Cultural Dimensions Of Global Business Communications

A person’s culture has a great influence on his or her self-identity and behavior. Culture encompasses many aspects, and is defined by Juang and Matsumoto (2011) as a, “unique meaning and information system, shared by a group and transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic needs of survival, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life” (p. 15). As discussed in lecture, different dimensions of culture are identified by Geert Hofstede and different values of culture are identified by Shalom Schwartz (K. Whitten, personal communication, January 14, 2016). The level of emphasis placed on these dimensions and values result in the expression of a unique culture. I interviewed

In school, I had to understand differences and prevent misunderstanding in order to work with others effectively. “Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s Seven dimension of Culture” helps me to relate and explore my own situation. From my experience, I have realized that people differ from one another in specific ways; this is all due to the fact that we have our own beliefs and values due to different factors. When trying to distinguish people from different cultures, I automatically consider the seven

The case, Charles Foster sends an email, is a perfect example of the how globalization and increased cross cultural interaction is increasing the complexity and ambiguity facing the managers of large multinational companies. The specific focus of this case is to address the repercussions that can occur by using inadequate communication methods, given the importance and complexity of a situation. Also, the case addresses the possibility of cross cultural communication misinterpretation leading to confusion and confrontation amongst the parties involved. The objective of this qualitative analysis is to utilize both theory and practical

In my previous professional role, it was imperative that I obtained an effective level of intercultural communication competence. I managed U.S. employee communications for unplanned system issues which often had a downstream global impact within the organization. As a result, many of my communications were tailored for a global audience which consisted of the United States, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. Prior to a sending an employee communication for a system issue, there was always a global business call with all stakeholders to discuss the details and determine which region would lead the communications. The region designated to lead the communication had a challenging task of tailoring the message

Communication is such an important part of everyone’s daily life, not only in one’s personal life but also in organizations. Also now a day, we are becoming every year more and more global and working with different countries and cultures around the world. Henceforward, globalization is increasing, which makes communication a very important part of doing business internationally.

According to Hofstede definition, it is possible to develop the idea of national culture as a culture for a particular group of humans that includes systems of values and is passed down between generations by learning. (Hofstede G. H., 1980, p. 21)

The most famous researcher of prevailing cultures in different countries goes by the name of Geert Hofstede. “He conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture” (). With the help of his research team, Professor Geert Hofstede created a model of national culture consisting of six dimensions. “The cultural dimensions represent independent preferences for on state of affairs

According to Models2use, Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory is a framework for cross-cultural communication. It describes the effects of a society’s culture on the

Culture is “a system of meanings and values that shape one’s behavior” (Lane 2002, p.16). It is imperative that we appreciate that each person 's intrinsic values are different. Because values are so ingrained, we are not often aware that our responses in life are, in large part, due to the values we hold unique to our own culture and perspective. Furthermore, we rarely reflect on the fact that people with whom we associate hold their own unique set of values that may be different from our own. When communicating with others, the message that the other person is receiving will be based on their culture, their perception of

The Dutch scholar Geert Hofstede (Hofstede) had large and widely influence at academic culture research.(“Exploring culture theory GLOBE, Hofstede, and Trompenaars,” 18:02:35 UTC) He uses survey methods to produce number scores for each of these dimensions for many countries. He found that different cultural and social backgrounds will lead us to different in behaviour and thinking pattern, which made the

When people think of business, rarely do we associate culture with the concept. This leads to an issue in cross-cultural communication. By analyzing cross-cultural communication, and its miscommunication in cultural differences, it is clear that employees should know more of a country’s defining culture. Only recently have we seen an emphasis in understanding other country’s cultures. In doing so, some businesses have prospered, while others have suffered after a terrible miscommunication. When dealing with culture, there are three segments that an employee should consider. What can be done before, during and after contact is made with the culture. In effectively preparing for one, a business may successfully send the message they wish to their client.

Geert Hofstede developed the widely applied Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, which mainly focuses on how different countries with different cultural backgrounds handle different anthropological problems that occur in cross-cultural communication (Hofstede 1980). The first five Hofstede’s dimensions will be discussed in following paragraphs. It should be clear that there is no good and bad between two elements in each dimension since every culture has its unique features and ways to function.

When a business decides to venture internationally into different countries with its products, services, and operations, it is very important that the company gains an understanding of how the culture of the different societies affects the values found in those societies. Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most famous and most used studies on how culture relates to values. Hofstede study enabled him to compare dimensions of culture across 40 countries. He originally isolated four dimensions of what he claimed summarized different cultures — power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity (Hill, 2013, p.110). To cover aspects of values not discussed in the original paradigm Hofstede has since added two more dimensions — Confucianism or long-term orientation and indulgence versus self-restraint (Hofstede, n.d.). Because of the way Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are given an index score from 0-100, it is easy for a company to get a general comparison between the cultures they are expanding into and the culture they are already in.

This essay will discuss the influence of cultural dimensions on behavior. A cultural dimension is defined as a perspective of a culture based on its values and cultural norms. In particular, Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism vs. collectivism will be discussed. Individualism vs collectivism is defined as the preference of a person only being concerned about oneself and looking after oneself, compared to a person who wants to remain in a closely knitted network. These are some terms with definitions which will be used in this essay: the Asch paradigm, which refers to the studies conducted by Solomon Asch, in which he showed his participants different lines and asked them to verbally judge and respond as to what the length of the

The seven cultural variables are the way different people inside contrasting societies are able to communicate with each other and understand what is happening. These contrasting attitudes, beliefs and ideas will shape how they relate to one another and their focus on interacting with numerous individuals. For example, inside the United States the most effective way of discussing what is happening is through presenting objective information directly. While other societies (such as: Sweden), are focusing on two way discourse and establishing friendly relationships. These differences are showing how there are contrasting views as to how various people interact with each other and understand what is happening. (Sepehri, 2011)