Faheem Hasan Shahed, M.Phil., Ph.D.

Brac Institute of Languages

Brac University
 You are the assistant to the Chairman of Samsung. Your boss, Mark
Peters, an outgoing, sociable person, invited you to join him at luncheon meeting
with a group of Asian (Japanese) business executives to open negotiations for the
sale of Samsung products. Samsung’s business had been a little slow and the
company badly needed these customers.
The Asian guests entered the room, bowing as introductions were made.
Mr. Peters attempted to put them at ease. “No need to do that,” he said. “I’m just
plain Mark Peters. Just relax and make yourself at home.”
You notice that the Asians appeared confused. They appeared even more
confused when early in the meeting Mr. Peters made this statement. “We’ve only
got the lunch hour, gents. I know you’ll appreciate getting right down to
business.”
Throughout the meeting Mr. Peters was in his best conversational
mood: laughing, backslapping, telling jokes. But none of this seemed to make an
impression on the guests. They seemed confused. They smiled and were extremely
polite, but seemed to understand little of what Mr. Peters was saying. Although he
tried again and again to move to business talk, they did not respond. The meting
ended pleasantly, but without any sale.
“They’re strange people,” Mr. Peters commented when he got back to his
office. “They have a lot to learn about doing business. It doesn’t look like they’re
going to deal with us, does it?”
Mr. Peters was right in his last comment. They did not.
As you review the meeting, you may feel
that Mr. Peters spoiled the deal, for he failed
miserably in communicating with Asians.

THE FACT IS:

THERE IS MUCH TO KNOW ABOUT
COMMUNICATING IN CROSS-CULTURAL
SETTINGS.

Faheem Hasan Shahed PhD

 What is Culture???
• Provides patterns of acceptable behavior and
beliefs

• May be based on….

Nationality
Race and Religion
Historical Roots
All of the Above
Faheem Hasan Shahed PhD
 Think about the cultural differences among
various regions in Bangladesh
• What stereotypes
do people have How can these
about the people of stereotypes
different districts?
be removed?
• How many of them
are logical and
illogical?

Faheem Hasan Shahed PhD

 Cross cultural
miscommunication

Faheem Hasan Shahed PhD

 Cross cultural miscommunication

People from different cultural backgrounds may . . .

1. Have direct or indirect conversational styles

2. Tell different stories in different narrative styles
3. Indicate their stance or attitude in different ways
 Richard Lewis Quote

‘Cultural behavior is the end product of

collected wisdom, filtered and passed down
through hundreds of generations as shared
core beliefs, values assumptions, notions and
persistent action patterns.
In other words, culture is a collective
programming of the mind, which distinguishes
the members of one human group from
another.’
 Good Intercultural Communicators are….
• Aware that values • Conscious of the
& behaviors not values, beliefs,
always “right.” practices of other
• Flexible and open cultures.
to change. • Sensitive to
differences within
• Sensitive to verbal
cultures.
& nonverbal
behavior.
 Why do we communicate across cultures?

• Business has become more global. Thus, communicating

across cultures effectively improves our productivity and
efficiency and promotes harmonious work environments.
• Cross-cultural communication involves the understanding
cultural differences and overcoming language problems.
Communication and Culture

Cultural Fluency
Essential for effective cross-cultural
communication

Consists of

• Understanding your own cultural

lenses

• Understanding communication
variation across cultures

• Applying these understandings to

enhance relationships
The Lewis Model
of Cross Cultural Communication
 Introduction
• The Lewis Model was constructed by Richard
Lewis for purposes of culture classification.
The model aims to promote harmony through
understanding
• The model classifies cultures into three main
types:
- Linear-active
- Multi-active
- Reactive
 The Lewis Model: Basic
Characteristics

LINEAR-ACTIVE MULTI-ACTIVE
Cool Warm
Factual Emotional
Decisive Planners Impulsive
Talkative

REACTIVE
Courteous
Amiable
Accommodating
Compromiser
Good Listener
Cultural Types
 What does the Lewis Model tell us?
• The Lewis Model shows us:

how people from different cultures vary in their

concepts of time and space: how they handle
interpersonal distance, silence, and eye contact

how their communication styles are reflected in

the language patterns they use
 An Analysis of the Lewis Model

The Lewis Model is effective in:

 Helping us become aware of the communication traits

of each ‘Cultural Type’

 The Lewis model helps us understand the

communication characteristics of different ‘Culture
Types’
 What does the Lewis Model tell us?
• The Lewis Model can help us:

Promote harmony in inter-cultural relationships by

allowing empathy and understanding to develop.

We can see that most of our reactions come from how

we've been programmed by our culture, we can step
back and see how different cultures react, and learn to
understand such reactions
Applying the Lewis Model to Australians

• According to the Lewis Model, Australians are mostly

Linear Active, and partly Multi Active

• The Lewis Model therefore suggests that Australians

are mostly:
-Cool
-Factual
-Decisive Planners
Yet a little:
- Warm Emotional
- Talkative Impulsive
Applying the Lewis Model to Bahrain

• The Lewis Model tells me that people from

Bahrain are mostly Multi-Active

This means that Bahraini people are:

• Warm
• Emotional
• Impulsive
• Talkative
 Conclusion
With an understanding of various communication
characteristics among cultures,

we are better able to get along both personally and

professionally with other cultures

we will be able to foresee how they are likely to react in

various situations