International Business: The New Realities, 5th Edition

High- and Low-Context Cultures

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall classified cultures as low context and high context.25 When communicating, people in low-context cultures rely heavily on spoken words and detailed verbal explanations. As Exhibit 3.14 shows, Europeans and North Americans tend to be low-context with long traditions of writing and speech making. In such cultures, the main function of speech is to express ideas and thoughts clearly, logically, and convincingly; communication is direct, and meaning is straightforward. In negotiations, for example, Americans typically come to the point quickly. Low-context cultures tend to value expertise and performance. Managers conduct negotiations as efficiently as possible. These cultures use specific, ...