Vinnova Co-ordinators Day Communicating Across - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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������� Vinnova Co-ordinators Day Communicating Across Cultures Stockholm • 4th December Presenter: John Alexander

Today… • cultural perspectives • intercultural communication: what skills? • reconciling cultural dilemmas • applications

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Worldwide Number of Researchers per Million Inhabitants 


Worldwide Annual Coffee Consumption Per Capita

World Values Survey 2015 • Ingelhart & Welzel

what do you do?

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MY VALUES ARE WHEN IN ROME… SOUND VALUES

Sweden's feminist trade minister Ann Linde dons the hijab and wears a black cloak like her Iranian counterpart. Teheran February 2017

� Vinnova Co-ordinators: Cross Cultural Issues

Cross Cultural Issues • giving feedback • authority role • expectations of expertise • standards and protocols • communication style • issues regarding time • gender issues

communicating across cultures…

communication skills language skills cultural awareness

effective communication?

effective communication? polite or direct?

CONTEXT 
 Be Polite or Be Direct? 
 High Context Low Context Hall, Beyond Culture

high context low context yes = maybe yes = yes now = ? now = 2 minutes positive atmosphere to the point vague? confrontational? Hall, Beyond Culture

CONTEXT 
 Be Polite or Be Direct? 
 High Context Low Context J CH IND LA UK Sweden USA D DK AUS Fin

High Context SWEDEN lyhörd FRANCE sous entendu beneath hearing SPAIN sobrentendido “ “ JAPAN kuuki yomena i can’t read air CHINA pang qiao ce ji beat about the bush

decision making

The The Swedish Swedish Way Way The The Finnish Finnish Way Way 1 . 1 . 2 . 2 . meet 5 . 5 . 3 . 3 . 4 . 4 . discuss 6 . 6 . 8 . 8 . 7 . 7 . 9 . 9 . decide 10. 10.

The The Swedish Swedish Way Way The The Finnish Finnish Way Way 1 . 1 . 2 . 2 . meet 5 . 5 . 3 . 3 . 4 . 4 . discuss 6 . 6 . 8 . 8 . 7 . 7 . 9 . 9 . decide 10. 10.

Social Norms & Expectations 
 neutral affect J Finland Sweden UK US IND LA ME FR IT Trompenaars, 2011

Paul Ekman (US anthropologist): Six Universal Expressions of Human Emotion

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Why so angry? Why so uninterested?

chironomia the rhetorical art of using hand gestures

proxemics the study of spaces between people in different cultures

avoiding uncertainty = unwritten rules and regulations to avoid conflicts and the unexpected

LEVELS of ORGANISATION 
 Be flexible or be structured? 
 Weak Uncertainty Avoidance – Strong Uncertainty Avoidance India Greece Brazil UK US D CH Sweden (SNG) Hofsteede, 2010

organise or adapt? Sweden

Computer Crash – Who Does What? Most aggressive Action hit computer NL shout France shout Denmark persevere Germany persevere Sweden fix it Finland go home Switzerland go home Norway free time UK Least aggressive

Dealing with Angry Clients by Telephone Most aggressive Action shout/swear Danes shout/swear Australians shout in French French shout/offer bribes Russians demand action Germans lawyer: legal terms USA calm:’nu är jag arg’ Swedes call every 10 minutes Norwegians apologise English Least aggressive

what’s the right thing to do?

The Car and the Pedestrian You are riding in a car driven by a close friend, and your friend hits a pedestrian. You know your friend was going at least 50 kph in an area of the city where the maximum speed limit is 30 kph. There are no witnesses. The lawyer of your friend said that if you testify under oath that the speed was only 30 kph, it may save him from serious consequences. What right has your friend to expect you to protect him?


 
 
 (A) My friend has a definite right to expect me to testify to a lower figure 
 (B) He has some right to expect me to testify to a lower figure 
 (C) He has no right to expect me to testify to a lower figure 



 
 Would you help your friend in view of the obligations you feel you have for society? 
 (D) Yes 
 (E) No 


Particularist Universalist relationships rules obligations regulations mutual reciprocity contracts favours the system adapt to circumstances right & wrong

The Car and the Pedestrian 
 (Percentage opting for universalist system) Switzerland 97 Canada 96 USA 95 Sweden 94 Australia 93 Poland 74 France 73 Spain 65 Greece 58 China 48 Russia 37 Venezuela 34 Trompenaars,

Corruption Perception Index 
 (Transparency Agency 2016 • 174 countries) Denmark / Finland / NZ 01 Sweden 04 Switzerland 06 Australia 07 Canada/ Netherlands 09 USA 19 Italy 72 Russia 133 Afghanistan 174 North Korea 174 Somalia 174

Universalist perspective Particularism = corruption Particularist perspective Universalism = cold, unfeeling

good citizen good friend

Immanuel Kant Critique of Pure Reason (1781) “Act only according… to a universal law” — The Categorical Imperative

utilitarianism “the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.” J S Mill

Applications

• clarity in communication • positive communication (‘sandwich’) • ‘the meaningful dialogue’ (= deal with feelings (FUDs) • clarify procedure • self-awareness

www.johnalexandersweden.com john@johnalexander.se