Building up Cross-Cultural Competence.ppt

1、Culturally diversity,Cross-Cultural Competence,Cross-Cultural Competence Defined,an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures the foundation for Effective cross-cultural communication. Unfortunately, most of the people have found themselves in a cross-cultural communication s

2、ituations unequipped with Cross-Competence. Cross-cultural communication without sufficient cross-cultural competence leads to: INEFFECTIVE Cross-Cultural Communication: the one that causes problems.,Ineffective Cross-Cultural CommunicationCauses:,Power Distance,The extent to which the less powerful

3、 members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. Does not in any way imply the existence of a society that is less or more humane than another, it simply denotes the social structure,Power Distance,How Far Are You Willing to Go?,Power

4、 Distance,Power Distance Index US: 35 CHINA: 54,Power Distance,Problems in relation to CHINA/US: Relationship between the superior and the subordinate, mainly when Americans are subordinate of Chinese In US: Validation and defending of a superiors role is expected But if American subordinate challen

5、ges superiors role, would be accused of being offensive,Power Distance,Problems in relation to China/US: Interaction between subordinate and superior In China: Initiatives taken by the middle management Superior plays a very vague role when it comes to making a decision in order to protect him from

6、losing face,Power Distance,Problems in relation to China/US: Interaction between subordinate and superior In US: Superior makes decision based on subordinates opinions Takes full responsibility for decision If wrong choice made, no less respect from subordinates,Power Distance,Problems in relation t

7、o China/US: Interaction between Chinese and Americans Chinese say things ambiguously, need to listen to underlying tones Americans direct and frank,Individualism/Collectivism,Individualism: loyalty to oneself Collectivism: loyalty to family or group However, Citizens of an individualist culture are

8、more likely than not to be part of volunteer organizations or join the military voluntarily Hence, a very unclear definition given.,Individualism/Collectivism,In Hofstedes surveys: Individualism indicated in questions relating to the availability of personal time, the amount of freedom given to an e

9、mployee in solving a problem and the presence of challenging work to accomplish.,Individualism/Collectivism,In Hofstedes surveys: Collectivism was indicated by the training opportunities given, the physical conditions of the work environment and the use of ones skills on the job.,Individualism/Colle

10、ctivism,Individualism Index Value (IDV) US: 89 China: 46,Individualism/Collectivism,China: Organization orientation Factors in the external market are of less importance with regards to employment in the company US: Market orientation Job aspects (eg. Pay) dependent on market value,Individualism/Col

11、lectivism,China: Inclined to run machinery unattended Strive to attain multi-machines operation US: Would rather run them with operators who have had previous experience Contented with the distribution of one operator for each machine,Uncertainty avoidance,Minimizing uncertainty in the form of rules

12、 and structures China:92, US:35 Trust Reputation Hierarchy structure,Long term orientation,Attention to the future versus the past and present China:80, US:25 Affects the way decisions are made All business relations are long term,Cultural Intelligence,Ability to engage in a set of behaviors that us

13、es skills (e.g. language or interpersonal skills) and qualities (e.g. tolerance for ambiguity, flexibility) Tuned to the culture-based values and attitudes of the people with whom one interacts,Definition,So what compromise cultural intelligence?,Consists of a multiple intelligence and emotional int

14、elligence as mentioned by Howard Gardner and Daniel Goleman There are four aspects mainly Linguistic Spatial Intrapersonal Interpersonal,Lingustic Intelligence,Successful interaction with people from other cultures whose native language is different from their own In our case study, interaction betw

15、een the British and Japanese counterparts would require genuine interest to bridge the language barrier Constructive efforts to learn as much of the other language as possible For e.g. assuming a British colleague learns some key words or lingo of is/her Japanese counterpart, this would definitely f

16、oster a more cohesive work environment,Spatial Intelligence,Understanding the proper behaviours that would facilitate a proper introduction without any embarrassment For e.g. Asians and particularly Japanese people show courtesy by bowing slightly or even opening doors for others However this is con

17、sidered ridiculous in the Western culture Thus ability or failure to adapt different spatial behaviours could make our international counterparts comfortable or ill at ease This in turn leads to various levels or success or failure in face-to-face cultural interactions,Interpersonal Intelligence,Und

18、erstand ones own unique cultural style Allows easier comparison with others and thus the appropriate adjustment to behaviour to be compatible to cross-cultural settings Intrapersonal intelligence could be improved only if one strives to learn ones own cultural style better,Interpersonal Intelligence

19、,An important aspect of cultural intelligence Successful interaction with people from other cultures is the heart of cultural intelligence According to Gardner, interpersonal intelligence goes beyond just the language aspects and is described as the ability to “read the intentions and desires of oth

20、ers, even when they have been hidden” For professionals to be successful in international interactions such ability to “read” people and anticipate their motivations and desires is crucial,Improving Cultural Intelligence,Developed through three means: Head /Cognitive (learning about beliefs, customs

21、, and taboos of your own and other cultures) Body / physical (using your senses and adapting your movements and body language to blend in to your foreign hosts, guests, or colleagues simply by showing you understand their culture) Heart / Emotional / motivational (Adapting to a new culture by overco

22、ming obstacles and setbacks. People can do that by gaining rewards and strength from acceptance and success).,Improving Cultural Intelligence,Examine the motivation for learning about other cultures Develop the mindset that there is more than just one set of thinking as opposed to refusing to accept

23、 other viewpoints This could be cultivated through learning, evolving and thus gaining perspective. Merely memorizing a list of dos and donts is difficult as it differs within countries Way of behavior in other cultures is critical,Improving Cultural Intelligence,For instance, Americans and Japanese

24、 have differing styles when presenting their name cards When presenting a business card to a Japanese colleague, one should mention “Hajima mashite”, meaning “Pleased to meet you” in a slight bow and using both hands to give the card shows a sense of respect towards the receiver and the business car

25、d However from the Westerners context, like the British, a business card is for practicality. Thus very little consciousness to show to towards the presentation of the business card,International joint ventures,Vulnerable to failure due to cultural misunderstandings. Paterson and Shimada (1978): cul

26、tural differences led to failure on the part of parent company managers to “understand” one another. Resultant communication breakdown - Collapse of the venture.,Joint venture success,Faulkner, in his research, found that the following attitudes were outstandingly associated with joint venture succe

27、ss: Commitment by top management Mutual Trust Sensitivity to company culture Commitment at lower levels Sensitivity to national culture Information widely disseminated Good dispute resolution mechanisms Reviewed Learning,Joint venture success,Individual & organizational levels Cultural Intelligence as the fundamental basis Cultural mix of people not as a problem BUT as an ASSET (Cognitive),Individual Level,Training of managers and other employees trained and prepared for the difficulties of building cross-cultu