A ND G LO BA L IZ AT ION

COMMUNICA T IO N
DISTINCT MANNERS AND PRACTICES OF DIFFERENT
CULTURES

1. When greeting, people from India hold their hands together in front of their chins in a prayer-like position
2. When greeting, most Latinos expect body contact. Hugging and kissing on the cheek are acceptable for both
the same sex and the opposite sex
3. When greeting, most Middle Easterners, especially Muslims, avoid body contact with the opposite sex, but
men may embrace and kiss one another
4. When greeting, more Armenians, expect some body contact. Women kiss once on each cheek and hug; men
shake hands.
5. When greeting, most people from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and other Mediterranean countries expect to
be kissed on both cheeks.
COMMUNICATION
- an act of conveying intended information and understanding from
one person to another

GLOBALIZATION
-development of an increasingly integrated global economy
-“key to the worldwide integration of humanity” increases
interconnectedness and interdependence of people and countries
• In Southeast Asia for example is the ASEAN integration
• This is not confined to communication with people from other countries,
but is inclusive of communication with their own societies.
Communication in the modern world must be anchored on the concept of
DIVERSITY.
• It is therefore imperative that they learn to communicate effectively with
people regardless of age, gender, race, ability, religion, sexual orientation,
income, marital status or ethnicity.
Even professionals from the countries that are traditionally known for
sticking to their native tongue (Japan, Korea, Vietnam) have started to
learn English, as the internationally-recognized lingua franca, with the
concept that learning English does not make them less Japanese,
Koreans or Vietnamese.
•In addition, digital technology has erased territorial
boundaries among countries and among people with varying
cultures. The notion of being “stranger” has been
revolutionized as the people whom we used to treat as
strangers are now our co-workers, classmates or friends-even
though some only in social media.
Hence, there is a need to develop graduates and
professionals who are multiculturalists- those who are
engaged with and respectful of people with different
cultures.
 WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF
GLOBALIZATION ON COMMUNICATION?
 Global communication is directly affected by the process
of globalization and helps to increase business opportunities,
remove cultural barriers and develop a global village.
INCREASED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

• Many companies today hire employees that are located in other countries. Using
communication vehicles such as video calling make it simple to converse with
colleagues across the globe, almost making it feel as if they are in the same room

• Technology also make it easier to connect with suppliers and customers all over
the world, and to streamline those relationship through improves ordering and
shipment tracking
FEWER CULTURAL BARRIERS
• Many people perceived culture to be the root of communication challenges. When
people from two different cultures try to exchange information, the way they
speak, their body language or their mannerisms can be interpreted differently by
other person. The way people approach problems and how they participate in
communities is all influenced by culture. But

• Being able to communicate effectively and frequently with colleagues or friends

across the planet helps people understand each other’s cultures a little better.
CREATION OF GLOBAL VILLAGE

