BA 4216Cross-cultural Studiesin Organizations

Communication

Instructor: Çağrı Topal1

DefinitionsSharing perceptual fieldsAttributing meaning to behavior or

residue of behaviorA two-way process of information

exchangeA contextual negotiation of

meaning

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DefinitionCommunication is a two-way

process in which the persons involved in the communication process try to achieve a shared meaning by exchanging information and attributing meaning to their behaviors within a context

Intentional or unintentional

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Basic componentsSourceEncodingMessageChannelReceiverDecodingFeedback

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Characteristics of communication-1There is no direct mind-to mind

communicationWe can only inferCommunication is a dynamic

processWe seek to define the worldCommunication is interactiveCommunication is inevitableTime binding links us together

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Characteristics of communication-2Communication is symbolicCommunication doesn’t necessarily

mean understandingCommunication has a consequenceCommunication is self-reflectiveCommunication occurs in a contextWe are alike and we are different

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Cross-cultural (mis)communicationSending a message to a person

from another cultureFailure to receive the message of a

person from another culture

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Major obstacles to intercultural communicationMode of thinking and reasoningStereotypingLanguagePerceptionReligionEthnocentrism

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Communication inhigh-context cultures Highly contextualReliance on nonverbal cuesDeliberation in business negotiationPersonal relationshipSlow and difficult changeLess personal space and more

touchingMore collectivistJapanese language and culture

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Communication inlow-context culturesHighly abstractLess reliance on nonverbal cuesSpeed in business negotiationContractual relationshipFast and desirable changeLarge personal spaceMore individualisticEnglish language and culture

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Nonverbal communicationThe process of exchanging

nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by the source and his or her use of the environment that have potential message value for both the source and the receiver

Intentional or unintentionalAttempt to achieve shared meaning

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Nonverbal vs. verbal communication-1Both based on a culturally agreed

set of symbolsIn both, attachment of meaning to

the symbolsNonverbal governed biologically

whereas verbal messages deliberately

Nonverbal learned much earlierNonverbal more emotional in its

appeal and impact

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Nonverbal vs. verbal communication-2Nonverbal more universalNonverbal simultaneously from a

multiple of channels while verbal through a single channel

Nonverbal continuous and a never-ending process

Absence of message in nonverbal communication as a message

Nonverbal messages more confusing

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Categories-1TimeSpaceMaterial possessionsSilenceKinesicsFacial expressionPostureGestures

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Categories-2Eye contactTouchDressParalanguageSmell

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What to doAssume difference until similarity

provenDescribe not evaluateLearn and use cultural assumptionsTreat intepretations as a guess not

fact

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