UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL AWARENESS AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS A FREE E-BOOK FROM CULTUREWISE’S TRAINING TEAM P a g e | 1 ©Culturewise Limited 2015 CONTENTS Chapter 1- What is culture? .................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Why does culture exist? ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 What does culture look like? .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 What types of culture exist? ............................................................................................................................................................... 7 How is culture transmitted? ............................................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 - Why is culture important? ................................................................................................................................................. 9 Distinguishing the cultural from the personal .............................................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 3 - Cultural challenges at work ............................................................................................................................................. 12 The challenge of culture at work .................................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 4 - Towards cross-cultural effectiveness ............................................................................................................................. 17 Three stages in developing cross-cultural effectiveness.............................................................................................................. 17 Moving forward ................................................................................................................................................................................. 18 Six steps to cross-cultural effectiveness ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 5 - Moving beyond stereotypes ............................................................................................................................................ 21 Moving beyond stereotyping ........................................................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 6 - Developing cultural sensitivity ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Recognizing and exploring the range of cultural influences on you ......................................................................................... 26 Developing an awareness and understanding of your own basic values, attitudes, assumptions and behaviours ........... 27 Learning to recognize your cultural 'red flags' .............................................................................................................................. 28 Learning to recognize your own reactions to ambiguity and uncertainty ................................................................................ 30 Chapter 7 - The individual in context ................................................................................................................................................. 31 Creating a culture-wheel ................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Using a culture-wheel ........................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Identifying behaviours to enhance communication .................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 8 - Cultures in Comparison - types ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Data for comparing cultures ............................................................................................................................................................ 37 Value type models.............................................................................................................................................................................. 37 Chapyer 9 - Cultures in Comparison - dimensions .......................................................................................................................... 40 Value dimensions ............................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Problems with value dimensions and value types ........................................................................................................................ 42 Using value types and dimensions .................................................................................................................................................. 43 Chapter 10 - Cultural differences in non-verbal communication .................................................................................................. 45 Culture and paralanguage ................................................................................................................................................................. 45 Culture and kinesic communication ............................................................................................................................................... 46 P a g e | 2 ©Culturewise Limited 2015 Culture and oculesics ........................................................................................................................................................................ 47 Culture and haptics ............................................................................................................................................................................ 47 Culture and proxemics ...................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Culture and olfactics .......................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Culture and chronemics .................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Culture and appearance .................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Overcoming cultural barriers to effective non-verbal communication .................................................................................... 48 Chapter 11 - Understanding culture shock ........................................................................................................................................ 50 What is culture shock? ...................................................................................................................................................................... 50 The causes of culture shock ............................................................................................................................................................. 50 Symptoms of culture shock ............................................................................................................................................................. 51 The process of adaptation ................................................................................................................................................................ 51 Coping with culture shock ............................................................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 12 - The challenges of cross-cultural communication ...................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 13 - Cross-cultural Communication Skills .......................................................................................................................... 57 Handling cross-cultural misunderstandings .................................................................................................................................. 59 Overcoming misunderstandings ..................................................................................................................................................... 60 P a g e | 3 ©Culturewise Limited 2015 CHAPTER 1- WHAT IS CULTURE? `Culture' means different things to different