• Affected both by globalization and global communication, the global

village is created when distance and isolation no longer matter
because people are connected by technology.
• Widespread telephone and internet access have been life changing for
many people across the world without having to leave their place.
Are you ready to communicate in a global and multicultural environment? Assess your readiness to
communicate effectively with people having different cultures. Simply answer TRUE or FALSE.
______1. I enjoy communicating with persons who are like me in terms of interests and with the same
socio-economic status, as much as I enjoy communicating those who are not like me.
______2. I am equally sensitive to the concerns of all groups of society and I genuinely care to the
plight and issues surrounding them.
______3. I can tell when persons with different cultures do not understand me or are confused by my
actions.
______4. I am not afraid of interacting with members of minority groups nor with members of a
dominant culture.
______5. Persons from other cultures who do not actively participate in a conversation, debate or any
form of discussion act that way probably because of their culture’s rule.
______6. Persons from other cultures have the right to be angry at members of my own
culture.
______7. How I handle conflict or disagreements with persons from other culture
depends on the situation and on the culture they are from.
______8. My culture is not superior to other cultures.
______9. I am knowledgeable of how to behave when communicating or interacting
with people having different cultures.
______10. I respect the communication rules of cultures other than my own.
 The greater the number of statements that are HONESTLY
TRUE to you, the more prepared you are to welcome the
opportunity of communicating and interacting with people from
different cultures. This is very important aspect in one’s personal
life or professional careers, since avoiding intercultural
communication is virtually inevitable in any organization.
 This is especially true in business organizations,
when products can go global and the manner by
which any product is communicated to the global
market can make or break the brand.
 Here are few examples of business
miscommunication in a global setting:
 Gerber dealt with issues in some cultures
where women have low literacy rates such as
Africa and the middle east. The women in
these cultures generally use pictures to tell
them what food they are buying. When
Gerber started selling their product in these
countries, the women saw the picture of the
baby and believed that there was a baby or
part of one baby in the jar.
 Joni (read as “yoni”) is a
brand of skin product. However,
yoni means “uterus” or “vagina”
in sanskrit and is an indian
representation of female
genitalia, especially pertaining to
the hindu goddess shakti.
 It is important to know the issues, etiquette, protocol, communication
styles and negotiation approaches of people from different cultures using
the business experience as example. Here are some instances when lack
of cultural or linguistic sensitivity in global communication severely
affected companies or products:
•Mcdonald’s unintentionally offended
thousands of Muslims when it printed an
excerpt from the Koran on its
throwaway (takeout) hamburger bags.
Muslims saw this as sacrilegious.
Some staff at the African port of Stevadores
saw the supposedly internationally-recognized
symbol for “fragile” (i.e. broken wine glass).
Since in their culture, they treat the pictures
printed on packages to be representation of
what’s inside, they thought it was a box of
broken glasses and threw all the boxes into the
sea.
The film “Holywood Buddha” caused outrage and protest on the
streets of Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Myanmar (Burma) when the
designer of the film’s poster decided to show the lead actor
sitting on the Buddha’s head, which is an act of clear degradation
against something holy.
All of these examples are predominantly business-related, where
companies failed to regard cultural differences in packaging and
communicating their product to the global market. However, the cost of
cultural insensitivity in global communication can be felt in everyday
communication, as cultural misunderstandings often lead to
misinterpretation and unnecessary tension between people. Here are
some examples demonstrating this in a global setting:
• Showing the sole of a shoe (by crossing one’s legs and pointing one’s
shoes to the speaker, for example) means nothing to observers in most
Western and Asian countries, in Muslim cultures (such as Saudi Arabia)
however, the gesture is perceived as insulting. Similarly, crossing one’s
legs while seated is customary for Westerners, but this is faux pas in
Korea.
• Blinking rapidly while another person is talking is normal for most people,
especially during tense situations. For Taiwanese, this is considered
impolite.
• The Japanese view the business card as an extension of their body, while
Americans view it simply as a business formality. Hence, when Japanese
hand over their business cards with two hands and with great care, they get
insulted when the person just put it away with haste.
 ARE THERE BAD EFFECTS OF
TECHNOLOGY IN COMMUNICATION?
SEE THE FLIGHT FROM CONVERSATION BY SHERRY TURKLE
GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. How technology affects family relationship?
2. How technology affects work?
3. How technology affects classes?
4. According to author’s students, what is new important skill?
5. Why its is said that the little devices most of us carry are so powerful?
6. What does being “alone together” mean?
7. What can texting, e-mailing and posting enable people to do?
8. Is real, actual or face-to-face conversation important than chatting, texting or e-mailing?
9. Why is it appealing to have facebook page or twitter?
10. You want to confide something which bother you, will you do it with the robot or real humans?Why?
11. What are the three powerful fantasies that always-on-you devices provide?
Communicating in a Multi-cultural Society
and World
Multicultural society
Multicultural society is a vision of a society, where people with
different nationalities, languages, religions and ethnicities living
together. People with different cultures can have different traditions,
lifestyles or imagine of values and ethics.
Cultural backdrop affects how individuals communicate and how
they deduce messages received from others.
 Being aware that miscommunication can arise due to
ethnicity, age, gender, race and physical disability, and much
other dissimilarity such as religious and lifestyle is the first
step towards better multicultural communication. Larger
cultural multiplicity in the organizations and workplaces
increase the need for understanding how cultural background
affects communication.
 Communication barriers most of the time hamper the quality
of communication when you are interacting with people from
cultures other than your own. These barriers include:-
1.Ethnocentrism
2. Lack of knowledge and understanding of cultures
3. Discriminatory and harassment
4. Language differences
•Ethnocentrism is the natural idea that your own cultural
tradition and values are right and superior. People around the
world are ethnocentric to an extent. Norms, customs, and
conducts that are different from those of your culture may
seem unusual, abnormal and sometimes even wrong.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM

People try to understand the behavioral patterns

and communication styles of other groups based
on their own contexts, thus harnessing positive
co-existence.
 LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURES

