Slide 14.1 Chapter 14 Barriers to intercultural communication Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.2 Barriers in cross-cultural management communication Non-verbal behaviour: • crucial role in interaction •All cultures use forms of body language to communicate •but the meaning of these forms: – subject to different interpretations according to the cultural background of the interpreter Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.3 Barriers in cross-cultural management communication (Continued) • Those communicating across cultures must therefore be careful not to assume that certain gestures they perceive have the same meaning as in their own culture Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.4 Barriers in cross-cultural management communication (Continued) Figure 14.1 ‘I’ve had enough!’ Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.5 Non-verbal communication barriers in business • Use of body language For example: – Use of arms by the Dutch, compared to the French – Use of the whole upper part of body by the French – The Dutch may perceive French as: • very emotional and excited since the Dutch only use gestures made by the French when they feel deeply emotional Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.6 Non-verbal communication barriers in business (Continued) • Silence • Silences can indicate: • Respect, of agreement or disagreement • Modesty (avoid improper use of words) – In western cultures: • silence marks pauses in a discourse – In oriental cultures: • silences are an integral part of communication Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.7 Non-verbal communication barriers in business (Continued) • The way feelings are expressed can vary so much between cultures and result can be negative feelings towards another • The creation of such prejudices is not the differences in themselves but the way in which the differences are interpreted Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.8 Assumptions and culture Assumptions may have: 1)a cognitive dimension, related to presumptions as to how people think that things work; 2)an affective dimension, related to the presumed likings of people; 3)a directive dimension related to the presumed choices of people Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.9 Perceptions and stereotypes Table 14.1 Who is saying what about whom? Source: based on Gruère and Morel (1991) Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.10 Perceptions and stereotypes (Continued) • Every culture sees its own system of values in a positive light • If confronted with negative stereotypes of themselves by other nationalities: will not recognise themselves will react strongly since they feel under attack defend their own personal identity see their national identity more in terms of ‘them’ than ‘us’ Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.11 Identity and communication • National identity characterises a nationality: – sets the limits of an intercultural exchange • Perception of the other: – is always based on one’s own culture → ethnocentrism: – Enthocentrism: individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage – Our perceptions are made through a barrier which is unconsciously made up of our own values • Ethnocentrism is responsible for prejudices and stereotypes Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.12 Stereotype building • A stereotype consists of images created in our minds with regard to a group or groups of people How to deal with stereotypes? • If people could place another culture in its own context and avoid judging it according to their own ‘system’, stereotypes would eventually disappear Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14.13 Conclusion • The cultures of the interlocutors filters information and interprets it according to their own references • Stereotypes form the most important barrier to intercultural communication End Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 ... Understanding Cross- Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14. 4 Barriers in cross- cultural management communication (Continued) Figure 14. 1 ‘I’ve... according to their own references • Stereotypes form the most important barrier to intercultural communication End Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross- Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd. .. part of communication Browaeys and Price, Understanding Cross- Cultural Management PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2015 Slide 14. 7 Non-verbal communication barriers