| Instructor Prep. Time | Student In-Class Time | Student Out-of-Class Time |
| Approximately 30 minutes | 30-45 minutes | none |
None
Step-by-Step Procedure:
- Conduct a quiz using the following directions:
- Take out a blank piece of paper and answer true or false to the following questions.
- The first language I spoke in my home was a language other than English.
- The first language spoken by one of my parents was a language other than English.
- I have lived in a country where a language other than English was the principle language.
- One or more of my friends speaks a language other than English as his or her first language.
- A language other than English is the first language of one or more of my co-workers (now or in the past).
- Currently or in the past I have worked for a company that operates in one or more countries outside of the United States.
- Currently or in the past I have worked for a business whose parent company is based outside of the United States.
- It is a realistic possibility that I could be offered the opportunity to live and work in another country as part of my chosen profession.
- Obtain results. Ask for students who answered, “yes” to three or more questions to stand. Repeat for those who answered, “yes” to one or more questions. Use the results to introduce the growing internationalization of the workplace. Discuss four major trends influencing globalization of the workplace.
- Overseas assignments
- Foreign-based companies
- Global marketplace
- Culturally diverse workforce
- Next acquaint students with language and cultural differences and the problems that can arise when we do not take these differences into account in the workplace.
(Optional) Begin this section by sharing humorous accounts of problems that can occur when businesses translate information from one language to another. Examples:- Pepsi Cola suffered a major advertising failure in China when an advertising campaign that translated the slogan, “Come to life with the Pepsi Generation” was translated “Bring dead ancestors back to life with Pepsi.” Sales plummeted before Pepsi Cola realized its mistake.
- Chevrolet had trouble promoting its car Nova, because the literal translation of Nova into Spanish is, “It doesn’t go.”
- Explain that if crossing language barriers can be difficult, crossing cultural barriers is often more challenging.
- Define culture. “Culture [includes] the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the next” (Henslin, 2004, p. 34).
- Guide students as they explore Internet sites to discover ways cultural differences influence personal relationships in the workforce.
- Individualism: The degree of individual or group orientation.
- Power Distance: The level of preference for equality or inequality within groups.
- Certainty: The preference for risk versus structure.
- Achievement: The relative degrees of relationship versus task orientation. This dimension also tracks the relative masculine and feminine influences in the workplace.
- Have students scroll down the page and take the “Preference for Certainty Questionaire.” After taking the questionnaire, they can request a comparison of their answers with those for two countries of their choice and receive immediate feedback.
Other optional sites:
Site 2 offers Hofstede scores for 56 countries.
Site 3 offers suggestions for international etiquette and manners appropriate for workplace contexts for 32 countries.
Site One: Dutch social scientist Dr. Geert Hofstede developed a questionnaire to illustrate key culturally dependent differences that influence the workplace. These include: - Apply these concepts to workplace correspondence through a group brainstorming session. As students report out, compose a class list of suggestions. Possible points include:
- Before you write anything, research the other country’s customs and business practices.
- Keep correspondence clear and precise.
- Double check translated materials. Be aware of the problems that occur when text is translated too literally.
- Businesspeople in other countries are often multilingual. Your efforts to learn some of the language of your overseas colleagues will earn their respect.
- Many cultures are more formal than ours. Avoid becoming overly friendly too fast.
- Be aware of unintended ethnic, linguistic, racial, religious, or other bias. Ruthlessly purge your speech and writing of biased language.
Suggestions for Use:
- This activity is most suitable for a professional or technical writing class.
- DeVries, M. A. (1994). Internationally yours: Writing and communicating successfully in today's global marketplace. Boston: Houghton.
- Henslin, J. M. (2004) Essentials of sociology: A down-to earth approach. Boston: Pearson.
- Smeltzer, L. R. & Leonard, D. J. (1994). Managerial communication: Strategies and applications. Burr Ridge, IL: IRWIN.