Cross Cultural Dynamics

• In business, “cross-culture” means that a company tries to make sure that its employees can work well with others who come from different backgrounds. Like the word “cross-cultural,” it means that you are aware of and want to bridge the differences in how people act and behave based on their national, regional, or ethnic background.
• Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that tries to define and explain the different ways that people from around the world talk and act when they talk to each other.
• As businesses go global, the idea of cross-cultural communication is becoming more and more important. Many companies that want to sell more of their products spend a lot of time and money teaching their workers how to talk to and get along with people from other cultures.
• For instance, when people who work for an international company move to a different country, they need to learn how to fit in with the new culture. Not only do they have to learn the language, but they also have to learn how to behave in that society.
• These days, cross-cultural training is seen as necessary for people who work as managers abroad. If you don’t talk to your subordinates or understand what they’re doing, problems can start to spread throughout the business.
• The Bad Things About Cross-Cultural
• Every culture has its own way of understanding even the smallest social, professional, and societal actions, and that always shows up in business. In some cultures, the relationship between a boss and a worker is seen as mutually beneficial. In some, the boss is expected to run things like a bureaucrat. Touching someone without meaning to can be seen as rude or even dangerous in some cultures.
• Cross-cultural communication includes body language, touching, and how people feel about their own space. In cultures with strict religious rules, it can be hard for people of the opposite sex to get along with each other, even in business.
• Hand gestures and other forms of body language may be frowned upon or, even worse, may have meanings that the person who uses them did not mean at all. Touching someone without meaning to can be seen as rude, disrespectful, or even worse in some cultures.
• How Cross-Culture Works
• Japanese businesspeople expect you to take their business card seriously. The person giving the card will bow and use both hands to give it. It shows respect when the person receiving it takes it with both hands.
• A direct “yes” or “no” answer, or making someone give you one, is seen as very rude in China. In meetings, people talk about things, not make decisions public.
• In Mexico, people mostly do business with their friends and family. Business travellers often look for a way to meet someone in the area through a middleman who knows people there.
• Having cross-cultural skills
• Cross-cultural competencies are the attitudes, behaviours, and knowledge that help people adapt well to environments where people from different cultures live and work together. Reference The US Army document
• Motivation across cultures
• You’re interested in new places and cultures and are always looking for ways to learn. When you show cross-cultural motivation, you do the following:
• Enjoy the chance to learn more about the city, region, or country where you will be working and its people.
• Explore your surroundings on your own.
• Make connections with people from other cultures.
• Pay attention to what’s going on in the country where you will be working.
• Get involved with people at work and in the community.
• Knowledge of other cultures
• You know a lot about different cultures and use what you’ve learned in your everyday life. You show that you know about other cultures when you:
• Understand and honour the differences between cultures
• Learn how to talk to people from other cultures in a way that is polite and effective.
• Learn how to be polite and aware of how a cross-cultural workplace works.
• Figure out how to talk to people who write or speak a different language.
• Learn how to get along in a new place.
• Figure out how to deal with change all the time.