1. Made by
Nayan Nakarani

2. We’re Going To Talk
About….
 A Communications
Model
 What is “Culture”?
 Good Cross-Cultural
Communicators
 High-Context
Cultures
 Low-Context Cultures

3. What is Culture???
 Provides patterns of
acceptable behavior
& beliefs.
 May be based on….
Nationality
Race and Religion
Historical Roots
…All of the Above

4. Good Intercultural
Communicators Are….
 Aware values &
behaviors not
always “right.”
 Flexible & open
to change.

5. And…..
 Sensitive to
verbal &
nonverbal
behavior.
 Aware of values,
beliefs, practices
of other cultures.
 Sensitive to
differences
within cultures.

6. HIGH CONTEXT VS. LOW CONTEXT
CULTURES

7. High-Context Cultures
 Infer information from
message context, rather than
from content.
 Prefer indirectness,
politeness & ambiguity.
 Convey little information
explicitly.
 Rely heavily on nonverbal
signs.
 Asian
 Latin American
 Middle Eastern

8. Low-Context
Cultures
 Rely more on content
rather than on context.
 Explicitly spell out
information.
 Value directness.
 See indirectness as
manipulative.
 Value written word more
than oral statements.
 European
 Scandinavian
 North American

9. Some Cultural
Scenarios
Japan China
India Mexico

10. JAPAN
To help her American Company establish a
presence in Japan, Mrs. Torres wants to hire a
local interpreter who can advise her on business
customs. Ms. Tomari has superb qualifications
on paper, but when Mrs. Torres tries to probe
about her experience, Ms. Tomari just says, “I
will do my best. I will try very hard.” She
never gives details about any of the previous
positions she has held. Mrs. Torres begins to
wonder if Ms. Tamari's résumé is inflated.

11. CHINA
Stan Williams wants to negotiate a joint venture
between his American firm and a Beijing-based
company. He asks Tung-Sen Lee if the Chinese
people have enough discretionary income to afford
his product. Mr. Lee is silent for a time, and then
says, “Your product is good. People in the West
must like it.” Stan smiles, pleased that Mr. Lee
recognizes the quality of his product, and he leaves
a contract for Mr. Lee to sign. Weeks later, Stan
still hasn’t heard anything. If China is going to be
so inefficient, he wonders if his company should try
to do business there.

12. INDIA
Gloria Johnson is proud of her participatory
management style. Assigned in Bombay on
behalf of her U.S.-based company, she is careful
not to give orders but to ask for suggestions.
But the employees rarely suggest anything.
Even a formal suggestion system she established
does not work. Worse still, she doesn’t sense
the respect and camaraderie that she felt at the
plant she managed in Texas. Perhaps the people
in India just are not ready for a woman boss.

13. MEXICO
Alan Caldwell is a U.S. sales representative in
Mexico City. He makes appointments with Senõr
Lopez and is careful to be on time, but his host is
frequently late. To save time, Alan tries to get right
to business, his host wants to talk about sightseeing
and about Alan’s family. Even worse, the meetings
are interrupted constantly with phone calls, long
conversations with other people, and even
customers’ children who come into the office.
Alan’s first report to his home office is very
negative. He hasn’t yet made a sale. Perhaps
Mexico just isn’t the right place to do business.