Cultural Misunderstanding Essay

Nowadays, with the development of modern technology, the world tends to be a global village. It is quite convenient to contact people from anformer(a)(prenominal) countries by telephone, fax or on the internet. Therefore, firms get more than opportunities to sell their products overseas. However, as we all know, diametrical countries constitute their own unique cultures. Hofstede who is a pioneer of comparative intercultural research describes culture as the collective programming of the school principal which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another (Henk, Joseph Soeters and Peter Ester 2004,34). Owing to various(a) company management, languages as well as customs, cultural conflict bequeath arise from communication between people of different cultural backgrounds. This see tries to present the main elements of cultural misunderstanding during cross cultural course and then find some effective ways to avoid or mitigate those problems.Different cultu res make the world diversified. However, unfortunately, it also causes some veto effects on international air, which stack lead to misunderstanding, confusion rase anger. It usually appears in following aspects1). Misunderstandings ground on power infinite According to Gallois and Callan(1997,28 ), the distance between a manager and subordinate can be considered as to extent to which employees can agree with their bosses or managers. It has dickens different styles high distance and low distance. High power distance culture is usually found in some oriental countries, particularly in Japan, Korea and China. Superiors seem to be entitled to more privileges. They are the magnetic core of the whole company, their status (based on age, experience, or position) gives them the right to tell others what to do, and subordinates of all time esteem the managers.On the other hand, in western countries, an employee can have different opinions to his/her boss and can discuss problems with their manager face-to-face. Actually, deference of power in low power distance is based on noesis and experience, rather than status or position alone (Gallois and Callan, 1997,28). Because of the different recognition of power distance, conflict and misunderstanding must emerge when two or more who come from different power distance cultures work together. In this situation, managers ofmultinational companies must pay attention to the clashes and be aware of the deviance of cultures. The manager should know how to let those employees work together harmoniously and cooperatively.2). Misunderstandings based on language As the medium of information, language is used to transport ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. Different nations use different languages, so there will be loss or misunderstanding during communication. For instance, in some countries, people worry using implicit words, which are hard for foreigners to understand. It will cause broad problems in cross-cultural neg otiations. Language-based misunderstandings will happen, even with two native speakers of the resembling language, besides from different dialect groups or social classes, communicating, because of accent, slang or technical terms.Whats more, according to Gallois and Callan (1997, 7), language is also associated with non-verbal communication, which includes gestures, body language, inwardness contact and some types of non-verbal behavior are used based on the users culture. Therefore, it is common that similar gestures will have different meanings in different countries. Thus, the non-verbal channel is another contributor of misunderstanding. For example, an Indian palpitation his/her head means yes instead of no In order to strangle language-based misunderstanding, overseas sellers should follow the customer orientation principle and do business in the customers language and communication style. In other words, it is essential to pay extra attention to the communication process , even if it takes more time.3). Misunderstandings based on social rules. Social rules are defined as shared expectations about the behavior that should and should not occur in special social situations (Gallois and Callan,1997,33). But the rules are different from one situation to another. crawfish punctuality as an example we all know time is money, but when there is a conference, Germans usually arrive 5 minutes onwards the start and Spanish people will be late for 15 minutes late. However, in their mind they are both on time. Furthermore, when western people converse with each other, the usual distances are between 0.5 and 1 meter. However, in China, the distance is much less, especially in a eating place when peoples bodies will touch precise closely.Some Westerners aspect uncomfortable in that situation. In a word, to keep an open mind about other peoples social rules and respect for those rules is very necessary. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.From what has been di scussed before, cultural conflicts are unavoidable during cross-cultural business, due to differences in company management, language, attitude toward times, social behavior, etc.. mess are not all the same under the skin. As a professional business person, he/she should be willing to learn other nations cultures and keep an open mind, and adapt himself/herself to fit into the business environment in order to get the best achievement in business.ReferencesGallois,C and V.Callan (1997) Communication and Culture. jakes WILEY&SONSVinken,H, Joseph Soeters and Peter Ester(2004) Comparing Culture Dimensions of Culture in a comparative Perspective. BRILLThe Content of Intercultural Communication http//www.ahtvu.ah.cn/jxcl/zhykch/1107/supplementary%20reading2htm 25/01/2006