Interactions Across Cultures: The Positive, The Negative, and A Few Mistakes

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Imagine that you are scheduled to meet with a possible new client for business purposes. You’ve noticed throughout the meeting that they regularly look away when you talk. Similarly, when it’s their turn to speak, they look away or down, barely recognizing you with a nod or a passing glance.

What emotions does that give you? Angry? Angry? Do you find yourself wondering why they behaved that way?

Put yourself in the other person’s position now. Even though you’re making an effort to interact, speaking out and projecting confidence, your natural tendency is to turn away. Since harmony is valued in your society, you choose to keep quiet about your discomfort and put up with the situation until the meeting is over.

In that circumstance, how would you feel? Would you be excited to speak with that individual once more? Would this encounter influence your choice to approach them about a commercial deal?

Culture’s Effect on Attitude and Behavior
Interactions across cultures can be challenging. Different people have different cultural backgrounds, which have impacted their values, habits, and perspectives. These distinctions have the potential to cause miscommunication or conflict, impact choices, and leave a lasting impression—sometimes negatively.

“Many Western expats that come here do not show the necessary cultural sensitivity, and this often leaves a trail of misunderstandings all the way to arrogant impressions in the eyes of the local workers,” according to a quote from the article “Intercultural Interaction” (Brown & Brandt, 2014).

This brings up some significant queries: In reality, who is at fault? Is it the duty of the locals to teach visitors about their traditions, or should they put forth greater effort to do so? Is it reasonable to anticipate that immigrants will adopt the local way of life, or does that undermine their own? Which is it—ignorance or arrogance—and whose fault is it?

With the increasing prevalence of digitalization and globalization, there is a growing need to comprehend the ways in which culture shapes behavior.

The Reason This Is Important
Why is this knowledge so important? Because these relationships can determine whether a company entering international markets succeeds or fails.

Techniques for Enhancement
Acknowledging Varying Points of View

Recognizing the existence of various worldviews is a wonderful place to start. A person’s worldview, which is molded by the presumptions and ideas that serve as the foundation for shared cultural meaning, is essentially how they interpret and comprehend the world. These differences are categorized by Hofstede (1984) as cultural dimensions, who frequently draws a comparison between individuality and collectivism.

Key distinctions in worldviews are noted by Marsden (2003), who states that although certain cultures may rely more on myth and legend to inform their holistic vision of the cosmos, Western perspectives usually seek scientific explanations for knowledge.

Understanding Culture in the Digital Age

Successfully navigating global initiatives is facilitated for corporations by an understanding of diverse worldviews and cultural nuances. Cultural backgrounds affect how communications, events, or ideas are interpreted online in the digital world. Maintaining the original aim while communicating across cultures is a big difficulty for corporations (Pookulangara & Koesler, 2011).

Think of social media branding, for instance. A company’s attempts to go worldwide might be seriously hampered by the use of the incorrect logo, color, or slogan. Animal imagery may indicate misfortune in certain cultures and wisdom in others. Comparably, misinterpreting a slogan’s translation can result in time and financial losses as well as embarrassing circumstances that affect people all over the world. This was discovered by Clairol when their “Mist stick” curling iron was introduced in Germany and was amusingly mispronounced as “manure stick” in colloquial language.

In summary
The main lesson to be learned from this conversation is that understanding how culture affects behavior, perceptions, and attitudes requires an awareness of many viewpoints and worldviews. Organizations may create strategies for more productive interactions, communication, and engagement across many platforms and cultures by using this fundamental concept. This strategy prevents regrettable misunderstandings and promotes healthy relationships.