...Global Business Languages Volume 2 Cultures and Cross-Cultural Awareness in the Professions 5-21-2010 Article 4 Business Negotiations between the Americans and the Japanese Yumi Adachi Weber State University Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl Recommended Citation Adachi, Yumi (1997) "Business Negotiations between the Americans and the Japanese," Global Business Languages: Vol. 2, Article 4. Available at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl/vol2/iss1/4 Copyright © 2010 by Purdue Research Foundation. Global Business Languages is produced by Purdue CIBER. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl Yumi Adachi Weber State University BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE AMERICANS AND THE JAPANESE INTRODUCTION Culture in the business world is not the same as general culture.1 Even native speakers of the language learn business manners and practices, and cooperative culture when they actually engage in a real life setting. It is not sufficient in business for foreigners to understand only the general culture of the target language, since culture and language cannot be separated (King), yet language study by itself is inadequate. Language is constructed with a strong influence exerted by the culture. Indeed, when studying language, it is incumbent upon us to study the culture of the target language (Bloch). Even though culture cannot explain everything (Fallows), and the business world shares a common ground regardless of culture (Bloch), fundamental features of the...
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...Be Attuned to Business Etiquette [pic] Prepared by: [pic] Jeshua Johnson Bri Johnson Case # March 21, 2002 Dr. Castro’s International Business Class Executive Summary: Many overlook the importance of knowing business etiquette, especially when dealing with business partners from foreign countries and/or other cultures. Oftentimes, business partners in foreign firms have different cultural practices and customs. Being aware of these various customs and practices is crucial to being successful in an international business environment. The importance of these customs to their cultures can vary into such extremes as describing proper manners in situations to outlining how to live a proper life according to the religious practices of the country. These customs can dictate basic protocol for certain situations, guidelines for proper nonverbal communication, ways to show gratitude correctly, and the words you choose to use. There are six considerations to keep in mind when dealing with business etiquette across cultural boundaries: 1. Be prepared, 2. Slow down, 3. Establish trust, 4. Understand the importance of language, 5. Respect the culture, and 6. Understand the components of culture. These components include aesthetics, attitudes and beliefs, religion, material culture, education, language, societal organization, legal characteristics, and political structures. Understanding these basic considerations and components can improve...
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...Defining Culture Paper GBM 480 University of Phoenix December 13, 2008 Culture in America can be compared to other cultures as being many different cultures rolled into one. “Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit” (“There is nothing more terrible than ignorance in action”) (Goethe 1805). Unlike American culture, Germany the land of poets and thinkers is a culture shared by many members of society with many outside influences but with little internal differences. “Although there are different norms of national cultures, there is a good deal of variation among individuals making up the norm” (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan 2007). The following paper defines the term culture along with examining the elements of German culture and how they impact business practices. Definition of Culture There are many times when people don’t understand why a certain people do certain things but they attribute it to a culture other than their own. It is easy to “blame” something on culture. Knowing what culture is exactly is not always as easy as a person might think. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary; culture is the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education (2008). It is also defined as “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations (Merriam-Webster 2008). Culture pertains to the activity of humans...
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...over the past two thousand years. For the example in 1999, world population passed the six billion mark. By the year 2080, the world population estimated around 10,000,000,000 people around the world. Latest official estimates of the current global population by mid-2011, estimated at 6,928,198,253 people around the world (Rosenberg, World Population - The Current World Population, 2011). From the 7 billion populations in the world, they certainly have a different background, such as country, language, race, culture, religion, customs etc. People as a human being cannot live alone without others people. They must communicate with each other. Language is the way of communication. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to show to the people how to communicate with each other in different background especially in Global Business Communication. The expectation is the readers will learn how to using and understand the way people communicate, base on every aspect of their background. Business definition itself is a commercial activity engaged in as a means of livelihood or profit, or an entity which engages in such activities (WebFinance, 2012). In this paper, there will be the research and analyzing personal behavior and attitudes in a country and the relationship with others country. The countries that will be research and analyze are: Indonesia-Malaysia, Indonesia-China, Indonesia Singapore. Chapter II: Research The research divided into three groups: Indonesia-Malaysia, Indonesia-China...
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...matrix to complete the country information. Write 3-4 sentences for each item. • Access the Business Around the World information by accessing http://www.mhhe.com/business/buscom/bcommonline/ • Select three regions of the world to research by clicking the map on the lower-left corner of the page. Select one country from each region you chose to research. Enter your final country selections into the matrix. The Web site provides you with a strong starting point. You may also want to perform a general Internet search to find additional information. • Include APA-formatted references on a separate page. The assignment is due in Week Three. |Cross-Cultural Communication | |Country |Preferred Communication Style |Nonverbal Communication Practices |Business Communication Norms |Strategies to Increase Cross-Cultural | | | | | |Communication | |Brazil |The official language of Brazil is |Brazilians will make assumptions about a |Brazilians do business with people, |Increasing cross-cultural communication | | |Portugal...
