Cultural Awareness
This may amuse you. A lower context joke comes from an actual interaction between IBM and a Japanese hardware manufacturer. IBM requested parts from a trial project, with the specification “We will accept three defective parts per ten thousand.” The Japanese manufactured the parts, and sent them with a note: “We, the Japanese people, had a hard time understanding North American business practices. But the three defective parts per 10,000 have been separately manufactured and have been included in the consignment. Hope this pleases you. ” The humor is inherent in the narrative, instead of from a common background.
I'm back home now, but in my recent travels I found myself smack dab in the middle of several large urban and suburban areas. Not at all like the somewhat static rural community where I live. Now that I have time to reflect on the experience of being in the 'urbs' and 'burbs' where many cultures flourish, it brings me back to thinking more about low context/high context cultures/communication. It makes me think that having at least a working knowledge of the two styles is or has become nearly a necessity in order to communicate clearly and effectively. I think this is especially important to anyone working the Web where every culture is represented in some fashion.
High and low context cultures co-existing
An individual from a high context culture has to adapt, and/or be accommodated when shifting to a low context culture. High context cultures expect small close knit groups, and reliance on that group. Professional and personal lives often intertwine. A low context culture demands independence, and expects many relationships, but few intimate ones. A high context individual is more likely to ask questions rather than attempt to work out a solution independently, and the questions are likely to be asked from the same few people.
Here's another snippet with link:
Directness vs. Indirectness those who use LC communication style are "expected to communicate in ways that are consistent with their feelings," whereas a person from a HC culture will set the context and the setting and let the message evolve without referring to the problem directly. In the event of a conflict arising, HC cultures tend to use indirect, non-confrontational, and vague language, relying on the listener's or reader's ability to grasp the meaning from the context. LC cultures tend to use a more direct, confrontational, and explicit approach to ensure that the listener receives the message exactly as it was sent. Choe (2001) illustrates this difference in the following passage:
If a North American supervisor is unsatisfied with a subordinate's sales proposal, the response will probably be explicit and direct: "I can't accept this proposal as submitted, so come up with some better ideas." A Korean supervisor, in the same situation, might say: "While I have the highest regard for your abilities, I regret to inform you that I am not completely satisfied with this proposal. I must ask that you reflect further and submit additional ideas on how to develop this sales program." (p. 5) [/i]
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.htmlAnyway, I thought it might be interesting to examine our cultural awareness.
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