Question 1
Describe the difference between High Context and Low Context Cultures as well as the more detailed cultural categories of Linear Active, Multi-Active and Reactive. Give an example of a country for each of those three categories and then come up with a scenario where all three have to interact and it causes miscommunication.
Question 2
Reflect on what you have learned about the country you were comparing(China and America) for your news journal. I’m looking for the following aspects: culture (and any relating norms, values, laws as well as symbols you may have gotten to know), history, political system, social society, arts or sports and how that country views the US (describe it through the lens of the newspaper you read). At the end I’m curious to find out if you think differently now about that country than when you first wrote in your journal about expectations. (500-1000 words)
Question 3
You are a communications consultant to the management of a US company that is negotiating a very important trade deal with a company from the country you presented in your group project. The US CEO and his 2 top managers are flying in for the final big meeting with the other company’s executives and top management. The US CEO knows that the feeling in the other company is one of anxiety and concern because they feel that it’s mostly being done the American way. He wants to change that in this meeting, but also make sure he gets to a contract agreement.
What advice do you give him and his two US colleagues in how to handle this situation? What are the key cultural elements they need to be aware of? How should the CEO behave and plan to conduct the meeting? What are the expectations? It’s important that he builds trust – otherwise the whole deal won’t work. But how should he prepare for the meeting, for building trust and handling the contract negotiations?
What I’m looking for here is:
- A cultural understanding of the country you’ve studied and how they communicate/behave.
- The cultural differences to the US culture and suggestions of how to bridge them
- How to plan for an international meeting: agendas, expectations, non-verbal communications, and what key elements need to be considered to make everyone feel comfortable and build trust.
- An understanding of the various negotiation tactics and contractual challenges