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...Case Study On Charles Martin in Uganda Submitted to: Salma Akter Senior Lecturer Department of Business Administration Submitted by Muhammad Nazmus Shakib ID: 2008-2-10-213 ITB301 (05) Date of submission 25-03-2012 [pic]East West University Acknowledgement In preparing this case study, I had the support and co-operation of the personnel of my group members. At the beginning I would like to thank my honorable course instructor. I am pleased to present the Case Study that was assigned to me as a partial requirement of the ITB301 course. I have found the experiences regarding the assignment quite valuable and interesting. I tried my level best to make the case study authentic and worth reading. I really enjoyed the hard work of preparing the paper. I am very thankful to you for giving me such an assignment from which I can enhance my knowledge over cultural influence and other factors affecting international business. I ensure that certain information enclosed in this paper is appropriate and authentic within academic interest. Table of Contents |Serial |Topic |Page number | |01 |Introduction |04 | |02 ...
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...To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall 3.2 Lecture 3 Objectives Discuss trends that have made intercultural business communications so important. Discuss culture and subculture and culture’s four basic characteristics. Delineate the differences between high-context and low context cultures. Recognize cultural differences. Discuss ethnocentrism and stereotyping. To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall 3.3 Lecture 3 Objectives continued Discuss three ways to improve communication with people who speak English as a second language; then discuss three ways to improve communication with people who do not speak your language at all. Explain why studying other cultures helps you communicate more effectively. Illustrate how word choice affects communication among people from other cultures. To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall Quick Quiz 3.4 Some Key Definitions Define each of the following terms: Intercultural communication Market globalization Cultural diversity Culture Subculture To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall A Few Basic Concepts About Culture Culture is learned. Cultures vary in stability. 3.5 Cultures vary in complexity. Cultures vary in tolerance. To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill...
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...International Business Cultural Assignment Shawna Johnson January 25, 2013 When talking about culture and how it can affect business practices brings up many topics. Culture is a system of values and norms that are shared amount a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living. (“Components of culture”, 2011, p.2) Values and norms have a huge impact on culture within the work place. Values are abstract ideas about what a society believes to be right or wrong, good or bad. Norms also shape culture; they are the social rules and guidelines that lay down the proper behavior in certain situations. There are several components that define culture; religion, political and economic philosophies, education, language, and social structure. Different countries have different religions views and values. Different religious have different views of work and material goods. Cultural views influence the competitiveness of companies, the way cultures change due to religious and the need to adapt to those changes. For example Mc Donald’s change the main ingredient in their product to lamb instead of beef because of the religious views of Hinduism. (“Components of culture”, 2011, p. 11) The way businesses adapt to different religion in different countries in a major component of how they prosper among many different cultures. The way different countries are taught education has a great impact on cultures and the way companies conduct business deals. Education...
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...International Journal of Arts and Sciences 1(19): 121 – 129 (2009) CD-ROM. ISSN: 1943-6114 © InternationalJournal.org Business Communication between People with Different Cultural Backgrounds Livia Ablonczy-Mihályka, Széchenyi István University, Hungary Abstract At present every aspect of our social, scientific and mental life is subdued to accelerated development. In our globalised world, the amount of cross-national communication increases drastically and in recent years many researchers have emphasised the importance of awareness of different cultural norms as globalisation has brought about a growing trend to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds. This paper argues for a revaluation of how we approach the topic of business communication and for greater emphasis on successful business communication as the goal of better understanding in global business setting. The ideas which are presented in this paper have been derived over a period of two years of our own research and through the reading of research literature. The research to be discussed in the paper is connected to one of the major research lines at Széchenyi István University, titled The dialogue of professional, organisational and national cultures. The purpose of the present paper is to present the results of a survey conducted with professionals who communicate with foreign business partners. The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire. At the root of the argument is the hypothesis that...
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...made other cultures more accessible. We are able at any time of the day to communicate with someone across the globe. With boundaries disappearing, people of all ethnicities are migrating to different parts of the world, introducing new cultural influences. When cultures intertwine there is bound to be areas of miscommunication and conflict. In the business world dealing with language barriers is very important, not only verbal communication but non-verbal communication also. It is necessary to have knowledge of the culture and understand the differences (Guffey & Loewy, 2015). Spoken language is the first barrier most cultures face when interacting with each other. Those barriers do not have to be between people from different countries, there can be language barriers between people who live in the same country or have the same cultural background. The Spanish language is one example, there are different words for the same object or a word that means one thing in one Latino language may mean something inappropriate in another (Kosur, 2015). Their culture and spoken language differs depending on which area they live and the outside influences on the culture. Even within our own boundaries we see this. In order to do business in today’s world, it is important to be aware of differences between cultures. Having opportunities to share cultural differences between employees helps build stronger working relationships and can change misconceptions of other cultures. Understanding...
