The document provides an overview of cross-cultural communication and management. It discusses key concepts like high and low context cultures, individualistic vs collectivist cultures, and the impact of cultural values and norms on communication. The document uses examples and exercises to illustrate how culture can influence communication and relationships in work environments. Group activities are presented to have participants reflect on their own cultural identities and communication styles.

1. Cross Cultural Communication
Dr. Maria F. Curtis

2. Title and Content Layout with List
• WELCOME!

3. •Questions:
• -What does cross cultural communication mean to you?
• -What are you most interested in accomplishing here today?

4. What is Anthropology?
What is communication?
What is cross cultural communication?
What is cross cultural management (CCM)?

5. • Houston: America’s Most Ethnically Diverse City
• -America’s 4th largest city
• -1 in every 10 people were born outside the U.S.
• -“Sanctuary” city
• -“Petro Metro”
• -Cultural center for museums and the arts

6. •Layers of meaning….
• What’s at work in each encounter when we
communicate with others?
• -social context
• -organizational context
• -power and hierarchical relationships between
different people or parts of an institution or
organization

7. • Culture is always emerging…never fixed and
never static
• -cultural values are not fixed
• -cultures do not fit neatly into separate boxes
• -culture, identity, and self identification are like a compass:
one leg is fixed while the other moves around, both legs
support each other

8. Never fixed, never static.
• Take a few moments to think about your own
identity…
• -We each have multiple layers of our own identity:
• - inherited cultural communities and norms
• - our individual affinities
• -generational differences
• -languages and mindset
• -religious education
• -religious/secular identity
• -family expectations
• -level of education
• -types of education
• -places you have lived and how they impact your overall identity
• -influence of social media, do we now live in real and virtual realities?

9. • Where are you? Where are you going? What do you
need to do to get to your own best version of you?
• -All life goal planning, all education, all social advancement begins with effective
communication
• -Behind every successful person is an ability to understand others, the ability to
empathize and put yourself in another person’s position
• -Sometimes the best form of communication is listening, and paying very close
attention
• -GROUP EXCHANGE: What do you think? Can you give any comments or thoughts
on what you consider effective communication? What are forms of communication we
use every day?
• -Q: What do you think is your strongest area, and your weakest area of
communication?

10. “Culture is communication and communication is
culture” Edward Hall (1959)
• -distinguish between national cultures on the basis of claimed differences in their
modes of communicating, encoding and decoding messages.
• -dimensions of high‐ and low‐context cultures have been repeatedly referred to by
scholars studying intercultural communication in the global workplace
• -the rules around information exchange and the degree to which information is
explicit
• -Hall differentiates between national populations with regard to their modes of
communicating messages; whether messages are vested in words of precise and
unambiguous meaning and interpreted on the basis of what is explicitly expressed
(low context), or implicit, vested in shared experience and assumptions (high context).

11. How can we learn to distinguish between individualistic
and collectivist cultures? Hofsteadt (1991)
• -individualist cultures tend to believe that personal goals and interests are more
important than group interests
• -collectivist cultures lead people to consider themselves primarily as part of an
extended organization (Hofstede and Bond, 1993; Triandis, 1995)
• -The cultural span between individuality and collectivity has been used to describe
communication with regard to
• -competitive or cooperative behavior
• - handling of disagreement
• -in‐group and out‐group behaviors and decision making

12. Culture as a set of organized values….
Culture as noisy interference…..
• -a distinct national culture thus defines the values that lead us to prefer certain forms
of communication over others (Freeman and Brown, 2004; Varner, 2000).
• -implies that when transmitting a message in an international setting, culture may
function as “noise” and a “perceptual filter” in the sender's encoding and the receiver's
decoding processes, i.e. culture is viewed as something that potentially distorts the
meanings intended (Loosemore and Lee, 2002).
• -As Gudykunst and Kim (1997), p. 14) put it: “Without understanding the strangers'
filters, we cannot accurately interpret or predict their behaviors”.
• -My example on visiting an Omani university

13. Go back to your list. Think about your own layers of identity…which ones are
collectivist, which ones are individualistic? Rate yourself, how do you normally operate?
• - inherited cultural communities and norms
• - our individual affinities
• -generational differences
• -languages and mindset
• -religious education
• -religious/secular identity
• -family expectations
• -level of education
• -types of education
• -places you have lived and how they impact your overall identity
• -influence of social media, do we now live in real and virtual realities?

14. Think of the person in a work environment with whom you have worked with
ease? Why was it easy? How was this person like you?
• - inherited cultural communities and norms
• - our individual affinities
• -generational differences
• -languages and mindset
• -religious education
• -religious/secular identity
• -family expectations
• -level of education
• -types of education
• -places you have lived and how they impact your overall identity
• -influence of social media, do we now live in real and virtual realities?

15. Think of a negative experience you have had in the workplace.
How were your values different from others around you?
• - inherited cultural communities and norms
• - our individual affinities
• -generational differences
• -languages and mindset
• -religious education
• -religious/secular identity
• -family expectations
• -level of education
• -types of education
• -places you have lived and how they impact your overall identity
• -influence of social media, do we now live in real and virtual realities?

