Reference no: EM133425006

Scenario

In the essay "Conversational Ballgames," Nancy Masterson Sakamoto describes her experience as an American who moved to Japan and had some difficulties in her attempts to adapt to Japanese culture. The author provides the example of carrying a conversation within an American and a Japanese cultural context in order to show how participants' expectations and assumptions can lead to miscommunication.

For our Intercultural Communication assignment, let us imagine that a situation similar to the one described by Nancy Masterson Sakamoto has happened to you and your co-workers. Imagine that you hold a management position at a large Canadian marketing firm, and your company has just signed an important partnership with a company based in China (feel free to add details where appropriate).

Representatives from both companies have recently had an informal evening gathering (feel free to make up necessary details), and after that event, enthusiasm for the business deal decreased, as several employees have complained that the foreign guests seemed hard to read, rude or difficult to communicate with, evasive, uninterested in conversation, too casual, too distant, too focused on family issues and unwilling to discuss details of the future collaboration, etc.

You are more aware of cultural differences than other representatives at your company - perhaps you were born in another country yourself, or you grew up in a multicultural environment (say, in Toronto, or in Vancouver); perhaps you studied at Canadian educational institutions where diversity was a core value and you have always worked in multicultural work environments; or perhaps you are simply the kind of person who is interested in other cultures and likes to read and to travel. In any case, you realize that your coworkers (even some in higher-management positions) might be misjudging your foreign business partners' behaviour based on their own cultural expectations. You are worried that, if the problem is not addressed as soon as possible, your company might lose money due to poor communication.

Your Task:

Since you know that another evening gathering will be scheduled in the near future, CREATE a memo to all employees at your organization and address at least 3 (types of) cultural differences (practices) relevant for this type of meeting so as to make sure your colleagues go to this second informal gathering prepared to take a different approach and establish a better foundation for future business communication with their foreign business partners.

Audience: Keep in mind that a number of people will read your memo - some who hold positions that are lower than yours in the organizational hierarchy, some at the same level, and some at the upper management level. Adopt an appropriate tone in your message. Make sure you are not perceived as an alarmist or an obnoxious know-it-all. Instead, your phrasing should create an image of you as a friendly, positive, and engaged professional who genuinely cares about everyone's success.

Include the Following Sections in your Memo:

Memo Top + Subject line (note that an example memo is available in our week 11 folder)
Introduction: Suggest, in positive wording, that the next meeting could be made more efficient if everyone tried to find the best way to overcome cultural differences
Body: Analysis and Recommendations / Suggestions
Divide the Analysis section into short paragraphs covering relevant intercultural communication traits/differences. Consider organizing differences by theme (such as: Verbal Communication, Written Communication, etc.). Organize these paragraphs logically and provide a clear heading for each one.
Describe any Canadian behavoir that might be misinterpreted by your business partners. Also, describe any behavior of your business partners that might be misinterpreted by Canadian audiences.
Suggest strategies to make communication more effective. To find out more about cultural and communication conventions for Canada and China, you can consult reliable online sources such as Business Etiquette in China (see completed end-of-text APA reference below). Do not simply copy-paste content from sources into your memos. , which is a serious academic offence. Phrase any ideas from sources in your own words and specify the source of information at the end of your memo.
Conclusion: Briefly restate the main points of the message. Express hope that your suggestions will be useful. Provide links to the source(s) of information you used.