marks. Describe, compare, and discuss the “Communication: Direct or indirect?” by identifying the cultural dimension(s) affecting the behavior and discussing the effects.

5 marks. Describe, compare, and discuss the “Communication: Direct or indirect?” by identifying the cultural dimension(s) affecting the behavior and discussing the effects.

Methods of communication vary among cultures, as discussed by E.T. Hall in his studies of High Context and Low Context Communication cultures. Low Context Cultures emphasize direct and simple methods of communication; High Context Communication cultures rely heavily on indirect and complex methods. The latter may use circumlocutions, figurative forms of speech, facial expressions, gestures and other kinds of body language.

In a culture that values directness, such as the American or the Israeli, you can expect to receive a clear and definite response to your proposals and questions. In cultures that rely on indirect communication, such as the Japanese, reaction to your proposals may be gained by interpreting seemingly vague comments, gestures, and other signs. What you will not receive at a first meeting is a definite commitment or rejection.

The confrontation of these styles of communication in the same negotiation can lead to friction. For example, the indirect ways Japanese negotiators express disapproval have often led foreign business executives to believe that their proposals were still under consideration when in fact the Japanese side had rejected them. In the Camp David negotiations that led to a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the Israeli preference for direct forms of communication and the Egyptian tendency to favor indirect forms sometimes exacerbated relations between the two sides. The Egyptians interpreted Israeli directness as aggressiveness and, therefore, an insult. The Israelis viewed Egyptian indirectness with impatience and suspected them of insincerity, of not saying what they meant.

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