16. Group exercise: Glowing Experience
• -Group one: Select one person who will speak for a maximum of three minutes.
This person will talk about an event or an experience where they believe they were
really successful. The person has exactly 3 minutes to talk, no exceptions.
• -one member of the group is a note taker
• -one member of the group rates the person’s identity layers as collective or
individualistic
• -one person plays “devil’s advocate” and thinks of ways the speaker could have done
things differently
• -After the three minute talk, each person takes notes and does their task for no more
than five minutes. Then each person in the group explains their part for no more
than 1 minute. After the completion of the circle, the group has 2 minutes of
unmoderated talk time to “reach a conclusion”.

17. Group 2: Growing Experience
• -Group two: Select one person who will speak for a maximum of three minutes.
This person will talk about an event or an experience where they believe they were
really unsuccessful. The person has exactly 3 minutes to talk, no exceptions.
• -one member of the group is a note taker
• -one member of the group rates the person’s identity layers as collective or
individualistic
• -one person plays “devil’s advocate” and thinks of ways the speaker could have done
things differently
• -After the three minute talk, each person takes notes and does their task for no more
than five minutes. Then each person in the group explains their part for no more
than 1 minute. After the completion of the circle, the group has 2 minutes of
unmoderated talk time to “reach a conclusion”.

18. Group to Group: Glow and Grow
• -Group 1: Note takers tell their version of what happened in their groups to the other
group
• (5 minutes max.)
•
• -Group 2: Note takers tell their version of what happened in their groups to the
other group
• (5 minutes max.)
• -Unmoderated conversation: Both groups share their thoughts and ideas (5 minutes)

19. It’s About Time ☺
• -Surprise: You were being tested on how to organize your own thoughts with time
limitations.
• -how did it feel?
• -was it easy?
• -how did it impact how you talked about yourself and others?
• ALL OF OUR COMMUNICATION HAS A TIME LIMIT. WHETHER WE REALIZE
IT OR NOT, WE NEVER HAVE UNLIMITED TIME TO COMMUNICATE WITH
OTHERS. IF YOU FEEL AFTER AN ENCOUNTER THAT YOU WISH YOU HAD
SAID THIS OR THAT, YOU PROBABLY NEED TO BE SELECTIVE IN HOW YOU
PRESENT YOURSELF. HOW CAN WE BE MORE EFFICIENT?

20. Cross cultural understanding…
• -Is the ability to understand why something is happening based on cultural
expectations
• -Cross cultural management is not the ability to make every situation100% conflict
free, it is the ability to “manage” the likelihood of managing or reducing conflict. And,
it is the ability to reflect in hindsight when a conflict has occurred.
• -What is the best way to apologize? Keep it simple…say 1) I value you 2) I made a
mistake 3) I regret a misunderstanding occurred 4) How can we improve our
communication?

21. International business cultures
• - There is never a point at which you will ever be done learning ☺
• -There is never a point at which you will ever be completely knowledgeable ☺
• -You will always be a student of the world in which you live ☺
• -The only thing that can change is your own flexibility and your willingness to learn
and become interested in improving your style of communication and interaction ☺
• -You decide to be flexible or to be rigid ☺
• -You decide how to glow and how to grow ☺
• -Walking away from difficult circumstances or environments is not always quitting, it
can mean you want to grow elsewhere. NEVER BURN BRIDGES ☺

22. Cross cultural literacy….
• -When you “behave” a certain way at home versus a certain way at work, it does not
mean you are compromising your values, it means your traveling foot of your compass
is strong
• -It is ok and normal, even required, to behave differently in different contexts
• -This is a sign that you are able to “read” a social context, and act in the most
culturally appropriate way and in a way that works for those you are with, and those
with whom you need to work and accomplish group decisions and tasks
• -It is not ok to tell others that your culture trumps all other factors. You can explain
why something is easy or difficult for you, but you cannot require others to comply
with your beliefs in a work setting.

23. Cultural and Emotional Intelligence
• This is your ability to think ahead of time what you might expect and what norms
might be in place before you go in to a new situation
• Do your homework in advance. Before you meet people, try to look them up, read
their CV, read up on the event, or organization you will be working with
• Think about if others are also doing this for their meeting with you. Are there things
out on your social media feeds you want everyone to know about you?

24. Indirect communication
• -We are always communicating, even without speaking.
• -What are small things in the room you notice here today? What do they communicate
to you? What do they tell you about TAIBA as an organization?
• -What are ways that you show happiness, contentment, displeasure, anger, etc.
without words?
• -What are ways we can have more emotional intelligence with our indirect forms of
communication?
• -Are there universal ways to say “thank you” or “I appreciate you” without words? ☺

25. Interpersonal communication
• -When you are working in a large group, or in an organization, you enact different
forms of communication
• -However, you will different relationships with different people. You will naturally
like some more than others.
• -What are ways to remain neutral and professional?
• -How can you thank someone? What are culturally appropriate ways to thank
someone?
• -Each one of us has someone that we need to thank for something right now. Every
day, there is someone we encounter who has made it easier for us to become our best
version of ourselves. We should stop to thank them, it is an acknowledgment for
them and for ourselves.
• -My example with painting my house

26. I want to thank you!
And I want you to thank someone ☺
• -who can you thank?
• -what is the reason you want to thank them?
• -how have you improved today, or this week?
• -what are different ways to say thank you?
• -make a plan to thank someone and accomplish it before the end of the week