Cultural Competence

Posted: June 13th, 2003 | No Comments »

Cultural competence is an important skill to prevent communication breakdown. Cultural competetence is about being adaptive and dealing with complexity. It is the ability to switch between cultural paradigms. As read in Business Week, for communication, managers are encouraged to demonstrate sensitivity to language and cultural communication requirements. It improves communication despite accent and language barries and minimizes misunderstandings of etiquette, values, and behaviors. For many people, one can define a “cultural orientation” that includes:

  • Cognitive Styles: how we organize and process information
  • Negotiation Strategies: what we accept as evidence
  • Value Systems: the basics for behavior

    • Culture is complex, but it “embodies a way of living, of seeing the world”. Each of us maintains our own “World View” around five key areas:

  • Human nature: what is the character fo human nature
  • Relationships: how do people establish relationships
  • Nature: what is the relationship of people to nature
  • Time: where is the temporal focus of life
  • Activity: how do people live their lives

    • We see readily how contrasts around time, language, communication, and relationship can have significant consequences in online communities.