Communications and the Impact of Culture

Communications and the Impact of Culture

Communication styles can mean different things to different people particularly when the cultural impact comes into play. This is most important for expatriate roles where some period of adjustment is necessary to assimilate/learn the norms in the new setting. I experienced a case where the hat was passed around to collect some funds for a staff member whose family experienced a bereavement. With all good intensions he put up a notice thanking everyone who contributed towards the death of his father. Reading the notice, it meant quite something else.

		Anna Maria van den Bossche Production Engineer System Planning, Netherlands
	Cultural Differences Each culture has its own customs and if you want to communicate with them you need to know what are the values of the culture you are communicating with. This is very difficult to know as you are an outsider and will never be an insider. Actually living in the country helps or getting an advisor about the values of the country. There is still a big whole in the market about intercultural communication even though many companies try to give advise it does not usually has anything to do with the situation in which the communication has to take place.

		Martine Bonny Dikongue Manager, Cameroon
	Communication and Cultural Differences Yes, each culture has its own customs, and it is i (...)