Although a particular culture may usually demonstrate similar behaviors or attributes, this does
not mean all individuals in that culture are similar. People establish stereotypes when they presume
that certain norms, values or attributes typical of a particular culture define all members of that
culture group. Stereotypes are an outcome due to limited knowledge of cultural diversity.
An understanding of various cultures means to be fully aware that individuals within each
culture may have some resemblance and some variations. It means responding to people as
individuals while understanding that cultural backdrops and experiences impact behavior and
communication.
 DISCRIMINATORY AND HARASSMENT

Discrimination is demonstrating partiality toward or hurtful elimination or

rejection of people because of cultural or any other differences. Business
communication between the sexes demands a clear understanding of remarks and
actions that could be interpreted as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is
undesirable behavior of a sexual nature or with sexual implications. It may occur
for men as well as women.
 LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES
Language can also be a barrier to communication. An increase in multicultural interactions
presents language challenges. When organizations communicate with the large number of people
who speak the languages other than English – misunderstandings may occur. Non verbal language
influences the receiver’s understanding and acceptance of a spoken message. In multicultural
business communication, non verbal signs vary as much as spoken languages do. Nonverbal
greetings can be anything from a bow to a handshake or from a hug to an upward flick of the
eyebrows. Misunderstanding or misinterpretation of cultural differences in nonverbal messages
causes communication problems.
HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE IN A
MULTICULTURAL WORLD?
ASSIMILATION

THE MEANS BY WHICH CO-CULTURE MEMBERS ATTEMPT TO

FIT IN WITH THE MEMBERS OF A DOMINANT CULTURE.
ACCOMMODATION

THE MEANS BY WHICH CO-CULTURE MEMBERS MAINTAIN

THEIR CULTURAL IDENTITY TO ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS
WITH MEMBERS OF THE DOMINANT CULTURE.
SEPARATION

THE MEANS THAT CO-CULTURE MEMBERS USE TO RESIST

INTERACTING WITH MEMBERS OF A DOMINANT CULTURE,
STRATEGY EXAMPLES
ASSIMILATION Non-coffee drinker drinking coffee with officemates;
A non-catholic doing sign of the cross

ACCOMMODATION Wearing a sari to work in a non-muslim company

Adjusting work hours to pray as required in one’s
religion

SEPARATION Eating lunch alone;

Refusing to sing the national anthem since it is against
one’s beliefs
THE DISCUSSION STYLE
Cultures that are verbally direct and less emotionally expressive fall under this
category. People who use this style will explore conflict through direct, rational
arguments, and limit the expression of their personal feelings towards the matter.

According to Hammer (2009), cultures that generally fall in the discussion

category are European-American, Australian, and Northern European
groups.
DISCUSSION STYLE + DIRECT -EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
THE ENGAGEMENT STYLE
People with this type of communication style are highly direct and emotionally expressive. But
while the people who utilize and the engagement communication style during a conflict may feel
they are demonstrating honesty and sincerity, the intensity of this kind of communication might be
overwhelming for other styles. Specifically, the words “tantrum” and “melt down” were used in
describing interpretation of the engaging individuals.

Hammer states that the african american community, southern europe, cuba, nigeria, and
russia often contain cultures that express this type of communication style (hammer 2009).
DISCUSSION STYLE + DIRECT -EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
ENGAGEMENT STYLE + DIRECT + EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
THE ACCOMMODATION STYLE
Individuals who score low on directness and low on emotional expressiveness have
the accommodation style.
People who use this type of communication during conflict intend to be sensitive to
people’s feelings and considerate of others’ perspectives. They use other cues than
direct speech to get their point across, like body language, tone, and words rooted
in context that allows for a more nuanced approach.
Native americans of the united states, somalia, japan, mexico, and thai cultures are usually
in this category of communication (hammer 2009).
DISCUSSION STYLE + DIRECT -EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
ENGAGEMENT STYLE + DIRECT + EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
ACCOMMODATION STYLE -EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE - DIRECT
THE DYNAMIC STYLE

Individuals who use a dynamic style are emotionally expressive and less direct. Essentially,
people in this category can express the intensity of their attitude towards something without
having to say it. Stories, metaphors, and humor might be used to de-escalate the situation while
expressing feelings. Hammer further states that these individuals might engage the assistance of
others to help resolve the conflict.
However, while strategies are effective for keeping the peace in dynamic cultures, other
communication styles can feel bewildered by the display of emotion with lack of explanation.
Cultures in Arab Middle Eastern countries and Pakistan can have this communication
style (Hammer 2009).
DISCUSSION STYLE + DIRECT -EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
ENGAGEMENT STYLE + DIRECT + EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
ACCOMMODATION STYLE - DIRECT - EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE
DYNAMIC -DIRECT + EMOTIONALLY EXPRESSIVE