Lesson Handling Culture Shock Effectively Business Communication

Lesson : Handling Culture Shock Effectively Business Communication

Overview • Defining the Terms: Culture Shock and Country Shock • Stages of Culture Shock • Managing Country and Culture Shock • The Role of Culture in Conflicts and Conflict Resolution • A Leader’s Role in

What is Culture & Country Shock? • How would you define culture shock? – Reaction to psychological disorientation – Fish out of water feeling • Country Shock? – 1 st series of adjustments one has to make in a new locale

What is Culture Shock? • Causes of Culture Shock – Being cut off from cultural cues and patterns – Living/working over an extended period of time in ambiguous situations – Having your values questioned – Being expected to operate at maximum skill and speed without fully understanding “the rules”

What is Culture Shock? • Effects/Symptoms of Culture Shock – Intense discomfort – Resentment – Homesickness – Depression – Variety of physical symptoms from psychosomatic illnesses

Country Shock vs. Culture Shock • Country Shock – Physical circumstances – The setting of the culture – Occurs/resolves quickly • Culture Shock – Interaction among people – Behaviors that seem strange to others – Takes longer to begin/resolve

Country Shock • What can bring on country shock? – Unfamiliar weather patterns – “Strange” foods – “Bugs” (insects, spiders, etc. ) that make life uncomfortable – Infrastructure differences

Country Shock • What can heighten the intensity of country shock? – New faces and communities – Getting physically sick

Stages of Culture Shock • • Honeymoon Irritability/Hostility Gradual Adjustment Adaptation

The Honeymoon Stage • Characteristics – Occurs at beginning of deployment – Positive mindset – High expectations – Focus on similarities between home and host culture – Typically lasts 1 -6 weeks

Irritability/Hostility Stage • Actions during irritability – Withdrawal from host culture – Interacting only with other Americans (in case you are american) – Interacting only with other military personnel (if you work in army sphere) • Actions during hostility – Verbal aggressiveness – Physical aggressiveness – Stereotyping

Gradual Adjustment Stage • What it takes to get there – Time – Recognizing subtle cultural cues – Less isolation/greater comfort – More interaction with host culture

Adaptation Stage • How you know you’ve arrived – Greater enjoyment of local customs – Comfort with host culture communication norms – Realization that you will miss aspects of host culture when you return home

Dealing With Country Shock • Ineffective responses – Returning to “mother culture” – Hide out (stay on base/compound) – Travel to areas of greater cultural diversity • Effective response – Establish new routines for basic life skills

Managing Culture Shock • Effective responses – Realize almost everyone experiences a certain level of culture shock – Develop self-awareness of your behavioral expectations – Understand the local’s expectations for your behavior

Managing Culture Shock • We inflict culture shock on others by… – being ethnocentric – not becoming “other” – failing to practice empathy – reinforcing the concept of “the ugly American”

Conflict • What is conflict? – Struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources – Perceived divergence of interests – Our working definition: When two related parties find themselves divided by perceived incompatible interests or goals, or in competition for control of scarce resources

Conflict • Causes of conflict? – Value differences – Relationship clashes – Disagreement over data – Diverging interests

Culture and Conflict • Role of culture in conflict – It’s about who we are so it’s bound to impact conflict – It relates to what we think is important, and we often respond strongly when that’s challenged – It can be the direct cause of conflict – It can be a contributing factor

Culture and Conflict • Culture affects conflict in how we… – Name (describe it) – Frame (conceptualize it) – Blame (assign fault for it) – Tame (resolve it)

Culture and Conflict Resolution • How would you define conflict resolution? – Eliminating the root cause of a conflict and seeking the solution to the problems which led to the conflict – Methods and processes of negotiation, arbitration, institution-building which promote the peaceful ending of social conflict & war

Culture and Conflict Resolution • Methods of conflict resolution – Mediation – Diplomacy – Negotiation (most commonly used) – War

Negotiation • What is negotiation? – Striking a deal with someone – Bargaining – Discussing an issue with the hope of settling it – When two or more parties confer with one another to reach a mutually accepted outcome

Negotiation • Situations requiring negotiation skills – Personal life – Within squadron – While deployed with local population and leaders – With joint/coalition/allied forces – With other organizations (governmental and nongovernmental)

Personality & Negotiation • Impact of personality on negotiation – Some traits more conducive to successful negotiation than others – Some traits counterproductive to negotiation – Some traits are better suited to other conflict resolution techniques, e. g. , mediation, diplomacy, competing-forcing, etc. )

Negotiation in the Military • Military personality and negotiation – Typical Airman may not be predisposed to negotiation – Hierarchical mindset (chain of command) – Leans more toward compliance than negotiation

Negotiation in the Military • When can negotiation skills be helpful to you? – Contingency ops – Peacekeeping ops – Humanitarian relief responses – Personal life

Cultural Dimensions & Negotiation • Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions – Power Distance – Uncertainty Avoidance – Individualism vs. collectivism – Long-term vs. short-term orientation