

BOUNDARIES

CULTURAL AWARENESS AND BUSINESS ENCOUNTERS

As you have already learned in the

How does one define personal

first part of this chapter, cultures

space?

view boundaries in many different

How does one see gender and

ways.

boundaries in business?

Getting comfortable with difference

How friendly is too friendly?

can be a challenge.

HOW DO YOU VIEW

CULTURE AND SELF

ETIQUETTE? YOUR LANGUAGE? FOREIGN ACCENTS? CONFLICT? HIERARCHY?

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PART ONE 1. In my own culture, courtesy and etiquette are considered a. unimportant b. important 2. In my culture, speaking clearly and in my language is considered a. unimportant b. important c. not sure 3. When meeting people in my own culture, it is important to a. get to know each other well before discussing business b. discuss business as soon as possible 4. When meeting people from another culture, it is important to a. get to know each other well before discussing business b. discuss business as soon as possible 5. When in a conflict situation in public or business in my own culture, speech should a. be calm and rather unemotional b. express the person’s true feelings and emotions

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PART TWO 6. When in a conflict situation with someone from a different culture in business, speech should a. be calm and rather unemotional b. express the person’s true feelings and emotions c. I have no idea 7. In work situations in my own culture, information should a. be presented by first clearly stating the purpose, followed by logical and sequenced points. In other words, a clear agenda is important. b. be presented in a way that it contains a lot of information and allows the listener to draw their own conclusions 8. When involved in a group task in my culture, I consider it important to a. first get to know all those involved b. first clarify the task and get to work as soon as possible 9. When involved in a group task with someone from a different culture, I believe it important to a. first get to know all those involved b. first clarify the task and get to work as soon as possible c. I have no idea

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PART THREE 10. When faced with a task in my own culture, I prefer a. first to understand the big picture before working on my part b. to work on my part of the task without needing to know its relation to the whole 11. In my culture, I generally prefer a. a quiet working environment b. one in which there is a lot of verbal and other interaction 12. When disagreeing in my culture, I prefer a. to be told directly and openly about the problem no matter the consequences b. not to speak openly so as not to offend anyone 13. In a difficult or embarrassing situation in my culture, I prefer to a. avoid saying anything that will embarrass either party b. discuss the issue in hopes of resolving it 14. When speaking to superiors about a concern in my culture, I prefer to a. speak directly on my own behalf b. express my concern through an intermediary

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PART FOUR 15. When negating someone’s comment or request in my culture, I usually a. say so directly and unambiguously b. try to convey this without saying so directly 16. When things are not right in my culture, I generally a. refrain from giving feedback or criticism b. speak my mind openly 17. When discussing an issue with others in my culture, I like to a. be sure they understand the background and general context b. feel they only need to know the part that concerns them directly 18. When working with those in my charge in my culture, I prefer to a. be direct and tell them exactly what they need to do b. present things in a way to gain their support for the task at hand 19. When engaged in conversation in my culture, I like to a. make it interesting by using nuance or innuendo b. tell it straight and plain

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PART FIVE 20. When speaking with others with a “foreign� accent in my culture, I a. sometimes treat them differently b. generally treat them the same 21. When foreigners speak my language, I a. sometimes treat them differently b. generally treat them the same as other native-speakers 22. When foreigners speak the host language, I believe they are a. sometimes treated differently b. generally treated the same as other native-speakers c. not sure 23. When speaking with people of other cultural backgrounds, I generally a. adjust the distance between us accordingly b. stand at the same distance from them as I do with people of my own culture 24. When speaking with people of other cultural backgrounds, I generally a. adjust the type of physical contact I have with them accordingly b. make the same type of physical contact I do with people of my own culture

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PART SIX 25. When speaking with people of other cultural backgrounds, I generally a. adjust the type of eye contact I make with them accordingly b. make the same type of eye contact I do with people of my own culture 26. When speaking with people of other cultural backgrounds, I am generally a. concerned about smells or aromas they may consider offensive b. don’t consider smells or aromas a sensitive issue 27. When speaking with people of other cultural backgrounds, I generally a. adjust the type of gestures I use with them accordingly b. use the same gestures I do with people of my own culture 28. When speaking with people of other cultural backgrounds, I generally a. adjust the pauses and overlap between our comments accordingly b. use the same conversational patterns I use with people of my own culture

Which culture represents you?

Now that you have completed the assessment, compare your answers to the check list here and the profile on the next page.

But first, are you rather Culture A or Culture B?

Are you really what the stereotype for your culture claims you are?

1. Place an X on each line where you think you are as a person.

2. Place another X on each line where you think most people from your hometown are.

3. Notice any differences?

4. You can put yet another X on each line for how you think someone from a specific culture is and compare.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF AND OTHERS?

GETTING YOUR NEEDS MET

1. Consider an issue you recently faced in which miscommunication or frustration led to conflict with someone from a different culture or age group.

How could you have communicated better with that person to create understanding or build trust?

GETTING YOUR NEEDS MET 2

2. How can your attitude in communicating with others improve cooperation with them?

How does your culture and the habits you learned culturally hinder you from having a better attitude towards cultural difference when communicating?

GETTING YOUR NEEDS MET 3

3. How do cultural differences affect the way you communicate with others? Can you discuss a specific example when this happened?

How might cultural differences affect the way someone from a different culture might try to communicate with you? Can you provide a specific example when this happened?

Look again at the Cultural Profile.

What parts of your culturally influenced personality will you work on to make yourself more successful in working together with people from different cultures?

PROMINENCE BUILDS BRIDGES