Republic of the Philippines

CITY COLLEGE OF TAGAYTAY

Akle St., Kaybagal South, Tagaytay City
SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
General Education Department/Physical Education Department

MODULE 3 - PRELIM

Time: ____________

Homeschool:____________

Educator: Jeff Jeremiah C. Perea

ENGL1a – Purposive Communication

Title: Unit I: Communication Processes, Principles and Ethics, Communication and

Globalization
Lesson 3: Communication and Globalization
Local and Global Communication in Multicultural Settings
 Definition of Global Communication
 Examples of Global Communication
 Language Barriers in Global Business Communication
 Cultural Barriers in Global Business Communication
 Complication Inherent with Global Communication
 Benefits of Global Communication

Learning Outcomes:
 explain the concept of culture and globalization
 analyze and interpret the complications inherent with and benefits of global
 appreciate the importance of culture in globalization

Rationale:
Today, the internet and advances in communication technologies have opened new
opportunities for both large and small businesses that would have been unthinkable 50 years ago.
With a single web page and a cellphone, any business person can reach new customers, partners
and suppliers anywhere in the world. However, communicating with people on a global scale is
not the same as communicating with people: locally. Not only are there more technological
hurdles to overcome, but you also need to address language barriers and cultural nuances. (David
Weedmark, Leaf Group © 2019 Leaf Group, Ltd. U.S.A.) (Printed with author’s and copyright
owner’s permissions)

Topic/s:
Lesson 3: Communication and Globalization
Local and Global Communication in Multicultural Settings

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A. Definition of Global Communication
At its root, global communication can be defined just as any communication can:
a message is sent from one person or group to another anywhere in the world, which can
be described as a five-step process:
(1) A person or an organization in one country sends a message.
(2) The message is encoded.
(3) The message travels through a channel or medium.
(4) The receiver in another country decodes the message.
(5) The recipient receives the message.

When it comes to communicating globally, it is usually in the encoding and decoding that
problems occur. As with any communication, ensuring that the message is received as it
was indeed, is the responsibility of the sender.

B. Examples of Global Communication

One of the most common forms of global communication is an email. A person in
one country types a message and clicks the send button. The message is then encoded
into packets which are sent across the internet to the recipient. In another country, the
receiver logs in and decodes the message by opening the email and retrieves the message.

When someone from another country reads your company’s web page, this too is
an example of global communication. The message is written and encoded in HTML,
uploaded to a server, which is then accessed across the internet and decoded by a web
browser - and perhaps a translation plugin - before the recipient reads it.

In both of these examples, noise can distort the message or make it

undecipherable. In electronic communication, noise can include anything from typos that
change the context of a sentence, to a failed internet connection, which could make it
appear that you are not communicating anything at all.

C. Language Barriers in Global Business Communication

Whenever you are communicating with someone in their language, it is your
responsibility to ensure that the words you use are correct. This includes advertising and
marketing. Over the past several decades there have been many large and successful
companies that have made mistakes when translating what they wanted to say to a
different language, often with offensive, or even hilarious, results. Here are a few
examples of some translation misfires:

 Germany: Clairol marketed a new curling iron named “Mist Stick”. in German,
mist means manure.
 China: Coca-Cola’s name was mistranslated when it began selling its product to the
Chinese, who were told to “bite the wax tadpole.”
 Ethiopia: When Gerber began selling its baby food here, they used the same label
design as in other countries, featuring a cute infant. In Ethiopia, however, where not