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...history, culture, institutions, geography, and economics. I would use videotaped and Web-based presentations to help the employees get a visual understanding of each company’s culture. (Kreitner, 2009, p. 107) In doing this, I could focus on each aspect of the business and how it is interpreted in a foreign country. For example, I would have them watch the previous day’s news on the Web so if a client wanted to talk about current news, my sales personnel and executives would know what they are talking about. It is important to know what the current events are. It can be local sports news, the weather, or entertainment new. It is very important to know what is going on. You cannot afford to sound like you don’t know anything about the foreign country you are doing business with. I would also try to get my employees familiar with the other culture through exposure to a series of simulated intercultural incidents, or typical problem situations. (Kreitner, 2009, p. 107) An example would be an incident when you have to answer why people in a certain culture respond a certain way. You could have several answers to choose from and you find pick until you find out the correct answer. When you pick the correct answer, the feedback is extensive, describing similarities and differences between the two cultures. Gradually, the trainee starts thinking like the people from the other culture. In a way, the trainee learns to get “into the shoes” of the people from the other culture. The...
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...communication across many cultures is something that we deal with in every work place. As business environments expand they include various geographic locations and a wide range of cultures. Because of that it is important to be able to understand how to communicate with individuals who speak another language or who rely on different means to reach a common goal. The internet and modern technology have made it very easy for businesses to expand to these cultures and also allow them to communicate with each other as if they were located in the same town. For those who are native English-speakers, it’s seems that English is the most widely used language when trying to reach the widest range of people. Without getting into cultures and sub-cultures, it is most important for people to realize that a basic understanding of cultural diversity is the key to effective cross-culture communications. Without necessarily studying individual cultures and languages in detail, we must all learn how to better communicate with individuals and groups whose first language, or language of choice, does not match our own. Just a basic knowledge about culture and at least something about the language of communication in different countries is important. Take for instance kissing a business associate is not considered appropriate business practice in the U.S., but in Paris, one peck on each cheek is an acceptable greeting. Yet a firm handshake is the acceptable way to greet a business associate in the U.S...
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...Week 3 1. Discuss how the Internet and culture interact, which most affects the other and how? Give some examples Culture is the knowledge which acquired by people and use to interpret their experiences and generate certain agreed social behaviour. Certain values, attitudes and behaviours are generated from the knowledge. People under the same culture have the tendency to share values, assumptions and understandings which are obtained from the previous generations. One of the most important advantages of internet to the world is that the implementation of internet reduces the time for people to acquire information they need, previously, the learning of different culture only can be done via limited forms such as living in a foreign country, reading books and so on, they are both effective ways to learn different cultures but they are also not available for most of people, the implementation of internet provides an time saving method for spreading and learning different culture without going to the foreign country physically, most of the people can obtain and learn different culture even without leaving their home. The internet becomes an important force to push globalization and cultural harmonization; it provides the speed and convenience for people who are willing to learn and experiment foreign cultures which never exist before, and for instance, people can watch major events like Olympic game online and also learn knowledge about the host country. 2. Discuss the...
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...individuals whose native language is not English. Besides the obvious difficulty in understanding people whose language is different, there are other factors that challenge people who are trying to work harmoniously with others of a different background. People from different parts of the world have a different frame of reference, and they may display emotions differently and display different behaviors. Below is a list of common barriers to communication: * Language Barriers: Language is a very complex thing, and communication between people speaking different languages is difficult. Language is a way of looking at the world, and even skilled translators can find it tricky to convey complex emotions and concepts, which can lead to misunderstandings. For example when you think about how often you misunderstand someone speaking your language, you can imagine how hard it is to get the full meaning from something a person with a different cultural background is saying to you. * Behavior Differences: Behavior difference between employees of different cultures can cause misunderstandings. Every culture has guidelines about what is considered appropriate behavior. In some cultures, looking someone in the eye when they are talking to you is considered rude, while in other cultures refraining from doing so is considered disrespectful. Getting right to the point at a business meeting may be considered impolite by some, who expect to have “small talk” before the business discussion. Likewise...
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...Language is the most common, powerful, and preferred medium of communication. However, it becomes a source of barriers due to inappropriate use. Language, further, is extremely flexible- that is what makes it so versatile to use. Ironically, this can create problems of comprehension when handled ineffectively. Regardless of culture, a kind of verbal sparring occurs when strangers meet, each seeking to determine which topics are acceptable and noncontroversial. Additionally the tone of voice of one’s initial words can influence your initial perception of whether the meeting is positive or negative. If you traveled abroad or flew on flight airlines, you may have been surprised at the volume level of some person’s speech. What to us is loud and raucous, perhaps sounding like a fight, is considered normal and accepted by Arabs. Some Japanese use little volume, again accepted and part of a cultural heritage. Tonal languages, such as Cantonese, demand more volume to suggest changes in word meanings, English less so. Language/Semantic Barriers. Lack of Common Language: A very basic problem, this occurs when two people do not share a common language at all. In the modern multi-state, multi-nation business world, this can become a major barrier. The only way this barrier can be resolved is to have an open mind and show respect to other languages. One should also try to get familiar to those languages, which are absolutely necessary for day-to-day function. Faulty Translations: Unfortunately...
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