Introduction
Culture influences the way people behave. It is thus important to understand it in relation to global work place where professional communication is employed. Every country that has Multinational Corporation and other businesses dealing with international firms should recognize the fact that cross-cultural differences have a negative impact on the professional communication process (Hall, 1976).
A good case study is the culture of Taiwan. Taiwanese unit of social organization is the group. This is because their culture encourages them to live as extended families. For this reason, people in Taiwan are seen to work comfortably in teams and groups. In addition, the Taiwanese culture is made up of other several subculture including Chinese and Japanese.
Moreover, it has been greatly influenced by imperialism and colonization. Another case study is that of American communication style. The American Business communication style does not encourage them to discuss issues directly. They believe in talking less without wasting time. Moreover, the Americans are polite and friendly but do not keep relationship for a long time. They also use a lot of protocols in their language.
Comparison of Taiwanese and Americans cultures
Taiwanese communication culture is characterized by use of non verbal language, indirect verbal language, close relationship between the parties involved as well as face to face communication when intending to make decisions. In addition, they prefer group discussions and use of wide sources of information in order to achieve accuracy.
On the other hand, the Americans communication culture is comprised of verbal communication. It is usually task centered and involved the key personnel only. They meet to make decisions and do not consider relationships at all. They do not consult wide sources of information and thus the process is fast (Hofstede, 1980).
An Analysis of the Two Cultures
Effective communication can only be achieved once the cultural difference between the Taiwanese and Americans cultures are realized. Once they are realized and recognized, the appropriate methods of communications are adopted depending whether you are dealing with individual or both cultures. The difference between the two cultures can be described in terms low and high context culture. In this case, the Taiwanese culture is the high context culture while Americans is the low context culture.
When both high and low context cultures work in the same environment, communication problems are bound to happen (Hofstede, 1991). For example in such an environment, the Taiwan people are seen to communicate in groups especially to those people they are close to. The communication is always intensive. That is, it is usually comprised of wide and detailed information. This is not the case with Americans.
Their communication is basically at personal or individual level. They give information that is only necessary for their work environment. The professional communication in Taiwan is thus effective. This is because they are formal and plan their meetings on time. Moreover, they attend meetings once they have agreed on something. The Americans are informal and usually meet without having made the decision on a particular issue.
Recommendations
In intercultural environment, effective communication can be attained by understanding other people’s culture. This means that they know what is expected of them while communicating. This includes the tone, language in terms of formality and body posture when talking to different people. The key point in having an effective communication in a cross-cultural environment; is to understand other people’s cultures and the things that make the difference between your culture and theirs (Moran, 1991).
An individual should be aware differences that are as a result of different cultural background. First, one should be aware of contextual differences. These are brought about by different cultural contexts. They are associated interpretation of messages during communication. In such a case, an individual should be able to differentiate a high and low culture context.
For example Taiwan is high context. For this reason it values and emphasizes on non verbal communication unlike American who prefer verbal communication. Secondly, one should be aware of social differences as well as non- verbal differences. Socially, one has to know how to behave while communicating. In addition, one should be able to understand the meaning conveyed by non-verbal communications. This depends on different cultural environment.
References
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond Culture. Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Moran, R. T. (1991). Successful international business negotiations. Houston: Gulf.