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 everyone was literate, the custom was that images on a label only depicted the jar’s
contents.
 Mexico: When Parker Pen began marketing its pens to this Spanish country, its
motto, “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you” was translated to, “It won’t
leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”
 Thailand: Ikea entered this market using the same Swedish names for its products
that it used all over the world. However, many of these names in Thai mean “sex”,
or have sexual implications, like “getting to the third base.”
D. Cultural Barriers in Global Business Communication
A common way small businesses first become involved in global operations is by
hiring a firm or consultant from another country, like a company in the United States
hiring a software development team in India with more affordable rates than those who
are available locally.
Throughout their initial conversations, the American manager may be focused on
the project requirements, timelines and deliverables. The Indian manager, on the other
hand, may be more focused on building a solid relationship with a new client. After the
American manager carefully explains the project requirements and deliverable in term
she believes are easy to understand, the Indian manager has many questions but does not
ask them. Instead, he says, “Yes,” and agrees to take on the project. Weeks later, when
the Indian team completes the first phase of the project, it does not meet the Americans’
expectations and the relationship falls apart.
This was caused by a cultural nuance, in which the word “Yes” did not
necessarily mean that the Indian manager understood everything and was in agreement. It
was simply a word that he used to move the relationship forward. Had the American
manager understood this, she could have invested more time in fostering their new
relationship before assuming that they were in agreement, thus avoiding the problem.

E. Complications Inherent with Global Communication

Increasing communication from a local to a global scale has many ramifications
beyond cultural pitfalls and language barriers. One example is the increase in emails and
other messages people receive every day, many of which are sent from different time
zones, often when the recipient is not even awake to read them in a timely manner.
Businesspeople must be diligent in trying to ensure that the most important emails don’t
get lost in the volume.
Another complication in global communication for business is overcoming the
disadvantage you have when competing with local companies. While face-to-face
meetings can be replaced with video conference calls, subtleties of body language can’t
always be captured on video.
There are many other pieces of important information that get lost when you are
interacting with someone across the globe. When doing business locally, it’s usually quite
easy to discern between a company located in the business district, whose ads you have
noticed on billboards and local radio for a number of years, compared to a business
located in an apartment building on the outskirts of town. On the other hand, when you
are approached by a company located in a different country, you may not have much to
go with beyond what they state on their website. Finding out more about a foreign firm
usually requires much more time and research.

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 F. Benefits of Global Communication
Despite the risks, operating a business on a global level has many benefits that far
outweigh those risks. Not only does doing business on a global level open up new
markets for selling products and services, it can give you access to resources and talent
that may not be available locally.
As the world has continued to become more tightly connected and communication
technologies have continued to evolve, the benefits as a whole can be illustrated by the
market penetration of these new technologies themselves.
The telephone, which was the greatest global communication technology of its
time, replacing the telegraph, took 71 years to reach a market penetration of 50 percent of
homes. Electricity took 52 years to reach the same penetration. Radios followed, taking
28 years. Color television took 18 years. Personal computer took only 19 years.
Cellphones took 14 years, while internet access took only 10 years to reach 50 percent of
all homes in the U.S.

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/cultural+differences

Instruction/s:
Read and analyze the different instructions given below. Follow what they tell you to do.

Activities:

TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Reacting to the Text: Answer briefly but substantially the following questions.

1. Considering your future profession, how important is global communication?

Give three specific examples on the us of global communication in the workplace (considering
your course).

2. Aside from failed advertising as mentioned earlier, how can a certain company damage its
name if their global communication is misunderstood? Cite three (3) specific examples/ create
possible scenarios.

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3. Are there any cultural barriers in the Filipino workplace? Explain THREE cultural barriers of
communication be found in a Filipino workplace.

4. What are the subtleties of body language in a physical meeting? Why do they play a more
important role compared to an online meeting/conference? Explain clearly.

5. Explain how a global business can give you access to resources and talent that may not be
available locally. Connect your answer to globalization.

Summative Evaluation:

1. What is the overall importance of global communication, especially during a pandemic?

2. Give 10 skills needed for a globally competitive communicator. Explain the importance of
each skill in the Philippines.

Reference:

Caudilla, J. & Cansancio, J. (2019). Purposive Communication. Books Atpb. Publishing Corp:
Mandaluyong City, Philippines.