Cross Cultural Management

Describe about the "Cross Cultural Management". 

 

Introduction

There is always sub-culture in any company:

Maintaining efficient subcultures, including its main cultures is a duty of a leader in order to manage an organisation successfully. Implementing new strategies or plans would be difficult  if there is no bona fide understanding of the various steps of cultures existing in the firm. Organisational sub-cultures can be divided into groups. We can take human resource management subcultures into consideration. It is centred into groups such as profession, employee, innovation and task. This can be also age, union memberships, work groups, sex, departments, ethnicity and occupational ability based.  

Effective Communication Requires:  

Conception

The interpreting, selecting, organizing of information and processing comes under this category. The people of business are required to keep an eye on the people applying for jobs in order to communicate effectively. For example, we think about our future best friend to be shy by the way they dress, but we can be proved incorrect once we perceive as to how extrovert he or she is as a person. This process is effective in understanding the way people puts effort in making sense of their respective judgements to absorb conception’s communication effect.

Precision

Clarity must be present in every aspect of communication. Communication message, purpose, modes must be very clear. It provides better understanding to people avoiding confusion, misunderstanding and complexity.

Credibility

The trust feeling and regard that is admired by others is credibility. Credible head attracts people who want to work for them. For instance, sales professionals need much credibility as people will not want to buy products from the person they don’t trust.

Control

System must be developed in every organisation for reaching its goals and resources. There are few common characteristics shared by every effective control systems such centre on important points, approval of the employees, information that are accessible in the dire need, monetary practicality, precision and certainty.

Congeniality

It is an important aspect in terms with effective communication. Despite the differences, a good communicator will command the respect and goodwill. Being friendly and maintaining a pleasant relationship is of utmost importance. 

How Culture Affects Communication:

The stronger the formal communication, the weaker the informal one. 

Barriers to Effective Communication

Socio-cultural barriers

Group-think

This is a phenomena which is social in nature where the main thing that dominates is that the making of decision is influenced by the behaviour of the group.

Beliefs and values that conflict

Values and shared beliefs is the basis of any culture. Magnification of misunderstanding is inevitable when there are communications occurring across the boundaries of culture. For instance, making eye contact is essential in the culture of the U.S. while talking. However, in the Asiatic countries, the same behaviour is regarded as an offence or showing disrespect.

Stereotyping and ethnocentrism

Based upon an associate ship of a group in particular, stereotyping is the way of anticipating the behavioural pattern of a person. As an example, if a joke is made about a Latin American colleague that he will arrive late for a meeting, we may have already damaged the professional relationship.

On the other hand, perceiving one’s own culture to be the superior is the nature of the ethnocentric people. 

Language and jargon

Language is a common barrier. We can take this for an example. A director of sales in the New York city if asks a Brazilian contractor to soon complete a job, both of them will have a miscommunication as they will interpret the word “soon” from their respective perspective. Behaviour or body language can be a barrier too. 

Psychological barriers

Filtering

It is one major problem. For example, if a senior filters the crucial information and does not provide it to the junior, then the person will not be able to complete the work efficiently. This can be due to jealousy or other reasons.

Perceptions

Every person has a perception of reality, different from others. This leads them to interpret things in their own way. 

Faulty Memory

Poor retention or faulty memory can act as a barrier to communication. For example, a person was given a name, address and a phone number, which he had to convey to another person after some days. Meanwhile, he forgets the phone number and hence the information is either changed or distorted.

Poor hearing skills

Poor hearing can lead to insufficient skills of memory. Reading, being lost in thought and paying attention to a different conversation represents poor listening skills. Few people listen with complete attention for more than a few seconds at a time. 

Emotional interference

Sending and receiving messages during communication can have a major barrier which is emotion. While being sad or annoyed, communication prowess can be damaged. Positive emotions can also be a barrier. Presenting a message in a peaceful way as a approach that is measured works in the best possible way. 

Organisational barriers

Overload of information

To make one’s message heard, people have to go through many hurdles as now, there are information overflowing from various directions, and not just one, such as voice mail, internet, text messages, television, material of advertisements, letters, faxes and movies. 

Message competition

Messages have to compete for attention.

Information distortion

Due to misunderstanding, information can get disordered by the taller structures or maybe blocked on purpose. This can be a result of jealousy or other reason.

Message filtering

When passing on information, or reproduce it in an abbreviated form may result in cutting out the most important part.

Conflicting messages

These kind of messages can undermine communication. For instance a CEO of a company says in his speech that "we need to maintain our focus in the year ahead to maintain sales". Now his staffs do not understand whether it was really a "thank you" event or a "kick off" event for next year.

Climate of communication

A network of relationships those are personal, that too within a business that is smaller is a communication climate. It fosters good relationship between the workers or the employees, among each other and also with the team of management.

Status Differences

Messages from people of higher ranks are given much importance than those of the lower ones.

Structural problems

Greater distance from one point to another may cause much delay, be it physical, social or cultural.

Culture and Message Context: High, mid-range and Low

High Context Culture

In this kind of culture, much information that is unspoken usually is transferred implicitly. Importance of long-term business relationships and at the same time having minimal regulations is prevalent in Saudi Arabia. Other countries that follow this kind of cultures include Japan, China, India and Korea. 

Mid-Range Context Culture

Most countries fall under this category such as Brazil, Canada, France, Morocco and Nigeria. 

Low Context Culture

Explicit message is exchanged a lot and having any secrecy is rare in this type of culture. They have short term business relationships such as in the UK, and regulations are followed vigorously. Countries that follow under this are Australia, Germany, Russia and USA among others.