How the Impact of Culture Affects Ethical and Moral Communications Research Paper

How the Impact of Culture Affects Ethical and Moral Communications - Research Paper Example The basic process of communication has many barriers that impact its effectiveness and cultural is one of the elements of â€Å"noise† that can distort the understanding and interpretation of the message (John). Cultural differences in understanding, as well as message delivery, can become barriers to effective communication. And these differences have become more profound by the proliferation of mass media and social media promoted through the increasing use of the internet (Lauring). The impact of culture on meaningful business and inter-organizational communication is dependent upon the nature of cultural context, a theory proposed by Edward Hall. Based on his findings, people in organizations rely on other sensory and behavioral cues in sending, receiving and interpreting messages. The filters are socially constructed and so are these sensory cues thus each individual’s communication process is greatly influenced by the norms and value of his cultural context (Chita kornkijsil). In high context cultures, such as Chinese, Korean and Indian, people rely less on verbal cues and more on nonverbal elements like voice, facial expressions, tone and the implied meaning of the message rather than the literal meaning. In low context cultures including the American, Australian and the English cultures, on the other hand, the sender and receiver are more oriented towards the direct and literal meaning of the messages implied (Karin). Likewise in individualist cultures place more importance on personal goals rather than group interests in communication. On the other hand, the collectivist cultures induce people to think of themselves an extended part of the organization thus making inter-organizational communication more effective (Caroline). Hence, culture has the tendency to impact the moral and ethical dimensions of communication in a business as well as a social setting, this is because of the cognitive constraints which pertain to the different framing of the same idea and differing value systems. Secondly, there exist behavioral constraints in terms of the everyday behavioral practices including standards of proximity, eye contact, shaking hands etc. for example, in America culture, it is against the social etiquette to not look the other person in the eye while speaking to him while in Asian cultures, looking in the eye can mean disrespect. Likewise, while in American culture, greeting someone with a smile is again a social etiquette; in Germany, this can send a flirtatious sign to the opposite gender. Thirdly, the emotional constraints hinder and can impact the social and moral dimensions of communication. For example, in Japanese culture, silence is an integral part of work ethics, in Asian cultures silence is taken to be affirmation irrespective of the actual state of mind of the person whereas the American managers are more talkative and consider talking imperative to convey the right messages to their subordinates and co-w orkers (Sunita).