24-07-2012, 01:44 PM
CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING
CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING.doc (Size: 96.5 KB / Downloads: 47)
CROSS CULTURE
Cross culture is the interaction of people from different backgrounds in the business world. Cross culture is a vital issue in international business, as the success of international trade depends upon the smooth interaction of employees from different cultures and regions. A growing number of companies are consequently devoting substantial resources toward training their employees to interact effectively with those of companies in other cultures in an effort to foment a positive cross-cultural experience. Cross culture can be experienced by an employee who is transferred to a location in another country. The employee must learn the language and culture of those around him, and vice-versa. This can be more difficult if this person is acting in a managerial capacity; someone in this position who cannot effectively communicate with or understand their employees' actions can lose their credibility. In an ever-expanding global economy, cross culture and adaptability will continue to be important factors in the business world.
CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Cross culture communication is a field of study that looks at how people from different cultures communicate with each other. Inter cultural communication is something used synonymously with cross cultural communication. In this sense it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate and perceive world around them and as a separate nation it studies situation where people from different cultural backgrounds interact with each other.
It has three components:
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); and it can be more or less formal or systematic.
Motivation is a term that refers to a process that elicits, controls, and sustains certain behaviors. For instance: An individual has not eaten, he or she feels hungry, as a response he or she eats and diminishes feelings of hunger. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with either volition or optimism.
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used.
BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
Knowing the common barriers to effective communication, makes it easier to either avoid them or even better find a solution to these barriers. The most common barriers are:
1. Physical: Can be an actual physical structure or distance: Walls, desks, cubicles, doors, or being located in different buildings or rooms. Physical barriers are also anything that causes distractions or breaks concentration as background noises in case of continuous phone ringing and loud music, or the room temperature either too low or too high.
2. Perceptual: No two people view the world the same way; we all have our own assumptions and perceptions tinted by our own past experiences, values and beliefs which can get in the way of productive dialogue.
3. Psychological: Being emotionally disconnected: Emotions or personal feelings that cause misunderstandings that hinder effective communication. A person’s emotion at the time the message is communicated can impact how it is sent or received. Fear, mistrust, happiness, sadness, anxiety, or anger are all strong emotions that can directly influence communication.
4. Gender: As it is said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Men and women think, speak and decide differently. Men approach the subjects from facts, wanting bottom line. Women have nurturing natures, love details as they need to build relationships and they hint in their communication where men are just direct to the point.
5. Generational: We have four generations interacting together at the workplace. Every generation has its own style of communication. To bridge the generational gap, we need to know the different times, and conditions surrounding each generation that influenced their lives a great deal.
6. Language: Miscommunication occurs when people from different areas or companies are communicating and assign different meanings to words or are unfamiliar with the different terminology. Using slang as: slam dunk, throw me under the bus, stop on a dime, kick the bucket especially while communicating with people to whom English is a second language; using jargon (medical terms, IT people); dialects; or semantics all hinder effective communication.
7. Cultural, racial and religious: We are all products of our environment. Our culture, race or religion are the lens through which we view the world and code or decode the messages we receive.