Sora Chenet

        Recently, I read an article for my writing class, Writing for your Profession, about the cultural differences in the business world. The article goes on to explain the differences in how people communicate and how recognizing the differences can play a vital part when carrying out transactions or deals across the world. Simply realizing the subtle differences in the ways people react to situations can be the main reason why one business succeeded while another failed.

        The author distinguishes the two types of communication styles across cultures as high and low context communication. Of course, simplifying the many hundreds of cultures into two categories is over-simplification, but in the general scheme of things, the different cultures somehow fit into one or the other. In addition, it is these differences in communications that further lead to differences in behaviors and relationships.

        In a high context communication society, people tend to communicate on the basis that the other party has at least a general understanding of the information, or context. On the other hand, in a low context communication society, people communicate as though the other party does not have a general understanding of what is going on in that situation. Many western civilizations tend to be low context cultures whereas the rest of the world is more of a high context culture.

        As the author states, many Asian countries are high context cultures, including Korea, whereas the United States is a low context culture. Being a Korean-American, I strongly agreed with many of the points the author makes about these two different societies. Whether it is business or any other occupation, Koreans in general tend to have a more personal connections with their superiors. One’s superiors emphasize building personal relationships through formal and informal meetings regularly throughout the days. For example, many Korean companies have regular dinners with their company’s family, as they are often described for which the superiors pay for dinner and some sort of bonding activity. One can describe the situation as OCF time, an organized compulsory fun time. However, this allows the employees to get together and spend time together outside of the company and get to know both their fellow workers and superiors on a social basis.

        At the same time, even though the company provides time for employees to get together after work, there is still a strict hierarchy between the boss and the subordinates. As the author explains, in high context societies, there is a strong sense of respect for one’s superiors, which is one of the main reasons that relationship-based cultures work. In the Korean language, there is a completely different set of words and phrases that one uses when addressing someone with respect. Whether it is one’s boss, teacher, parent, or even friend, there is a natural sense of respect for those authority figures that one accepts in the social hierarchy. In that sense, any offense made towards those authority figures is taken personally and can lead to serious consequences. One of which is being ostracized from a group, a major reason for high school students in Korea to commit suicide. In fact, ostracism in Korean high school not only leads to avoiding the student, but also to targeting that student for bullying and pranks to the point of suicide. This form of ostracism does not stop in the school setting and continues into the workplaces as well. A subordinate is targeted for a mistake he or she may have made that angered one of their superiors, thus leading the whole chain of command to also target that worker.

        As an immigrant, my parents raised me to value their culture, the Korean culture more than the American, low context culture. Even though I moved to the United States at a young age of two years old, I demonstrate what the author describes of high context and relationship based cultures. At the same time, growing up in America has also exposed me to the low context society values. I have within me two supposedly conflicting cultures, yet I am able to portray both aspects. I have a sense of respect for those above me, yet at the same time, I am enjoy participating in meetings in which I have the opportunity to express my opinions. I prefer having a set of rules to follow rather than figuring out what is stepping out of line. I rely my decisions as a consumer on what people have told me rather than mass advertisements. I change my attitude and decisions based on each individual situation rather than having universal standards. It is uncomfortable to call someone older than me by their first names or without any sort of title. I have a tendency to greet the same person every time I see them throughout the day. Not doing so leaves a guilty thought in the back of my mind and wondering if that person thinks I ignored him or her. In my professional autobiography, I further describe the obstacles I faces as a Korean American in my disciplinary and professional field of psychology due to cultural differences.

        The author points out several differences in cultures around the world that businesses should be aware of in order to succeed in their communications with companies from different cultures. However, John Hooker further relates the cultural differences seen in business to other characteristics of the culture. Hooker describes how being from a certain culture leads one to behave in a certain way that may not be normal to another person from a different culture. However, in today’s society, there is no clear cut difference. Gradually, people are mixing the different characteristics to form a variation that benefits them across all areas. Just as I have been able to combine the two cultures together, more and more people are merging the characteristics to form a new type of culture that is not standardized, but rather changes from person to person, which may be the best type of communication in the real world in which situations are always changing.