Ch3 Communcating in a world of diversity

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1. Discuss the opportunities and challenges of intercultural communication

Diversity includes all the characteristics that define people as individuals. We will communicate with people from other cultures throughout our career. The diversity of today’s workforce brings distinct advantages to businesses: 1) A broader range of views and ideas. 2) A better understanding of diverse, fragmented markets. 3) A broader pool of talent from which to recruit. A company’s cultural diversity affects how its business messges are conceived, composed, delivered, received, and interpreted. Culture influences everything about communication, including : language, nonverbal signals, word meaning, time and space issues, rules of human relationships.

2. Define culture and explain how culture is learned

Culture is a shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations, and behavior norms. We belong to several cultures, each of which affects the way we communicate. We learn culture both directly (by being instructed) and indirectly (by observing others). Cultures tend to offer views of life that are both coherent (internally logical ) and complete (answer all of life’s big questions).

3. Define ethnocentrism and stereotyping and give three suggestions for overcoming these limiting mindsets.

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge other groups according to the standards, behaviors, and customs of one’s own group. Stereotyping is assigning generalized attributes to an individual on the basis of membership in a particular group. Cultural pluralism is the acceptance of multiple cultures on their own terms. We can avoid ethnocentrism and stereotyping by avoiding assumptions and judgments and by accepting differences.

4. Explain the importance of recognizing cultural variations and list eight categories of cultural differences.

Cultural context is a pattern of physical cues, environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding that conveys meaning between members of the same culture. High-context cultures rely heavily on nonverbal actions and environmental setting to convey meaning; low-context cultures rely more on explicit verbal communication. Low-context cultures tend to value written agreements and interpret laws strictly, where high-context cultures view adherence to laws as being more flexible. Formal rules of etiquette are explicit and well defined, in informal rules are learned through observation and imitation. Respect and rank are reflected differently from culture to culture in the way people are addressed and in their working environment. The rules of polite behavior vary from country to country. Attitudes toward time, such as strict adherence to meeting schedules, vary throughout the world. Cultures around the world exhibit varying degrees of openness toward outsiders and people whose personal identities don’t align with prevailing social norms. Culture’s views on youth and aging affect how people communicate with one another.

Interesting Web:

http://fellows.rdvp.org/communicationforcollaborationstyles
From this web, we can learn diversity in communication for collaboration.